As soon as Xiangling came back and saw Ye Yun cooking, she asked to use a stove to cook something herself.
Ye Yun shared a burner with Xiangling and showed her how to operate the modern kitchen setup.
Seeing how convenient the stove was, Xiangling immediately wanted to buy one. Of course, she couldn't have the one in the kitchen—Ye Yun still needed it for his own use.
It wasn't expensive either. Ye Yun spent 30 star credits in the system store to get Xiangling a gas-tank-fitted set.
In exchange, Xiangling agreed to take responsibility for making breakfast for everyone every day.
That's right—Ye Yun wanted to sleep in. Getting up early to cook was just too painful.
Xiangling accepted without hesitation. Cooking? Easy peasy!
Considering that commuting between Jueyun Karst and Liyue Harbor would be inconvenient, Ye Yun even bought Xiangling her own personal teleportation gate.
He also had a word with Zhongli, asking him to go and help with the setup so nothing problematic would occur.
Zhongli agreed. In fact, it was a good thing for him too—
This way, he could eat Xiangling's cooking every day.
Ye Yun's cooking was good, but it still didn't compare to someone like Xiangling—naturally gifted and hardworking.
Soon enough, breakfast was ready.
Ye Yun kept it simple: a large pot of lean pork and vegetable congee, plus some soup dumplings and fried dough sticks.
Xiangling didn't make much this time—she was experimenting with a new dish: Cold Dressed Slime.
But this wasn't the kind of slime from Teyvat—it came from a certain fantasy world where people actually ate this type of slime.
This slime had no odor and a springy, jelly-like texture.
However, because it absorbed seasoning very easily, it really tested the chef's skill with flavoring.
Xiangling placed a plate of Cold Dressed Slime on the table and looked at everyone expectantly.
"Come on! Try my new dish!"
Hu Tao and Zhongli, who had prior experience with Xiangling's slime dishes, were immediately put on edge.
Eat it… or not? That was the question.
Even if it wasn't Teyvat slime, and even if Ye Yun had assured them it was edible, it was still slime…
Before they could decide, Stelle—who didn't know any better—picked up her chopsticks and dove right in.
She grabbed a portion and popped it into her mouth.
"Slurp~"
The cold slime slid in. Stelle chewed thoughtfully as everyone else stared at her.
After swallowing, Stelle gave a thumbs-up and smiled.
"Tasty! You all should try it."
Encouraged, everyone picked up their chopsticks—even Hu Tao and Zhongli gave in.
Among them, only March 7th didn't move.
The moment she saw Stelle put down her chopsticks, she saw through everything.
After all this time together, she knew Stelle like the back of her hand. If there was something tasty, Stelle would never stop at one bite.
And that faint smile on her face? March had seen it before.
That exact expression was how Stelle had tricked her into drinking Himeko's terrible coffee.
You sneaky frog, always rubbing your belly in victory!
There was only one truth—this Cold Dressed Slime... was NOT good!
Sure enough—
A few seconds later—
"BLEUGH—!"
"Xiangling! You're trying to kill me! How could you poison the great Head of the Hall?!"
"Xiangling, maybe… maybe we don't cook with slime anymore, alright?"
"Mmm… technically edible."
Xiangling looked at their reactions, completely frustrated. She had followed the recipe exactly—where had she gone wrong?
Ye Yun tasted a piece, chewed thoughtfully, and said:
"Xiangling, you over-seasoned it. This kind of slime, when shredded, absorbs flavor very easily. Next time, try using less seasoning."
Xiangling's eyes lit up with realization.
"I see! The recipe was for three pounds of slime meat, but I only used half to practice… and didn't reduce the seasoning."
No wonder.
She took the plate of Cold Dressed Slime and dumped it out, then started making a fresh batch.
This time, she nailed it.
Everyone tried it again and showered her with praise.
The texture was springy, with a satisfying "crunch" when bitten into—perfect to eat with congee.
As Jing Yuan sipped his congee and looked around Ye Yun's shop, he suddenly remembered—Ye Yun was running a store.
"Ye Yun, what do you sell here? May I take a look?"
Ye Yun replied:
"My shop sells goods from across the myriad worlds. As long as you have enough star credits, you can buy anything you want.
As for star credits, you can exchange them with Star Jade.
Currently, in your world, Stellar Jade is the only currency that can be exchanged for credits."
Jing Yuan caught the phrase "your world" in Ye Yun's words.
"Oh? Then… are there people here from other worlds?"
At the table, Zhongli slowly raised his hand. Hu Tao, Xiangling, Amber, and Eula followed suit.
Welt raised his halfway, then lowered it again—he wasn't sure if he counted as from another world.
Jing Yuan looked at Zhongli in surprise. He hadn't expected Zhongli to be from another world.
No wonder he'd never heard of someone with Zhongli's strength and wisdom before—someone like him couldn't possibly be obscure under normal circumstances.
Zhongli said calmly:
"We are from Teyvat. We came to this world via Ye Yun's teleportation gate."
Jing Yuan nodded in understanding.
"Ye Yun, just to confirm—Star Jade can be exchanged for star credits, right?"
Ye Yun smiled and nodded.
"That's right. One Stellar Jade equals 100 star credits."
Jing Yuan nodded again, already planning to have people collect Stellar Jade after returning.
Upon hearing Stellar Jade mentioned, Stelle, March 7th, Hu Tao, Amber, Eula, Lumine, and Xiangling all suddenly tensed—then found random excuses to slip away.
Stelle said nothing, but her face clearly read: If I don't run now, I'm getting whooped later!
Soon, breakfast came to an end.
Jing Yuan went with Welt, Zhongli, and Ye Yun to the tea room for a game of chess.
The night before, after returning to his manor, Jing Yuan had already taken care of all arrangements—
He had fought a grand battle and was gravely injured! He needed a break.
So…
Fu Xuan, sorry for the trouble.
At that moment, inside the Divination Commission—
Fu Xuan was already fried. She had come to work this morning in high spirits.
In recent days, General Jing Yuan had said the reconstruction of the Xianzhou Luofu would be entirely left in her hands.
This was it! He was nurturing her potential—this was the path to becoming General!
But…
After just one hour on the job, reality hit her like a truck.
What the heck?! Why is there SO MUCH to do?!
Fu Xuan stared at the mountain of official documents on her desk, utterly dazed.
This wasn't what she signed up for! Nobody said being General was this exhausting!
What Fu Xuan didn't know was that being a general normally wasn't this hard—you just had to guide the big picture.
But right now, the Luofu was in the middle of reconstruction, so of course there were tons of tasks.
Which is why Fu Xuan felt like she was drowning in work.
She sighed and quietly picked up her pen, continuing to review the paperwork.
Meanwhile, back in Ye Yun's store reception room—
Jing Yuan was sipping tea and playing chess.
Ye Yun had even brought over a variety of desserts. Play a move, nibble a treat, sip some tea—what a life!
***
At noon, Stelle and March 7th heard that Jing Yuan was still in Ye Yun's shop, so they didn't dare to return for lunch. The group asked Ye Yun to open a portal, and they went to Liyue Harbor to play.
The girls had just finished lunch made by Xiangling at Wanmin Hall. They met Keqing on the way, who was also invited to join them for lunch.
When Keqing saw the portal at Xiangling's house, she was delighted. Now she and Ningguang and Yelan could often visit Ye Yun's shop. Unlike Hu Tao and Zhongli, the three of them held important positions, so it was troublesome for them to visit Ye Yun's shop. They had to first go to Jueyun Karst, which was time-consuming.
Stelle let out a satisfied burp and leaned back in her chair, slowly rubbing her stomach with her right hand.
"Ah, Xiangling, your boiled perch is really delicious!"
Xiangling was happy to hear Stelle compliment her cooking.
"I'm glad you like it! By the way, you all chat for a bit; I'm going down to try a new dish. I just bought a lot of ingredients from other worlds at Ye Yun's shop."
Xiangling had spent the whole night yesterday scavenging treasure chests and earned over 6,000 star coins.
She had bought 10 cookbooks, a storage ring, and used the rest of the money to buy ingredients from other worlds.
These ingredients were all stored in the storage ring.
The girls saw how useful Xiangling's storage ring was, and they each bought one.
For those with Vision, like Amber, it was fine because they could store weapons.
For others like Stelle, they used space-folding bags sold by the Interstellar Peace Company.
These bags were small and could only store weapons, and they were extremely expensive.
Keqing glanced at the group and asked, "Have you all decided what to do this afternoon?"
Star looked at Hu Tao.
"Hu Tao, do you know of any fun places in Liyue?"
Hu Tao thought for a moment.
"Let me think... hmm."
After about a minute, Hu Tao raised her head and shrugged.
"I don't really know. I'm a local, so some places might seem fun to you, but to me, they're just... okay."
The girls were a bit troubled. If Jing Yuan hadn't known that Stellar Jade could be exchanged for star coins, it would have been fine, and they could have continued collecting star coins.
But now that he knew, they certainly wouldn't dare to continue.
Stelle took out the "Advanced Spirit" she had won from a lottery.
"Sigh, I was planning to hatch this Advanced Spiri today, but I got distracted and forgot to put it in."
Just then, Hu Tao's phone rang, and she checked it.
"Why is Zhongli calling me?"
Hu Tao answered the phone, and Zhongli's voice came through.
"I'll send Klee and the others to your place soon. Please look after them for the afternoon. Remember to come back to the shop for dinner."
After finishing, Zhongli hung up the phone.
Hu Tao stared at the phone in a daze.
March 7th, standing nearby, asked curiously, "Hu Tao, what did Zhongli say?"
Hu Tao snapped out of her daze.
"Nothing. He just asked us to look after Klee and the others. Apparently, Ye Yun has something to do."
The girls were all confused. "Take care of kids? Are you sure?"
Soon, their confusion was cleared up.
Zhongli walked through Xiangling's portal with the four little ones following him. Behind them was Rios.
Rios was carrying the four little ones on his back, and they were happily playing and laughing.
Zhongli said, "Ye Yun, Mr. Welt, and General Jing Yuan have something to do this afternoon.
Himeko will be taking Clara for an experiment, so I need you all to look after Klee and the others this afternoon."
After saying that, Zhongli turned and walked back into the portal, not giving the girls a chance to refuse.
Zhongli returned to the shop and headed straight for the reception room.
At that moment, in the reception room, Ye Yun and Jing Yuan were seriously playing chess.
Yes! The four of them had decided to have a big chess match this afternoon to settle who was the best.
Back at Wanmin Hall, Hu Tao and the others had no choice but to take on the task.
Hu Tao patted Klee's little head.
"Klee, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
Klee thought for a moment and replied, "Klee wants to go fish bombing!"
Hu Tao was delighted.
"Ah, that's a good idea! Bombing fish is so fun!"
"I know where we're going! We're going to the Sea of Clouds! There are a lot of big fish there. If we're lucky, we might even bump into Beidou, and we can take her ship out to sea. How about it?"
The girls thought this plan was feasible.
So they all helped clean up the table and chairs and then said goodbye to Xiangling before heading towards the Sea of Clouds.
After leaving Wanmin Hall, Keqing bid them farewell, saying she had something to take care of.
Hu Tao, Stelle, and the others didn't stay either. After all, Keqing was a busy person, unlike them.
Soon, Hu Tao, Stelle, Lumine, Amber, Eula, Paimon, and March 7th boarded the boat heading to the Sea of Clouds with the four little ones and Rios.
At Jade Chamber.
Ningguang was counting the raw ores in the room, which were gathered by her subordinates recently.
She planned to go to Ye Yun's shop tomorrow or the day after to buy some things.
Just then, there was a noise outside the room, and Keqing walked in.
"Ningguang, good news! There's a portal in Liyue Harbor now."
Ningguang was delighted.
"Really? Where is it? How did it come about?"
Keqing said, "From now on, Xiangling will be in charge of breakfast at the shop, and Ye Yun gave her a portal to make it easier for her to get to the shop."
Ningguang recalled Xiangling upon hearing this.
That little girl was a disciple of the Immortal family, a genuine Liyue person, and her personality was very likable. Her cooking skills were so good that everyone in Liyue praised her.
"I see. It seems we're benefiting from Xiangling's generosity as well."
Keqing smiled slightly.
"Indeed. Ningguang, I'm thinking of sending a team of Qianyan troops to guard that portal. What do you think?"
Ningguang shook her head slightly.
"No, that will only draw attention to the portal."
"How about this? I'll ask Yelan to change her office location. What do you think?"
Keqing thought for a moment and said, "That works. I'll go check who owns the property next to Wanmin Hall."
Ningguang smiled.
"You don't need to ask. It's mine."
Keqing inhaled deeply and looked at Ningguang.
"As expected of you, the Tianquan of Liyue, wealthy and powerful."
Ningguang smiled slightly.
"Thank you for the compliment.
Alright, no more joking. Come help me count the ores, and tomorrow, we'll go to Ye Yun's shop to buy some things."
Keqing nodded and helped Ningguang count the ores.
The last batch of Qianyan soldiers who practiced the Golden Body Tempering Technique with the earth-style martial arts Ye Yun had provided were now ready.
Ningguang had hidden them at Nan Tianmen to keep them out of sight, as it was a remote and dangerous place, making it perfect for training.