"N-Ningguang, if you've got something to say, then say it. Why are you closing the door?" Ryou asked as she walked straight up to him and stared him down.
"Did you pull some trick yesterday?"
"I had people test that wine afterward. An ordinary person would be flat on the floor after half a bottle."
"And yet you and Beidou chugged several bottles and were completely fine."
She leaned over him and asked, "Tell me. What did you do?"
"I don't know." Ryou shook his head.
"No, you definitely do."
Ningguang lowered her gaze to him and said, "I spent a long time picking that wine. In the end, all my effort went to waste. Don't you think you owe me some compensation?"
Her feelings were a mess.
And, more than that, she was amazed.
The moment she came in, she had felt a cool breeze in the room. It was comfortable in a way that made the whole office feel like a different world.
Outside, the summer heat was still blazing.
Inside, the air was cool and crisp.
The contrast was absurd.
And that was only one of the many strange things she had discovered about Ryou. Every time she saw him, she found herself more drawn in by him.
The more she thought about it, the more she envied Keqing.
What had Keqing ever done to deserve marrying a man like this?
Last night, Ningguang had thought she finally had a real chance.
Who would have guessed things would end up like that instead?
The wine refused to get anyone properly drunk, and afterward she had realized Ryou must have done something. Otherwise, there was no way things would have turned out so strangely.
"You... what are you trying to do?" Ryou asked, staring at her.
"Obviously, I'm here to collect my compensation."
Ningguang held his gaze for a moment, then took advantage of the split second before he could react and bent down to kiss him.
The kiss immediately felt different from what she expected.
As she kissed him, a stream of spiritual energy washed over her.
It flowed into her body and made her feel incredibly comfortable. The sensation was so strong that her head nearly spun.
So this man could do even this?
Ryou was completely dumbfounded.
Ningguang, you're one of the Liyue Qixing. Is it really appropriate for you to be taking advantage of me like this?
He tried to struggle, because although Keqing was not inside Yujing Terrace itself, she was working nearby on the cemetery site selection.
She could show up at any moment.
How the hell am I supposed to explain this to Keqing?
"Mmph—"
Ryou struggled harder, but Ningguang had already pressed her whole body against him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around him, with no intention of letting go.
After a long while, Ningguang finally released him.
She felt refreshed from head to toe. Even her mood had improved.
"Ningguang, you're basically a hooligan," Ryou said bitterly.
"That's not quite right." Ningguang smiled. "I'm not just taking advantage of you. I've wanted you for a long time."
With that, she sat down right in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Do you know what I regret most? Not making my move sooner. If I had spoken up back then, I'm sure your father would have agreed."
"If I'd acted first, Keqing and Huixin would never have had a chance. It's just a pity you became a married man first."
Then she smiled faintly.
"But that hardly matters, does it?"
"I know what you're thinking, so there's no need to pretend otherwise."
Ryou had to admit it—Ningguang's figure was incredible.
With her sitting in his lap, the weight of her body was impossible to ignore. The feeling was completely different from anyone else.
And then there was her voice.
Every sentence came out with a slightly different tone, a slightly different rhythm, and when it all flowed together, it felt like she could hook his heart right out of his chest.
It was maddening.
And far too hard to resist.
So much for his self-control.
Then again, most men probably would not have stayed calm in this situation either.
"Don't worry," Ningguang whispered. "I won't tell Keqing. And... I'm not like her."
"I've never believed in limiting myself to one husband. I don't mind sharing."
"You don't need to worry about Keqing either. I can handle her."
She leaned in, stared straight at him, and kissed him lightly on the lips again.
Then she gave him one more teasing touch, smiled, and rose to her feet.
"There's plenty of work waiting at Yujing Terrace. You helping me a little isn't too much to ask, is it?"
She shot him a look, turned, and walked out.
A sharp click rang out as the door shut behind her.
Ryou stared at the door and let out a long sigh.
"Ningguang really is a menace. She barged in, force-kissed me, took advantage of me, and by the time she left, she'd dumped a pile of work on me too!"
The more he thought about what had just happened, the less the heat in his body would go down. He picked up his tea and tried to suppress it that way.
The effect was almost nonexistent.
About ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Ryou called.
"Yujing Terrace just sent over a large batch of paperwork. They said we're supposed to help process it, and that... you already agreed to Ningguang's request." Zhongli stood at the door and looked at him.
Ryou set down his cup and sighed.
"One wrong step really does lead to another. Fine. Let them start processing it."
"Then... should it be counted toward bonuses?" Zhongli asked.
Ryou rose to his feet. "Come on. Let me see how much there is first."
The moment he walked out of the office, he heard one of the Yujing Terrace staff say excitedly, "Your Ministry is unbelievably cool in here."
"Could you let us work here too? Even if it's just a tiny corner, we'd take it. We... we can pay Mora!"
Ryou glanced at the group, then looked at the stack of documents and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Ningguang was far too ruthless.
There had to be at least five hundred files there.
Yujing Terrace did handle a lot of business, but this was excessive. And judging from the sheer volume, these were probably the difficult cases too.
At that moment, what Ryou regretted most was not pushing Ningguang away.
Yes, an older beauty like her was incredibly tempting.
But this workload was outrageous.
At a bare minimum, five hundred files meant five hundred bonus payments.
That was a mountain of Mora.
Even if he wasn't the one processing them personally, it still put serious pressure on him.
He glanced outside and told himself he absolutely needed to keep his distance from Ningguang from now on.
He had already figured out her pattern. She came with a purpose every time.
Sure, an older beauty was hard to resist. Sure, she smelled good, felt good, and made it hard to think straight.
But from beginning to end, she was the one who had forced him.
He had not done a thing.
Ryou looked at the Yujing Terrace staff and said, "Set the files down and go. I'll have people return them when they're done."
"Yes, Ryou-sama!"
None of them dared say more. They set everything down and left.
Ryou turned to his own people. "Get to work. You'll be rewarded for handling these too."
Then he shook his head and went back into his office.
But the more he thought about it, the clearer it became that this kind of spending could not continue forever.
Xingqiu had already left for Mondstadt that day, but it would still take time before the results showed up. And once the Mora payouts started, that would be another huge problem.
He needed to start making money fast.
Only that would solve the immediate crisis.
Then Ryou remembered the reward pack he had gotten from Shinobu. He took it out and looked through it, only to discover it contained strawberry seeds, watermelon seeds, Hami melon seeds, and durian seeds.
He entered the pocket world, planted them all, and watered them with spiritual water, raising their quality by +1.
Even with the planting buffs, their growth time only dropped so far. The shortest estimate was still around two months.
Looking at the fruit trees, Ryou suddenly had an idea.
What if I stacked three qi buffs on them at once? Could I cut it down to ten days?
[Ding! Mouth entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Mouth Darkened Mode active! You can now expand the number of qi clusters to five!]
[Ding! Kidney entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Kidney Darkened Mode active! Spiritual strength increased by 100%. Current total spiritual strength increased to 200%!]
...
Ryou's eyes lit up when he saw the prompts.
Beautiful.
He spat out two streams of qi at once.
[Qi! – Forced Growth]
[Effect: Shortens the growth cycle of crops, fruit, and similar plants by 65%!]
[Duration: 1 hour!]
[Qi! – Forced Growth]
[Effect: Shortens the growth cycle of crops, fruit, and similar plants by 65%!]
[Duration: 1 hour!]
Ryou watched the two streams of qi wrap around the fruit trees.
Then he looked again.
In almost an instant, the saplings rooted, sprouted, thickened, and grew into full trees. Thanks to their Supreme quality, they even began bearing fruit on the spot.
Ryou's eyes immediately brightened.
This effect was absolutely absurd.
He quickly harvested every piece of fruit one by one.
But the moment he stepped back out and picked up a watermelon to test the taste, everything went black.
He collapsed straight onto the desk.
"...Is Ryou in there?" a voice called from outside.
Then came Zhongli's reply.
"He's inside."
"Paimon, let's go."
When the door opened, Tabibito saw Ryou collapsed over the desk. Beside him sat a round green thing that looked strange at first glance.
"Ryou?" she called as she walked up.
"Tabibito... do you think he fell asleep?" Paimon asked uncertainly.
"Probably not."
Tabibito stepped over to him and poked him.
Only then did she realize he had actually passed out. He was completely motionless.
So she leaned down beside him to check whether he was still breathing—
"Tabibito!"
A voice suddenly shouted from the doorway.
"Who is it now?" Tabibito turned around.
Keqing was already standing there, glaring furiously.
"What did you do to my husband?"
"I didn't do anything!" Tabibito shot back, instantly annoyed.
"I knew it. You've been after my husband this whole time!" Keqing strode over, clearly ready to keep accusing her.
Tabibito glared right back.
"Keqing, the only reason I haven't made a move is because he's a married man. But you keep suspecting me over and over again."
She took a breath.
"Fine. Then I'll swear it right in front of you."
Before anyone could react, she lowered her head and kissed Ryou.
Then she scooped him up into her arms in one motion.
"Keqing, I'm taking your man!"
"Paimon, let's go!"
[End of chapter]
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