The soft, fluffy dough quickly turned into long, thin noodles in Xiangling's delicate little hands.
Once the noodles had been blanched in the pot until cooked, she scooped them out, and with a bit of simple seasoning, they became a bowl of clear-broth ramen.
It looked absolutely delicious!
Seeing this ramen, the girls all couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
But none of them made a move for it.
Because the first bowl, of course, was for Ye Xi—the Master—to taste first.
Beaming with pride, Xiangling set the ramen down in front of Ye Xi, her face full of anticipation.
"Come on, give it a taste~"
"Clear-broth ramen, hm—light indeed, perfect for breakfast."
Ye Xi still remembered that, back in the real world, he used to go downstairs every morning to eat ramen.
In the earlier days, the ramen was hand-pulled by skilled masters themselves.
They would shake and swing it up and down without stopping, stretching the dough long, then folding it back together, then stretching it long again.
Over and over, many times, until the dough became strand after strand of pulled noodles.
Because this kind of noodle is stretched repeatedly, it's incredibly chewy and springy.
But later on, this craft grew rarer and rarer.
To handle the customer traffic and turn a profit, everyone switched to machines.
Pressed noodles and pulled noodles naturally don't have the same texture.
He picked up his chopsticks, lifted some noodles, and gave them a taste.
Those noodles—it was exactly the familiar texture from back in the day!
"Mm, not bad at all, though..."
Before Ye Xi could finish, Xiangling pulled out a bottle of vinegar and some chili oil, and said with a smile, "Though it's still missing a little spice, right!"
Over these past two days of observation, she had already figured it out—Ye Xi's palate leaned toward spicy food.
Ye Xi's eyes lit up, and he nodded again and again, giving Xiangling's slender little waist a pinch along the way. "You've got a read on my tastes already, this fast?"
"Hehe..."
"Your tastes are a lot like Sister Beidou's, except Sister Beidou can handle even spicier food."
Watching Xiangling and Ye Xi flirt and banter, the girls all put on a show of jealousy.
"Master, you won't go abandoning me now that you have Xiangling, will you~?"
"Xiangling, hurry and teach me how to cook!"
"Teach me too! I also want to get a grip on this guy's appetite!"
"Let me have a taste of the noodles—are they really this good~?"
Dehya took Ye Xi's chopsticks and snatched a mouthful of noodles right out from under him.
Her eyes lit up at once. "These noodles, so springy and chewy! Let me have another taste!"
Ye Xi gave Dehya's pert little bottom a peevish smack. "Getting bold, aren't you—daring to steal food from the Master's own bowl?"
"Heh heh heh..."
Dehya played dumb with a grin and kept on eating.
Seeing this, Xiangling said with a smile, "I'll go make more! It'll be ready in no time~"
"I'll help too!"
The girls rolled up their sleeves one after another and charged into the kitchen.
....
After breakfast, Beidou and Yae Miko were the first to head through the portal onto the cruiser.
They still had to direct the loading and unloading on site, to make sure they could set off for Inazuma as soon as possible.
The other girls went off to their work as they should.
Nahida and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata carried the cat off to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, while Ayexia and Setaria followed Nahida, going from the Sanctuary of Surasthana to the Akademiya.
Collei, meanwhile, brought Amber and Eula back to the old compound, and from there headed to the Avidya Forest.
After bidding farewell to each of his wives one by one, Ye Xi saw them out the door.
At this moment, Lumine came over too, with Paimon in tow, looking very much like she was about to head out.
"Where are you two off to?"
Hearing Ye Xi's question, Lumine spoke up. "I want to go see the desert!"
"Ever since I traveled to Sumeru, I still haven't been to the desert!"
Ye Xi nodded. "All right, stay safe."
He wasn't worried that Lumine would run into trouble—after all, Lumine could use the power of the Ley Lines to teleport.
If she met some sandstorm or disaster, one thought and she'd teleport away.
Whether she went to Sumeru City or Liyue Harbor, there'd be people to help her.
Lumine planted a kiss on Ye Xi's cheek, then scooped up Paimon and teleported off to Caravan Ribat.
Next, it was time for Ye Xi to set off as well.
He was going to take Klee along to play with bombs, and blow up a mountain while they were at it.
Lisa, meanwhile, was going with Keqing, Ningguang, and Ganyu to the Yuehai Pavilion to discuss matters of cooperation.
Xiangling, naturally, had to head back to the Wanmin Restaurant to cook.
That left, lastly, Dehya, Alusha, and Dunyarzad.
Ever since Dehya gave herself to Ye Xi, she'd done very little work for The Eremites, settling down obediently at home as a sweet little wife.
Still, she'd go out a few times now and then.
The three of them planned to tidy up the house, then go to Liyue to stroll around and shop.
And so, everyone stepped out through the portal in the Jade Chamber.
"Xiangling, if there's ever any trouble at the Wanmin Restaurant, remember to tell me—I can step in and handle it."
Ningguang was very satisfied with the light breakfast Xiangling had made, and now that they'd become one family, there was the bond of affection through Ye Xi.
There was no way she'd let the Wanmin Restaurant fare poorly.
Xiangling hurriedly nodded. "Got it, Ningguang!"
This change in how she addressed her left the three little secretaries—Baiwen and the others—astonished all at once.
To be close enough to call Ningguang by name so directly meant that Xiangling's status had undergone an enormous change as well.
The most likely reason was that it had something to do with Ye Xi.
In an instant, the little secretaries all grew a few degrees more respectful toward Xiangling..
Ye Xi, meanwhile, teased into Keqing's ear, "You hid it pretty deep yesterday, didn't you, Chef Ke."
"Xiangling told me she learned an awful lot from watching your performance."
"Eh!?"
Keqing's face flushed red, brimming with shame.
She thought back to what had happened at the hot spring last night, and it made her want to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
"D-don't say any more! I can't face anyone now!"
Ye Xi said softly with a smile, "How about this—tonight you join Xiangling, and I'll let you watch her too, how's that?"
"That way, you won't be the only one embarrassed."
Hearing Ye Xi's coaxing, patient persuasion, Keqing felt there was some sense to it.
Since Xiangling had watched her, then if she watched back, wouldn't that make them even?
Just as she was about to agree, she suddenly snapped to her senses.
"No, that's not right, not right at all! This way, wouldn't you be the one getting the huge bargain!"
"You wicked thing~!"
Thinking it over carefully, if she agreed, she'd be falling right into Ye Xi's trap!
The two of them together and all that—she'd never even tried it before, it was far too embarrassing!
Ye Xi hadn't expected Keqing not to be taken in, and at once said in a low voice, "Be good. I am the Master, after all—even if you won't, you will."
"Hmph~"
Keqing let out a soft little snort. "What's so great about being the Master!"
"Fine then, I'll just do as you say!"
"All you know how to do is bully people!"
Watching Keqing protest with her mouth while her body was perfectly obedient, Ye Xi couldn't help but want to laugh.
"Mm, a tough attitude, and what you say is rather charming."
"Then it's decided—wait for your reward tonight."
At that, Keqing gave Ye Xi a light little thump, her pretty face flushed crimson.
The thought of being together with Xiangling tonight made her feel mortified.
As they were talking, the Floating Stone arrived at Yujing Terrace.
The Millelith standing guard, seeing this scene, all let out cries of astonishment.
"Master Ye Xi spent the night at the Jade Chamber again last night!"
"Heavens, this time even Lady Keqing and Miss Ganyu were there too!"
"Ahhh, surrounded by so many beauties—how blissful his nights must be, isn't that just heaven on earth!?"
"The best part is having them all together! So envious, boohoo..."
"Look, you all—that little girl! Isn't that Xiangling, the little cook from the Wanmin Restaurant!?"
"Hssss... no way—that little cook's culinary skills rival those of the Liuli Pavilion and the Xinyue Kiosk!"
"When did she go up to the Jade Chamber!?"
"I heard from the brother on duty last night that the little cook was secretly brought up by Lady Keqing!"
"What!? There's something like that going on!"
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