Amber put the thought aside and stopped worrying about it.
After finishing their bath, Xiangling mentioned she still had to go wash Guoba, and told Amber to head back to the room and rest first.
She also explained there was a hot-air mechanism by the bedside, invented by Master Cloud Retainer, to help dry hair.
Amber nodded, then went alone to Xiangling's room, and sure enough, spotted a long tube on the nightstand with a button on it. When she pressed it, hot air immediately blew out.
I can't believe even something this convenient exists!
What kind of life is Xiangling living, anyway?
Amber happily dried her hair, then crawled onto the bed — only to feel something hard under her pillow poking her in the head.
Huh?
Amber sat up, puzzled, and lifted the pillow, finding two novels hidden underneath.
Xiangling's into this kind of stuff now?
Amber picked up one curiously.
Cultivation: Starting with a Broken Engagement, by Rainy Night With a Blade But Without Umbrella.
What a weird title, and the author's name was pretty odd too.
Amber flipped it open.
The contents were written in Liyue script, just like the cover.
Amber was from Mondstadt, but her grandfather was from Liyue, so she'd learned Liyue language growing up.
Reading it posed no trouble at all.
"Immortal power? A cultivation novel? I wonder if it's like the stories Grandpa used to tell me about the Adepti…"
"The fiancée came to break off the engagement…whoa…"
"A ring, the soul of an immortal…this is fun…"
Amber had never read a power fantasy before, and found herself quickly getting drawn in.
Page after page flew by.
Soon, she reached some rather intense scenes.
Uh…uh…this was getting a bit off, wasn't it?
Amber's face turned a little awkward.
She read on.
Her cheeks reddened, a shy irritation creeping over her.
Wait, this…this is kind of…unhealthy?
She never imagined Xiangling liked reading this kind of stuff…
But she kept reading.
Amber's breathing grew gradually heavier.
Whoa…this author really knows what they're doing, huh?
At that moment, the door creaked open — someone was coming back.
Amber's heart stopped.
Crap! Xiangling's back!
She scrambled to close the book, shoved it back under the pillow, and replaced the pillow on top.
Just as she finished, Xiangling pushed the door open.
"Amber! I'm back!"
"U-uh!"
Amber turned around, trying to stay calm. "Mm, welcome back."
"Did you dry your hair? You figured out how to use that thing, right?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Your face is so red — probably from the hot air, right?"
"Y-yeah."
"Does it work okay?"
"It works great."
"Master Cloud Retainer's inventions might be weird sometimes, but they're pretty handy too."
Xiangling walked over, picked up the hot-air mechanism, and called, "Guoba, come here, let me dry your fur."
"Wuu!"
Amber sat at the bedside, watching Xiangling drying Guoba's fur, feeling the heat in her face slowly cool down.
She let out a silent sigh of relief.
Good — Xiangling hadn't noticed.
When Xiangling finished drying her own hair, she climbed into bed.
Amber was just about to lie down too, thinking they could whisper a bit before sleep, when she saw Xiangling flash a very mysterious smile.
She whispered, "Amber."
"Mm?"
"Wanna see something good?"
"What is it?"
Amber blinked in curiosity.
Then she saw Xiangling pull back the pillow, take out the two novels, and wave them proudly.
"Tada! These!"
Amber's expression went a bit stiff.
She pretended to see them for the first time. "Are those…novels?"
"Yup!"
"Um, I don't really read novels…"
"Who doesn't read novels? You just haven't found a good one yet!"
"Er…"
"These are really good!"
"Really?"
"Look, this one's a cultivation story — guess who wrote it?"
"Who?"
"Master!"
"Huh?"
Amber froze.
She stared at the very book she'd just been reading.
This time, she was genuinely shocked.
"Mr. Xia wrote this?"
Amber felt the calm, gentle image of Mr. Xia in her mind start to…crack a little.
Mr. Xia actually wrote something like that…
That was…way too surprising…
But to her own surprise, she didn't feel the slightest bit disgusted. In fact…there was a faint excitement in her heart.
It kind of made Mr. Xia feel…more real, closer to her.
"So? Feeling interested now?"
"A little…"
"Hehe, and this one!"
"He wrote that one too?"
"No, this one's by Zhu Zi."
"Zhu Zi?"
"Yeah, Zhu Zi. Personally I like Zhu Zi's book better — not that Master's book is bad, but Zhu Zi's is easier to get immersed in."
"Immersed?"
Amber hadn't checked this second book yet.
She took it from Xiangling, flipped through it, and saw it was about a love story between a female apprentice and her male master, who taught her to cook…
Female apprentice, male master, cooking…
Amber went silent, then looked up at Xiangling.
Yeah, that storyline was basically tailor-made for her, huh?
Talk about immersion cranked to the max!
"This is my bedtime reading. Which one do you want?"
"Me? Since you like this one, I'll read the other one."
"You'll love it!"
"Maybe."
Amber started reading again from the beginning
—
After finishing his bath, Xia Zhi returned to his own room.
He had a hot-air mechanism on his nightstand too.
Cloud Retainer had given everyone in the house one of these gadgets.
They weren't hard to make — a Pyro crystal for heat, an Anemo crystal for airflow, a simple switch, and a tube, done.
To Cloud Retainer, having her inventions appreciated by everyone was a real sense of accomplishment.
In fact, the inspiration had come to her while taking a break in an internet café to play games one night — she'd watched a movie where the characters used a hot-air dryer for their hair.
She was apparently also planning to recreate the movie's motorcycle.
That project even got support from Xia Ci and Xia Zhen, and the three of them were working on blueprints.
Maybe in a few days, they'd all be riding bikes through the hills of Mondstadt.
Xia Zhi picked up the dryer and started blowing his hair.
The air felt a bit too hot.
That was one small flaw — the device couldn't precisely regulate temperature yet, only blowing at a fixed setting.
Still, it worked fine for everyday use.
Since there were so many girls in the house, all with long hair that took ages to dry, a little gadget like this was a huge help.
After drying his hair, Xia Zhi sat on the bed and opened his inventory to take a look.
Inside sat a Golden Treasure Chest and a Silver Treasure Chest.
These were rewards he'd maxed out the progress bars on with Klee and Amber earlier tonight.
Whether to open the Silver Chest now didn't matter — he could save it as a prize for next time.
But the Golden Chest…might have something good.
Xia Zhi was about to open it, but then he noticed Ganyu standing outside his door through his god's eye.
Maybe…he'd let Ganyu open it instead.
With her luck, who knew what kind of perfect item she might pull for tonight — something to boost attack speed and crit rate, perhaps?
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