The delicious dishes soon arrived, fragrant and enticing.
Ken looked up: the blue sky framed by carved windows, verdant meadows and lakes in the distance, spinning leaves falling in leisure nearby, and before him sumptuous dishes and beauties like flowers—beautiful, carefree, and pleasant.
When gaming, he always loved Wangshu Inn's ambience.
Experiencing it now felt truly relaxing.
He'd bring Klee here someday.
Thinking of his daughter, he suddenly remembered tomorrow was Children's Day on Blue Star. Once today's matters wrapped up, he should visit his little girl… Wonder what she's been busy with lately, she's nowhere to be seen.
"Oh right, Ken—about using Abyss Mages to record videos, I asked for you. They want your barbecue seasoning formula in exchange."
Lumine remembered last night and told him.
Ken said, "Simple. Every time they finish a recording, I can provide some seasoning."
He had planned to freeload from brother-in-law, but filming once or twice is fine—too often is inconvenient. Better to make it a trade—reasonable and fair.
"They should be nearby. After we eat, let's go find them."
Happy she could help Ken, Lumine felt sweet inside.
After eating, Ken took out his phone and pulled up the prepped video.
Childe and Abyss Mage skits—without a killer hook—even if you record them, they won't be that popular. They're novel but not really good-looking. Whose 2D tastes are that weird?
Luckily, what he prepared would absolutely blow up when done by Abyss Mages—a perfect candidate for a meme video.
Wangshu Inn sits beside Dihua Marsh, which has many hilichurl camps.
Ken took Lumine and Paimon to the nearest camp. The two Abyss Mages from last night came hurrying over.
Thanks to their agreement with Lumine, their trip placement was a hilichurl camp near the inn. Seeing Lumine and Ken today, they were elated.
Worthy of His Highness's blood kin—so efficient. They'd made the deal last night and brought someone today.
"I'll tell them your terms."
After landing, Lumine slipped off Ken's waist and negotiated with the Abyss Mages using the phone video.
The requirement was simple:
Two Abyss Mages and a Blazing Axe Mitachurl doing the K-Pop Hunter dance.
But when they saw the dance in the video—clearly three pretty girls dancing—and heard men screaming occasionally, it was obvious this was a girls dance."
Yet Ken wanted the Mages and a hilichurl to dance it.
Does His Highness's brother-in-law have… special tastes?
He likes this?
Given how satisfied His Highness was with this brother-in-law, if Ken requested something, His Highness would likely indulge him.
Thinking that… the two Abyss Mages shivered. Their looks at Ken became very complicated. They babbled to Lumine—they were Mages with dignity and didn't want to sell their bodies for favor.
"What are they saying?"
He couldn't understand their blubbering, but he could guess.
These two definitely weren't saying anything good.
Looks like the system needs to give him a hand so he can draw the "Abyss Mage Language" soon. If they become in-laws with the Abyss, communication would be troublesome otherwise.
Lumine looked awkward: "Uh… nothing."
Saying "nothing," she immediately wanted to draw her sword. How dare these nasty Mages suggest Ken had a peculiar taste and ill intent toward them?
Insulting Ken's aesthetics, are we?
Even she hadn't found a chance to "get ahead of the line," yet those two were plastering gold on their own faces.
Intolerable.
Thankfully, the two sensed danger and apologized in time, then took the phone and agreed to the deal.
They would record some videos each month for Ken; in return, he'd pay a month's worth of seasonings.
After the deal, Ken took out a bunch of seasonings from his system space: Orleans mix, barbecue rubs, and so on.
Lumine roughly explained how to use them, then set a schedule: they'd come record in three days—so practice the dance.
Once everything was settled, Lumine left with Ken.
But they hadn't gone far when a Blazing Axe Mitachurl roared behind them: "I %@#%!"
A warrior may be killed but not humiliated—how dare they make him dance this?
And even wear women's clothes?!
Humiliation!
The roaring lasted over half a minute before the Abyss Mages "reasoned and emotionally persuaded" him with their staves.
"Pfft."
Hearing the howls, Lumine snickered. "Seems Blazing Axe isn't keen. But the Abyss Mages threatened curses—if he doesn't agree, they'll curse him. Agree or not, he'll have to."
Ken: "…"
Ahem.
Didn't expect Axe Bro to have such dignity.
Fortunately, he had Abyss resistance and many abilities—no need to fear curses.
Otherwise, one really needs to be careful of those sly dogs.
…
Back in Liyue Harbor, Lumine and Paimon went to find Tartaglia.
Ken returned to Liyue Specialty Hall.
As soon as he got back, Ferrylady, who watched the shop, sidled over. Not a beauty, but grinning impishly: "Sir, did something happen between you and our Director? When are you marrying her? Tell me!"
Ken looked baffled.
Ferrylady gestured meaningfully at her chest. "It used to be flat land, now it's slopes—something happened, right? You must take responsibility for our Director. Don't you dare deny it."
"You're overthinking." Ken had question marks all over.
So Hu Tao had returned to Liyue Harbor and been seen with her… falsified bosom.
But even so… what's it got to do with him?
Ferrylady put on an "I get it" face: "Don't pretend, sir. I heard from Ying'er that only after that kind of thing happens do certain places show visible changes!"
Ken: "Which Ying'er??"
"Ying'er from the Scent of Spring!"
"You believe what Miss Ying'er says?!"
No wonder Ferrylady asked such a thunderous question—she'd heard it from Ying'er. How can you trust Ying'er? Really.
"If it's about this topic and Ying'er said it, best not to believe it," Ken said, shaking his head. Even the purest girls get led astray by Ying'er.
She's Liyue's undisputed Queen of Moist!
Seeing Ferrylady's puzzled look, Ken headed to the inner courtyard. He didn't want that stare on him—as if he'd eaten clean and refused to acknowledge it.
…
In the inner courtyard, flowers were in bloom. He followed the winding stone path toward the rear, where few people went.
Creak—
Opening the back door, he found the treasure-weasels napping on the rugs. The door roused them; they opened wary eyes, then relaxed when they saw him.
He added feed and water, then closed the door.
These little guys were very useful—he had to take good care of their food and drink.
After checking on them, he didn't leave. His gaze landed on a nearby open space. Although the backyard was quiet, it was mostly piled with odds and ends—unlike the elegant front yard.
Thinking of his newly acquired planting skill and seeds for Qingxin and Glaze Lilies, Ken decided to plant.
These two flowers weren't common in Liyue Harbor—especially Glaze Lily.
Back before the Archon War, in the era when adepti and mortals coexisted in Liyue, Glaze Lilies covered the fertile lands of Guili Plains and Dihua Marsh.
But their greatest trait wasn't their slender beauty—it was that they loved song.
With beautiful melodies, they flourish. Amid mourning and strife, they grow weak, wither, yellow, and die.
Once, in the soft laughter and poetry of gods and the joyful play of Liyue's ancestors, those crystalline, glass-like blue blossoms bloomed quietly across the countryside, lush and full of life.
Sadly, with the Archon War's chaos and slaughter, the joyful voices vanished. Even the gentle God of Dust could not escape misfortune.
The once thriving Glaze Lilies withered away to dust under the war's pitiless elegy.
Even though the Lord of Geo replanted them in peace, thousands of years later they remain scarce. In all of Liyue Harbor, only a few grow near Yujing Terrace.
Their price is sky-high—fifty thousand Mora per bloom.
If he could grow them, even if not for profit, just enjoying them would be nice.
Given his tastes now, ordinary things no longer satisfied him—the rarer, the more he wanted to study them.
"It's a bit troublesome, but not too hard."
He knew their preferences. With Liyue at peace and his top-tier planting skill, a bit of care could let these endangered blossoms return to full glory in Liyue Harbor.
Decision made, Ken used a Vortex Gate to teleport to Qingce Village.
He remembered plenty of Glaze Lilies there. If they grew there, the soil and traits must suit them.
He dug a lot of fertile soil from the fields, brought it back, used Anemo to spread it, then sowed Glaze Lily and Qingxin seeds.
Whoosh—
He took out his phone, opened spotify, queued several dozen cheerful, happy songs, and looped them in the backyard.
The yard was large; the sound wouldn't carry outside.
By the time he finished, it was dusk.
Growing flowers looks simple, but each step takes care to raise beautiful blossoms.
Seeing the evening come on, Ken decided to go to Mondstadt.
He'd handled half of Liyue's matters; with Zhongli stepping in next, he didn't need to worry about Lumine's safety. Tomorrow was Children's Day—taking his little girl out was most important.
…
Knights of Favonius.
He teleported into the main hall and saw Kaeya speaking sternly, with little Klee listening, head down.
"Daddy!"
Seeing Ken, Klee's eyes lit up. She ran to him.
He bent down and picked her up, then smiled at Kaeya: "Sir Kaeya, did Klee do something wrong?"
"Klee nearly blew up the city gate today. Luckily the knights found out in time—otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable."
Ken looked at Klee: "What happened?"
Klee ducked her head, embarrassed. "Sorry, Daddy… After I absorbed the agates you gave me, I felt much stronger… so I spent a lot of time researching new Jumpy Dumpty… And… and they say the Mondstadt gate is the sturdiest thing in the city, so…"
"So you wanted to test your bombs on the gate?" Ken sighed, gently scolding: "Klee, you don't know how powerful your bombs are. If you blew up the gate, most of Mondstadt would be in danger. If monsters came, people would get hurt."
Klee lowered her head: "Klee knows. Klee won't dare do it again…"
"Good." He looked at Kaeya. "Sorry Klee caused trouble. I'll teach her."
Seeing him so courteous, Kaeya felt a bit embarrassed. "It's fine… We're family. Klee's just young and doesn't understand."
Not wanting to interrupt, Kaeya soon left.
Once he was gone, Ken set Klee down and said, "Daddy found a place for you to bomb fish. In a few days, you can blow up as many as you want. But never play Jumpy Dumpty inside the city again."
It wasn't that he didn't dote on her, but she was still young and needed guidance.
Otherwise, she'd blow up wherever she went—disaster.
"Klee knows! Klee will remember what Daddy said!"
Mischievous, but she knew right from wrong—and she knew she was wrong this time.
Whether she'd change next time… who knows.
"Good girl." He patted her head. "Tomorrow is Blue Star kids' holiday. Any wishes? Daddy can make them come true."
"Really? Klee wants Daddy and Mommy to play with Klee! Let's go to a big lake to bomb fish!"
Hearing it was a kids' day, Klee got excited. She'd been obsessed with researching new Jumpy Dumpty and hadn't had fun in a while!
As for those games… she still wanted to play with Mommy and Daddy.