"The wind tonight is somewhat clamorous."
Kaedehara Kazuha sat atop the mast, the sea breeze fluttering the hem of his maple-red clothes.
Beneath the mast, sailors ate grilled fish and sang songs while drinking wine.
Xinyan stood at the bow, her fingers dancing ceaselessly across the guitar strings. Passionate notes poured from the instrument, prompting the sailors to cheer and drink.
"Kazuha, stop getting blown about up there. Come down and have a drink," Beidou shouted, sitting on a reclining chair and taking a sip of wine.
"Coming."
Kaedehara Kazuha leaped down from the mast. The moment he landed, Anemo power gathered beneath his feet, allowing him to touch down steadily on the deck.
"Good moves, young brother Kazuha!"
"Tsk, no matter how many times I see it, I still think that move is so cool."
"I want a Vision too... Why won't Rex Lapis give me one?"
"You want a Vision just to show off? Do you think Rex Lapis would pay attention to you?"
"If he gave you a Geo Vision, you'd break your legs the moment you jumped down."
"Are you stupid? If I had a Geo Vision, I'd build myself a stone ladder to walk down."
"If you made a stone ladder that high just to walk down and act cool, Captain Beidou would definitely hang you from the gunwale to fish."
"Cough, cough, that seems true."
The crowd discussed spiritedly.
Kaedehara Kazuha smiled at the crowd, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then sat opposite Beidou.
At this moment, Xinyan also finished playing her music, set her guitar aside, and sat down beside Beidou.
"Sister Beidou, Kazuha, how did I play?"
"You played quite well," Beidou said with a hearty laugh, taking a sip of wine.
"It is indeed not bad. But are you sure you want to take a song like this to participate in that concert from Fang Qiu's book?" Kaedehara Kazuha hesitated for a moment and asked.
"It should be fine, right? The competition theme is April, and April can be passionate and fiery too."
Xinyan picked up a piece of fish, put it in her mouth, and said, "Music is all connected; it shouldn't be a problem. Besides, the important thing is participating. As long as I can get one more person to understand Rock 'n' Roll and become interested in it, that's a good thing."
"Thinking about it that way, my perspective was narrow." Kaedehara Kazuha nodded thoughtfully.
"Also, thank you, Sister Beidou. You're so good to specifically delay for a day to let me finish competing before we leave," Xinyan said.
"Small matter. It just so happens I need to procure more things in Inazuma to take back. I think the kimonos here are quite nice; I'll bring a set back for each of them." Beidou waved her hand and said.
Just as they were eating happily, two voices rang out.
"Sister Beidou, and everyone, I've come to play!"
"Yo, good evening."
The arrivals were a man and a woman, one tall and one short.
The shorter one was a young girl wearing an orange kimono, with bandages wrapped around her chest. She stepped onto the deck in geta clogs, making a clack-clack-clack sound.
The taller one was a tall and thin young man wearing black combat attire with a red vest over it. The young man was also holding a large, exquisite wooden crate. He followed behind the girl, stepping onto the deck together.
"Yoimiya, and Thoma, why have you come together?" Beidou asked.
"We met at the harbor, so we just came together. We were even stopped and questioned by Miss Kujou on the way," Naganohara Yoimiya said with a beaming smile.
"Is something the matter?" Kaedehara Kazuha asked.
Thoma was just preparing to speak when he was interrupted by Beidou.
"Sit down, eat and talk. Come taste the skill of our ship's cooks. Let me tell you, this is the recipe of our Liyue's top chef, Xiangling. Ordinary people can't get to eat this," Beidou said.
"Xiangling? I've heard the Traveler mention her. Supposedly a very famous chef in Liyue. No wonder this grilled fish smells so fragrant; so it's that chef's recipe." Thoma exclaimed in wonder. "Of course, for you chefs to recreate Miss Xiangling's cuisine so impressively, your culinary skills must be amazing too."
Hearing Thoma's praise, the cooks all felt a bit embarrassed.
"Alright, sit down quickly."
Beidou waved her hand, handed a pair of chopsticks to Thoma and Naganohara Yoimiya, and spoke.
"Then I shall respectfully accept," Thoma said as he sat down.
"Me too, me too! It smells so good!" Naganohara Yoimiya also sat down to the side.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, only then did Beidou inquire about their purpose in coming.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot. I'm here to send a letter on behalf of Miss Kamisato," Thoma said.
"It seems Miss Kamisato really likes Fang Qiu's books, to actually write a letter to Fang Qiu," Beidou smiled and said.
"Mhm, Miss Kamisato also said she looks forward to the day she can meet Miss Fang Qiu." Thoma smiled and said.
As he spoke, he moved the wooden crate onto the table.
Looking at the wooden crate, which was fully half a meter tall, the crowd held back for a long time before squeezing out a sentence.
"This is your letter?"
"Cough, cough, this wooden crate is something I personally want Captain Beidou to help ship over. The letter is here."
Thoma coughed, took a letter out of his bag, handed it to Beidou, and said, "I'll have to trouble Captain Beidou to bring the letter and this box to Miss Fang Qiu together."
"Then what is this box?" Beidou asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Hehe, it's some novels I like, as well as my letter to Miss Fang Qiu." Thoma said somewhat embarrassedly, "These past few days, I also read Miss Fang Qiu's books. Honestly speaking, they are written just too well. Even a grown man like me cried reading them. Kaori and Jack died so miserably."
Speaking of this, Naganohara Yoimiya aside him also nodded, expressing agreement.
"Yeah, yeah. I was sad for so long. I haven't been able to eat well recently; I always feel a lump in my chest," Naganohara Yoimiya added.
"Yoimiya, you read it too?" Beidou smiled with interest and asked.
"That's right, I bought the books together with Miss Kamisato." Naganohara Yoimiya sighed and said, "The ending was truly so sad, but it was completely different from those books I read before. I can't explain it clearly either. Anyway, it was just a very special feeling."
"Cough, cough. So, these novels are the type I want Miss Fang Qiu to write. Maybe after Miss Fang Qiu finishes reading them, she'll like this genre and then write books of this genre," Thoma coughed and said.
"Is that so? Alright then, I'll pass them on for you." Beidou nodded.
"Many thanks, Captain," Thoma smiled and said.
"Then what about you, Yoimiya?" Beidou asked.
"Hehe, Sister Beidou, I'm also here to commission you to bring a letter to Miss Fang Qiu."
Naganohara Yoimiya scratched the back of her head, then took out a letter from her clothes and spoke.
"Alright then, I'll bring it to her as well," Beidou said.
Yoimiya continued:
"Oh, right. I also stopped by to talk to you, Sister Beidou, about the progress of the fireworks customized for Liyue."
________________________________________
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