Time flowed slowly by, and in a flash, night fell upon Liyue.
Wangsheng Funeral Parlor remained quiet.
Zhongli turned the pages of his book. Just as he was reading carefully, a clamor arose from outside the window.
"Finally done with work. I haven't been back to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in days; I actually kind of missed it. Eh! Who changed my promotional slogan! They actually took advantage of my absence to change my slogan!"
"I've wanted to say this for a while—the current slogan is the normal one, right!"
"What's so good about a cold and gloomy slogan? 'Wangsheng Funeral Parlor Regular Grand Sale: Buy One Get One Free, Buy Two Get Three Free, The More You Buy The More You Get.' A slogan like that is what truly moves people's hearts."
"But an organization that conducts funeral rites generally leaves a cold and solemn impression, doesn't it?"
"Xiangling, you sound just like Old Meng. If we do that, wouldn't there be no sense of anything refreshing and new?"
"Why does Wangsheng Funeral Parlor need to feel refreshing and new!"
"Xiangling, that sentence is just like Old Meng too. Your thinking is too limited. Another day, let me write a promotional slogan for your Wanmin Restaurant. I guarantee it will make Wanmin Restaurant explode with popularity across all of Liyue. Fang Qiu, tell me, am I right?"
Listening to the familiar voices, Zhongli sighed slightly, stood up, and walked to the window to look out at the front gate of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
He saw three girls gathering in front of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor signboard, discussing something.
Zhongli shook his head, closed the window, then sat back down at his desk and continued reading.
...
Indeed, the ones in front of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor were none other than Fang Qiu, Hu Tao, and Xiangling.
After finishing dinner at the construction site, Hu Tao and Xiangling had greeted Keqing, saying they hadn't played with Fang Qiu in a long time and wanted to accompany her back to Liyue Harbor for a stroll.
Hu Tao and Xiangling had also invited Keqing to join them.
However, Keqing politely declined, saying construction at the site had to continue shortly.
At first, Fang Qiu thought this was a mandatory requirement from Keqing, but she later learned that it was actually overtime requested by the workers.
Because this tunnel project was not paying workers by the day, but rather by the entire project.
In other words, no matter how many days they worked, the pay was the same.
Under these circumstances, the workers naturally wanted to finish the project as early as possible.
After all, time is money.
By working an extra two hours of overtime each day, they could finish a bit earlier and move on to the next project to earn money sooner.
Keqing, meanwhile, had stayed behind voluntarily to supervise.
This made Fang Qiu involuntarily feel a touch of admiration for Keqing.
However, before they left, Keqing mentioned that once she finished with the tunnel and the dry dock, as well as the project to open up the mountain road between Liyue and Mondstadt, they could go out shopping together then.
Although she didn't know when Keqing would be done with all that, Fang Qiu still happily agreed.
"'Buy One Get One Free, Buy Two Get Three Free, The More You Buy The More You Get'... this slogan really fits Hu Tao's style."
Facing Xiangling and Hu Tao's gazes, Fang Qiu chose not to answer directly. She gave a gentle smile and spoke softly.
Although evading the question is shameful, it is effective.
In truth, regarding Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's promotional slogan, Fang Qiu also felt it was somewhat inappropriate.
It felt just like inviting Xinyan to play guitar on a grave mound on the day of the funeral procession and burial.
Eh, hiss...
Speaking of which, the videos she watched in her past life actually had something like that.
Black pallbearers, a professional team.
Several Black men carrying a coffin on their shoulders, moving forward while dancing to the BGM.
Although this was a matter of local custom, in the eyes of average people, death was supposed to be solemn and respectful. Disco dancing on a grave or dancing while carrying a coffin felt a bit like a chaotic parody.
Consequently, those Black men became explosively popular for a long time, becoming the "traffic password" for internet virality back then.
It usually went like this: first, play a video of someone courting disaster. Just as the protagonist is about to court disaster, the intro to the coffin dance BGM starts playing. Then, after the protagonist in the video truly meets with a mishap, the screen immediately cuts to the video of the Black pallbearers dancing.
Thus, there was the saying: "When the Black brother smiles, life and death become unpredictable."
This matter absolutely could not be known by Hu Tao.
Although Hu Tao had always been very serious about funeral matters and wouldn't change the funeral rituals themselves, there was no guarantee she wouldn't hire a few employees to carry an empty coffin and dance to promote Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
If that happened, Fang Qiu's sin would be massive.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's not dwell on this issue. I'll have Old Meng change it back tomorrow."
Hu Tao waved her hand, then smiled and changed the subject, "Fang Qiu, where do you want to go strolling?"
"I want to buy some clothes. I want to buy something loose and comfortable to wear at home, something I can sleep in," Fang Qiu thought for a moment and said.
Wearing full distinct attire at home was uncomfortable and restricting, but wearing only undergarments was too cold.
Moreover, wearing only undergarments always made her feel a bit strange.
Therefore, she wanted to buy a set of those fluffy pajamas from her past life, preferably the kind with a hood.
That way, she wouldn't catch a cold while sleeping.
Nor would she wake up freezing because she was restless in her sleep and kicked off the blanket, leaving most of her body exposed to the cold air while wearing only thin undergarments.
"Clothes to sleep in, huh? I don't seem to know any shops like that..."
"I'm not too sure either. Eh, right! Let's go find Sister Ying'er and ask her?"
Xiangling said, "I heard Sister Ying'er's needlework is excellent. She definitely knows where to find what you want, Fang Qiu."
"Sister Ying'er?"
Fang Qiu froze slightly, a sense of foreboding breeding frantically in her heart.
The clothes Sister Ying'er had selected previously were still sitting in the deepest part of her wardrobe; she was terrified that a guest visiting her home might accidentally see them.
Those clothes were almost the same as those "lingerie" outfits from her past life.
Just as she was planning to open her mouth to make a slight excuse, Hu Tao also nodded.
"That makes sense. Sister Ying'er is indeed very skilled in this area. The cheongsam she chose for Fang Qiu last time looked very beautiful."
Hu Tao spoke, grabbing Fang Qiu's hand and pulling her all the way out of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Xiangling followed closely behind.
Helpless, Fang Qiu could only sigh in her heart and give up resistance.
________________________________________
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