"Yanfei, let go!" Keqing hurried over and tried to pull her off him.
Ryou had been caught off guard too. Yanfei's grip was stronger than he expected, and he quickly grabbed both her wrists, trying to say something.
"Y-You...!" Yanfei's whole body trembled with rage.
Even at a time like this, this shameless man still dared to get ideas about her.
She really wanted to strangle him to death.
Ryou coughed, glared at Yanfei, and said, "You're seriously trying to murder me here. Believe it or not—"
"Enough. Can both of you stop for one second?" Keqing shot Ryou a look, then pulled Yanfei aside to sit down.
She poured her a cup of spiritual juice.
Yanfei was still furious over what Ryou had just done. As far as she was concerned, that man had never been anything good to begin with.
He had peeked at her in the bath, and now he even had thoughts about her.
He was completely outrageous.
Only after draining the spiritual juice did Yanfei start to calm down a little.
"Is it good?" Keqing asked with a smile. "If you like it, I'll pack some up for you to take home later."
"I... then thank you," Yanfei said.
Keqing turned to Ryou. "Ryou, go start cooking. I'll talk to Yanfei."
"Fine."
Ryou rubbed his neck, threw Yanfei one last look, and headed off.
After he left, Keqing held Yanfei's hand and said, "This time, Ryou was definitely in the wrong. I'll make him return your things later."
She paused, then continued softly, "Can't both of you take one step back? You're going to keep seeing each other anyway. Can you... just let this end here, for my sake?"
"No!"
Yanfei ground her teeth. "Keqing, stay out of this. If I don't get even with him somehow, I'll never swallow this anger!"
Seeing how worked up she still was, Keqing could only sigh.
There was nothing more she could say.
...
Meanwhile, Ryou headed into the kitchen.
He sent the servants away and stayed behind alone.
[Ryou: Alright, brothers, wake up.]
[Hand: Master, I don't know how to cook!]
[Eyes: I've only seen other people do it. Does that mean I can already make something dazzling?]
[Ears: Master, I want to ask for leave!]
[Nose: Boss, I want leave too.]
[Ryou: Fine, approved for tonight. But you still have to help me.]
[Hand: Say no more!]
[Eyes: No problem.]
...
[Ding! Hand entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! While Hand Darkened Mode is active, any dish you prepare will gain +1 quality!]
[Ding! Head entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! While Head Darkened Mode is active, you will automatically gain 1 point of spiritual energy every 5 seconds!]
[Ding! Kidney entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! While Kidney Darkened Mode is active, you have a chance to trigger Critical State. When Critical State triggers, damage increases by 200% for 10 minutes!]
Ryou stared at the notifications for a moment.
Something weird had clearly gotten mixed in there.
I asked for cooking buffs. Why the hell are you strengthening that part?
Pushing the thought aside, he waved a hand over the ingredients and infused them with spiritual energy before starting on the prep work.
Very soon, the first home-style dish was done.
Ryou picked up a bite, tasted it, and nodded.
"It's nowhere near the level of a place like Xinyue Kiosk, but it's decent."
With all the bonuses from [Head] and [Hand], his cooking had clearly improved, and the speed had gone up too.
"How's it going? Need help?"
Keqing walked in from outside, then froze when she saw several finished dishes already sitting there.
"So you really can cook. You were hiding that from me."
"Of course." Ryou grinned and winked at her. "You know how capable your husband is, don't you?"
"Smooth talker." Keqing picked up a pair of chopsticks and tried a bite.
The moment she swallowed, her eyes widened.
"Wow. This is really good. It's even better than what I make."
"Naturally."
Ryou put the lid back on the dish, then turned and pulled her into his arms.
"So, do you believe me now?"
"Mmm... fine, I believe you." Keqing's face turned red the moment she saw that look in his eyes. She weakly pushed at him. "What are you trying to do? There are so many people outside, mmph—"
The moment he kissed her, all the air seemed to melt out of her body, and she collapsed right into his arms.
Keqing's face was burning red. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Ryou... don't bully me anymore. We still have so many guests coming tonight."
Ryou kissed her for quite a while before finally letting her go.
"I'll let this one go. But doubt me again and see what happens."
"Mmm... alright. I understand. I-I'm going back to my room first."
Keqing's face was so hot it felt like it might catch fire. She forced herself out of his warm embrace, but the moment she put strength into her legs, she nearly stumbled.
Luckily, Ryou caught her in time.
"Bad man," Keqing muttered.
Ryou pinched her pale little cheek.
"You dare call me that? Believe it or not, I'll deal with you right here in the kitchen."
"Mmph! No, don't—Ryou, let me off, okay?" Keqing pushed at him with all her strength.
That only made him laugh.
After all, he had just heard the system prompt for Critical State activating.
No wonder Keqing's reaction had been so intense from just one kiss.
He gave her cheek another light pinch. "Just this once."
"Mm."
Keqing immediately clung to the doorframe and slowly made her way outside.
Only after taking a deep breath out there did she feel a little better, but that strange heat still hadn't gone away at all.
"Keqing, what's wrong with you?" someone outside called.
"Ganyu, help me over a bit." The moment Keqing saw her, she let out a breath of relief and quickly waved her over.
"I didn't do anything!"
"I didn't even ask!" Ganyu shot her a look, already seeming to understand what had happened. "Do you need to go back and change clothes?"
"Ganyu!" Keqing's whole face went crimson, as though it were burning.
"You, honestly..."
Ganyu could only shake her head and help her back toward her room.
...
"Ryou, I'm here to help!"
Before long, Xiangling's voice drifted in from outside the kitchen.
"I'm helping too!"
"Cousin, me too!"
"C-Cousin, I can help too!"
A moment later, Hu Tao, Chongyun, Xingqiu, and even Zhongli had all come in as well.
"Wow, these all smell amazing!" Xiangling's eyes lit up the moment she saw the dishes already in the kitchen.
She could tell at once that they had all been infused with a huge amount of spiritual energy. If they were finished properly, they were bound to taste incredible.
Even in places like Jueyun Karst, she could only get her hands on that kind of thing if she got lucky.
And yet Ryou had a whole pile of it right here at home.
Xiangling was seriously jealous.
"If you like it, I'll let you take some back later," Ryou said. "It's getting late anyway. Since we're all here, let's just cook together. It'll go faster."
Zhongli stepped forward first and moved to tend the fire.
"Consultant, you stole my spot!" Hu Tao got annoyed the second she saw him sit down in front of the stove. "If anyone should be in charge of the fire, it's me!"
Zhongli gave a dry cough. "Director, sit here beside me. We can handle it together."
"That's more like it." Hu Tao plopped down beside him.
Ryou shook his head at the sight, but with all of them helping, things really did get easier, and the whole kitchen grew lively in no time.
As he chopped vegetables, Ryou looked over at Zhongli.
"Nothing happened at the Ministry today, right?"
Zhongli leaned his head out from beside Hu Tao and said, "The Ministry's efficiency has gone up a great deal now. Even with how busy things were today, there wasn't any real backlog."
He continued, "There were a lot of miscellaneous affairs, but most of them were dealt with in just an hour or two."
"Mmph! That fast?!" Hu Tao looked genuinely surprised.
Then she puffed up and turned to glare at Zhongli.
"Consultant, when are you finally going to spend some real time helping out at Wangsheng again?"
"Director, I have to stay at the Ministry and keep an eye on things," Zhongli said with an awkward laugh.
"Hmph! Your heart's not with Wangsheng Funeral Parlor anymore!" Hu Tao glared at him and shoved another piece of firewood into the stove.
Zhongli could only laugh dryly to himself.
I barely have a moment to breathe at the Ministry all day, and now I'm still helping out in the kitchen at night. Do they think this is easy?
"That's good, then." Ryou looked away from them and turned to Xingqiu instead. "Weren't you in Mondstadt handling that lottery business? Why'd you suddenly come back?"
"Because something happened in Liyue, of course I had to come back and help, Cousin."
Xingqiu set the washed vegetables into the basket beside him.
"I've already arranged everything on that side. Give it seven days and it'll all be settled. I'm heading back out to Mondstadt again tomorrow."
"Xingqiu, what kind of washing is that? You barely rinsed them!" Chongyun snatched the vegetables away.
"Chongyun, these greens are full of spiritual energy. If you wash them too much, won't all the spiritual energy get rinsed off? A quick rinse is enough." Xingqiu took them back.
"That's nonsense. You just don't know how to wash vegetables!" Chongyun said angrily.
"Oh, honestly, the two of you..." Xiangling shoved her spatula aside, covered the pot, and squeezed in between them. "Move. I'll do it!"
Ryou laughed.
"You two are so bad at this even Xiangling can't stand watching anymore."
"Hahaha!" Hu Tao burst out laughing.
Zhongli glanced over at them and smiled too.
Ryou sliced up the rest of the vegetables, arranged them on a plate, then set some meat on the chopping board and cut off a portion before asking, "So you'll be back in seven days?"
"Definitely. Our guild knows this kind of thing inside out," Xingqiu said confidently, patting his chest.
"Good." Ryou smiled. "Then after seven days, I'll bring the entire Ministry of Civil Affairs over to Mondstadt to help you build some momentum."
Then he added, "It'll also be a good chance to let everyone at the Ministry relax properly for once."
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]