"Mr. Lin Ze went to Heyu Teahouse? Ah… what a shame.
The Yun-Han Opera Troupe is currently performing outside the city. Even if I hurried back now, I wouldn't reach Liyue Harbor before nightfall."
At Qingce Village, Yun Jin glanced at the diary panel and could only sigh helplessly.
Young, fair-skinned, and peerless on stage—her singing alone was enough to move all of Liyue.
Everyone respectfully called her "Sir Yun."
But at the end of the day, she was still just a girl in her youth.
She had been curious about Lin Ze for a long time now—not only because of the diary, but because of that mysterious Black Flag power of his.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans this time.
By the time Lin Ze arrived in Liyue, she had already reached the outskirts of Qingce Village for a performance. The show wasn't over yet—there was no way she could return.
They had missed each other.
Still… Yun Jin smiled faintly.
Her connections in Liyue were solid.
Once she returned, asking Hu Tao to make an introduction wouldn't be difficult at all.
There would be another chance.
Meanwhile, Lin Ze had already left the teahouse.
No Yun-Han Opera performance meant little reason to stay.
And frankly, the storyteller there didn't impress him much.
Not as good as Iron Tongue Tian, anyway.
So Lin Ze turned toward Iron Tongue Tian's stand instead.
Listen to stories, drink tea…
Then head to Wanmin Restaurant for lunch afterward.
Perfect.
With half his attention on the story and the other half wandering, Lin Ze opened his diary again.
[Iron Tongue Tian really is on another level. Way better than Heyu Teahouse.]
[Honestly, if Heyu didn't have Yun-Han Opera backing it, it'd probably have gone under ages ago.]
[Now this—this is life.]
[Tea, storytelling, no worries.]
[Might as well update the meme encyclopedia… maybe even write a short story.]
[What should I write…]
[Alright, let's go with the classic: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—never bully the poor youth."]
"Hey, that's a good line!"
"No—wait—never bully the poor girl!"
"One day, Liyue Harbor will definitely accept rock 'n' roll!"
[Pfft—just thought of something.]
['Never bully the poor youth. Never bully the poor middle-aged. Never bully the poor elderly. The dead are sacred.']
"Ah—hold on…
Am I eventually going to end up as 'the dead are sacred' too?"
"…That's not reassuring at all."
[Forget it. I won't搬运 old-world works.]
[I'll just write my own novel for fun.]
[I've read so many—how hard can it be?]
[Chapter One: 'To return clarity to the world—']
[…Nope. Got influenced by the storyteller.]
[Scrap it. Later.]
[As the saying goes—when the road is uneven, take a detour~]
"That's it? You just give up?"
"Where's that determination you had when you ditched everything and started hand-crafting clothes?"
Keqing was not happy.
What happened to Lin Ze's perseverance?
But after a moment, she sighed.
Right—he was a full-blown hedonist now.
"'When the road is uneven, take a detour'? That's just running away."
[Running away might be shameful—but it works.]
"…Did he just respond to me?"
At the Kamisato Estate, Ayaka froze.
Had Lin Ze just answered her out loud through the diary?
She had just criticized that line—
And the next second, Lin Ze responded directly?!
[Haha—someone's definitely thinking I can hear their complaints.]
[But nope. This is just me predicting your prediction.]
[Using the diary to mess with people… truly brilliant of me.]
Lin Ze had no idea how many people were currently complaining about that line.
But he was sure at least one or two had fallen for it.
That alone put him in a fantastic mood.
Ayaka, on the other hand, was not amused in the slightest.
She hadn't even met him—and she'd already been toyed with from afar.
Who was she supposed to complain to?!
Her face flushed red with frustration.
Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her cheeks and forced herself to calm down.
That's it. No diary today.
She would focus on her duties as the Shirasagi Himegimi instead.
Three minutes later—
"…Just one more look."
"Just one. I swear."
Time passed quietly.
By nightfall, Lin Ze lounged in his courtyard, casually sipping ice-cold cola.
He was fairly certain that someone—after finishing their work—would come knocking tonight.
Especially those who already knew where he lived.
Honestly?
He was waiting for it.
Sure enough—
"Pardon the intrusion—Mr. Lin Ze—?!
S-Sir, why would you go this far?!
Keqing! You're fast—go get Doctor Baizhu, now!"
"…Huh?"
Things had escalated way faster than expected.
Lin Ze instantly raised several ice walls, stopping Keqing in her tracks.
"Wait, wait—what did I do?
Why are we calling Baizhu?!
He's a doctor, right? I'm fine!"
He stared blankly at the visibly flustered Ningguang, the confused Keqing, and the half-asleep Ganyu.
What on earth was happening?
"Sir, if you are unharmed—why are you drinking something so clearly toxic?"
Ningguang pointed at the glass in his hand.
In her eyes, the black liquid bubbling ominously was definitely poison.
In Teyvat, oddly colored drinks did exist—
But black, liquid, and bubbling?
Not a single one of those was safe.
Black alone might've been acceptable.
But bubbles?
Absolutely not.
"Ah… who decided black means poisonous?"
Lin Ze was speechless.
What kind of logic was that?
Abyssal energy was purple—did that mean grape juice was deadly too?
"…But it's bubbling."
Ganyu finally snapped out of her daze, tilting her head curiously as she stared at the half-full glass.
It smelled sweet.
But the appearance was… concerning.
"Carbonated water bubbles too.
And these bubbles are tiny—what's there to worry about?"
"That's exactly why it's worrying," Keqing replied seriously.
"If someone were poisoning a drink, why would they make the bubbles obvious?"
"…I—"
Lin Ze pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It's just cola. With ice."
"Cola's a beverage. I made it using Teyvat ingredients, so sure—it's not exactly the same as my original world's version."
"But from my perspective, it's pretty accurate."
"…Does it really look that deadly?"
He glanced down at the glass.
Black liquid. Gentle fizz.
"…Are poisonous things in Teyvat all supposed to look like this?"
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/GojoSatoru7