Genshin Impact: Liyue's Strongest Thousand Rock Army

"Who do you like?"

"I don't have anyone I like, right?"

“Who is the person I like?”

Three questions came out of Bai Shi Bai Xiao's mouth in succession. If it weren't for the good sound insulation, I'm afraid they could be heard half a block away.

As soon as he finished speaking, it was Ningguang and Baiwen's turn to look at each other. The former's cheeks suddenly turned red, and the latter couldn't help laughing.

"Ms. Ningguang, who do we like?" Bai Shi and Bai Xiao looked at their boss who suddenly blushed for some reason.

Ningguang cleared her throat and fanned herself with her hands, her eyes flickering. "Don't you like Su Ping? You were arguing about him this morning."

"No." Another two responded in unison.

Bai Xiao thought for a moment and then explained, "At most I consider him my younger brother, but it's not that serious!"

"That's right, who would fall in love with a boy younger than themselves?" Bai Shi also curled his lips, indicating that he didn't like the boy at all.

"Really?" Ningguang smiled, but no matter how you looked at it, it looked very awkward, as if she was about to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Bai Wen smiled without saying a word. Where the three people couldn't see him, he shook his head gently, as if he was sighing, or gloating over someone else's misfortune.

Ningguang asked again: "Really... no?"

"Really not!" The two girls answered in unison. At this time, their front was still very united.

Ningguang could only nod, thinking to herself, "So that's how it is. My thoughts are similar to theirs... Fortunately, it didn't turn out to be such a bloody mess!"

The young man in the room downstairs was still writing furiously, completely unaware that the girls upstairs had just discussed whether or not he was liked by anyone.

It’s a good thing that he doesn’t know yet, otherwise, regardless of whether it hurts anyone or not, he will definitely be wondering why there are several more sisters.

……

As the Lantern Festival approaches, every household in Liyue puts up Spring Festival couplets and hangs up lanterns. There are tens of millions of pedestrians on the streets, and ships are constantly coming into the docks and ports, representing the wanderers returning home.

In the grocery store at the end of the commercial street, the homeless boy will spend this New Year and the rest of his New Year in Liyue Harbor.

On the day of the Lantern Festival, only one side of the grocery store's door was open, while the other side was closed, which meant that the store was not open for business.

Of course, if there are still customers coming to the shop on that day, the door of the shop will be open, because guests are here, so how can we chase them away?

As for Su Ping, he spent two months writing two volumes. He worked almost non-stop from morning to night. Apart from eating and sleeping, he just looked after the shop and wrote books.

The manuscript also passed through the eyes of the two girls before being returned to Su Ping and taken to Wanwen Collection for updating and publication, just like some kind of process.

In the backyard of the shop, Su Ping moved a chair and sat in the yard to bask in the warm winter sun. Although this winter was not very cold, he only wore a thin coat with a little fleece, but he still felt more comfortable in the sun.

The warm light shines on the boy's slightly dark face, covering up the slight flaws. However, the boy's lazy look as he dozes off with his eyes half closed seems quite good to some people.

The morning had passed and it was noon. In front of most gates, there were adults and children weaving lanterns, and the children would run together to light firecrackers, which were not prohibited in Liyue Harbor.

Over at the grocery store, three clever women named Baiwen, Baixiao and Baishi were also weaving sky lanterns. The lanterns were almost the same size because it was not difficult for them.

While they were busy in front of the door, some people were still lazing around in the backyard. Their boss was sitting not far away, watching that person, also very lazy.

Perhaps because she felt that this scene was joyful, Ningguang stood up and walked to the young man, saying softly, "It's not a good thing for you to act like an old grandfather at such a young age."

Su Ping opened his eyes slightly, and realized that his gaze was not polite, so he turned his head to look at his room. He should be in his forties, and said lightly: "It's okay."

"You look youthful and energetic at all, without the energy a teenager should have. Are you sure you're okay?" Ningguang crossed her arms, looked at the young man who was sitting on the chair and couldn't get up, and shook her head and sighed.

Su Ping listened to this statement, which seemed to have been said before, and smiled: "A man is a young man until he dies, but he will get tired after doing this for a long time, and when he is tired, he will want to rest. When he wants to rest, he will be like me. So why not do this?"

“What a twisted idea!” Ningguang cursed with a smile, then looked at the empty little room next to the door frame and said slowly, “You haven’t put up the Spring Festival couplets yet. Go to the store and pick out a pair you like and put it up.”

"Are there any left in the store?" Su Ping asked.

“Of course.” Ningguang then added, “It’s better to be prepared.”

"Miss Ningguang is very smart." Su Ping praised, and then asked: "You don't charge money, right?"

"If I had accepted it, would I have had to argue with you for so long?" Ningguang rolled her eyes at him, looking charming and coquettish.

"That's right. Thank you, Miss Ningguang."

Su Ping stood up suddenly, stretched his body, went to the store to pick out a pair, took the paste bucket, and returned to the yard.

Ningguang looked at the ordinary handwritten Spring Festival couplets with black characters on a red background in his hand, without any borders or other decorations, and felt indescribable feelings in her heart.

I was somewhat glad that he didn't take the expensive one, but at the same time I felt a little disappointed that he didn't take the more expensive one. It obviously wasn't that expensive, so why didn't he take it?

Ningguang, who was smart and clear-minded, couldn't think of an answer no matter how hard she tried. Seeing that the boy was about to put up the ordinary couplets, she had no choice but to ask, "Why don't you take something better?"

Su Ping turned around and asked with a puzzled look: "Isn't this one good?"

"No, of course the goods in the shop are all good, but the more expensive ones look festive after all. This one is really a bit monotonous." Ningguang looked down at the bulge in her clothes and the small area in front of her toes.

Su Ping thought that he was the one who liked this one, which made the other party think that he was too thrifty, and indirectly caused Ningguang, the shop owner, to be stingy, so he explained: "In fact, whether it is expensive or not, whether it is good or not, mainly depends on the person.

My family used to buy long red paper strips with words written by me, so I can’t say whether they are good or not, but they are definitely not expensive.”

What he meant was that he had preferred this kind of handwriting since he was a child, so it had nothing to do with the money involved, and he hoped the other party would not be suspicious.

However, Ningguang's cleverness backfired as she paid attention to the wrong place and just stood there in a daze without saying a word.

Su Ping didn't care and turned around to put up the Spring Festival couplets. The door of the house was not too high. He could touch the door frame above with just his hands, so there was no need to pull a stool to support his feet.

After the banners and vertical couplets were pasted, Su Ping returned to the store with the paste bucket. The woman, who had been a little absent-minded since a while ago, finally recovered and looked at the pasted couplets, then turned back to look at his tall back.

"So... you've already treated this place as your home." Ningguang murmured in her heart, not knowing at all that she had misunderstood, and not knowing whether she was clear whether she had treated the other party as a younger brother, or something else.

Ningguang is sixteen years old this year, and will be seventeen after the Lantern Festival. This is the time when a girl is moving towards a mature woman. At this age, it is an emotionally hazy stage that is difficult to overcome even if one is mentally mature.

Perhaps an unintentional action, a casual word, or even a glance back from the other party are enough for them to conceive a drama of life.

But compared to Bai Shi who was so "unbridled", Ningguang was still more controlled. She was simply thinking about what gift to give to her child for the New Year.

While she was standing there thinking, Su Ping went to the front of the shop to help make a few sky lanterns, and then she was freed and returned to the backyard.

Before he stepped into the backyard, he saw Ningguang standing in front of his house, staring at something in a daze, and he couldn't help but feel confused.

What's so good about your own house?

"Miss Ningguang, what are you looking at?" Su Ping walked closer and asked.

Ningguang raised her head slightly, glanced at him, then retracted her gaze and settled on the couplets. She said slowly, "Look at the house. Why didn't I notice it before? This house is built quite well."

Su Ping narrowed his eyes slightly. Even though he didn't understand what the other party meant, he could only agree with him once or twice, saying that it was true.

Ningguang smiled slightly, as if peach blossoms bloomed in winter, making people feel like they were bathed in the spring breeze. A young man smiled along with her, and his naive look was very much like that of a middle-aged man.

"What are you laughing at?" Ningguang asked.

"What are you laughing at?" Su Ping asked back.

Ningguang's eyes flickered, and she pointed at the banana tree in the corner and said something nonsense: "I laugh at the banana tree for having no one to accompany it. It is lonely and helpless all year round!"

Su Ping looked at the two banana trees and really didn't see anything funny. However, he didn't want to disrupt the harmonious scene, so he said weakly: "But at least there are two of them together."

Ningguang looked at the boy's expression suddenly changing, and couldn't help but feel that she had said something wrong, so she quickly said, "In fact, banana also means unity and friendship, so sooner or later it will know where it belongs!"

"I know. Miss Ningguang, you must have forgotten that I am a writer. I have a deep understanding of the meaning of this kind of thing that ordinary people don't pay much attention to." Su Ping put his hands behind his back and said calmly: "Winter dies and summer is born again, year after year!"

Then the two of them were silent, each with their own thoughts, until noon, when Bai Wen Bai Xiao, who had prepared lunch, asked Bai Shi to invite the two people in the yard up. Only then did the dullness in the yard disappear.

"By the way, are you going to visit anyone's house this afternoon?"

"Yes, but I don't know what gifts to give, so I have to trouble Miss Ningguang to give me some suggestions."

"It's a small matter, but it depends on the person. I can only give you some objective information. If someone doesn't like it, you can't say it's my fault."

"Of course I know that. Sorry for the trouble."

In the afternoon, Su Ping and Ning Guang went out to buy things. As for the three people in the shop, they also had things to do, so they did not go out with them.

There were four households that Su Ping was going to visit, so he bought a lot of things. The two of them carried a lot of bags of different sizes on their shoulders and hands before they finally managed to get back to the grocery store.

It’s not that the things in my shop are not good, but who would give away some daily necessities during the Lantern Festival?