On New Year's Eve, according to Xia Zhi's hotown tradition, people stayed up all night to "guard the year."
Xia Zhi thought about it but decided it wasn't necessary.
He let everyone head back to their rooms and sleep as usual.
Tonight, Miss Ganyu was staying over too, sharing a room with Shenhe.
Near midnight, Shenhe suddenly said she was a little hungry and wanted to grab a snack from the kitchen.
"Senior Sister, want anything?"
"Eating late at night isn't good. It makes you gain weight."
"No worries. With Boss around, a massage will fix that."
"In that case, I'll have two pieces of cake."
"Got it."
Shenhe nodded, pulled on her pajamas, and slipped out.
But she didn't head downstairs.
Instead, she quietly pulled out a [Silence Orb] and tiptoed to Xia Zhi's room.
She didn't knock.
She simply reached out and turned the doorknob.
Unlocked.
She smiled slightly and slipped inside, locking the door behind her.
There wasn't much more to say.
Except that the flavor of crossing into a new year… was quite wonderful.
"Boss…"
"Mm."
"I should go back. Senior Sister's waiting."
"Alright."
"Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year to you too."
Shenhe slipped back into her pajamas, pulled out the cake from her ring, and returned to her room.
Only ten minutes had passed.
Boss's ability to control ti flow is really sothing…
Shenhe entered casually. "Senior Sister, I'm back."
"Oh!"
"Here's your cake."
"Thanks."
Ganyu accepted it, giving Shenhe a few extra glances.
"Senior Sister?"
"Why do you… seem even prettier now?"
"Do I?"
"Yes. And your face looks a little flushed…"
"I ate sothing spicy in the kitchen."
"Your eyes look so bright and dewy too…"
"I'm wearing circle lenses."
"Your hair's ssy."
"I bumped into sothing."
"…"
Ganyu lowered her head and quietly ate her cake.
There was one thing she didn't say aloud:
Shenhe slls strongly of Mr. Xia.
Fine.
I saw nothing. I know nothing.
I thought I'd have to play matchmaker.
Turns out I'm bronze, and my junior sister's a king.
"Cough—cough—"
"Senior Sister, eat slowly. Don't choke. Here, have so water."
"Mm… thank you."
—
Later that night, they fell into dreams.
Inside the dream world: Xia Zhi, Shenhe, Xia Ci, Xia Zhen, and Ganyu.
Their first ti gathering all five together.
Naturally—they had to have an intense five-player ranked match.
First-person view gaming didn't make Ganyu dizzy, so she could join too.
Xia Zhi went jungle, Xia Zhen top lane, Xia Ci mid lane, Ganyu marksman, Shenhe support.
They stomped easy-mode bots without rcy.
Victory.
Xia Ci leaned back in her chair, hands off the keyboard, sighing. "Too easy. Cousin, let's try nightmare bots next."
Xia Zhi glanced at her. "You sure?"
"Positive!" Xia Ci nodded firmly.
Xia Zhen, still clueless, chid in eagerly, "Yeah, sothing more challenging! This ga's really fun!"
Xia Zhi sighed. "Alright…"
Then they got demolished by nightmare bots.
Base exploded.
Xia Zhen slumped in her chair. "Too strong… Cousin, let's go back to easy mode."
Xia Ci pointed at her. "It's your fault!"
"How's it my fault?"
"You picked that samurai guy and just kept feeding!"
"You're no better! All you did was plant grass in top lane with that big tree!"
"Please, for the love of the gods, stop playing Yasuo!"
"I'll play whoever I want!"
Absolute chaos.
Xia Zhi massaged his forehead.
Girls…
Was this what close friendships were like? Endless bickering?
Co to think of it—Ying'er and Ningguang were like that too…
Girls' friendships were truly mysterious.
He played as Lee Sin, a jungler, so he still managed to be sowhat useful.
anwhile, Ganyu and Shenhe played as Ashe and Blitzcrank.
Ganyu already knew Xia Zhen's true identity. After all, she'd seen Raiden Makoto at the Seven Archons gathering in the past.
Naturally, she dared not comnt casually.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's do easy bots again."
And so they gad all night, cycling through every champion, unleashing all kinds of chaotic builds.
"This was fun! Let's play again tomorrow night?"
"Miss Ganyu won't be staying tomorrow."
"That's fine! It's not far—just Yujing Terrace. She can dreamlink with us!"
"But we're heading to the construction site tomorrow. We might not co back at night."
"The construction site… Hey, why not invite Morax?"
"Forget it. No way he'd want to play gas. You're better off inviting Zhu Zi."
"True."
"What do you think, Cousin?"
"We'll see. Let's get up first."
"Ti to wake up!"
—
Waking from the dream world, Xia Zhi lay in bed a mont before hearing a knock at the door.
Opening it, he found Shenhe standing there.
"Boss, Senior Sister went downstairs to wash up."
"…I see."
There wasn't much else.
Except that Shenhe was truly hardworking—even on the first morning of the new year, she was practicing her spear forms.
Heading downstairs, they saw Zhu Zi and Diona returning from grocery shopping, carrying a few lively big fish.
"Boss, these are from Brother Liu! He said they're a gift!"
"Mm, I know."
"I also bought a newspaper! Boss, wanna hear the headlines?"
"Anything interesting?"
"There is! Listen: 'On the final day of the year, Tianquan Star Ningguang and Yuheng Star Keqing, along with several Adepti, offered incense at Yiyan Hall, praying for Liyue's future!'"
…Huh?
Xia Zhi glanced at the paper.
There was even a photo.
Sure enough—it was the one Charlotte had taken yesterday afternoon.
Though, to be fair, the Adepti had been pixelated.
---
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