Speaking of making dumplings, a few days later it's Liyue's Lantern Rite—now we can go home and make dumplings!
Lucian is from Liyue, so naturally he celebrates the new year with Liyue. He's already prepared to go home and make dumplings.
Not only is he going home himself, he's "packing up" the whole of Teyvat and dragging all his friends along.
His house is going to be lively now. Not just the idle Adepti—anyone from any nation who wants to experience a Liyue New Year has been kidnapped by Lucian.
In short, everyone is at Lucian's house except Lucian himself—he's still out kidnapping more people across the world.
As for the New Year story, Lucian of course wrote one, but it will only be released on New Year's Day.
Some sharp, good-looking readers immediately ask: "Lantern Rite is already over—does writing a Lantern Rite story now still count as spoilers?"
Yes, because what Lucian wrote isn't this year's Lantern Rite, but a future one.
A few days later at Lucian's house, everyone sits in a circle, seemingly discussing something very important.
"Dumplings have to be cabbage and pork, right?" Lucian is a traditionalist.
"Eh? Can't we put dessert inside?" Furina is an innovator.
"What the heck? Barrier, what did you say to add?" Lucian is confused.
"Dessert! Yay!" Paimon supports her—she's team sweet.
"Then why not add more salt?" Havria is clearly team salty.
"You need salt anyway—why not add chili too? Spicy is the best." Yelan is team spicy.
Everyone argues passionately and refuses to yield. This is factional strife—this is the royal way!
Chongyun immediately objects: "No spice!"
Then he feels he spoke too quickly and sounded harsh, so he softens his tone. "Uh… I mean, can we not add chili?"
"Everyone stop arguing—let's hear what Marchosius has to say!" Guizhong hugs Guoba.
A cute girl hugging a cute "doll"—triple cuteness!
Guoba looks puzzled: "Lulu?"
"He says braised!" Hu Tao declares instantly.
"Braised is way too weird!" Xingqiu sighs helplessly.
The group debates the dumpling issue with great fervor. The "adults" who aren't participating just chat idly.
Oh, among those not participating is someone who isn't exactly an "adult"—that would be Tartaglia.
"Hey, hey, hey! Instead of making dumplings, wouldn't sparring with me be more fun?" Tartaglia raises his hand from the side.
"Little brother Kazuha, trade a few blows with me!"
He's been itching ever since reading the stories; now he's finally seized the chance.
Kaedehara Kazuha smiles gently. "Sorry, fighting isn't suitable when friends gather."
One sentence and Tartaglia wilts. He glances at Ei—Ei completely ignores him, sitting quietly beside Lucian, staring into space, looking extremely aloof.
As long as she doesn't speak, no one will know she's actually airheaded.
Everyone tosses out all sorts of bizarre ideas, but the discussion stays cheerful—after all, the chef is Xiangling, so it probably won't taste too bad.
Provided she doesn't add anything weird, like slimes or whopperflower nectar.
Only Tartaglia is suffering. So many experts here, yet no one will spar with him—this is torture!
My hands are itching, my skin is itching—please, someone stop me!
In contrast to his misery, Yae Miko is delighted—she's finally met the Ganyu and Jean she's always wanted to see.
No need for words; she immediately starts complaining about how hard work is.
Ganyu and Jean completely relate, and the three women happily start chatting.
Jean talks about work stress, Ganyu about life stress, and Yae Miko is special—she badmouths her god.
The other two can't really join in on that topic, especially Jean. If she badmouthed the Anemo Archon, her little sister would cry—no, definitely cry.
As the three women chat, stacks of official documents mysteriously appear in their hands.
"Hm, who would've thought we'd draft next year's Mondstadt liquor trade proposal here." Ganyu sighs in wonder.
"Yeah, Inazuma just ended the Sakoku Decree, and our 'first' diplomatic deal was settled here." Yae Miko giggles.
"I actually have a proposal regarding purchasing Inazuma blades." Jean adds.
Little Furina watches the three of them and wonders if she should have brought Neuvillette too.
Unfortunately, Neuvillette doesn't like attending festivals—he's a proud, solitary dragon.
Kitsune Saiguu looks at Yae Miko's group with gratification. She's really grown into a dependable palace master.
Sitting beside her is Makoto. The two "big sisters" both feel proud of their "little sisters'" growth.
Makoto gazes gently at Ei, her face full of unspoken pride.
That pride lasts right up until Ei speaks:
Raiden Ei: "I'll make them."
"..." Silence. Even Venti stops mid-drink.
The last time he stopped drinking was when he saw the title Before Sun and Moon. This shock is on par with that!
The old bard is already thinking about how to slip away—as long as Ei gets near the kitchen, he's gone.
"Ei… why don't you let big sister do it?" Raiden Makoto advises with a smile, though the smile is a little forced compared to earlier.
"It's fine. Furina taught me." Raiden Ei's eyes are exceptionally determined.
Everyone knows Ei—she's an ultra-stubborn donkey. Once she digs in her heels, almost no one can persuade her. All eyes turn to Furina.
How did you give her this courage to face the "six-eyed flying fish"?
You taught her? You really taught her? If you didn't, we're all dead!
Furina wants to cry but has no tears. She did try to teach, but she never expected Ei's foundation to be that bad.
Furina herself isn't some master chef—she only knows basic home cooking and desserts.
Asking her to teach Ei was really asking too much, yet for some reason, Ei seems very confident.
Ei is confident because she cooked once before—with Lucian. They tried together, then Lucian found someone to taste-test for her.
Lucian told her the tester didn't have much of a reaction afterward, which meant it was edible, right? She learned to cook! Perfect timing—big sister is back, time to show off!
Yes, Lucian did find a tester—Scaramouche. Scaramouche is a puppet, so he wouldn't die, but this year… probably wasn't a very happy one for him.
"Ei, in the future I've seen, if you're the one making dumplings, something bad will happen." Lucian says gravely.
He knows the truth best—he has to stop Ei. Lucian has never been this certain in a "prophecy"!
Bro, I was just playing around before—this time it's real!
Mona's eyes widen. A prophecy? When? How come I didn't see it? Now I suspect you're just faking it with me!!
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice-Over · Scaramouche: About Raiden Ei's Cooking
"...There are really so many things this woman isn't good at! Urk… don't make me remember it!"