Under the glow of the brilliant lanterns, the flurries of shattered snow drifting across the sky seemed especially lonely.
The members of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe slowly stepped down from the stage.
Today's opera had come to an end.
Although Yun Jin had never once taken the stage from beginning to end, no one complained in the slightest—every one of them was immersed in the performance of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe.
"Boo-hoo-hoo... Yang Jian... how could he be so gentle... when I think about how he shouldered everything all by himself, I just can't help but want to cry... boo-hoo-hoo... and I even cursed him like that before..."
Paimon's eyes brimmed with tears. She kept wiping them away, but the moment she wiped them off, more welled up again.
"That scene where Yang Jian holds his mother and weeps was just too heart-wrenching... No wonder Yang Jian fought as if his life depended on it to stop Chen Xiang from Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother—it turns out he was afraid his nephew would walk the very same path he had. So he would rather bear all the blame and slander himself, if only to keep his nephew from splitting the mountain..."
Xiangling said, wiping away her tears too.
"That Chen Xiang and his father managed to survive at all was probably entirely thanks to Yang Jian's help. Otherwise, with the Jade Emperor's ruthless, merciless methods, he would surely have had them killed."
Hu Tao and Shenhe's eyes had gone slightly red as well.
Kaedehara Kazuha, meanwhile, let out a long breath and gazed toward the distant ocean, snowflakes fluttering all around.
"Fang Qiu, not bad at all—even I felt a little like crying watching it."
Beidou patted Fang Qiu on the shoulder, startling her so badly that her whole body gave a shudder.
"Sister Beidou..."
Fang Qiu turned her head and looked at Beidou's slightly narrowed eyes. The instant she opened her mouth to speak, tears slid uncontrollably down her fair cheeks, and a crystalline drop landed right on the back of Beidou's hand.
"How is it that you, the original author, are the one crying? I don't have anything like a handkerchief on me either."
Looking at Fang Qiu—as fragile as a Glaze Lily blooming with dew clinging to it, weeping like a pear blossom in the rain—Beidou suddenly couldn't bring herself to be fierce. Her tone softened considerably despite herself, and she was left torn between laughter and exasperation.
Whoever heard of writing a story to gut the readers, only to end up gutting yourself...
And crying like this, no less...
Paimon had originally wanted to settle the score properly with Fang Qiu—at the very least, Fang Qiu would have to treat her to three big feasts to make up for how upset she was. But seeing Fang Qiu like this, she suddenly couldn't get the words out. She had to hold it all in, and instead even stepped forward to comfort Fang Qiu.
Hu Tao and the others panicked a little too, all pulling out handkerchiefs to help wipe Fang Qiu's tears, so that for a moment three or four pairs of hands were all dabbing at Fang Qiu's face.
Luckily, Fang Qiu was naturally beautiful and wore no makeup. Had it been one of those made-up women from her previous life, a few hands wiping like that would have instantly turned her into a smeared-faced mess.
"Thank you."
Fang Qiu said gratefully, her eyes rimmed red.
She felt helpless about it too; she hadn't meant to cry. But watching scene after scene unfold on the stage, she simply, naturally, couldn't hold back the tears...
And yet, when she'd first told this story to Yun Jin, she hadn't felt particularly sad at all.
The members of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe were simply too talented. Even without Yun Jin, their leading star, they could still perform Yang Jian's Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother so flawlessly.
The joy of mother and son reuniting after Yang Jian split the mountain to save his mother.
The agony of being scorched by ten golden crows, and the resolve of mother and son to trade a life for a life.
Yang Jian's anguish and hysteria after his mother Yaoji died.
And in the end, bearing everything—the endless loneliness after he sealed away his own sister.
Every single scene struck at her tear ducts. Even though she knew this story by heart, she still couldn't help but cry.
The snow was still falling, and the guests gradually drifted away.
Yun Jin emerged from backstage too, her eyes rimmed red as well—she had clearly been crying. As she walked over, she shot Fang Qiu a rather resentful glance.
"Now that everyone's here, let's go to Wanmin Restaurant and have a proper meal. If I don't eat well, my heart just feels awful."
Paimon said.
"Mm, let's go. My treat."
Beidou said.
"Sister Beidou, let me pay instead."
Fang Qiu said.
"All right then, I won't stand on ceremony with you."
Beidou chuckled, then looked at Fang Qiu with slightly narrowed eyes and said, "I was actually going to wait until you stopped crying and then give you a proper talking-to—how dare you pull a plot twist like that on me. But since you're offering to treat us of your own accord, I'll let you off the hook today."
"Thank you, Sister Beidou."
Fang Qiu nodded, feeling a little awkward.
"Sister Beidou is so generous."
Hu Tao leaned in beside Fang Qiu, smiling with red-rimmed eyes.
"Yay! I want Boiled Black-Back Perch, dry-pot meat slices..."
Hearing that someone was treating, Paimon's eyes instantly lit up, and she started rattling off dish names again.
"No problem, order whatever you want."
Fang Qiu immediately cut off her chanting. Just as she was about to stand up, an unfriendly voice rang out behind her.
"Then can you count us in too?"
Fang Qiu turned to look and saw Bai Qing and a whole group of editors staring at her with resentful expressions.
Almost all of their eyes were bloodshot, tears still lingering at the rims.
"Uh?"
Just as Fang Qiu was about to speak, she noticed the expressions on Bai Qing and the others' faces gradually shift from resentment to shock, until at last they all froze on the spot.
Seeing their expressions, Fang Qiu couldn't help but pause.
Hm?
What's going on?
"Two... two Fang Qius? What is going on here?"
Li Yao, a female editor beside Bai Qing, was utterly stunned, stammering as she stared at Shenhe standing next to Fang Qiu.
Hearing this, Fang Qiu finally caught on. She turned her head to look and saw Shenhe frowning, gazing at the several female editors with a slightly hostile look.
Seeing Shenhe's expression, Fang Qiu's face changed slightly. Shenhe had the constitution of the Solitary Stars of Calamity, after all. Bai Qing and the others' none-too-friendly tone just now had probably caused Shenhe to misunderstand. She quickly, without leaving a trace, tugged at the hem of Shenhe's sleeve, then turned to Bai Qing and the others and greeted them with a smile: "Sister Bai, what a coincidence—so you came to watch the opera too? Oh, right, let me introduce her. Her name is Shenhe. She's a good friend of mine, and she looks a little like me."
"Shenhe?"
Hearing Fang Qiu's introduction, Bai Qing and the others exchanged glances, their eyes full of astonishment.
A little alike?
This is what she calls "a little alike"?
This is practically identical, isn't it?
This is basically another version of me from somewhere in the world...
Besides Shenhe, Fang Qiu introduced the others to them one by one.
When she got to Beidou, the several editors' eyes instantly lit up.
Beidou.
The Uncrowned Lord of the Ocean.
Captain of The Crux Fleet.
Renowned far and wide.
They had naturally heard of Beidou's name, and nearly whipped out paper and pen to ask for an autograph.
As for Master Yun—Yun Jin—there was of course no need to mention her; they all knew her, and some of the editors even knew Xinyan.
As for the famous Traveler and Paimon, there was even less need to bring them up—not to mention how the two of them had displayed their might so spectacularly in Liyue.
Because of book deliveries, they had already been to the Liyue Publishing House several times.
Then Fang Qiu introduced a few of the editors as well.
"So that's how it is."
Hu Tao's peach-blossom pupils rolled slightly as she said slyly, "Editors work so hard every single day too. I happen to have a certain service here—would you like to hear me tell you about it? You're all Fang Qiu's friends, which makes you my friends, and for friends, I can offer fifty percent off."
"Ahem, ahem, Hu Tao, let's talk business next time, shall we? There's plenty of time ahead."
Fang Qiu glanced at Bai Qing and the others' red eyes and hurriedly tugged at Hu Tao's sleeve.
Bringing up Wangsheng Funeral Parlor business with Bai Qing and the others at a time like this—no matter how you looked at it, that couldn't be a good idea.
"Mm, that works too."
Hu Tao spread her hands and said, "Next time it is, then."
Once she heard they were Fang Qiu's editors, Shenhe's furrowed brow relaxed as well.
"Since you're all here too, Sister Bai, then let's all go together."
Seeing this, Fang Qiu finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a soft laugh.
This really was all just too much.
"Mm."
Watching her several senior colleagues gaze at Beidou with faces full of admiration, Bai Qing shot a glance—both helpless and resentful—at Fang Qiu, who was watching her with a faint smile, then sighed and nodded.
What an undeserved calamity.
"Weathering With You" reached a perfect, happy ending.
Hina Amano and Hodaka Morishima ended up together in the grand finale.
Keisuke Suga grew his company bigger and stronger too, and often went out to have fun with his daughter.
Natsumi Suga found a job as well.
Beyond all this, "Weathering With You" also made up for the regret of the open-ended finale in "Your Name."
The regret of never getting to see Miyamizu Mitsuha and Tachibana Taki truly end up together.
In the past, after finishing Fang Qiu's books, she would either go drinking at the tavern with her senior colleagues and then head home, lie down, and fall right asleep.
Or she would go home alone, and when she lay in bed and closed her eyes, her mind would be filled with imagined scenes conjured from the words in Fang Qiu's books.
Miyazono Kaori dissolving into cherry blossoms and scattering on the wind.
Jack, his face covered in frost, sinking into the pitch-black ocean.
Jing Tian shouting at the sky that he didn't want to go, then collapsing with a thud, dying in Tang Xuejian's arms... well... that part she'd imagined herself, but she had not the slightest doubt that Fang Qiu would dare to write it that way.
Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari turning away and parting, never to see each other again.
In the pouring rain, on Qingluan Peak, Yun Tianhe, blind in both eyes, burying Han Lingsha—though Fang Qiu hadn't written it out, she could picture it all the same.
Hotaru Takegawa clutching Gin's clothes and weeping bitterly.
She had finally been looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight, coming along happily with her senior colleagues to watch "Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother II," thinking it would be a happy ending—but just look at what Fang Qiu had made her watch...
His father and brother brutally murdered; finally thinking he'd saved his mother only to indirectly cause her death; wanting revenge yet forced to give it up for his sister's sake; then having to serve the very enemy he hated; and in the end forced to endure the pain of sealing away the family member he loved most.
At the mere thought of the despair in Yang Jian's heart when—after being defeated by Chen Xiang and all the various immortals and gods—he watched Chen Xiang split open Mount Hua, she couldn't help but want to cry.
She wasn't going to sleep well tonight either...
Sigh.
She absolutely had to stuff herself later!
And so, they all made their way to Wanmin Restaurant.
Seeing his daughter bring so many people to Wanmin Restaurant, Chef Mao hurried over to greet them and pushed two tables together.
These past few days, the follow-up earnings from the films of "Your Name" and "Sword and Fairy 1" had come in. Not only had they cleared the remaining balance on the house, but there were still fifty million Mora left over.
Such a huge sum of money left Fang Qiu dazzled and dizzy.
But Fang Qiu didn't just let that money sit and rot in the bank. Instead, she discussed it with Miss Ningguang and poured the fifty million Mora, along with the follow-up earnings from those two works, entirely into Ningguang's entertainment empire.
Although it only earned her a very, very small share of stock—after all, Ningguang's sky-high investment far exceeded anything she could imagine—still, money begets money, and it was better than leaving it in the bank.
It was just that Miss Ningguang's entertainment empire had only barely gotten off the ground, so it would be hard to see any returns in the short term. But plenty of people wanted in and had no way to get there, so the fact that Ningguang had agreed already had Fang Qiu beside herself with joy.
After all, once Miss Ningguang's entertainment empire grew large, the income to follow would be absolutely terrifying.
In her previous life, there had been a certain Penguin company whose boss tried to sell it for a mere five hundred thousand and couldn't find a single buyer—and what a colossal behemoth it grew into later on?
A market value in the trillions...
The same went for a certain Treasure company—no one paid it any mind at first, and now it too boasted a market value in the trillions.
How many people dreamed of being reborn into the past just so they could buy up Penguin and Treasure.
So investing in Miss Ningguang's products now was an absolute killing!
The only pity was that "Sword and Fairy 1" and "Your Name" could be considered the works that had cracked open the market, so Miss Ningguang had offered a very high price. In the future, Miss Ningguang most likely wouldn't offer the same steep seventy-thirty split again, but only a normal rate.
It was a pity, but understandable.
As for the prices in her previous life—forget a seventy-thirty split; even handing the original author one million out of a box office of over a hundred million would already have been a display of conscience.
Of course, she hadn't been foolish enough to pour every last coin in.
After all, she never wanted to go back to the days when she first arrived on the Teyvat continent, unable to eat her fill or keep herself warm.
She still had a few hundred thousand Mora on hand, plus the book earnings she was about to receive.
She was still quite rich.
So Fang Qiu letting Paimon order to her heart's content wasn't because she didn't treat money as money.
For one, there really were a lot of people.
For another, this was the first gathering since the Lantern Rite, and Sister Beidou and the others were here too.
If it hadn't been for Sister Beidou introducing her, how could she ever have come to know Miss Ningguang, and how could she have bought such a big house and achieved financial freedom so early? So naturally she owed them extra thanks.
Besides, it also counted as supporting Xiangling's family business.
So, once Fang Qiu signaled for her to order even more, Paimon stopped holding back. Eyes shining, she ordered her way through every single dish on the entire Wanmin Restaurant menu.
She ordered plenty of wine and drinks too.
Xiangling rolled up her sleeves and ducked into the kitchen together with Chef Mao and Guoba. Soon, the sounds of chopping, of lighting the fire, and of stir-frying rose in a chorus.
Fang Qiu and the others, meanwhile, were chatting away.
The female editors were still amazed by Shenhe's looks.
Wasn't this just too similar?
Now that they had sat down, though, they could make out the differences.
Eye color.
One was crimson, the other iridescent.
And then, one wore a somewhat wooden expression, while the other's was full of life.
But unless you looked up close, you couldn't tell at all...
As for telling them apart by their aura, the way Beidou had mentioned—that was something they couldn't sense in the slightest.
Just as they were chatting, plate after plate of delicious food was carried out.
Paimon, who had been floating off to the side reminiscing about Yang Jian's earlier desolation and had nearly burst into tears all over again, instantly lit up the moment she saw the food arrive. She snatched up a richly fragrant charcoal-grilled cured rib and started gnawing on it.
Yang Jian and all the rest of it were promptly flung to the far corners of her mind.
The dining table was full of cheerful chatter and laughter.
Beidou took a bite of the dry-pot meat slices, then a swig of wine, and began telling them tales of free-spirited adventures on the high seas.
Fang Qiu ate her light, bland food while listening to Sister Beidou's stories and watching Sister Beidou, Xinyan, and the others dig into their heavily oiled, heavily salted, heavily spiced jianghu dishes.
She was terribly envious.
Forget tasting it—even from this far away, just smelling it made her face feel hot and her mouth water nonstop.
Just as envious as she was, was Yun Jin.
She ate her Stir-Fried Shrimp while eyeing the dry-pot meat slices and similar dishes set out before Sister Beidou and the others.
Full of envy.
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