"This lottery idea is basically printing Mora. It makes money faster than robbery."
"And it's only been, what, three or four days?" Mona still looked stunned.
"It's because Ryou's idea was brilliant. Even if we only ran it once a month, it would still bring in thirteen million Mora."
"If this keeps up, I think we could hold the profit at around twenty million Mora. Over a full year, that would be two hundred and fifty million."
"It still falls a bit short of the Feiyun Commerce Guild, but we have to work ourselves to death to make that kind of money. This? This is effortless."
Even Xingqiu found the contrast unbelievable.
"Ryou, you're amazing. Thirteen million Mora can solve a lot of problems for us," Keqing said.
Ryou chuckled. "A lottery like this is still too one-dimensional. I've got plenty of other ideas, but we can talk about them after we get back to Liyue Harbor."
"Xingqiu, stay in Mondstadt for now and buy a few good storefronts."
"Got it, Cousin." Xingqiu nodded.
"So when are you going back to Liyue Harbor?" Mona asked, seizing the chance.
Ryou glanced at her. He had only come this time because of the lottery, and now that the matter was more or less settled, it really was about time to head back.
"I still need to talk to Albedo about something. Once that's done, I'll return to Liyue Harbor," Ryou said. "You can use the time to look around Mondstadt."
"Alright." Mona nodded, but then she seemed to remember something.
She scratched her head awkwardly, clearly embarrassed, just as she was about to say something.
"Xingqiu, give Mona twenty million Mora."
"Mona, take it as an advance on your pay," Ryou said. "You can go around the city with Shenhe. It'd be best if you brought Tabibito along too."
"Things haven't been going too well for her lately. If you stay by her side, she'll be a lot safer. One hundred million Mora is enough to make anyone greedy."
"Alright, I understand." Mona nodded.
"I want to stay with you," Shenhe said.
"Go with them instead. If Tabibito runs into trouble, help her. Just do as I say for now."
"Alright." Since Ryou had already decided, Shenhe didn't argue any further.
After leaving the lottery shop, Ryou headed out of the city.
He had already visited Windrise, Angel's Share, Starsnatch Cliff, and the Church of Favonius.
Next, he planned to start from Starfell Lake and make his way toward Springvale, then continue on to Stormterror's Lair.
After that, he would return to the city to meet Albedo. Once he finished what he needed to do, it would be time to head back to Liyue Harbor.
When he reached the Starfell Lake area, he spotted the nearby Statue of The Seven.
He found a place to sit, took out his fishing rod, and started fishing.
Fishing was honestly dull. Once you sat down, all that was left was waiting.
Ryou saw Klee running around the lake, looking very much like she wanted to pull out her Jumpy Dumpty and start blast-fishing.
But the moment she noticed him watching her, she gave up on the idea and ran off somewhere else.
"Ryou, do you really like girls that much? Later on, when we have children… should we have a daughter?" Keqing leaned against him.
"As long as it's you, I'll be happy whether it's a daughter or a son." Ryou stroked her gently, then set the fishing rod aside.
He pulled her tighter into his arms. "Keqing. Are you jealous?"
"N-No, I'm not!" Keqing turned her head away.
"Just look at yourself. You're obviously jealous. All prickly, like an angry little lobster."
Ryou cupped her lovely face and kissed her cheek. "You know, I realized I made a mistake just now."
"What mistake?" Keqing looked up at him.
"The nun outfits aren't quite the same as the ones I bought. The colors are similar, but the real ones clearly aren't like that."
"A lot of the patterns and details are different. I think I should fix that. When the time comes, we should go buy a few proper ones," Ryou said with a completely serious face.
The next second, Keqing's entire face turned scarlet. She instinctively lifted a hand to cover herself, only for Ryou to trap both her hands in his arms.
"You bully… stop teasing me. I'm not wearing something like that!" Keqing's face burned hotter and hotter, especially now that both her hands had been caught.
She couldn't resist at all. With Ryou staring at her like that, she was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear.
"Keqing, you're beautiful," Ryou said, looking at her flushed face before leaning in and kissing her.
Just then, while he was kissing her, he heard some strange voices from not too far away.
One of them sounded lively and mischievous. "Is your dad fishing up ahead?"
"Daddy's over there. Look, they're kissing," Klee said as she walked in front of them, pointing toward the two figures in the distance.
"Kissing? Let me see!" Another girl craned her neck to look.
She saw a man holding both of a girl's hands as he leaned in and kissed her. A second later, the girl's tense arms relaxed, and she wrapped them around the man instead.
"That outfit looks familiar… wait, isn't that Ryou and Keqing? Klee, Ryou's your daddy?"
Only then did the girl realize what she was seeing. By the time her voice reached them, Ryou and Keqing had already turned around.
"H-Hey, it really is Ryou and Keqing. They actually…" Another girl was equally stunned.
She quickly tugged at the girl beside her. "Hu Tao, let's go over there."
"Oh, right." The girl nodded.
Ryou was surprised to see Xiangling and Hu Tao.
Hu Tao had originally said she wanted to come too, but then Yanfei had reported the matter to Yuehai Pavilion. Zhongli had no way to leave, and afterward Hu Tao had gone to apologize to Yanfei herself, so things had fallen through.
"You bully. Thank goodness all you did just now was kiss me. If you'd gone any further, I… I wouldn't have been able to face them," Keqing said, giving Ryou a shove, her whole face still blazing.
She hadn't expected herself to get so carried away—and to be seen like that on top of it.
Keqing touched her face. The heat there only seemed even stronger now.
She quickly stood up, but the moment she did, she noticed something and shot Ryou a glare. "Don't you dare start thinking weird things."
Ryou coughed, put his things in order, and noticed the fishing rod beside him jerk.
He grabbed it and lifted it at once, feeling a powerful pull from deep in Starfell Lake.
With a sharp tug, he hauled the fish straight out of the water.
Even Ryou looked a little surprised when he saw it. The fish had to weigh at least ten pounds.
Just then, Xiangling and Hu Tao walked over.
With her hands on her hips, Hu Tao glared at him. "Ryou, didn't you say you'd bring me along too? So why didn't you call me?"
"Yanfei reported the whole thing to Yuehai Pavilion. It would've been hard for me to bring anyone out after that."
"And after all that, it slipped my mind. But you two…" Ryou gave Hu Tao a brief explanation, then looked at Xiangling.
"Hu Tao and I came to find Xingqiu and have some fun. We also wanted to see how you were doing," Xiangling said when she noticed him looking at her.
Then she saw the fish in his hands and her eyes lit up. "That fish is huge. Want me to help clean it later?"
"Sure. I'd appreciate that, Xiangling." Ryou glanced at the bucket. "I really didn't expect to run into you here. If you'd come a day or two later, we would've already gone back to Liyue Harbor."
"You're going back already?" Xiangling asked, surprised.
"Now that things are taken care of, there's no reason to stay. Xingqiu will remain here to handle the rest."
Ryou explained briefly, baited the hook again, and cast the line back into Starfell Lake.
"Daddy, I want grilled fish later," Klee called out.
"Alright, alright." Ryou smiled as Klee ignored everyone else and threw herself into his arms. He patted her head gently. "I'll catch another one for you in a bit."
"Okay." Klee nodded happily.
Ryou smiled.
[ Ding. Hand entering Darkened Mode! ]
[ Ding. Hand Darkened Mode active. You can now grant a random effect to an item and keep that effect for one day. There is also a certain chance that the random effect will become permanent! ]
Ryou was stunned by the reward. The boost this time was enormous.
For one thing, random effects usually didn't last very long, but this time the base duration had gone straight to a full day.
And there was even a chance for the duration to become permanent. That meant if he picked up an ordinary stone, it might randomly turn into a diamond and stay that way forever.
Excited, Ryou picked Klee up and kissed her on the cheek. "Klee, you really are my lucky star."
"Hehe, as long as I can help Daddy, that's enough." Klee wrapped her arms around Ryou's neck and giggled.
She didn't even know what she had helped with, but if she had helped Ryou, then she was happy.
"This is… kind of weird. Shouldn't Klee be calling you Ryou-nii instead?" Xiangling asked, completely confused.
"So why is she calling you Daddy?"
She had wanted to ask ever since earlier, when Klee had said her dad was out here fishing.
Instead, the moment she arrived, she saw Ryou and Keqing kissing by the lake.
"It's a little complicated," Ryou said.
"I'll explain." Keqing glanced at Ryou and Klee, then helped explain it for him.
Once she finished, Ryou saw Hu Tao and Xiangling both show sudden understanding. Whatever confusion they had was gone now.
"So that's what it was," Xiangling said.
"You don't mind if the two of us join you, right?" she asked, looking around the lakeshore.
"Of course not." Ryou smiled and pulled several peaches, chestnuts, fishing rods, and other things out of his pocket world.
He also set out some juice and fruit. The fruit was packed with spiritual energy, and it immediately caught Hu Tao's attention.
She picked one up and started eating.
Xiangling did the same.
Ryou smiled at Xiangling and asked, "Xiangling, can I ask you something?"
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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