Furina nodded.
"Alright, I'll go talk to Himeko. Let's eat—once we're done, we'll go have fun."
Stelle and the others continued their breakfast, which they quickly finished.
After the meal, the group boarded a ferry bound for Liyue Harbor.
Cloud Retainer summoned her two well-behaved disciples, Ganyu and Shenhe.
"Ganyu, take Shenhe for a walk around Liyue Harbor. She's had little contact with human society over the years—help her get familiar with it.
During this time, keep Shenhe with you, let her live with you, and once she finishes participating in the Martial Arts Ceremony, she can return to Mt. Aocang."
Ganyu agreed, taking Shenhe's hand.
"Yes, Master. I'll take good care of my junior sister."
Cloud Retainer nodded in satisfaction and turned to head back into the treasure ship to continue assembling her computer.
Ganyu looked at Shenhe.
"Junior sister, I'll take you to explore Liyue Harbor. And let's get you some new clothes—it's the New Year, after all."
Shenhe nodded slightly.
"I'll do as you say, senior sister."
Ganyu smiled and held Shenhe's hand as they boarded a ferry to Liyue Harbor.
Ningguang had arranged ten ferries on the treasure ship side just for everyone's transport.
Today was the actual day of the Lantern Rite, and everyone would stay one more day in Liyue Harbor.
Just as Ganyu was about to signal the ferryman to set off, a voice called out:
"Ganyu! Wait for me—let me come along!"
Ganyu turned around.
It was Calestia and Silver Wolf, escorting Nahida onto the ferry.
Ganyu was curious.
"Your Eminence Calestia, can't you fly? Why take a ferry? Isn't flying faster?"
Calestia plopped down in a chair, pulled out a PS5, and hit "Continue" to resume the game she hadn't finished.
"Flying is such a hassle. You can't play games while flying! Ferries are the best—you get to travel and play games. Right, Silver Wolf?"
Silver Wolf, holding her own PS5, nodded.
"Exactly~!"
Ganyu smiled awkwardly.
So that's the reason? That's very much like Her Eminence Calestia.
Meanwhile, Xing, Hu Tao, and Furina's group had already arrived at the harbor.
As soon as they got off the ferry, they were amazed by the lively scene before them.
All around the harbor plaza were countless stalls selling food, drinks, toys, clothes—everything imaginable!
Paimon sniffed the air deeply.
"Mmm~ Smells so good! Lumine, let's go get something to eat?"
Lumine gave her a look.
"You just ate. More food?"
Paimon shrugged.
"I can't help it. The smell is just too good!"
March 7th chimed in.
"Let's grab some snacks—we'll eat while we walk. Wandering around empty-handed feels kind of boring."
Everyone agreed and decided to get snacks as they strolled.
While they were walking, March 7th suddenly saw two familiar faces.
At first, she thought she was seeing things. She rubbed her eyes and looked again.
"Isn't that Topaz and Jade? Why are they running a stall here?"
Xing and Hu Tao looked over—sure enough, it was them.
The group walked over to Topaz and Jade's stall. They had set up a big prize wheel, with a variety of prizes displayed around it.
Topaz stood next to the wheel holding a sign.
Stelle, eating a popsicle, glanced at the sign.
"1 Primogem per spin, 9 Primogems for ten spins… Huh, Primogem lottery?"
Topaz noticed Stelle and smiled.
"Hey, Stelle, March, Hu Tao—fancy seeing you here! Want to try your luck at my prize wheel? The prizes are great~"
Stelle shrugged.
"I've got over six million Mora on me, but not a single other currency."
Topaz replied,
"Then how about this—I'll take 100,000 Mora for one spin. Deal?"
Stelle blinked. That's a steal! She was in.
She handed over the 100,000 Mora, and Topaz let her spin the wheel.
Stelle looked over the prize list:
[100 catties of premium rice, 10 bolts of silk, 3,000 tissues, a full calligraphy set, a box of bread, a basket of fruit, one iron sword, one donkey, one fine steed]
Stelle stared at the list, feeling a little scammed.
She'd just handed over 100,000 Mora—more than enough to support a family of three for a month!
"Topaz, these prizes seem kinda lame."
Topaz smiled.
"Ah, don't say that. Think about it—if you win that steed, you've struck gold!
Here, take a look at the horse I brought—it's beautiful, right?"
Topaz pointed to a majestic white horse nearby. Stelle nodded—it was beautiful.
Completely snow-white, with bright eyes and a strong frame. Clearly a top-tier horse.
"Alrighty then~ Let's spin!"
Stelle gave the wheel a good spin.
As the wheel whirled, Topaz pulled out a gong from who-knows-where and started banging it.
"Step right up, folks! Try your luck at the Big Spin! Whatever the wheel lands on, you win it!
Special Lantern Rite promotion—only 1 Primogem per spin!"
Her cries drew the attention of the crowd nearby.
"What is this thing? Looks fun!"
"Hey, look at that horse! Whoa—it's stunning!"
"Boss, is that horse one of the prizes?"
Topaz responded cheerily,
"Of course! That's our grand prize! Look at this young lady here—she's already playing. Want to try your luck?"
Stelle glared as Topaz used her as advertisement.
Jade chuckled and slyly slipped 100 star coins into Stelle's hand.
Stelle glanced down, then flashed a knowing smile.
She looked at the still-spinning wheel and gave it another strong push.
"This is really fun! Wonder what I'll get?"
March 7th and Hu Tao exchanged deadpan looks at the bribe going down in broad daylight.
Hu Tao sighed.
"Stelle just got bought off with 100 star coins. If it were me, I'd need at least 200!"
March 7th raised an eyebrow.
"200? I'd say 300."
Lumine waved dismissively.
"1000!"
Thanks to the antics of Stelle and Topaz, more and more people gathered around out of curiosity.
Many locals regretted having sold their Primogems to Ningguang earlier.
But there were also travelers from afar—some still had Primogems and decided to give it a try.
Little by little, people started spinning the wheel.
Jade handled the prize distribution while Topaz worked the crowd.
With their teamwork, business was booming and more and more people joined in.
Stelle, having finished her spin, picked up her prize—a basket of fruit—and rejoined March 7th and the others to continue shopping.
Jade, seeing that Stelle's group was large, threw in an extra basket of fruit.
Each of them now held a piece of fruit in hand, munching happily as they strolled through the lively harbor.
***
Stelle and her companions strolled through the streets while munching on fruit, looking here and there as they walked.
At that moment, Stelle noticed Childe sneaking suspiciously behind a bush.
Stelle slipped into the bushes next to Childe.
"What are you looking at?"
Childe made a shushing gesture.
"Shhh~ Look over there."
Stelle followed Childe's finger and immediately widened her eyes.
March 7th crawled into the bushes beside Stelle and saw the gossip-hungry expression on her face.
"What are you two looking at?"
Stelle pointed into the distance.
March 7th looked over and immediately widened her eyes.
Then Hu Tao popped in.
"What are the three of you looking at?"
Amber: "You four."
Eula: "You five."
Lumine: "..."
They all stared in the same direction.
There, two Fatui members were being lovey-dovey with each other.
Stelle and the others, along with Childe, were watching the scene with great interest.
March 7th watched as the two kissed.
"Eww~ That's way too cheesy!"
Stelle's eyes were wide open, wishing she could get even closer to enjoy the show.
The couple was completely lost in their own world, unaware that a group was squatting in the bushes watching them.
Just then—
La Signora passed by, having just bought something for Tsaritsa, and noticed the group sneaking in the bushes.
"What are you all doing?"
Her voice was loud enough to startle not only the group of spectators but also the lovebirds.
When the two Fatui members saw a bunch of people suddenly pop out from the nearby bushes, they were petrified on the spot.
La Signora immediately understood what had happened.
She rolled her eyes at Childe.
"Childish."
With that, she walked off toward the internet café, carrying the juice she bought for Tsaritsa.
The Tsaritsa had already started up a machine at the café, logged into the game, and created a room—just waiting for Calestia to join and spar.
After being beaten all day yesterday, Tsaritsa swore to win at least once today!
After La Signora left—
Stelle and the group parted ways with Childe and continued shopping.
As they walked, Stelle spotted another familiar face.
"Keqing!"
Sure enough, it was Keqing.
She was selling fireworks with a few others.
These fireworks were bought online from the Interstellar Peace Corporation. They were all very cheap.
Keqing brought them here to sell in hopes of making some Mora, so she wouldn't have to keep applying for funds from Ningguang every time she organized something.
Stelle walked up and picked up a box of "snap pops" to examine it.
"Keqing, how much are these?"
Seeing it was Stelle and her friends, Keqing replied:
"That one's cheap—588 Mora a box."
Stelle looked at March 7 and the others.
"Wanna buy some to play with?"
March 7th was totally on board.
"Sure! I saw online that it's not New Year's if you don't play with firecrackers!"
So Stelle and her friends each bought a bunch of firecrackers.
Stelle took out a box of snap pops—these didn't require lighting, just throw them and they'd pop.
She glanced at an unsuspecting Amber and grinned.
"Boom!"
She threw one hard at Amber's feet.
The sudden noise startled Amber so much she jumped.
"Gah!"
Stelle burst out laughing at Amber's reaction.
"Haha, Amber, you're such a scaredy-cat!"
Once Amber realized what had happened, she pulled out a box of firecrackers, lit one, and threw it at Stelle.
Stelle laughed mischievously and dodged sideways.
"Hehe~ You missed me~ Hehe~"
She dashed off, and Amber chased her with firecrackers in hand.
March 7th and the others got interested too and joined Amber in the chase.
Stelle ran like mad, while occasionally turning back to toss more snap pops at them.
Seeing this, the others switched to snap pops as well and started throwing them back.
Stelle ran like crazy and finally managed to hide in a stack of empty cargo crates.
She peeked out at the group disappearing into the distance.
"Heh, is that all you've got?"
Stelle climbed out of the crates and looked around.
She noticed a few dogs lounging near the bridge leading to Sumeru after having just finished their meal.
As the dogs got up to stretch and walk around, Star snuck over and placed a lit firecracker under one of their bowls.
Then she ran away.
Bang! With a muffled explosion, the dog bowl launched into the air.
Stelle's eyes sparkled as she watched it soar.
"That was fun! Hehe, again, again!"
She picked up the bowl, this time putting five firecrackers under it.
Another explosion—another flying bowl.
Stelle looked like she had found her favorite toy and kept launching bowls, drawing amusement from passersby.
Just as she was about to launch another—
She suddenly felt a shadow fall over her.
She looked up, instantly breaking into a cold sweat.
It was the owners of the dog bowls, glaring at her with deadly expressions.
Stelle gulped hard, then turned and bolted.
The dogs barked wildly and chased after her through the streets.
The commotion was so loud that even March 7th and the others who had been chasing her earlier noticed.
"Look! There's Stelle! Girls, charge! Revenge!"
March 7th and her crew joined the chase.
Nahida stood at a window, watching the chaos.
"So full of energy," she said.
Meanwhile, Ganyu brought Shenhe to a tailor shop.
"Excuse me, are you still open today?"
Ganyu called into the shop.
A voice quickly responded from inside.
"Of course! Oh my, isn't that Secretary Ganyu? Come right in!"
The owner, a woman with excellent skills, came out and recognized Ganyu, then welcomed both her and Shenhe inside.
Most of Liyue's officials got their clothes custom-made here.
Ganyu pointed to Shenhe.
"This is my junior sister. Could you make her some outfits?"
The owner measured Shenhe.
"Wow, miss, you've got a great figure. Come, pick some fabric and styles you like."
Shenhe looked at Ganyu.
"Senior sister, you choose for me. I'm not good at this."
Ganyu smiled.
"What color do you like?"
Shenhe thought for a moment.
"White. Something plain."
Ganyu nodded and turned to discuss details with the shopkeeper, while Shenhe stood by, quietly watching.
Having grown up in the mountains with Cloud Retainer and only coming down once, Shenhe didn't know how to interact with people due to her past.