Inside the villa.
Ken watched the girl who stepped out of the door and looked surprised.
It was the Coconut Goat Queen herself.
"Hello, may I ask where this is?"
Ganyu, ever devoted to her work—using even sleep hours to work overtime—had heard rumors about Blue Star but had long since filed them away under "too busy to care."
Seeing the unfamiliar style around her now, those clear gemlike eyes were full of bewildered surprise.
She'd only been standing on a mountaintop enjoying the scenery, and somehow she was pulled to this strange place.
The elemental energy here was extremely weak, and that made Ganyu uneasy.
"This is Blue Star. Welcome. I'm the host here—Ken."
Ken smiled at the gentle, soft-spoken coconut goat as he introduced himself.
"Blu… Blue Star?" Ganyu thought for a moment and looked enlightened. "Mm… I think I heard others at Yuehai Pavilion mention it before. My apologies for not recalling just now. So you are Mr. Ken."
Ganyu smiled apologetically—her workload was simply too much.
Taking in the surroundings, her confusion slowly turned to wonder.
Though she had lived a very long time, she had never encountered other worlds. Even the adepti at Jueyun Karst didn't dabble much in such matters.
Most striking of all:
Just by walking through a door, she had reached another world. The marvel of that power surprised her; it felt unreal, like a dream.
"Co… coconut goat?"
As Ganyu looked around curiously, a soft, milky voice sounded behind her.
The little zombie Qiqi popped up, staring blankly.
When she saw the qilin horns atop Ganyu's head, the confusion in Qiqi's eyes was replaced by joy. Her face remained stiff as always, but her steps quickened noticeably.
"Qiqi?"
Ganyu was even more surprised to see Qiqi.
Having worked in Liyue Harbor for so long, Ganyu knew every inch of it well. Of course she knew Bubu Pharmacy's little herb-gatherer, Qiqi—she just hadn't expected to meet her now.
"Coconut goat… Qiqi… wants coconut milk…"
Qiqi stared at Ganyu hopefully.
Co… coconut milk?
Looking at the expressionless yet pure-minded Qiqi, Ganyu was dumbfounded. If Qiqi wanted coconut milk, why look at her? And why call her a coconut goat?
"I… I'm not a coconut goat," Ganyu explained awkwardly.
She wasn't good at interacting with humans, and less so with a special case like Qiqi.
Qiqi stiffly raised a hand and pointed at Ganyu's qilin horns. "Horns… coconut goats produce coconut milk…"
Following Qiqi's finger, Ganyu subconsciously touched her horn. A strange sensation made her quickly pull her hand back, cheeks flushing faintly.
She roughly understood—Qiqi had mistaken her qilin horns for a goat's horns. But she really wasn't a coconut goat… she hadn't even heard of such a thing.
How was she supposed to explain this to a little zombie?
Ganyu felt troubled. As expected, she found it hard to fit into human life. She couldn't even communicate well with a child like Qiqi.
Worse still:
Qiqi's gaze had fallen on the bountiful bundled under Ganyu's clothes, making Ganyu connect it with coconut milk, and she grew even more embarrassed.
She really didn't have coconut milk…
"Qiqi is pure-hearted—this is a misunderstanding," Ken crouched and patted Qiqi's head, explaining, "This coconut goat big sister doesn't have coconut milk. If you want coconut milk, I'll get you some later."
Qiqi looked blankly at Ken, rose-red eyes showing little reaction.
Ganyu's face only grew redder.
She really wasn't a coconut goat, and definitely had no coconut milk… but she understood Ken was explaining to Qiqi, so she said nothing—just grew meeker, even her little ahoge drooping.
"By the way, what she became has something to do with Jueyun Karst."
Ken pressed his index and middle fingers together and tapped Qiqi's brow. A gentle stream of Hydro wrapped around her.
The Siren's Aria could purify curses in the world—it should help Qiqi recover a bit.
"So cool… so comfy…"
Feeling the cool sensation, Qiqi squinted contentedly.
Even her expressionless face seemed to gain a touch of liveliness.
"It feels softer…"
When Ken lifted his hand, Qiqi moved her arms and legs. They were still stiff, but more flexible than before. It felt like… she remembered more, too.
She blinked up at Ken. "You are…"
"I'm Ken. This is Blue Star. Qiqi can do flexibility exercises here as much as she likes," he said, patting her head.
Qiqi had been a zombie for years and had lost human vitality.
So Ken dared not purge all the corpse-qi. Without it, she'd become an ordinary corpse and couldn't survive. He could only cleanse a small amount of curse energy, making daily life easier—better flexibility and memory than before.
"Qiqi will remember…" She took out her notebook and carefully wrote down Ken's words, then looked up at Ganyu. "Coconut goat big sister?"
"I… my name is Ganyu." Ganyu wished she could cover her face.
"Coconut goat big sister… Ganyu…" Qiqi carefully wrote it down, then said, "Qiqi will remember you. You are Qiqi's friends. There's… no Hu Tao here. Can Qiqi do flexibility exercises?"
"Go ahead." Ken patted her head, turned on the TV.
As the music started, Qiqi immediately began moving to the rhythm.
Ken set a camera to the side—he wanted to record Qiqi's workout.
"Mr. Ken, you said what she became has something to do with Jueyun Karst. What do you mean?"
Once Ken was free, Ganyu asked gently.
"You'll understand when you read Qiqi's background later… By the way, would you like dinner? It's getting late."
"I…" Ganyu touched her very hungry stomach, hesitated, then nodded. "Mm… vegetarian is fine. It's a strict rule of our kind. Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Ken."
"I know. The qilin clan drinks only sweet dew and eats only the finest grain. Feel free to look around—including the books on the shelves," Ken said, a bit helpless. Ganyu's temperament was gentle and the opposite of Hu Tao's breezy boldness. She needed extra reassurance.
Ganyu shyly thanked him, looked around the house, then walked to the villa's yard.
In the distance, skyscrapers glittered with neon—utterly different from Liyue Harbor.
Ganyu had once thought Liyue's prosperity was unmatched among the seven nations.
But looking at this steel city now, she realized Liyue still had a long road ahead.
This also made her truly believe she was in another world. The earlier sense of unreality completely vanished.
"A single door with such power… Mr. Ken himself must be even stronger, right?"
Ganyu murmured softly. Under this unfamiliar night, she felt a rare calm.
…
After standing outside for half an hour, Ganyu finally returned to the living room.
As soon as she entered, a tempting fragrance wafted over. Her spirit lifted, even the little ahoge on her head stood up.
"That's the smell of Glaze Lilies and Qingxin…"
Sniffing, Ganyu quickly picked out the ingredients.
Qingxin picked at dawn and budding Glaze Lilies were the most delicious.
Over the years she'd eaten uncountable Qingxin and Glaze Lilies.
Seeing the delicious spread on the table, Ganyu's stomach growled. The appetite she'd kept under tight control seemed unsealed by the scent.
"Cold-dressed Qingxin, Glaze Lily and lotus seed soup, Qingxin mushroom soup, Qingxin crispy sweetflower cakes…"
Looking at the feast, Ganyu tried to keep her excitement in check.
Though the qilin clan are vegetarians, even vegetarians can affect their figure if they don't control themselves.
In her early years, she'd been a chubby qilin.
Her size had led to a lot of farcical incidents.
After that, Ganyu swore to slim down, eating only small amounts daily to maintain her figure.
The trouble was her appetite was strong; she couldn't help being drawn to good food, and yet had to control herself… It was painful, but she persisted.
She would never let that farce from thousands of years ago repeat.
But…
This food smelled so good… If she ate just a little, it should be fine, right?
"One meal won't make you fat. You can burn it off afterward."
Ken saw her struggle.
"I…" Embarrassed that her inner conflict was noticed, Ganyu's ahoge drooped. She asked softly, "Burn it off… what does that mean?"
"I have exercise equipment here. A certain amount of exercise after eating will keep you from gaining weight," Ken said, pulling up a treadmill video on his phone. "Like this. If you want, you can come to Blue Star often to work out."
Ganyu brightened. "Even if I eat a lot, I can burn it off?"
"Of course," Ken said confidently. As an adeptus, Ganyu's physique was far superior to a human's—her metabolism was huge. She just spent all day at Yuehai Pavilion buried in work. An office worker's activity level is too low.
Ganyu picked up her chopsticks. "Then I won't be polite. Thank you for the meal."
The delicious Qingxin was an unspoken temptation, constantly luring her.
She elegantly picked up a bite and put it in her mouth. Ganyu's eyes curved happily… As expected, Qingxin is the most delicious thing in this world—never gets old.
She had to admit, this was the best Qingxin dish she'd ever had.
Even when dining with the Qixing and the best Liyue chefs, the taste still wasn't as good as this.
It preserved Qingxin's pure flavor and carried a strange, wonderful seasoning.
Ganyu closed her eyes slightly, savoring the texture, as if she were in a paradise full of Qingxin.
The heavy grief over the Archon's passing seemed lighter thanks to this delicious dish.
"Bitter… It's bitter."
Before, Qiqi couldn't taste much, but after Ken's cleansing, her taste buds recovered a bit.
And the first thing that greeted them—the Qingxin's bitterness—repelled her.
"It is bitter, but Qingxin is supposed to taste that way," Ganyu smiled gently, hands still moving.
"There's plenty. Take your time," Ken reminded.
He'd drawn lots of Teyvat specialties from gacha and hadn't known how to use them.
Qingxin's taste is hard for others to accept—now that Ganyu was here, no problem.
"I… I'll just have a bit more."
Ganyu tried not to look at the remaining dishes.
Even if she could burn it off with exercise, a girl with too big an appetite… is a little weird, right?
"If you don't eat it, it'll go to waste."
A casual remark—but for someone dieting, it could break their resolve.
The appetite Ganyu had just suppressed surged again.
She stared at the remaining Qingxin dishes. In the end, body defeated reason.
Only after she ate even the last Qingxin stem did she realize—she clutched her slightly rounded belly, face pained and full of regret. "I… I actually ate that much?"
The happier she'd been eating, the more she suffered now.
Ganyu grimaced, that old black history surfacing again in her mind.
Too fat to pass a god's throat, thereby choking it to death—still mortifying to recall.
"It's fine. Half an hour on the treadmill will do."
Ken comforted her, letting her rest on the sofa while he used Hydro to clean the table.
Then he checked his system gacha.
Before the upgrade, he only got pulls after each invitation ended.
But after the upgrade, he got the pulls as soon as a companion arrived.
Thanks to Ganyu and Qiqi's arrival, he had forty pulls.
He decided to roll later.
For now, better to take the coconut goat to the treadmill so she wouldn't spiral into continuous self-reproach.
But when Ken looked up, Ganyu was already curled up on the sofa asleep.