Inside the Grand Narukami Shrine, Kano Nana sat at her desk and stretched lazily. She opened the window and glanced at the darkened room across from hers, an involuntary smile touching her lips.
That room belonged to Sayu.
At this hour, that little fellow was probably already asleep.
"It's so cold."
A gust of wind swept past, causing Kano Nana to shiver.
The Grand Narukami Shrine was situated at such a high altitude that the winds were fierce at night.
Just as she was about to close the window, she suddenly spotted a small figure standing under a tree not far away. The little one was watching her, footsteps softly retreating backward.
"Stop hiding. There are no missions today, so go back to your room and sleep early."
Seeing Sayu's sneaky behavior, Kano Nana couldn't help but burst into laughter as she spoke.
"No mission? Then Sayu is relieved. Goodnight, Shrine Maiden sister."
Upon hearing Kano Nana's words, Sayu instantly relaxed. She smiled, trotted all the way into her own room, and closed the door, falling silent.
She probably fell asleep the moment she hit the bed.
Kano Nana crawled back into bed, wrapped herself in the quilt, and by the light of the bedside lamp, quietly began to read.
It was no wonder this book had climbed to a high rank within the top twenty by the second day; it was truly written magnificently.
To ensure she could share her thoughts with Lady Yae as soon as possible, she had been holed up in her room reading ever since dinner, even asking other shrine maidens to look for Sayu on her behalf.
Of course, the result was that they couldn't find her.
After all, in the morning, Sayu was usually sleeping in her room, making her easy to find.
At noon, the sun was bright, so finding someone wasn't that hard.
But once night fell, the difficulty of finding Sayu skyrocketed linearly. Basically, one could only wait by her room to catch her.
However, if Sayu knew there was a mission to be executed at night, she would do exactly what she just did: sleep outside first, and only return to her room to sleep after the mission had been accepted.
It made one feel helpless.
However, during this time, she had already read close to half of this book.
She also gradually understood why this book's sales could advance triumphantly on the second day.
Your Lie in April was worthy of this sales volume.
The third day, which was today, would likely see even more terrifying sales numbers.
Thinking of this, she gently exhaled a breath and continued reading.
She would strive to finish the first book before noon tomorrow.
...
After Kamisato Ayaka and Thoma finished discussing the various matters regarding this music competition, she returned to her own room.
Wrapped in a blanket and sitting at her desk, she gently opened the pages of the book.
"I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count."
Kamisato Ayaka softly read the lines from The Eternal, gradually becoming entranced.
Thoma returned to his own room and pulled that copy of Your Lie in April from the bookshelf.
Sitting in his chair, he flipped through two pages.
Thoma couldn't help but sigh.
"I really do prefer ghost stories a bit more. But, for the sake of the concert, I'd better read this first."
As he spoke, he glanced at the copy of Records of Jueyun set aside on the desk.
He had to admit, this Liyue novel about spirits and strange anomalies was written quite well, even if it didn't focus on horror like the ghost stories here in Inazuma.
But these kinds of folktales were also very interesting.
Coming back to the point, it was no wonder Miss Kamisato liked Fang Qiu's books so much; the writing style was truly astonishing.
He seemed to be able to see, through the paper, the male protagonist walking with his childhood friend on a road where cherry blossoms drifted slowly down under the twilight.
"What a pity. If this writing style were used to write ghost stories, it would certainly have great atmosphere."
Thoma sighed, cast his gaze out the window, and said, "I wonder if Miss Fang Qiu likes ghost stories. How about I go to Yae Publishing House tomorrow to buy a few ghost novels and let Beidou take them to her? Maybe after reading Inazuma's ghost stories, she'll develop some interest in the genre. Hmm... not bad, let's decide on that. I'll go look at Yae Publishing House tomorrow."
After saying that, he nodded and buried his head back in the book.
Meanwhile, in Liyue Harbor.
The night was gradually deepening.
In the open space behind Wanmin Restaurant, blue smoke was slowly rising from a charcoal stove. On the wire rack above the stove, slices of meat were sizzling under the high heat of the charcoal fire, releasing transparent grease as they continuously made tzz tzz sounds.
The aroma was overflowing.
Xiangling stood before the stove, her arms moving rapidly as she sprinkled various seasoning powders onto the meat slices.
As soon as those spices touched the grease, they instantly triggered a rich fragrance.
The heavy scent of spices mixed with the aroma of meat spread out in an instant.
"It smells so good!"
Hu Tao sat on a small stool. Her legs were slightly spread, and her hands passed between her legs to brace against the stool. She was looking with a face full of anticipation at the sizzling meat slices on the grill, the large meat skewers Xiangling had just placed there, and the eggplants resting on the edge of the grill. Her eyes were shining, and glistening saliva was already spilling from the corners of her tender mouth.
"Don't rush, don't rush, it'll be ready soon," Xiangling said while busying herself.
Guoba, meanwhile, was helping out from the side.
"Alright."
Hu Tao swallowed her saliva, turned her eyes to Fang Qiu, and said, "Fang Qiu, speaking of which, didn't you say your new book uses our Liyue as the background? Then can you...?"
Speaking of this, Hu Tao's eyes narrowed slightly, and she let out a mischievous laugh.
"Although I said it's a Liyue background, it counts as another world I conceived. It still has significant differences from our Liyue," Fang Qiu said.
She was sitting on a small stool next to Hu Tao. Her stool had a cushion on it.
This was something Xiangling had meticulously prepared for her.
Sitting for a long time wouldn't make her bottom hurt.
Tonight, she had just finished typing when Hu Tao and Xiangling came knocking.
Hu Tao said that she heard Fang Qiu had looked for them yesterday, but they hadn't been free.
So, they wanted to get together again.
Plus, on her birthday, the open-air barbecue hadn't been able to happen, so they were continuing it now.
Thus led to the current scene of eating barbecue behind Wanmin Restaurant.
"I see."
Hu Tao nodded thoughtfully.
Just as Hu Tao intended to speak again, Xiangling walked over carrying two plates of meat.
"Meat's here! Come taste it, quick."
Xiangling placed a plate of meat radiating a spicy aroma in front of Hu Tao, and placed another plate without chili peppers in front of Fang Qiu.
This made Fang Qiu very melancholy.
She also wanted to eat the spicy ones.
However, although her mouth was constantly secreting saliva, looking at the chili powder on those meat slices, her body was resisting, constantly issuing warnings. Every pore on her body seemed to open up.
If she ate one skewer of that meat, something big would definitely go wrong.
At the very least, she wouldn't be sleeping tonight.
Her mouth and stomach would probably feel like they were being scorched by fire.
In addition to the meat, Xiangling had also prepared ice-cold freshly squeezed fruit juice.
"Alright, dig in," Xiangling said with a beaming smile.
"Let's eat."
Hu Tao smiled and picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks, putting it in her mouth. Her eyes instantly lit up.
"Truly delicious."
Fang Qiu tucked her long hair behind her ear, picked up a piece, blew on it gently, and then put it in her mouth.
The taste of spices and meat instantly filled her entire oral cavity.
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