Chapter 194 Purple Gourd Baby
"Hey, isn't this Brother Fu? Happy Lantern Festival! But why are you in Liyue?"
Liu Bai greeted Pantalone and asked with some curiosity.
"Yes, I'm back in Liyue for the holidays. Today I came to buy some new couplets for the Northland Bank. I wasn't satisfied with the original ones."
Pantalone nodded in response, his eyes falling on the firecrackers in Liu Bai's hands.
There is no custom of setting off firecrackers in winter, so he hasn't heard this noisy but interesting sound for a long time.
And I have heard it many times today since early morning, maybe I can play it myself...
Thinking of this, Pantalone exchanged a few words with Liu Bai before saying goodbye to him. Then he walked directly to the stall where Liu Bai was buying firecrackers and bought a few rolls of firecrackers.
"Come to think of it, Tartaglia went to see that guest from the Hall of Rebirth again early in the morning. Could it be that he got some clues from this person..."
After returning to the North Country Bank with the things he bought, Pantalone muttered to himself after confirming that Tartaglia was not there.
"It seems that I have to find an opportunity to see the true appearance of this guest official of the Wangsheng Hall."
Pantalone made the decision quickly, but the most urgent thing was to call his men over to post couplets and set off firecrackers.
What were the original couplets? How could my subordinates be so short-sighted?
The new couplet is better. I heard it was written by Yan Shen...
……
The morning of the Sea Lantern Festival every year is the busiest time for the Qianyan Army. After all, the setting off of firecrackers will inevitably cause fires, and patrols are required everywhere.
In addition, some people do not clean up the scraps of paper on the ground after setting off firecrackers, so the Qianyan Army needs to supervise them to clean them up.
As the most hands-on person among the Seven Stars of Liyue, Yuheng Star Keqing was holding a broom and working with the Thousand Rocks Army to clean up the firecrackers that were thrown on Feiyun Slope by ignorant children.
Looking at the clean streets and the children running happily on the streets, Keqing's mouth curled up slightly.
I'm in a pretty good mood today...
Snapped--!
"?"
Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers was heard nearby. Keqing turned around immediately and saw a familiar-looking man holding a stick of incense and lighting a firecracker on the ground with two girls.
"It's him……"
Seeing that man's appearance, Keqing's pupils couldn't help but shrink.
She was so busy with the approaching Lantern Festival that she had no idea that other executives besides "Young Master" had come to Liyue.
"Girl, come back to me, I'll put another one..."
Liu Bai said to Nashida and Crevy beside him.
After the two came closer, Liu Bai stretched out his hand and used the incense in his hand to light the white fuse on the firecracker from a distance.
Normally, the speed of the white fuse is too fast for people to react, but Liu Bai, who was well prepared, burst out with astonishing speed.
He grabbed Nashida and Crevie's shoulders with his hands, holding them tightly in front of him, while he squatted and hid his head behind them.
Snapped--!
"what!"
Krevy, who wanted to escape but was stopped, was startled and then had a resentful look in her eyes.
Nashida was not frightened, but found it quite amusing.
"Hey, you three, the General Affairs Department prohibits any individual from setting off fireworks on the main streets of Liyue Harbor!"
Keqing trotted over and pointed at Liu Bai and the others in an unpleasant tone to remind them.
It is easy for individuals to set off fireworks and not clean up afterwards. However, it is a different situation if businesses on both sides of the street set off fireworks. They cannot run away and can only clean up, so this regulation only prohibits individuals from setting off fireworks.
But no one can stop the kids from releasing it secretly...
"..."
Liu Bai turned around and looked at Keqing. For a moment he felt that she looked familiar.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Bai's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Oh! You are the grown-up Purple Gourd Baby!"
Liu Bai pointed at Keqing and spoke with certainty.
"?"
After hearing what Liu Bai said, Keqing's first reaction was to take off the hairpin on her head and hit him hard, but she held back.
"Great, now that all seven Calabash Brothers are together, I'm going to be a grandfather..."
"Hmph, stop trying to get close to me. Clean up all the firecracker debris on the ground, then write a 3,000-word self-criticism and submit it to the General Affairs Department, or you'll be punished."
Keqing responded with a cold snort, then threw the broom to Liu Bai.
Although the Emperor said that he was not a bad person, Keqing really did not have a good impression of him.
Besides, I am probably the only person in Liyue who has been bullied by him...
Thinking of this, Keqing's cheeks turned a little red.
Every time she mentioned Liu Bai, she couldn't help but think of the time when he tied her up and treated her in this way or that way, which made her feel ashamed and angry.
If I were to be more rational, I would be sure that I was humiliated by him, but I always instinctively feel that this memory is a good one.
It was precisely because of this that her hostility towards Liu Bai was always fluctuating. Sometimes it was very strong, but when it was too strong, she couldn't help but think of this "beautiful" memory, and suddenly it wasn't so strong anymore...
After some ideological struggle, she felt that she had not yet recovered from the impact she had suffered at the time, and it would be better not to think too much about it.
"I'm done cleaning."
Before Keqing could come to her senses, Liu Bai had already cooperated in cleaning the floor and put the broom back in her hand.
"So fast……?"
Keqing came back to her senses after getting the broom. She looked towards the place where Liu Bai and the others had just set off the firecrackers and found that the scraps of firecracker paper had indeed been cleaned up.
"Humph, since you're so cooperative, I'll let you off this time."
Afterwards, Keqing didn’t want to stay with Liu Bai any longer, so she turned around and left with the broom.
"Eh? Don't go. Without you, how can I gather seven Calabash Brothers to summon the dragon..."
Liu Bai called out subconsciously, but Keqing walked even faster.
"Is that sister familiar with Brother Xiaobai?"
Krevie, who was behind Liu Bai, was a little curious and tilted her head to ask Nashida.
"Hmm...very familiar. Even if Xiaobai fell into the mud and mixed with the pack animals, she might be able to recognize him."
Nashida thought for a moment, then nodded and explained.
After all, Liu Bai had done something very excessive to her.
Although because of Shen He's existence, those things have been modified to be no longer so excessive...
"Wow, I seemed to see that sister blushing just now, are they a couple?"
Krevy, who had never been in love before or after her death, asked with some anticipation, her eyes shining.
"No."
"Let's go, let's go to a safe place to set off firecrackers."
Nashida shook her head without hesitation, then took Klevy's hand and walked towards a safe place, preventing Klevy from continuing to ask questions.
"Wait for me, girl!"
Liu Bai was unable to keep Keqing, so he had to quickly catch up with Nashida with firecrackers in hand.
On the other side, after Keqing left with the broom, she did not continue patrolling with the Qianyan Army, but rushed to Yujingtai.
She had been busy these days and hadn't paid much attention to it, but Ningguang must have known about such a big thing as an executive appearing in Liyue.
She already knew that an executive officer, “Young Master”, was staying in Liyue. With Liu Bai, there were now two executive officers staying in Liyue. This was no small matter...
When Keqing found Ningguang, her solemn expression confirmed that her worries were right.
"According to a letter from an informant in the Northland Bank, the Ninth Seat of Fatui Executors [Rich Man] Pantalone is also in Liyue Harbor at this time."
What Keqing didn't expect was that Ningguang revealed the information about the third executive.
Now there are not only Liu Bai and [Young Master], but also a [Rich Man] as executive officers in Liyue.
Although the seats of the three are not ranked very high, it does not mean that the threat they pose is small. A few months ago, the last-ranked executive officer [Wanzhe] did not act according to common sense and caused them headaches for a long time.
"That means there are three executive officers in Liyue now..."
"In this case, combined with the situation a few months ago, it is very likely that he did not achieve his goal, and after returning to Winter Solstice, he found two executive officers to help him?"
Keqing expressed her guess with a serious expression.
……