Winter in Liyue.
The chilly breeze blows.
Slabs of snow paint this picturesque land in white.
Bits of sunlight creep through the thick clouds.
Verdict? Too cold!
For a certain adeptus legal advisor, she finds this cold season a bit of a nuisance, especially when winter reaches its climax a few weeks before the annual Spring Festival.
Nothing her Pyro Vision couldn't do, though! She's found more utility in it during the winter, especially the snow outside her office gets too thick.
"Hah…!" Yanfei muttered as she channeled her Vision to melt the snow at her entrance and the surrounding area later on. "That should do it. Wouldn't want my clients wading through the thick snow."
Switching the 'closed' sign into 'open', Yanfei nodded her head before re-entering her office.
"Ah… Achoo!"
… and sneezing as she shut the door.
She just found out that she's not wearing her favorite winter sweater. Quickly running to her closet upstairs, she retrieved Granny Ping's knitted scarlet sweater for her. Putting it on, everything went from mercilessly frigid to bearable cool. "Knitted with love," Yanfei remembered Granny's words as she hugged herself, feeling the soft sweater around her.
Alright, time to prepare for the day!
The adeptus advisor relit her fireplace first; a delightful warmth slowly spreads throughout the room. She then prepared her breakfast and boiled some tea for her clients later on.
As the clock hit 8 o'clock, her first batch of clients came over. Fortunately, no civil disputes for today, so she was able to spend her morning with relative ease. While dealing with some clients, Yanfei also managed to do some quick errands here and there for her friends that passed by her office.
A nice, winter morning… minus the cold, of course.
Lunch came, and to Yanfei's surprise and glee, a young girl in a green sweater with a similar design to Yanfei's — if not for the rabbits on her green sweater — entered the legal advisor's office.
"Yanfei-jiějie! Yanfei-jiějie!" the girl with a pair of bell hair ornaments greeted Yanfei as she cutely waved her hand.
"Yaoyao! Good to see you!"
Oh! Yaoyao leapt into Yanfei for a hug and snuggled the adeptus advisor — a nice warmth shared between the two.
"Ah~! It's so cold outside, Jiějie!"
"You could say that again. The snow piled up around outside my office a bit too thick today. You should've seen how thick it was earlier this morning!"
Yaoyao gasped with an 'o' on her face. "Oh no! I hope it didn't really bother you, Jiějie!"
"Don't worry. Some measly snow is nothing to Liyue's Top Legal Expert." Yanfei chuckled and patted Yaoyao's head. "Any-hoo, what brings you to my office, Yaoyao? Would you like some lunch? I was just about to cook some."
"Thank you, Jiějie, but I already ate. Actually!" Going through her rabbit-themed bag, Yaoyao presented Yanfei with a red envelope. "Master wants to invite you for an evening hotpot. It's really cold, so Master really wants to have a heartwarming dinner with us!"
Dinner with Granny Ping? And with hotpot as their food? That would be wonderful! Such a combination would definitely warm up not only their stomachs. Yanfei silently hoped for tofu to be there, or at least, to cook some of her specialty tofu for everyone.
Yanfei quickly agreed and was told to meet up at Yujing Terrace, where Granny and Yaoyao'll be waiting. Moreover, Yaoyao added that Xiangling's coming to cook too. This brought another smile to Yanfei, hearing that her favorite tofu chef's going to join their little winter dinner.
The afternoon went by quickly, mostly because Yanfei looked forward to tonight.
Xiangling dropped by her office an hour before the dinner, telling Yanfei that the two of them plus Yaoyao'll be cooking. Pleased to hear this, Yanfei softly clapped with an enthusiastic 'Okay!' before heading out to buy just a few ingredients directed by Xiangling.
Some ingredients were… exotic, to say the least, but Yanfei had good faith in the good chef for her culinary expertise. Along the way, Yanfei bought some for the dishes she'll be making.
And so, the time came for dinner.
Heading up the softly lit steps to Yujing Terrace, Yanfei noticed just a few people loitering around. Well, it is cold, and the snowfall picked up its pace just a little.
"Achoo!"
To the point that Yanfei sneezed a few times along the way.
"Oh, Lord of Geo, why must you allow such a criminal season to get this frigid?" Yanfei prayed in a lighthearted tone while chuckling.
Just in time for their little meeting, Yanfei waved her hand at Xiangling, Yaoyao, and Granny Ping who all waited by the pair of glaze lilies that Granny enjoyed since time immemorial.
"Ah, Yanfei. You've come at the perfect time," Granny Ping commented while softly smiling.
"I didn't want to miss this dinner for the world, Granny," Yanfei raised a paper bag of the ingredients she bought. "Here're the ingredients Xiangling asked me to buy, too."
Xiangling was starry-eyed, while Yaoyao and Granny were bug-eyed. The veteran adeptus then turned to the chef.
"Xiangling… I hope you remember what I told you last time."
Oh yes. Yanfei remembered that one time Xiangling was asked for the ingredients of a certain tasty dish she cooked from Granny. Keeping it short, that was just one of Xiangling's 'experimental dishes'. Granny wasn't too happy when she found out about Xiangling's over-enthusiasm.
Back to the present, the only most exotic ingredient that Yanfei got for Xiangling today was a Pyro slime condensate. The xiezhi didn't want to imagine what Xiangling could've gotten, looking at her small sack of ingredients.
But, if it's Xiangling behind the stove, then the three knew all the better to trust their cook, if not for her… exotic taste for ingredients.
"Don't you worry one single bit, Master," Xiangling thumped her chest twice. "As a future 5-star chef, you'll only receive the healthiest and the tastiest from yours truly. This time, I'll be toning down my selection of ingredients, but still gonna give your taste buds a run for their money!"
For some reason, toning down ingredients didn't feel like a part of Xiangling's vocabulary.
"Xiangling-jiějie, you're not gonna… um… use weird ingredients like lizard tails like last time… right…?" Yaoyao worriedly asked Xiangling. "Please-say-no-please-say-no-please-say-no…"
"What? No!" The three were more than relieved. "Well, not for now."
W-what do you mean 'not for now'? Yanfei thought, and she was sure Granny and Yaoyao were thinking the same thing, based on their exasperated expressions.
It turns out that Granny Ping had also invited a few more adepti and friends to their little dinner in her teapot. Quite a shocker for Yanfei since some of the adepti she knew weren't quite too fond with associating themselves with certain people. It brought a soothing warmth in the legal advisor seeing everyone enjoying their time together.
Seems like even this injurious climate could bring out the mellowness in those who've hardened their hearts before. They all had a fun time preparing, cooking, and eating. It was such a sight to behold. If only Rex Lapis saw this spectacle, they'd be sure to enjoy how far Liyue has come.
"It truly is something to behold," Mr. Zhongli suddenly spoke up as he sipped some tea.
"Hm? What was that, Mr. Zhongli?" Yanfei asked while holding a spoonful of her specialty tofu.
"The dishes and refreshments you and Xiangling have prepared." Mr. Zhongli turned his head to those who were enjoying Granny Ping's abode. "As well as the fact that the adepti here appear to be slowly warming up to all of us in Liyue."
Yanfei couldn't quite put her finger in it, but the way Mr. Zhongli said that somehow piqued her interest. Granted, he is knowledgeable in almost all aspects of Liyue, but that one line he just said…
Ah, force of habit to try to link seemingly logically distant threads together, Yanfei thought as she chuckled. She should just brush that tingling thought off her head.
"Yanfei-jiějie!" Yaoyao called as she ran to Yanfei, tugging her hand. "Wanna play Liyue jump rope with us? Xiangling-jiějie's joining, too!"
Mr. Zhongli softly chuckled. "What is the defense's say on the matter?"
Oh? Bringing a bit of the courtroom drama in, Mr. Zhongli?
"No objections, Your Honor." Yanfei turned to Yaoyao. "Alright, I'm in!"
Yaoyao skipped for joy as the two ran to their game.
Maybe this season wasn't much of a nuisance for the adeptus legal advisor. She warmly smiled as she thought.
Translation notes
姐姐 (Pinyin: jiějie)
↪ appellation for big sisters/people who act like your big sisters