Although Ganyu wanted to continue chatting, considering that her junior disciples had traveled a long way, they needed rest.
After some thought, Ganyu turned off the lights, locked the doors, and led her junior disciples to her residence.
Today, she decided not to work overtime.
After simple cleanup and washing up, everyone went to rest.
Just as Jiang Ning was drifting off to sleep, he suddenly felt his door being opened.
"Who's there?"
Jiang Ning jolted awake, staring intently at the doorway.
"Did I wake you..."
At the door stood Shenhe, wearing a black nightgown, looking delicate and graceful.
Under the moonlight, the black and white contrasts created a unique allure amidst her cool demeanor.
"Senior Sister... why are you here?"
Jiang Ning rubbed his eyes, relaxing his guard.
"You came with your pillow too."
This was obviously a rhetorical question.
Shenhe said, "I... still can't get used to being apart from you. If we're not together, I still need Master's red rope..."
But it wasn't as reassuring as having Jiang Ning by her side.
They had already spent one night apart, and today, it was becoming unbearable.
Jiang Ning sighed. Previously, because his senior sister was new and young, he naturally felt close to Shenhe who had saved his life.
Moreover, after hearing about his senior sister's background, and since he seemed to help her sleep better, Jiang Ning had been resting in Shenhe's room out of gratitude.
However, it gradually changed from sleeping on the floor to sharing the same bed, though keeping a person's distance between them.
Last night he refused to sleep together because the bed was too small, and they would inevitably be pressed against each other with physical contact. Jiang Ning wasn't sure if he could control himself, but strangely, he felt his senior sister might not be able to control herself either.
So he had given up.
But tonight, Senior Sister Shenhe came again.
Jiang Ning looked at Senior Sister Ganyu's bed - it was quite large.
Large enough for him to roll around freely.
So Jiang Ning moved closer to the wall: "Senior Sister, please make yourself comfortable, I'm going to sleep."
Saying this, he actively turned to face the wall and closed his eyes.
Shenhe's expression softened considerably, and she appeared somewhat excited.
Hugging her pillow, she quickly got into bed and lay down.
Jiang Ning felt the mattress sink behind him, and a faint fragrance wafted over.
In his drowsy state, Jiang Ning gradually fell asleep, though in the moment before sleep took him, he seemed to sink into soft jade-like warmth.
While Jiang Ning could help Shenhe escape the troubles of nightmares, wasn't Shenhe also a catalyst that helped Jiang Ning sleep peacefully?
...
Early the next morning, Ganyu had already gotten up and washed up. She had quite a bit of unfinished work from leaving early the previous night.
Therefore, Ganyu deliberately woke up early to get to Yuehai Pavilion early for overtime work.
However, Ganyu didn't wake her junior disciples. Seeing their condition last night, they must have been tired from traveling, so she decided to let them rest longer.
Ganyu tied up her blue hair, checked herself in the mirror to ensure nothing was amiss, and prepared to leave.
When she opened her door, she witnessed Shenhe coming out of the adjacent room with her pillow.
Though the qilin lady didn't quite understand, she was greatly shocked.
So, so this was the relationship between her junior disciples?
But was this really okay? Wouldn't her junior sister get arrested?
Unconsciously thinking of her junior brother's appearance, Ganyu recalled that in Liyue, the age of majority was 16, and her junior brother... though she hadn't asked his age, he looked only fourteen or fifteen!
Shenhe, you're breaking the law, do you know that?!
After some thought, Ganyu felt it necessary to have a good talk with her junior sister, and also teach her junior brother some things.
She figured it must have happened when her junior brother was naive, and Shenhe didn't know any better either, the two of them coming together purely on instinct.
So, Ganyu decided not to work overtime.
Instead, she would make an effort for her junior brother's physical and mental health, and to keep her junior sister from getting arrested.
She imagined what the gentler methods in Liyue's interrogation rooms might be...
Ganyu remembered that it was called the "benevolent policy," which reportedly always included good food, similar to the pork cutlet rice interrogation in Inazuma...
Ganyu thought she could emulate that.
Having made up her mind, Ganyu went out to buy some good food.
...
Jiang Ning felt he had slept very well, and after getting up and washing up with abundant energy, he came to the living room.
There, Shenhe had already changed clothes and was sitting with Senior Sister Ganyu, whom they had just met yesterday.
"Good morning, Senior Sister."
Jiang Ning found it strange - somehow, Senior Sister Shenhe seemed nervous, and Senior Sister Ganyu wore a serious expression.
However, Jiang Ning didn't think much of it, being attracted by the array of breakfast items on the table.
Xiaolongbao, shrimp dumplings, soy milk, youtiao, tofu pudding... there were probably more than a dozen different breakfast items.
They looked delicious, and the aroma made Jiang Ning feel hungry.
Jiang Ning sat down directly, wanting to eat something:
"Senior Sister, did you buy these specially for us? Thank you, Senior Sister..."
"Wait a moment before eating... Junior Brother, let me ask you something."
Jiang Ning's hand stopped midair: "What is it, Senior Sister?"
Ganyu said, "Well, how old are you?"
Jiang Ning said, "Two months shy of sixteen."
Ganyu was startled: "Really? You don't look it... rather..."
Jiang Ning's face darkened. Looking thirteen or fourteen, right? Every time this came up, it was time for the system to get beaten up.
Not letting him grow taller, huh?
Jiang Ning said, "It's true. I guess it's because of my special constitution, I won't grow taller anymore... Master knows this too, there hasn't been any change these two years."
"I see..." Ganyu pondered thoughtfully. That was better then; at least wait a bit more, and her junior sister wouldn't get arrested.
"It's like this, you're still young..." Ganyu carefully chose her words, "So, some things should wait... at-at least until you come of age, which is 16 in Liyue..."
As she spoke, Ganyu's voice grew increasingly smaller, her face turning red, and her speech becoming stammered.
It was quite challenging to have a thousands-year-old unmarried lady discuss such matters.
"This-this morning I saw Shenhe coming out of your room..." Ganyu mumbled.
Jiang Ning instantly understood what his senior sister might have misunderstood.
"Um, Senior Sister, actually there's a reason for this..."
Jiang Ning wanted to explain something.
But Ganyu hurriedly interrupted him.
"Any-anyway, just be careful! I-I need to go to work! I'm leaving!"
Saying this, the little qilin ran away, completely forgetting her purpose for today.