As they talked, Fang Qiu glanced back over her shoulder — and noticed that the short-haired woman sitting at the teahouse across the way was still watching her.
What a strange woman.
She was fairly certain they'd never met.
Before she could think on it any further, the editors behind her swept her through the tavern door.
The moment they stepped inside, the landlady came to greet them.
She wore a deep, rich violet cheongsam that hugged every curve of her figure to perfection — the very picture of sophisticated, feminine beauty.
Any young man who laid eyes on her would find himself completely at a loss.
"Welcome— …Oh? It's you?"
The landlady had barely gotten the words out before her eyes lit up the instant she spotted Fang Qiu.
"You two know each other?" Bai Qing asked.
Beside Bai Qing, the short-haired female editor narrowed her eyes slightly.
Hadn't Fang Qiu just said she couldn't drink? So how did she know the tavern landlady?
And that look the landlady was giving her — it was exactly how a big bad wolf eyes a plump little lamb.
Could Fang Qiu be a regular here? The kind who drops thousands upon thousands of Mora per visit?
Like that Zhongli, the distinguished guest of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor — the last time the editors had walked past the Xinyue Kiosk together, they'd happened to run into him going in for a meal. The staff there had worn the same expression as this landlady. That exact lamb-spotting look.
"More or less, I suppose," Fang Qiu said with a small nod.
"That matter I mentioned last time — have you given it any more thought?" the landlady asked with a hopeful smile.
"I'm sorry, ma'am — I still haven't come around to the idea," Fang Qiu replied with a shake of her head.
"Ah, well. The offer stands — if you ever change your mind, just say the word. My door is always open for you." The landlady sighed with mild disappointment, then looked at Fang Qiu and smiled. "In the meantime, feel free to drop by for a drink anytime — keep me company for a chat. The drinks are on the house."
"Thank you for your kindness, big sis. I will," Fang Qiu said with a smile.
"Alright then, everyone — follow me. Just for that one word 'big sis,' I'll find you the best seat in the house today, and everything's forty percent off. Consider it my treat."
The landlady laughed, clearly very pleased with that little term of address.
"Thank you," Fang Qiu said with a soft smile, feeling quietly smug.
Sure enough, the old saying from her past life held just as true in Liyue: call someone your age 'little sis,' call a middle-aged woman 'big sis,' and call a grandmother 'auntie.' Back in her past life, a single well-timed 'big sis' to a cafeteria auntie could get you twice the usual serving.
Not that the landlady seemed out of place with the title, mind you — she looked to be around thirty at most. Calling her 'big sis' was hardly a stretch.
The other editors chimed in with their thanks as well, and the landlady led them all deeper into the tavern.
Trailing behind, the short-haired editor watched the landlady and Fang Qiu's retreating figures and furrowed her brow.
Something was off. Something was definitely off about that conversation.
The matter from last time? What matter?
That exchange had sounded almost word-for-word like a scene from a novel she'd reviewed just a few days ago — one where a domineering wealthy merchant was propositioning the female lead.
Sure, both Fang Qiu and the landlady were women, but these days, having that sort of particular preference was really nothing out of the ordinary.
Especially for someone as soft and delicate as Fang Qiu — the kind of beauty who made you want to pin her down and absolutely wreck her, surely?
Who wouldn't want to flip up Fang Qiu's skirt, press her down onto a bed, and spank that fair, tender little rear of hers until it glowed bright red?
Just like the plot of Junior Sister, Go Easy, Senior Sister Hurts.
Speaking of which — one of the female leads in that novel was named Li Qiuyao, which differed from her colleague Li Yao's name by only a single character.
They made their way to a window-side table.
After placing their order, the landlady headed off to prepare their food and drinks.
The atmosphere was a touch awkward.
Under the weight of Bai Qing's silently aggrieved stare, Fang Qiu sat there the picture of innocence and meekness.
Next time. Definitely next time. After handing in the next manuscript, she was going straight home to hole up and not wander around outside, lest she get caught again.
Just as the silence was growing painful, Li Yao spoke up.
"By the way, Fang Qiu — what exactly was that 'matter from last time' the landlady mentioned?"
The other editors all turned their curious gazes on her as well.
Even Bai Qing, mid-sulk, couldn't help but look up with interest.
"Oh, that." Fang Qiu blinked, then explained the whole story from the beginning.
"Ah, I see — I thought it was something else entirely," Li Yao said, the pieces clicking into place.
"Thought it was what?" Fang Qiu asked.
"Nothing, nothing," Li Yao said with a quick shake of her head, offering Fang Qiu a silent mental apology.
Over at the counter, the landlady handed the order slip to a staff member and leaned against the bar, her gaze drifting back toward Fang Qiu.
She watched her laughing and chatting happily with her friends — and suddenly remembered something.
She… had never actually asked Fang Qiu's name.
After all this time, she still didn't know what this girl was called.
"I'll just ask when I bring the drinks over," she murmured to herself with a wry, bemused smile.
Before long, a staff member returned carrying several bottles of wine. The landlady took them and made her way back over to the editors' table.
"Here are the drinks you ordered."
She set the bottles down with a light smile, then turned to Fang Qiu. "Oh, and — dear little sis, I've just realized I still don't know your name."
The editors all froze.
So the landlady didn't even know who Fang Qiu was?
"Oh?" Fang Qiu blinked, hesitating for a moment. "If I tell you, big sis — can you keep it between us?"
It wasn't that she particularly wanted to hide it. But she and this landlady had crossed paths enough times now to count as proper acquaintances.
Sure, the woman was trying to recruit her as a showpiece for the tavern — she had an ulterior motive. But the terms she'd offered were genuinely quite good, and she'd just given them a forty-percent discount on the spot just because Fang Qiu called her 'big sis.' She'd even invited her to drop by whenever she liked.
More to the point — if she didn't say her real name, it would only raise suspicion. And if she made something up and got caught in the lie, that would genuinely hurt someone's feelings.
Besides, Wanwen Bookhouse was right upstairs, and Jifang knew her face perfectly well…
Of course, all of this was really the fault of whoever she'd been before — honestly, who uses their real name as their pen name? Now she couldn't casually reveal it to anyone, because the moment she did, they'd immediately connect it to her pseudonym.
"Keep it secret?" The landlady blinked.
A person's name needed to be kept secret?
Could this beauty be some hidden important figure in Liyue?
Or perhaps a member of some secret organization quietly cultivated by the Liyue Qixing?
She'd heard plenty of loose-tongued drunks in the tavern whisper about it — that the Liyue Qixing had a covert unit, supposedly composed entirely of Vision-holders.
They called it the Dragon Group.
A shadow force that swept away obstacles and gathered intelligence on behalf of the Liyue Qixing.
It was told with such convincing detail that it didn't sound like the usual drunken rambling.
"Sure, no problem," the landlady said with a nod.
"My name is Fang Qiu," Fang Qiu said.
"Fang Qiu?"
The landlady went blank for a split second — then let out a barely-suppressed cry of shock.
Even so, the sound carried. At the next table over, a young man who'd been slumped face-down in a drunken stupor jolted upright.
"Fang Qiu?! Old Thief Fang Qiu, where?! Old Thief Fang Qiu has no conscience — I stand with little Kaori till the end! Where is that wretch?! Come meet your doom! Long Kui, my dear sister — bring me my Demon Suppression Sword and my Demon Sword! I'll avenge you and make him taste my original Twin-Blade Aura Slash!"
He spun around and stared at them.
The atmosphere froze solid.
The landlady was too stunned to react. Fortunately, Li Yao had quick reflexes — she waved a hand and said, "You must have misheard. We said 'Huanxiu' — it's a type of wine."
"Oh — is that so? My apologies, I thought Old Thief Fang Qiu had shown up. Don't misunderstand, everyone — what I just said was totally offhand. I was actually going to ask for an autograph. Please don't send the Millelith after me."
With that, he turned around and slumped back down onto the table, muttering under his breath about how Old Thief Fang Qiu couldn't possibly be a woman, or something to that effect.
"I'm so sorry — I just couldn't believe it. You're really the Fang Qiu? The author?" the landlady asked in a hushed voice. "I'd heard people say Fang Qiu was a stunning beauty with white hair. Looking at you now — they weren't exaggerating one bit."
"Yes, that's me," Fang Qiu said with a helpless little nod.
Sure enough — the moment she said her name, people immediately connected it to her pen name.
Hearing it confirmed from Fang Qiu's own lips, the landlady swallowed, her beautiful eyes wide with astonishment.
She'd never expected Fang Qiu to actually be what those tavern regulars had described — a breathtaking beauty with white hair.
Talent and looks, all in one person.
And she had a Vision on top of it all.
The heavens were truly too generous to this girl.
And on top of everything else — the author Fang Qiu, whose work had sent her business through the roof, turned out to be the very peerless beauty she'd been longing to recruit as a showpiece for her tavern all along.
Once her shock settled, she introduced herself properly.
Her name was Jiang Qin Ji.
Bai Qing, who had just taken a sip of wine, nearly choked and spat it out.
Even Fang Qiu could barely hold herself together.
Jiang Qin Ji?
Jiang Shi and Qin Ji — combined into a single person?
The two lovelorn women from the Chenzhou arc of Sword and Fairy 4…
Well, now…
What an extraordinary coincidence.
"Is something wrong?" the landlady asked quickly.
"Nothing — I just choked on my drink," Bai Qing said.
Seeing the others looking on with curiosity, Bai Qing maintained her professional composure as an editor and said nothing about the real reason.
The landlady breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Oh, by the way — you said earlier you'd get drunk from just one cup, which is why you didn't order any wine. Let me mix you a glass of fruit juice with just a splash of fruit wine — consider it my apology for the little scare just now."
She looked at Fang Qiu's pretty face and smiled.
"Oh, that really isn't necessary—" Fang Qiu began.
"Don't worry, you won't get drunk from this. Just treat it like a fruit drink," the landlady said with a smile.
Without waiting for Fang Qiu to say another word, she turned and left, returning shortly with a glass that looked for all the world like plain fruit juice, and set it down in front of Fang Qiu.
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