Chapter 400

"--ha?"

"Just kidding, but it's not really my job to give you a mini-lesson."

Ningguang fiddled with her hair.

"Shouldn't you ask someone with experience in this kind of thing?"

"Are there... people with this kind of experience?"

Keqing suddenly felt as if she understood, but instinctively she didn't want to understand.

This person with this kind of experience... Kafka?

No, that's not right. People who delivered meals to Liu Bai during the days he was "studying" might also count?

Keqing has a fairly wide range of intelligence channels.

But those people... well, it seems she can only talk to Xianyun, she's not very familiar with the others at all.

If I suddenly go up and ask this kind of question, won't I be seen as a pervert?

"... Okay, I'll give it a try?"

After hesitating for a moment, Keqing felt that if she stayed any longer, Ningguang might not be able to offer any useful advice.

Moreover, the atmosphere here is not good for her right now.

Ningguang seems to have seen right through him; staying would only be humiliating.

And... this suggestion was actually quite useful.

If you ask cleverly, you might actually be able to give it a try?

Since only Xianyun can speak to us, let's go ask Xianyun first.

"Self-draw, no 1s and 9s".

In the Yanshang Teahouse, Liu Bai directly pushed over the cards in front of him.

"This is so unambitious!" Qingque, sitting to the left of Liu Bai, complained. "They started by throwing away honor tiles like crazy, aiming straight for a no-one-nine hand. It's a completely unambitious way to play!"

"Just tell me whether I cheated or not."

"It's a waste of time..."

"Winning is better than losing, right?"

"That's true."

Qingque continued to nod.

"But I can't deny that I have dreams! When playing cards, you have to chase the big shots!"

"And then they can't even give out the reward?"

Guinaifen complained from the side.

Although there was a slight misunderstanding regarding the game, Guinaifen eventually started playing with Qingque.

"... You still remember Little Gui?" Qingque's lips twitched, speechless.

Sometimes when I've lost all my money, I can only go to see Guinaifen's performance as a show of support.

"Of course I remember... well, not for that reason."

Guinaifen didn't take it seriously; she remembered it more because Qingque always looked terrible after losing all her money.

Bad... very interesting.

So Guinaifen remembered it, and then she learned how to tell Qingque's battle situation for the day just by looking at Qingque's expression.

"Never mind, next game, next game."

Qingque didn't want to talk about those embarrassing things and immediately started shuffling the cards.

"You don't have much salary left this month, do you?" Bai kindly reminded him from the side.

Qingque was one of the few people on his side who asked for a salary.

The question is about earning equal compensation for labor.

"Then let's get an advance on next month's salary!"

With a wave of her hand, Qingque declared that business trips were all-inclusive, with food and lodging provided – that's how generous she was.

Not to mention that she was on a business trip this time, and Xianzhou already provided her with a subsidy.

Liu Bai's salary is "extra income." He provides food and lodging, and uses the extra income to gamble, even openly playing cards during work hours.

It felt amazing!

"Alright."

Liu Bai looked indifferent; after all, no one present really wanted to win money.

... Rita, who was standing next to her, looked like she wanted to help this girl quit gambling.

"This time, I'm serious!"

Qingque's expression turned solemn.

"You won't get your second month's salary either."

"Kafka" looked at Qingque, who was kneeling on the ground with a defeated expression, with a smile.

Even Qingque couldn't withstand losing all afternoon.

Qingque is very intelligent, truly deserving of the title of genius. He mastered mahjong in a short period of time.

But... there's a saying that goes, "Scientific Mahjong is a dead end."

—Although the second half of the sentence is about the mystical mahjong, there are countless dead ends.

Not to mention Rita's superb skills. Liu Bai watched as Rita's proficiency improved from a novice con artist to a beautiful dealer in just one afternoon.

In other words, Rita deliberately ruled out the element of luck.

Luck? Doesn't exist.

"No... this is impossible! This is an utter disgrace to my life."

"... Are you alright, Qingque?"

Seeing Qingque like this, Liu Bai was a little afraid that this person would suddenly be enjoying slacking off... ah no, enjoying konjac.

"Card skills... are gone." Qingque looked utterly despairing.

"It's alright, physics is still there." Bai subconsciously chimed in, "Ahem, what I mean is, maybe Lady Luck just isn't on your side."

"That's true."

After hearing this, Qingque quickly got up from the ground.

Liu Bai: "..."

So this guy doesn't need any comforting at all, right?

"Hey, life's like Di Yuan Qiong Yu, you never know what card you'll be dealt next," Qingque said with a nonchalant air. "Boss Liu, let's play again tomorrow!"

"Is the work finished?" Bai Youyou asked. "You've already received two months' salary in advance."

"How much is Miss Qingque's salary for two months?" Asta, who had come to visit, asked with great curiosity.

However, Qingque had no time to answer Asta's question; Liu Bai's question had already made Qingque's face stiffen.

"Of course it was finished, but it was only barely finished."

Jade's planned day's work was completed by Qingque in half a day— Qingque had already accepted the premise that "the harder you work, the more you slack off."

However, one thing Qingque hasn't changed—she doesn't want a promotion.

Although some office workers may look glamorous, it doesn't do her any good.

Why did she remain a low-ranking diviner in the Divination Commission?

That's because even if the diviner sneaks out to play cards, it won't cause any impact!

Anyway, no one would pay special attention to the whereabouts of a low-level civil servant, let alone know that she is aware of her work.

Qingque's "lying flat" is exemplary—I will definitely complete my assigned work on time and to a high standard, but don't even think about finding me to do anything outside of my job description.

This is what it means to lie down properly; doing nothing is called "slacking off."

Therefore, Qingque had to emphasize that she had barely managed to complete it.

Sometimes it's not the boss who adds tasks to your schedule that's scary, it's your immediate supervisor who adds tasks to your schedule.

When a superior adds a task to the queue, it's called "assigning" a task. When your immediate supervisor comes over, you're directly assigned the task, leaving no room for maneuvering.

Is that so?

Liu Bai nodded, his face clearly showing his disbelief.

"Asta, have you completed your mission?"

"Not yet, the research in Liyue is still ongoing." Asta's reply was much more energetic in comparison. "But there's still enough time. Miss Pela, Miss Domination, and I will ensure the mission is completed."

Asta was in charge of overall coordination on Liu Bai's side.

Well, after consulting with Liu Bai, Jade assigned this task to Asta.

Asta's current task is to obtain data from Liyue, with Pela as her deputy and Dominion as her errand runner, to begin various field investigations.

The current task is to conduct a more detailed assessment of Liyue's value in order to prepare for the future.

From now on, the organizational framework for Liu Bai's side will be built by Asta.

The reason this task was assigned to Asta is quite simple— Asta has experience with it.

The nominal stationmaster of the Herta Space Station —though he is also the de facto stationmaster.

Who can blame them when Herta is a true hands-off manager?

She looks like an innocent little girl, but she has a dark side hidden beneath her innocent exterior.

Asta has a wealth of leadership experience—although Liu Bai suspects that Jade also wants to give Asta some experience.

"If you need more people, I can have Qingque help you."

As a boss, Liu Bai felt he needed to give his slackers a good beating.

Asta was very perceptive and immediately understood Liu Bai's meaning, a naive smile appearing on her face, "Really! If Miss Qingque could recreate some of the Xianzhou formations on Earth..."

Upon hearing this, Qingque rolled her eyes and pretended to faint.

Xianzhou Formation?

Damn it!

Anyone who jumps into this pit is doomed!

It's not that it can't be reproduced. In fact, before being Omniscient Lord -Nous, the Xianzhou already had divination methods. The Nous mainly gave it top-level formations such as the Matrix of Prescience.

As for ordinary formations... coincidentally, this is a system that could actually be used in the ancient kingdom era.

It seems there's no difference using Honkai energy here.

However, when it comes to divination, the formation is one aspect, but the user is another; it's not like you can just pick any cat or dog to perform divination.

Without a computer with a compatible system like Jade Abacus, Qingque felt he would be doomed if he only used his brain to calculate.

You can question other things, but you absolutely cannot question the value of Tai Bu's teachings.

Not to mention the serious consequences of miscalculating this.

Qingque made a rough estimate and then realized that she might be able to do it, but doing it would be no different from dying.

—Then I'll die right now for you to see.

"Qingque?" Guinaifen kicked Qingque twice. "Stop pretending to be dead."

"I can't do it! I really can't do it!" Qingque opened her eyes, insisting that she couldn't do it. "I'm just a lowly diviner, a bottom-tier consumable! What would I know about formations!"

"Miss Asta, could you please offer some reasonable thoughts?"