P.S.: I wanted to stay up late and update, see if I could make it onto the click rankings, but reality was so cruel. Updating was completely useless. I'm withering away.
Liyue International
"Keqing's Bridal Gown? Did Genshin Impact add a skin system?"
Ye Ming was a little surprised. When he quit the game, Hu Tao had only just been released. As for a skin system, he had not even heard any rumors about one.
"No, I just came up with it myself."
The girl walked shoulder to shoulder with Ye Ming, with Laffey sandwiched between them. They looked like a family of three out for a stroll. "Don't you think a pretty girl like Keqing would look amazing in a wedding dress? At least much better than Ningguang or Ganyu."
Personally, I think Ganyu would definitely look amazing in a wedding dress.
Though he thought that, considering the girl beside him was clearly a Keqing fan—and he would need her help as cover for buying Laffey a wedding dress later—Ye Ming could only nod in agreement. "I also think Keqing would look beautiful in a wedding dress. But if we're talking about it, little girls like Klee and Qiqi would definitely look adorable in wedding dresses too, right?"
"Klee? Qiqi?"
The girl glanced at Ye Ming and feigned surprise. "I didn't expect you to be into little girls. That's three years minimum, you know."
Ye Ming smiled. "There aren't that many people who are actually into little girls. Most people just see little girls as daughters. Wanting to dress your daughter up prettier and cuter—isn't that perfectly normal?"
"Huh? Is that why you want to give Laffey a bridal cosplay outfit? Do you raise Laffey as your daughter too?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I've always treated Laffey as a cute little girl. That has nothing to do with treating her like a daughter."
Ye Ming refuted her seriously. Laffey was his Oath Ship. Thinking of her as his daughter was strange even as a joke. If he thought of her as a junior instead, then if Laffey truly grew up someday, it would not be strange to treat her as his real Oath Ship.
"I get it, I get it!" The girl nodded with an expression that said she understood everything and needed no further explanation. Smiling, she said, "No one is into little girls. It's just that the person they happen to like is a little girl."
Ye Ming smiled without arguing. The girl was only joking, and he was not about to take such a joke seriously.
Still, it was rather strange. This was clearly only the second time he had met the girl, yet there was surprisingly little awkwardness or distance between them. Their conversation was relaxed and natural. Their shared interests were naturally part of the reason, but more of it came from the girl herself.
How should he put it? Ye Ming felt that the girl beside him was not only beautiful, but also possessed a special sort of aura. If he had to describe it, then at first glance, Ye Ming felt she came from an extraordinary background. She was a little like a well-bred young lady from an aristocratic family in a novel. Yet when they talked, she was especially cheerful and straightforward, making people relax without even realizing it.
To sum it up, she was simply very easy to like.
Especially on the subway yesterday, when she accidentally tapped something and played it out loud on her phone, she immediately turned it off in embarrassment. When Ye Ming looked over, she even sincerely apologized. Little things like that showed that she was a girl with very good manners and character.
"By the way, I still haven't asked your name."
Ye Ming took the initiative to ask the girl's name.
Hearing that, the girl glanced at Ye Ming and smiled. "You might not believe me if I tell you, but my name is Keqing."
"Huh?"
The first person Ye Ming thought of upon hearing the girl's answer was the girl he had met that morning who called herself Yae Sakura. Both girls were very pretty, and both wore colored contacts and had hair the same color as their original characters. For a moment, Ye Ming even suspected that Keqing and Yae Sakura might also be girls from mobile games he had played, who had come to the real world like Laffey.
But then Ye Ming quietly shook his head and dismissed the absurd thought.
When Laffey came to this world, his Azure Lane account had completely disappeared. But when he downloaded Azure Lane at the supermarket last night, he had also downloaded Honkai Impact 3rd. The facts proved that his Honkai Impact 3rd account was still there. It had not mysteriously vanished like Azure Lane.
But were there really so many hardcore fans who changed even their names because of a character? Ye Ming did not know what conditions were needed to change one's name, but generally speaking, changing it to the name of a game character could not be simple, could it?
Perhaps the girl simply did not want to reveal her real name.
"Hello, Keqing. My name is Ye Ming."
Ye Ming formally introduced himself and did not ask further.
Although the girl's cheerful, straightforward behavior somewhat conflicted with her hiding her name, everyone had their own little secrets. They were strangers who had only met twice, after all. Ye Ming did not think there was anything wrong with her behavior, much less feel bored enough to get to the bottom of it.
"My name really is Keqing."
The girl seemed to see through Ye Ming's thoughts. After thinking for a moment, she took a card from her bag and handed it to him.
Ye Ming accepted it and found that it was actually the girl's business card.
The company field read Liyue International, the position field read Project Manager, and the name field really did say Keqing.
Ye Ming was shocked. Of course, he was not surprised that the young girl held the lofty position of project manager. Unlike the state-owned enterprise where Ye Ming had first worked, everyone understood how inflated job titles could be nowadays. At some companies, even an intern could be given a manager title. Ye Ming's own business card said Sales Manager, but in reality, he did not have a single subordinate. It only looked good when he handed it out.
What surprised Ye Ming was that the girl was really named Keqing, and even more so, the company was called Liyue International. Keqing and Liyue made it hard for anyone who had played Genshin Impact not to think of Liyue Harbor from the game.
"This Liyue International of yours..."
"It was founded by several families together. Most of the capital is overseas, so it counts as a foreign-funded company. We're currently preparing to develop the domestic market, so I volunteered to transfer here. There'll be a new project soon."
Keqing seemed to be a talkative girl. Her cheerful smile never left her face while speaking with Ye Ming.
"Then you're really impressive."
Ye Ming praised her sincerely.
"Not really. I'm just more serious about my work, and I like..."
Halfway through her sentence, Keqing suddenly froze and fell silent.
"Like what?" Ye Ming casually asked.
"N-Nothing."
Keqing answered vaguely.
She had originally wanted to say that she liked working 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week, but before the words left her mouth, she realized that saying so might affect Ye Ming's impression of her and diminish the little goodwill she had worked so hard to build. So she decisively stopped talking.
"We're here."
Keqing changed the subject and pointed at the wedding dress shop not far ahead.
"Mmm~"
Laffey, who had been lowering her head and playing on her phone the entire time, instantly perked up upon hearing the words "wedding dress shop." She no longer played with her phone, instead grabbing Ye Ming's hand with her little one and gazing through the shop's glass at the wedding dresses of all different styles. Her eyes were filled with anticipation and excitement.
Ye Ming looked calm on the surface, but he was also rather excited inside.
He had seen and touched Laffey wearing a wedding dress in the game, but he had never had the chance in reality.
Just how cute would little Laffey look in a wedding dress?
And while he felt a little embarrassed about it, Ye Ming also wanted to see Master Keqing in bridal attire.
Wedding Photos, Enterprise, and Liyue
"Welcome!"
Amid the saleswoman's greeting, Ye Ming, Laffey, and Keqing entered the wedding dress shop. After looking around, they found that there really were no wedding dresses for little girls. They could only have one custom-made.
Having expected this, Ye Ming did not waste time and directly asked the saleswoman, "Excuse me, do you offer custom wedding dresses?"
The saleswoman smiled. "Of course. We're a professional wedding dress shop. We have a complete range of wedding dresses, guaranteed quality, affordable prices, and partnerships with many professional wedding dress designers. As long as you have a request, we can generally satisfy you."
"Then..."
Ye Ming hesitated slightly before pulling Laffey in front of him. "Can you make a wedding dress for a little girl?"
Although Ye Ming had deliberately lowered his voice, it was still noticeable in the quiet wedding dress shop. As soon as he finished speaking, several employees in the shop looked toward Ye Ming and Laffey. The saleswoman's smile froze on her face.
The atmosphere instantly became awkward to the extreme.
As one of the people involved, Laffey looked at the varied expressions of the employees around her, then at the saleswoman's stiff expression. Her big eyes were filled with confusion.
After all, back when Laffey had been in the Port District, it was perfectly normal for little girls to receive rings from the Commander and become Oath Ships. As for wedding dresses, the wedding dress shops in the Port District not only accepted custom orders, but also had quite a few ready-made wedding dresses suited to little girls' sizes.
So Laffey could not understand the employees' reactions, nor could she understand why all the wedding dresses in the shop were for adults.
As the other person involved, Ye Ming faced the awkward and somewhat tense atmosphere. Although he was slightly nervous inside, his expression remained remarkably composed.
He had expected this situation long ago, so he naturally continued, "We need professional wedding dress cosplay costumes. We weren't comfortable ordering online, so we wanted to check out a physical shop. Can you make a wedding dress that fits a little girl's body type?"
As he said this, Ye Ming turned to Keqing. "What about you? Are you buying a ready-made bridal outfit, or having one custom-made?"
"Custom-made. The ready-made ones don't meet my requirements." Keqing replied with a smile.
After hearing them, the saleswoman sighed in relief, and her stiff expression gradually returned to normal. "So you'd like custom cosplay costumes. That won't be a problem. We have professional designers here. Whether it's anime-style bridal attire or a little girl's wedding dress, we can customize it."
"Of course, if you two have your own design sketches, you can give them to us directly for customization."
"I don't have a design."
Keqing answered first. She had only gotten the idea on the spur of the moment after hearing that Ye Ming was buying a wedding dress, so naturally she could not have had a design ready. "Just use one of yours. When designing it, can we talk with the designer and make a few requests?"
"Of course."
The saleswoman beamed. "What style and material of wedding dress do you need? As for designers, we have several here..."
What followed was Keqing and the saleswoman's time to discuss things. Ye Ming, who knew nothing about wedding dresses, found his head spinning as he listened and simply went to rest on the sofa by the entrance. Little Laffey looked equally confused and, bored out of her mind, started getting sleepy.
Half an hour later, they finally finished discussing details such as the wedding dress styles and materials. The saleswoman brought out several samples, and Ye Ming had Laffey choose one she liked. After taking her measurements and confirming the price, deposit, and pickup date with the saleswoman, they waited for Keqing to finish choosing as well. At last, the wedding dress purchase came to an end.
However, just as Ye Ming sighed in relief, the dedicated saleswoman spoke again. "You three, our shop currently has a promotion. If a married couple orders together, we can give you a complimentary set of wedding photos. Although you're ordering cosplay costumes, and both outfits are wedding dresses, I can arrange it as a couple's order and give you the discount."
As she spoke, the saleswoman glanced at Laffey again. "This little sister can join the photos too."
Ye Ming was a little embarrassed and raised his hand, about to refuse.
Before you continue