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It was a sunny afternoon, the light of the sun reflecting on the shore of Liyue, Hu tao, who was seating on a wooden stool looking at the vast sea of Liyue. She had nothing to do since her dear lover, Yanfei was still busy with her job, she is Liyue’s legal adviser, afterall, Yanfei hasn’t been able to spend time with her as much these past few days, of course Hu tao misses her deeply. She spent an hour thinking about Yanfei, her smile, her face, her bubbly personality, her way of making Hu tao smile in anykind of way, Yanfei’s presence was enough to make Hu tao’s negative feelings all go away, thats how much the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor loved her lover.
An idea popped up of her head, tofu. Hu tao knew Yanfei wasn’t the kind of person to just walk out of her work just to eat a decent meal at Wanmin’s, so the perfect present for Yanfei should be tofu, it’s Yanfei’s favorite, afterall. Hu tao starts to roam around the streets of Liyue, but she couldn’t find any tofu, it wasn’t really a surprise, the citizens of Liyue loved tofu, afterall. There was even one time, she saw Dongsheng almost fainting from all the customers he was getting, she really wanted to surprise her lover at work, she was actually desperate at this point, she would even swim across the sea and go to Inazuma just to get her tofu.
She then remembered that the Wangshu Inn had some tofu in stock, they had to restock every so often, since a certain someone staying there loved Almond Tofu.
As Hu tao imagines Yanfei smiling and giggling of the sight of Tofu, a very familiar voice questioned her.
“Director Hu, where are you going?”
It was Zhongli, a consultant of hers.
“On my way to get tofu!”
Zhongli raised an eyebrow, he knew why she was going to get tofu, he just never knew where.
“And, where will that be?”
“Wangshu Inn!”
“Oh, where Xiao is staying?”
“Yep!” Hu tao giggled.
“Alright, just be careful. I heard a fatui harbinger is roaming around Guili Plains.”
“That would be no problem!”
“Alright.”
“See you later!”
Hu tao then set off to Wangshu Inn without knowing that she was heading to her own demise. She hummed a cheerful tone, she was thinking about Yanfei and her face when she eats tofu, she was eased at the thought, maybe too much, because the next thing she knew she was already covered by her own blood, she spat some out and looked in-front of her. Her eyesight was a blur, but she still managed to see the lady with white hair.
This is the harbinger, huh. La Signora.
It was getting too blurry for Hu tao, she couldn’t see properly anymore, she decided to just close her eyes hoping that she was going to get her eyesight back once she opened it again, but instead, she was reliving her happiest moments, like that time Yanfei decided to confess to her out of the blue, the times where Yanfei laughed at her most terrible jokes, the times Yanfei would visit her at work, the time Yanfei was with her, in short, she thought of Yanfei.
Ah, I still wanted to see her smile when she eats tofu.
It then all faded to black, Hu tao had already stopped breathing, her heart wasn’t moving, it was gone, she was already one of her clients.
Back at Liyue.
The light from outside reflected from Yanfei’s cheeks as she was signing some papers and such, she was irritated, she wanted to see her lover so badly, she hasn’t seen her these days because of all these paperwork she had to do. She just wanted to be wrapped around her arms again, she wanted to read her lover’s poetry which was made just for her only, she wanted to feel her warmth again, it even made her chuckle, thinking about her just made Yanfei’s irritation disappear.
I wanna eat tofu and cuddle with Hu tao...
She slaps her cheeks.
Alright! I’m gonna finish this today! I’ll eat tofu and cuddle with Hu tao!
She was back to her regular self and was speed-running all of the remaining paperwork, she was highly motivated at the moment, until the door was slammed open by Beidou.
“Yanfei!”
She looked at Beidou who had both serious expression and a sad one, she was concerned, she never saw Beidou this distress, it was a first time for her.
“What’s wrong, Beidou?” Yanfei asked with a concerned tone.
Beidou was on the verge of crying and clenching her fist, Beidou had to tell Yanfei, even if she didn’t want to.
“Hu tao is... gone.”
Yanfei dropped her pen, she froze.
Hu tao what...
“Hu tao was found dead by Guili Plains.”
It can’t be. I knew you were going to leave this world, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.
“She’s at the entrance—“
Before Beidou could finish her sentence, Yanfei was already in tears and quickly ran out.
“Y-Yanfei!”
It can’t be! It’s too soon! I haven’t even seen you old yet!”
As Yanfei ran to the entrance, she was thinking about everything she had done with Hu tao, all their happy moments, all their painful moments, even the moments when they fought. It all disappeared when she saw Hu tao’s lifeless body, she came close to her and cupping her cheeks, her tears was getting on Hu tao’s cheeks, it was painful, she then heard footsteps.
“So, you heard.” Zhongli implied.
No answer from Yanfei, Zhongli looks at Yanfei’s face which was filled with sorrow and then looks back at Hu tao.
“You know, Directer Hu was on her way to buy you tofu.”
She finally gave in and squatted holding Hu tao’s hand, she was letting it all out, screaming, crying, she had all sorts of negative emotions at this point. Hu tao, whose presence was enough to remove all the negative feelings away from Yanfei, became the sole reason she had all sorts of negative feelings, the only thing Zhongli could do was pat her on the back.
“I suppose while you’re at it.”
Zhongli grabs somekind of letter from his pocket and offered to give it to Yanfei, which Yanfei instantly grabbed and opened.
“Director Hu wanted me to give this when she’s gone.”
Yanfei reads the letter.
“To my dear lover,
I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger,
As time went by faster,
My days had become darker,
But, you my light,
Is growing brighter.
My dear lover,
I’ll love you forever.”