Chapter Text
It hadn’t been a long time since Baizhu came back to the Bubu Pharmacy with a small girl in his arms. Herbalist Gui had bern alarmed at first by this, but Baizhu had assured him that it was no problem at all. “I can be her guardian from now on.” He said, not really worried. “From the looks of it…” Gui looked at Qiqi who was running around in circles in the building. “She has a better psychical state than you.”
Since then, Baizhu had come to know the girl better. She always kept a notebook around, to write things she needed and wanted to remember. When Baizhu introduced himself for the second time to her, she nodded and scribbled his name down in her notebook. He had caught a glimpse of some writing near his name, “Baizhu, my guardian with a snake.” Baizhu frowned, feeling sorry for her. She had to write down names there or else she would inevitably forget.
Baizhu learned that she had always picked herbs in the past. He had assigned her to pick herbs in Liyue Harbor like Glaze Lilies. She followed such orders. More complicated requests weren’t easy for her to follow, though. After he had sent her to get some Violetgrass from short mountains, he realized just how much time had went by. He went to go and check up on her only to find her walking aimlessly around the foot of some mountains.
He was alarmed by this. “Qiqi…please. I’ll get someone else to do this.” He said, trying to get her to stop. Qiqi had not listened. She kept walking, looking for any of the purple headed herbs. Baizhu rushed over to her. Changsheng hissed, “Leave her be.” He refused and hugged her from behind as to stop her from walking. “Qiqi. I love and care for you, and I don’t want you getting hurt.” At that moment, she stopped. “Alright… are we going back to the pharmacy, then?” She asked. “Yes.” He responded, somewhat confused and astonished.
Baizhu started to experiment. He would give her complicated orders and try hugging her again and saying different phrases to her. Things along the lines of “I love you” and “You’re the one I love the most” were phrases that got her to stop following his orders. Any phrase of compassion, whether delivered passionately or not, would work. He had to keep that in mind.
Back to her journal…
”Repeat after me.” Baizhu instructed. “My name is Qiqi.” He said. “My name is Qiqi.” She repeated. “I live at the Bubu Pharmacy.” “I live at the Bubu Pharmacy.” Baizhu smiled. “Good, now all in one sentence.” Qiqi nodded yet again. “My name is Qiqi. I live at the…the…” She scratched her head. “I forgot.” She sighed. “That’s…alright.” Baizhu said.
He traced his hand to her notebook which was next to her. He opened the first page. It had the basic information…just her name and his name. “You see…” He said. “Since I took you in I’m your guardian. I live at the Bubu Pharmacy, and you do as well. This is your home.” He explained. Qiqi nodded as she jotted that down on her notebook.
”Much better. If you ever get lost while picking herbs, you can use this page to remember where to go back to.” He said. “And if it’s nighttime…well, I’ll be sure to look for you myself by then.” He smiled. ‘Even if it costs me my health.’ He thought. “Ok.” She said in a quiet voice and also put that down in her notebook.
Qiqi yawned. It was nighttime by then. Baizhu picked her up and brought her to her bed. He tucked her into the covers, as she was already in her pajamas, and wished her goodnight. “Goodnight…” She yawned again before falling asleep. Baizhu turned off the lights and left her room.
Changsheng suddenly spoke, “You care so much for that girl. And to think you only took her in for your own personal needs.” She said. Baizhu looked at her, annoyed. He left Qiqi’s room. “Changsheng, would it really be unreasonable for someone like me to wish for some more longevity?” He asked as he went to his own room.
”I’m just saying.” Changsheng hissed. Baizhu shook his head and sighed as he set her down in her terrarium. “You even sent her to pick herbs while you could stay here and work on more medicine and your immortality.” She said. “Enough, Changsheng. Let me sleep in peace.” Baizhu groaned as he took some of his medicine.
The next day, Baizhu had taken Qiqi up to the front desk. Gui was currently busy. He wanted to help her get adjusted to seeing human life again. After all, up until now, he had kept her away from other people. He was carefully braiding her hair while talking to Changsheng. Qiqi was just taking in everything around her. The warm sun, the soft chair she was sitting on, and the people down below.
”There we go.” He said as he finished her braid. He carefully put her hat back on. “Thank you.” She said timidly. “What are…those plants?” She asked, pointing to a small bottle on the desk. It had a couple of mint leaves thrown into it. “Just a medicine I’ve made. The mint leaves are to mask the bad scent it has. It’s a very effective medicine, but it doesn’t taste or smell good.” He explained.
Someone walked into the pharmacy. A woman and a little girl, who was sick. Baizhu stood up. “Welcome to Bubu Pharmacy. Do you have any prescriptions?” He asked. “Yes. I wanted to pick up some medicine for my daughter who is sick.” The woman said, handing him a slip of paper. Baizhu nodded and handed her the jar that had mint leaves in it. “Here you go. That will be 10,000 Mora.” He said.
The woman sighed as she handed over the Mora. “Funny, I never see you working at the front desk.” She said. “Herbalist Gui is on break today, so I decided to take this as an opportunity to show a certain someone how business goes around here.” He said. “Who?” The lady asked. Qiqi suddenly popped up from behind the counter. The lady and her daughter were startled.
”What is she?!” The lady asked. She held her daughter close. “Don’t worry, miss. Qiqi is quite harmless.” Baizhu said as he picked her up. “I would appreciate that you refrain from making such remarks. I don’t want her to get a bad idea of those from Liyue Harbor.” Baizhu said. “Of course.” The lady said. She walked out of the pharmacy with her daughter and muttered, “That girl is a monster.”
“Hm…” Baizhu hummed as he set Qiqi down again. “Looks like if I ever want to leave you here at the front desk…I may have to accompany you.” He told her. “Am I…really that scary?” She asked. Although her face was always sort of neutral, Baizhu could tell that she was feeling upset. “Of course not. People like that don’t know what they’re talking about these days.” He assured her.
”Ok…if you say so.”
Baizhu had gotten to know a lot about Qiqi, of course. Qiqi, on the other hand, was prone to forgetting things about Baizhu. She had opted to writing down important details about him in her journal. When he wasn’t around, she would ask Gui things about him. Gui didn’t know many personal details, but he did give her some good information.
Qiqi sat on her bed. It was almost time to go to bed. She started to look over all the information she had gathered about her guardian. His favorite color. His pet snake, Changsheng. His favorite food. His relationships with his customers and employees. Many, many things.
She looked up. She heard the sound of footsteps. Baizhu walked into her room. “Well, Qiqi. It’s almost time for bed. Let me help you with your braid and your bandages.” He walked over to her. “My…bandages?” Baizhu nodded as he sat her down properly. “Yes. I need to change them whenever they get worn.” He said.
As he took off her old bandages, Qiqi spoke. “Baizhu…are you sick?” She asked. “What do you mean? Of course I’m not.” He could feel Changsheng slightly tighten around his neck as he said this. “Well…um…” She took out her journal and flipped to a page. “Herbalist Gui said that I’m in better condition than you, even as a zombie.” “Oh? Is that so?” He asked as he started applying the new bandages.
”Yes. Are you sick?” She asked yet again. Baizhu sighed. “It’s best we leave these questions for some other time. Rest now, Qiqi. Tomorrow we go out into the harbor. You can meet new people and get to know the new Liyue.” Qiqi’s eyes brightened up. “Be sure to put that in your notebook. Here is your pen.” He said, handing it to her. She was content with what he said, and scribbled it down. She didn’t pry further into his physical state.
As she wrote that down, Baizhu started to work on her hair. She must’ve been especially tired that day. She fell asleep halfway through him braiding her hair. He smiled and carefully put her back in her bed to finish her braid. Fatigue started to settle in for him as well. His eyelids felt heavy. By then he had laid down on the bed. “Goodnight, Qiqi.” He murmured as he drifted off to sleep.