Chapter Text
It was another calm morning at Puqi shrine, Xie Lian swept his yard and once again put out his donation sign. The day came and went with the usual few visitors, but only a few veggies, buns, and coins were left on the altar.
He sent the food with Guzi as usual and turned to look at the measly amount of coin. “It is going to take more than this to get the boards I need.” He sighed, glancing over at the wide hole in the wall that Qi Rong had chewed open as part of his latest escape.
He thought for a moment to ask Hua Cheng, but then he steeled his resolve, “No, I can’t bother San Lang with my troubles. I’ll do this myself!”
He decided to take a walk, he always thought better when he was collecting scraps. In a nearby village, he came across a woman with a small table of baked goods. She was calling out “Bake sale to benefit orphans, quality ingredients, and a charitable cause!”
Xie Lian was curious and approached the table. “Daozhang! Can I interest you in anything? All proceeds go to feeding and clothing orphans, a worthy cause.” He looked over the wrapped treats on the table and exchanged his coins for a cookie with fruit jam on it. San Lang might like this, he thought to himself. “Thank you, kind master!” the woman replied.
Xie Lian then had an idea, he should have a bake sale to benefit the shrine!
However, this concept was entirely new to him. He thought back to the woman. He would need a table, the baked goods of course, and a sales pitch. Xie Lian decided to tackle the need for baked goods first.
He put his fingers to his temple, blushing as he accessed Hua Cheng’s private communication array.
“San Lang? San Lang?”
“Gege sounds very excited today.”
“I want to try something, would I be able to use the kitchen at Paradise Manor?”
“Oh? Whatever gege wants he shall have. I deeply apologize though, I can not personally assist you at the moment. Yin Yu will make any necessary preparations, simply roll the dice and enjoy yourself.”
“Yin Yu need not be troubled on my behalf, but thank you, San Lang! Meet me at Puqi shrine tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have a surprise for you!”
“A surprise from Dianxia, I’ll hardly be able to contain myself to wait.”
“You must though! It simply won’t be ready until then!”
“It shall be as gege wishes then, I’ll be waiting.”
Xie Lian finally noticed the heat in his cheeks when he closed the line, gently sighing as he thought of his beloved. However, before anything else he had baked goods to make first!
Xie Lian fumbled through his sleeves to find his dice and then rolled his usual snake eyes. A knock suddenly rapped on the door and upon opening it Xie Lian found Yin Yu in the kitchen of Paradise Manor, as promised.