The October sunlight wasn’t particularly hot.
The weather was quite pleasant.
So, attracting customers wasn’t a difficult job.
However, the frequent glances from passersby made Song Qiuyu feel rather uncomfortable….
Fortunately, the girl cosplaying as Himeko was always by her side, chatting with her and helping to ease her nerves, so she gradually relaxed from her tense state.
During this time, to prevent the cosers from overheating, the Store Manager even thoughtfully prepared Sundae and Milk Tea for them.
Although lunch was just fast food, it was quite sumptuous—definitely far better than some thrown-together meal.
You could say the benefits were plentiful.
Maybe it was because they were cosplaying female characters, but they were treated as girls, and quite a few male cosers would take care of them at work.
Thinking about it, being treated as a girl seemed to have its perks.
And so, time quietly slipped by.
But just as she was enjoying the happiness of eating free Sundae while earning money, a figure she really didn’t want to run into at this moment suddenly appeared in her line of sight.
Song Qiuyu’s heart tightened abruptly, her delicate face filled with panic as she instinctively wanted to hide.
Song Qiuyu deeply regretted it.
She regretted not confirming her schedule with Jiang Xiao in advance.
Watching that slender figure in a white shirt mingling in the crowd, Song Qiuyu pursed her lips and turned her face away.
“Someone’s taking photos, little Keqing, remember to stay in character!” The coser of Honkai Star Rail Himeko beside her quickly reminded.
Song Qiuyu froze for a moment, just half a second, then forced herself to turn her face back, facing the camera and imitating Keqing’s expression.
Jiang Xiao, in the crowd, happened to glance over and saw the cosers surrounded by people taking photos, but his steps didn’t slow.
His gaze swept past Song Qiuyu, who was cosplaying Keqing.
He just frowned slightly, feeling an odd sense of familiarity, but couldn’t quite place it.
This girl had a delicate and obedient look, with a hint of playfulness.
Probably to match the character’s persona, she was putting on a serious face, which made her seem more imposing and dignified, with the aura of a proud young lady.
Such actions made her persona match Keqing’s even more, competent yet adorable.
Especially those “Katz Ear” buns.
Feeling Jiang Xiao’s gaze, Song Qiuyu did her best to keep her facial expressions in check, focusing even more on her work.
Luckily, Jiang Xiao only glanced at her a few times before looking away and quietly moving forward.
Song Qiuyu noticed that Jiang Xiao was carrying a bag of beer in his hand.
Was he going to meet up with some friends?
She didn’t think much of it.
She kept busy until eight o’clock in the evening.
During this time, in order to maintain Keqing’s persona, she barely looked at her phone.
She didn’t even have time to check the messages Jiang Xiao sent to her alternate account.
“Little Keqing, come over for a group photo!” At the end of the workday, the Store Manager called her over.
“Coming!”
After the photo, the female coser of Barbara patted Song Qiuyu on the shoulder, winked, and said, “Little Keqing, you were spacing out this morning at work. That handsome guy in the white shirt—is he your boyfriend?”
“Uh, definitely not, he’s just a friend I know.”
After saying that, she felt the need to add, so she frowned and continued, “Hold on, I’m a guy, how could I have a boyfriend!”
“Judging by how flustered you are, you never know. And look, with that blushing face of yours, what part of you looks like a guy?”
The Barbara coser grabbed Song Qiuyu by the shoulders and pulled her in front of the full-length mirror.
In the mirror was a girl with rosy cheeks, cute and delicate, dressed in Keqing’s cosplay outfit.
“I think that guy you were looking at is pretty handsome, why not…”
“Stop it, it’s just the makeup. I’m a real man.”
Song Qiuyu didn’t dare meet the Barbara coser’s mischievous gaze, and ran away blushing.
That coser also knew where to draw the line with jokes and didn’t say more.
Next came some relaxing chit-chat.
At this moment, she took out her phone and switched her account to Shen Xi.
3 unread messages.
Song Qiuyu was a bit surprised.
She clearly remembered checking the messages from yesterday and the day before, and the chat showed a Circle Photo.
What was Jiang Xiao up to?
Puzzled, she tapped in.
[Jiang Xiao: Xier, happy birthday. I remember you said you really liked the scenery on Mianshan, and wanted to bask in the sun and moonlight at the top, so I came here for you. Consider it my birthday gift for you this year. I’ve already enjoyed the sunlight, just waiting for the moonlight now. The weather should be good today.]
Time: 14:46:58.
[Jiang Xiao]: Xier, I miss you.]
[Attached: a photo of a high mountain cliff, a bright moon hanging in the sky.]
“Hm?”
Song Qiuyu frowned, licking her lips in guilt and nervousness.
To be honest, Shen Xi’s birthday was fake—she’d just made it up. If she hadn’t looked back at Jiang Xiao’s messages from the past three years, she wouldn’t have remembered herself.
So Jiang Xiao showed up here to celebrate Shen Xi’s birthday?
The attached photo was indeed of the Moon Viewing Cliff she’d planned to climb today.
She did say she liked the view from the top of Moon Viewing Cliff—that part was true.
As for basking in the sun and moon, that was just a line she copied from Genshin Impact’s Hu Tao.
Thinking of this, Song Qiuyu’s attention fell on the sentence between the attached photo and the little essay.
There was no timestamp displayed, which meant it had just been sent not long ago.
“I miss you. This message feels oddly familiar.”
Thinking it over, she gradually recalled that not long after her faked death, he’d said the same thing.
Then not long after came some messages that sounded almost like he was about to do something drastic. Fortunately, he was taken to see a psychologist afterward and was fine…
Uh…
Hiss…
Could it be that seeing the familiar place brought back old memories and made the old illness flare up again?!
Jiang Xiao was probably still at the top of Moon Viewing Cliff.
Suddenly recalling seeing Jiang Xiao this morning, she remembered clearly that he was carrying a bag of beer.
At the time, she was too busy with work and worrying about being found out to pay it much attention.
If someone drinks too much, emotions run high, and their mind gets hot—they could do anything!