Liyue Harbor, the night was hazy.
The ancient city had stood for a thousand years since its founding, and the years had left many traces of wind and frost.
Hu Tao brought the picked-up Velina back to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
“You have nowhere else to go, so you can’t just eat in the wind and sleep in the open in Liyue Harbor either, right?
Even if you think it’s fine, this Director can’t rest easy about you.”
The excessive enthusiasm of the attendants left Velina a bit overwhelmed.
And also… the food at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor was truly delicious.
She could eat it for a lifetime!
In the end, Velina blushed as she took her first hot bath since transmigrating.
The next day, early morning.
“I’m planning to write a novel.” In the dining hall, Velina said to Hu Tao.
This was her hobby.
Watching readers’ moods rise and fall with the joy and sorrow of the characters in the stories she wrote—that sense of accomplishment was something nothing else could compare to.
It had been so before transmigrating, and it remained so after.
“Novels are still quite popular in Liyue Harbor.”
Hu Tao took a bite of a steamed bun, one cheek puffing out.
“Mm, has Velina already decided what story to write?”
She felt that Velina had most likely encountered an accident while out gathering materials and seeking inspiration for writing a story.
Velina fell into thought.
The novels popular in Liyue were mostly in the style of martial arts biographies, so the first thing that came to her mind was The Legend of Qin!
Martial arts, ensemble cast, and set against an ancient Chinese background—definitely a safe choice.
But then she secretly shook her head.
Forget it, she could write that later.
The story was too long.
Hu Tao had asked her to help promote Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, so Coco seemed pretty good too?
It discussed life and death, and it even had a HE ending.
But if the first book was that, it always felt a bit lacking.
As a newcomer, she felt that if she wanted to make a name for herself in one go in Liyue’s novel world, she had to take an unconventional path and tell some heart-healing stories.
So…
It’s decided to be you—Hotarubi no Mori e!
Hehehe, people of Liyue, taste the pain from another world!
Thinking this, a smile appeared on Velina’s face.
“Velina, your smile is so scary.” Hu Tao could not help but poke Velina, pulling her back from her fantasy.
“Ah?
Is it?” Velina rubbed her cheeks, trying hard to appear normal.
“Thought of the story you want to write?
What type?” Hu Tao pressed.
Velina thought carefully: “Warm and healing, light daily life, healthy and sunny, positive and uplifting.”
Hu Tao: ?
She felt Velina was lying to her, but she had no evidence!
“What’s it roughly about?” Hu Tao stared at Velina suspiciously, always feeling something was off.
Velina curved her lips: “Unable to form bonds, only adding to loneliness.”
“Eh, this sentence sounds so heavy.
Where’s the light part?”
Hu Tao could not help but complain about Velina’s words.
Although they had not known each other for long, she had roughly figured out this excessively beautiful girl’s personality.
Beneath that gentle and quiet exterior was definitely a heart that wanted to stir up trouble!
Velina had a decisive personality.
She borrowed paper and pen from Hu Tao, hurriedly finished breakfast, and returned to her room.
Since she had made the decision, she would do it immediately!
Hu Tao bit into her steamed bun, chewing away.
On the way back, Velina had mentioned she was very interested in novels.
She might just be a hidden novel master!
She also did not know which nation Velina was from.
She always felt Velina lacked a lot of common knowledge about Teyvat.
Could she be a disciple of some mysterious adeptus, coming down the mountain for the first time to make a living in human society?
On the other side.
Velina could not wait to sit down at the desk by the window, spread out the snow-white manuscript paper, and picked up the brush.
It felt quite unfamiliar.
Sigh, why doesn’t this era have keyboards?
I Love Invention Cloud Retainer, I need a keyboard!
After making a wish in her heart, Velina officially began her work.
She raised the brush and wrote down the name of the novel.
Hotarubi no Mori e
——Unable to form bonds, only adding to loneliness
Thus, the story began on an ordinary summer day.
===✧✦✧===
The sun gradually rose higher.
Before she knew it, it was already noon.
“When the sun comes out I sunbathe, when the moon comes out I moonbathe~”
Hu Tao hummed her self-composed doggerel as she returned to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
She looked left and right but could not find the familiar figure.
“Where’s Velina?”
“Miss Velina has stayed in her room the entire morning and hasn’t come out even once.” a young female attendant replied.
“Working so hard?”
Hu Tao clicked her tongue.
If she were locked in a room, never mind half a day—she could not even stand a short while.
Velina was called out by Hu Tao’s knocking.
She had almost forgotten she still needed to eat.
“How much have you written?”
Hu Tao curiously peeked into the room and saw that the desk was completely covered with manuscript paper.
“I’ve mainly outlined the general story structure, but the beginning has already been written.
Do you want to read it?”
Hu Tao shook her head repeatedly in refusal: “No no no, I want to wait until you publish it to read.
Surprises must be saved for the end.”
Time flashed by, and three days quietly passed.
Dark clouds gathered, with no stars or moon in sight.
In Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, a room on the second floor still had its light on.
Velina’s wrist had almost lost all sensation, yet under the command of instinct she continued to write out character after character.
Only when she wrote the final sentence “The End” did she let out a long breath.
“Phew, finished!”
Velina’s eyelids were fighting each other.
Even though she was extremely sleepy, she still revealed a satisfied smile.
A thick stack of manuscript paper was the result of her three days.
Fifty thousand words in three days of hard work—I’m simply a superhuman.
Apart from eating and sleeping, she had spent almost all her time on it, and had even made some localization modifications to the story.
“Next is submitting the manuscript… seems to be Wanwen Bookhouse…”
Velina put the manuscript away in the drawer.
Once she relaxed, exhaustion surged over her like a tide.
Her head swayed, then she collapsed onto the desk.
Then she felt a bit of pressure on her chest that made it hard to breathe.
“Such a hassle.
If they get any bigger, what then?”
Velina frowned and shifted her body a little.
Soon, even breathing sounds arose.
Pat-pat, pat-pat…
Drizzling rain fell, quietly entering her dreams, lowering the early summer temperature of Liyue Harbor to a chilly coolness.
The window of the room had not been closed.
Thus the night wind, carrying rain threads, unceremoniously made itself at home on the young girl who had fallen asleep at her desk.
Velina was woken by the cold.
Her hair was wet, and half her shoulder was also full of dampness.
The morning breeze passed through the window, making her unable to help but shiver.
Velina licked her lips and only felt her mouth was extremely dry; even her throat was a bit uncomfortable.
This made her instantly realize something was wrong.
“Caught a cold?”
She touched her forehead, then felt her somewhat floaty body, and finally helplessly realized this point.
Hu Tao was also startled when she saw her pale and haggard face.
“Last night I fell asleep at the desk and forgot to close the window…”
Velina tried hard to cheer up and explained, a bit embarrassed.
She had been lively and jumping after several days of eating in the wind and sleeping in the open in the wilderness, yet in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, she caught a cold just from getting rained on after forgetting to close the window?
This was way too dramatic.
“As long as it’s nothing major.”
Hu Tao let out a breath of relief.
She had thought Velina had written day and night without rest and completely burned herself out.
“But we can’t be careless either.
First change your clothes.
After breakfast this Director will accompany you to Bubu Pharmacy for a look.” Hu Tao said with a serious expression.
“Mm.”
Velina obediently agreed.
Being cared for by Hu Tao like this made her feel warm inside.
“Oh right, there’s also my book.”
Velina took the manuscript out of the drawer.
Thankfully she had put it away in advance.
If it had gotten rained on like her, these three days would have been for nothing.
“I know, I know.
I’ll go with you later.
For the novel, I know an intern editor named Mu Yun.”
Velina’s unusual state was noticed by everyone at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and they all expressed their concern.
After breakfast, Velina walked into daytime Liyue Harbor with Hu Tao for the first time.
Apart from her poor spirits, those burning gazes also made Velina find it very hard to get used to.
It gave her the feeling of being about to be captured and sold!