Reading poems from Teyvat

"If you're talking about fishing in the normal sense, I don't actually have that much free time, but if you're talking about fishing in the commercial sense, then you can say that."

Ningguang said without any hesitation.

When Shen Zhigui heard her say that, he immediately pulled the chair underneath him a little further away, making a "click" sound.

Ningguang laughed when she saw him deliberately behaving like this: "Master Shen, you don't have to do this, right?"

“It’s just my normal reaction.”

"But if you ask me, Shen Zhigui is actually fishing with this look, right? He always pretends to be so casual and gentle, but he will show his extraordinary edge when others want to take advantage of him. If others underestimate you like I did before, they will pay a heavy price, right?"

"I said, I didn't do anything, did I?"

What is a painful price?

Could it be the consumption of the magic circle she carved on the Qun Yu Pavilion?

But for a wealthy woman like her, who is one of the few in the whole of Liyue, isn’t that little bit of spending just a drop in the bucket?

Ningguang just smiled strangely and said, "Let's not talk about the price I paid. If you really want to live a life with three wives and four concubines, you should consider my advice. At least, if you want Keqing and Miss Shenhe to be with you, Miss Shenhe probably won't have any problem. But if you want Keqing to agree to that kind of thing, after she really makes that decision, there will only be more people in Liyue criticizing her, not fewer. And she is obviously not the kind of person who will resign from Yuheng Star sadly after enduring criticism. So, if you are really so in love with her, you should at least do something earth-shattering to reduce the world's criticism of her."

Before Shen Zhigui could say anything, he saw Ningguang stand up, wave to him, and then walk outside. Her back was hidden in the crowd, but there seemed to be a clear barrier between her and the crowd. So even if people wanted to take the opportunity to approach her, she would always distance themselves from them. That's why she always stood out in the crowd.

Shen Zhigui looked away only when she finally disappeared from his sight. He finally saw the dishes on the table and thought to himself that the person hadn't touched her chopsticks at all. So did she come here just to say nonsense to him?

Chapter 21: Today I Know Who I Am (End)

After Ningguang left, the remaining three people looked at each other in confusion.

Even before Shen Zhigui said anything, Shen He said, "I really don't have any opinion."

Do you know what she is saying and you are okay with it?

Shen Zhigui complained in his heart.

Although he was actually just chatting nonsense with Ningguang, there was no way he would say such things to Keqing. It would be better to say that he couldn't find the position to say such things. Although if Ganyu was replaced by Keqing, he probably wouldn't have any scruples in his conversation with Ningguang. He did have a little affection for Keqing, but in the final analysis, he was really crazy to say such things to Keqing for no reason.

I think Keqing would never accept that kind of situation.

Although from a certain perspective, Keqing is probably more suitable for the phrase "My lover is this country". After all, Shen Zhigui sees her busy with official business from morning to night, and even has to go on business trips. Sometimes she is not seen for several days in a row. So sometimes Shen Zhigui also doubts, can she and a workaholic like Ganyu really fall in love?

Although it is not Shen Zhigui's turn to worry about this.

But Shen Zhigui turned his head to look at the half-human, half-immortal hybrid Qilin sitting next to him, looked at the pair of black and red horns on her head, and saw that she was just picking up the chopsticks for bland vegetarian dishes such as "Stir-fried Qingxin". He wondered how this workaholic could maintain such a high-intensity work day after day for thousands of years and still be happy with only a little private time?

Ganyu noticed his gaze. Although she knew that Master Liuyun Jiefeng had probably already told the boy about the dark history of her nearly choking to death on the giant beast that swallowed her when she was a child, that was why he looked at her so strangely. So Ganyu couldn't help but become stiff in picking up the food. Finally, she turned around and asked the boy:

"Is there a problem?"

"nothing."

Shen Zhigui immediately shook his head.

After all, it was not easy for him to ask such a question directly.

"As long as Mr. Shen's questions do not involve the truth of what Master Liuyun Jiefeng said about my childhood, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will try my best to answer whatever I can."

Ganyu said very considerately.

"Then what's your real age?"

Gan Yu immediately pursed her thin lips and didn't utter a single syllable.

Shen Zhigui immediately changed the subject and said, "Speaking of which, I said at the beginning that I was very curious about the basis for Xiao to exercise the contract he signed with the Emperor. Was it because of the inertia formed like Sisyphus, or because of his gratitude to the Emperor? And as for you, Miss Ganyu, I am also very curious, why are you still willing to maintain the contract between Xiao and the Emperor?"

"But a contract is a contract."

Ganyu just said it as a matter of course.

"I mean, you always work so hard, don't you get bored?"

Gan Yu thought about it, and then asked Shen Zhigui:

"Mr. Shen, you should still be practicing your martial arts, right? Don't you feel bored?"

"Sometimes, right?"

Shen Zhigui just said.

"But you won't stop practicing just because you're bored, right?"

Shen Zhigui nodded.

"why?"

"Because, in a sense, continuing to improve in martial arts will bring me one step closer to the life I want, and make it easier for me to find the meaning of my life and my utopia. I can even say that martial arts is the soil and air that I rely on to survive in this world. It is the necessary prerequisite for protecting me and realizing my will. Without martial arts, I am just a useless weak scholar."

Shen Zhigui said immediately.

Although Gan Yu had a different opinion on his last words, because she did not think that Shen Zhigui was an insignificant person without martial arts, but when she heard the boy say that, she just nodded and said: "Although at the beginning, I just wanted to simply fulfill the contract with the Emperor, but the meaning of work to me is just like the meaning of martial arts to you, Mr. Shen——"

Is this really a thing?

Shen Zhigui was a little skeptical.

"For me, it's the same thing, because only through work can I get recognition from others, and only through work can I see the happy smiles of others. Every time I do that, I feel that everything I do is meaningful, and I even feel that the meaning of my life is to see such smiles, so I feel a sense of happiness like having a full meal—"

When Ganyu said this, she suddenly covered her mouth.

I think this sentence seems to expose the fact that in order to control her weight, she does not consume enough food all year round and keeps herself hungry all the time.

But she continued:

“Although I don’t always see smiles, and sometimes I see tears, abuse and accusations, I think I can do better and improve my working methods in the future, so I will keep working like this.”

The half-blood Qilin spoke softly.

Shen Zhigui could only remain silent.

Isn’t this level of thought close to that of a saint?

Anyway, for Shen Zhigui, sometimes even if he knew that his way of doing things was wrong, he was often too lazy to change. For example, when he encountered a course he didn't like, he would always start flipping through the books in the last few weeks of the semester instead of listening to the teacher honestly. Although he could actually pass the test in the end, this method was not the right way at all, because the meaning of learning is not whether the test scores are passing, but whether the knowledge is mastered.

Of course, Shen Zhigui actually had a lot of twisted ideas to convince himself, for example, what he learned at that time was actually of no use at all.

But that is just fallacy.

"So, martial arts is a shortcut to the meaning of life for Mr. Shen, and the work at Yuehai Pavilion is the same for me," Ganyu added, smiling at the boy, "so I also hope that Mr. Shen can find his true happiness in martial arts."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Mr. Shen doesn't seem very happy recently."

No one would be happy if they were tortured like that by that kind of martial arts.

But after hearing her say that, Shen Zhigui was a little hesitant:

Have I forgotten the original purpose of learning martial arts?

After all, if it were my old self, I would only be able to cram at the last minute.

"Mr. Shen?" Gan Yu saw that he was in a daze, so she waved her hand and said, "What are you thinking about?"

“It was just a poem that came to mind.”

"poetry?"

Shen Zhigui immediately uttered a long poem with deep emotion:

"I have never done good deeds in my life, and I love killing people and setting fires. Suddenly, the golden rope was released, and the jade lock was broken. Alas! The tide signal came from Liyue Harbor, and today I know who I am!"

Chapter 22: When Did Morality Die (Part 1)

There was a burst of cheers from the side.

Although these few lines seem to be a weird poem that only an extremely antisocial madman could write.

However, there were some profound philosophies hidden in the poem, which made the people around who heard Shen Zhigui's long and heartfelt chanting realize at the first moment that this poem was definitely not a simple poem. In addition, they were all drunk and excited, so when they heard someone reciting such words in such a rhythmic manner, they immediately applauded.

When Gan Yu heard the boy's poem, she was actually a little stunned:

Because no matter how you look at it, this poem is inappropriate for the young man's situation.

If you say that he does not practice good deeds, I think the demon-conquering sage and Tevarin would not agree with his point of view;

If you say that he loves killing and arson the most, he would probably kill vicious treasure-stealing groups and fools who robbed on the road in the past. However, the higher his martial arts skills have been recently, the more restrained he has become. When he encounters someone who can be killed but should not be killed, he will mostly choose to let him go, which makes Yuhengxing complain privately that he might have taken the wrong medicine recently, and he has become so cautious when killing people, although he was not so firm and decisive before.

In this situation, how could he suddenly "know who I am today"?

Could it be that it was purely because of his conversation with Ningguang that he was inspired and finally made it clear that his ideal in life was to live a harmonious and friendly harem life with a large group of beautiful girls?

Ganyu immediately looked at the young man worriedly.

She thought about it and then asked, "Why did you think of this poem?"

"Because of your inspiration, Miss Ganyu?"

"I?"

Ganyu thought, what is there to say about my statement?

It's just a cliché, right?

"Because you made me realize that martial arts are not used to torture yourself, but to torture the enemy."

Shen Zhigui said immediately.

"This one……"

Gan Yu originally wanted to exchange glances with Shen He to see what that person, who was also taught by Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhen Jun, thought. However, she soon realized that Shen He actually had no idea at all, not to mention that that person was not good at reading people's expressions. So in the end, she only saw that Shen He's eyes were fixed on the boy without any wavering, and she could only say in the end: "But I heard that the main purpose of martial arts is to strengthen the body, right?"

Although Ganyu, as a half-Qilin, couldn't help blushing when she said this:

She simply took advantage of her race, so her words were not convincing at all, not to mention that ordinary people's martial arts would not be of much use to someone with her physique.

"If you want to keep fit, just do some exercises."

Although no matter how much physical exercises he does, he can never reach his current level.

"What are physical exercises?"

Shen Zhigui couldn't think of a suitable response for a moment, so he dealt with it vaguely, but then he heard Gan Yu seem to not want to see him go astray, or not want to see him go astray under her inspiration, so he immediately asked:

"Why would you think that? Martial arts are used to torture others or something."

"Because I used to think that there was a strong chain in my heart that bound me, reminding myself that there is always a boundary in this world that cannot be easily crossed as a human being. Once I cross that boundary, I can no longer be called a human being." Shen Zhigui's expression at this moment really became somewhat demonic in Ganyu's eyes, like a dark abyss, with countless sticky undercurrents surging in his dark pupils. "But in fact, there is no such chain at all, and I may have crossed the boundary of human beings a long time ago, but I just realized this fact now."

"so?"

"Do you think that immortals can be called human beings?"

Ganyu immediately felt that this was a bit ridiculous:

Is this young man in front of me actually comparing himself to an immortal now?

Has he been so arrogant before?

But at this moment, she saw that the young man smiled at her, and then the emerald green sword appeared in his hand, instantly cutting a wound on his other hand, but soon the sword in his hand disappeared, and then it was like a flash of green light, and a charming blood light suddenly gushed out from the palm of the young man. Before Ganyu had time to think about why he wanted to hurt himself at this time, and when she was about to stop him, she saw the flow of blood in the young man's hand stopped in an instant, and then the deep wound closed in an instant, except for the slowly solidifying dark blood in his palm, everything was the same as before!

"What's this?"

Ganyu asked.

"An ability I recently realized."

In a sense, his speed of healing is even more outrageous than those holders of the Water God's Eye. Even if Ganyu didn't go to see him in person, she could feel the surging vitality in the boy's body from a distance!

Not to mention, the boy's original martial arts skills were good at attacking. According to Keqing, he was even able to fight the demon-conquering Great Sage in a short period of time. If he had said before that he could eliminate the resentment and power left in the remains of the demon god, it could only be attributed to the fact that his martial arts system was particularly targeted at such phenomena. But what the boy showed now was that he might really be able to break the boundary between life and death with his uncanny martial arts and become as immortal as he is, or even live as long as the heaven and earth.

Although that depends on whether the laws of nature agree.

Ganyu is not always concerned about things happening in Liyue.

She had also heard about some of the things that happened outside Liyue, so she was also aware of some of the secrets circulating among the immortals, such as Tianli and Kanriya. These secrets were not too dangerous for people of their level, so Ganyu could occasionally break through her level and find out about those things, not to mention that she had lived for so long. Even if she did not intentionally collect information in that area, she still had to care about those existences that could threaten or even oppress her.

Of course, those things are still too far away for the young man in front of him.

After all, he just had the possibility to do that.

But she also vaguely realized that the boy's statement did not seem to be what she had always believed, that it was a question of racial identity between humans and Qilin, but a question of some more realistic, sharp, and even more self-centered perspective. Although Ganyu's mood was inevitably fluctuated when she realized that he could really break through the shackles of human lifespan, his words and the inappropriate poem made Ganyu have a bad association:

What on earth was he thinking?

What will he do after crossing the boundaries of humanity?