"Lady Fu, do you have to be this dedicated? It's comic con today, a rare day to relax!"
Qingque's face was the picture of despair. "Why am I too good at my job? I've been exceeding my quotas lately, so why are you repaying kindness with cruelty, Lady Fu?"
Ahem, ahem. Fu Xuan cleared her throat twice. "Do you know how many people are here today? What if a stampede happens?"
"Didn't Captain Jing Yuan already send the Sky-Faring Commission's Sixth Division to assist? Why do I have to work overtime?! Lady Fu, Boss Su Chen gave the whole team a day off!"
"We still have to maintain order. We can't just leave safety entirely in others' hands." Fu Xuan gave Qingque a meaningful look, hoping she'd grasp the point.
But, Qingque's expression was nothing but lifeless misery, devoid of anything else. Her eyes were dull, as if all hope had drained from her soul. As someone who'd risk her life to slack off during overtime, today—this day— Lady Fu had dragged her to work overtime! This was beyond what any uncle or auntie could tolerate! It directly violated her principle: Never work overtime!
Qingque trudged forward like a zombie, her world turned gray.
But then, a spark of light flashed in her eyes, and color returned to her world. Not far ahead, four people were gathered around a mahjong table.
"Hmm…" Qingque stopped, her mind racing.
The next moment, she looked at Fu Xuan with a serious expression. "Lady Fu, I've had an epiphany! You're right—there are too many people here, too many eyes and ears."
She cautiously glanced around. "I've spotted suspicious individuals."
"Suspicious individuals?" Fu Xuan sensed something from Qingque's demeanor. "Where?"
"I saw Sampo, and he's with someone cosplaying the Masked Fool!"
"Sampo? That is suspicious. Where are they?"
Qingque made a shushing gesture. "Lady Fu, as the saying goes, 'If I don't enter hell, who will?' I've truly seen the light today. You keep patrolling and maintain order; I'll go infiltrate the enemy!"
Hearing this, Fu Xuan's pupils shrank, and even her behavioral profiling skills failed her. So, Qingque had actually understood! That was great, truly great. Her successor had finally come around. If Qingque was willing to take her place, Fu Xuan could focus on prying Jing Yuan's position away.
"Go, then!"
"Order received!"
In an instant, Qingque vanished into the crowd.
Fu Xuan glanced at her, nodded, and as she turned, she saw Jing Yuan standing behind her. "Boss? Why are you here? And Jingliu too?"
"Huh?" Fu Xuan looked behind Jing Yuan, puzzled. "No way, Boss, you can actually summon the Divine Lord?"
There, standing beside Jing Yuan, was a Divine Lord.
Jing Yuan gave a knowing smile. "You're usually so sharp, why are you slipping today? Do you know what day it is?"
"It's comic con day. Oh! The Divine Lord is a cosplayer. So why's he following you?"
"Simple. He said he's here to campaign for my votes." Jing Yuan leaned in, whispering to Fu Xuan, "Truth is, this Divine Lord guy said my Jing Yuan cosplay was so good he had to team up with me. He said even Clara and Svarog have a duo, so we should too. But is that even the same thing? The Jingliu beside me is also a cosplayer, and she insisted on teaming up too! I can't reveal my real identity—it'd cause a bigger panic—so I'm just stuck walking around like this. What a pain!"
"Where's Yanqing? Get him to take the Jingliu cosplayer off your hands."
"Yanqing went to meet the Sixth Division folks, but then he went silent. Doesn't answer calls or texts. No idea what he's up to."
"General of the Divine Strategy, we should go!" The Divine Lord cosplayer spoke, deliberately lowering their voice to sound deep and serious.
"Ah!" The Jingliu cosplayer clutched her eyepatch with one hand. "If we don't move, I feel my mara-struck state coming on!"
Jing Yuan shook his head helplessly. "Alright, alright, you two, don't lose it. I'll keep moving."
Fu Xuan blinked. "My head's itchy. I feel like I'm growing a brain."
Meanwhile, Qingque had stealthily slipped over to the mahjong table. There were four players: one cosplaying Liu Guanyi, one as the Masked Fool, one as Qingque, and the last was none other than old Sampo himself.
Liu Guanyi grabbed a tile and shouted, "Instant Refinement!"
"Hold it!" Qingque yelled. "Buddy, that's not how you play mahjong!"
All four at the table turned to look at Qingque.
Sampo rubbed his eyes. Isn't that Qingque? "Why are you here?"
Then he glanced at the mahjong table. "Oh, never mind."
"Hmph. Esteemed Immortal of the flowing willow waist, want us to help you win this round?"
The Qingque cosplayer interjected, "Hey, lady, just because your Qingque cosplay is on point doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. At least let us finish this round!"
"No need for that." The Masked Fool pulled a phone from their bag. "V me 50, and my spot's yours. My tiles are yours too—you can jump right into this round. How's that?"
"Sampo, got your phone? Pay up."
"Huh?" Sampo pointed at himself. "Me? Why me?"
"Come on, we're all sisters here. Forgot how you still owe me from last time's mahjong?"
"That was Sparkle disguised as me, losing to you on purpose, alright?" Sampo sighed, pulling out the phone he'd swiped from Stelle yesterday.
Sampo scanned the QR code, and the phone chimed, "Alipay payment received."
The Masked Fool scratched their head. "Wasn't that WeChat? Whatever, let's go."
In a flash, Qingque slid into the empty seat. "Hehe, let's see how my luck's holding up today!"
She picked up a tile without even looking, checked her hand, and knew exactly which tile to play. She tossed it out. "Steal in Passing!"
"Hm?" Qingque blinked, looking at the tile she'd played. It was Steal in Passing!
"This is… Wanning Mahjong?"