"So I told you to screen the files, and you really screened them down to this?"
Staring at the single remaining document on her desk, Keqing could no longer maintain her deliberately cold demeanor.
"No, of course not," Bai Ge replied. "I just sent most of the work back down again."
"You mean… the division of labor you just implemented?"
"Yes. They'll submit things again soon, but by then, both your workload and mine will be drastically reduced."
Hearing this, Keqing fell silent for a moment.
"But they've always only known how to handle things strictly by regulations."
"That's because no one taught them before. Now they should be much better off than you were back then," Bai Ge replied.
Liyue Harbor itself wasn't large to begin with. With major decisions handled by the Geo Lord, Keqing had previously been able to personally run around and deal with most minor matters. With even a bit of reform added on top, things naturally became far easier.
And indeed, events unfolded exactly as Bai Ge had predicted.
With an added layer of screening, and after passing through both the department leads and Bai Ge's review, Keqing's workload was reduced by far more than four times.
What remained were all high-level, directional decisions.
"As expected of you, Bai Ge."
Looking at him, Keqing sighed in genuine admiration.
She was completely convinced.
And yet, when she recalled the two documents in her drawer, despite her workload decreasing, she felt inexplicably unhappy.
"It's nothing. I'll continue explaining the new performance system to you," Bai Ge said. "And honestly, the Yuheng Office really does need to eliminate some people and select the best of the best."
And so, business was handled strictly as business. Days of clocking out at five on the dot began.
After being absent for so long, Secretary Bai was finally fully back online.
...
However, just as the Yuheng Office was getting back on track—
One day, as Bai Ge was counting down the time, preparing to clock out and sign in, Keqing stopped him.
"I'm not asking you to work overtime," she said. "I just want you to look at something."
Seeing Bai Ge's wary expression, Keqing coldly took out two transfer orders.
"Take a look yourself. Haven't you been waiting for these for a long time already?"
"These have been here for a while. I was the one holding them back."
"What are they?" Keqing's mysterious tone made Bai Ge curious.
He picked up the two documents on her desk—and discovered they were transfer orders to two different places.
One was the Jade Chamber.
The other was the Tianquan Office.
"What does this mean?" Bai Ge asked, confused.
"It means you choose," Keqing replied. "Either go to the Jade Chamber to help formulate and improve Liyue's social security laws, or go to the Tianquan Office as a deputy handling foreign affairs."
Then, glancing at Bai Ge's puzzled face, Keqing frowned, as if suppressing something.
"Wasn't this something you already knew about? Don't tell me you still haven't decided where to go?"
"I know you dislike me, but before leaving you helped me reorganize the Yuheng Office, and I am grateful for that."
"So don't pretend to be innocent about things we both understand."
Her tone grew increasingly irritable.
But Bai Ge was genuinely stunned. "What 'mutual understanding'?"
"Wasn't it you who asked someone to use connections to transfer you out?"
Facing Bai Ge's repeated displays of confusion, the agitated Keqing slammed the desk and stood up.
"You dislike me, so you used Ganyu's connections to get yourself transferred!"
"The Jade Chamber is where Ganyu works now, and the Tianquan Star has always been on good terms with her!"
"You're really impressive, Bai Ge. You even managed to get Ganyu to find two options for you at once."
"No wonder you look down on me."
Keqing sneered.
But compared to her icy, barbed words, what stood in stark contrast were her eyes, slowly filling with mist.
Only then did Bai Ge notice how increasingly worn-down Keqing had been these past days.
He immediately realized something was wrong—because from his perspective, this accusation had come completely out of nowhere.
He had thought about going elsewhere someday, but without sufficient strength, that was impossible. Naturally, he would never have asked anyone to transfer him.
"Wait, calm down. Let's sort this out step by step," Bai Ge said quickly, trying to soothe her.
...
Not long after, following a long conversation, Bai Ge finally understood the situation.
"So that's how it is…" he murmured, his expression complicated.
Piecing everything together, he had figured it out.
These two transfer orders weren't arranged by Ganyu.
Bai Ge deduced that they were most likely arranged by Zhongli—the one he had met that day.
The Geo Archon wanted him to make a choice. This was probably the deeper meaning behind telling him to "be more proactive."
As for Keqing…
Put simply, Bai Ge had unintentionally subjected her to a full-scale emotional PUA.
That rejection back then had truly hurt her.
Keqing, who had been outstanding since childhood, kept running into walls in front of him.
Her charm was denied. Her abilities were denied. Even the way she had worked all this time was effortless.
This constant stream of negation, combined with her prior feelings, completely shattered Keqing's emotional defenses.
So when Keqing believed that he had gone to Ganyu to arrange a permanent transfer—and that reorganizing the Yuheng Office was merely his compensation before leaving—
After suppressing everything for so long, she finally exploded at this last trigger.
Realizing that he had truly hurt Keqing—
Bai Ge was immediately filled with guilt.