Jiang Yanli felt exhausted. She was used to worrying about Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian. That hadn't changed and such worries could take their toll, but her current exhaustion was much more than that. Jiang Yanli had spent two weeks preparing for Wei Wuxian's arrival at Lotus Pier. She had tried to plan out how she could help make this visit as easy as possible for him. The top items on her list were, sadly, all related to her family.

Jiang Yanli was somewhat used to having to manage her mother. There was only so much anyone could do in terms of that, but Jiang Yanli was aware that she was a bit more skilled at this than the rest of her family. She had after all been practising this ever since she was little. Jiang Wanyin was not the first child Yu Ziyuan had pressured into trying to be perfect. Although Jiang Yanli and Jiang Wanyin had reacted to these things differently, Jiang Yanli couldn't change how much Jiang Wanyin desperately sought their mother's approval.

Jiang Yanli's first order of business had been to do her best to keep her mother away from Wei Wuxian. There was a chance her mother might stay away from him on her own, but Jiang Yanli didn't want to risk it. Fortunately her mother was nothing if not predictable. Jiang Yanli only had to ask her mother about visiting Jin Zixuan's mother. Then make some noise about trying to repair the betrothal. Her mother was rather obsessed with it, so even though Jiang Yanli didn't want to think about it anymore it was still something easy to distract her mother with. Yu Ziyuan had picked when to leave on her own, not wanting to disrupt the engagement while also being intolerant of Wei Wuxian. Being absent was the best course of action and Jiang Yanli considered it a blessing that she didn't have to try and suggest it herself.

Jiang Yanli was well aware that Wei Wuxian's visit was truly that. It was going to be a visit, and even though Wei Wuxian hadn't said anything, Jiang Yanli knew he would not stay for very long. It made her a bit sad. Jiang Yanli missed him a lot when she returned to Lotus Pier without him. Wei Wuxian had changed a lot in a short amount of time. More fearful, less outgoing, but he was still Wei Wuxian. Still playful, still affectionate, still so kind and concerned about others.

Jiang Yanli was sad about him not being around, but even before seeing Wei Wuxian in Lotus Pier again Jiang Yanli had known Cloud Recesses was better for him. Although Wei Wuxian wasn't technically adopted, Jiang Yanli still considered him her didi. She had always wanted to look after him and protect him the same way she looked after Jiang Wanyin. She had spent a lot of time with Jiang Wanyin in her first two weeks back from Cloud Recesses. He had calmed down significantly in the months he had been back without his siblings.

Jiang Yanli knew that Jiang Wanyin was feeling bad about the last conversation he had with Wei Wuxian. She had told him repeatedly that if he was sorry he would have to apologize. She wasn't sure if he had yet. He and Wei Wuxian had been interacting with each other almost like nothing had happened between them. Which kind of worried Jiang Yanli. Ignoring a problem didn't fix it. Jiang Yanli didn't like to say it, but there was a problem in the way the two of them interacted.

Jiang Wanyin had always had trouble expressing himself properly. Instead of saying he was worried he would start complaining or telling you why you shouldn't do the thing that was making him worried. Jiang Yanli had grown up with him being this way, so she hadn't thought much about it other than how it caused misunderstandings. It was kind of a problem though, because even though it was because he cared or was worried... The words themselves could be hurtful. Jiang Yanli didn't know how to fix it. She couldn't change Jiang Wanyin's behaviour, but the behaviour was hurtful to Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Yanli knew how to redirect the disciples when she noticed Wei Wuxian becoming overwhelmed. She was even getting better at redirecting her father during a few somewhat disappointing conversations. Jiang Yanli had been betrothed as a young child and her father never talked to her about considering her options or taking time to decide about her relationship. So why did he keep saying such things to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji?

The first time Jiang Yanli's father said anything about making a change to her betrothal was when Jiang Wanyin punched Jin Zixuan. The fight was because Jin Zixuan was speaking disrespectfully of her, and it was not the first time he had done so. Jiang Yanli had never made a fuss about it, but she and Jin Zixuan had never become close either. It was obvious how much Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji cared about each other. So why talk to them about having time to change their minds and not her?

Jiang Yanli sighed, clearing these thoughts from her head as she watched Wei Wuxian tease Lan Wangji about asking her to bring breakfast for both of them to Lan Wangji's guest room. Jiang Yanli was unable to contain her amusement. Wei Wuxian's excitement and playfulness was endearing. Although what she found even more precious was that Lan Wangji had not told Wei Wuxian that he was the one who had cooked the food.

Lan Wangji had asked Jiang Yanli to teach him how to cook Wei Wuxian's favourite foods. They had been meeting for between an hour and an hour and a half every morning, during which Jiang Yanli would provide instructions and advice while Lan Wangji cooked. She suspected Lan Wangji was waking Wei Wuxian up after this, but had never asked. Lan Wangji did share some talismans with her that Wei Wuxian had created. They could keep food fresh and at temperature for quite a long time. Jiang Yanli thought they were ingenious. Jiang Yanli watched as Wei Wuxian placed talismans onto the bottom of lily pads before setting them down at semi-regular intervals.

"So this will serve as an evacuation path?" Jiang Yanli inquired, deciding to give Lan Wangji a break from Wei Wuxian's affectionate teasing. Wei Wuxian nodded, but didn't say anything. Jiang Yanli couldn't help but feel like there was something important that Wei Wuxian wasn't telling her. Not the details about his suicide or recovery from it, something else. The more she thought about it the more drastic the change in Wei Wuxian seemed to be. It wasn't that she felt it came out of nowhere, but she couldn't help but feel like she would have seen a little more before it got so bad.

There was also Wei Wuxian's sudden interest in things. The evacuation route for Lotus Pier being the most recent, and begging her to learn a way to protect herself being the first. Jiang Yanli was very happy with what he had been teaching her, and liked the idea of being able to defend herself. It just felt as though it appeared out of nowhere. Wei Wuxian had never said anything about her defending herself in the past. He only ever talked about how he would protect her. She felt like something must have changed to make him ask her to learn to protect herself.

"So how will it work?" Jiang Yanli asked, hoping to engage Wei Wuxian a bit more. Wei Wuxian smiled and beckoned her towards him.

"Step off of the boat." Wei Wuxian said with a smile. Jiang Yanli raised an eyebrow, but Wei Wuxian only smiled brighter while offering her a hand. Jiang Yanli very carefully stepped out of the boat. She held onto Wei Wuxian's hand and stepped down, expecting to dip her foot into the water. Except her foot stopped. Jiang Yanli gasped as she looked up at Wei Wuxian who was now grinning madly. Jiang Yanli stepped off with her other foot and found she could walk across the water.

"It makes a path wide enough for about six people," Wei Wuxian explained. "More importantly it will only work for disciples carrying their clarity bell." Wei Wuxian made a show of handing his bell to Lan Wangji before he demonstrated his foot going right into the water with no resistance. Jiang Yanli smiled before spinning lightly, enjoying the magic of Wei Wuxian's design. She climbed back into the boat as Wei Wuxian continued the path across the water.

"So you want to store food for those who might need to evacuate in an emergency?" Jiang Yanli asked, recalling their earlier conversation. It was a wonderful idea, but food would go bad over time and have to be switched out periodically.

"So it should be something that keeps well, and we will have to change the food out periodically. Otherwise we might find by the time there is such an emergency the rations have gone bad." Jiang Yanli said thinking about what might keep the best. It really should be something discussed with the sect leader, but since Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji came to her she could guess Wei Wuxian didn't want to do that. They finally ended their boat trip at a densely wooded area. Wei Wuxian picked out where food and some extra clothing could be stashed.

The clothing was honestly more difficult to obtain than the food in Jiang Yanli's opinion. Wei Wuxian was only suggesting enough food to keep those evacuated going for a week. It was not like trying to plan out the supplies to feed the sect through a drought. While inappropriate Jiang Yanli didn't think it would be too much of a problem to take out the requisite amount of rice and millet.

After their boat trip Jiang Yanli took Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to where they stored their food reserves. Wei Wuxian had no concept of how much food would be needed. Jiang Yanli was more familiar with cooking for a group of hungry disciples. While this was a larger scale than she usually prepared for on her own, the math was the same. Lan Wangji had to hold Wei Wuxian back from just grabbing whatever looked good.

"Since it is for an emergency, we should stick to necessities." Jiang Yanli said as she motioned for him to put back the fermented vegetables. Wei Wuxian then appeared with arms full of dried chilies.

"These are a necessity." Wei Wuxian insisted in response to the looks he received from Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji. Jiang Yanli had chuckled and let him keep half of what he had pulled out. Qiankun pouches filled with the requisite amounts of rice, millet, salt, dried meat, and Wei Wuxian's requested chili peppers. Jiang Yanli ushered them back outside and hoped there would be no cause for anyone to check close enough to notice what they had taken.