"Say, Zhongli, why do you keep staring at that hunk of metal? If you don't eat, I'm going to finish all the food myself."
Seeing Zhongli's attention fixated on a piece of metal, Azhdaha looked displeased. What was wrong with her old friend? Just a few days ago, he had lectured her about focusing on meals, and now here he was, not eating properly himself.
"Hmm. I should eat properly. This thing is rather interesting. It's actually managed to puzzle me."
"Azhdaha, Hu Tao said she ordered a new outfit for you to wear during the Moonchase Festival before she left Liyue Harbor. It should be ready by now. If you have nothing else to do, go pick it up from the tailor."
Zhongli set down the metal device and picked up his chopsticks. Azhdaha was confused. If she remembered correctly, she had been with Zhongli the whole time. And Su Bai had said Hu Tao would be staying in Mondstadt for a few days. How did Zhongli know about the new outfit Hu Tao had made for her?
Still puzzled, Azhdaha continued eating. She had to admit, maybe because of the upcoming Moonchase Festival cooking competition, even the street food had gotten noticeably better.
"Zhongli, how did you know Hu Tao made me a new outfit? Did that little girl come back? I didn't sense her presence."
After finishing three bowls of rice, Azhdaha couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer. Zhongli just smiled and said nothing, continuing to eat at his leisurely pace. Though Wanmin Restaurant's food had a certain homely charm, occasionally eating street food was nice too.
Seeing Zhongli ignore her, Azhdaha's temper flared. She slapped her chopsticks on the table and stood up from her stool. Seeing her round, puffy little face, Zhongli silently took a photo with his phone and sent it out, adding a caption: 'How do you soothe an angry child?'
Unaware she had just been exposed, Azhdaha saw Zhongli ignoring her again. She suddenly felt like she had fallen behind after spending a few days in The Chasm. Was that glowing piece of metal really that interesting?
Azhdaha hopped onto Zhongli's back and craned her head to look. Zhongli tilted his head slightly—not just to give her a better view, but also to avoid getting poked by her sharp dragon horns.
On the phone, the group was busy discussing Hu Tao. Apparently, she was promoting Wangsheng in Windrise Plaza today. Amber, who happened to be there, was describing the scene.
Amber: 'Buy one, get one free. Bulk discounts... If it weren't Wangsheng products, I'd probably buy some...'
Amber: 'Hu Tao isn't just handing out flyers. She even got Venti to sing some strange songs. Though, Venti's singing is actually pretty good.'
Hu Tao: 'What do you mean strange? That's a Hilichurl ballad your director adapted for our Wangsheng employee Venti. So? Doesn't it just ooze the spirit of freedom?'
Eula: 'I don't know about freedom, but I do know Venti put his drinks on Wangsheng's tab last night. I ran into Diluc at Windrise earlier, and he asked me to tell you to settle the bill at Angel's Share as soon as possible.'
Hu Tao: 'What?! My Wangsheng Mondstadt branch hasn't even opened yet, and we're already in debt? And if I remember right, Venti only joined Wangsheng two days ago!'
Zhongli: 'Speaking generally, Venti is certainly capable of such things. And he's likely to do it often. I suggest you, Director Hu, make good use—no, assign him plenty of work while you're in Mondstadt. Keep him busy so he won't have time to drink.'
Hu Tao: 'Zhongli, that's a great idea. I need to think carefully about how to keep Venti occupied.'
Zhongli smiled faintly and set down his phone. 'My old friend, you're going to have your hands full for a while. Even I get a headache from the strange ideas that pop into that little head of hers.'
Azhdaha froze for a few seconds, then grabbed Zhongli's clothes and started shaking him. The force was so strong that his clothes began to strain audibly, but Azhdaha showed no sign of stopping.
"Zhongli, can this thing really let Hu Tao in Mondstadt send us messages?"
"Speaking generally, yes."
Hearing Zhongli's confirmation, Azhdaha grew even more excited. She tugged at his clothes even harder and asked expectantly:
"What about mine? Did you prepare one for me too?"
"Well..."
"Morax! You bastard! Are you keeping all the good stuff for yourself again?! During the Archon War, you wouldn't share Guizhong's cooking, and now you've forgotten me again with something this fun?!"
Seeing Azhdaha baring her teeth like she wanted to eat him, Zhongli calmly pulled another phone from his pocket. Azhdaha's face lit up, then turned a little awkward. It seemed she had misunderstood him.
"Azhdaha, let me teach you how to use it. It's actually quite simple."
Inside an office at Yujing Terrace, Ganyu was processing various documents. With the Moonchase Festival approaching, the workload in Liyue Harbor had grown significantly.
"Junior sister, you've been staring at that glowing little metal box all morning. If you're bored, I have plenty of interesting books you can read."
Ganyu, noticing that Shenhe hadn't moved all morning, gently reminded her. She had originally planned to visit Cloud Retainer with Shenhe, but she couldn't get away due to the mountain of paperwork. So she had asked Shenhe to wait here for her.
"It's fine, senior sister. I'm chatting with Su Bai. I'm not bored."
Holding her phone, Shenhe didn't find it boring at all. For her, it was just a change of scenery—instead of looking at the phone at Wangsheng, she was looking at it in Ganyu's office. Either way, she was still looking at her phone.
"Chatting? But little Su Bai isn't here. Junior sister, could something have gone wrong with your cultivation? Are you hallucinating? No, you need to come with me to see Master immediately."
Ganyu's heart tightened at Shenhe's words. She knew about Shenhe's situation from Cloud Retainer, who had told her to report any signs of trouble immediately.
"No, no. Senior sister, look at this phone."
Shenhe handed her phone to Ganyu. Ganyu stared at the glowing metal box, puzzled. But when she saw text continuously appearing on the screen, she was astonished.
"Is this some new gadget from another nation?"