The moment Keqing saw Ningguang arrive with two boxes, she knew they had to be filled with strong liquor.
Ganyu had mentioned an ancient wine before, called Adeptus' Drunk.
"Rumor had it that even an adeptus would be drunk under the table before finishing seven cups."
Of course, ordinary wine could not truly make an adeptus drunk…, but if people dared to make that kind of claim, it proved the wine was extremely strong.
And Ningguang had brought that kind of wine here.
Her intentions could not have been more obvious.
"I brought a few bottles of good wine. They'll go perfectly with the crayfish," Ningguang said.
"Baiwen, Baishi, put the things down and head back."
"Yes, Ningguang-sama!"
After the two left, everyone took their seats.
There were barely any dishes on the table, only two plates of spicy crayfish.
Ryou's father glanced at Ryou and said, "Son, arrange your work tomorrow and come with me to Qingce Village."
"All right," Ryou said.
"Am I going too?" Keqing asked.
"You're both going. I'll tell you what for when the time comes."
"Also, tomorrow, go to Yujing Terrace first and arrange your affairs," Ryou's father said.
Then he looked at Ningguang and asked, "Ningguang, has the place over there been repaired?"
"It has already been completed," Ningguang said.
"Good. In that case, withdraw the people back. It's not appropriate for them to remain at Yujing Terrace all the time," Ryou's father said.
Ryou nodded, but he noticed that both Ganyu and Ningguang's expressions changed slightly.
He was about to say something when Hu Tao tugged Xiangling and said, "Xiangling, that guy's crayfish is seriously good."
"It's tender, fragrant, and full of meat. The meat was as big as my fist, and it tasted amazing. I guarantee you'll all want several more bites."
"Eh? As big as your fist? No way!" Xiangling clearly did not believe her.
As someone from Liyue Harbor, how could Xiangling not know what seafood was usually like?
Even good seafood was usually no bigger than two fingers, at least when it came to things like crayfish.
If someone caught truly huge seafood, people would definitely talk about it.
Xiangling had seen seafood brought ashore before, but none of it was especially large. At most, the tail was a little bigger.
So she found Hu Tao's claim very suspicious.
"I'm telling the truth. I ate one in the kitchen just now, and the meat was delicious," Hu Tao said.
"Director Hu, you might fool Xiangling, but you can't fool me and Kazuha," Beidou said, looking at Hu Tao.
"Kazuha, tell her how big crayfish usually are," Beidou said.
Kazuha replied, "Most crayfish are only about the size of a finger. Even larger ones are usually no more than two fingers long."
"Something three fingers long is already extremely rare. Fist-sized crayfish are almost impossible."
"The Alcor catches plenty of seafood on normal days, so we do know a thing or two about this. Director Hu…"
"Nonsense!" Hu Tao puffed up angrily.
"I saw them with my own eyes. Consultant, tell them. You saw them too, didn't you?" she asked Zhongli.
Seeing everyone look toward him, Zhongli said, "Director, I did see a few."
"See?" Hu Tao said.
"Zhongli works for your family. Of course he'd speak for you," Beidou said.
"That is not quite correct. I now work at the Ministry of Civil Affairs," Zhongli said.
"Speaking of which, I have seen seafood of that size before, but that was several hundred years ago," Changsheng said.
"Changsheng," Baizhu called.
"Hu Tao, are you sure you didn't see a crayfish that had turned into a spirit?" Chongyun asked.
Hu Tao grew even angrier. "Nonsense. I'm not lying. Look for yourselves!"
She grabbed the lid and lifted it.
In an instant, the aroma filled the entire dining hall. Dozens of giant red crayfish lay in the bowl, so tempting that everyone started swallowing.
"Hiss. These are crayfish?! They're way too big. They're thicker than my leg."
Kazuha's eyes widened. "They're enormous. I've never heard of crayfish this large."
"Hiss… these crayfish must taste amazing!" Paimon rubbed her hands together.
Lumine stared at the crayfish and said, "I'm eating ten later!"
"M-Me too!" Paimon said.
"Mhm! I believe Hu Tao now." Xiangling swallowed, looking like she wanted to grab three at once and start eating.
Ryou shook his head. Then he noticed Changsheng frowning slightly as she leaned closer and said, "How incredible. Crayfish can actually grow this large in this era?"
"Cough, cough. Changsheng… ease up a little!" Baizhu's face turned red from the pressure.
"Oh, right. Sorry, sorry." Changsheng pulled back.
Ryou put the lid back on. "Hu Tao, what are you doing?"
"I-I was just proving it to them!" Hu Tao turned and pointed at Ryou.
"They'll get cold," Ryou said.
Ryou's father and mother had eaten all kinds of rare delicacies, but this was their first time seeing crayfish this large. They were both shocked.
Ryou's father said, "This trip was worth it. If we had gone to the Jade Chamber, we would have missed out."
"Such a delicacy would lose some charm without good wine, wouldn't it?" Ningguang smiled.
She took out the wine and placed a bottle on the table.
"We haven't even eaten yet. Why are you bringing out wine?" Keqing glared at Ningguang, then took the bottle and set it aside.
Still, Keqing was confused.
At the time, she and Ganyu had accompanied Ryou to buy the crayfish.
Those crayfish had only been about the size of a finger, perhaps even smaller than usual.
How had they turned into these enormous things once they reached Ryou's hands?
"Ryou, why are these crayfish so big? Where did you buy them? Can you tell me?" Beidou asked.
The Alcor traveled far and wide, and Beidou had been to all kinds of places.
Mondstadt, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, Snezhnaya—she had seen countless kinds of seafood.
But she had never seen crayfish like the ones in Ryou's hands. They were simply too large.
"Well, that's a trade secret," Ryou said.
"I see… then I won't ask further. But I really came at the right time for this meal."
"Let's drink later. And of course, I'll have to taste plenty of these crayfish too." Beidou laughed heartily.
"Everyone here is a guest today, so all of you will get to eat. If there isn't enough, I'll make more. I prepared quite a lot," Ryou said.
Everyone was eager to try them, and the atmosphere quickly grew lively.
Ryou looked at Ningguang and asked, "Ningguang, how are the lottery shop sales going?"
At the mention of that, quite a few people turned toward Ningguang.
After all, the lottery shop had caused plenty of discussion in Liyue Harbor. It had also drawn some dissatisfaction.
People had talked about it constantly, and many had gone to buy lottery tickets.
Seeing everyone look at her, Ningguang said, "One hundred Mora per ticket. In five days of business, we sold fifty thousand tickets. Far fewer than I expected."
"Ten thousand tickets a day means you earned five million Mora. What are you still dissatisfied with?" Beidou said irritably.
Ningguang gave Beidou a look. "Beidou, you need to understand that I placed the shop in a prime location, yet we only sold fifty thousand tickets."
"Meanwhile, Xingqiu sold a full one hundred and eighty thousand tickets in Mondstadt in just four days."
That shocked Beidou, Kazuha, Baizhu, and the others.
One hundred and eighty thousand tickets in four days meant eighteen million Mora.
And that was in only four days.
Now Beidou understood why Ningguang was disappointed. At this rate, there was no way she could catch up to Xingqiu.
The lottery shop had earned some Mora, but compared with Xingqiu's results, the gap was far too large.
"Of course, in terms of earning speed, it's still excellent," Ningguang said. She did not continue and simply shook her head.
"I really envy merchants like you. The Crux Fleet spends all day sailing here and there, working ourselves half to death, and we still don't earn that much Mora."
"But one idea from you people can earn millions, even tens of millions of Mora, in just a few days."
"Tell me, how can the gap between people be this large?" Beidou said.
"If Captain Beidou transports certain things, the profit should not be low either. After all, some things cannot be judged only on the surface, can they?" Ningguang smiled.
"Ningguang, what do you mean by that? Our business is all legitimate. Why does it sound strange when you say it?" Beidou looked displeased.
"I never said anything like that," Ningguang said, shaking her head. "The dishes should be mostly ready by now, shouldn't they? Can we start eating?"
"There are still a few left," Ryou said.
"It's fine. Let's eat first. I can't wait any longer," Lumine said.
"Then… let's start," Ryou said.
Everyone nodded, then immediately reached for the spicy crayfish. In no time, one bowl was almost completely emptied.
"Hu Tao, Lumine… one each. Eat what you have first before taking more. Don't grab extra!" Ryou tapped their hands with his chopsticks.
"Oh, fine." The two exchanged looks.
Everyone started eating the crayfish.
Ryou set the adeptal juice to the side, picked up a crayfish, peeled it, took out the meat, and held it to Keqing's lips. "Keqing, open up."
"Ah!" Keqing took a bite, and the texture of the crayfish was simply incredible.
After chewing a few times, Keqing said, "Ryou, this crayfish is amazing!"
"If you like it, eat more. In the future, if you ever want some, just tell me and I'll make it for you," Ryou said with a smile.
"Mm-hm." Keqing looked blissful.
"Here, have some watermelon juice." Ryou picked up the bottle and poured Keqing a cup of adeptal watermelon juice.
"What's the point of drinking juice? Come on, let's drink. I brought so much wine; we can't let it go to waste," Ningguang said.
As she spoke, she gave Beidou a look.
But Beidou was biting into crayfish meat and savoring the flavor.
Ningguang's face darkened slightly. The crayfish might be delicious, but her target was Ryou. Today, she absolutely had to get Ryou drunk.
[End of chapter]
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