"Aren't you afraid Xianyun will get angry if she finds out you're slacking off here instead of preparing things for her?" Lora asked.
"When the time comes, I'll have to offer her plenty of wine and tea and beg for forgiveness," Zhongli said with a smile.
"She won't forgive you..." Lora sighed after hearing his plan, then added, "But I'll give you a thumbs-up."
Listening to their exchange, Nahida held back a laugh and said, "Is there anything else that needs preparing? I can help!"
"That would hardly be proper. You are a guest. How could we make you run errands?" Zhongli shook his head. "It's rare for you to come to Liyue for a gathering. Leave these matters to others."
"So I'm not a guest of Liyue anymore?" Lora looked at him and asked.
Zhongli smiled. "You are the renowned Adeptus of Purifying Water and Judgment, after all."
Lora: "..."
She had spoken too soon.
She held out her hand to Zhongli. Seeing the gesture, he took out the list he carried with him and was about to place it in her palm when she said, "Hold it! I only want half! You handle the other half yourself!"
"Thank you for your understanding, Adeptus of Purifying Water and Judgment," Zhongli said, still smiling. He split the list in two, tucked one half away, and placed the other in Lora's hand.
"Oh, please. I've never seen someone so shameless at your age," Lora grumbled.
After she left with Qiqi, Zhongli's gaze returned to Nahida and Scaramouche.
"Since you have come to Liyue, you are guests of Liyue. The nation today is very different from what it once was, and I imagine you do not know what the old Liyue was like either. Take this chance to relax and enjoy yourselves."
After speaking to Nahida, he turned his attention to Scaramouche. He pondered for a moment before continuing, "As for this guest... Liyue welcomes your arrival as well. I only hope you will follow the rules and refrain from doing anything improper. Makoto and Ei will not arrive for several more days."
Scaramouche stayed silent, but Nahida said to him, "Kunikuzushi, let's go walk around. You probably haven't explored Liyue before either, have you?"
"..."
"Don't call me that!"
Lora brought Qiqi back to Bubu Pharmacy. Baizhu was weighing herbs behind the counter. When he saw Qiqi return, his gaze shifted to Lora. "Thank you, Miss Lora, for bringing Qiqi back safely."
"Don't be so polite. Qiqi is my little sister, after all." Lora waved it off, then looked around the pharmacy and said, "All of Liyue is decorated with lanterns and festive ornaments, but there isn't the slightest holiday mood here."
Baizhu smiled at her words. "Bubu Pharmacy is a place of medicine, after all. Everyone who comes here is either ill themselves or has a family member suffering from illness. Festive decorations would not quite suit the atmosphere."
"Mm... Fair point." Lora nodded.
"Qiqi came back at just the right time. I'm about to make a house call. Qiqi, come with me." Baizhu placed the herbs he had just weighed into his medical kit and spoke to Qiqi.
Lora sighed. "You really do work hard."
"As a physician, hard work is only natural," Baizhu said with a smile.
After arranging to have dinner with Qiqi at Xianyun's house on the night of Lantern Rite, Lora did not disturb Baizhu and Qiqi's work any further. She said goodbye and left Bubu Pharmacy.
Holding the list Xianyun had written out, she began making purchases from the shops around Liyue.
"Couplets... bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs... New Year prints... lanterns... incense and candles... Hm? What's this... a list of ingredients for candied hawthorn?" Lora went down the list item by item, only to suddenly find another list written in noticeably different handwriting.
"One look and I know Zhongyue wrote this..."
This time, Lora did not send the bill to any of her previous wallets. Of course, that did not mean she was going to pay for it herself! She simply told the merchants to send the bill to Xianyun.
After running around for most of the day, she finally got everything on the list ready. Just as Lora was heading toward Xianyun's house, she ran into Lumine, Paimon, and the others coming back from Qingce Village. Besides Yaoyao, there was also a Fontaine native with them.
Of course, that was not the important part. The important part was the green figure following behind them, holding a wine bottle and smiling brightly.
"Uh..." Lora looked at this strange group, feeling a little lost. Did Lumine and Paimon have some kind of divine magnetism? How had they gone out once and brought back an Anemo Archon?
"Lora, what a coincidence!" Paimon waved happily when she saw her.
"Yoo-hoo! Long time no see, Lora~" Venti also waved with a smile.
"You're back?" Lora ignored Venti for the moment. She watched the group walk over and asked, "Did you gather the young bamboo shoots?"
"They're fresh bamboo shoots!" Paimon corrected her, then nodded. "Of course we did. They're in Yaoyao's herb basket."
Yaoyao held up her basket for Lora to see. "Senior, they're right here."
Lora then looked at the Fontaine man beside them and asked, "And this is?"
"He's Dvorak. He came from Fontaine to look for someone!" Paimon told her.
Lora nodded in sudden understanding, then asked, "And him?"
As she spoke, her gaze landed on Venti.
Yaoyao continued, "We met this big brother while we were in Qingce Village. He came from Mondstadt. We saw him running a roadside scam, so we caught him. Then it turned out he was someone Paimon and the Traveler knew, so we brought him back."
"Running a scam?" Lora froze for a moment. "How?"
"He was telling passersby things like, 'Rex Lapis has returned to the mortal realm. Please donate some travel expenses and incense money, and I'll pass it on to the old gentleman so he can bless your whole family with peace and safety,'" Yaoyao explained.
Lora: "..."
That explained it. That explained everything.
"That does sound like something you'd do."
Venti chuckled. "But it worked out perfectly. I was planning to come to Liyue to find you all anyway. Coming with them saves me from wandering all over the nation by myself."
"Then why were you running a roadside scam, and how did you get caught?" Lora asked.
Venti scratched his head and laughed. "I was running low on Mora, that's all. Besides, I wasn't exactly lying!"
After hearing that, Lora fell silent. Come to think of it... maybe she really couldn't say Venti had been lying. He did, in fact, have the ability to get Rex Lapis to bless someone's whole family...