"Since I'm treating you to dinner, how about you order?"
Inside the private room, Zhongli and Xia Yu sat opposite each other. As the waiter waited nearby, Zhongli handed the menu to Xia Yu and spoke.
Seeing this, Xia Yu waved his hand and said, "You're more familiar with this place than I am. I don't know which dishes are good; you go ahead."
Hearing this, Zhongli didn't decline. He handed the menu back to the waiter and said calmly, "In that case, let's have the usual, and bring two jars of the finest wine."
The waiter took the menu with a look of joy on his face, nodded, and hurried out.
Witnessing firsthand Zhongli's philosophy of wanting the best regardless of what it was, Xia Yu's mouth twitched. Thinking of Zhongli's persona of never carrying money, he couldn't help but ask.
"Are you that rich?"
"Hmm?"
Seemingly not expecting Xia Yu to ask such a question, Zhongli's habitually expressionless face showed a hint of confusion, but he quickly regained his composure.
"It matters not. To me, money has never been an issue."
"..."
These words were just as annoying as saying, 'I've never touched money, I have no interest in money!'
Except one actually thought that way, while the other was just humblebragging.
In no time, various large and small exquisite delicacies were served. Each dish looked, smelled, and tasted excellent, instantly making one's mouth water.
'Why isn't there any seafood?' Xia Yu chuckled inwardly and asked knowingly, "You know, the kind of seafood that's slimy, fishy, and wet?"
Zhongli: "..."
Having just picked up his chopsticks, he suddenly lost his appetite.
Seeing this rare sight, Xia Yu kept a straight face, afraid he would laugh out loud. He then quickly opened the Chat Group's camera function and captured the moment.
This definitely had to be kept as a souvenir. Not only did he score a free meal from the Geo Archon, but he also made it so the Geo Archon couldn't even eat.
Once all the dishes were served, the two chatted while they ate. It was mostly Zhongli talking about the history of Liyue's founding and the changes across the Teyvat continent over the past thousand years.
Before long, most of the dishes on the table had ended up in Xia Yu's stomach. Although these dishes couldn't compare to Zombie Xia Yu's skills, the taste was still quite good.
Xia Yu enjoyed this meal intended to bury the hatchet very much, especially seeing Zhongli's lack of appetite—that made him even happier.
After they had their fill, the waiter brought the bill. Zhongli only took one look at it before handing it back.
"As usual, send the bill to the WangSheng Funeral Parlor."
"Very well, Mr. Zhongli." The waiter left with the bill again.
Watching this smooth method of payment, Xia Yu just wanted to say: as expected of you, Director Hu Tao is going to cry.
"Since the meal is finished, let's part ways here..."
"Eh, wait." Xia Yu reached out to stop him, cutting off Zhongli's words. Under Zhongli's puzzled gaze, the corners of Xia Yu's mouth curled up. "I've just come out, and you look pretty free anyway. Why don't you be my guide and introduce Liyue to me?"
"Hmm..." Regarding Xia Yu's thick-skinned request, Zhongli didn't refuse immediately but paused to contemplate.
After a moment of thought, he looked up: "Very well, then follow me."
Seeing that Zhongli actually agreed, Xia Yu was actually surprised. However, he quickly reacted and hurried to keep up with Zhongli's pace. To have Rex Lapis as a guide—he was probably the first person ever.
Besides, he had nothing else to do, so wandering around Liyue with him wasn't a bad idea.
After touring part of Liyue with Zhongli, Xia Yu couldn't help but marvel that Zhongli was indeed the biggest loafer in all of Liyue.
Zhongli could talk about every scenic spot in Liyue with great eloquence, and each had his own unique insights. Under Zhongli's introduction, he learned about many of Liyue's beautiful sights and picked up quite a few legends along the way.
"And that is the story of this stone bridge."
In front of a towering stone bridge, Zhongli spoke eloquently to Xia Yu, who nodded in agreement.
It had to be said that Zhongli was quite good at storytelling; he didn't find it boring at all, and those stories felt as if he were experiencing them firsthand.
If Zhongli were truly a guide, he would definitely be a gold-star one.
Just then, a woman whose attire was out of place in Liyue seemed to notice the still-talking Zhongli. Her eyes lit up, and she hurried over.
"Hello, Mr. Zhongli. I am Nadia from the Fatui. Master Childe has already booked a private room at Liuli Pavilion and asked me to invite you over first."
Interrupted like this, Zhongli stopped his educational talk, but he also remembered that he seemed to have work to do.
Valuing contracts extremely highly, he naturally had no intention of breaking the agreement. Thus, he looked at Xia Yu: "My apologies, I have work and cannot continue being your guide for now."
"No matter," Xia Yu waved his hand understandingly but asked curiously, "Work?"
"Ordinary people all have jobs; I am no exception."
"...Ordinary person."
"Ahem." Nadia suddenly coughed lightly, interrupting their conversation. "Sir, Mr. Zhongli has an appointment with our Harbinger, Master Childe, so he must go now."
Hearing this, Zhongli nodded and was about to speak, but Xia Yu spoke first: "Since I have nothing to do anyway, you don't mind one more person, do you?"
"This..."
Nadia was momentarily speechless, but Zhongli smoothed things over: "He is an old acquaintance of mine. This is just ordinary work, so one more person is no problem."
"Alright then." Nadia took a deep breath and cleared her mind. "Please follow me, both of you."
Although they had just eaten at Liuli Pavilion, neither of them were ordinary people, so having another meal wasn't out of the question.
And since someone else was treating this time, Zhongli unreservedly ordered a bunch of expensive delicacies, making Xia Yu feel pity for a certain someone's wallet.
From now on, a certain someone was going to become Zhongli's primary wallet, and the WangSheng Funeral Parlor would step down to become the secondary wallet.
Since the person who invited Zhongli hadn't arrived yet, Zhongli didn't start eating. Instead, he brewed a cup of fragrant tea for himself, savoring it slowly while waiting.
Xia Yu followed suit and brewed a cup for himself. Just then, a greeting came from the door.
"Yo!"
A young man wearing a gray jacket with a red scarf draped over his shoulder walked in with a greeting. He had orange hair and beautiful azure eyes.
At the same time, following him in was a young man with long golden hair. The youth was dressed lightly and also had a white scarf on his shoulder, with a small mascot floating beside his head.
The youth looked around as he walked in. The leading Childe saw that besides Zhongli, there was an unfamiliar outsider. Although a bit surprised, he quickly regained his usual expression.
"And this friend is?"
"He is an old acquaintance of mine. He came along just to see what my work is like. This won't affect my work, will it?"
Zhongli spoke to Childe. Hearing this, Childe laughed: "It won't, it won't. The more friends, the better."
As he spoke, he also introduced to the golden-haired youth: "Let me introduce you. This friend is a man of the world, a consultant of the WangSheng Funeral Parlor, Mr. Zhongli.