Chapter 144

After lunch, feeling satisfied, Xiangling became more determined to travel and explore.

She wants to make glowing dishes in the future too!

Only glowing dishes are good dishes!

Chefs who can't make glowing dishes aren't good chefs!

Xia Zhi held a small teapot-like object in his hand, gently caressing it.

This was the Serenitea Pot that Granny Ping gave to Xiangling - a portable large tent made with the power of "external scenery" and various precious materials.

Xiangling said the space inside was still very barren, and needed to be filled with things to make the environment comfortable and pleasant.

Xia Zhi played with the Serenitea Pot for a bit, then returned it to Xiangling. He stood up, walked to the counter, and took out a bottle from the cabinet.

"Miss Xiangling, this is for you."

"What's this?"

"Rainbow juice concentrate. Just one drop can make a glass of rainbow juice."

"This is too much!"

"It's not. Miss Xiangling will be traveling for a long time. When you're tired or thirsty, having a drink from home might make you feel better."

Xiangling hesitated, then reached out to take the bottle, sincerely thanking him.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Xia!"

"When traveling, one must be cautious. Although you're going out to improve your culinary skills, don't casually eat food from strangers. Please be very careful."

"Mm! I'll remember!"

Xia Zhi nodded. Xiangling had martial arts skills, a Vision, and Guoba as a spiritual beast companion. Plus, her master was a legendary adeptus who surely gave her many protective items...

Wait, why does this feel like the start of a cliché story about a master leaving the mountain?

"Oh, right."

Xia Zhi took out the small panda and safety lock pendant he had carved earlier and gave them to Xiangling and Qiqi.

"A few days ago when we were walking on the street, we got lucky with some stones from Jade Mystery and found jade. I casually carved some small things. They're not valuable, and I have no use for them, so I'm giving them to everyone as keepsakes."

Although he deliberately carved the small panda to look different from Guoba, Xiangling still liked it very much. Guoba also made happy sounds looking at the jade pendant.

Qiqi softly said thanks and carefully put the safety lock pendant into her small personal pouch.

There was only one small panda, but he had carved several safety lock pendants, so he also gave two to Yanfei and Granny Ping, sharing with everyone present.

After chatting for a while, Xiangling noticed the mahjong set on a nearby table and looked curious.

"What's that?"

"Mahjong!"

"When I came this morning, I saw everyone playing with that. It seems to be made of jade too?"

"Yes, would Miss Xiangling like to try playing?"

"Ah?"

So everyone took the opportunity before Xiangling left to have her experience this charming new card game.

To ensure Xiangling had a good gaming experience, Ganyu, with her incredibly good luck, was the first to be excluded by everyone. She could only stand behind Xiangling as a teacher.

The final four mahjong players were: Zhu Zi, Shenhe, Yanfei, and Xiangling.

Xiangling had just learned and wasn't familiar with the rules. Plus, her personality was the talkative and cheerful type. Every time she drew a good tile, she couldn't help but show her joy, and when she drew a bad tile, she would frown.

Zhu Zi was similar to Xiangling, also expressive, but her playing skills were slightly better than Xiangling's.

Shenhe was an emotionless player.

As for Yanfei, she had already started playing strategically, sometimes deliberately making risky moves just to "rob the kong". Indeed, smart people excel in any field.

Around 2 PM, Xia Zhi went to the kitchen to fry some French fries and make some ketchup, specially adding some [White Jade Honey] to the ketchup. He brought it out as snacks for everyone.

The golden crispy fries and the special sweet and sour ketchup with a faint exotic floral scent received unanimous praise from everyone.

Granny Ping tasted it and found that the [Vitality] contained in this ketchup was much more than in the rainbow juice.

It was good stuff.

She looked up at Xia Zhi, then at Yaoyao who was happily eating fries.

She had thought it wasn't good for Yaoyao to come to the shop every afternoon for part-time work, but now...

Isn't part-time work also a form of training!

Children should be exposed to society early!

Thinking this, Granny Ping couldn't help but eat another fry dipped in the red ketchup.

After finishing the fries, Xiangling had to go back to pack, Yanfei had to go back to work overtime, Granny Ping took Yaoyao and said goodbye, and Qiqi also left.

The shop suddenly became quiet again.

Ganyu casually said, "Since we're free, why don't we continue playing mahjong?"

Xia Zhi was silent for a moment, then said, "How about we try a different style?"

"Boss, is it the Japanese mahjong you mentioned before?"

"Mm."

"Sure!"

"Let me explain the rules to you. It's mostly the same, but Japanese mahjong requires yaku..."

A few minutes later, they started playing.

"Self-draw, Thirteen Orphans!"

"Self-draw, Four Concealed Triplets Single Wait!"

"Self-draw, Big Three Dragons!"

...

Xia Zhi fell silent again.

This...

It's not challenging her at all!

--

Mondstadt, Cat's Tail Tavern.

As people returned from that dreamlike world of flavors, they looked down at their empty glasses in their hands, all falling into silence.

What on earth was that?!

It tasted too good!

Just the portion was too small!

That wine pot looked like it held a lot, but divided among everyone, it was just a small sip, not nearly enough to satisfy!

"Salute, what did you say this was again?"

"Rainbow juice."

"How much?"

"100 Mora per glass."

"Such an excellent product, yet so cheap?! Salute, why didn't you bring more back?!"

"I wanted to bring more, but that beverage shop has a rule that each person can only buy two glasses per day."

"Offer more money!"

"I tried, but they wouldn't sell more even for extra money. I had no choice."

"..."

Salute looked at the suddenly disinterested crowd in the tavern and felt much more balanced.

The cat-eared girl behind the bar was also looking at the customers in the tavern. These people who usually loved alcohol so much were now disdainful of the drinks on their tables.

Diona's eyes sparkled with excitement.

This, this, this! This is what I've been looking for to destroy Mondstadt's wine industry!

At some point, one of the customers stood up: "Suddenly remembered I have something to do at home, I'm leaving first."

"Mm... hey, isn't his home in the other direction? Why is he going the wrong way... Oh crap!" The customer at his table looked confused at his retreating figure, then suddenly realized, abruptly standing up and running outside.

"What's going on? Why did he suddenly swear... Crap!" The neighboring customer also realized and stood up to run outside.

"Are you all... Crap!" The other customers in the tavern belatedly realized and rushed out.

Soon, the bustling tavern became empty.

After a while, the tavern owner Margaret came out and found this strange scene: "Where are the customers?"

A girl ran over, handing her a piece of paper.

"Boss!"

"What's this?"

"A letter Diona left for you!"

"???"

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