Chapter 296

Diluc looked at the noble lady in front of him.

"I do have food."

"How much do you need, Miss Kamisato?"

As a major brewer, he naturally had a stockpile of grains.

Hearing this, Kamisato Ayaka's eyes suddenly lit up. Without hesitation, she stated her request.

"We need quite a large amount."

"Inazuma has now lifted the isolation policy, but there is a severe food shortage."

"If you have stock, Mr. Diluc, please prepare 500,000 catties of rice for us."

Upon hearing this, Diluc's expression shifted into disbelief.

"Five hundred thousand catties?!"

"No way!"

What kind of joke was this?

He initially thought it would be around 100,000 catties, but half a million?

And this was just the initial request. There would certainly be more needed in the future.

He simply didn't have that much.

If he really sold that much food to Ayaka, his tavern might as well shut down.

"Uh… this…"

"How much can you spare, Mr. Diluc?" Ayaka asked with slight embarrassment.

Diluc sighed and gave her a side glance.

"I can provide 150,000 catties."

"But it's all wheat."

"If you specifically need rice, I suggest you find another supplier."

He laid out his available stock clearly.

Due to the previous Wind Dragon crisis, he had stored extra grain along with his wine. Since he hadn't been selling much, he still had some excess stock.

Kamisato Ayaka nodded in understanding.

"Alright, Mr. Diluc, I'll take it all."

"If possible, please use your trucks to transport the grain for us."

"Additionally, I have another request."

"I plan to purchase more grain from Mondstadt and would like to rent some of your trucks for transportation."

"Would that be possible?"

Ordinary carts would take too long to transport such a large quantity.

But Diluc's large trucks could significantly cut down transportation time.

Thus, she hoped to enlist his logistics team for assistance.

Hearing her request, Diluc did not refuse.

After all, his truck fleet was already used for transportation services.

Otherwise, how else would he keep the fleet running?

"No problem."

"If you need transportation, just call this number."

Diluc handed Ayaka a business card.

It contained the contact information of his logistics team leader.

After accepting the card, Kamisato Ayaka listened as Diluc continued:

"Now, let's discuss the price of the grain."

Diluc then began negotiating the transaction details with Ayaka.

He had no intention of exploiting the situation.

The grain was offered at the standard market price.

However, the transportation costs would be covered by Ayaka.

After discussing and agreeing on the terms, they signed the contract on the spot.

Once all the formalities were completed, Ayaka left directly.

She then went to Xiangling's restaurant, found a seat, and took out her phone to contact people from Mondstadt via the group chat.

Since Lumine and Paimon weren't at the restaurant, it was Xiangling who attended to Ayaka.

Bringing some snacks, Xiangling sat beside her and asked:

"Ayaka, what are you doing?"

Hearing Xiangling's question, Ayaka didn't hide anything and explained:

"I need to buy more food."

"My brother asked me to procure supplies from Liyue, but there's also a food shortage here."

"So now, I'm reaching out to Mondstadt's Acting Grand Master Jean for help."

She showed Xiangling her phone.

At the time, she had tagged Jean in the group chat.

However, there had been no reply yet.

Upon hearing this, Xiangling blinked in confusion.

"A food shortage?"

"Do you need that much?"

She was puzzled—was Inazuma really in such dire straits?

She wasn't very familiar with the situation.

Ayaka nodded.

"Yes."

She then briefly explained Inazuma's situation to Xiangling.

After listening to the explanation, Xiangling finally understood.

No wonder so many Inazuman workers had previously migrated to Liyue.

"But now that everything has been restored, I believe it won't take long for Inazuma to regain its former prosperity."

Ayaka smiled with hope.

She was truly looking forward to seeing Inazuma thrive again.

As the two chatted, someone in the group finally replied to Ayaka's message.

However, it wasn't Jean.

Lisa:

[@Kamisato Ayaka, what's up, little cutie?]

[Jean is busy right now~~!]

Though Lisa wasn't Jean, she was still a high-ranking officer.

Her words carried the same authority.

Seeing this, Ayaka hurriedly repeated her request.

After reading Ayaka's message, Lisa asked her to add her as a friend so they could discuss privately.

At the same time, Lisa informed Jean about the situation.

Realizing it was a business inquiry, Jean quickly went online to speak with Ayaka directly.

"You need food?"

"No problem."

Mondstadt had plenty of grain.

If Ayaka needed supplies, Jean was more than happy to sell to her.

After all, a deal was a deal.

The two swiftly finalized the details.

Jean even offered a very favorable price.

All the grain that Ayaka required—plus some extra—would be prepared for transport.

Ayaka immediately agreed to take everything.

This would be enough to resolve Inazuma's urgent food crisis.

Jean arranged for workers to load the grain onto trucks.

The contracts would be signed upon delivery.

Naturally, Diluc's logistics team would handle transportation.

His trucks would move the supplies to Liyue, where Ayaka would receive them.

From there, she would arrange further transport to Inazuma.

Ayaka already had a plan.

With ships regularly transporting Electro Crystals from Inazuma, they could be used to ferry food back on return trips.

With the food crisis soon to be resolved, she sighed in relief.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting for the shipments to arrive.

That was all for now.

Once Beidou's new cargo ship was complete, transporting food would be even easier.

A ship of that size could carry an enormous amount of grain.

In fact, if the entire vessel was used solely for food storage, it could supply Liyue for several months in a single trip.

By the time new crops were harvested, the food shortage would be over.

Additionally, Liyue had access to high-yield crops.

Perhaps she could even purchase some seeds to bring back to Inazuma.

Recalling what she had previously learned from Takumi, Ayaka's eyes suddenly sparkled with a new idea.