Leaving Chenyu Vale, Xiao rode the wind back to Liyue Harbor—and immediately got to work.
First stop: Bubu Pharmacy, to deliver a phone to Doctor Baizhu.
Next, the Jade Chamber, where he handed out phones to Lady Ningguang and her three secretaries.
At the construction site, he delivered one to Lady Keqing.
At the law office, to Yanfei.
At the Yun-Han Opera Troupe, to Yun Jin.
At the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, to Hu Tao.
At the Yanshang Teahouse, to Yelan.
At Wanmin Restaurant, to Chef Mao.
Finally, Xiao visited the academy, delivered a phone to Zhongli, picked up the prepared books, and then returned to Mondstadt.
Nothing more to say.
Adeptus Express—mission accomplished, guaranteed delivery.
---
That afternoon, most people couldn't be bothered to go out. They just stayed in their rooms, playing on their phones.
The group chat had suddenly ballooned in size.
Before, the girls who already had phones were all in the same place—why bother typing when you could just talk face to face?
But now, with people scattered across the land, conversations suddenly became much more fun.
And then there was the auto game mode. Addictive didn't even begin to cover it.
Xia Zhi caught Jean and Ningguang shirking their duties to sneak in matches.
As for the Dragon King and Venti, those two hopeless addicts hadn't logged off once.
Fine for the old man to be glued to the game, but the kids too?
Watching Klee, Yaoyao, and Xia Lin sitting side by side, earnestly debating unit synergies and item builds—Xia Zhi decided this couldn't go on.
So he posted a poll in the group about implementing anti-addiction measures.
A moment later, his cousin promptly muted him for an hour.
The rest actually liked her abuse of power.
Xia Zhi closed the group chat in silence.
Sigh. Forget it.
If you can't beat them, join them.
He logged in, pulled his elder cousin into a team—after being wounded by his younger cousin, he needed a bit of comfort.
Auto-play really was fun.
After a couple of rounds, Dragon King and Venti came running with suggestions: matchmaking was always full of familiar faces, so why not build a giant network server that could hold way more people?
Xia Zhi was speechless. "Dragon King, your dream domain alone could never sustain all of Teyvat."
Dragon King waved it off. "Sure, not just mine. We can combine others'."
"Whose?"
"Guyun Stone Forest!" Dragon King clapped his hands. "A whole bunch of old fossils lying around at the bottom of the sea doing nothing—might as well put their dreams to use for the continent."
"You think they'll agree?" Xia Zhi asked.
"We can persuade them," Venti said cheerfully.
"For example—Osial. How exactly do you plan to persuade him?"
The guy had been smashed under the Jade Chamber the first time he broke free, blasted back by Xia Zhi's light spear the second time, and even had his wife pinned down with him. The definition of "holding a grudge." Cooperation wasn't in the cards.
"Easy," said Dragon King.
"Easy?"
Dragon King straightened his tone. "Osial, you wouldn't want me sealing your wife up with someone else, would you?"
Xia Zhi went silent. "…Where did you even learn that?"
Dragon King waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Just admit it'd work."
Well… classic blackmail usually did.
"And besides," Venti added, "we wouldn't be leeching their dreams for nothing. We'd let them online too. They've been sealed away for ages with nothing but darkness—give them internet access, they'll leap at it. Win-win."
You'd put actual capitalists to shame.
"If we could rope in Guyun Stone Forest, servers wouldn't be a problem," Xia Zhi mused. "But Sumeru's Akasha Terminals probably won't be enough…"
"This kind of continent-wide thing won't happen overnight," Dragon King said. "We're just floating the idea. We'll build it up slowly."
"…Fair enough."
---
In fact, Jean and Ningguang weren't just slacking off playing games.
They were using the relaxed atmosphere as cover for a direct high-level conversation between two nations.
They talked economy, politics, culture, scenery, clothing, cuisine…
They seemed to talk about everything—and yet somehow, nothing concrete at all.
Until Ningguang, as if in passing, asked: "I wonder how Mr. Xia has been faring in Mondstadt lately?"
Jean caught the subtle hint of special concern. "Lady Ningguang seems very close with Mr. Xia?"
Ningguang smiled. "Yes, we're quite close. When he ran his shop in Liyue, I'd go every afternoon to freeload a meal."
"All that time sitting at work left me sore all over—I had to trouble Mr. Xia for massages. Now that he's gone, I'm simply exhausted."
"And with the academy, as vice principal, I'm constantly in contact with him as well."
Jean fell quiet, then said, "So Lady Ningguang and Mr. Xia really are close."
Permanent resident in Liyue versus visitor in Mondstadt… no comparison.
Ningguang sighed theatrically. "He went off to play and just tossed the shop to me. The daily headaches are endless."
Jean nodded. "Shops are always work, big or small. Speaking of shops—Mr. Xia is planning to open an alchemy pharmacy in Mondstadt with the Knights of Favonius."
That gave Ningguang pause. "An alchemy pharmacy?"
That, she hadn't heard.
Jean explained, "Recently, Mondstadt was besieged by a wave of monsters. After we drove them back, we had piles of alchemical materials. We plan to brew them into potions, sell them, and patch up our finances."
Ningguang mused. "Has Mondstadt's treasury grown that strained?"
Jean shook her head. "Not as dire as you might think. But I'd rather prepare early in case of emergencies."
"Prudent," Ningguang agreed.
Jean asked, "Would Lady Ningguang be interested in these potions? If so, I could grant you priority purchasing rights."
"Of course I'm interested," Ningguang said, "though I'll need to consider carefully."
"Please do get back to me soon."
"I will."
By mid-afternoon, Jean was hungry. She brewed some instant noodles and slurped loudly.
Ningguang asked, "Captain Jean, are you eating noodles?"
Jean swallowed before answering. "Yes. The instant noodles Mr. Xia sent me. Delicious."
Ningguang nodded. "His noodles are delicious. Hearing you eat makes me crave them. Baishi, fetch me a bowl."
For a while, both sides fell silent, save for the sound of slurping.
After finishing, Ningguang spoke. "Captain Jean, I've decided."
"Oh?"
"I'll buy all the potions."
"Apologies—we need to stock the shop too. I can't give you everything."
"I'll pay 20% more."
"It's not about the price."
"30%."
"No."
"Captain Jean. Enough games."
"I said no matter how high you go, I won't agree."
"…Fine. Then as much as you can spare. A pleasure doing business."
"A pleasure indeed."
The call ended.
Jean leaned back, rubbing her temples. "Lady Ningguang really is loaded."
Then sighed again. "And sharp as ever."