The Wanmin Restaurant was packed to the brim that day—so busy it was practically boiling over.
The kitchen clattered nonstop with pots, pans, and sizzling oil.
"Chef Mao, where's Xiangling?"
Bai Hao asked as he walked up to the serving window, scanning the bustling kitchen.
"Ah… it's that cursed Teyvat Fan-Creation Livestream System again."
Chef Mao sighed heavily, flipping his wok with one hand while answering.
Thanks to that Teyvat Fan-Creation Livestream System, Xiangling had suddenly shot to fame—
now a household name throughout Liyue.
Fans flooded in daily to gawk, ask for autographs, and spam her memes.
The business was booming, sure—but the poor girl was overwhelmed.
Finally, annoyed beyond belief, she stormed off.
"If you're looking for her," Mao said, "she's probably in Private Room 201.
Heard she's having a heart-to-heart with Keqing."
Bai Hao had been showing up at Wanmin Restaurant often lately.
Just yesterday, Chongyun had eaten a plate of Jueyun Chilies and gone berserk—
and Bai Hao, with Xingqiu's help, had barely managed to subdue him.
So Chef Mao now treated Bai Hao like one of his own—and easily revealed Xiangling's whereabouts.
"Got it. Oh, and I'll take a full table of Wanmin's specials—don't skimp on the Golden Shrimp Balls!"
After placing his order, Bai Hao headed straight upstairs.
Knock knock!
At Room 201, he rapped on the door before pushing it open.
A round table filled with steaming dishes greeted him.
Across it sat Keqing and Xiangling, both turning toward him in surprise.
"Bai Hao?"
Xiangling blinked—how did he even know she was here?
"Yo. Not in the best mood, huh?"
Bai Hao waved casually.
"You can tell just by looking," Keqing said, speaking around a mouthful of shrimp ball.
"Want some?" She gestured at the dish with her chopsticks.
Bai Hao grinned. "If it's free, sure."
Keqing rolled her violet eyes in mock irritation.
What, does the Yuheng look like she can't afford to treat you to shrimp balls?
Bai Hao smirked, pleased with himself, and sat down without ceremony.
Still, Xiangling looked deflated.
The reason was obvious—she'd been dragged into that livestream and meme'd into oblivion.
"'Weapon Queen,' 'Cooking Teacher of the Raiden Shogun'…"
All these sudden nicknames had crushed her poor little heart.
Bai Hao coughed softly. "Hey, don't sweat it. Internet jokes blow over fast.
Give it a few days—everyone will have moved on."
As the culprit himself, he couldn't help feeling a bit guilty,
so he played the role of a gentle confidant to console her.
Xiangling puffed out her cheeks, resting her face in her palms.
"But they keep saying even Hilichurls are spicier than me! It's so annoying!"
Bai Hao waved it off. "Relax, you've got plenty of room to improve.
Worst case, just take notes from Master Keqing—wear some black stockings."
The problem wasn't that Xiangling wasn't cute enough—it was the outfit.
If she swapped into a JK uniform and a pair of sleek black tights,
her "pure little sister" vibe would have every LSP in Teyvat on their knees.
"Black… stockings?" Xiangling tilted her head, then shook it furiously.
"N-no way! I'm a chef, not some high school girl!"
Keqing chewed thoughtfully, then added,
"Speaking of black stockings, a weird thing happened the other day.
I took mine off after work—and when I turned around, they were gone!"
Bai Hao raised a brow. "You sure your house isn't haunted?"
Keqing slammed the table. "Haunted?! What kind of ghost steals freshly worn stockings?!"
Bai Hao shrugged. "A perverted one."
Keqing was speechless for a second before snapping, "Eat your shrimp balls!"
The banter carried on for a while until Xiangling finally laughed—her mood visibly lifting.
"See? No need to dwell on it," Bai Hao said warmly.
"Besides, you got a reward out of it, didn't you? Something like… the Flame-Flame Fruit?"
Xiangling nodded. "Mm-hmm. It lets you use Pyro power and even turn your body into fire."
She explained briefly before sighing. "But I already have a Pyro Vision,
so I don't really want to eat it."
Bai Hao chuckled. "Then give it to your old man."
Sure, the Flame-Flame Fruit was the kind of thing even dogs wouldn't eat—
but for an ordinary person, the power to control elemental fire was irresistible.
"Emperor Yan, Chef Mao," he mused aloud, "has a nice ring to it."
Xiangling giggled. "Maybe I'll ask him later."
Keqing turned to Bai Hao. "By the way, you answered a quiz question too, didn't you?
What was your reward?"
As one of the Liyue Qixing, she'd been monitoring the livestreams closely,
so of course she wasn't going to pass up an opportunity for intel.
"Oh, just about… two billion Mora."
Keqing choked. "Cough—cough! How much?!"
Bai Hao stayed perfectly calm. "Two billion. Problem?"
Keqing slammed her hand on the table.
"Problem?! That's a huge problem! Why's your reward so generous?!"
Bai Hao spread his hands innocently. "What can I say? I'm just built lucky."
Keqing's eye twitched. "You—! Eat my spear!!"
Before long, the dishes Bai Hao had ordered arrived one after another—
a veritable feast covering the entire table.
"Can you even finish all this?" Keqing frowned at the mountain of food.
"You can stay and watch me perform."
Bai Hao stretched his fingers with confidence.
Back on Earth, he'd been a natural-born glutton with a black hole stomach.
Now, with his Feast skill, this table wouldn't even last him five minutes.
"Anyway," Keqing said, standing up and brushing her hands,
"I've got work to do. The Rite of Descension is the day after tomorrow,
and I'm already swamped. I'm heading back!"
She wiped her mouth, stood, and strode to the door.
Bang!—the door shut behind her with a sharp thud.
Bai Hao leaned back, rubbing his chin, eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"The Rite of Descension, huh? In two days…"
A sly smile curved his lips.
"Perfect. Time to give old man Zhongli a real show."
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