Zhongli saw Hu Tao sneak into Silverwolf's private room holding a vase, and a sudden, inexplicable feeling of unease washed over him.
What is the director doing with my vase? Zhongli thought for a moment and walked over to the side of the room to eavesdrop on the conversation inside.
Inside the private room.
"Silverwolf, did you put it up?" "Yes, I did, but it might not sell so quickly." "No rush, no rush. As long as it sells, how much did you list it for?" "I started with 6 million, maybe some sucker will buy it for a high price." Suddenly, there was an exclamation from Hutao. "Wow! Someone already bought it? 6 million credits!" "Hey, there really is a sucker. Let me check who it is. Hmm, it's Shaxin, one of the ten heartless people. This guy's loaded."
As soon as Zhongli heard that his vase was being sold, he immediately knocked on the door.
The door opened, and Hu Tao poked her head out. "Consultant? Why aren't you having tea and are here instead?"Zhongli said with a deadpan expression, "I just saw you take my vase." Hutao didn't deny it. "Yep, it's mine now. I'm selling it to buy a computer. Alright, alright, you go do your thing, I'm going to talk to Silverwolf about the computer. "With that, she slammed the door shut.
Zhongli felt inexplicably disappointed. My little vase! It's the one I love the most! Whenever I had free time, I would tidy it up and wipe off the dust from the walls.
With a gloomy face, Zhongli sat down at the tea break area. Venti, seeing this, curiously asked, "Old man, what's wrong?" Zhongli's response was a creepy whisper, "My vase... my vase, heh, it's gone."
Venti quickly realized, remembering Hu Tao carrying the vase earlier, and patted Zhongli's shoulder. "Old man, rest in peace."
Soon, Silverwolf received the payment. Silverwolf transferred 4 million credits immediately, leaving the remaining 2 million to be sent to Hutao's card. The two of them agreed to meet tomorrow to assemble the computer.
Silverwolf's after-sales service was quite good, personally delivering the installation.
At the tea break area, Bronya was chatting with Jean when Ningguang and Keqing walked over. Ningguang looked at Jean. "Hello, my pen pal, this must be our first official meeting, right?" Upon hearing this, Jean immediately guessed Ningguang's identity. "You're Ningguang? Hello, Ningguang!" Ningguang chuckled lightly. "What are you two discussing?"
Jean replied, "We're talking about some state governance experiences." Ningguang smiled, "Oh? Mind if we join you? Let me introduce, this is Keqing, the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing." Keqing then introduced herself. "Hello, I am Keqing, the Yuheng of Liyue, nice to meet you." Bronya and Jean also introduced themselves.
After introductions, the four of them sat down to chat. Jean looked at Bronya and said, "Bronya, you don't know, Ningguang is the ruler of Liyue, and her experience is far richer than ours." Ningguang smiled. "Oh, no, just a few little tricks." Then, the four women discussed some state governance methods and experiences. With Ningguang and Keqing joining in, it quickly turned into a conversation where Ningguang and Keqing spoke while Bronya and Jean took notes.
Yelan saw this and sat down at the small bar. She glanced at Noelle, who was busy, and walked into the bar to pour herself a drink. Ye Yun had said that everyone, except for one particular drunkard, was welcome to drink the bar's liquor. As for why the drunkard was excluded? That was obvious—Ye Yun feared that if they allowed him, the bar's stock would be emptied in no time.
Yelan studied Venti. This guy had suddenly appeared in Mondstadt after gathering intel in Liyue, and no one had seen him before. Thus, Yelan was curious and wanted to chat with Venti to see if she could extract some information. However, the experienced Venti immediately recognized Yelan's intentions. So, he took a big gulp of his drink and pretended to fall asleep.
Soon, Ye Yun finished preparing the meal, and everyone gathered around.Welt, Stelle, and March 7th just barely made it back minutes before dinner started. Stelle and March 7 rushed to the bar to exchange for Star Crystals. This time, the two girls made a huge profit. Last time, Bronya and her group had come to steal the crystals in Belobog.
This time, however, they cleared out all the Star Crystals from locations like Luofu's Starsea Central, Changle Sky, Huixing Port, and Golden Alley, with no boxes left behind.
Stelle placed the bag of Star Crystals on the bar, scooping them out one by one to exchange for Star Crystals.Stelle handled the exchange while March 7th organized the star coins.Together, they quickly finished exchanging the entire bag.
Everyone watched in awe, and when they saw the final amount, they couldn't help but gasp. Hiss!!!! 300,000 Star Coins! This was incredible! Stelle and March 7th each took half, 150,000 each.
Stelle happily pocketed the 150,000 Star Coins, walking with a proud air. Now! Call me the wealthy Stelle!
Ye Yun glanced at Stelle, who was still showing off. "Stelle, calm down, it's time to eat." Stelle immediately stopped being flashy and quickly sat down to wait for dinner.
Tonight's hotpot feast was prepared with five large pots placed on a long table outside the bar. The long table could only accommodate 20 people, so the big guys like Ye Yun, Zhongli, Welt, and Diluc stood and ate, letting the girls and the four little ones sit.
The four little ones were delighted to stand by the table. As children, the more people there were, the happier they were, and the food tasted even better. Especially Bai Lu, who was the happiest, her little tail wagging as she happily chatted with Klee, Hook, and Diona.
"Klee wants to eat a lot of meat~" "Hook wants to eat too!" Diona, on the other hand, wanted to eat grilled fish. "You guys eat meat, I'll eat fish. I saw Ye Yun cutting a lot of fish slices, hehe~" Bai Lu acted like a little adult. "You can't just eat meat, you have to eat some vegetables to keep a balanced diet."
Hook blinked his big eyes. "What's nutrition?" Bai Lu thought for a moment and explained in simple terms. "Let me put it this way, if you only eat meat, your body will have some small problems." Hook understood at once. "Hook understands now, Hook will eat vegetables too!" Klee raised her hand eagerly. "Klee wants some too~" Diona said, "That's true, I'll eat some too."
Himeko and Ye Yun were taking care of the four little ones. Tonight, Ye Yun prepared a lot of dishes, more than 50 kinds, enough to feed 30 adults. Ye Yun handed everyone a small basket, and the dishes were in the kitchen. You could pick what you wanted and put it in the basket.There were also seasonings there. Ye Yun called everyone to go get their food. Everyone got up and grabbed their baskets, happily choosing dishes like they were at a market.
The fourth update of the day is now complete.
***
Stelle walked around, holding her basket, looking at this and that. With over 50 types of dishes, Stelle had to take a look at each one.
"This chicken wing looks pretty fat! I'll take two. Hmm, this squid is good too, it's still moving, impressive. These pork belly slices look good, and so does this beef..."
After a round of picking, Stelle filled her basket with nothing but meat, not a single vegetable in sight.
Stelle returned to her seat, with her basket full of meat, and eagerly watched the pot, waiting for it to boil.
At that moment, March 7th and Amber also returned with their chosen ingredients.
March 7th looked at Stelle's basket, which was overflowing with meat, and couldn't help but feel speechless.
"Stelle, can't you take some vegetables too?"
Stelle shook her head wildly.
"Impossible, vegetables are not for me, meat suits me better."
Amber, too, couldn't watch anymore.
"Stelle, you should eat at least a little bit of vegetables, they're good for your body."
Stelle still shook her head, just as Seele and Lumine passed by her.
Stelle stopped them.
"Seele, Lumine, what did you pick? Do you have any vegetables?"
Seele gave Stelle a blank look.
"Vegetables? If there's meat, why eat vegetables?"
Lumine raised a finger and shook it.
"With hotpot, it's all about the meat. If you don't eat meat, where would you get the energy to fight?"
Paimon, struggling, flew over with a basket of meat.
"Exactly, meat fills you up, who needs vegetables?"
March 7th and Amber sighed in resignation. These guys were all the same.
At least Klee and the others knew to grab vegetables!
Before long, everyone returned to the dining table.
Ye Yun had prepared two full baskets of ingredients for the four little ones, enough for them to eat.
"Have you washed your hands?" Klee asked the little ones while holding some seasonings. "If not, go wash them first. You can only eat after washing your hands."
The four little ones shook their heads and hurriedly ran to the kitchen.
Standing by the sink, they sighed. The sink was too high for them to reach.
At that moment, Bai Lu's eyes lit up when she saw the little step stool that Paimon used for cooking.
Bai Lu walked over and pushed it toward the sink.
"Here, standing on this should make you tall enough."
Klee, Hook, and Diona all cheered and lined up to wash their hands.
After Klee washed her hands, she ran to her seat with a skip in her step.
"Ta-da! Klee's gonna eat hotpot now!"
Klee ran to her seat, climbed up the chair, and stood on top.
Klee saw around her and realized that Clara usually sat next to her during meals.
Klee looked around and didn't see Clara.
After thinking for a moment, Klee remembered that Clara was probably in the library studying at this time.
Klee went to the library, and sure enough, Clara was still there, working on a model.
"Clara, it's time to eat."
Clara, hearing Klee, finally realized that she had been so absorbed in her work that she lost track of time.
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Clara put the model on the desk and jogged over to Klee.
Klee brought Clara to the kitchen to choose ingredients and wash her hands, then they returned to the dining table.
Ye Yun smiled at Clara as she entered.
"Clara, how's your research going? That model?"
Clara smiled back.
"Well, I have some ideas now."
Ye Yun looked at Clara and thought about whether he should set up a small lab for her.
There's a large storage room on the second floor of the train. Maybe I can renovate it and set up something simple for her.
After a few seconds of thought, Ye Yun decided to start tomorrow.
The teleportation gate from Herta had been lowered. Since Asta and Herta had things to do today, they didn't attend tonight's hotpot dinner.
Tomorrow, Ye Yun planned to ask Herta for help in getting equipment suitable for Clara, a beginner.
Everyone gathered around the table, and the five hotpots quickly began to boil.
"Dinner's ready!" Ye Yun called out, and everyone started putting ingredients into the pots.
Stelle was the most dramatic, filling her red hotpot with meat.
The soup in the pot almost started spilling over.
March 7th quickly picked out some of the ingredients to prevent the soup from overflowing.
"Stelle! Be gentle! There's too much soup, it might burn someone."
Stelle grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, sorry."
Ye Yun and Klee were taking care of the four little ones, serving them two portions each.
Ye Yun patted Klee and Hook's heads.
"What do you two want to eat first?"
Klee raised her hand.
"Report! Ye Yun, Klee wants to eat fish!"
"Hook wants to eat meat!"
Ye Yun smiled fondly.
"Alright, Leafy will cook it for you."
Ye Yun cooked fish and meat slices for the two little ones.
Jean and the others were also chatting while adding ingredients to the pot.
Only Zhongli, Welt, and Diluc sat together, and in their pots, there was just a tiny bit of vegetables.
Kaeya suddenly felt he had chosen the wrong spot.
Looking at the others, Venti had gone straight to sit near Stelle and the others. They were clearly having a blast.
Well, at least there was an advantage: Kaeya could cook many of his favorite dishes all at once.
As they ate, Venti went to the small bar and turned on the sound system, lively music filling the whole shop.
When eating hotpot, the key is to be lively.
Everyone ate while chatting, and the atmosphere was cheerful and harmonious.
Paimon was gorging on meat. This was her first time eating hotpot, and the taste amazed her.
This thing called hotpot is absolutely delicious!!
Stelle, Seele, and Paimon's eating habits were similar: they all held their bowls and devoured their food wildly.
March 7th had already given up on trying to persuade them. She sighed, there was no way to convince them.
The three of them sat together, as if in a competition, constantly putting more ingredients in.
Before long, they had eaten a whole basket of food.
The three of them stood up and went to get more ingredients.
In the end, Paimon was crowned champion.
Paimon stood on her chair, hands on her hips, looking down at Stelle and Seele.
Stelle had eaten two baskets of food and couldn't eat any more, Seele ate one and a half, while Paimon had three baskets.
The others were deeply shocked by their appetites.
Dinner passed quickly. After everyone finished eating, they rested for a while before heading home.
During this time, Ningguang and Bronya finalized some collaboration deals.
Bronya traded 200 mech soldiers for a large amount of food supplies from Liyue.
With this batch of food, the food situation in Belobog for the next six months was secured.
Ningguang was very satisfied with this transaction. The 200 mechs had much stronger combat abilities than the average Millelith soldiers.