Chapter 34

Zhu Zi rushed upstairs to her room and carefully hid the contract in a layer between her clothes.

Coming back downstairs, she fetched clean water and continued wiping everywhere with a cloth.

Xia Zhi slowly sipped his tea while watching Zhu Zi clean with great enthusiasm.

The girl worked very diligently, her movements showing expertise. It was clear she was the type who often helped her parents with housework back home.

Though she had already wiped these tables five times this morning...

Xia Zhi felt somewhat helpless about her enthusiasm. He put down his cup, stood up, and called out, "Zhu Zi, let's go."

"Boss, where to?"

"Heyu Tea House. I'll take you to watch Master Yun's performance."

"Oh."

Zhu Zi washed her hands, locked up the shop, and followed her boss up to the higher levels of Feiyun Slope.

Along the way, she looked around curiously: "Boss, all the shops here look so high-end."

Xia Zhi nodded and asked, "Haven't you been here before?"

Zhu Zi shook her head, saying quietly, "No, I mostly stayed around the harbor area and Huishan. I rarely came to Feiyun Slope."

Mainly because she had no money - there was no point coming to such places.

Xia Zhi noticed her gaze lingering on a silk scarf shop's window and said, "Well, you can come browse here more often now, buy things you like. The quality of goods here is quite good."

Zhu Zi withdrew her gaze and said softly, "Mm."

*I'll come shopping when I get my first month's salary!*

At Heyu Tea House, they found a table, and this time Xia Zhi ordered a higher quality tea.

It was said to be tea leaves picked from the mountains of Jueyun Karst, touched by adeptal energy.

One pot cost 100 Mora.

Zhu Zi thoughtfully got up to help, pouring tea and handing it to Xia Zhi.

"Boss, your tea."

"Thank you."

Xia Zhi took a sip, finding it better than the cheaper teas he'd ordered here before, though still not as good as the tea at Mingxing Teahouse.

It would do.

Zhu Zi sipped carefully from her cup, drinking very seriously.

"Is the tea good?"

"Mm."

"Do people drink tea in Inazuma too?"

"We do drink tea, but our tea processing methods are different from Liyue's."

"Oh."

"Boss, have you tried barley tea?"

"No, but I've seen it sold at harbor stalls. We could try it next time."

"You might not like it, Boss."

"That's fine, if I don't like it, you can have it."

"Ah... that's true."

Drinking tea and chatting with the young lady was quite enjoyable.

After some casual conversation, the Yun Han Opera Troupe finally took the stage, immediately raising the audience's spirits.

Xia Zhi quietly "watched" Miss Yun Jin on stage.

She wore new opera costume and makeup, looking radiant.

The only unchanged thing was the silver progress bar hanging over her: [0%].

Such a big star was truly unreachable for now.

After finishing her performance, Miss Yun Jin gracefully exited the stage.

Xia Zhi looked at Zhu Zi and asked, "How did you find the opera?"

Zhu Zi lowered her head, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "I didn't really understand much, but Master Yun's voice was beautiful."

Xia Zhi nodded, "That's alright, I'll bring you to listen more times in the future. You'll gradually understand."

Zhu Zi blinked her bright eyes and smiled softly, "Mm."

Leaving the tea house, they strolled around the upper levels before arriving at Wanwen Bookhouse.

Xia Zhi thought for a moment and went in.

Zhu Zi followed behind him, curiously looking at the shelves packed with books.

"Boss, are you buying books?"

"Mm."

"But... your eyes can't see, what would you buy books for?"

"For the customers."

"For the customers?"

"Zhu Zi, don't you think it's boring for customers to just sit and drink in our shop?"

"That's true..."

"So I plan to buy some bestsellers to put in the shop for customers to browse while drinking. When they get absorbed in reading, they might order a second drink after finishing their first."

"That's a great idea, Boss! I heard at the harbor that taverns in Mondstadt do something similar, though they play cards instead of reading - something called 'Genius Invokation TCG'... Some people even spend all day there."

"Oh? So others are already trying this diversification model. Smart people exist in every world... Does Zhu Zi like reading?"

"Yes, I used to read often at home! Yae Publishing House releases new books every month!"

"Yae Publishing House?"

"It's like Wanwen Bookhouse, a big bookstore that mainly sells light novels, like 'Reincarnated as a Hilichurl: Getting Stronger by Eating Sunsettia' and Liyue wuxia stories like 'Living in the Jianghu but Just Want to Write Novels'."

"The titles sound interesting."

Sunsettia was actually the sweet, crispy fruit Xia Zhi had found before coming to Liyue. He often saw people selling them in the market - they were cheap, common wild fruits also known as nature's blessing.

And Hilichurls were the humanoid monsters he'd encountered in the wilderness.

"Yes, they're very interesting if you can accept the premises."

"Since Zhu Zi likes reading too, help me choose some books."

"But, Boss, I still can't read many Liyue characters..."

"That's fine, you choosing is better than a blind man picking randomly. Start with the first shelf, those should all be bestsellers."

"Okay."

Leaving Zhu Zi to deliberate at the shelf, Xia Zhi walked to the inner shelves. Last time he'd found that 'Teyvat Travel Guide' set gathering dust in a corner, but those books had helped him greatly.

This time he wanted to look again, hoping to find other hidden treasures.

After searching for a while using his detection ability, he found two more good books.

One was 'Records of Jueyun', a collection of Liyue's supernatural tales and legends, containing many concise but popular folk stories.

The other was 'Customs of Liyue', a specialized work on Liyue Harbor's local traditions, originally written by Faruzan, a Sumeru scholar living in Liyue, and later edited by many local Liyue scholars.

For Xia Zhi, both books would help him better understand Liyue customs and were worth reading.

He took the two books out and saw Zhu Zi already holding seven or eight books.

"Boss, I've made my choices."

"Mm, let's go pay."

The shopkeeper Madam Ji Fang calculated the price: "Total is 1,080 Mora."

Books were still very expensive.

Before Xia Zhi could speak, Zhu Zi stepped forward, saying, "That's too expensive. We're buying so many books, shouldn't you give us a discount?"

"Customer, the books are already expensive to stock, and these are bestsellers. Some people would pay extra for them!"

"That's only for some of these books..."

After some haggling, they finally got the rounded amount of 1,000 Mora for all the books.

Walking back to the shop, Xia Zhi turned to look at her, saying, "Zhu Zi showed quite some spirit just now."

Zhu Zi smiled sheepishly: "I'm... used to being thrifty."

"That's good. I'll let you handle the shop's purchasing in the future. You'll surely save us quite a bit."

"Leave it to me, Boss."

Xia Zhi nodded, suddenly realizing something.

Tea cost 20 Mora the other day, today it was 100 Mora, but they just saved 80 Mora on books.

It exactly balanced out today's tea expenses.

What an interesting coincidence.