The Liyue Trio

The morning went by pretty quickly as the afternoon was fast approaching.

During that time, the Arcade Cafe had served at least eight or so customers, and that was only the morning. Business was pretty slow, but that's just how it is for a recently opened restaurant with no advertisement. In any case, he was pretty certain more and more customers were starting to visit, so that was something.

Right now though, he had five total customers currently in his cafe, all of whom were either quietly enjoying their meals or conversing with others at their tables if they had come in with a group. Adonis had to admit, he liked the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of the cafe.

Restaurants were great in their own right, but a peaceful and quiet cafe like this truly made you feel as if everything around you wasn't real. On top of that, it seemed to be raining a bit outside, and that rain gave the atmosphere a certain tranquil ambience per see.

"I hope to see you again." Adonis smiled as he finished collecting the money from one of the customers. Adonis watched as the person walked out, a satisfied expression on their face. "Hm? Oh, Xiangling! Mr Mao told me you'd be coming in later in the day."

"Hello, Adonis!"

As soon as the previous customer left, Adonis noticed a familiar figure opening the door soon after it closed. The person who entered was a young girl, probably a year or two younger than he was, with dark indigo-black hair that she tied into a bob-like fashion with a golden hairclip clipped onto her bangs.

As the young girl quickly opened the door, causing it to chime, Adonis also caught sight of another familiar figure who peaked their head from behind Xiangling. Unlike his other customers, this one resembled that of a red panda, though sporting cream colours instead of black and red.

"Greetings to you too, Guoba." Adonis chuckled as the small panda bear ran on over while waving one of his stubby arms. "So, what can I get you guys today?"

"I'm not sure yet, we'll have to look through the menu again. There are way too many things I want to try from your menu!" Xiangling gave a small giggle as she made her way over after closing the door. "Before I forget, two friends of mine will be here soon. I wanted them to have a taste of your cooking!"

"Oh? Then I'll be sure not to disappoint. Take a seat, I'll be with you shortly."

"Okee dokie! Let's go, Guoba!"

"♪Lololo~!♪"

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Adonis had already said this over the past week, but he was extremely glad for the equipment that the system provided for the cafe. The only reason he could cook so much on his own without help was because of the special equipment given to him.

Meat that took minutes and maybe even over an hour or two to cook would be finished in mere seconds. He didn't know how it even worked, but he knew questioning something like the system was just useless, he had no idea what it was truly capable of.

In any case, it made his job much easier.

Aside from preparing the actual dishes, everything else was really damn easy and practically took no time. Of course, he always woke up early to prepare the ingredients for the day, and anything he didn't end up using was his own fault if they ended up going bad.

*Ding*

"Are we sure this is the place?"

"Oh wow, it looks incredible here!"

Adonis quickly turned his attention towards the doors, putting down the glass that he was cleaning before wiping his hands and walking over. When he looked at the newcomers, he noticed that they were both males who appeared the same age as Xiangling.

The first one had pale icy blue hair and pale yet not unhealthily pale skin. His attire was mainly white in colouration with accents coloured similar to the pale blue tone of his hair, on top of the few golden pieces mainly on his lower clothing, Adonis wouldn't be surprised if this guy came from a rich family or something.

'...Is that a dude? Or a girl?'

The other person was making Adonis kind of question his sexuality, the person borderline between being a male or a female in his mind. The dark navy blue tone of his hair matched well with the colour of his outfit, along with his clothing also giving off the same rich-boy kinda vibes with all those golden accents on his clothing.

His pants... were shorter than they honestly should be.

Upon noticing Adonis approaching, the one that spoke up first was the pale-blue-haired fellow. "Hello there, is this perhaps the Arcade Cafe...?"

"Chongyun, didn't you see the sign outside? This is obviously the place..." The other male addressed the other with a strong deadpan in his tone. With a shake of his head, the male looked at Adonis. "Greetings, my liege. I am Xingqiu, and this is my companion Chongyun. We are here by the recommendation of a friend."

"Of a friend? Oh, are you perhaps the ones Xiangling informed me about?"

"Ah, Xiangling informed you? Then that must be us indeed! Is she perhaps here right now?"

"That she is, please follow me."

Just like that, both Chongyun and Xingqiu followed behind Adonis as he calmly lead them over towards the four-person table that Xiangling was sitting at. As they made their way over, both the males couldn't help but look around with rather surprised looks.

The environment of the cafe was unlike anything else in Liyue, that being the architecture as well as the overall feel. Something about the shop just made them feel incredibly relaxed, perhaps it was the overall quietness of the place, or perhaps it was just the overall environment as a whole.

"Oh, Chongyun! Xingqiu! You guys are finally here!"

"Lololo~!"

Both males looked forwards to see their food-loving friend waving towards them from the table she sat at, and they could also see Guoba sitting down on the chair beside her. From the looks of it, Guoba had three cushions of sorts to help him properly reach over the table while he sat.

"You seem to be in a rather good mood, Xiangling." Xingqiu commented amusedly. He then looked down at the table and noticed that she seemed to be in the middle of devouring something. "Oh! Is that a plate of Crystal Shrimp I see?!"

"Calm down, Xingqiu..."

In front of Xiangling was a rather large plate of dumplings, though unlike any that they'd ever seen, the dumplings seemed to almost give off a golden glow. Not only that, the dumplings seemed to be shaped in a way that the dumplings looked as if they had sprouted a pair of small dragon wings, along with a spiked tail.

Xiangling looked to have definitely wolfed down a number of them already, evident by the vacant space on the plate, Guoba was the same as both of them had almost already used up all of the chilli oil placed next to the plate in a disc.

"They're actually called Gold Dragon Dumplings here. They're amazing!"

"Then I shall not hesitate to try them." Xingqiu quickly placed himself on the seat opposite Xiangling. Seeing this, both Adonis and Chongyun could only sweatdrop at the eagerness Xingqiu displayed. "Please give me a plate of your best Gold Dragon Dumplings, my liege!"

"It won't be long."

"Xingqiu..." Chongyun sighed in exasperation. "I apologise on his behalf, he can be a bit excited when it comes to this particular kind of dish."

"There's nothing wrong with that, I don't mind." Adonis chuckled slightly as he waved it off. "What about you, Chongyun? Anything, in particular, you'd like to order as well?"

"Well... this may sound a bit strange, but do you have anything that's particularly cold? For specific reasons, I am unable to feast on anything that's warm, let alone hot..."

"Cold, huh?" Adonis wasn't sure why Chongyun couldn't eat anything hot or warm, but he wasn't one to pry into people's business. "What do you usually eat then? Perhaps I can think of something based on your current diet."

"I-It's not that great, I usually only eat popsicles and cold rice noodles..."

"Wow..." Adonis honestly found himself speechless. A diet that mainly consisted of popsicles alone was probably one of the most unhealthy diets he's ever heard of, only being beaten by a certain few. "I think we need to get some variety in your diet... okay, I have an idea. Take a seat, I'll be back shortly. Take a look through the drinks menu while you're waiting."

It wasn't that Adonis was short on cold dishes to serve Chongyun, it was just that he wanted something that Chongyun probably hadn't eaten yet. If what that guy said was true, then he seriously needed to change his diet.

Thankfully, he had something in mind.

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Like always, Adonis finished cooking in record time as he carried a small tray out. One of the plates on the tray obviously had a set of Gold Dragon Dumplings neatly arranged on them while another plate had what looked to be a neat mountain of pasta and vegetables, along with a few bits of fruit.

What Adonis decided to make Chongyun was a simple Cold Pasta Salad, it wasn't anything exceptional, but it was definitely delicious, at least in his opinion. He still didn't know Chongyun's reasonings, but he did make sure it was as cold as it could be while still remaining easily consumable.

"Here are your dishes, please enjoy."

"I certainly will!" Xingqiu immediately picked up a pair of chopsticks from his side of the table before picking a dumpling up right after Adonis placed the plate in front of him. He didn't even bother dipping it in any sauce before immediately chucking it in his mouth. "I-Incredible! I have never had something so amazing... you are amazing, my liege!"

"Glad you like it." Adonis wasn't at all disturbed by Xingqiu's energetic praise, he merely smiled before placing the pasta down in front of Chongyun. "This kind of cuisine may not be what you're used to, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's a simple Cold Pasta Salad."

"Thank you very much." Chongyun nodded gratefully before looking down at his food with a bit of a complicated look. He could feel the coldness coming off of the dish, so most of his concerns washed away. "I apologise, am I supposed to use chopsticks...?"

"Hm? Ah, my apologies. There are forks, spoons, and even some eating knives in the container there." Adonis pointed towards the small wooden container that was built into the table itself. Inside each compartment were different pieces of cutlery, along with tissues as well. "Feel free to use them as you please."

"I see, much appreciated." Chongyun nodded before picking out one of the metal forks. Since he was used to always eating using chopsticks, he fiddled around with it for a bit before poking one of the pasta curls and plopping it into his mouth. "This...! What an incredibly delicate yet powerful taste! Its flavour is not too strong, but not too weak either! Just perfect!"

'I feel like I'm suddenly in Food Wars.'

In any case, he was glad to see them all enjoying his food.

It didn't take long for all four of them, which included Guoba, to finish their food before all deciding to order themselves dessert. Let's just say that they'd definitely be coming back to the restaurant in the future...

Just like that, Adonis had earned himself two new regulars.