However, just as he was refusing, Xiangling turned his head, saw the newcomer’s attire clearly, and couldn’t help but fall into silent confusion.
As someone who often searched for novel ingredients in the wild, and with a master who was a well-traveled adeptus, Xiangling had assumed that there wouldn’t be anything in Liyue he hadn’t seen before.
But, well.
This guy opposite him—Xiangling had to admit he really hadn’t seen this type before.
He was wearing flip-flops, and apart from the sunglasses on his face, he was only wearing loose, thin, drawstring shorts with a floral pattern.
Although Liyue, as a place where a thousand ships gathered, was very inclusive, wouldn’t he really be arrested by the Millelith and charged with public indecency for walking through the streets and alleys dressed like this?
“Uh, this customer—” Xiangling looked at Ren, finding it difficult to speak.
Moreover, through Ren, Xiangling finally discovered that the outside world was not normal.
It seemed that it wasn’t just his Wanmin Restaurant that had become strange; the entire Chihu Rock, and perhaps even the entirety of Liyue, had become strange.
“Just call me Ren.” Ren greeted him very naturally, as if there were nothing wrong with a grown man walking through Liyue’s bustling snack alley in beach shorts.
He even looked around at Wanmin Restaurant and asked with feigned confusion.
“Hiss, Boss, did you renovate Wanmin Restaurant overnight?
Why has it shrunk so severely?” Xiangling also wanted to ask where his three-story wooden building, the Wanmin Restaurant where the first-floor lobby could seat at least seventeen or eighteen tables of guests, had gone.
You have to know, as a famous snack shop in Liyue, although Wanmin Restaurant targeted commoner standards, its area was truly not small.
It was a three-story wooden building with a usable area exceeding one thousand square meters.
And yet, now?
Does this add up to even ten square meters?
This shrinkage is too severe.
“Forget it, forget it.
I’ll go through the trouble and just eat right here by the stove.” Saying this, Ren walked into the small bungalow representing Wanmin Restaurant with great familiarity, stood next to the stove, and gestured with his eyes at the bewildered Xiangling.
Xiangling opened his mouth, looked at Ren with some confusion, and then looked at his “Old Man” who was still doing his own thing, as if reciting a script.
Unfortunately, Guoba was not by his side, and being all alone, a feeling of helplessness welled up in Xiangling’s heart.
In his agitation, he didn’t know how Xiangling was thinking, or perhaps he simply gave up thinking and acted entirely according to the outside instructions.
He, the dignified head chef of Wanmin Restaurant, a disciple of Streetward Rambler, and most importantly, a blooming Damselette, had actually walked, without any precautions, to the side of a highly suspicious boy wearing large floral shorts, and then began to numbly prepare dishes.
However, when Xiangling gripped the handle of the kitchen knife and tossed the large ladle, his intelligence seemed to return to the mind of this Damselette who was filled with thoughts of cooking.
Although his hands didn’t stop moving, Xiangling’s mouth was finally liberated, and the Damselette, having sensed some incongruity, began to try to get some information from Ren, the only person present who could communicate normally.
“Um, well, this little brother Ren, when I got up today, I felt the surrounding atmosphere was strange.
Did you notice anything wrong on your way here?” Although, in Xiangling’s view, Ren, wearing beach shorts, might not be quite right either.
But at least this young man still had his reason and could hold a normal conversation, which was better than his Old Man, who was like an adepti puppet.
Moreover, Xiangling felt that he himself wasn’t quite right either.
After all, who wakes up in the morning, opens their eyes, and finds themselves fully dressed and standing in front of the stove?
“I didn’t really notice anything wrong on my way here; it was all just the usual, ordinary scenes.” Ren pondered for a moment and felt he wasn’t lying; after all, as he walked along, he was just seeing the daily scenes he had seen countless times over the years.
Chen the Sharp was shouting about “fresh and hot Chihu Fish,” Dongshuo was soliciting business, Iron Tongue Tian was shaking his head as usual, Captain Wu was worrying about whether to save his money or not, Degui was still scolding Zhiruo, and Dean Gong and Xiangming were still competing on bladder capacity.
Hmm, everything is normal, nothing wrong.
“But, Xiangling.” “Ah?
Yes!” Xiangling felt the other person was a bit too familiar; even though he had just met him, the other person called his name as if it were a matter of course.
Of course, the Damselette, who was also quite familiar himself, naturally didn’t care much about this, and coupled with an inexplicable fondness for this young man—the friendship module was working normally—Xiangling could even cook steadily beside a young man who was showing off his figure.
It was just that what Ren said next made it hard for Xiangling to accept.
“Is there something wrong with your way of making Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish?
I remember it’s not made like this?” “Huh?
Huh?” Xiangling’s eyes widened slightly.
He really wanted to reply with something like, “Are you kidding me?” As a Damselette most obsessed with the culinary arts, Xiangling’s cooking skills were the best among all playable characters, and in the game’s plot, he had even won the championship of the Culinary Competition.
Moreover, putting other dishes aside, this Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish was Xiangling’s signature dish.
It was unique in all of Liyue; no other shop could steal the technique to recreate Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish.
It was a secret recipe that belonged only to Xiangling, obtained after countless times of getting a stomachache, countless times of having his knees scraped by gravel on rock walls, and sacrificing countless pots.
If it were other dishes, Xiangling might think that different places had different characteristics, and what he made might be different from other chefs, so it didn’t meet the other person’s preferences.
But for this Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish, Xiangling was absolutely certain he couldn’t be wrong, because this was his signature dish; on this dish, he was the authority.
Watching the Damselette stop his movements for the first time, looking at him with an unconvinced gaze, Ren shook his head with affected airs.
“Sigh, come on, step back a bit, and watch how I make it.” Although Xiangling was a bit unconvinced, he was indeed stubborn when it came to cooking.
One is one, and two is two.
Xiangling wouldn’t rely on being the creator of Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish to unreasonably deny the other person a chance to demonstrate.
Seeing that Ren wanted to show off his skills, Xiangling put the Fish he had just prepared to the side, actually made way, and wanted to see how Ren’s so-called authentic Wanmin Restaurant Boiled Fish was made.