Why did Takumi come here so leisurely?
Didn't this guy just come up with a plan for Liyue's future development?
Why did he suddenly wander over here?
Or does this guy want to rope someone into work again?
Zhongli, who had just asked this question, immediately became vigilant.
This guy… was he trying to trick him into working again?
Looking at the old man, Takumi suddenly felt a little confused.
What was going on?
Why were you looking at me so warily?
"Can't I come here if I have nothing to do?"
Takumi looked at Zhongli with confusion.
Zhongli shook his head.
"I'm just surprised."
"After all, every time you come here, you always find me a lot of things to do."
"This time you came here, I was worried you might assign me some new tasks."
As he spoke, Zhongli looked at Takumi with a strange expression.
It was as if he feared Takumi would suddenly say something like—
"Zhongli, I have something I need your help with."
Please.
He just wanted to retire.
Could you stop giving him more work?
After hearing Zhongli's explanation, Takumi couldn't help laughing.
So that was it.
You think I came here to give you more work?
"No."
"I just came here today to drink tea."
"You guys can chat."
"There's nothing for you to do right now."
From the looks of it, the old man had developed sequelae from being overworked.
Tsk.
But don't worry.
There really was nothing for him to do right now.
After all, it was summer vacation.
Once school started, even if Takumi didn't arrange anything for Zhongli,
Zhongli would probably still have endless matters to handle.
So why assign more work?
Let Zhongli enjoy this rare period of peace.
Only then did Zhongli finally let out a sigh of relief.
Nothing for him to do?
If that was the case, then fine.
At this moment, Barbatos suddenly laughed.
"Hey~!"
"Takumi, you should arrange more work for him."
"The old man is really—"
Before he could finish speaking, Zhongli cast an emotionless glance at Venti.
This instantly reminded Venti of the time he was smashed into the ground by Zhongli's techniques.
Venti shivered immediately.
He dared not speak anymore.
This successfully amused Takumi.
Venti, don't chicken out.
Go on.
I'm listening.
"If you don't speak, no one will think you're stupid, Barbatos."
Zhongli said calmly.
Then he picked up his teacup and continued drinking.
Venti chuckled awkwardly.
He immediately shut his mouth.
He no longer dared to speak nonsense.
After Takumi laughed for a while, he shifted the topic and chatted with Zhongli about other matters.
Otherwise, if this continued, Zhongli might really lose patience and send Venti flying.
Although Venti could escape,
Damaging flowers and plants would still be bad.
After changing the subject, Venti was finally safe.
He had learned his lesson.
From now on, he would not interrupt at moments like this.
He obediently drank tea.
The three of them sat together, drinking tea and eating snacks.
It was quite pleasant.
"About the development of the layered rock abyss…"
"Are you sure it's feasible?"
Zhongli suddenly asked.
The layered rock abyss had suffered severe damage due to overexploitation.
That place had once been Azhdaha's domain.
Now that Takumi was paying attention to it, Zhongli naturally cared.
Facing Zhongli's question, Takumi nodded.
"No major problem."
"Besides, Weiwei is very interested in it."
"She can probably handle it even better."
"But our focus isn't on that right now."
"Guyun Pavilion, Lingju Pass, and other places come first."
Any issues?
Of course not.
Takumi was quite confident in this matter.
Seeing that Takumi had answered so firmly, Zhongli stopped asking.
"That's good."
"When Azhdaha heard the news, he came to drink with me."
"It was quite enjoyable."
If one were to ask who was happiest,
It was probably the Dragon King Azhdaha.
That place had once been his lair.
Now Takumi planned to build a unique city there.
Regarding this, Azhdaha was very pleased.
When he first saw the announcement from the Land Department,
He couldn't quite believe it.
But after thinking it over,
If it really were built,
That city would definitely be prosperous.
And it would attract a large number of people.
Thinking of this made Azhdaha extremely excited.
That was why he specially came to drink several rounds with Zhongli.
It was easy to imagine how happy he was.
He had thought the place would remain desolate forever.
Unexpectedly, Takumi had given him such a big surprise.
Hearing Zhongli's words, Takumi smiled.
He could roughly guess how Azhdaha felt.
At the very least, his home would not be ruined.
If a city could truly be built there,
It could be considered fulfilling Azhdaha's long-held wish.
Venti listened to their conversation and felt envious.
Liyue was constantly expanding.
But Mondstadt was not.
Although Mondstadt also had plenty of land,
Its population was much smaller than Liyue's.
Moreover, many people there were unwilling to have children.
So the current land was already sufficient.
For the people of Mondstadt, being well-fed was enough.
Children?
What children?
Wouldn't having children restrict freedom?
That was hard for Mondstadt's freedom-loving people to accept.
But Liyue was different.
The number of newborns increased every year.
Mondstadt wanted that, but couldn't achieve it.
A rise in newborns?
It was already good if the numbers didn't drop.
Still thinking of increasing?
Don't even dream about it.
Takumi stayed at Zhongli's place for a while longer.
After chatting for some time, he left the teahouse.
As he walked out, he glanced at the newly opened teahouses nearby.
His face filled with helplessness.
The adepti had also begun blending into mortal life.
Living in the mountains was still too lonely.
Now that Liyue was so lively,
Wouldn't it be a pity to just watch from afar?
Perhaps it was this mindset that led many adepti to open shops near Zhongli.
No matter what, the people of Liyue would never imagine that an adeptus was right beside them.
Even Granny Ping had opened a teahouse here.
Competing directly with Zhongli for business.
It could only be said that the adepti really knew how to enjoy themselves.
Leaving the place Takumi jokingly called the Adepti Street,
He began strolling around Guili Plains again.
After walking around for a bit, Takumi went straight to Wanmin Restaurant.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Hu Tao.
When Hu Tao saw Takumi, her eyes lit up.
Without saying a word, she rushed over.
"Takumi!"
"Do you want to eat?"
"I'm begging you!"
The enthusiastic Hu Tao grabbed Takumi directly.
It looked as if she was afraid he might run away.