When Mu Yang finished his meditation, it was already noon.
Yesterday he had been completely thrown off by the Knave's various inexplicable actions.
Could it be that she really just wanted to take him to watch a magic performance?
Right… right?
With the Knave's personality, would she really do something so simple and pointless?
Or was it about the children from Hotel Bouffes d'été…
Forget it. Mu Yang decided not to think about these things anymore.
If the Knave had something she needed his help with, she could open her mouth and ask him herself.
Today he still had one important matter to handle.
He planned to have several outfits custom-made for his own film.
That's right — Mu Yang also had something he wanted to shoot.
The most important part was the ending of this film, which could create a "feint" effect.
Mu Yang walked downstairs and happened to see Furina, who had also just gotten out of bed.
"Uh… hello, Mr. Administrator."
The little cake was still very afraid of Mu Yang.
After all, she had nearly flooded the entire apartment building before.
Plus, the cold aura on Mu Yang reminded her of a certain someone.
She couldn't think about it, she mustn't think about it. She had already forgotten the Knave. Keeping such a terrifying figure in her mind would give her nightmares.
Mu Yang simply nodded slightly and walked straight out of the apartment.
He still didn't plan to have any interaction with Furina for now.
In a few days, when Xavier and the others ran out of money, Mu Yang would naturally make a dazzling appearance.
After leaving the apartment, Mu Yang went up a few flights of stairs and arrived at the Court of Fontaine's Lionne District.
On the busiest street in Fontaine's Lionne District stood a clothing store named Chiori's House.
The storefront didn't look very big, yet people often stopped at the window to look.
Its owner, Chiori, came from Inazuma and had a style as ruthless as thunder.
Those who didn't believe it and tried to interfere with her business had their endings seen by everyone.
Not only did they taste defeat, some even experienced for the first time what it felt like to have their butt land in the gutter.
What kind of background and origins did she have that allowed this foreign fashion designer to act so boldly?
This was the question that concerned Fontaine's fashion tabloid reporters the most.
They kept digging into her life and anecdotes, even going as far as traveling to Inazuma to secretly visit her relatives, friends, and former tailoring teachers…
The final evaluation they received was only: does things her own way, mischievous since childhood, never uses honorifics with elders…
The evaluation didn't seem very positive.
Only Chiori's parents showed relieved smiles and said she was simply [unique in her thinking] and [wholeheartedly pursuing her own ideals].
Some people were naturally unwilling to accept it. Disguising themselves as customers while buying, they asked, "Miss Chiori, how did you succeed? Do you have any secrets to making clothes?"
They only received Chiori's cold glare in return.
"Do whatever you want. Also… are you buying clothes or not?"
The place Mu Yang was going to today was exactly this magical store.
Going to an ordinary store would have been fine too.
But considering that Chiori had a lot of screen time in version 4.2,
Mu Yang followed his usual style — if there was a wave to ride, he would ride it. Who would complain about having more popularity points?
Moreover, besides selling clothes, Chiori's House was also an intelligence hub.
Intelligence — Mu Yang loved intelligence the most.
Actually, even Chiori herself was somewhat confused about how the intelligence hub came to be.
It seemed that as long as she shared the things she heard in her store with her friends,
she could have a huge influence on certain events happening in Fontaine.
Later she understood.
Rather than saying Chiori's House produced intelligence, it was more like intelligence came rushing toward Chiori's House on its own.
Those richly dressed merchants and politicians were like colorful butterflies, carrying "intelligence" pollen and gathering around the gorgeous flower that was Chiori's House.
But their original intention wasn't to scatter the pollen in Chiori's House — it was to show off to other butterflies how much "pollen" they had.
In their eyes, how much intelligence they possessed on their person was something to be prouder of than how many gemstones were on their clothes.
— Did you know? So-and-so seems to have a new lover again.
— And that person apparently made a deal with someone from the Maison Gardiennage!
— You mean the one in charge of transportation? Oh my, I heard what he's transporting is…
— Shh! You can't say that out loud!
If she had to choose, Chiori actually didn't want to hear these things.
But Mu Yang said: I'm different. I like listening to these.
Chiori felt she was allergic to this kind of pollen, with symptoms showing as being unable to calm down and make clothes.
Therefore, when designing new styles, she generally didn't appear in the store.
But those were just the thoughts of the younger Chiori.
The current her, like intelligence-loving Mu Yang, had learned how to make use of these things.
She even started helping others keep an eye out.
When it involved the interests of certain friends or the safety of the Court of Fontaine, she would kindly send a letter or give them a well-meaning reminder in person.
To her, this was the same principle as tailoring clothes — sewing the right thing to where it should be.
Of course, as a businesswoman, Chiori would also collect some small "returns."
Just as she often said — there must be give and take for it to be business.
And Mu Yang understood all these principles.
'Crash—'
The sound of glass shattering interrupted Mu Yang's thoughts.
A person in a suit and leather shoes flew out of the store.
Drawing a beautiful arc in the air.
And that store was precisely Chiori's House.
From afar, Mu Yang saw Chiori walk out of the store, cursing at the person until her anger subsided, then turning around and walking back into the store.
"Looks like I'm in luck today. The boss is in the store."
This was Chiori's style.
Mu Yang walked into the store. A crisp bell sounded overhead, as if blessing all customers who entered with good luck.
Of course, only those who entered properly.
Someone like the person earlier was clearly not included.
"Welcome to Chiori's House. What do you need?" A greeting that wasn't particularly warm but full of confidence rang out.
She stood up and glanced at the outfit Mu Yang was wearing.
Mu Yang thought she was going to say something harsh.
Unexpectedly, the other party actually praised Mu Yang's taste.
It was a typical Liyue-style outfit.
"Your temperament is quite similar to a gentleman from Liyue I met before."
"Would you like high-end custom tailoring or ready-made garments?" After a few words of small talk, Chiori returned to the main topic.
"High-end custom."
"Purpose?"
"Several sets for film shooting, and one set for accepting an award."
Chiori stopped the needle and thread in her hands.
Bold!
Chiori saw the same qualities in Mu Yang as herself.
She liked dealing with this kind of person.
"Wait a moment. Fill out this form. I still have a customer inside…"
"Chiori sis, I'm done changing!"
"Coming."
Mu Yang stopped the pen he was using to fill out the form. "This voice is… Kirara?"