The next day.
"Looks like Lumine isn't up yet..."
Passing Lumine's room, Kaito glanced at the closed door and couldn't help but think to himself. Of course, she might be awake and just lying in bed.
But regardless, he needed to find Zhongli first. Since he was planning to change the plan, he definitely had to tell him. Otherwise, it would be a bit awkward if they just ended up staring blankly at each other.
"First, I'll go buy a steamed bun to eat..."
"But I don't know where Zhongli might be..."
"Forget it..."
"If I really can't find him, I'll just have Wendy look for him..."
With that in mind, Kaito headed outside.
Chihu Rock.
"This place should sell breakfast, right..."
Gazing at the area around Chihu Rock from a distance, Kaito couldn't help but wonder. Although he'd been there when playing the game, the game only had a rough outline of the scene, so Kaito would only know for sure once he got there.
But before confirming if they sold breakfast at Chihu Rock, there was something else he had to do.
"What is this Childe up to..."
"So sneaky..."
"Could it be that he already knows about my plan with Zhongli?"
"No..."
"How could he possibly know..."
Pretending to stand still and gaze towards Chihu Rock, Kaito was lost in thought. He had noticed Childe following him right after he left the house.
Previously, he wouldn't have been able to tell if Childe was following him, but things were different now. He felt that Childe might not even be able to defeat him. However, since he had never fought Childe before, he couldn't make a definitive judgment.
"Hmm..."
"He actually came out..."
Just as Kaito was contemplating whether to expose Childe, Childe came out on his own.
"Yo, if it isn't my friend Kaito? What a coincidence."
As he walked over, Childe spoke in a surprised tone, as if he had just run into Kaito by chance. Of course, this was just his way of probing.
In truth, he always felt there was more to Kaito than meets the eye, but he could never put his finger on what it was, so he wanted to test him.
As the Anemo Archon's boyfriend, Kaito must have something extraordinary about him. Otherwise, how could he have captured the Anemo Archon's heart?
And besides the Anemo Archon, the other young woman by Kaito's side was clearly no simple person either. So, all things considered, Kaito was definitely, absolutely not a simple person.
Turning around, Kaito also smiled. "It seems Liyue isn't a very big place, for us to meet again so soon."
Childe also smiled. "Perhaps it's fate."
"This friend Kaito..."
"Did he notice me or not?"
"I feel..."
"I can't tell..."
While maintaining a smile on his face, Childe was muttering to himself internally. Actually, when Kaito stopped just now, he thought he had been discovered, which is why he came out. But now, Kaito didn't seem to have noticed at all.
"Is he pretending not to have noticed me..."
"or..."
"did he really not notice me?"
As he thought about it, Childe became lost in his own musings. The main issue was that he couldn't gauge Kaito's strength, so he couldn't make a judgment on certain things.
"Forget it..."
"I won't think about this for now..."
"I should just build a good relationship with him..."
The moment he thought of Kaito's two girlfriends, Childe decided not to overthink it. After all, even if Kaito were an ordinary person, he would be an extraordinary ordinary person, completely worthy of befriending.
"My friend Kaito, are you planning to buy some breakfast?"
After determining what was most important, Childe changed the subject, directly asking if Kaito was going to get breakfast.
"Yeah, getting some breakfast," Kaito nodded.
"This Childe..."
"Is he going to treat me to breakfast?"
Hearing Childe ask this, Kaito felt he already knew what was going to happen next. After all, the notion of Childe being a walking wallet was no exaggeration.
"That's right..."
"I can have Childe take me to Zhongli..."
Suddenly thinking of this, Kaito's mood brightened. He had been wondering where to find Zhongli if he wasn't at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but now it seemed Childe could solve this problem for him.
In Kaito's eyes, Childe's head was already adorned with the golden title of "Great Benefactor." Although the matter he needed to discuss with Zhongli obviously couldn't be known to Childe, he wasn't going to say it directly in front of him anyway.
"Perfect, I was also about to get breakfast. Shall we go together?"
Hearing that Kaito was indeed getting breakfast, Childe immediately perked up. He might not be great at other things, but when it came to spending money and treating people, he was an absolute expert. No matter who it was, anyone he treated would definitely leave feeling extremely satisfied.
"No problem," Kaito nodded again, then continued, "It's my first time here, so I don't even know where they sell breakfast."
"You've come to the right person for that. Follow me."
Childe looked as if he was about to show Kaito something great. With that said, Childe started walking towards Chihu Rock, and Kaito followed close behind.
Walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Childe, Kaito asked casually, "By the way, Childe, do you know if Zhongli is at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor? I have something I need to find him for."
"Mr. Zhongli?"
"Kaito needs to see Mr. Zhongli for something?"
Sensing this could be important information, Childe thought quickly before replying, "I'm not sure if Mr. Zhongli is at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, but I know the places he frequents. Do you want to go look for him now?"
Childe had already lost his appetite for breakfast; right now, he just wanted to find out what business Kaito had with Zhongli. Although it was unlikely they would discuss things in front of him, he could choose to eavesdrop.
There was just one problem: he was still unclear about Kaito's true strength and whether he would be detected while eavesdropping. He wasn't worried about Mr. Zhongli, but he hadn't known Kaito long enough to fathom his depths.
"Forget it..."
"I'll deal with it when it happens..."
After some thought, Childe decided not to overthink it for now and to just see how things played out.
"That works too."
Knowing that Childe was clearly interested in what he had to say to Zhongli, Kaito decided to play along. In fact, Kaito was already thinking about how to incorporate Childe into the plan. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Childe about his and Zhongli's plan directly.
"Follow me. Perhaps we can have breakfast with Mr. Zhongli."
With a smile, Childe changed direction.
_____
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