"Hooray!" Ying happily made a V-sign in her heart.
(No matter where you are, connections are important...)
After a while...
Ying put two bottles of dandelion wine into her backpack and walked out of the Angels' Share. She teleported to Windrise with Paimon.
"Phew... it feels like teleporting with you consumes a bit more mental energy than teleporting with Paimon... Is it because you're heavier?" Ying asked Paimon, looking puzzled.
"That's too much! Paimon isn't heavy at all (￣へ￣)" Paimon turned her head away and said angrily.
"Hahaha~ Alright, alright, not heavy, not heavy."
"Hmph~ By the way, what are we doing here?"
"What else can we do? Find a quiet place to drink~"
"Huh? But you said you can't drink! You'll be in trouble if she finds out."
"Oh, this... I can't believe you actually believed what I casually said... If I remember correctly, I said before that I came to Mondstadt to find Venti, right?"
"Huh? Did you?"
"Yes."
"Uh... maybe I was eating so happily that I forgot. ~" Paimon chuckled sheepishly.
"Sigh... forget it, business first. Cough cough... Venti~ Come out for a drink~"
(Hehe~ I'll ask him for help to see if he can save me at a crucial moment... I'm so clever~ (⌒▽⌒))
...
"Huh? He's not here?" Ying observed her surroundings, finding no breeze.
"I'm here~" Just as Ying was wondering, Venti suddenly appeared behind her.
"Ahhh?! Ouch! It hurts... ≥﹏≤" Ying was so startled by the voice from behind her that she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Oh dear... are you alright?"
"Of course not! That's really scary! And when were you there?!" Ying pouted and glared at Venti.
"Hahaha~ Just now. What do you need me for~"
"What else could it be? Just came back to see you (￣へ￣)"
"Oh? I didn't realize I was that important to you~ I'm truly touched."
"Uh-huh... Since you're so touched, if something happens to me later, will you come and save me immediately? (^_^)"
"Hahaha~ Of course I can... I'd love to say that, but..."
"Got it, I already know. You don't need to say more."
"Oh? It seems your brain is working."
"Sigh~ It can't be helped. After thinking about it, it's indeed too difficult for you to constantly watch out for my life-threatening situations."
"Hahaha~ Don't worry, the Anemo God will protect you."
"Hmm... Should I be happy or unhappy about your protection..."
"Hmm... I think you should be happier, after all, this is the protection of the Anemo God~ (^～^)"
"Hmm... Sigh~ Anyway, let's drink."
With that, Ying took out a bottle of dandelion wine and a goblet from her backpack. She poured a little into the goblet and handed the entire bottle to Venti.
"Oh? You want to drink too?" Venti asked curiously after taking the wine.
"Mhm, I'm a bit curious about what wine tastes like~" (Hehe... I suddenly remembered I haven't tasted wine yet~)
"Wait! You just told me you weren't here to drink!" Paimon quickly intervened.
"Oh~ It's okay, Paimon, I'm just trying it out, just a little bit, I won't drink too much~"
"That's still not allowed! Be careful, I'll tell Lumine!"
"Ah?! Don't do that, Paimon... How about this, just this once, if you help me, I'll buy you food for a week so you can eat your fill, how about that?"
"A week of full meals?! Cough cough... Then... alright... only this once!"
After Paimon finished speaking, she happily flew to the side and lay down, whispering, "Hehe~ A week of delicacies... Just thinking about it makes my mouth water~ (⌒▽⌒)"
"Phew... she's so easy to coax..."
"Hahaha~ Even though I heard you say that, I have a feeling your original intention wasn't to chat with me or taste wine."
"Oh, this... you really can't hide anything from me. Fine, I admit I only thought of buying wine for Zhongli for Lumine to improve her relationship with the Geo God when I came (*￣з￣)"
"The Geo God? That stiff-necked guy?"
"Uh... I think you want to get beaten by him again..."
"Oh dear... How do you know about that? It's a bit embarrassing~"
(Oh no... I let it slip again?! Σ(|||▽|||) )
"Cough cough... Um, I know a lot of things, though not as much as you do (*￣з￣)"
"Hmm~ Then let's get back to the topic of the old man."
"Mhm!" (Phew... luckily it's Venti.)
"The Geo God... Oh, he should be called Zhongli now. How is he doing?" Venti asked after taking a sip of his wine.
"How is he... Hmm... He's doing alright, just got assassinated a few days ago."
"Huh? Is that 'doing alright'?"
"Yes, because only his divine body died. His original consciousness has become an ordinary person named Zhongli."
"Wow~ That's truly shocking news. I thought that stubborn guy would live like that forever."
"Indeed... But I think you have a share of the credit for him becoming like this. Look, you've taught him to neglect his duties."
"Ahaha~ You can't blame me for that, after all, the God of Freedom's job is freedom (^～^)"
"Hmm... Why haven't you, the God of Freedom, gone to see your old friend recently?"
"Hmm... I might not be in a convenient position to visit him in his current state. I'll go in a while~"
"That's true... Wait... So you know about him?!"
"Eh heh~"
"Damn it! You deceived my pure feelings!" Ying sadly downed the wine in her goblet...
"Wow... It tastes a bit spicy... It doesn't seem that delicious..."
"Ahaha~ Don't drink too much the first time you drink, although there isn't much wine in your cup."
"Don't worry, I'm not stupid, I won't get drunk... (￣へ￣)"
After a while...
After telling Venti everything she wanted to say, Ying got up and prepared to return to Liyue...
"I'm leaving, Venti, see you next time~"
"Mhm, have a safe journey~"
"Emm... Why does it feel like you want me to leave... Sigh~ Let's go, Paimon~"
"Hmm... ￣﹏￣ Huh? Oh oh~ Ying, are you drunk?" Paimon, who had been dozing off, woke up when she heard Ying's voice and immediately flew to Ying's side.
"Don't worry, I feel like I can fight for another three hundred rounds~ (^～^)"
Simple-minded Ying didn't know that the effects of alcohol could be fast or slow.
"Ha~ That's good ￣﹏￣"
"Uh... why are you so sleepy?"