"Please, I beg you." Venti looked at Chen Luo with pitiful eyes.
Having finally found an opportunity to indulge in apple cider, Venti was naturally unwilling to let it slip away.
"Fine, for the sake of the Anemo Archon Barbatos," Chen Luo replied generously.
Though Chen Luo knew that stringing Venti along would be the most profitable approach.
If Venti wanted free drinks, he would develop desires. Desires would naturally lead to commissions, and commissions would yield Primogems.
While it probably wouldn't be as lucrative as this time—where he received 40 Primogems and other rewards—the base reward of five Primogems was still guaranteed.
Over time, accumulating them little by little would still be worthwhile.
But… human interactions should still have a bit of sincerity.
Besides, this Anemo vision has already made Chen Luo earn more than the expected benefits.
The moment Chen Luo and Venti shook hands, Venti appeared in Chen Luo's friend list.
Strangely enough, Venti was currently the only friend in Chen Luo's Talent Panel friend interface.
And once a friend was unlocked, Chen Luo could purchase their items and abilities.
The most eye-catching among them were…
[Gnosis](Item): 10,000 Primogems
[Elemental Body · Anemo](Constitution): 2,000 Primogems
Though an Anemo Vision was certainly no match for an Anemo Gnosis, Chen Luo felt that a 10-pull was worth it.
So even if it meant missing out on a few daily commissions, the bar wouldn't cater to Venti alone. There was no need to milk him dry.
Besides, since Venti still had his Gnosis, it meant the main storyline hadn't begun yet. These small commissions were just minor gains. If their friendship deepened enough, by the time Stormterror's rampage occurred, Chen Luo could take on the commission for that event and surely reap huge rewards.
"Oh, right. Since I've awakened an Anemo Vision, I'm in a good mood. I've decided to give you a little something," Chen Luo suddenly said to Venti.
"What kind of something?" Venti blinked.
Venti suddenly felt that this young man, who had seemed pleasant from the start, was treating him exceptionally well.
The owner of this bar was really a good person.
It's just that the bar was a bit too deserted.
"Didn't you say you wanted something that could record your voice and play it back? I happen to have one at home that I can give you." Chen Luo was in high spirits after obtaining the Vision.
What Chen Luo was referring to was a tape recorder. Coincidentally, there was an unused MP4 at his house that he could give to Venti.
"Ah, how could I accept this? Besides, a bard's job is to bring songs to others personally. Using a machine to play them feels a bit strange," Venti scratched his head and said.
"It has a lot of songs from another world. They might inspire you," Chen Luo added.
"This…" Venti was tempted but also a bit embarrassed.
Honestly, Venti often acted indifferent or even shameless about certain things, but someone like Chen Luo—who kept offering him drinks and unique items—was really hard to resist.
"Don't stand on ceremony. I need to go home and take care of something anyway. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, can you watch the shop for me?" Chen Luo stepped out from behind the bartender area and said to Venti.
"You're just going to leave the bar to a drunkard like me? This is a bar, you know," Venti said, surprised.
This trust was rather sudden.
"The problem is, there isn't any alcohol in this bar. If you can find even one bottle, I'll admit defeat," Chen Luo rolled his eyes and pushed the door open.
All the alcohol in this bar was bought and sold on the spot by Chen Luo. How could there possibly be any extra?
After stepping out, Chen Luo reappeared on the second-floor balcony.
Glancing back at the bar, he saw that the faint silhouette was still there. Moreover, unless one deliberately pushed the door, the bar would remain invisible, allowing people to pass through it freely.
As he pondered this, Chen Luo pulled out Red Wolf's Frying Pan.
The reason Chen Luo had come out this time, aside from giving Venti an extra reward, was that the bar had alerted him—someone with malicious intent was approaching his home.
The second floor of Chen Luo's house wasn't lit, so standing on the balcony in the darkness, he wouldn't be noticed.
Moving silently to the edge of the balcony, Chen Luo looked down and spotted a flash of blond hair under the dim light of the first floor.
"It's that guy again. Here for revenge?" Chen Luo muttered to himself.
The intruder was none other than the blond delinquent Chen Luo had knocked out with a brick at school.
Though the security in Chen Luo's neighborhood was decent and surveillance was comprehensive, it wasn't impossible to scale the walls if one ignored the cameras.
After all, security guards couldn't cover every angle, so sneaking in wasn't too difficult.
This kind of intrusion would likely be caught on camera, but for the delinquent, so what if he was spotted? He was just here to beat someone up.
Of course, it was also possible the blond had found some loophole to slip in.
The delinquent felt incredibly unlucky. While trying to steal a bike earlier, he'd been caught red-handed by the owner. Getting caught was bad enough, but who would've thought the guy would pull a brick out of his backpack and knock him out with it?
What kind of lunatic carries a brick in their backpack? Was this guy insane?
Then again, given that the guy was always doing good deeds like some kind of fool, maybe he really was mentally unwell.
But that wasn't the main issue. What frustrated the blond most was that when he went to the school security guard—sporting a huge bump on his head—to report Chen Luo, the guard outright refused to believe him.
"Ridiculous. Chen Luo hit you? He's a model student. There's no way he'd start a fight. Quit messing around. Scram."
The school guard didn't buy a word of the blond's story.
With no witnesses and no surveillance in the bike storage area, no one believed the delinquent.
In a fit of anger, the blond even stormed off to the police station, which wasn't far from the school.
But unfortunately, as soon as he tried to file a report, an older officer stopped him. Upon hearing the blond accuse Chen Luo of assault, the officer burst out laughing.
"Cut the nonsense. The station's right next to the school. You really think we haven't heard about your bullying? Chen Luo's the kid who had the guts to ambush a bank robber and got on TV for it. He's a model citizen. Why would he randomly attack you? If he did, you probably had it coming. Keep this up, and you'll be spending a few nights in custody. It's not like you've ever done anything good anyway."
And just like that, the blond was kicked out.
The delinquent couldn't understand it. All he'd done was try to steal a bike, yet he was the one who got beaten up. Why did no one believe him?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. The blond felt himself turning to the dark side. He decided to sneak into Chen Luo's house and beat him up.
Of course, taking a few things as compensation for his emotional distress was only natural.