Dehya coughed into her fist.
"So… you two were talking about food, right?"
"Right." Xiangling glanced at her, then immediately wished she had not.
They had only just met. Dehya was practically a stranger. And Xiangling had almost confessed to Ryou right in front of her.
The realization hit so hard that her face went white before turning red. She reached for the ingredients beside her, more to hide her panic than to help, and knocked an entire plate onto the floor.
The crash made her jolt.
"I'll get it—"
Ryou stopped her before she could crouch down and make the mess worse.
"Leave it. I'll clean up." He looked at Dehya. "Take the finished dishes out first."
"Oh. Right."
Dehya picked up the dishes and left, but she still glanced back once before stepping out.
She did not want to imagine what might happen in the kitchen after she left.
Unfortunately, she imagined it anyway.
Ryou ignored the look and cleaned the floor. Xiangling stayed beside him, head lowered, quiet enough that even the bubbling oil sounded loud.
He noticed how red her face still was and looked away.
He really could not keep stirring this pot.
Ganyu, Shenhe, Tabibito, Ningguang—the women around him were already enough to give any normal man a headache. Shenhe, at least, was different. She had seen parts of their future together, so Ryou could understand that more than before.
But Xiangling?
No. He had to keep that from going any further.
The kitchen settled into a strange silence.
A short while later, Ryou finished another simple home-style dish. He tasted it, found the flavor good, and was about to set the chopsticks down when the system rang.
[Ding! Mouth entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Mouth Darkened Mode active. When you exhale, your breath grants an enhancement state. The base enhancement has increased to one times, with a maximum of ten times. The effective range around you has been reduced!]
Ryou frowned slightly and breathed out.
The invisible field that spread from him was much smaller than before, only about one or two meters wide. It would never cover the Ministry of Civil Affairs now. It could not even cover the whole kitchen.
The range had shrunk badly.
But the effect was different.
[Breath: Enhanced Dishes]
[Effect: Dishes completed within range gain quality +1.]
[Special Effect: Enhancement!]
[Special Enhancement Effect: Triple enhancement. Dishes completed within range gain quality +3!]
[Duration: Four hours.]
Ryou's eyes sharpened.
If the effect applied to everything finished inside the range, his dishes could now reach quality +7.
With good luck, maybe even quality +10.
And it was an area effect.
He took another bite of the dish.
The change was obvious. The flavor had deepened, the texture had improved, and the aftertaste lingered much longer than before.
[Home-style Dish]
[Quality: +7]
[Enhanced status active]
[Holy Light status active]
Ryou stared at the panel.
Then he quickly reached for the lid.
Too late.
Xiangling had already tasted it.
Her eyes widened. "Ryou, your cooking is definitely not below mine. Were you holding back earlier?"
Ryou looked at her.
For once, no clean explanation came to mind.
The spicy crayfish earlier had only reached quality +5. Now his Mouth had suddenly entered Darkened Mode, added a new enhancement effect, and pushed an ordinary home-style dish to +7.
How was he supposed to explain that without sounding ridiculous?
More importantly, if this effect reached the dining table, what would happen to the spicy crayfish?
Quality +10?
He was suddenly very curious what a Supreme dish would taste like. At that level, even the adepti might have trouble pretending they were above worldly desires.
Ryou met Xiangling's expectant eyes and chose the safest answer.
"Maybe I got lucky. But in terms of real cooking skill, I still don't think I'm better than you. Earlier… let's say I was holding back a little."
"Is that so?"
Xiangling studied him for a moment, then smiled.
"I'll treat that as a joke."
Her shoulders relaxed, and the awkwardness from before softened into something warmer.
"But you really are amazing. I want to compare cooking with you more often. Is that okay?"
"Of course."
"Then…" Xiangling drew in a breath, fingers tightening around her chopsticks. "Ryou, what I wanted to say earlier was…"
Her voice grew smaller, but the words still reached him.
"I like you."
The kitchen fell quiet again.
This time, even the oil in the pan did not save him.
…
In the main hall, Dehya set the dishes on the table.
The fragrance hit first.
It rolled through the room in a wave, rich and spicy enough to pull every pair of eyes to the plate. The spicy crayfish shone under the lamplight, bright red, fragrant, and almost offensively tempting.
Even Mountain Shaper and Cloud Retainer took a second look.
Keqing noticed.
Of course she noticed.
Her smile slipped out before she could stop it.
Ryou's cooking had improved again. The aroma alone was enough to make everyone in the room forget their manners.
And Xiangling had brought plenty of seafood. Tonight, at least, no one would be leaving hungry.
Keqing was about to invite everyone to start when a bright voice came from the entrance.
"Well, well. Looks like this Director arrived at exactly the right time."
Hu Tao strolled in with her hands behind her back, grinning as if she had smelled dinner from three streets away.
"And spicy crayfish too? Perfect."
Keqing turned and saw Hu Tao, Ganyu, and Yaoyao entering together.
That was not a group she had expected.
"Why are the three of you together?"
"What, we're not allowed to come as a set?" Hu Tao asked.
Ganyu hurried to smooth things over before the sparks started. "Yaoyao came to visit me today. When she heard I was coming here, she wanted to come along. As for Hu Tao…"
"I heard Ganyu was coming to your house for dinner," Hu Tao said cheerfully, "so naturally I came too."
Ganyu gave Keqing an apologetic look. "We didn't disturb you, did we?"
"No. You're already here, so sit down."
Ganyu relaxed a little, then noticed who else was in the room.
"Master? Mountain Shaper? I didn't expect you both to be here."
Cloud Retainer lifted her chin.
"Ganyu, is one forbidden from visiting?"
"That isn't what I meant."
Yaoyao's eyes lit up when she saw them. She stepped forward and greeted them politely.
"Auntie Cloud Retainer. Uncle Mountain Shaper."
Cloud Retainer's expression softened at once. She reached out and patted Yaoyao's head.
"Yaoyao, had one known you were coming, one would have brought you along personally. Since Ryou is cooking today, you should eat more. Opportunities like this are rare. After all, you and Ryou—"
Shenhe coughed.
Cloud Retainer stopped.
Then she coughed as well.
"One knows. There is no need for you to remind one."
The future she had seen still made her mood complicated.
Yaoyao was still a child.
Whenever Cloud Retainer thought about Yaoyao and Ryou's future, her head ached.
Yaoyao tilted her head. "Auntie Cloud Retainer?"
"Nothing."
Cloud Retainer shook her head and said no more. A careless tongue could cause trouble, especially when the matter touched on things that had not happened yet.
Mountain Shaper glanced at her.
"Cloud Retainer, is something wrong?"
"Nonsense. What could be wrong with one?"
Mountain Shaper clearly did not believe her, but he did not press.
Keqing watched the strange exchange and chose to end it before the room grew even more awkward.
"Dinner should be ready soon. Everyone, please sit and have some tea first."
There were far more guests than she had planned for.
Diluc and Amber had come from Mondstadt and barely knew anyone here. Hu Tao, Ganyu, Yaoyao, Mona, Dehya, Dunyarzad, Tabibito, Paimon, Shenhe, Cloud Retainer, Mountain Shaper…
And Baizhu and Qiqi might still arrive later.
Keqing called for the steward to serve more tea, then turned to Dehya.
"Dehya, could you tell my husband to make a few more dishes? We have more guests than expected."
"I'll tell him."
Dehya nodded and headed back toward the kitchen.
Once everyone had taken their seats, the room slipped into that uncomfortable silence that happens when too many people know different pieces of the same problem.
Tabibito broke it first.
"Diluc, you brought Dandelion Wine, right? With this many people, dinner would be missing something without wine."
"I did."
Diluc took several bottles from his storage and set them on the table.
"This is an improved version: Adeptal Dandelion Wine. It has been infused with a considerable amount of Adeptal energy."
He looked around the table.
"Angel's Share will soon open a branch in Liyue Harbor. When that happens, I hope everyone here will support it."
Mona leaned forward, curious. "Where are you opening the shop?"
"That has not been finalized. I still need to speak with Ryou."
Diluc's hand rested near the bottles, but his expression had already turned colder.
"And my visit to Liyue is not only about the shop. It is also related to this wine."
Paimon blinked. "Did something happen?"
"It is not a secret in Mondstadt," Diluc said. "When Ryou was there, he created an Adeptal spring for me. It continuously produced adeptal water, and that water worked extremely well with Dandelion Wine."
The easy mood around the table faded as soon as he mentioned the spring.
"Recently, Dawn Winery was attacked by monsters. The Adeptal spring was destroyed as well. I came to ask Ryou whether he can repair it, or create another one."
Ganyu frowned. "Could the Adeptal spring have attracted the monsters?"
"Adeptal energy is attractive to monsters," she explained. "It can affect them, even change them. Jueyun Karst still has monsters too, but with the Mighty and Illuminated Adepti present, they do not dare enter the deeper regions."
Cloud Retainer nodded.
"Ganyu speaks truly. The creatures linger, but while we remain there, they know better than to cause trouble."
Diluc thought it over, then shook his head.
"No. Those weren't ordinary monsters."
His expression darkened.
"They were all tainted by Abyssal corruption."
The faces around the table changed at once.
Monsters appearing near Dawn Winery was one problem.
Abyssal monsters appearing there was something else entirely.
[End of chapter]