The next day.
When Raiden Makoto came over to invite Zhongli to head to the finals venue together, Keqing also came along.
"Hmm?" "A gift for me?" Zhongli was slightly stunned for a moment. He then looked at Raiden Makoto, who was watching him with a smile on her face.
Why would Keqing give him a gift... Has he been exposed?
"Mr. Zhongli, it's a fragrant ointment bought from Chunxiang Pottery... I thought it would be something you'd like." Keqing was a little embarrassed. She was now certain that Zhongli was Rex Lapis, but she didn't know if she should expose him.
"Fragrant ointment..." After a moment of contemplation, Zhongli roughly understood. He guessed that Lumine and Paimon must have told Keqing something; it looked like Keqing knew his identity.
"Did Lumine and Paimon tell you something?" Zhongli's tone was somewhat indifferent. "Thank you for your kindness."
"Rex Lapis..." Keqing pondered for a long time before finally making up her mind. She took a deep breath. "Do you like Ningguang more, or do you like me more?"
"???" Zhongli was a bit bewildered. Why would Keqing suddenly ask him such a question? He then looked at Raiden Makoto, only to find her wearing a strange smile.
"You know everything?" Zhongli looked at Keqing thoughtfully. "You and Ningguang both have your own opinions, and I certainly admire both of you."
"You have also said that the fate of humanity should be left to humanity, and whatever the future holds, it is all for you to decide."
"Then why did you tell them about that matter, but not Ganyu and me?" Keqing looked at Zhongli with some annoyance. What made her angry wasn't that Zhongli left without saying goodbye, but that he treated them differently.
The matter of Rex Lapis's fake death—only she and Ganyu didn't know about it, while everyone else did. So, it turned out they were the only two kept in the dark.
"You two work too hard."
"From a generally rational perspective, sending a dream should also happen at night, but you two happened to be working that night." Zhongli looked at Keqing with eyes full of appreciation.
"And I only send dreams once... As for why they didn't tell you about those things, that is not my problem." Zhongli's tone was very calm as he spoke, but one could tell he was very pleased.
"Alright." After learning the real reason, Keqing didn't know what to say. Her face was flushed red; she had actually asked Zhongli such a question in front of Raiden Makoto.
She had actually asked Rex Lapis whether he liked Ningguang more or her more.
"Speaking of which, Zhongli, Ei accidentally... Mt. Tianheng..." Raiden Makoto looked at Zhongli with some embarrassment. After all, Liyue was Morax's territory; logically and emotionally, Raiden Ei shouldn't have done that.
"That matter? I already know." Zhongli nodded. "Since there were no casualties, it's not a big deal."
"Mm."
As expected, Morax didn't care at all. Seeing Zhongli's calm expression, Raiden Makoto breathed a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to afford the compensation.
"Do they all know you are the Electro Archon now?" Zhongli looked at Raiden Makoto with interest. "Did they say anything to you?"
"Mm."
"They must be talking about you, right?"
"Morax is already dead; let them think whatever they want." Zhongli said indifferently.
At this moment, Liyue Plaza.
"Xiangling, today's championship is definitely mine." Raiden Ei said seriously. "With me here, you won't be able to win the championship."
"Sister Ei, good luck first." Xiangling didn't care about Raiden Ei's declaration of war at all. Since the Mt. Tianheng incident was resolved, she had been developing new dishes with Raiden Ei.
However, Raiden Ei still only knew those few simple dishes. The finals would have a restricted theme, so Raiden Ei definitely wouldn't be able to repeat those new dishes.
"Everyone already knows the members of the judging panel for this match, so I don't need to introduce them again, right?"
"And the contestants entering this final, one is the chef from the Liyue Harbor region, Contestant Xiangling!"
"And her mysterious assistant, who knows who it is!"
"The other is the somewhat miraculous Contestant Raiden Ei from the Inazuma region! We can look forward to seeing if Contestant Raiden Ei will bring us new surprises in our competition."
While Yanfei was introducing Xiangling and Raiden Ei, Raiden Makoto, Keqing, and Zhongli also arrived.
After they were all seated at the judges' table, Ningguang looked at Keqing beside her with some confusion.
"Keqing..." "Mt. Tianheng..."
She then looked deeply at Raiden Makoto. Ningguang was also somewhat surprised that Raiden Makoto was actually the Electro Archon of Inazuma.
And the one currently competing on the field was also the Electro Archon of Inazuma; both of them were Electro Archons.
"Ningguang... we'll talk about those things later." Keqing smiled. "Let's watch the match first."
"Mm."
But Ningguang was still sizing up Raiden Makoto. The Electro Archon of Inazuma was just a gentle young lady in front of them, which surprised her.
"Next, please have Ms. Ningguang announce the theme of this match. The match officially begins!" When Yanfei said her name, Ningguang snapped back to reality.
"On behalf of this year's organizers, I announce the keyword for this match: 'Rite of Land and Water'."
After the competition started, Guoba ran directly from Xiangling's side to Raiden Ei's side, staring straight at Raiden Ei.
"Everyone can see that Contestant Xiangling has already started preparing ingredients; her movements are very precise."
"Her mysterious assistant actually ran over to Contestant Raiden Ei's side. What is it doing? Is it cheering? Cheering for the opponent."
"Contestant Raiden Ei shouldn't blow up the kitchen again. Everyone can see that she has taken out that magical stove again." Yanfei began to commentate on the match intensely.
"Contestant Raiden Ei has taken out another pitch-black jar? What is that... Is it for cooking?"
"But Contestant Xiangling has already started preparing ingredients for her first dish; Contestant Raiden Ei is one step behind..."
Yanfei commentated on the match intensely, and the audience at the scene was also watching the competition very seriously.
As they started cooking, the scent of food began to fill the arena.
The competition proceeded in an orderly manner.
As time passed, Xiangling finally completed three dishes, and at this moment, Xiangling breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She had been very serious.
"Contestant Xiangling has finished making three dishes. Let's invite Contestant Xiangling to introduce her dishes to the judging panel first."
When Xiangling brought up her three dishes, she said seriously: "My dishes are: main course, Tender Jueyun Chili Chicken; side dish, Shredded Three-Delicacy; dessert, Crystal Shrimp."
"The cooking theme is 'Rite of Land and Water', so I chose Fowl, shrimp, and lean meat as ingredients."
"Contestant Raiden Ei has also finished making her dishes. Next, let's invite Contestant Raiden Ei to present her dishes to the judging panel."
When Raiden Ei brought all three of her carefully designed dishes to the table in front of Raiden Makoto and Zhongli, she looked at Raiden Makoto with anticipation.
She was looking forward to Raiden Makoto's critique the most; as for the critiques of others, she didn't really care.
"My main course is... is..." However, when introducing the dishes, Raiden Ei stumbled; she didn't know how to introduce those dishes.
Because her dishes were new ones she had developed after thinking for a long time, and she hadn't even named them.
"My main course is... I don't know what it's called either... It's a dish I newly developed, and the side dish and dessert are also newly developed dishes." However, given Raiden Ei's "culture," she had no idea what kind of dish name to come up with.
Those were new dishes she had racked her brains to develop, with inspiration coming from her new inventions.
"Contestant Raiden Ei's spirit of innovation is commendable. This old man will taste a bite first." Uncle Tian smiled. Judging by the appearance of the dishes Raiden Ei presented, the taste should be good.
After Uncle Tian picked up a piece of the dish and put it in his mouth, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by a strange expression, as if he were suppressing something.
"The taste... the taste..." However, the next second, Uncle Tian's face turned bright red. "This old man will take his leave first... I have something to attend to."
"Uncle Tian?" Seeing Uncle Tian looking like he was fleeing in panic, Ningguang was somewhat confused. She then looked at the dishes Raiden Ei had presented.
But from the appearance, there was absolutely no problem, and the aroma it emitted was also good.
"Let me try it." Ningguang curiously tasted a bite, but the next second her face also turned bright red. "I..."
"So spicy... too spicy."
"I can't do it; I also have something to attend to, I'll take my leave first..." Ningguang even felt like her mouth was about to breathe fire. The next second, she also disappeared from everyone's sight.
"..."
Raiden Ei was somewhat bewildered. Was the food she made that bad? She just added the concentrated juice of dozens of Jueyun Chilies. Was it really that spicy?
Come to think of it, the concentrated juice of Jueyun Chilies was something she discovered while developing new inventions a couple of days ago. She thought people in Liyue must really like spicy food, so she added quite a lot.
"Sister Ei... what kind of dish did you make exactly?" Xiangling was a bit curious. "Is it really that spicy?"
However, with two precedents, Xiangling didn't dare to try it. Even Ningguang had run away from the spiciness; she didn't dare to take a bite.
"Then... then try the other one... it's not spicy." Raiden Ei then pointed to the other dish. Her other dish looked a bit strange; from the appearance, one could only tell it was probably a fish, and it smelled a little pungent, but overall, it was fragrant.
"Then I'll try it." Keqing was a bit curious, but when she picked up a chopstick of the dish and put it in her mouth, the next second tears fell directly from her eyes. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and the expression on her face was very strange.
Keqing even covered her mouth directly.
"So... so sour."
After a long while, Keqing finally recovered. "It's really too sour... Sister Ei, it's too sour. What did you add?"
"Vinegar... I only added a little bit." Raiden Ei was a bit strange. It was a pitch-black liquid she found at the bottom of a vinegar jar at Wanmin Restaurant. She had tasted it once back then, and wasn't it just a little sour?
Was it that sour?
"I can't... I have to go rinse my mouth first... my teeth hurt..." Keqing frowned. She bid everyone farewell and then turned and fled the scene.
Seeing that Keqing had also left, Raiden Ei didn't know what to say. Were her new dishes really that bad?
"..."
The members of the judging panel left one after another, which made the people in the audience very confused; they didn't know what had happened.
Furthermore, they also started to discuss it heatedly, while Yanfei on the side was very curious.
"Then try the third dish; it definitely won't have any problems." Raiden Ei said confidently. "It's a dessert made with Milk..."
The third dish was inspired by Dango Milk. She thought there shouldn't be any problems, right? It should taste good, right?
"Sister, do you want to try it?" However, looking at the reactions of Uncle Tian, Ningguang, and Keqing, Raiden Makoto didn't know if she should try it...
She knew Raiden Ei only knew those few dishes she had taught her; she knew exactly how terrible her sister's talent for cooking was.
She dared not try it.
"Morax, why don't you try it?" Seeing Raiden Makoto unmoved, Raiden Ei couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She then looked at Zhongli seriously.
"Mm... I'll try it."
When Zhongli scooped up a spoonful of the white dessert to taste it, he couldn't help but frown.
And his expression was currently the most normal one among everyone who had tasted her dishes.
So Raiden Ei was somewhat expectant; her third dish should have been a success.
Because Zhongli's reaction wasn't big, even Xiangling was looking forward to Zhongli's reaction, while Raiden Makoto held no hope, guessing the taste wouldn't be very good.
"How is it?" Raiden Ei looked at Zhongli with anticipation. "How does it taste? Is it good?"
After a long while, Zhongli slowly gave a word.
"Cloyingly sweet..."
"Cloyingly sweet?" Xiangling was a bit curious. She then also tasted a bite. "Mm... Sister Ei, how much sugar did you add? It's too sweet..."
"I can't take it either, I need to drink some water..." The sweetness went straight to her nose. Xiangling hurriedly ran towards the stove; she had to drink water, it was too cloying.
"Ei, are you planning to poison us?" Raiden Makoto couldn't help but sigh. "It seems you are not suited for cooking..."
"Sister..." Raiden Ei said pitifully. "I didn't know it wouldn't taste good either..."
"Don't you taste it yourself?" Raiden Makoto rolled her eyes. "Chefs also taste their own food to check the flavor."
"Not to mention that these were new dishes; shouldn't you have tasted them yourself first even more?" She didn't know what to say to her sister; her sister actually didn't taste her own cooking first.
"That's not..." Raiden Ei was a bit embarrassed. Wasn't it because she was afraid something would happen if she tasted it? She knew how absurd Xiangling's expression was when she gave her the food she cooked last time.
"You should just focus on developing those new inventions in the future... as for new dishes, they have nothing to do with you."
"Alright."
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