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Just as Shao Yun and Clorinde were casually chatting, two familiar figures appeared not far away—it was Lumine and Paimon.
They looked left and right, clearly searching for Shao Yun.
Looks like the café really had become Shao Yun's respawn point…
Before long, Paimon's gaze locked onto Shao Yun beneath the sunshade.
She waved her little hand and flew straight over to him, shouting loudly, "Shao Yun—wow, so you were here all along…!"
Only after flying closer did Paimon notice Clorinde sitting across from him.
She hurriedly asked with concern, "Whoa, Clorinde! How's your injury now? Is it any better?"
Clorinde nodded politely and replied, "Much better. Thank you for your concern."
At that moment, Shao Yun naturally picked up the conversation and looked curiously at Lumine and Paimon as he asked, "Lumine, Paimon—oh? Did you give up on looking for Dutch Van der Linde?"
Lumine shook her head, then without explanation grabbed Shao Yun's hand, lowering her voice as she said, "No, it's because of something else! Come with me."
With that, Lumine tugged Shao Yun up from his seat and dragged him away, leaving Clorinde alone at the table.
A moment later, Lumine pulled Shao Yun into a corner where no one was paying attention.
After confirming that no one was around, Lumine leaned close to his ear and whispered in an extremely soft voice, "Katheryne just told me I have a huge sum of money waiting, and asked when I plan to withdraw it. What's going on?"
Hearing Lumine bring up the money Ningguang had given her, Shao Yun showed no reaction at all and simply replied flatly, "Oh? So, what about it? Isn't it a good thing when someone gives you money?"
Seeing how calm Shao Yun looked, Lumine grew anxious and pressed on, "That's not what I mean. Where did this money come from? What's its background?"
Seeing her dig so deeply into the source of the money, Shao Yun casually explained, "Isn't it obvious? Among the people we know, who's the richest?"
The moment he said that, Lumine rapidly ran through the possibilities in her head.
Diluc? No, no matter how rich Diluc was, why would he give money to Shao Yun?
Zhongli? Even less likely—he practically has the word 'poor' written on his face.
Ningguang? Right, with that much Mora, only she could afford it!
"So, you went and blackmailed Ningguang that day?" Lumine asked with wide eyes, shocked. "What exactly happened? Hurry up and tell me—what did you do that day?!"
Faced with Lumine's intense reaction, Shao Yun shook his head helplessly and said, "Can you stop making such a weird face? I just helped Ningguang with a very small matter. This is simply my rightful payment."
When Lumine heard that Shao Yun had helped Ningguang with something minor, she immediately thought of the aftermath of the Beisht incident, and the conflicts and entanglements between the adepti—especially Cloud Retainer—and Ningguang…
"You went to mediate between the adepti and the Liyue Qixing, didn't you? Shenhe told me about it. I wanted to help too, but Cloud Retainer wouldn't listen to me at all."
Shao Yun smugly picked up the thread and raised two fingers as he said, "But Xianyun listened to me! Now I've removed the obstacles to Liyue Harbor's development—Ningguang and Zhongli are happy, and Shenhe doesn't have to be the middle child anymore! One move, two wins!"
As he spoke, Shao Yun tilted his head slightly upward, clearly proud of his achievement.
Seeing Shao Yun actually look pleased with himself, Lumine's expression became complicated. She opened her mouth, hesitated, and didn't speak right away.
After a long moment, Lumine finally said, "Um… there's something I want to say, but I'm not sure if I should…"
Seeing this, Shao Yun replied generously, "Hey, what's there you can't say? Do we really need to be so polite with each other?"
With Shao Yun's permission, Lumine first rubbed her chin, thinking about how to phrase it.
A moment later, she raised her head, looked at Shao Yun, and asked sharply, "I want to ask you—when was the last time you sincerely tried to make a friend?"
"What I mean is, ever since we left Mondstadt, I've noticed you seem to be getting colder and more indifferent…"
At this point, Lumine paused slightly, then continued in a rather literary tone, "As the saying goes, 'He who wins people with virtue becomes a king; he who relies on force becomes a hegemon.' Zhongli told me that!"
"He said that only by treating others with genuine sincerity can you gain lasting friendships. Relationships maintained through force or money will eventually collapse once the wealth runs out or the strength is gone."
Upon hearing that those lofty principles came from Zhongli, Shao Yun couldn't suppress his dissatisfaction and went straight into rant mode.
"What's the use of preaching about benevolence and morality? That's complete nonsense! It wasn't you who got slashed by the second Raiden Shogun, was it? Easy for him to say when he's standing there unharmed!"
After saying that, Shao Yun shook his head, clearly unconvinced.
At this moment, Lumine wasn't entirely sure whether she was right either, but she genuinely worried about Shao Yun's social relationships.
"I'm not here to lecture you with big principles. I came because I hope you'll try to make a few genuine friends here in Fontaine."
"Look, we're on vacation right now, and the Hydro Archon doesn't seem hostile toward us. We have plenty of time—you can totally try to expand your normal social circle."
Then Lumine added earnestly, "Some things can't be bought no matter how much Mora you have. You understand that, right?"
After listening to Lumine's heartfelt advice, Shao Yun let out a long sigh and said slowly, "Alright. I'll try."
Even though Shao Yun agreed verbally, Lumine still felt uneasy, afraid he was just brushing her off.
So, she quickly reminded him again, "Remember—build some normal relationships! Don't act like everyone owes you Mora!"
A hint of helplessness appeared on Shao Yun's face as he nodded lightly and replied, "I know. I… I'll do my best."
Seeing that Shao Yun had agreed after some thought, Lumine smiled in relief and began encouraging him.
"Good luck, Shao Yun! Charlotte's still waiting for me to go look for Dutch together—I'll be heading off first."
Hearing this, Shao Yun shook his head helplessly and teased Lumine, "As expected—you'd rather wander around aimlessly with Charlotte than go look for Melusines with me or 'scavenge' at the Fontaine Research Institute."
Hearing that, Lumine raised her hand and lightly smacked Shao Yun's broad chest, pouting as she retorted, "What do you mean 'scavenge'? That's called adventure, okay!"
"Hmph, fine, I won't argue with you. Just remember to make some friends, alright? Okay, see you tonight!"
...
After watching the two of them leave, Shao Yun returned to his seat.
At this moment, Clorinde saw him come back and proactively asked, "Oh, right—Mr. Shao Yun, could you help me with something?"
"Not—"
Originally, Shao Yun had planned to refuse Clorinde's request outright. But recalling what Lumine had just said about making more friends, the words stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back down.
"It's nothing. What do you need help with?"
Clorinde asked in a slightly tentative tone, "Um… could you help me carry something?"
The moment Clorinde mentioned carrying things, Shao Yun's mind instantly flashed back to the time he was hired by Lisa and turned into a heartless bag-carrying tool.
That day, he truly experienced what high-intensity exercise meant—running in and out of shops over and over again, from morning till night!
That level of exertion was deadly!
Thinking of this, Shao Yun waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head like a rattle drum as he refused, "No, no, no—shopping is out! Once you Electro girls start shopping, it's absolutely lethal for me!"
Clorinde looked completely confused, clearly not understanding why Shao Yun had immediately equated carrying something with shopping.
"Huh? No, it's not shopping. I'm just asking you to help carry a few things."
As she spoke, Clorinde gestured to her injured right arm, which clearly limited her movement.
She paused slightly, then spoke with some difficulty, "You know, ever since I got this serious injury, daily life has been very inconvenient."
"I'm also running out of ingredients at home, but in my current condition, it's really hard to go buy food myself… that's why I wanted to ask for your help."
Looking at Clorinde, who could only use her left hand freely, Shao Yun frowned and said, "With your condition, you can't really cook either…"
Then he asked a rather silly question.
"I have a question—why not ask Navia for help…?"
Hearing this, Clorinde looked at Shao Yun in surprise and asked in return, "Do you really think Navia has time lately?"
"What I mean is, the Spina di Rosula and the security forces are jointly cracking down on Vacher's backers—you know that, right?"
Faced with that question, Shao Yun was left completely speechless.
"Alright then. Let's go."
Seeing Shao Yun agree, Clorinde immediately said gratefully, "Thanks a lot!"
Meanwhile, Shao Yun muttered quietly to himself, "Don't thank me—thank Lumine instead. If she hadn't insisted, I make more friends, I wouldn't bother with this kind of thing at all…"
Because his voice was too low, Clorinde didn't hear him clearly and asked, "What did you just say?"
Shao Yun hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "Nothing, nothing. So—what do you need me to carry?"
Clorinde stood up and pointed toward the west of the Court of Fontaine as she said, "Let's go to Chioriya Boutique first…"
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