As the Windblume Festival was approaching, the entire city of Mondstadt was immersed in a joyous atmosphere.
People came and went on the streets, smiles plastered on everyone's faces.
If they met acquaintances, they would greet each other a few times, then shift the topic to the Windblume Festival.
The topics were always the same few: 'How are you planning to spend this year's Windblume Festival?', 'Have you bought gifts yet?', 'May the Anemo Archon bless you.'
Amidst the bustling market, a man wearing sunglasses and carrying a large backpack walked down the street, looking around.
The man's name was Liben, a curious merchant.
With the Windblume Festival approaching, Liben wanted to sell all the strange and rare goods he had.
To sell goods, besides having good eloquence, the more important thing was the stall's location.
As long as the stall location was chosen well, customers would surely come; this was Liben's business philosophy.
Ultimately, Liben chose his stall location at the gate of Mondstadt, opposite the [Flower Language] flower shop.
The foot traffic in this area was good; people entering or leaving the city would easily notice a stall here.
After the location was decided, Liben busied himself arranging the goods on the shelves.
For large items like crystals, Liben placed them on the bottom shelf.
Conversely, for small items like ice mist flowers, Liben would place them on the upper shelves.
The advantage of this arrangement was a sense of layering; customers could scan it at a glance and at least not feel it was messy.
Once everything was ready, Liben pushed his large sunglasses up, his gaze fixed on the passersby coming and going on the street.
He was waiting for his first customer.
At this moment, Liben saw an adult leading a child walking into the city gate.
The child looked up at her father, seemingly worried.
"Daddy, I'm going to school tomorrow, but I'm afraid of being bullied. What should I do?"
Before the middle-aged man could speak, Liben took the initiative to promote his product.
"Little one, if you're worried about being bullied, I suggest you buy a small iron shovel for self-defense! It's absolutely effective!"
As an excellent merchant, one must seize advantageous angles for promotion.
After his words fell, the child paused: "But, but I'm a girl."
Liben didn't even think, saying without hesitation: "Then you can use a pink shovel~"
"Hey, hey, why are you leaving?"
Watching the customers walk away, Liben sighed; business was hard to do.
He had been in Mondstadt for two days, and he hadn't made a single sale yet.
At first, Liben thought it was a location problem, until several consecutive spots still had no one interested.
This made Liben realize the problem: the people of Mondstadt were not interested in his goods.
Liben was startled; surely he wouldn't sell a single item during this year's Windblume Festival, would he? That would be terrible.
This was the first time Liben doubted that he might not be suitable for business.
Looking at the bustling street, Liben rested his chin on his hand, saying boredly, "Just one customer, even if they buy some cheap trinkets, that would be good."
Just as Liben was silently praying, a small blue-haired girl ran to him with her short legs.
"Big brother, I, I want to buy ice mist flowers."
The little girl's eyes were clear and sparkling, and her chubby fingers pointed at the blue flowers on the shelf.
"Alright, alright, little one, how many ice mist flowers do you want? I'll get them for you!"
Finally, a customer had arrived, and the gloom in Liben's heart was swept away.
Throughout the process, Liben was very enthusiastic, because the little girl was his first customer, and he couldn't let this business opportunity slip away again.
Faced with Liben's enthusiasm, the little girl was visibly stunned.
Because when she used to go to shops to buy things, those merchants always treated her coldly, with a tone of distance or impatience.
Liben's current enthusiasm, on the contrary, made her uncomfortable.
It's really as Brother Makoto said... Although Mondstadt doesn't welcome me, people from other countries will.
The little girl thought to herself.
Now she could be considered to have experienced a normal person's life.
"Little one? Little one? How many ice mist flowers do you want?"
Seeing the little girl not speaking, Liben stretched out a finger and waved it in front of her.
"I... I..."
Facing Liben's question, the little girl tilted her head, not knowing how to answer.
She also didn't know how many ice mist flowers to buy.
Finally, the girl turned her head to look at the young man behind her: "Brother Makoto, how many ice mist flowers should we buy?"
Liben followed the girl's gaze and met Makoto's eyes.
"Benefactor?!"
Liben never expected that his first business deal in Mondstadt would come from Makoto.
Is Benefactor seeing my business is slow, so he specially came to support me?
Thinking of this, Liben's heart was filled with emotion.
No more words needed, brotherhood is in the heart. From now on, Makoto is my big brother!
However, Makoto did not know what Liben was thinking; he just thought that doing business with anyone was doing business, so why not support Liben's business?
Makoto probably didn't even know that an unintentional action on his part elevated his status in Liben's heart.
"Three ice mist flowers will be enough." Makoto gently stroked Eula's small head, saying softly.
"Oh, oh."
Eula looked at Liben: "Big brother, we want three ice mist flowers!"
"Little one, I'll get you three ice mist flowers right away, please wait a moment."
Liben turned around and picked the ice mist flowers from the shelf.
During this process, Liben specifically selected the best quality ice mist flowers.
These were things his big brother wanted, so he naturally couldn't be careless.
"Little one, here are your three ice mist flowers." Liben wrapped the flowers and handed them to Eula.
"Thank you, big brother!"
Eula reached out and took the ice mist flowers; even through the box, she could feel waves of coldness.
These were already processed ice mist flowers; if they were ice mist flowers growing in the wild, they would probably be even colder.
It was just as Makoto said, an amateur trying to pick ice mist flowers could very likely get injured.
After putting away the ice mist flowers, Little Eula asked again: "Big brother, how much are these three ice mist flowers?"
Liben originally wanted to say they were free, but considering Makoto's 'one thing at a time' principle, he forced the words back down.
Liben was worried that Makoto would round up the price again.
Just like with the sakura bloom last time, it was clearly a business worth only a few thousand Mora, but Makoto himself raised the price to 100,000 Mora. That haggling left Liben bewildered.
Only later did Liben realize that Makoto wasn't being rich and willful, but simply wanted to help him out.
For this, Liben always kept this kindness in his heart.
"Little one, ice mist flowers are one thousand Mora each. Just give me three thousand Mora."
"Here you go!" Little Eula took out a heavy coin pouch and handed three thousand Mora to Liben.
Makoto, behind her, did not speak.
With the Windblume Festival approaching, the prices of all items were rising.
If one were to buy ice mist flowers from other merchants, it wouldn't be surprising for one flower to sell for five or six thousand Mora.
Only Liben was selling ice mist flowers at a price of one thousand Mora.
This showed that Liben was giving Makoto a friend's price, with no intention of making a profit.
Liben is a trustworthy person; he truly gives discounts to his friends.
"Brother Liben, business seems tough this year."
Noticing that the goods on the shelves were untouched, Makoto sighed.
Liben nodded: "Yes, this year for the Windblume Festival, everyone's attention is on flowers. No one is interested in the goods I prepared."
As he spoke, Liben subconsciously looked at the flower shop opposite him.
Compared to his lack of customers, the flower shop's business was booming.
So much so that the storefront was impossible to squeeze into; people could only line up to buy flowers.
windwheel asters and Cecilias were already in short supply, with prices but no market.
There's no harm in comparison, Liben's heart almost turned cold watching this scene.
"Ningguang, if you were a stall owner, how would you do business?"
At this moment, Makoto looked at Ningguang behind him and asked.
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