"We've been chatting for so long, we should probably head back," Su Ming laughed. "My stomach is starting to growl."
"Indeed." Zhongli nodded slightly.
Before heading inside, Su Ming turned to Zhongli with a grin and said, "Old man, sometimes retirement and passing away come with two very different sets of treatment. You ought to give that some proper consideration."
"Hmm?"
Zhongli was briefly stunned. Then, he broke into a faint smile and shook his head helplessly.
Su Ming and Zhongli entered the private room and were immediately rooted to the spot by the scene before them.
The table that had once been overflowing with a magnificent feast now held nothing but leftovers and scraps.
Paimon was patting her little belly with a look of pure satisfaction, slumped in her chair and letting out a loud hiccup.
Lumine was busy picking through the remaining dishes, moving bits of food into an empty bowl.
Tartaglia, meanwhile, was still locked in a life-or-death struggle with his chopsticks.
A single braised chicken wing had been sitting in his bowl for a long time now.
It was already cold.
"Damn it!" Tartaglia grumbled under his breath. With a stubborn look, he adjusted his grip and tried to strike with his chopsticks once more.
Clack!
The chopsticks slipped. The chicken wing he had finally managed to snag tumbled back onto the floor.
"...Waiter! Another order of braised chicken wings! I refuse to believe I can't do this!"
As Tartaglia turned around to shout for service, he spotted Zhongli and the returning Su Ming.
He froze for a second, then laughed. "Oh, you two are back? I didn't realize you were already acquainted."
"How was the talk?"
Zhongli replied with a faint smile, "It is rare to encounter an old friend; we had much to discuss."
"I appreciate your concern, Mister 'Childe'."
Tartaglia started to invite them to sit and eat, only to realize that the food on the table had been completely demolished by that seemingly unremarkable white floating spirit across from him.
He could only offer an awkward laugh. "Well... how about you wait a moment? I'll call someone to bring out more dishes."
Zhongli smiled and shook his head. "There is no need. Our meeting today was primarily to organize the Rite of Parting. Since I have already found assistance and even secured the funds from you to hire them my purpose for today is complete."
"Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has taken on such a massive contract that I imagine Director Hu is already overwhelmed with work."
"She has been nagging me for quite some time about this outing. If I were to linger any longer..."
Zhongli trailed off, shaking his head helplessly once again.
The only existence capable of leaving him truly at his wit's end was likely Hu Tao.
"I shall take my leave for today. Traveler, I will be waiting for you tomorrow morning at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild." With that, Zhongli departed.
"Yes, I understand, Mr. Zhongli."
Lumine nodded to Zhongli and then walked over to Su Ming's side.
She had seen Su Ming return a while ago and had finally found a gap to speak.
Lumine smiled at Su Ming and said, "You guys are finally done talking. Here, I saved some food for you!"
Su Ming stared blankly at the bowl in Lumine's hands, which was filled with various choice cuts of meat and vegetables.
Then, he took the bowl with a smile and said softly, "Thank you."
"Hehe, it's nothing!" Lumine giggled and handed him a pair of chopsticks.
"Did you eat?" Su Ming asked.
"Of course I did, don't worry!" Lumine leaned toward Su Ming's ear and whispered, "'Childe' seems to be terrible with chopsticks; he's been studying how to pick up food the whole time."
"So, even though Paimon ate a lot, I'm full, and I managed to save some for you."
Su Ming just pushed the bowl back toward her hand. "Alright, I'm not blind. I can tell if you've eaten or not."
"If you were full, what were you doing when I walked in?"
"Don't tell me all the food in this bowl was picked just now."
Realizing she couldn't hide it, Lumine's face flushed slightly, but she still pushed the bowl back. "Fine, just eat. I really have eaten."
"Aaahhh—"
Ignoring her excuses, Su Ming simply picked up a piece of food and held it to Lumine's mouth.
"I'm not a child!"
Lumine dodged away in embarrassment and snatched the chopsticks from Su Ming's hand. "Hmph! If you won't eat, then don't! Just consider my kindness as scraps for a dog!"
Despite her grumbling, Lumine was very happy inside. Her current behavior was merely a display of her stubbornness.
"Hey, hey, hey! There are other people here, you know! Can you two consider the feelings of the audience before showing off your affection!"
Tartaglia, who had been ignored until now, finally couldn't help but burst out.
He looked at Su Ming with a trace of dissatisfaction. "By the way, I'm Tartaglia. Can you tell me your name?"
"Don't forget, there's still a match pending between us."
"The things you asked me to handle are done, so you need to fulfill your promise."
"And before we fight, I can't very well not even know my opponent's name, can I?"
Su Ming stood up slowly and introduced himself. "I am Su Ming, just a humble wanderer of the mountains and wilds."
"I won't back out of a match. If the Harbinger wishes to start now, I have no objection."
"However... I would prefer if you could find a suitable battlefield."
"After all, when the time comes, the commotion from this duel might be a bit loud."
Tartaglia laughed. "As I thought, your personality really does click with mine. I'm starting to like you."
Hearing this, Su Ming silently took a step back. "I don't like men."
Tartaglia: "...That's not what I meant."
"I think it's better we keep some distance between us." Su Ming silently took another step back.
Who would have thought? Who would have thought that you, Dada Duck with your thick eyebrows and big eyes would actually be a 'tong'!
Better to stay far away from him.
Su Ming certainly wasn't the most devoted person, but men were clearly outside the scope of his boundless love.
Then, Su Ming turned to Lumine. "Once you're done eating, take Paimon back to rest. Here's the address."
"Shenhe is at home. Just knock on the door when you get there."
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