"See you next time, Xiangling-jie!"
Xu Zheng waved goodbye cheerfully.
On the way home, Ganyu looked unusually serious. She was deep in thought—thinking about what exactly she did wrong.
How did her precious disciple suddenly become someone else's?
Back home, Ganyu slumped into a chair, tilted her head back 45 degrees, and stared blankly at the ceiling like a tragic heroine in a stage play.
She didn't even perform her usual daily ritual the moment she walked through the door.
…
"Uhhh—this is bad."
Xu Zheng saw her like that and instantly felt like trash.
How could he abandon his adorable master just because the other team offered better rewards?
Unforgivable.
Give her a bonus, stat!
Just then, his stomach let out a traitorous growl. Loud and clear.
Ganyu's eyes lit up instantly. Her energy returned like someone had hit her with a full-res bar.
Mm! I've got coconut milk!
Xiangling may be able to cook, but she'll never steal her little Xu Zheng away!
That's right. Coconut milk is love. Coconut milk is justice.
With that thought, Ganyu successfully gaslit herself into peace of mind and trotted off to begin the sacred milk extraction process.
"???"
Xu Zheng was confused.
He had come here to apologize. Maybe even say a few heartfelt words to cheer her up.
Why did she suddenly go full power-up mode like someone injected her with pure adrenaline?
A few minutes later, Xu Zheng let out a long, satisfied milk-burp and rubbed his swollen belly.
Today's portion felt bigger than usual.
Seriously—how the hell does she store that much!?
…
Next morning.
As any responsible Genshin player knows, the grind never ends. Sleep is optional. Daily commissions are not.
At sunrise, Xu Zheng opened up his system panel.
"Show me today's quests."
[Daily Quest 1]: Cook 3 dishes
[Daily Quest 2]: Win over 3 people using food
[Daily Quest 3]: Attempt to communicate with a Hilichurl
[Daily Quest 4]: Make one Wish
(Each task: 10 Primogems. All four: +20 Primogem bonus)
Xu Zheng's eyes locked onto that last one.
Make… a Wish?
The first three made sense. But this last one?
What if I don't have enough Primogems?
That's like asking someone to recharge just to complete a free quest!
He frowned, then quickly did the math.
If I skip it, I miss 10 Primogems. And also the 20 bonus for full completion.
That's 30 total—basically one-fifth of a 10-pull!
Which means… he would totally spend extra time grinding just to hit that daily.
Sneaky system. He respected the hustle.
He still had a few unfinished side quests too:
[Quest: Investigate the Rice Conspiracy]
(Total Reward: 160 Primogems | Stage 1 Complete: +10 Primogems)
And this one—
[Quest: Grow Up Strong and Healthy]
Description: As a growing child, you must drink coconut milk every night for three days straight.
Reward: 150 Primogems
Two days down. One more cup tonight, and he'd cash in big.
And finally:
[Quest: Teach That Snezhnayan Bastard Chayevich a Lesson]
Reward: 50 Primogems
That watermelon-selling scammer from a few days ago.
Ganyu had handled the situation herself, so Xu Zheng hadn't really done anything. He figured that's why the quest still sat there uncompleted.
Eh. Maybe it'll auto-complete after a few days.
He ran the numbers in his head:
10*4 (dailies) + 20 (bonus) + 150 + 150 + 50 = 410 Primogems.
That's two whole pulls, and then some.
Huge.
New goal: finish everything on that list.
"Whatcha daydreaming about, little Zheng?"
It was early morning, and Ganyu walked in to see Xu Zheng sitting by the bed, grinning like a fool.
"Nothing. Just hungry."
He suddenly lunged and grabbed her delicate little jade-white hand… and pretended to bite it.
Ganyu squeaked and yanked her hand back.
"You brat! You dare bully your master now?"
She pounced, trying to get payback, but Xu Zheng caught her mid-air and dragged her onto the bed with a triumphant laugh.
They wrestled like little kids for a while.
By the end of it, Ganyu's clothes were slightly disheveled, her cheeks pink, and a little too much skin peeking out.
…
She arrived at the Yuehai Pavilion with a face still flushed pink, mumbling and stammering her way through the office door.
Xu Zheng, as usual, went out to grind dailies.
Today's mission: Attempt to communicate with a Hilichurl.
He opened the map, picked a spot, and teleported with a flash of white light.
Boom. Out in the wild.
No Hilichurls in sight.
No problem. Xu Zheng just picked a random direction and started walking. Might as well enjoy the view.
He had to admit—there's a world of difference between seeing Liyue on a monitor and being in it.
The mountains. The breeze. The colors.
Liyue was beautiful.
…
Eventually, he spotted one.
A lone Hilichurl, standing on a rock, mask on, staring into the distance like it was contemplating life.
Xu Zheng carefully approached. No sudden moves. He didn't want to startle it.
"Hi there. My name's—"
WHAM!
The Hilichurl lunged before he could even finish.
"Whoa there, easy! Why are you so damn aggressive!?"
Thanks to his tiny, nimble body, Xu Zheng easily dodged.
If he wanted to kill this thing, it'd be over in seconds.
But… he didn't want to.
Ever since he started playing Genshin, he'd been wondering something:
Hilichurls had clans. Tribes. They showed coordination, had jobs, even cooked their own food.
They weren't monsters. They were more like cavemen.
Hell, they even had their own language.
So… maybe they weren't supposed to be slaughtered for EXP?
If possible, Xu Zheng didn't want to kill them.
At least not all of them.
Some people died, but not completely…