Chapter 39: A Leisurely Stroll Through the Mortal World

"Young man, can I add you on WeChat?"

"Huh?"

"The other young man said the Zhongli cosplay didn't bring his phone or wallet—can you give me his WeChat?"

The architectural style of Spring Rain Pavilion was like Tang dynasty decor, but with some Song dynasty elements blended in.

The long corridor felt like walking into the courtyard of some ancient noble house.

"That won't do."

"Alright, what a pity."

The waitress in Tang-style uniform didn't press the matter either; after one try she gave up.

If she got complained about, the loss would outweigh the gain—after all, the job had little work, decent pay, and even included the five social insurances and housing fund.

It counted as a quality rice bowl in the service industry.

Faced with a rare flutter of the heart and a rice bowl, the rice bowl still mattered more.

'But he's really so handsome, such a faithful cosplay.'

"Your friend there is just like Zhongli stepping into reality—really so handsome, it's the most faithful cosplay I've ever seen," the waitress praised.

"Haha, indeed, everyone says so," Su Lin chimed in.

Sis, can I help it if it's faithful? That's Zhongli himself. It's not that I won't give you his WeChat—he really doesn't have this WeChat thing.

Before long, the two reached the door of a small private room in the courtyard; the door was inscribed with the two characters 'Grain Rain' in brush calligraphy.

"Try this one too."

Before even entering the room, a voice rang out—weathered but full of vigor.

"Crispy skin, tender meat, the skin carries the fragrance of fruitwood, not smoked too long—probably under three minutes."

"The meat is soft and glutinous, the juices locked firmly in place—it should have been first…."

Su Lin pushed open the door and saw that inside the room, besides Zhongli and Miss Kelaien, there was also a middle-aged chef in a tall white hat sitting beside Zhongli.

Before the three of them were two large square tables pushed together into a long one, with over a dozen dishes laid out on top.

Zhongli was chatting away with the middle-aged chef, while Miss Kelaien held his bowl and chopsticks and was busy eating not far away.

"Excuse me, sir, may I get past you for a moment?" a waitress's voice sounded behind Su Lin.

"Sure."

He saw the waitress pick up a clay pot about thirty centimeters across and head inside.

"Chef Zhou, the Mountain Treasure Hundred Flavors you had on the stove earlier is ready," the waitress said, setting the clay pot down gently.

At this point, Miss Kelaien—who had been busy eating—also noticed Su Lin had arrived and beckoned him over.

And the waitress who had led Su Lin over stared blankly, murmuring softly:

"So alike—even the mannerisms are this faithful…."

Su Lin walked over and sat down beside Miss Kelaien, without interrupting Zhongli and the chef's exchange; once the waitress brought him a set of bowl and chopsticks, he joined the eating squad.

What else could he do—the money was definitely already spent.

Eat up, then.

While Su Lin ate, he sent Miss Kelaien a few messages.

Su Lin: "Didn't this place require a reservation? How did you guys book it?"

Miss Kelaien: "Happened to have one table of guests not show up."

After arriving in Rongcheng, Miss Kelaien and Zhongli had first been surrounded by passersby wanting photos—of course, everyone came up to take photos with Zhongli.

Miss Kelaien, being an Earth native, became Zhongli's tour guide.

"If you want to understand a place's culture, cuisine is a good entry point."

Miss Kelaien: "That's what he said, so I looked this place up on Dianping."

Miss Kelaien: "But does he always order this fearlessly?"

Su Lin: "Pretty much…."

The price of this meal was 62,800 yuan—even after the discount Chef Zhou had taken the lead in giving.

Apart from a few ingredients that needed to be reserved in advance and weren't kept in stock, Zhongli had basically ordered every dish on the menu.

When the back kitchen got the order, they thought a whole party had come in—only to find there were just two.

After confirming there were no cameras and it wasn't some influencer doing a shop visit, the head chef figured it was a fellow professional coming by, which led to the scene Su Lin had just walked into.

"My shop is in Derong in the new district—add me on WeChat before you head back, and message me next time you come," Chef Zhou said warmly, gripping Zhongli's hand with the look of two people who'd met far too late. "My master happens to have some business these few days, so he had me come cover for him for two days. Too bad he's not here—otherwise the old man would definitely want to sit down with you and properly discuss these culinary ideas."

"No matter, there's plenty of time ahead. In a few days I'll come back and sample the old gentleman's craft," Zhongli said, a faint smile on his face.

"That'd be wonderful!"

Su Lin's WeChat contacts thus mysteriously gained one more chef; he'd forward it to Zhongli once Zhongli had WeChat.

Miss Kelaien and Su Lin each carried two big bags of packed food as they left—the weight was nothing to the two of them.

Finding an empty corner, Su Lin stored all the food into his system space.

"Old Su, is that a Sumeru ring, or a spatial ability?" Miss Kelaien asked curiously. In his own case, he usually stored things on the Source Castle through a sacrificial rite, offering them to himself.

"It's somewhat similar to the kind of spatial technique the Traveler wields," Zhongli said, a curious look on his face. He had seen that youth named Aether once stir-fry several big pots of food at Wanmin Hall's stove, and the boy had said at the time that it was food for the next whole week.

The principle is much the same as the immortal sects' storage techniques.

"Pretty much a spatial backpack, I guess," Su Lin said, pocketing the food, then asked the two, "So, do either of you have plans for what's next?"

"Let's find a place for tea—I'm quite interested in this world's tea culture as well."

"Old Zhou, what about you?"

"I'm fine with anything," Miss Kelaien shrugged. Being able to temporarily break away from that oppressive era's atmosphere already left him more than content.

No Primordial, no Outer Gods, no loss of control—Miss Kelaien felt he could spend a good few months as a street loafer in this Parallel World without getting bored.

Just staying on Earth in this Parallel World, he felt his mental state had stabilized quite a bit.

It's just that he couldn't go back home.

After learning that the era he was in was the future Earth, Miss Kelaien was actually quite downcast.

But what could he do? Life had to go on.

His current state was somewhat better than the version of himself in the story who had been struck by the news.

Only somewhat better, that's all.

The existence of the chat group gave him a sliver of hope.

The myriad worlds were so vast—maybe in the future he could find a way to go home.

Until then, when he had nothing to do, coming to an ordinary Earth like this to wander about worked better than seeking psychological treatment from the Young Lady Audrey.

Speaking of which, should he bring something back for the Goddess of the Night? After all, this fellow townsman had been sheltering him for quite a while now.

The three of them wandered around Rong City for a whole day like that, returning to Water Mirror Peak late at night.

"The cultivation technique is at the peak, right?"

"That's right."

Zhongli picked up a brand-new phone and swiped it a couple of times, adding Su Lin and Miss Kelaien as friends.

"For the next few days, I want to devote myself to studying the methods of cultivation and make up for what I'm lacking."

"Thank you both for keeping me company today. You're welcome to come to Liyue to visit when you have the time in the future—I'll treat you then."

"You're too kind," Su Lin said.

Not long after Zhongli left, Su Lin looked at Miss Kelaien and asked: "Interested in going to make some money together?"