Venti was extremely envious.
He sang for coins every day, all so he could earn a bit of wine money to drink in the evenings.
But at Ye Xi's home, one could drink to one's heart's content every single day—wasn't that just blissful?
And most importantly, it was free!
How wonderfully enjoyable!
Now he couldn't help thinking again: how nice would it have been if his good friend back then had been a girl?
That way, when he transformed from a wind spirit into his friend, he could have become a girl too.
Ye Xi shot Venti a glance, utterly speechless.
Was this guy really the Anemo Archon?
He'd even consider turning into a girl just for the sake of drinking?
Just as he was grumbling inwardly, the sound of steady footsteps came from the stairway.
He saw that Diluc had already come down from upstairs, with Charles leading the way ahead.
A hundred barrels of Dandelion Wine was no small amount.
Normally, plenty of patrons came to buy wine, occasionally purchasing a barrel or two to keep at home—even that counted as decent business.
But a hundred barrels at a time—now that was a major deal!
Someone who could buy a hundred barrels today could buy another hundred tomorrow!
They'd very likely become a regular customer!
It was precisely on such big customers that the Dawn Winery relied to flourish.
Large hotels abroad, for instance, or merchants who resold wine, would buy dozens of barrels in one go—but someone like Ye Xi who started off with a hundred barrels was definitely a rarity!
"It's this Master right here!"
Charles gestured for Diluc to come over to Ye Xi's side.
Diluc sized Ye Xi up from head to toe, and with a stern, humorless expression, greeted him: "Welcome to the Dawn Winery. How may I address you, Master?"
"Just call me Ye Xi."
"Oh?"
Diluc's gaze shifted slightly, somewhat surprised. "Master Ye Xi? Are you the Master Ye Xi that the Knights of Favonius have been discussing?"
Earlier, Eula had sent a letter back, and after Grand Master Jean read it, she'd held a meeting to discuss it with Lisa.
This alliance, formed by uniting the four nations, was meant to revitalize commerce.
And Mondstadt's commerce naturally couldn't do without the Dawn Winery.
So at the time, they'd also sent Kaeya to get in touch with Diluc.
It was then that Diluc had already learned about Ye Xi.
Now, hearing the name Ye Xi, combined with the fact that he was together with Venti, he immediately put two and two together.
He was well aware that Venti was the Anemo Archon Barbatos.
Someone who could converse so casually with the Anemo Archon, and who went by the name Ye Xi—his identity was surely extraordinary!
Ye Xi hadn't expected Diluc to actually know who he was, but after a moment's thought, he understood why.
He nodded and said, "The Dandelion Wine is very good. I'd like to buy some."
"I see."
Diluc turned and instructed, "Charles, arrange a room for me. I'll have a talk with Master Ye Xi and this... Venti."
"Uh... yes, sir!"
Charles was slightly taken aback.
Talking business should of course be done with Ye Xi—what did it have to do with Venti?
Though he didn't understand, he still led the way and invited Ye Xi and Venti into a room.
Once they sat down, only the three of them remained in the room.
"Lord Barbatos, I've heard that Grand Master Jean is all but set to cooperate with this Master Ye Xi, undertaking some engineering projects in Mondstadt in collaboration with Liyue."
"Do you have any thoughts on the matter?"
Although Venti came to the Angel's Share every day to mooch wine without ever paying, he was, after all, a God.
As the master of the Dawn Winery and Mondstadt's biggest merchant, he had to seek the God's opinion on certain matters.
Venti lifted his Dandelion Wine and took a satisfying sip, a blissful, heaven-bound expression spreading across his face.
As if he hadn't heard the question at all.
Suddenly, he spread his hands and said, "Just go along with whatever Master Ye Xi arranges. The people of Mondstadt are all free, aren't they?"
"This..."
Diluc couldn't tell whether Venti's attitude was serious.
Mondstadt was, by any account, Barbatos's domain, yet now that an Outlander wanted to make some changes to that domain, this lord didn't care in the least, giving off the air of simply tossing the matter to Ye Xi to handle.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Barbatos was far too unreliable.
Ye Xi cut in, "Don't worry. I only came this time simply to buy some Dandelion Wine—not on official business."
"The matters you mentioned, we can discuss another day."
"Uh..."
Now Diluc was even more confused.
He'd assumed all along that Ye Xi had come with a purpose, wanting to have a talk with him or something of the sort.
He hadn't expected it to genuinely be just to buy wine!?
"Very well. How much does Master Ye Xi intend to buy?"
"A hundred barrels for now."
Hearing this figure, Diluc couldn't help but wonder inwardly: could Ye Xi, like Venti, be an unreliable drunkard?
One Venti was enough for Mondstadt—please, no more of those!
Diluc sighed and continued to ask, "So where does Master Ye Xi need me to transport the wine?"
"No need for transport."
"Huh?"
Diluc was quite astonished. Generally speaking, when buying this much wine, one entrusted the winery to deliver it!
How could Ye Xi carry it all away by himself?
The Dawn Winery's customers all came here to place orders in advance, after which the winery would choose merchant ships or use balloon carts to transport it.
Whatever risks arose en route, the winery would bear them as well.
But since Ye Xi had said so, he naturally got a rare bit of ease.
"If transport isn't needed, then the price per barrel comes down quite a bit."
"Let's say sixty thousand Mora per barrel—how's that?"
"If you buy a hundred barrels in one go, I can also throw in some complimentary gifts."
"Ten barrels of apple cider, and ten barrels of cherry wine."
In truth, if it were being sold abroad, factoring in shipping costs, it would run about a hundred thousand Mora per barrel.
Moreover, with the jostling along the way and various weather conditions, losses and risks were unavoidable, and he'd incur some deficits as well.
Now that Ye Xi said he'd take the goods on the spot, he saved on shipping costs, and on losses and risks too.
Therefore he could make many concessions.
Ye Xi nodded. "I'll give you a hundred million Mora as a deposit to keep with you. From now on, whenever I buy wine, deduct it from this sum."
"Also, whatever this guy spends here, I'll cover all of it."
"If the Mora runs low, you can contact me later, and I'll top it up."
The moment these words came out, both Diluc and Venti were stunned.
"A-a hundred million Mora!?"
Diluc was greatly shocked.
He never could have imagined that Ye Xi was actually this wealthy!
No matter how rich a merchant was, they wouldn't casually spend a hundred million Mora just to buy wine to drink!
How much wine would that even be?
A hundred barrels of Dandelion Wine came to a mere six million Mora.
With a hundred million Mora, he could sell Ye Xi two thousand barrels!
This sum was a massive windfall for the winery!
Beside them, the moment Venti heard there would be endless wine to drink, he was nearly moved to tears.
"Boo-hoo-hoo, Master Ye Xi, my very best friend! I'm going to write you into a song!"
"May the Anemo Archon bamboozle you!"
Ye Xi's face filled with disgust as he hurriedly pushed away the arms Venti reached out to embrace him with.
Wasn't this guy himself the Anemo Archon?!
He had no desire to be bamboozled!
Still, no matter what, Venti had indeed helped him quite a bit, so treating the Anemo Archon to drinks was only right.
Diluc crossed his arms; though he didn't know exactly what the relationship between Ye Xi and Venti was, it was clearly a very good one.
He took the initiative to speak: "Then I won't charge for the wine this time—consider it a gift. We'll start charging from next time onward."
When it came to doing business, he truly had a gift for it.
Compared to befriending Ye Xi, giving away some wine was nothing at all.
.......
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