Anyway, that middle-aged man seemed to just like cute little girls, not the kind of huge pervert who would marry a little girl as a wife...
And in the past, Mother hadn't refrained from dressing her up like that...
As long as she troubled Mother...
Anyway, as long as it's cute, it's fine...
No, a real man stands tall! How could he do that kind of thing!
Calm down! Calm down!
Little Ayato fell into a struggle.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man next door and little Ayaka were very relaxed.
Because little Ayaka still had her ikebana lesson unfinished.
Besides ikebana, there was also the tea-tasting lesson.
So the middle-aged man simply joined little Ayaka for class.
Whether he could understand it was one thing, but looking at little Ayaka's childhood works was genuinely quite nice.
Hmm...
One big flower taking up about sixty percent of the space...
Then green plants inserted to take up about thirty percent, followed by a few other flowers as accents.
Little Ayaka warmly invited him, and the middle-aged man felt it was pretty good too, so he joined in this art of ikebana, and then...
"Isn't this right? Why does it feel like the places I inserted are different from what I imagined?"
"Not at all. The positions you chose are very good, Uncle; it's just that the main theme feels a bit too empty and sparse."
Little Ayaka leaned close to the middle-aged man's side, reached out, and inserted some flowers, adding her own ideas.
"For example, choosing analogous colors... and then later accenting with contrasting colors..."
"Oh, oh! Little Ayaka is amazing!"
"Actually, I think mine is pretty good too."
Eula patted the middle-aged man's shoulder, making him look at her own ikebana work...
Eula's color choices were very similar to his, all blue flowers.
Most importantly...
The middle-aged man couldn't understand why Eula had placed a Frostbearing Snapdragon at the base yet the overall composition still felt extremely harmonious.
And as the middle-aged man and little Ayaka turned their heads, Eula reached out with a wooden stick and poked the Frostbearing Snapdragon at the base.
In an instant, the Frostbearing Snapdragon released a burst of chill, immediately covering the decorative green plants above and the main theme flowers with a beautiful buff of white frost mist.
In that moment, the middle-aged man and little Ayaka clapped simultaneously to express their admiration for Eula's ikebana work.
Wow, wow.
As expected from Eula, who had received artistic education from the Lawrence Clan.
At this time, Eula was incredibly smug, directly putting her hands on her hips.
Then came the tea tasting...
The middle-aged man looked at the "Liyue Manufactured" label under the tea box and fell into thought.
After tasting the tea, while little Ayaka was still pondering beside him, the middle-aged man was the first to reach a conclusion.
"This tea isn't good. The storage time must have been too long; it's a bit clear and bitter, and it's missing a trace of clear sweetness. It seems it's not from the mountaintop, but from the mountainside, and it's the ordinary picking grade."
Little Ayaka and Eula both looked at the middle-aged man in shock at the same time.
No way, Uncle, you mountain boar actually know how to taste tea?
Seeing the surprised gazes of the two children, the middle-aged man felt a bit proud.
"Don't judge me by my appearance; I've drunk plenty of good tea."
I mooch off Mr. Zhongli's tea every day, cup after cup.
Though it's all guzzling like a cow, figuring out these things is no problem.
Do you know the quality of Mr. Zhongli's life?
Listening to the most popular operas, teasing the clearest-voiced thrushes, drinking the highest-quality tea!
Oh, right, and also dealing with the naughtiest and most troublesome kid in Liyue Harbor, little Hu Tao.
And every time there was an issue, Mr. Zhongli would point it out, which led to Uncle Cid also clearly understanding what problems different teas and flavors could have.