![]() Guoba jerks back like he was startled, but he quickly warms up to Zhongli, plodding closer to climb onto the seat next to him while swaying to unheard music. Not one to be rude to mascots, Zhongli gives him a little greeting nod. The strange little red panda creature that always follows Xiangling around - Guoba, he thinks that’s what she calls her fire-breathing, chili-eating pet - is looking at Zhongli. Zhongli can be a little oblivious about social cues and he feels it keenly now. He wonders if he had somehow managed to offend the easy-going chef for her to escape to the kitchen just to avoid talking to him. “I’ll be in the kitchen! Um, holler if you need me.” “I-I’m sorry! You must not like to… Ah, I shouldn't have mentioned him.” She backs away and retreats, chagrined for reasons Zhongli doesn’t know of. He awkwardly clears his throat.Ī thought must have occurred to Xiangling. ![]() Zhongli is starting to think that Xiangling is the one playing the prank. “Are you playing a prank on me, Zhongli-xiansheng? I never thought you knew how!” “How can you not know _?” Xiangling giggles. She stares at him in surprise before bursting into peals of laughter. “Pardon me,” Zhongli interrupts, unable to help himself. “Yeaaaah, you were here with the young master, so it was way back then! I never forget your suggestions because they’re always on-point -” “But it’s alright you gave me this particular feedback many months ago.” Xiangling flicks her fingers down as she counts the months. “Yeah! I’m surprised you don’t remember, Zhongli-xiansheng! You never forget even the tiniest details.” ![]() There should be just enough bitterness for a full-bodied flavour. “I adjusted the amount of qingxin in the sauce like you’d suggested. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t have perfected this dish without you!” Xiangling beams with pride. Zhongli tells Xiangling this when she takes a break from her cooking to get customer feedback. Wanmin restaurant never ceases to impress. When the light fades and darkness curtains his bedroom once more, Zhongli lays in bed once again to mark the end of a fulfilling day. Warm, with the golden glow of the Liyuen sun. For now, Zhongli goes about his days as they pass. It’s an unspooling thread unravelling further and further out of his reach the more he tries to grab at it. To revolve around them, the way a planet does for a star.īut those are thoughts for another day. There is someone like that, isn’t there? Someone so important and bright like the sun, that Zhongli is a helpless celestial body caught in their gravitational pull. A person, who has once grown so big in presence within Zhongli’s meandering life, that he alone occupies the entirety of Zhongli’s metaphorical heart. Perhaps, in another dusty, forgotten corner of his mind, he remembers a presence. He remembers the mistakes he made and the regrets and loss he always wished he can forget. He remembers leading an assembly and presiding over a nation as her god. ![]() How it still will, for the foreseeable future. ![]() Perhaps, in some dusty, forgotten corner of his mind, he remembers how his existence has persisted for millennia. He tells himself there’s really nothing missing at all. He fills up his days with fulfilling things. Some days, he chooses instead to splurge the Wangsheng’s coffers (and by extension, his yet-to-be-paid salary) on a table at Heyu Teahouse when Yun Jin is performing, or any place where a storyteller is regaling the next instalment of the epic and Zhongli is following. He spends his evenings with nightly walks, admiring his surroundings and feel blessed for such beauty to be in his life. He dedicates his hours to working at a job he finds rewarding and meaningful, for an organisation whose boss he finds slightly contrary, but respectful where it matters. He takes quality meals, sometimes with quality company as academics engage his time for debates over the arts, philosophy, history, and science. Every morning, with the coming of light, he wakes up at the exact same time dawn breaks over the horizon. Zhongli likes to think his life is pretty good. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |