Ren's circle of friends in Liyue, much like in Mondstadt, was becoming a strange and eclectic collection of the city's most powerful and eccentric personalities. His quiet afternoons with Zhongli were a constant, but one day, their peaceful stroll was joined by a whirlwind of energetic, mischievous, and slightly morbid energy.
A young woman with long, dark brown pigtails and startlingly bright, plum-blossom pupils bounded up to them, a stack of colorful flyers in her hand. She was dressed in a traditional, elegant dark coat and a distinctive hat adorned with a plum blossom. It was Hu Tao, the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and Zhongli's boss.
"Zhongli! There you are!" she chirped, her voice a bright, cheerful melody that was slightly at odds with her profession. "Slacking off on a beautiful day like this? For shame! We have a special 'buy one, get one free' offer on our finest Sandbearer wood coffins, and these flyers won't distribute themselves!"
Her bright, flower-like eyes then landed on Ren, and a wide, mischievous grin spread across her face. "And you must be Ren! The little genius inventor! I've heard all about you. Heaters, refrigerators… you're really putting a dent in my business, you know. With people being so warm and their food not spoiling, they're all distressingly healthy these days!"
She winked, a clear sign she was joking, though her humor was of a distinctly macabre variety.
Ren, who knew of Hu Tao's reputation as a prankster and a brilliant, albeit eccentric, poet and businesswoman, simply smiled politely. "It's an honor to meet you, Director Hu."
He watched for a while as she attempted to hand out her flyers to passersby, her sales pitch a unique and utterly ineffective blend of cheerful enthusiasm and blunt talk about the afterlife.
"A fine coffin for a fine day, sir! You look like a man who appreciates good craftsmanship. Plan ahead!"
"Ma'am, that silk flower in your hair would look lovely carved onto the lid of your eternal resting place! Special discount if you order today!"
People would either stare in bewildered horror or hurry away, pointedly ignoring her. Hu Tao, undeterred, simply sighed dramatically. "Ah, the people of Liyue. So reluctant to embrace the inevitable. My marketing genius is wasted on them."
Ren, who had been observing with the analytical eye of an engineer, finally spoke up. "Director Hu," he began, his tone thoughtful, "I think I understand why your sales pitch isn't working, even though everyone knows the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has the best reputation."
Hu Tao stopped, her interest genuinely piqued. She turned to him, her head tilted. "Oh? And what's your brilliant diagnosis, little inventor?"
"You're selling the wrong thing," Ren said simply.
He pointed at the coffin flyer. "You're trying to sell people a box for when they die. No one wants to think about that. It's scary. It's sad. You should be selling them peace of mind for their loved ones."
He looked up at her, his glowing azure eyes full of a simple, profound marketing logic. "You shouldn't be selling coffins. You should be selling a service. The most famous and respected service the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor provides is calming the spirits of the dead and guiding them peacefully to the afterlife, right?"
Hu Tao's mischievous grin slowly faded, replaced by a look of sharp, intense focus. He had her complete attention.
"So," Ren continued, "you should sell that as a subscription. A 'Peace of Mind' plan. Families pay a small, regular fee, and in return, they have a guarantee that when the time comes, the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor will handle everything. The rites, the ceremony, and most importantly, the spiritual guidance to ensure their loved one's journey to the afterlife is a peaceful one."
He saw the spark of understanding in her eyes and pressed his advantage. "The coffin then becomes a free, added incentive. And you can customize it. You can tell people, 'As a bonus for our subscribers, we will provide a beautiful, custom-carved coffin that reflects the life your loved one lived.' You could put a bow design for an archer, a flower for a florist, a book for a scholar. It's not a scary box anymore. It's a final, beautiful statement that their loved one will truly, finally, be at rest, surrounded by the things they loved."
He finished, his logic laid out, clean and simple. "I'm sure people will at least buy the subscription. They might not want a coffin, but everyone wants to know their family will be at peace when they're gone. And everyone in Liyue knows that Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is the only one who can truly guarantee that."
The bustling noise of the street seemed to fade away. Hu Tao stood completely still, the stack of flyers forgotten in her hand. She stared at the ten-year-old boy, her bright, plum-blossom pupils wide with a look of pure, unadulterated awe.
She had spent years trying to balance the grim reality of her business with her own cheerful, life-affirming personality. She had struggled to find a way to market her essential, but unwanted, services. And this child, in the space of less than a minute, had not just solved her marketing problem; he had completely reframed the entire philosophical and emotional foundation of her business. He had transformed it from selling death to selling peace.
Zhongli, who had been listening in a dignified, silent amusement, watched the scene with a profound sense of appreciation. The child's mind was not just a tool for creating machines of comfort; it was a lens that could see to the very heart of a problem and find a simple, elegant, and deeply human solution.
A slow, brilliant, and genuinely awestruck grin spread across Hu Tao's face. She let out a sudden, loud laugh, a sound of pure, delighted discovery. She tossed her entire stack of useless flyers into the air, letting them scatter like confetti in the wind.
"Little Ren," she declared, her eyes sparkling with a new, brilliant fire. "You are an absolute, bona fide genius! A marketing mastermind! Zhongli, give the boy a raise! Oh, wait, he doesn't work for me… yet." She slung an arm around Ren's shoulders in a gesture of friendly, conspiratorial camaraderie. "You and I, my little inventor friend, are going to have a long, long talk. The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor is about to enter a new, glorious, and highly profitable era!"