Sara dealt with the overzealous fans cleanly and efficiently.
Cradling the small bottle of milk Sara handed her, Barbara slipped into Good Hunter.
There were only a few customers inside.
Before she could attract any attention, Barbara hurried up to the second floor.
She yawned softly.
After spending most of the night at the Cathedral treating the injured, she'd barely rested at all.
And first thing in the morning, she'd gone out again to check on Mondstadt's condition after the disaster.
She opened the small pouch slung diagonally across her slim waist—where her Vision rested as well—and rummaged through it.
A troubled look crept onto her cute face.
"I actually forgot to bring any spicy drinks…"
Barbara pulled out two neatly wrapped packs of spicy dried fish.
But she didn't have much appetite right now, so she tucked them back away.
She sat down and sipped her milk absentmindedly.
Sleepiness washed over her.
"Big Brother Jiang Yan is probably sleeping in again, right?"
Barbara murmured to herself.
She headed up to the attic with practiced familiarity and opened the door to the main bedroom.
Jiang Yan was sleeping soundly on the bed.
"Big Brother Jiang Yan even looks good when he's sleeping…"
Barbara muttered.
She tiptoed in, gently set her Vision and small bag on the table, and glanced once more at the sleeping man.
Another yawn escaped her.
She kicked off her black dress shoes, knelt down on the expensive rug by the bed, rested her head against the soft, warm mattress—
And fell asleep almost immediately.
At that moment, Jiang Yan opened his eyes.
He glanced at Barbara's sleeping face, the faint trace of discomfort still lingering in her expression, her small hands clenched tightly in the bedsheets.
"So exhausted, huh…"
Jiang Yan murmured.
He gently brushed her hair.
After a moment's thought, he lifted her onto the bed beside him, pulled the blanket over her, and went back to sleep.
Barbara's breathing gradually evened out, the tension on her face easing into peaceful calm.
At noon.
Jiang Yan woke up well-rested and thoroughly satisfied.
The first thing he saw was Barbara, still asleep beside him—instantly putting him in an excellent mood.
He had no intention of waking her.
Given the dragon crisis yesterday, she must have been run ragged treating the injured.
Barbara was only Lv.5.
If she used Hydro healing on wounded people too frequently, the strain on her body would be immense.
"Should I take her out to level up sometime soon…?"
"Having a healer would make things a lot smoother."
Thinking this over, Jiang Yan went to wash up.
As a deaconess of the Church, Barbara rarely left the city.
Even when she did, it was never for long.
If he wanted to bring her along on adventures, he'd first have to deal with the Church of Favonius.
He headed down from the attic.
Paimon flew back in, stomping in midair.
"Jiang Yan! You finally woke up! You lazybones!"
Being lazy was one of her life goals—
Seeing someone else accomplish it so effortlessly naturally made her upset.
Lumine was staring at him too, clearly waiting to see if he'd get embarrassed.
Jiang Yan didn't blush in the slightest.
"Have you eaten lunch yet?"
he asked calmly.
"Not yet."
Lumine shook her head.
"Mhm! We deliberately came back on empty stomachs!"
Paimon declared proudly.
"No matter what it is, food made by Jiang Yan always tastes different!"
"Even though we ate so much last night, it still wasn't as good as yesterday afternoon's pizza!"
Now fully transformed into a gourmet, Paimon praised enthusiastically.
Jiang Yan had heard praise like this countless times and remained unmoved.
"That's just because I've seen more cuisines and know how to adjust them to create different flavor experiences."
He glanced over the ingredients available today.
In an instant, a dish came to mind.
Snapdragons, tofu, and lotus heads were cleaned and placed into the pot one by one.
The fresh fragrance of snapdragons neutralized the bitterness of the lotus, paired with silky tofu and a few simple seasonings.
A very common home-style dish across Teyvat—
Jade Parcels Soup.
Of course, most households substituted snapdragons and lotus with cheaper vegetables.
Those two ingredients weren't exactly inexpensive.
Next came a Cold Cut Platter.
A long-standing signature dish of Good Hunter.
Hunter's specialty sausages, boar bacon from Wolvendom, and wind-dried ham cured under Mondstadt's divine breeze were plated in a perfect one-to-one ratio.
Wild Mist Flowers were added to lock in moisture and texture with natural Cryo.
A true blessing for meat lovers.
Paired with a steaming bowl of freshly made Jade Parcels Soup—
Paimon stared at the spread in front of her, practically drooling.
She immediately bit into the meat and gulped down hot soup, letting out blissful sighs.
"This is amazing!!"
She spun around excitedly in midair.
"Mmm."
Lumine nodded, eating in small bites—but at a noticeably fast pace.
"This way of eating was invented by the boss too,"
Sara said, seizing a moment to come upstairs for lunch after serving the customers.
"Cold meats paired with hot vegetable soup—no matter how much you eat, it never gets greasy."
Jiang Yan recalled something from last night and said,
"Sara, I'll give you a new soup recipe. Prepare it before seven every evening. It's for Mona to take home."
"Thank you, boss!"
Sara exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in excitement.
She didn't care who it was for or why—
What mattered was that she'd learned another new recipe.
"Ahem."
Lumine cleared her throat.
Sara immediately realized she'd gotten carried away again, lightly knocked herself on the head, and sat back down.
Only then did Lumine speak.
"Jiang Yan, Acting Grand Master Jean asked us to come see her."
"Probably to thank us,"
Jiang Yan said casually.
"Let's go together later. We might even get some rewards or compensation."
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