Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

When Fanes pushed open the door to the reception room of the Liyue Harbor General Affairs Office, Ningguang was already sitting across the long table.

Years have passed, and Ningguang's air of superiority has become more refined. Her long platinum blonde hair is neatly coiled behind her head, and a slender jade pendant hangs from her ear, swaying slightly as she tilts her head.

On the table was a map showing the distribution of mineral veins in the Layered Rock Abyss, with several marks circled repeatedly with a vermilion pen, and next to it was a teacup that had gone cold.

Ningguang smiled slightly when she saw Fanes enter, and pointed to the chair opposite her: "Sit down. You're half a cup of tea earlier than agreed."

Fanes sat down opposite her and glanced at the red circle on the mineral vein map on the table.

"How's the production capacity in the Stratorock Abyss lately? The areas you marked on your map seem a bit different from last year's data."

Ningguang picked up her teacup, took a sip, and lightly tapped the rim with her fingertip as she put it down. "Production capacity hasn't changed. It's just that the mining difficulty is a bit higher than expected; the depth of several veins exceeds the original construction plan. However, these are minor issues and won't affect the overall supply."

Ningguang placed the teacup back on the table, her hands clasped together on the edge. "How many do you want this time?"

Fanes pulled a specification sheet from his folder and pushed it in front of her: "Three billion tons. The import volume for the next two years. Delivered in eight batches, one batch per quarter. This is the current upper limit of the industrial system's capacity until winter, just barely enough to keep the production lines running."

Ningguang picked up the specification sheet and flipped through a few pages, her gaze shifting from the numbers to his face: "Three billion tons. Do you know how much of that figure represents the current recoverable reserves of the Giant Rock Abyss over the next two years?"

Fanes leaned back in his chair: "How much?"

Ningguang closed the specification sheet and placed it in the center of the table: "Sixty-seven percent. If you get all of this, the remaining production capacity of the Layered Rock Abyss for the next two years will barely be enough to supply the local casting needs of Liyue."

Fanes sat up a little straighter: "So you mean—it's impossible to lower the price?"

Ningguang didn't answer directly, but instead pulled out a piece of paper with a few lines of numbers written on it and pushed it in front of him: "This is the new price. It's three percent higher per ton. The contract terms remain the same, the delivery period remains the same, and the settlement method is the same as before, through the Northern Bank's bill channel."

Fanes looked down at the number circled in red on the paper and remained silent for a long while: "No, after all these years of friendship, how can you give me a three percent raise?"

Ningguang's expression remained calm. She reached out, picked up the teacup, and put it down again, her tone carrying a sense of composure that said, "I knew you would say that."

"I can't help it. Do you know how many times your Fatui's cash flow has increased across the Seven Kingdoms in recent years? Emeralds, food, communication equipment—you've almost emptied the Mora of the entire Teyvat continent. If Liyue doesn't bring more funds back from the source, who will fill the hole of the fiscal deficit? This isn't something I can decide alone. The Emperor left behind the title of 'God of Wealth' in Liyue back then; we can't let him lose face like that."

Fanes leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, and looked at her: "You can't just raise it by three percent, that's too much. I could accept even a one percent increase, but three percent is like taking trillions of Mora out of my pocket."

Ningguang's fingers circled halfway around the rim of the teacup. She looked at Fanes, her tone unchanged but her speech slowing slightly.

"There's no other way. The stockpile of the Layered Rock Abyss is limited, and if we sell it all to you, Winter, what will we do when we need it ourselves? We can't just come back to you to buy it later, can we?"

Fanes opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but after a moment's thought, he realized that there was no logical flaw in the statement. After a moment of silence, his gaze fell on the mineral vein map on the table, as if he were measuring a longer path, and then he spoke.

"...But three percent is really too much. Shouldn't it be reduced a little?"

Ningguang picked up the teacup, took a sip, and when she put it down, the bottom of the bowl made a soft, clear sound as it hit the table.

"How about we add some more? Other countries can't produce that much ore anyway. The Inazuma mines have been almost completely depleted by you, and there aren't many industrial mineral deposits left in Mondstadt. Even Sumeru's production isn't enough for its own needs. You've come all this way and still have to come to me. So, do you think I should raise the price?"

Looking at the person opposite him, Fanes felt that the door in front of him was closed more tightly than the entrance to a mine in a deep abyss of rock.

He quickly reviewed the accounts in his mind—the current industrial production lines are operating at full capacity, and if the iron ore supply is interrupted or significantly reduced, the entire shipbuilding and machining system will face the risk of shutdown.

The losses caused by the work stoppage far exceeded the 3% premium. Fanes gritted his teeth, reached for the pen on the table, and wrote his name in the signature section at the end of the contract. The ink bled through the paper because he had pressed too hard.

Fanes shoved the contract back in front of Ningguang, his voice flat: "Signed. The first shipment will be delivered to the port in a month."

Ningguang took the contract, looked down to confirm the signature position and the integrity of the seal, then put away the document, stood up, walked around the corner of the table, and sat down in the chair next to Fanes.

Ningguang's posture was natural and practiced, as if the previous tug-of-war had never happened. The smile that belonged to an "old friend" returned to her face: "Little Twelve, it's not easy to meet, let your older sister take a look."

He looked him up and down. "Not bad, you've grown quite a bit taller. You've grown even taller since we last met at Dihuazhou. We'll stay for a meal; I've had a private room booked at Xinyuexuan."

Fanes turned to look at her, his tone carrying a hint of resentment, as if to say, "Why weren't you so kind just now?"

"Why weren't you so kind when you were negotiating the price? I ended up paying over a trillion Mora, which is like a trillion-dollar subsidy for Liyue. You call us old friends, but you didn't hold back at all."

Ningguang tilted her head slightly, a strand of platinum hair slipping down her shoulder with the movement, and the jade pendant by her ear swayed gently.

"There's no way around it, we each serve our own masters. When we're negotiating business, I'm Tianquan Star, and you're the twelfth seat of the Fools, so we can't skimp on anything. But now that the contract is signed, I have some free time, so I can do other things too." She said, reaching up to brush a stray hair behind her ear.

Fanes watched her movements, paused for a moment, and said, "I suspect you're implying something about me, and that you're trying to seduce me."

Ningguang withdrew her hand and placed it back on her lap, her expression one of nonchalant acceptance: "How could that be?"

Fanes stood up from his chair and straightened his coat collar: "You see if I believe you or not, that's it?"

Ningguang stood up, walked around the table to the door, and glanced back at him: "I booked the Begonia Hall at Xinyue Pavilion. Just tell me your name when you arrive. I've already asked the kitchen to start preparing the dishes, including that crab meat lion's head that you said was good last time."

Fanes followed behind and stepped out of the reception room. The light from the crystal lamps in the corridor cast a period of evenly spaced alternations of light and shadow between the two figures walking side by side. Their footsteps fell on the stone floor one after the other, with a distinct rhythm.