"This isn't divination at all! This is just a business tactic! It's disgraceful cheating!"
ヽ(#`Д´)ﾉ
Mona trembled with anger, feeling the urge to pick up the wine pot and swing it at Gu Sanqiu's face.
"This is divination. It's simply one possible outcome, but I'm choosing to reach that outcome using a different method," Gu Sanqiu said with a grin. "Maybe you could call it… commercial divination?"
"There's no such thing as commercial divination!"
"There is now—I just invented it."
Gu Sanqiu said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world, making Mona's blood pressure skyrocket.
"Incredible. So this is the current generation of the Gu family's Fengxiang practitioners?"
"Yep, welcome to the modern age of Fengxiang. You didn't think we were all a bunch of ancient, stubborn old relics, did you?"
Gu Sanqiu chuckled, pulling out another wine cup and placing it in front of Mona.
"Have a drink."
"I don't drink. It messes with my control over fate."
"This isn't wine, it's a beverage," Gu Sanqiu said, shaking the wine pot. "Ever heard of a double-bellied pot? I can switch between wine and a soft drink at will."
Mona hesitated for a moment. "Alright… but don't mess with me on something so small."
The liquid poured from the pot was black, and it fizzled as it hit the cup. Mona's expression froze, and just as she was about to question what on earth he was giving her, a sweet aroma filled her nose.
"This is so sweet! How much sugar did you put in this?"
Mona sniffed the cup in disbelief. "This amount of sugar would be enough to sustain a person for an entire day."
"This isn't a drink—it's an energy supplement!"
(꒪Д꒪)ノ
"...I hate to break it to you, but this is just an ordinary beverage."
Gu Sanqiu could already picture the kind of tough life Mona was leading.
The True Queen of Hunger was no exaggeration.
If this pot wasn't a normal product he bought in Liyue Harbor, Gu Sanqiu might have thought he'd stumbled into some classic urban fantasy scenario where ordinary items turn into rare treasures, like water transforming into fine wine.
However, the drink inside wasn't entirely normal.
Item: Cola Wine
Source: A creature from a secret domain, with cola as its bones and fine wine as its flesh.
Note: The fiercer the creature, the richer the taste of the cola wine. Best used with a double-bellied pot to separate the components, though some enjoy drinking cola wine as is.
"Could I… could I have more of this energy supplement? It's really important for me," Mona asked hesitantly. "I know it's a bit much to ask for such a precious gift on our first meeting, but…"
"Alright, alright," Gu Sanqiu interrupted her, pulling out a full pot of cola and handing it over.
"This is just pure soft drink—what you call an energy supplement. Take it, no strings attached."
If things continued like this, Gu Sanqiu feared he'd end up in some bizarre situation like "trading for black stockings" or other weird tropes.
The last thing he wanted was to be written into some case study titled "Liyue's Most Notable Odd Cases of the Last Decade" by Yanfei.
"Is this really for me? Thank you so much!"
ヾ(๑╹◡╹)ﾉ
Mona gleefully accepted the cola pot, then quickly traced a sigil in the air with her finger.
"Hm… it's clean. No tricks. Fengxiang practitioners really are upstanding people."
"Why are you so skilled at this? Don't tell me people have tried to trick you before…"
Gu Sanqiu's face twitched. He had thought the nickname "True Queen of Hunger" was just a joke, but now it seemed like others had already figured out the key to winning over—or perhaps luring—this astrologer.
Still, if Mona had already devised ways to deal with these people, they were probably in for a harsh lesson if they thought they could outwit an expert astrologer.
"It's not about being skilled—this is just a survival skill for any young woman who walks the world," Mona said with a look of pride, as if to say, "I've been through more than you could imagine."
"Oh, so that includes going hungry while wandering the world?" Gu Sanqiu's words cut straight to the heart of the issue.
This wasn't about eating well or not—this was about whether she could eat at all.
"Huh?"
Σ(っ°Д°;)っ
"Am I really that obvious?"
"It's not about being obvious."
Gu Sanqiu pondered how to phrase it carefully. While he was straightforward by nature, he did have enough emotional intelligence to know when to show tact, especially with someone he'd just met.
"It's just that your face tells the whole story."
Well… so much for tact.
"Ah… I see."
Mona deflated, tracing circles with her finger on the ground. "I don't want to use divination for personal gain, so my wallet's often empty. I just don't have a steady income."
So this is what it's like to be a "girl wandering the world," Gu Sanqiu mused, taking a sip of his drink. If this were a video game, the achievement would definitely have a snarky description designed to mess with players.
"Why don't you take up some simple jobs at the Adventurers' Guild? You're strong enough. Even if you don't want to join a mercenary team, gathering or finding lost items should be a breeze for you."
"I know you don't want to profit from divination, but for these easy tasks, you wouldn't even need to rely on astrology. Your intuition as an astrologer would be more than enough."
"I can't! The moment I show up at the Adventurers' Guild, people swarm me with requests for divination. I wouldn't even get a chance to take on a job before being pestered by a bunch of nosy fools."
Mona gritted her teeth. "And don't get me started on those outrageous Liyue rich kids. Some of them actually camp out in hopes of taking me out for dinner!"
"I mean, come on! I'm the great astrologer Astrologist Mona Megistus. You think I don't know what they're up to?"
Gu Sanqiu almost choked on his drink, giving Mona an exasperated look.
"If you know what they're after, why don't you just eat a free meal and ditch them when the time's right?"
"Absolutely not! An astrologer has their pride. I won't lower myself to such shameless behavior just for food!"
"And yet here you are, going hungry while delivering this inspiring message…"
Gu Sanqiu shook his head. "Alright, let me ask you something that doesn't involve divination."
"That stone you asked about earlier—was that purely out of personal interest, or was someone else involved?"
"It's personal," Mona said. "The object had a unique fluctuation in its fate. I've witnessed many steady, unchanging destinies, so observing something as unpredictable and mysterious as that would help me grow stronger."
"I see."
Gu Sanqiu was satisfied with this answer. It suited Mona's character and didn't sound like a lie.
In response, he tossed her a silver banknote.
"That's 10,000 Mora. Consider it compensation for answering my question."
[Gu Sanqiu] gifted [Mona] 10,000 Mora.
"Ten—ten—ten thousand?!"
---
If you spot any mistakes let me know so I can fix them.
Read up to Chapter 45! [P@treon.com/WiseTL]