Genshin Impact: A Mortal's Ascension to Godhood

Regardless of how Yan Fei found channels to appeal, after she left, Li Tao and his four friends started chatting again.

"Brother Li, when you say you're going to Seven Stars to file a complaint, do you mean you're going to stop them on the road and stuff the documents into their hands?" Xingqiu asked Li Tao first, "That feels a bit silly."

Li Tao was completely speechless: "Am I the kind of person who would do such a stupid thing... I actually have a way to appeal to Qixing, but I won't say it."

Of course he couldn't tell, because that would mean exposing it to the head of the General Affairs Department. With his identity as a person from another world, he would certainly attract a certain amount of attention wherever he went.

"Even if this channel doesn't work, I have another plan..." Li Tao's expression was a little absent-minded, and the corners of his mouth curled up, as if he thought of something funny, "However, this plan is a bit childish-"

"Is your golden shrimp ball really made of gold?!"

Before Li Tao finished speaking, he heard an earth-shaking "Hedong Lion Roar" coming from outside the guest room.

It sounded like a young woman's voice. Several people in the guest room stood up from the table immediately. Chongyun, who looked calm but was actually raging inside, was the first to push the door open and rush out, followed by Li Tao and Xingqiu. Xiangling was the last to leave, and they all left the room like flying and went outside.

The street where Chihuyan is located was used as a food pedestrian street during the food festival. There were all kinds of food stalls on both sides of the street, and there were ropes everywhere overhead, with colorful flags flying on the ropes, which looked quite festive. The aroma of food filled the whole street, with the pungent smell of chili, the aroma of grilled skewers and the aroma of fried food. There were also ramen, fried noodles, fried rice and stewed meat, of course. The various flavors intertwined together, making people's appetite even more tempted. In comparison, the Wanmin Hall, which was open for business as usual, was overshadowed by the guests.

The place where the sound came from is an "open-air restaurant" - it is called an open-air restaurant, but in fact it is just a large open space. In order to arrange the food festival, vendors placed many tables and chairs here for pedestrians to sit down and eat, hence the name.

At this time, the woman who made quite a commotion was sitting at a table in the open-air restaurant, glaring at the owner of the food and beverage store. On the table was a Xinyuexuan specialty: golden shrimp balls. However, the shrimp balls seemed to have been thrown aside coldly before anyone had even taken a bite.

The woman who was surrounded by people didn't care about the curious or surprised looks from the crowd. She just stood up, walked quickly to the vendor selling moon vegetables, and said to him word by word: "I suspect you are charging a malicious premium. Now, I need to check your business license."

The boss forced a smile that was uglier than crying: "Master Yu, Master Yuheng, what are you doing..."

That’s right, this heroic woman who accidentally appeared here is none other than [Yuheng] Keqing, one of the Seven Stars of Liyue.

Her appearance is very prominent - her long, smooth purple hair is like the twinkling stars in the night sky, gently fluttering with her movements, emitting a faint luster. Her dark brown eyes are full of determination, revealing a calm and decisiveness. She has a delicate face, fair skin, a high nose bridge, and an elegant temperament, but she doesn't look abrupt. She wears a purple skirt and black tights, and the two cat-ear-like buns on her head also add a bit of cuteness to her.

Now Keqing was really angry. She just took advantage of the food festival holiday to go out for a tour and eat something, but she didn't expect to eat the golden shrimp balls at the price of Mora at the Huyan open-air restaurant, which is very affordable on weekdays. God has mercy on her, she just saw her favorite golden shrimp balls on the menu, and wanted to order one on a whim to try it, but she didn't know that the price of 5200 Mora on the menu was the price before the premium, and the golden shrimp balls would cost Mora after the food festival price increase. At this time, Keqing couldn't suppress her anger and wanted to forcibly check the boss's business license.

As one of the Seven Stars, Keqing certainly has this power, but she doesn't like to abuse this power, because generally speaking, what is on the menu is what it is, and she won't question other people's business methods at will. But the boss's premium behavior is a bit too much. Keqing calculated that each golden shrimp ball has a profit of about 180%, and if calculated based on the purchase price of the ingredients, the profit margin reaches an astonishing 200%!

Of course, during the food festival, the boss has the right to increase the price, but the amount of the increase is still determined by the Liyue authorities. Generally speaking, the Liyue government does not allow merchants to increase the price by more than 150%, but from 5200 Mora to Mora, how many times is this a premium?

It can only be said that this boss was unlucky. He was too greedy and happened to run into Qixing who was traveling incognito. The boss's business license was immediately revoked, and the market regulator summoned by Keqing quickly "removed" him from the market. Suddenly, the atmosphere of the open-air restaurant was solemn, and some vendors who had made small moves on the menu or food quickly put away their little thoughts and obediently did business.

Xiangling, who had watched the whole process of Keqing exterminating the unscrupulous businessman, had a look of surprise in her eyes: "Lady Keqing, you are amazing! Is this the power of the Seven Stars of Liyue?"

"The Seven Stars represent the highest power in Liyue..." Li Tao curled his lips, thinking that even if someone among the Seven Stars wanted to engage in tyranny and secretly develop his own power without the Seven Stars Conference, it would be completely possible. Because the Seven Stars are independent of each other, they can't be said to be in harmony, but the connection between them is not that strong. For example, it is like the various members of the parliament of a democratic country in the OTL world. According to the functions of the Seven Stars, these "members" should also take charge of the affairs of different departments of the country...

Li Tao suddenly whispered to everyone, "Speaking of which, this is my other plan. Lead the Seven Stars to the venue of the Food Festival and let them see for themselves the chaos of the Food Festival. But it seems that I don't need to plan related matters, [Yuheng] Keqing came to me on her own. I'll go talk to her!"

"Hey, Brother Li——" Chongyun was about to call Li Tao, but saw him with a determined expression and walking towards the direction where Keqing was.

......

Keqing sat back down at the table with the golden shrimp balls and lost interest in eating. She frowned, staring at her favorite golden shrimp balls, but suddenly saw a figure sitting directly opposite her.

It was Li Tao. He observed the girl, who was called "Master Keqing" by netizens, and introduced himself straight to the point: "Master [Yuheng] Keqing, I am Li Tao, a new adventurer of the Adventurer's Association. At present, I have something I would like to ask for your help."

Keqing looked at Li Tao in surprise, her eyes lingering on the Water God's Eye on his waist for a moment, then she looked away nonchalantly and said to him slowly, "Mr. Li Tao, this is very impolite. According to the rules of Liyue, whether you want to ask the Seven Stars for help or you want to ask me, Keqing, for something, you should find a relatively formal place to explain it, not here."

"No." Li Tao supported the table with both hands, tapped the table with his right index finger, and said, "It's only here that you can see the fact that some vendors are charging a vicious premium, right?"

Keqing keenly sensed what Li Tao wanted to say: "Wait, are you going to accuse me of the chaos during the food festival?"

Li Tao nodded vigorously: "Yes, please allow me to explain something to you - some bad things that my friends and I encountered during the food festival."

Then, Li Tao told Keqing in detail about his experiences such as the Adventurer's Association being fully occupied with tasks, Wanmin Hall being invaded by hooligans, and Wanmin Hall's kitchen catching fire.

After hearing these things, Miss Keqing couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise: "Things have actually gotten to this point, no wonder you came directly to me to complain. So, the girl behind you is the cook of Wanmin Hall, Xiangling? Are the other two also your friends?"

Li Tao turned around and saw Xingqiu, Chongyun and Xiangling eavesdropping behind him.

He pulled the three out, and they introduced themselves to Keqing one by one. In fact, Keqing had some impression of them, but she remembered them in detail today. At the same time, she also learned from Li Tao what they wanted to do, and couldn't help but sigh: "This kind of thing should obviously be taken care of by us, the Seven Stars of Liyue, but it was Mr. Li Tao, an adventurer, who pointed it out first. This is our dereliction of duty."

"It's not dereliction of duty. This is only the third Food Festival. Who knew it would turn out like this?" Li Tao shook his head, but then said, "But the government should indeed regulate and rectify the market environment to protect the interests of more people. After all, Lord Keqing, you can't always run into this kind of thing and then have to clean up the mess for the Market Administration Bureau every time, right?"

Keqing's face looked a little ugly, but she still tried to keep a pleasant expression. "Mr. Li Tao, please stop talking. Whether it is a negligent official or an illegal vendor, I will do my best to bring them to justice. As for the management and regulation of the entire market, that is not a problem that you or I can solve alone. We need a long time to discuss the regulatory guidelines..."

At this point, Keqing couldn't help but mutter to herself, "However, even I find it frustrating to discuss things with the other seven stars for a long time but still come to no conclusion. Why can't the seven stars reach a consensus?"

Li Tao heard Keqing's complaints and complained in his heart: Master Ke, if you can be the number one in Liyue like the Geo Emperor, you can also have the final say. But Master Ke, when will you become the number one in Liyue - not to mention the number one in Liyue, how about being the number one in the Seven Stars?

The actual answer is no. Because Master Keqing is in charge of civil engineering and architecture. Although this department is very important, it always gives people a sense of comedy of civil engineering people, so Keqing is also called the civil engineering sister. Originally, she was called Niu Za Shi (Master of Niu Za) because of her voice line "Cut off all the clutter", but now she is also regarded as a civil engineering dog because of the industry she is in. Men are silent when they hear this, and women cry when they hear this.

"Anyway, thank you for your appeal... But next time, remember to follow the formal procedures. Of course, if you are just looking for Keqing and not for me as Yuheng, you are welcome to come anytime."

Master Ke smiled at the few people, then stood up and left the open-air restaurant.