Early morning, Liyue Harbor.
"Come one, come all! Take a look! The Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has a special offer today! Your second gravestone is half price!"
Bright and early, an energetic girl wearing the Primordial Hexagonal Hat, her hair in twin tails and plum blossoms in her pupils, wove through the streets and alleys of Liyue Harbor.
Yet despite her liveliness and all the effort she put into the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's daily business, the ordinary people of Liyue Harbor still avoided her like the plague.
After all, funerals were hardly glamorous affairs. Shouting about half-price second gravestones first thing in the morning was rather ill-timed.
So no one dared approach Hu Tao. They all kept their distance.
Beneath the night sky.
Hu Tao dragged her weary body back to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
She had not landed a single customer today, either.
Just before stepping inside, something suddenly occurred to her.
She straightened up and gave herself a pep talk. "I can't let Mr. Zhongli see me looking so down."
Then she took a deep breath. A spark returned to her eyes, and her expression regained its usual fiery enthusiasm.
"Mm! That's more like it!"
Brimming with confidence, she pushed open the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's door and walked in.
Zhongli was leisurely brewing tea.
"Any business?"
"No, but that's all right. I have a feeling business will pick up very soon!"
"You said the same thing a week ago," Zhongli pointed out.
"Don't call me out like that! It'll happen soon, I'm sure of it. I believe in myself!"
Hu Tao gave a playful huff and skipped over.
Zhongli poured her a cup of tea.
"Mr. Zhongli, tell me. Birth, aging, illness, and death are things no one can escape, so why doesn't anyone choose to prepare in advance?"
Hu Tao gazed at her reflection in the tea, her plum-blossom eyes filled with confusion.
Zhongli slowly lifted his cup, took a small sip, and savored the tea's lingering sweetness.
"Death is indeed an unavoidable hurdle. But preparing a coffin for yourself while you're still alive and kicking... few people could willingly do such a thing, could they?"
Hu Tao pursed her lips. "That's not true. Every director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has understood life and death. Preparing early is perfectly normal."
"And the first job I took on was arranging my grandfather's funeral. As for my own funeral, I've had that prepared for ages, too."
With that, she drained her cup and exclaimed, "Refreshing!"
She seemed entirely unconcerned about matters of life and death.
At Hu Tao's rebuttal, Zhongli's eyes, which shone like gold, dimmed a little.
Noticing that something seemed slightly off about his expression, she rose confidently and patted her chest as she declared:
"Don't worry, Mr. Zhongli. I've already planned your funeral, too! I'll make sure it's every bit as grand as Rex Lapis's!"
Zhongli froze. The hand that had been about to refill Hu Tao's tea stopped in midair, and he stood utterly motionless.
Seeing his reaction, Hu Tao asked in apparent confusion, "What's wrong, Mr. Zhongli? Don't you trust this director's professional skills?"
Coming back to his senses, Zhongli wore an inscrutable smile and slowly refilled Hu Tao's cup.
"I do trust you. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"I fear you may fail to keep your word."
Hu Tao paused, then said incredulously, "How could that happen? This director always keeps her word. I never take on anything I'm not sure I can do."
"Is that so...?" Zhongli said meaningfully.
"Of course! You can put your complete trust in this director!"
"Very well. Let us enter into a contract."
"A contract? Hmm... all right, of course we can. This director won't break her word," Hu Tao said with a confident smile.
"Good. Then the contract is sealed. Those who break their word shall suffer the Wrath of the Rock!"
With those words spoken.
Zhongli lifted his teacup slightly and drained it.
Hu Tao followed his example, drinking down her mild tea in one gulp.
Then Hu Tao began chattering away, while Zhongli watched the girl before him with a faint smile.
He wanted to etch her likeness into his heart, into stone that remained unchanged throughout the ages.
If you were the one to see me off, that would be wonderful...
He thought to himself, a faint smile on his face.
Decades later.
Inside the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Liyue Harbor.
"Mr. Zhongli, you really haven't changed at all..."
Hu Tao was no longer the lively, lovely girl who had once burned with enthusiasm.
Her hair was white, her face covered in wrinkles, and her body had grown so frail that even speaking was difficult.
Zhongli looked at Hu Tao with a pained expression, unsure what to say.
"This... director... broke the contract..."
"No. You have already fulfilled your contract."
"Do you remember? The Rite of Parting."
At Zhongli's reply, Hu Tao's eyes widened. She seemed to understand everything.
"So that's how it is..."
"Thank you... Mr. Zhongli..."
With a faint smile, she slowly let her aged hand fall.
As he gazed at the scene before him, another mark was left upon that unyielding rock, one that belonged to her.
Erosion.
There will be a third side story tonight.
Before you continue