History HoYay / GenshinImpact

*** Xiao's Birthday' web event (2022) shows the Traveler playing (badly) the flute in Dihua Marsh and Xiao appearing immediately, most likely associating any flute playing with Venti, no matter how bad it sounds.

*** The book "Yaksha, The Guardian Adepti" talks about how the people of Liyue can hear the sound of a flute but never see a flutist. Venti is capable of disappearing as seen when the Traveler interrupts his attempt to calm Dvalin. Xiao calls the book "fanfiction", but it could be because people think he's the one playing the flute.

** In the "Genshin Impact Orchestral Concert 2023" promotional video and official art, Xiao is seen playing a traditional Chinese flute with a jade tassle attached to it; way back in the "Yaksha, The Guardian Adepti" cinematic, Venti is seen playing a flute with that very same tassle, implying it's the same one.

** On the last day of "The Exquisite Night Chimes", Venti crashes the party and manages to get invited by Hu Tao. Xiao looks both nervous and overwhelmed since he clearly knows who Venti is in reality. When taking Xiao outside and the player chooses the option "It's all Venti's fault", Xiao stutters and almost shyly denies it, instead praising Venti's carefree nature, almost like if he's jealous of his capacity to fit in with humans.

** Many fans of the ship noticed that Venti's final Windblume poem could as well be talking about Xiao, especially with lines like "Who was it that stroke your '''bloodied, determined visage'''" and "I'm leading you by the hand, into the night '''where lanterns shine bright.'''" Not to mention, the first Windblume Festival, when Venti recited this poem, was just one month after the first Lantern Rite event, in which Xiao finally allowed himself to contemplate the lanterns, implying Venti is aware and glad that Xiao did so.

** On the last day of "The Exquisite Night Chimes", Venti crashes the party and manages to get invited by Hu Tao. Xiao looks both nervous and overwhelmed since he clearly knows who Venti is in reality. Venti then sits to Xiao's side, and when Xiao is telling how he and Venti met a few days ago and he's unsure how to call him, Venti helpfully reminds him he's a bard. It seemed like Xiao has a hard time separating Venti from his role as Anemo Archon out of the respect he has for him.

** At the end of the "Endless Suffering" Short Trailer, Xiao returns to the Wangshu Inn balcony late in the evening, and finds Venti already waiting for him there under the bright light of the moon, inviting Xiao to join him for a drink. The archive description of Wangshu Inn mentions that "They say that Wangshu Inn is a haven for lovers' moonlit rendezvous."
*** Venti himself seems to be in quite friendly terms with Xiao, crashing into the balcony of his room like he's already done so before and in the Chinese dub he even calls Xiao "friend." Xiao, for his part, isn't surprised at all to find Venti in the inn's balcony and speaks to him in a casual friendly matter, something that for someone as formal and reserved as Xiao is quite the big deal, considering he had always known that the bard is the Anemo Archon ''and'' his savior. This seems to imply that Venti and Xiao meet each other every Lantern Rite and/or whenever his debt becomes too much for him.

** Venti saying immediately that "bards go around singing wherever they like" seems to be more confirmation that Venti visits Xiao in order to sing for him, especially on Lantern Rite.

** Many fans of the ship noticed that Venti's final Windblume poem could as well be talking about Xiao, especially with lines like "Who was it that stroke your '''bloodied, determined visage'''" and "I'm leading you by the hand, into the night '''where lanterns shine bright.'''"

** On the last day of "The Exquisite Night Chimes", Venti crashes the party and manages to get invited by Hu Tao. Xiao looks both nervous and overwhelmed since he clearly knows who Venti is in reality.

** During the Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze, Moon Carver and Mountain Shaper go to Liyue Harbor together and bicker like an old marriage during the whole event in human disguise.
* Smiley Yanxiao (The Chef at the Wangshu Inn) only plays a minor part in the story, but he shares both a world quest and a daily quest with a man named Jiangxue who is a fisherman. All of the dialogue between the two reads LikeAnOldMarriedCouple, and though Yanxiao comes off as harsh as usual, the daily quest features you delivering a meal from Yanxiao to Jiangxue. Not only is the meal described as smelling good, but it's also packed full of food to the point that it's surprisingly heavy, implying that, despite his criticisms, Yanxiao enjoys making food for the other man. Additionally, the Lantern Rite 2022 denouement cutscene shows Jiangxue sharing the celebratory meal with Yanxiao and the Wangshu Inn owners, despite not being affiliated with the inn.

** During Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze, Xiao runs into Zhongli flying a kite, at first thinking it was Hu Tao because of the ghost design. Zhongli then invites Xiao to test another kite with him and both have a nice and peaceful conversation about the kites and some stuff happening in Zhongli's life. Unlike other occasions when Xiao is too respectful and doesn't dare to have a conversation as equals with the former Archon, Xiao seems more relaxed around him and is well aware of what kind of tasks Hu Tao gives him. The conversation ends with Zhongli encouraging Xiao to take some time to visit him at his work.

** During the Lantern Rite itself, Ganyu and Shenhe can be seen spending the night together, flying the kite that they build, in what looks almost like a date. Ganyu even spends time fixing Shenhe's hair ornament.

*** Apparently Wriothesley has made an habit of sending Neuvillette and Furina tea baskets of many varieties each time. Considering that Neuvillette prefers to drink plain water and enjoys any liquid foods, he likely greatly appreciates the tea baskets, despite not commenting on them.

** In the Epilogue of “Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze”, Neuvillette used his rare half-day time-off to get some souvenirs and a ceramics course at Liyue, and since he was leaving earlier, he accepts to deliver Clorinde’s gift for Wriothesley. He not only delivers Wriothesley the goods, he also gives him some gifts of his own, as in his exceeding tea packs[[note]]Granted, he got scammed into buying a lot of tea[[/note]] and a special ceramic tile of the Law Codex in reference to the throw-away joke between Wriothesley and Clorinde. Wriothesley is amused by Neuvillette’s attempt to have some sense of humor, and gracefully accepts the gifts, not without sarcastically telling him that he is going to exhibit it in his Exhibition Hall at the Fortress, to Neuvillette’s embarrassment.

* Some fans feel that Diluc's and Kaeya's relationship was mistranslated as "adoptive brothers" in the English localisation (from the term ”义兄“ in the original Chinese text) when it should have been [[BloodBrothers "sworn brothers"]], a popular Boys Love shipping dynamic in Chinese fan circles, and interpret their relationship as a ChildhoodFriendRomance. Canonically, both Kaeya and Diluc have willingly interacted and put up with each other and still care for each other despite their strained relationship.

* A more tragic example, Navia's quest introduces an NPC named Colter. Another member of the Spina that has been around since Callas was in charge. He worked along side Melus and is shocked to learn that he's gone after returning from the Fortress of Meropide. As the Quest continues, he eventually gives Navia a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech which includes accusing her of taking everything he loved, including Melus. Even worse, while he's angry at the current state of the Spina and Poisson. It's the loss of Melus that is implied to have been the thing that pushed him past a DespairEventHorizon. Showing how close the two men were and implying they had a bond that was much more then working for the same man.

* The 2024 Lantern Rite brings us Ganyu/Shenhe. While they're nominally adoptive sisters, both being raised by Xianyun, albeit several thousand years apart, there are undertone of sexual curiosity and awakening in their interactions during the event's main question. This was especially notable when [[spoiler: Shenhe asks to touch Ganyu's horns, which the latter says are "very sensitive," the act of which causes her to shake "like a cat whose whiskers have just been touched." Even the Traveler and Paimon witnessing this moment is treated as them stumbling into a private moment, causing them to decide to leave the two alone]].

* The 2024 Lantern Rite brings us Ganyu/Shenhe. While they're nominally adoptive sisters, both being raised by Xianyun, there are undertone of sexual curiosity and awakening in their interactions during the event's main question. This was especially notable when [[spoiler: Shenhe asks to touch Ganyu's horns, which the latter says are "very sensitive," the act of which causes her to shake "like a cat whose whiskers have just been touched." Even the Traveler and Paimon witnessing this moment is treated as them stumbling into a private moment, causing them to decide to leave the two alone]].

* The 2024 Lantern Rite brings us Ganyu/Shenhe. While they're nominally adoptive sisters, both being raised by Xianyun, there are undertone of sexual curiosity and awakening between the two, especially when [[spoiler: Shenhe asks to touch Ganyu's horns again, which the latter says are "very sensitive," the act of which causes her to shake "like a cat whose whiskers have just been touched." Even the Traveler and Paimon witnessing this moment is treated as them stumbling into a private moment, causing them to decide to leave the two alone]].

** In Irodori Festival, there is a light novel called "Pretty Please, Kitsune Guuji?" which is pretty popular in Inazuma at the moment. The novel is chock full of ship tease between Ei (who was a man reincarnated as the Raiden Shogun) and Yae, which is really blatant because the cover is practically Yae Miko herself, and the fox shrine maiden in the story is named Yae Masako. The novel has the Raiden Shogun being dependent on Yae Masako and ends with Yae feeding her Rainbow Aster mouth-to-mouth. This is a reference to one of the Honkai comics.

** Xiao's opinion about Venti has him about to comment on the bard's music in a very tender voice but he gets cold feet at the end. Considering how much he cherishes Venti's tunes, it looks like he got too flustered to talk after being reminded of him.