#ventao

The first conversation they have is seemingly just flirting on main, with a side of Venti dunking on Zhongli by saying Hu Tao is the greatest authority here (with Rex Fucking Lapis, Xiao the Yaksha and the Traveler in the room). If there's something other than that here, it's something lost in translation, so I'll take Venti calling Hu Tao a beautiful bouquet of flowers and the source of all life on earth at face value.

The second conversation they have, on the other hand, is not as benign. Hu Tao starts off by saying this:

The use of "unsatisfactory" is the tell here. Only Venti can decide what "unsatisfactory" is, and Hu Tao wants him to let her know if that happens.

What Hu Tao is actually saying is that if you want to, at any time, dunk on Zhongli, I'll dunk on him too with the power of being his boss. They're both poets, they know subtext. This is AFTER Venti's first roast, where he demonstrated that yes, he is aware Zhongli is the supposedly deceased Geo Archon, and that isn't going to stop him from dunking on him. You know how Venti responds?

There are so many fucking layers to this. The obvious first layer is just what it looks like: a straight up compliment. The second layer, which is still obvious thanks to the side eye and the sarcastic tone of 'impressive,' is a dunk on Zhongli. The third and fourth layer are a bit of a stretch but I am ready to do some fucking yoga.

Saying she's savvy, directly after her previous comment? That is an acknowledgement that he heard what Hu Tao didn't say - aka, if Venti wants to dunk on Zhongli, Hu Tao will back him up.

Saying she's reliable implies that Venti trusts Hu Tao to dunk on Zhongli where it hurts.

And then he fucking dunks on Zhongli by calling him an impressive consultant with a sarcastic tone and obvious side eye.

This? This is not a compliment. I mean, yeah, it is, and at face value is also cute, but that's not why I love it. What Hu Tao actually means is that Venti's too nice for giving her the opportunity to dunk on her employee.

And then she fucking does it, somehow with MORE LAYERS than Venti.

That right there? Face value, its a compliment, but we all know it's her insulting Zhongli's ability to stay incognito.

It's ALSO her acknowledging that, yes, she is aware Zhongli is, in fact Rex Lapis. Venti already implied he knows, so she decided to let Venti know that she knows, as well as saying that she knows that Venti knows he's Rex Lapis.

But the last layer is where I really started to dig. Don't see it yet? It took me a while too.

"From the sophisticated way he speaks, it's hard not to suspect that he could very well be an adeptus in disguise! Hehe."

Now, a simple question. When Hu Tao says "he," who is she talking about?

Obviously Zhongli right? But, considering that Hu Tao and Venti have spent this entire conversation hiding conversations within conversations, Venti clearly also has a sophisticated way of using words. If you substitute 'he' with Venti...

"From the sophisticated way VENTI speaks, it's hard not to suspect that VENTI could very well be an adeptus in disguise! Hehe."

This? This is an accusation. Hu Tao thinks Venti is not human. Hu Tao thinks Venti is sus.

You know what she does next?

She goes to Xiao, someone who actually knows Venti's true identity, and asks if he thinks it's possible that her accusation is true. Of course, Xiao doesn't know subtlety if it kicked him in the face, but still.

[Edit: After seeing the additional character interactions outside of the epilogue, I can almost certainly confirm that Hu Tao knows that Venti is the Anemo Archon.

Hu Tao: With that extraordinary demeanor and literary talent, he's definitely not just any bard. If he's someone that could hold his ground in a conversation with the consultant, he needs to at least be as talented as me!

(also she absolutely just implied she regularly holds her ground against Rex Lapis)]

Anyway, TL:DR, VenTao spent their second onscreen interaction by simultaneously flirting with each other, dunking on Zhongli, and somehow also fit in Hu Tao accusing Venti of being the anemo archon in TEN SENTENCES.

Their relationship is an onion of layers and it's everything I could have hoped for and more.