It's not even that Alfred wasn't interested in what Zhongli was saying - he had no idea what the young man was talking about, but the guy seemed to be either reasonably well informed or very confident about his nonsense, and either way it was kind of entertaining.

But, as had been established, the pumpkin wasn't going to prepare itself. He screwed the cap back on a jar of nutmeg. "Aight, so. How about you find a knife - carving knife or cleaver's probably best? - and you can tell me more while we work."