"Beer, red wine, white liquor—anything goes. Even if you give Erguotou, I can drink it down."
It’s nice when Wei Jingjing isn’t around; without her, Xia Siyu can drink whatever she wants without being nagged.
Bo Yan shook his head with a smile: "None of those, I’m going to make you a special cocktail."
Cocktails, Xia Siyu knows well. She’s a foodie and also a wine enthusiast; she wouldn’t miss out on good drinks.
However, making cocktails requires bartending tools. Even if you don’t need bartending tools, you at least need a bar, right? What about rum or vodka? She hadn’t even ntioned the more niche gin and mint liqueur. Opening the fridge, all they had was so beer they bought yesterday and a lemon and li they hadn’t gotten around to drinking. How could you make a cocktail with just that?
Oh, if you insisted, there was also a bottle of red wine, priced at ninety-nine in the supermarket but actually the kind that nobody drinks even if it costs nineteen. It was from a sponsor. Xia Siyu thought it was a waste even to add to stewed beef for flavor. Is it drinkable?
But Bo Yan was confident. He even went through the trouble of setting up a tablecloth, grabbed that bottle of dostic red wine, rose-flavored beer Xia Siyu bought, and a few cans of chilled Sprite.
He smiled and asked Xia Siyu, "What would you like to drink?"
Xia Siyu looked at the drinks on the table with so disdain: "Then make a non-alcoholic one."
Bo Yan nodded: "Okay."
He first sliced the washed li but didn’t imdiately put it into the glass; instead, he turned to take a can of sea salt and gently sprinkled a bit on.
While waiting for it to marinate, he opened the fridge to take out the ice cubes he had prepared earlier, used the ice bucket to hold a few, and put them into a wine glass. He also went to the balcony to pick a few mint leaves from a pot planted by the director’s team for decoration purposes—a pot of edible mint.
When Xia Siyu saw Bo Yan picking mint, she couldn’t help but laugh. The joy of a poor man’s life is like this, making the most of waste.
After picking and washing the mint, Bo Yan then put the marinated salty li into the glass, added a slice of lemon, and poured in Sprite. He topped it with a spread-out mint leaf: "Salty Lemon Seven, enjoy."
This was probably the simplest version. Xia Siyu took it with so doubt, unsure whether she should try it. But seeing Bo Yan’s confident look and the cara filming her, she’d force herself to drink it even if it tasted bad.
Bringing it to her lips, she took a sip. Bo Yan asked, "Is it good?"
Xia Siyu smacked her lips: "I haven’t tasted it yet."
Bo Yan smiled: "Feel free to drink it, if it’s bad, you can hit ."
Xia Siyu glanced at the windowsill, watching Bo Yan picking the mint until it was almost bald. He must have prepared quite a bit while she was taking a nap in the afternoon.
Oh well, it won’t kill her. She plucked out a mint leaf and took a big swig.
"Gulp"
The cool Sprite bubbled with carbonation, accompanied by the coldness from the Sprite and ice, with an added nthol chill. Beyond the sweetness, there was the tartness from li and lemon, and a hint of salty taste from the marinated li. The salt didn’t overpower the sour and sweet but rather enhanced these two flavors, combined with the fresh scent of mint, it was cool and refreshing. It was especially delightful to drink on such a sumr day.
"Not bad!" Xia Siyu finished the glass and was already looking up for the next drink: "Give one with alcohol now!"
"Alrighty." Bo Yan expertly used the corkscrew to open the wine. This kind of red wine was indeed not good for pure drinking, so Bo Yan modified it a bit.
He first poured Sprite into a wine glass, then took a spoon and placed it upside down at the rim of the glass, slowly pouring the red wine over the spoon. Because of the difference in density between wine and carbonation, the wine glass started to form layers. The bottom was the white of the Sprite, while the top was the red of the red wine.
"One Bloody Khr, enjoy."
Xia Siyu didn’t expect such red wine to be used so ingeniously, especially being layered like this.
She took it and sipped. Honestly, there wasn’t anything special about the taste; such red wine could never turn into a Bordeaux Grand Cru. But under these conditions, in such a simple setting, with Sprite adding a touch of sweetness and carbonation, it sohow brought out an enjoyable feeling.
Even if it was a nineteen yuan red wine, it felt like drinking a top-notch wine, sweetly.
She said, "I want more! With red wine, let’s try another one."
"Alright, just a mont."
This ti, Bo Yan turned to open the fridge, which still had so apples and pears inside.
Though the program team was stingy, only giving each group three hundred yuan, they did prepare so small fruits. But these green apples and pears looked sour and not very appetizing, so no one had touched them.
But Bo Yan washed them, cut the apples and pears into thick slices, added li juice, ice cubes, a little bit of red wine, and filled with Sprite, topped with a green mint leaf. He cut a small slit in the lemon slice, placing it on the rim for decoration and to increase the tartness.
"A Sangria soda."
Sangria is a Spanish specialty, based on wine, garnished with fruit slices and carbonated drinks. It’s cool and refreshing, as if you’re in the passionate diterranean. Xia Siyu had tried such a drink in Sicily. The longer it soaks, the better the flavor.
She really didn’t expect Bo Yan to make a diterranean-flavored drink here with just such ingredients. Even without drinking it, the re sll could make one feel tipsy.
The alcohol content in the wine was low, and with Sprite and other ingredients added for flavor, two glasses in, she only felt a little pleasantly lightheaded. Xia Siyu squinted her eyes, her whole posture beca more laid-back, and she teased: "...But this won’t suffice for your task; I’m still not totally satisfied with your gift."
Bo Yan said with a smile: "A rose for you."
A rose? Did he just buy a rose?
Xia Siyu asked: "A rose? When did you buy it? But I’m not soone who dislikes flowers, though a single flower won’t count."
Flowers can only be seen but not eaten, even if edible, the quantity of one rose can’t make anything tasty. Besides, wasn’t he performing bartending tricks? What’s up with the rose?
Bo Yan chuckled: "Please wait a mont."
He turned and opened the freezer, taking out a mold from inside.
These ice molds are also sold in supermarkets. Fill them with water and freeze them to create shapes, but Xia Siyu looked closely and realized this was different from the usual supermarket ones.
This flower was vividly lifelike; looking closely, each petal was distinctly separated. The petal color was deeply red on top, fading lighter towards the bottom.
User Comments
0 comments from readers