novelhk Page 101
Page 101
Hmm, why is there a coffin?
Jiang Kehan stared blankly at the coffin next to the bed, trying to figure out why the other person was there.
Qin Luoyu carefully put away the key that had reappeared in her hand, and seeing Jiang Kehan staring at the coffin, she explained with a slight smile.
"This is the staff lounge. The virtual system on the round table is used to exchange tavern points for spells and so on."
As for the coffin, it's the bed of a vampire witch who calls herself a young lady. If you go to work on Wednesday, you might run into her.
Are vampire witches the kind of gloomy witches who like to hide in corners?
Jiang Kehan looked at the coffin with curiosity. The coffin was not big, and she could tell that the person in question was also short, which made her feel a little more at ease.
Unfortunately, she has already decided to work on Thursday and Friday evenings.
Chapter 146 Refining Wine
"I'll go take a look when I have time," Jiang Kehan replied politely to Qin Luoyu, then looked at the virtual system above the round table.
This thing is like a private domain terminal. Its main function is to give tavern employees a list so they can see what they can redeem with the tavern points they've worked so hard to earn.
However, Jiang Kehan believes that the reason this thing's screen takes up half the table is to entice them to work hard.
Jiang Kehan's quick glance at the spells and techniques was enough to make her eager to get to work!
The picture of this pie is big and round, and most importantly, you can actually eat it.
Jiang Kehan couldn't help but swallow, shifting her gaze to Qin Luoyu, and said firmly.
"Manager, let's go to the bartending room! I can't wait to get to work!"
Qin Luoyu was somewhat amused and exasperated. Almost every witch who saw this screen for the first time couldn't help but want to work.
"Before you learn how to mix drinks, I'll take you to the liquor cellar to familiarize you with the general categories of drinks."
She shrugged and spoke with a slightly joking tone.
"But it's good that you're so energetic. I look forward to you achieving something great."
The Witch's Tavern is always short of staff, and talented witches easily receive investment or invitations to form societies.
Although the Witch's Tavern possesses far more exchangeable knowledge than in these two scenarios, these must be earned by the witch herself, and it takes time.
Furthermore, investments in companies like Yui and Hayashi often provide more detailed guidance and abundant resources, even paving the way for the witch's chosen path.
It can only be said that each has its advantages and disadvantages.
However, for Jiang Kehan, working at the bar was a much better fit for her, and there wasn't much infighting involved; she could just work honestly and comfortably.
Most importantly, personal relationships are the most valuable thing.
"Okay, let's go." Jiang Kehan said excitedly.
Qin Luoyu led Jiang Kehan through a damp brown door. A gust of cold wind blew in, making Jiang Kehan shiver.
She poked her head inside, and what she saw there surprised her.
Huh? !
Qin Luoyu casually tossed a ball of flame into the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and in an instant, the white flame brought light to the area.
What came into their view were rows of squares, like a freezer.
Why are these places so modern? Jiang Kehan's lips twitched. She had originally thought the wine cellar would be like the cellars of Western nobles, but it turned out to be a freezer.
Qin Luoyu explained to her.
"The base of wine is easily affected, so it needs magic to maintain its purity and needs to be kept away from light."
The chandelier overhead was also specially made; the light it emitted when lit was actually a small screen of light placed in front of our eyes, so the area was essentially still pitch black.
Night vision goggles? Jiang Kehan was somewhat surprised.
The witches' night vision is actually their eyes' ability to automatically adjust their sensitivity to light.
Essentially, light is still needed to see things, but the wine cellar has clearly used magic to eliminate the light, so other methods are needed.
"Furthermore, these containers can also isolate the leakage of magic from interfering with the substrate, but correspondingly, they cannot be used to sense it with magic."
Qin Luoyu clapped her hands and turned to look at Jiang Kehan.
"There are only two things to be careful about in the wine cellar: avoid light and don't use magic to touch the substrate. You can be more flexible about the rest."
"Well, taking these substances yourself can easily cause you to faint in the wine cellar, so if you want to drink, you can tell me. You have a certain personal allowance each month, which is an employee benefit."
Jiang Kehan easily understood why Qin Luoyu had said those last words to her. Her lips twitched, and she felt a pang of emotion.
I wonder which brave soul passed out drunk inside, that somehow this place gained an extra rule.
"I understand," Jiang Kehan said, patting her chest. "I'm a professional!"
The witch's wine is made by processing certain ingredients and fermenting them into a magical state, which is then added to the liquid for the witch to taste.
The wine in a magical state is called the matrix, and it is also the culprit that can make witches drunk.
Qin Luoyu looked at her with amusement and couldn't help but pat her head.
"It's not for any other reason, but you guys are much more precious than this wine. Don't ruin your health by drinking too much."
She led Jiang Kehan closer to the freezers, which had detailed instructions on them.
"The bases in the tavern are mainly divided into two categories: one is the milder, undiluted base with basically no additional effects, and the other is the potent, impactful elixir that can give us temporary or long-term enhancements."
Qin Luoyu opened a freezer; the substrate inside resembled a suspended cloud of particles, somewhat magical.
"This is the original liquid, which is lighter than the elixir and suitable as an everyday beverage."
She took a special test tube from the freezer, opened it with the liquid, and the liquid automatically filled the test tube until it was full.
"Today we'll practice with the raw pulp. Modern technology is much more advanced than before; we can extract the raw pulp simply by opening and closing the lid."
However, many older people still prefer to use a special spoon to scoop it out, a process that takes more than ten minutes. Perhaps for them, this is a form of entertainment ingrained in their bones.
Qin Luoyu smiled at Jiang Kehan and encouraged her, "Give it a try?"
Jiang Kehan nodded, her gaze already drawn to the ethereal matrix, which resembled scattered nebulae—beautiful and pure.
She imitated Qin Luoyu's actions, took out a test tube, opened it, and closed it immediately after it was full.
"It feels a bit strange; these substrates are so light they're practically nonexistent." Jiang Kehan held the test tube, feeling its weight, her eyebrows slightly raised in surprise.
"I guess you'll like making alcoholic beverages." Qin Luoyu's smile deepened upon seeing Jiang Kehan's attitude.
She led Jiang Kehan back to the lounge, where the bartending room was located opposite the wine cellar.
Pushing open the door, the interior perfectly fulfilled Jiang Kehan's fantasies about Western aristocratic wine cellars, even surpassing them in technological sophistication.
At the front is a mixing table about three meters high, behind which is a small passageway used as a partition. Walking out along the passageway, you will find a hall of several thousand square meters.
Inside, every meter there is a long shelf several meters high, on which various juices and other drinks are displayed, along with wooden buckets, emitting a slightly sweet smell.
"Refining alcoholic beverages is actually very similar to alchemy, but it is not complicated. After selecting the base material, all we have to do is create the flavor that we envision."
Qin Luoyu brought Jiang Kehan to the mixing table, placed the test tubes she brought upside down on a special test tube rack, and as the test tubes were inserted, the matrix inside entered the somewhat complicated instrument through the connecting tubes.
"The secret to brewing beverages lies in experimentation and a spark of inspiration. Of course, you can also start with the simplest recipe."
Jiang Kehan stared at all of this in disbelief, feeling that her knowledge was still too shallow.
The witch is still too un-witch-like; the emergence of these technologies constantly expands her worldview.
Chapter 147 Night at the Tavern
Refining liquor is a bit like spraying water from a sprayer, leaving its own mark in the nebula of the matrix.
Then, by gently manipulating the magic, the two substances blend together to obtain the desired beverage.
The spray is applied to various pure beverages that determine the flavor of the alcoholic drinks.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the test tube is only the size of a finger; it can produce enough liquor to fill two large wooden barrels, which Jiang Kehan estimates to be at least 50 liters.
"Here, give it a try." Qin Luoyu put down the sprayer in her hand, waved to Jiang Kehan, and at the same time opened the virtual screen on the bar counter.
"There are some fixed recipes inside. You can try one that interests you first. As for the brewed wine, we can store it in our personal space."
"For example, this one uses three drops of mermaid tears instead of bitters, which makes Margaret taste like the sea breeze before a storm."
Jiang Kehan looked at the tutorial on the virtual screen with curiosity. The demonstration was very clear and much better than the old Qing Dynasty movies she used to watch when she was learning chemistry.
Looking at the two large barrels of liquor, she couldn't help but ask.
How much alcohol does the tavern consume each day?
Witches are actually quite reserved when it comes to drinking. The most common drinking pattern is about half a bottle a day. They don't really like being drunk, but they enjoy savoring the experience alone, falling into a state of blissful confusion.
In layman's terms, it means enjoying dancing on the edge of death, yet unwilling to lose one's rationality and become confused.
"Pretentious, but dignified," Jiang Kehan thought to herself.
Therefore, she figured the tavern consumed about 500 liters of alcohol a day, so she couldn't practice too much.
"Hmm, there aren't many good employees like me who think about the boss," Jiang Kehan nodded to herself, giving herself a thumbs up for her nobility.
However, the most fundamental reason is that everyone in the tavern treated her very well, so she naturally wanted to think about the tavern.
She is such a "stingy" person.
"We probably consume over a hundred bottles of high-end liquor every day, while this kind of more casual concoction requires over 1500 liters."
Qin Luoyu tapped her temple with her index finger, recalling the past with a somewhat casual expression.
Huh? Jiang Kehan was a little surprised. How could it have consumed so much?
Seeing her like this, Qin Luoyu couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle softly.
"Heh, Kehan, you haven't seen how unrestrained the tavern is at night. The witches who come here to party don't care if they get drunk."
"This place is specifically designed to help witches release their suppressed emotions."
Jiang Kehan became curious. In her mind, witches were mostly dignified and elegant. The few times they seemed a little crazy were when they were pursuing the hope they craved.
For example, in my opinion, regarding alchemy, to be honest, Jiang Kehan has grown into a qualified alchemist in the past year—she has been blown up by herself nearly 30 times. Congratulations!
"I'm really looking forward to it, but does that mean I can refine it a few more times?" She looked at Qin Luoyu with shining eyes.
After watching Qin Luoyu's demonstration, Jiang Kehan felt that brewing alcohol was like a special kind of DIY, full of unknown surprises.
"Of course, but you'll have to be responsible for selling them." Qin Luoyu didn't refuse directly, but instead raised her eyebrows and said with a hint of malice.