I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 619 Winter Solstice Event Side Story: It's All the Fermented Rice Balls' Fault (Part 1)
[Winter Solstice Event Bonus: It All Started with Sweet Fermented Rice Balls]

[Participants: Five people in the IQ group (Beltias, Daolin, Shuiqi, Mingjin, Isaiah)]

[PS: This is a silly side story, completely unrelated to the main story.]

text:

A narration from Bertias: [Today is the winter solstice. I received an invitation from Mingjin, supposedly to gather the members of the IQ team for a meeting on this rare day off. That said, who holds a meeting on the winter solstice? I have a feeling there's some kind of conspiracy involved…]
'Knock knock knock' Bertias knocked three times lightly on the door, and it was opened quickly.

"Good evening, Mingjin." Beltias pulled down her hood, revealing her delicate and beautiful face. Outside, heavy snow was falling, turning the earth into a silvery white.

Ming Jin was wearing a light gray V-neck sweater, which subtly revealed his prominent and sexy collarbone. He smiled lightly at Bertias and took a step to the side to let Bertias enter first.

"Good evening, Bell is the first one here today." Ming Jin poured a cup of hot ginger tea and handed it to Bellias. The long sleeves of her sweater were rolled up to her elbows, revealing her fair skin and the black bracelet on her wrist.

"I guess I'm just free today, and the winter in the Kingdom of the Unbelievable is just too cold. This is a gift." Bertias handed the bag in her hand to Ming Jin, took the ginger tea, and sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"This is... small glutinous rice balls?" Mingjin looked down at the contents of the bag in surprise. "Speaking of which, we should eat dumplings or glutinous rice balls for the Winter Solstice. Let's cook some and eat them together later."

"Where's Mingxi?" Bertias suddenly noticed that Mingxi, who was usually inseparable from Mingjin, was gone and asked.

"He's sleeping upstairs. He drank too much this afternoon," Ming Jin said helplessly.

At this moment, there was another knock on the door. Mingjin opened the door and saw Daolin standing at the door carrying a large bag. His white hair was covered with snowflakes, and because the colors were so similar, it was impossible to tell them apart.

His curled eyelashes were still covered with tiny snowflakes, adding a unique beauty to his delicate and handsome face.

"Excuse me." Dao Lin nodded to Ming Jin and then walked in.

“This is…” Ming Jin looked at the bag that Dao Lin handed over and took out the bottle inside.

"Rice wine, it's a seasonal drink in the Food Kingdom. I asked Ling Tong to help me get some. It's not very strong, even kids can drink it, and I heard it can even be used in cooking," Dao Lin said slowly, yawning.

Previously it was small glutinous rice balls, now it's rice wine; all the ingredients for sweet fermented rice balls are now available.

"Oh, Daolin, you're here too." Bertias glanced at Daolin's thin white shirt and white coat, her expression showing a hint of surprise.

“I put on five heat packs, so I won’t be cold.” Daolin glanced at Bertias and explained, “Wearing too many layers of clothing is not good for conducting experiments, so putting on more heat packs will not only keep you warm but will also keep you warm without hindering the experiments.”

Bertias: "..." Are the five photos supposed to be two on the top and bottom of the back, one on each side of the waist, and one on the abdomen? That must have been difficult for you.

“Speaking of which, it’s almost time. Shui Qi isn’t usually punctual, so why is he so slow today?” Ming Jin looked up at the clock hanging on the fireplace, frowned slightly, and said.

No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock on the door.

Ming Jin opened the door and saw Isaiah, whose face was completely covered by long, gray-black hair, and Shui Qi, who was a head and a neck taller than Isaiah, standing next to him.

"Has it finally arrived?" Ming Jin said with a light laugh.

Shui Qi walked in, glanced at the clock, and asked in surprise, "Isn't it time yet?"

Ming Jin narrowed her eyes and said dangerously, "You still want to come back another time?"

"This was specially chosen by Shui Qi," Isaiah said in a low voice, handing the bag to Ming Jin.

“Sweet wine? Strawberry wine, chocolate wine…” Ming Jin’s lips twitched slightly as she said, “Shui Qi, isn’t this a ladies’ wine?” “Is that so? The boss said this kind of wine is delicious poured over shaved ice.” Shui Qi stared at the bottle of chocolate wine, seemingly lost in thought.

Dao Lin raised an eyebrow and asked in return, "Are you very confident in your alcohol tolerance?"

Shui Qi smiled and looked at Dao Lin, saying slowly, "At least you're better than me."

"Isn't it shameless of you to compare us to the one with the worst alcohol tolerance among us?" Isaiah sighed and said.

Ming Jin arranged the gifts they brought, then her gaze settled on the rice wine and glutinous rice balls, and she said with a serious expression, "Speaking of which, there is something very serious I want to ask you."

"What?" Dao Lin asked instinctively.

"Do you know how to make sweet fermented rice balls? I'm a bit of a struggle with food preparation, and I usually order takeout..." Ming Jin frowned, looking at them as if facing a formidable enemy, and asked seriously.

Bertias resignedly stood up and said, "I'll do it..."

Shui Qi leaned over for a look and mocked, "Your kitchen is really new; it's probably never been used even once."

Bertias, unable to bear listening to Shui Qi and Ming Jin's sarcastic remarks, said, "Get out of here."

Shui Qi and Ming Jin: "..."

"Bell, I want chocolate shaved ice." Shui Qi said, looking reluctantly at the bottle of chocolate liqueur before leaving.

Bertias gave him a cold look. To be honest, with such a low alcohol tolerance, he was still thinking about chocolate-flavored liqueur. He wondered what kind of arrogant mentality he had. Could it be that his love for chocolate had surpassed the sense of shame that alcohol brought him?

He prepared all the necessary items for making sweet fermented rice balls and placed them on the table. Suddenly, his gaze was drawn to an unopened bottle of distilled vodka next to him.

He remained silent for a few seconds before finally reaching out his claws towards it.

Before long, Bertias brought five bowls of sweet fermented rice balls to the table. The other four people were already seated and eating, showing no intention of waiting for him.

"It smells so good! Did you sprinkle some osmanthus flowers?" Mingjin asked in surprise, looking at the cute little yellow flowers in the bowl.

"Well, I saw some stock in the kitchen and used it without permission. Try it, I've adjusted the flavors for each of you." For example, Mingjin's bowl had five times the sugar of the regular one, Daolin's only had three-tenths of the sugar, Isaiah's had no sugar or osmanthus, Shuiqi's had chocolate liqueur, and his bowl of fermented rice wine had three times the sugar.

Bertias sat down at the table and watched them eat the sweet fermented rice balls, silently counting in his mind: one, two, three... ten.

When he counted to ten, he saw Dao Lin's face suddenly turn red, and then he collapsed as if he had been drugged.

"Only Daolin could get drunk with an alcohol concentration of only 1%-2%, not to mention I even diluted it. The effect is quite immediate." He glanced furtively at the open bottle of distilled vodka in the kitchen and said without changing his expression.

"Just rice wine is a bit too much, isn't it? I feel like it's a bit..." Ming Jin put down her spoon with a troubled expression, got up and walked towards the kitchen.

After walking into the kitchen, he looked at the open cabinet where distilled vodka had already been poured and fell silent. He was beginning to regret letting Bertias into the kitchen.

"Don't eat!" Ming Jin shouted.

However, apart from the one who had already collapsed, the bowls of sweet fermented rice balls in front of the other people sitting at the table were all clean.

Ming Jin: "..."

(End of this chapter)