He changed Tiwat

The male drinkers, including Quinn, naturally couldn't lose face in front of the women, so they followed Margaret's example and drank their wine in one gulp, afraid of being looked down upon if they drank too slowly. Only Kaia still insisted on his "four-step wine tasting method," raising his glass towards Head Maid Adeline before drinking the wine in his glass.

The familiar taste brought a smile to his face.

The reactions of those around him varied.

The youngest adventurer, Jack, had already turned red in the face when he put down his glass, and soon slumped onto the table, motionless.

The slightly older Quinn performed a little better, managing to raise his glass to Charles for a refill, but his movements were already somewhat unsteady.

Dulav, being the oldest drinker here, didn't feel anything unusual after the glass; the only downside was that the drink wasn't particularly good—though his cat ears had already drooped down.

Margaret, who had hangover pills, calmly put down her glass, covered her mouth with her hand, and let out a soft burp.

The four who were still awake drank a second "Bouncing Bomb".

This time, Quinn didn't have time to put down his glass before he swayed and fell onto Jack's back.

When Drouet put down his glass, his tongue was already too stiff to stick out, and he could only push the glass toward Charles with great difficulty.

Margaret covered her mouth again, this time not because of a hiccup, but because she felt a little nauseous.

The "bouncing bomb" drink had completely exploded inside her, and the dizziness rushed straight to her brain. Even Diona's specially made hangover pills couldn't suppress it—or rather, the taste of the hangover pills made her feel even more "nauseous."

Only Kaiya remained unfazed and elegantly uttered the words "refill".

The third cup was only given to two people, Margaret and Kaia, because Dulaf also passed out while waiting for a refill.

Margaret didn't finish her drink this time either. Halfway through, her stomach started churning, and she could only stumble towards the bathroom, covering her mouth—otherwise, she would have vomited in front of everyone.

Kaiya watched Margaret's disheveled figure as he leisurely finished his third glass of wine.

He wasn't against cheating; after all, he often did it. However, cheating on the spot was undeniably a low-class act.

Cheating before the exam is no match for someone who steals the exam questions in advance. Not to mention that the questions were created by Kaiya himself.

If you were to ask where Kaiya cheated, there's only one thing—the recipe for this "Bouncy Bomb" was based on "Sweetheart Fruit Wine Lake," a beverage he'd been drinking since childhood.

Chapter 291 Young Master Kaiya [4k]

With just three drinks, three of Mondstadt's four heavy drinkers had already collapsed, and one even fled in disarray—not only the onlookers, but even Charles and Eze looked astonished.

You should know that these four people have earned their fame by drinking one cup after another at the dinner table over the past ten years. Each of them can be said to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. Any one of them could take on all the audience members at once. How could such people not even be able to hold their liquor for three cups?

Charles's bartending process was witnessed by everyone in the audience. That so-called "bouncing bomb" was nothing more than a tiny glass of "fire water" diluted countless times with beer!

If such a small amount of "fire water" could cause the four great drinkers of Mondstadt to fall in defeat, then what kind of monsters are the Mondstadt people who can drink "fire water" like water?

Most people wore expressions of utter horror, and their gazes toward the bottle of "fire water" beside Charles were tinged with awe—Lord Diluc was right, it seemed the Mondstadt people really couldn't stomach this.

—Mondstadt people can't handle this, so Kaeya, who drank three cups and was completely unaffected, must not be a Mondstadt person.

Many viewers have started discussing whether their cavalry captain possesses some of the "racial talent" of the Winterborn Kingdom... Anyway, Kaeya's skin color and appearance don't look like those of a pure Mondstadt person. Before, everyone just thought he looked like a descendant of immigrants from Sumeru, but now they think this guy might be a half-Sumu and half-Winterborn mix...

Meanwhile, both Adeline, the head maid who gave Eze the advice, and Kaeya, the real mastermind, maintained an innocent demeanor.

This modified version of "Sweet Fragrance Lake" is so bad that anyone who tries it for the first time will be overwhelmed—even Mr. Cripps, the winery owner who accidentally invented the recipe back then, is no exception.

Amber also looked at Han Fulai with awe: "'Fire and water' is such a powerful thing? And you actually drank it?"

Han Fulai straightened his back with a hint of pride and said "modestly," "I didn't drink much, maybe three or five bottles."

Well, he's someone who's had a "flammable tea party" with the Winter Solstice people, and he held his own in no way—of course, the fact that he cheated with his immortal power is something that's not for outsiders to know.

“Three or five bottles of 'kerosene'…” Amber gestured with her hand to indicate the large bottle, and just thinking about it made her feel drunk.

Seeing Han Fulai's smug expression, Yura secretly curled her lip, thinking to herself, "You were clearly quite drunk when you drank dandelion wine with me a few days ago, you must have cheated when you drank 'fire water'..."

However, she didn't expose Han Fulai's boasting in front of Amber. Instead, she changed the subject: "I think this isn't just a matter of 'fire and water,' but also related to the 'depth charge' you mentioned earlier, right? What exactly is going on?"

When Han Fulai recognized the "deep-sea bomb" drink, he had briefly mentioned the mixed liquor to them. Judging from his expression at the time, he seemed to have already anticipated this outcome, but Yura was indeed quite curious about the specific principle behind it.

"Well, actually, it's not easy to get drunk from just a small sip of 'kerosene.' I believe that if you divided that bottle of 'kerosene' into five equal parts for them to drink, none of them would get drunk. The key issue is actually the beer and sparkling water," Han Fulai replied.

"Could it be... that someone tampered with the beer and sparkling water?"

The scout knight, with a strong sense of justice, instantly sharpened his eyes and stared at the habitual offender, Kaiya—if this guy is alright, he must have done something bad to someone else's wine!

Han Fulai quickly waved his hand, "Miss Amber, you've misunderstood. There's nothing wrong with beer and sparkling water themselves; they're just ordinary beer and sparkling water. But they have one thing in common—they both contain a lot of bubbles. The 'bomb' in 'Bouncy Bomb' is those 'bubbles'."

Amber blinked. Indeed, beer usually has a layer of white foam on top, and sparkling water has a lot of small bubbles... But is there anything wrong with these things?

Han Fulai laughed and said, "Miss Amber, think about it, if you drink a lot of sparkling water, don't you feel a bloated feeling in your stomach?"

Amber nodded.

"Here's the key point—I think you all noticed Miss Margaret covering her mouth after finishing a 'Bouncy Bomb,' which was probably to hide a burp. Beer and sparkling water fill the stomach of the person who drinks it with gas, and to expel that gas, our digestive system works faster, causing the body to absorb the 'fire and water' more quickly, making someone who isn't usually easily intoxicated suddenly drunk."

When drinking alcohol, it is generally considered important not to mix strong liquor with carbonated beverages, such as cola, Sprite, and soda water, as these can accelerate the absorption of alcohol by the stomach and intestines.

Scientists once conducted an experiment comparing vodka diluted with pure water and vodka diluted with soda water, and had participants drink both. The results showed that nearly two-thirds of the participants experienced faster alcohol absorption after drinking vodka diluted with sparkling soda water.

From a scientific perspective, the carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages stimulates the stomach lining, accelerating gastric emptying and allowing alcohol to enter the intestines more quickly, thus being absorbed by the body more rapidly.

In addition, highly distilled spirits, such as vodka, are mainly composed of ethanol; while beer is a fermented beverage containing histamine, chlorogenic acid, and other substances that can enhance the dilation of capillaries in the stomach and increase the speed at which alcohol enters the bloodstream—this is why "depth charges" are usually made with spirits and beer.

To put it simply, beer and sparkling water are both catalysts in chemical reactions. Adding these ingredients can greatly accelerate the reaction rate of alcohol in the body.

The bartenders in Mondstadt may not understand the biochemistry behind it, but that doesn't stop them from creating such a "bouncing bomb"...

At this point, Yura raised a new question: "But why is Kaeya the only one unaffected?"

Faced with Yura's inquisitive gaze, Han Fulai smiled again: "If you ask me, I think there are two reasons: First, Kaiya's constitution is naturally more capable of holding his liquor; second, he seemed very calm when he drank, so perhaps this wasn't his first time drinking this kind of liquor. After all, he used to work at Dawn Winery, so it's not surprising that he's tried the winery's secret blend before."

"Hmm? You're just guessing too?" Yura raised an eyebrow.

Han Fulai shrugged: "Why don't we just ask Kaiya himself... By the way, Miss Yura, you seem to think I know everything lately? I'm really not as amazing as you think, you know?"

"Pah! Who said you were so great?" Yura blushed slightly and quickly denied it.

But she found herself getting used to this person's "all-knowing" demeanor lately.

How should I put it? It's like four years ago, when Master was still by my side... No matter what, he was always confident and seemed to have nothing that could stump him, which made people feel... very at ease.

On the field, the drunken enthusiasts have been carried to the West Wind Cathedral by the staff—Barbara is probably going to be busy again.

Kaiya was held by the hand by Eze and lifted high like a boxing champion, enjoying the cheers of the audience.

In Mondstadt, the champion of drinking is indeed similar to the champion of boxing, after all, the drinking table is the ring for Mondstadt people.

"Young Master Kaiya, congratulations on becoming this year's 'Beverage Contest' champion." Eze finally found the opportunity to call him by that title.

Kaiya quietly shook her head and whispered, "I've been away from the winery for a long time... Don't use the old way of addressing me anymore."

Adeline stood quietly behind them, watching Kaia's increasingly tall and straight back, when Kaia suddenly turned around and gave her a slightly shy smile.

In that instant, time seemed to suddenly reverse, and once again, the well-behaved, polite, yet innocent and adorable "Young Master Kaia" appeared before Adeline's eyes.

That was when Mr. Kripps was still alive.

In the past, wine parties were often held at the Dawn Winery. For the sake of his children's education, Mr. Cripps always strictly forbade his two young masters from drinking alcohol.

At that time, Diluc had not yet become the Knight of Favonius, much less the taciturn "Night Hero" he is today. People who know Diluc now may not be able to imagine that the teetotaling young master of Dawn Winery was a complete "little drunkard" when he was a child. The more his father forbade him to touch alcohol, the more he wanted to drink, and he was very proactive in doing so—for example, stealing alcohol to drink.

Diluc would always team up with his good friend Kaeya to steal freshly bottled dandelion liqueur from the cellar.

The head maid, Adeline, was entrusted by Master Cripps to keep a close watch on the two brothers.

The two brothers usually use the more obedient-looking Kaiya as bait—by knocking over a vase, demanding to eat roasted pork ribs made from laurel wood, or falling and wanting the maid to hug them… to distract her.

So much so that later Adeline would occasionally confide in Ezekiel that boys, the gentle and sensible ones when they were young, would become disobedient when they grew up; the lively and active ones when they were young would become quiet and reserved when they grew up...

The current Captain Kaeya can lie without batting an eye, but the former young master Kaeya, when he appeared before her carrying the blame, always looked timid and would even stutter.

Diluc, who now always wears a grumpy poker face, used to laugh like a 200-pound child, skipping and hopping into the wine cellar.

Yes, of course, none of this escaped the maid's eyes.

But who could resist the charm of those two brothers? The maid could only keep one eye open and one eye closed.

Unfortunately, the maid's laziness couldn't magically increase the amount of wine missing from the cellar; Mr. Cripps discovered the problem as soon as he investigated.

At that time, Mr. Cripps was so angry that he punished Kaiya by making him copy books in the study, such as "A Brief Discussion on Beer Brewing" and "A General Discussion on Distillation Techniques," basically copying whichever book was the thickest; as for Diluc, he was punished by being made to clean grape barrels in the cellar, more than a dozen grape barrels, each barrel as tall as two small Dilucs, and he was not allowed to eat until he finished cleaning them!

The beautiful and kind-hearted maid secretly went down into the wine cellar to help young master Diluc clean the wine barrels. But when she got there, she found that Kaeya had already slipped out of the study to help Diluc clean the barrels.

Of course, these things did not escape Lord Cripps' notice. When he saw that the purple mark on Kaeya's hand was deeper than that on Diluc's hand, he understood everything.

Seeing that he couldn't stop the two brothers, Mr. Cripps thought that it was better to guide them than to block them, so he decided to let them taste alcohol from time to time.

So Kripps created the "Sweet Fragrance Wine Lake".

One part sparkling fruit juice to two parts milk, stirred well, has the same color as the "Fruit Lake" surrounding Mondstadt, and tastes sweet, hence the name.

Simple sweet fruit juice was not enough to satisfy the two little alcoholics, so after Kripps mixed "Sweet Fruit Wine Lake", he would add a little dandelion liqueur to it.

—As a result, after drinking the diluted "Sweet Fragrance Fruit Wine Lake", the two little ones immediately staggered and fell over.

Feeling something was amiss, Mr. Kripps also had a drink... and then there was one more drunkard.

After that, the recipe that made two generations of winery owners drunk became a little secret between father and son. Apart from the parties involved, only Miss Adeline, who had always been by their side, knew about it.

So before the competition, after Adeline received the "improved version of Sweetheart Fruit Wine Lake" sent to her by Kaia, she immediately understood what young master Kaia wanted to do.

Just like swordsmanship, alcohol tolerance can also be trained. People who regularly drink a certain type of alcohol usually develop a "resistance" to it, which means their bodies get used to it.

Kaia, who grew up drinking mixed spirits, has a much stronger resistance to them than those who are new to the recipe.

The significance of Young Master Kaiya suddenly giving her such an improved cocktail recipe is self-evident.

So Adeline cooperated perfectly with Kaia to win the championship—just like when they were little, this child would timidly come to her for a hug, and no matter how absurd the reason for diverting her attention was, Adeline would always go along with him.

Although it has been four years since Mr. Cripps passed away, Adeline has never forgotten anything about Mr. Cripps.

In response to Kaiya's smile, Adeline returned a bright smile.

“Young Master Kaiya, you will always be a part of Dawn Winery. We have never treated you as an outsider from the bottom of our hearts. Whenever you need us, we will do everything we can to help you – because we are family.”

Adeline didn't say these words aloud, but she was certain that young Master Kaia would understand what she was trying to say.

Just then, three people finally managed to squeeze in front of them.

"Congratulations, Kaiya! Hehe, this lottery ticket should be enough to redeem a big meal, right?" The fiery red-clad girl waved the lottery ticket in her hand.

The tall, slender girl in ice-blue seemed a little unconvinced: "Impressive, huh? The new King of Drinkers. Want to have a drinking contest with me tonight?"

The black-haired youth who had visited the winery earlier this month smiled and said, "As agreed, I won the 'Poetry Recitation' competition, and Miss Amber won the 'Flying Champion' award. How about our team has a celebration banquet tonight? Of course, Kaiya, you made a lot of money, so it's your treat tonight."

Kaiya shrugged, turned to Miss Adeline, and scratched his cheek somewhat sheepishly: "If it's convenient for you, Miss Adeline, how about we book a table together at 'Angel's Gift' tonight...?"

Adeline lifted her skirt and curtsied: "May I ask Charles to let me use the kitchen for the scalloped wood roast ribs and the thick vegetable stew, Master Kayah?"

Chapter 292 Joint Concert

Miss Adeline, the head maid of the Dawn Winery, is quite skilled in cooking; she could probably easily be the executive chef of any restaurant.

With her personally cooking, Han Fulai and the others thoroughly enjoyed the delicious food.

Take the "Willow Wood Roasted Pork Ribs" for example.

Grilled ribs are a common dish in Mondstadt, served in almost every restaurant. Han Fulai has eaten them several times in recent days at "The Deer Hunter" and "Goethe Hotel." This dish doesn't require rare ingredients or special skills; it's simply a piece of rib seasoned and grilled. Even Amber, who isn't particularly skilled in cooking, dares to proudly claim she can make "Scout Knight Grilled Ribs."

But Miss Adeline made this common dish taste quite different.

The grilled ribs, coated with honey and salt and pepper, are grilled to a golden brown on the surface, seemingly a little overcooked, but inside they are tender and crispy. With a gentle cut of the knife, the juices flow out, making them the very embodiment of the adjective "juicy and tender".

Moreover, this steak even had the fragrance of fruitwood. Taking a bite, the mouth was filled with the aroma of meat, while the nose was filled with the fragrance of fruit. This wonderfully complex flavor reminded Han Fulai of the "fruitwood-roasted duck" he had eaten before.

No wonder Kaiya has been longing for this "barbecued pork ribs" since she was a child; it is indeed a delicious dish that cannot be tasted elsewhere.

And the "Thick Vegetable Stew" personally prepared by Miss Adeline was equally extraordinary.

The meat used for stewing is "chilled fresh meat" from the Longji Snow Mountain, taken from the back of "snow pigs".

The snow pig is a rather rare creature. According to records, snow pigs only live in harsh, frosty environments and have thicker fur than their counterparts in warmer regions. Due to the lack of natural predators, legend has it that these snow pigs can live very long lives, and those that live long enough will grow exceptionally large over time.

Two thousand six hundred years ago, during the era of the struggle between the "North Wind Wolf King" and the "Lone Tower King," snow pigs were once widely distributed across the lands of Mondstadt. However, as Barbatos completely altered Mondstadt's climate, these swamp pigs are said to have become extinct in Mondstadt hundreds of years ago.

The "chilled meat" that Mondstadt has today almost all comes from the accidental discoveries of some adventurers and hunters in the Dragonspine Mountains—the extreme weather of the Dragonspine Mountains is like a natural freezer, enough to preserve frozen snow pigs for hundreds of years without rotting.

In other words, each piece of "chilled meat" is a delicacy that has traversed hundreds of years, a precious "legacy" of nature, and once eaten, it's gone forever. For Teyvat gourmets, this sacred and precious ingredient is usually something they can only dream of.

Of course, its price is also so high that it is out of reach.

Kaiya, on the other hand, had been eating "thick vegetable stew" made with "fresh chilled meat" by Head Maid Adeline since childhood, which shows the immense wealth of the Leigenfender family.

However, Kaiya hasn't had this "thick-grained vegetable stew" in a long time.

As the saying goes, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Even the Morning Light Winery has not been able to acquire "chilled meat" for some years, let alone other places.