Chapter 374 I am changing the world!
"A glass of classic."

The door of the bar was open to let in the cool evening breeze. A tall and straight man raised his index finger to indicate someone and sat down at the innermost side of the bar.

It was drizzling outside at night. The distance from the parking lot to the store was several dozen meters, and my shoulders and arms were slightly wet.

"Would you like a snack?"

There were only a few booths with customers in the store, and the bar was empty. Without bothering the waiter to come, the male bartender standing at the bar, wearing a white shirt and black vest with his hair tied up, helped pass tissues and pour water.

A small plate of peanuts was also given as a side dish.

The man straightened his baseball cap and took the tissue to wipe off the water droplets on his left wristwatch: "One serving of ham."

"Is this your first time at my place? You look familiar with my place." The bartender approached in confusion.

The drinker with a baseball cap on his head is dressed simply, with a loose white shirt and casual trousers, but on his feet he is wearing a pair of fancy high-top contrasting color mandarin duck canvas shoes, which is very much like the trendy college boys in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

However, she was without any metal accessories like the Chrome Hearts skull ring, and her whole body was neat and tidy, with only a watch on her wrist, whose authenticity was unknown.

The bartender who greets and sees off customers every day is well-informed and familiar with all models of the Royal Oak series. As far as he knows, Audemars Piguet has never issued this black ceramic watch for drinkers' wrists.

But the Bentley car keys thrown on the bar counter to complement the watch are very convincing, if not the lighter.

The light from the beams of light hanging above the bar was dim, and the customer's face was faintly youthful under his baseball cap. The bartender tried his best to look at him and felt more and more familiar with him.

Before he could think deeply, the door of the shop opened with a bang, and two burly men with flat heads and short-sleeved shirts that were tight on their shoulders and strong muscles, and a woman with a pretty face and a bitter expression walked in.

They sat down at a booth behind the bar and placed their orders in whispers.

"Hello, Classical."

The bartender didn't get a response but didn't get upset. He skillfully mixed a classic cocktail and served it.

The young drinker first rinses his mouth with plain water, waits for two minutes for the ice to melt slightly, picks up the wine glass, smells the orange fragrance, then drinks it into his mouth, swirls it around and swallows it down his throat.

I can tell from the look in his eyes that he is a pretender!
The bartender's brows furrowed slightly immediately. Nowadays, wild partying is the mainstream in nightclubs, and quiet bars are not popular. As a top-ranked quiet bar in Shanghai, it is crowded with enthusiasts.

He went into the store alone and worked at the bar. He ordered classic cocktails without looking at the menu and drank without saying a word.

This set of three consecutive moves is a classic among classics. It’s not to be despised, but to bluff.

"How does it taste?" the bartender took the initiative to start the conversation again.

Xie Jingxing gave two words: "Rules."

"Since this is your first time drinking at my house, and I don't know your taste preferences, I will make this drink according to the standard method."

The bartender was like a chef who had been tickled by the comments of a gourmet, feeling pleased but also a little dissatisfied.

Xie Jing Xing smiled and said, "Everyone has their own taste. Every bartender has a different understanding of classic cocktails, and the drinks they make are very different. In my opinion, it's rare to have 'rules' when you drink it for the first time."

"Thank you. Every customer has different tastes. It is also rare to hear your real subjective feedback."

The bartender nodded seriously, then followed up with a joke: "Did you come to my shop specifically to drink alone on a rainy day, or are you just hanging out in the area?"

"I saw your place on Dianping.com, and I happen to work nearby." After a few sips of wine, the young drinker became increasingly talkative.

Another female assistant at the bar who was wearing a black apron and cracking ice cubes looked up in surprise: "You look so young, I thought you were a college student."

"It's been more than two years since I graduated, so I deliberately dressed younger today when I went out to play."

Xie Jingxing finished the wine in his glass while talking: "Do you have any recommendations on your wine list?"

"It depends on what flavor you want to drink. We have our own wine menu, you can take a look first." The male bartender was vague.

Xie Jing Xing glanced through the wine list: "They are all sweet drinks."

"Yes, I was embarrassed to say it just now. The customers of my restaurant are mainly office workers who work near Lujiazui. They like to drink drinks with lower alcohol content, which are easier to drink and make them relax." The male bartender was a little embarrassed.

"Then let's have a special drink, a little sour, a little bitter, no egg white foam, no smoke."

"I want a sour taste... can I use fruity flavor?"

"Okay, with a higher alcohol content."

"Hold on."

The male bartender turned around and looked at the wall full of wine cabinets. After thinking for a moment, he took out a ladder from the top of the wine cabinet, and then took out a glass wine jar filled with green plums.

"Try it. We made it ourselves. It tastes good sour to me." The female assistant chef took the plum wine and poured it into a shot glass.

This kind of shot is a little easter egg when sitting at the bar. Whether it is given or not depends entirely on the mood of the bartender, and different drinkers will receive different treatments.

Xie Jing Xing thanked him, took a sip, wrinkled his nose and joked: "It tastes like lactic acid bacteria, haha."

"You are a bit jealous, wait a minute."

The female assistant turned around and took out various base liquors from the wine cabinet, and started to mix the cocktails. She moved skillfully and mixed the cocktails at the same time as the male bartender.

He first poured out a drop for himself to taste, then asked the male bartender to pour out a drop. The latter shook his head after tasting it.

Then he picked out two glasses of homemade wine from the wine cabinet. Xie Jingxing ordered a glass of wine and got a glass of wine with 4 shots.

"Do you have any cucumbers? Give me one. You don't need to cut or wash it."

He took the cucumber sticks to clean his mouth, tasted the bartender's drink, and passed it around his mouth: "New and old New Orleans Sour."

"We used almond brandy." The male bartender smiled knowingly.

Xie Jingxing's request sounds complicated, but it actually goes back to its origins. In the early days of cocktails, condiments were largely added to cover up the taste of inferior spirits to make them easier to drink.

For example, sprinkle salt on your mouth while drinking tequila, lick the salt first and then drink the wine, and then chew a lemon after drinking the wine.

In the early days, it was because the brewing process could not filter out a toxin in tequila, and salt could alleviate the problem comprehensively. Now it has become a primitive way of drinking pursued by some ignorant enthusiasts and fans.

The sweet and sour flavors of lemon and citrus, plus bitterness and ice cubes, are the cocktail recipes that have remained the same for hundreds of years. There is an exclusive genre called sour.

But precisely because it is within the framework, no matter how you adjust it, it will have three flavors: sour, bitter, and sweet. It is not easy to maintain the quality of traditional classics while being innovative and unconventional.

So Xie Jingxing said it was both new and old, and gave a thumbs up: "It tastes good."

"Try mine."

The female assistant bartender couldn't wait to speak before the male bartender could introduce his ideas for mixing cocktails.

Xie Jingxing picked up the shot she made, and the drink tasted so good that it flew up his throat. He bared his teeth and frowned, "Sister, you broke the rules."

"Is it sour enough?" The female deputy laughed.

Xie Jing Xing exhaled, tilted his head back and drank it all: "Sour, very refreshing."

"So she's a special type, right?"

The male bartender was also happy because he was balancing the flavors without changing the basic structure of the wine, while the female assistant mixologist destroyed the basic structure.

The taste of a glass of wine is 10. No matter how sour, sweet and bitter are combined, the overall taste is 10.

The female deputy adjusted this cup to have 7 sour, 2 bitter and 1 sweet. It tastes only sour, without any taste balance. It is destined to not suit the general taste and is only suitable for a very small number of people.

"Drink slowly."

After all, it is a high-scoring bar in Shanghai. Although it rained all night, as time went on, waves of drinkers came into the bar.

Xie Jingxing and the other two chatted harmoniously for a long time, and the male bartender left first and busied himself with making cocktails.

"So you are in finance?" the female deputy asked curiously.

Xie Jingxing was slightly tipsy and leaned his elbows on the bar, "When a brick was thrown at Lujiazui, seven out of ten people said they were in finance."

"What about the remaining three?" the female supporting role asked.

Xie Jingxing said humorously: "One said he was in the service industry, and the other two said they were selling hope."

"Then what are you?" The female deputy wanted to know the answer.

Xie Jing Xing raised his arms: "I am changing the world!" "As expected, you are a man working in finance. Your words are too strong. I can't stand it. Drink slowly. I have to mix a glass of wine to calm my nerves."

The female deputy was very good at teasing, so she joined in the banter and went to mix drinks for the guests.

Xie Jingxing was not bored at all, as the bar was almost full, and next to him was a young couple who looked like college students.

The boy was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt with a stand-up collar, loose jeans and sneakers, looking old-fashioned and dull.

The girl has a pretty face and delicate makeup. She wears a short-sleeved shirt with a large Gucci logo, and the hem is tied up to reveal a fair waist. Her two slender legs are straightened by the slim jeans, and paired with a pair of popular 'GGDB' five-star dirty shoes.

"I don't know why it keeps going off track. It's tied very tight. Didn't you say that there should be enough space between the strap and the wrist for a little finger?"

There was an opened small gift box in front of the young couple. The boy touched the watch on his wrist without knowing what it meant. It was a 'DW' watch with a blue, white and red nylon strap.

Xie Jingxing has a signed version of the same designer watch. The regular version costs about one thousand yuan. It is fashionable and affordable and has become increasingly popular in the past two years.

"It may be that the hole on the strap is not the right length. Give it to me first and I'll drill a hole in it tomorrow." The girl said in a decisive tone.

The boy chuckled and said, "No, I'll go with you. This is the first gift you've ever given me."

"You're getting more and more capable, aren't you? Tomorrow is Monday, so you won't have morning class?" The girl rolled her eyes at him in reproach and drank through the straw with her puffed lips.

The boy groaned awkwardly: "How about the day after tomorrow?"

"No, I have an appointment with Sister Jingjing to play the day after tomorrow."

"Then the day after tomorrow, you don't have classes the day after tomorrow."

"I want to go home the day after tomorrow."

Seeing that the boy clearly wanted to take the opportunity to ask the girl out but was too embarrassed to say it out loud, the girl clearly knew it but because of her pride, she wanted to force the boy to say it out loud.

Xie Jing Xing couldn't help but laugh and said, "You don't have to punch holes. You can try changing the strap."

"Hmm? How do we change?" The boy took the girl's hand quietly and reservedly.

"This kind of pin buckle watch strap has the long end facing 12 o'clock and the short end facing 6 o'clock. You can switch the long and short positions."

Xie Jingxing pointed to the watch on his wrist and said, "Human wrists are not oval, and the center of gravity of the watch clasp is not standard, so the dial will turn outward. This has nothing to do with how tight you tie it."

"Oh, thank you."

The boy thanked him briefly and didn't want to say more, but the girl leaned over the bar and widened her eyes in surprise: "You are Xie Jingxing?!"

"Shh!"

Fortunately, there was background music playing in the store, and the drinkers were chatting in a noisy atmosphere so no one else could hear them. Xie Jing Xing helplessly gestured to keep quiet.

"Why are you here?"

The girl was very excited. She felt her boyfriend holding her hand tighter. She calmed down a little and couldn't help but smile sweetly. She turned around and took the initiative to interlock her fingers with her boyfriend.

Xie Jingxing found it very interesting. He raised the brim of his hat slightly and started chatting with the young couple.

They are students of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and have just been together for a short time. Today is the boy's birthday, so they went out on a date to eat and drink and the girl gave him a watch as a gift.

The girl was cheerful and cheerful, and she was the only one who spoke. Xie Jingxing listened with interest and occasionally asked a few questions.

The boy had been pursuing the girl for five years since high school. Until this year, the girl broke up with her third boyfriend and was finally moved by him and agreed to give it a try together.

"I originally thought that we could try buying a watch at a counter, but he insisted on buying it online. It's so annoying that he bought the wrong watch." The girl pouted.

The boy looked at her lovingly and said, "This watch is very good... The watches in the store are too expensive."

"But you can try it out in person and pick the one you like." Girls would rather be single than wear the wrong guy.

"Your drink, 'Good Morning', is given to you by the two ladies in the booth at the back."

Xie Jingxing was watching the love that was all he could wish for, when suddenly there was a glass of wine in front of him, and the female assistant pursed her lips and made a gesture with her eyes.

"Did you drink and sleep till tomorrow, so you called it 'Good morning'?"

Xie Jingxing followed her gaze and looked back, only to see that among the two girls at the table by the window, the one with long black hair and a baseball cap tilted her head towards him.

"No, who can use Mount Fuji to privately own love? The name is too long and hard to remember, so I translated it into 'Good Morning'." The female chorus hummed the lyrics in an ambiguous tone.

"Thank you."

Xie Jingxing raised his glass to the black-haired girl and said, "Mount Fuji came too suddenly. If you talk to me about this, I will run away."

"The night is long, why rush?" The female deputy stopped talking and continued with her work.

Seeing this, the girl next to him hurriedly tried to persuade him to stay: "You've finished drinking, can we take a photo together?"

"Just sit down, no need to stand up."

Xie Jingxing took off his baseball cap, took her phone and raised it sideways. The girl smiled brightly and instructed the boy to make a "V" sign, while she rested her chin on the boy's shoulder.

"Bye, come again next time." Seeing that he was really leaving, the male bartender took a break from his busy schedule to wave goodbye.

"must."

"Write us a good review on Dianping."

"I'll make you a map of drunkards."

Xie Jingxing walked away, and the two men and one woman sitting in the booth behind him followed him and paid the bill and left.

After a moment, the female bartender grabbed the waiter who was cleaning up and said, "The guest in booth 03 didn't drink any alcohol. Is the taste wrong?"

"I didn't ask. They didn't seem to be here to drink. The two male guests were looking around." The waiter lowered his voice while holding three glasses of wine that had melted into water.

"They are Xie Jingxing's bodyguards, right? I saw them walking with Xie Jingxing." The girl next to her continued.

The female bartender was slightly stunned: "Who?"

"Xie Jingxing, the person who just said goodbye to you was Xie Jingxing, didn't you recognize him?" The girl blinked her big confused eyes.

The female bartender was even more confused than her, and the two of them looked at each other in silence for a long time, while the guests at the bar all looked at each other sideways.

"I said why the watch he wears looks fake." The male bartender broke the silence quietly.

The girl actively shared with everyone at the bar: "The watch he wears is a specially customized model by Audemars Piguet. They said that in two years, they will use his watch as a prototype to design a mass-produced model."

“…I’ve seen fake watches before, but I’ve never seen a fake watch like this.”

A drinker let down his rolled-up sleeves, and his female companion glanced at his wrist, an entry-level Audemars Piguet watch that had just been dangling in front of her eyes.

"He gave you a bottle of wine."

The female bartender suddenly came to her senses and handed the girl a receipt: "Macallan 21 years."

"My boyfriend's birthday is today. He's 21."

The girl suddenly turned her head and looked towards the shop door, which happened to be open. Several customers walked in laughing, and then the door closed with a sound of loss.

【May you live long. 】

The girl's fingers touched a line of crisp handwriting on the back of the receipt, and dots of ink that had not yet dried spread out, representing a long time and frequent drinking.

"I was so scared. I just made a special drink for Xie Jingxing. Then he said he was going to change the world, and I made fun of him. Damn it!"

Everyone has their own troubles. The female deputy director patted her hot forehead. If the wine was not well made and received a bad review, life would be miserable.

"It should be okay. He said he would make a drunkard map for you." The boy comforted.

Some drinkers were confused: "What is a drunkard map?"

"Is it the map of drunkards?" the male bartender asked.

(End of this chapter)