An obvious sponsored gig

The trolls in chat nearly made Guinaifen laugh out loud.

What kind of freaks could pull off trolling like this?

She had undergone professional training.

No matter how funny it was, she would not laugh.

Unless she couldn't help it.

So, afraid she might burst out laughing, Guinaifen hurriedly racked her brains for a change of subject.

As luck would have it, she noticed Jiang Yao had stopped mixing the Soda Bean Juice and Hot Floating Mutton Milk.

He had a tiny bit of free time.

She immediately seized her chance, squeezed into the opening, and sidled up to Jiang Yao. "Master, Master! Are you mixing Soda Bean Juice with cooled Hot Floating Mutton Milk?"

Honestly, Guinaifen was a little curious too.

Either of those things on its own was a disaster.

Mix the two together...

Hah. Was he sure this wasn't a case of "World, feel pain with me!"?

Yes, she had smelled the strange odor of Soda Bean Juice from a long way off.

They said there were three things a person could never hold back in life.

The first was a sneeze.

The second was Soda Bean Juice.

The third was a sneeze while smelling Soda Bean Juice.

That alone showed how powerful Soda Bean Juice was.

At Guinaifen's question...

Jiang Yao froze for a moment, then gave her an odd look.

It was lucky he had left his serious mode, or he definitely would not have bothered answering.

But...

"Can't you smell it?"

Jiang Yao was baffled. Soda Bean Juice had a seriously pungent smell.

Guinaifen was delighted that Jiang Yao had answered, but his question confused her. "Um... I can. Soda Bean Juice really does have a very distinctive smell."

Jiang Yao was even more baffled. "Then why are you asking me?"

Jiang Yao looked Guinaifen up and down.

It seemed he could put her in the same category as March 7th and Stelle!

"Huh?"

Guinaifen blinked.

Hiss... wait, was this actually my fault?

Chat went wild with laughter!

[Hahahahaha, he's got a point!]

[I think the master is right. You could smell it, so why ask? Hahahahaha.]

[Help, how can this streamer be so funny?!]

[...]

Guinaifen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

From a standpoint of universal reason, this really did seem to be my fault...?

Pah!

No, that's not right!

"No, Master, what I wanted to ask was, don't you think... um... the smell is a little strong?"

Guinaifen gesticulated with both hands and feet.

The shaking nearly made her viewers throw up.

It was hard to say whether that smell had somehow crawled through their screens and into their noses.

Because, just as Guinaifen had said, mixing Soda Bean Juice with cooled Hot Floating Mutton Milk made the smell even stronger...

Bailu nodded beside them, wholeheartedly agreeing.

If she hadn't trusted Jiang Yao's cooking and been waiting for him to feed her, she would already have run as far away as she could.

Phantylia also fanned the air in front of her nose.

Clearly, this smell really was... unbearable.

Jiang Yao didn't care. This was a necessary step. He shrugged and said, "Oh, mine's pretty big. Just bear with it."

There was nothing wrong with that statement.

Making delicious food, especially preparing the ingredients, wasn't always going to be a wonderful experience.

But for the triple pleasure of sight, smell, and taste...

What was wrong with putting up with it for a bit?

Jiang Yao continued working.

The Soda Bean Juice and Hot Floating Mutton Milk were fully mixed.

All that remained was to heat it.

And while heating it, he also needed to add a few ingredients.

He had already said Hot Floating Mutton Milk was destined to become milk tea.

How could there be no tea in it?

Danding Plain Needle was a renowned Xianzhou tea with a heritage spanning thousands of years. Neither strong nor bitter, it was fresh, fragrant, mellow, and rich.

As the saying went, a lotus rose from clear water, naturally beautiful without adornment.

A good light tea wasn't bland and flavorless, but delicate without being thin.

Using this tea to further balance the Soda Bean Juice and Hot Floating Mutton Milk would count as a successful improvement.

Of course, if he wanted to take it a step further...

He could add more!

Jiang Yao certainly wouldn't skimp.

By refining Scalegorge Spring, Shady Mountain Green, and Morning Dew Sprout, he could create a new tea blend.

Its flavor was sweet, refreshing, and lingering. Nostalgic as he was, Jiang Yao named it Cloud-Stilling Song.

Oh, yes, that was the real Tingyun's name~

Of course, there was no problem blending them all together now.

"Whoa! Danding Plain Needle, Scalegorge Spring, Shady Mountain Green, Morning Dew Sprout... Jiang Yao, why are you adding so many fine teas?"

Bailu felt a little pained.

These teas were all very expensive. Although she had no shortage of them, she knew what they were worth.

Putting all of them into Hot Floating Mutton Milk...

Waaaaah! Isn't this far too wasteful?!

"What? Master, this... you're being far too..."

Guinaifen was also too shocked to speak.

She didn't recognize these tea leaves by sight.

But if someone told her what they were, she would know.

Because she couldn't afford to drink them. Not remotely!

[Holy shit? He's that rich?]

[Master, I want to have your babies!]

[What kind of Abomination of Abundance talk is that?]

[Isn't this way too wasteful?]

[Just throwing everything into one pot, huh?]

[Are you kidding me? Even this guy gets called a master?]

[Right, didn't someone say Marshal Hua was here? Where's the marshal?]

[...]

Another wave of controversy swept through Guinaifen's chat.

The reason was simple: these teas really were expensive.

Yet Jiang Yao tossed them in as casually as dumplings.

How could watching that not hurt?

But then...

Before long, the scene changed.

As the mixture of Soda Bean Juice and Hot Floating Mutton Milk continued to heat up...

The strange odor and bitterness had not dissipated.

When the four teas entered the milky-white drink...

They first floated up, then slowly sank, descending toward the bottom like a delicate beauty dancing gracefully.

Their movements were so elegant.

As the temperature rose, they gradually unfurled within it.

They bobbed up and down, releasing their fragrance.

Within the light, milky-white drink, the strange odor and bitterness had long since vanished, joining with the tea's aroma to nurture an astonishing fragrance.

And as the temperature kept rising, that fragrance soared straight into the clouds, sweeping through without resistance!

"Wow! It smells amazing!"

With her keen nose, Bailu caught that astonishing fragrance immediately.

It was unlike the sweetness of Hot Floating Mutton Milk, the strange smell of Soda Bean Juice, or the fragrance of tea.

When these drinks with their different flavors blended together...

They brought out one another's strengths and offset their weaknesses, completely eliminating the nauseating parts.

The heat accelerated their fusion.

There weren't any distinct layers, but that certainly wasn't a bad thing.

Once the "impurities" had been removed...

All that remained was an aroma so rich it refused to disperse, unlike anything they had ever smelled.

Yes, this was a completely new experience.

"Jiang Yao, you're amazing!"

Bailu sighed in admiration, her eyes narrowing in delight.

It was as though she had already settled in to drink tea.

She closed her eyes, savoring the prelude.

"Guys! Who gets it?! A master really is a master!"

"You know what? Little Gui can't smell anything weird anymore! It's all fragrance! It's pure happiness!"

Looking utterly intoxicated, Guinaifen kept fanning the air around her, trying to usher that aroma into her nose.

"I feel like I'm riding in a Starskiff right now, cruising around with the windows open."

Guinaifen's eyes shone brightly.

She looked longingly, almost bashfully, at the pot of milk tea.

An eerie gleam of desire filled her eyes.

But her viewers weren't buying it!

[A shill???]

[Oh no, Little Gui's sense of taste is broken!]

[Huh? You're praising a pot of random stuff? I could do that too!]

[Move along, move along. Obviously a sponsored gig.]

[Seriously, why so over the top? The sponsor must be furious!]

[Hiss, I came here for the marshal. Where is she?]

[...]