"Mother, I bought what you wanted."
Kaixi opened the car door and handed a bottle of liquor and a bag of black Shizi to her mother-in-law, Madam Tang Li.
Today, Madam Tang Li was not wearing the traditional Vien women's clothing she usually wore at home. Instead, a dark red robe covered her entire body, even concealing her face beneath its hood.
Madam Tang Li reached out and took the bottle from her daughter-in-law.
The bottle had an unusual shape, narrow at the base and wide at the top. The liquor was red, but when shaken, wisps of blue-green drifted along the inside edges of the bottle. Once it settled, it remained red.
"Let me see the receipt."
"Here, Mother." Kaixi obediently handed her mother-in-law the receipt from her purchases at the Point Vouchers Shop.
"To think that after all these years, not only has the price not risen, it's actually a little cheaper than I remember."
"Order Vouchers have appreciated considerably against other vouchers recently," Kaixi explained.
"So that's why."
Madam Tang Li uncorked the bottle and held out her hand. Kaixi poured the bag of Shizi into her palm, and Madam Tang Li tipped all the stones into the bottle.
The Shizi quickly filled the base. With a gentle shake, a sizzling sound came from the bottom, and dense streams of bubbles began to rise. Soon, the red liquor turned blue, like a flame burning inside the bottle. A strong, dizzyingly pungent smell filled the air.
Madam Tang Li raised the bottle to her lips and took a sip, then closed her eyes, an expression of reminiscence and enjoyment appearing on her face.
After a long while, she looked at her daughter-in-law and asked, "You've never tried drinking it this way, have you?"
Kaixi shook her head. "No."