Chapter 26 - 26 26 Cocktail Master

Words : 1728 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

26: Chapter 26: Cocktail Master 26: Chapter 26: Cocktail Master James Brown stirred into action, his right hand seizing a bottle and pouring it into the cocktail shaker before vigorously shaking it. At the same time, he poured another bottle of liquor into a different cocktail shaker but instead of shaking, he stirred. Performing different actions with each hand and without any hint of hesitation, it was as if he possessed the ability to multi-task as described in martial arts novels. While most onlookers simply saw James Brown’s ambidextrous bartending without much thought, Little David’s eyeballs nearly popped out of his head. Having trained in similar techniques, he understood how difficult it was to manage different actions with each hand simultaneously. Although he could barely do it himself, his speed was nothing compared to James’s—it was incredibly weak in comparison. Before Little David could process what he’d seen, James Brown had already poured the contents of the two cocktail shakers into glasses and had moved on to the third and fourth types of liquor. Unlike Little David, who often tossed the cocktail shakers and performed tricks, James Brown stuck to simple shaking or stirring. It appeared much less spectacular and artistic than Little David’s mixing. Everyone but Little David felt that James’s bartending was too ordinary, something even they could manage. “Done!” James Brown announced softly after pouring nine different liquors one after another into a single glass. “That’s it?” Steven Robinson pouted and commented, “That’s too plain, isn’t it?” “Yeah, it’s so boring, just like that. I could do it too,” William Clarke chimed in with a high-pitched voice. Emily Lopez also felt a bit disappointed. She had expected James to demonstrate his impressive skills once again, but this performance seemed all too ordinary and uninspiring. At that moment, Little David, completely fixated on the drink James had prepared, suddenly ran over to turn off the bar’s lights, causing an uproar among the patrons, notably William Clarke, the Drag Queen, who shrieked even louder and higher. A beam of light soon approached; Little David had grabbed a small flashlight and rushed to the table, carefully shining it onto the liquor inside the glass. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the glass by Little David. “Ah! It’s so beautiful!” a girl exclaimed first. “It’s just like a rainbow.” “No, it’s even more beautiful than a rainbow. It’s like a dream, absolutely fantastic.” Then everyone noticed something special about this drink. It was layered into nine distinct levels with not a hint of mixing, and the combination of nine colors was so stunning that it dazzled everyone’s vision. Emily Lopez’s eyes sparkled as she jumped up, clutching James’s arm and excitedly cheering, “Brother-in-law, you’re the coolest, I love you to death!” Everyone was captivated by the drink, and no one seemed to notice Emily’s use of “Brother-in-law,” which would have given away their relationship immediately. “Nine-Colored Rainbow! Nine-Colored Rainbow! My God, I can’t believe I’m seeing a Nine-Colored Rainbow!” Little David stuttered out loud. “Is this called Nine-Colored Rainbow?” a woman asked. Puffing out his chest, Little David replied, “Indeed, this is the Nine-Colored Rainbow. To my knowledge, in our province, there is only one person capable of mixing such a Nine-Colored Rainbow.” “Is it that difficult? It looked to me like he just shook it casually and then poured it in, nothing special, right?” William Clarke still seemed unconvinced. “You don’t understand,” Little David quickly said. “Mixing drinks is not that simple. Liquor is a liquid and it blends easily. Only by perfect stirring and shaking can one adjust the liquor’s density and temperature to the optimum level, preventing mixing. Don’t believe me? Try it yourselves.” The people around tried for themselves, but no matter what they did, whenever they poured two kinds of drinks into one glass, they mixed together. With two types already posing a challenge, the difficulty involved in combining nine as James had done was apparent. William Clarke was still not entirely convinced, “So what if the drink looks good? It’s just mixing drinks. There’s no artistic beauty in that. Unlike Little David’s style of mixing drinks—tossing and turning with an artistic flair—that’s what’s truly good.” Little David shook his head and said, “That’s just showboating. A real cocktail master wouldn’t resort to such flashy moves.” At that moment, Little David looked at James Brown with eyes full of admiration and excitement, “Today, I’ve witnessed a master. Thank you for showing me such a brilliant cocktail mixing technique.” James Brown smiled faintly and replied, “It’s nothing. I just practice it for fun now and then. It’s nothing compared to your professional mixing.” Little David immediately felt even more ashamed and said, “My professional skills are so much worse than your amateur ones. I feel embarrassed to mix cocktails in front of you.” Seeing Little David’s admiration for James Brown, everyone, even if they were unwilling to accept it, couldn’t say much more. Otherwise, it would be a slight against Little David. “Brother-in-law… James, can I drink this cocktail now?” At this moment, what Emily Lopez cared most about was that cup of Nine-Colored Rainbow on the table. James Brown quickly said, “It was mixed for you.” Emily Lopez excitedly shouted again, then carefully picked up the glass, fearing that mixing the layers would ruin the aesthetics. As she brought it to her lips and gently took a sip, Emily’s eyes instantly squinted, and then she drank a bit more water. Her facial expression was extremely rich—sometimes joyful, sometimes enraptured, sometimes frowning, but quickly smoothing out into a look of infinite aftertaste. Watching Emily enjoy it so much, everyone couldn’t help but swallow their saliva secretly. Little David almost drooled. From Emily’s reaction, he could tell that the cocktail wasn’t just the taste of various alcohols mixed together, there was something different about the combination of the different liquors. He was dying to snatch it away and take a good sip himself. Emily finally finished the cocktail, her cheeks a little flushed. She closed her eyes and savored it for a while before she opened her eyes again. Those big, watery eyes, like pools of autumn water, looked at James Brown without saying a word. Suddenly, she grabbed James’s arm, leaned in, and kissed him on the face. “Oh…” The crowd let out a strange yell together. James Brown instantly felt embarrassed. What was this? A pretend brother-in-law receiving a kiss from his little niece-in-law. If Gina Lopez found out, she would skin him alive. Seeing James’s awkwardness, Emily started giggling happily. At this point, although the group was still somewhat unconvinced by James, they believed that he deserved to be with them. However, they still saw him as an outsider and didn’t show much enthusiasm towards him. James wasn’t bothered. His purpose for coming was to accompany Emily and to see what this bunch was up to, as a way to give Gina an explanation. After watching for a while, James became impatient. These so-called artists were just pontificating, criticizing people in their industry, always focusing on others’ flaws without acknowledging their contributions or strengths. They talked nonsense as if they were the only talented ones overlooked. As long as they were given a chance, they’d soar to the sky. Although James was only a year or two older than them, his years of tough training had long erased such unrealistic thoughts. He saw them as nothing more than a group of immature kids and felt no interest in interacting with them. If it weren’t for Emily being there, he would’ve walked out immediately. Steven Robinson sat on the other side of Emily, ignoring James, and said, “Emily, one day I’ll surely become a top-tier singer. Right now, I just lack the opportunity. You have to believe in me.” Emily nodded, “I believe you.” Steven became even more excited, “Nowadays, those singers are all hyped up. Look at that one’s singing skill; it’s very poor. And that one, all of their songs are written by others. Some people even get ahead by selling their bodies. I feel ashamed for such singers.” He rattled off the faults of many singers, his righteous indignation causing everyone to nod in agreement, including Emily. James had been annoyed for a while and upon seeing Emily being influenced by them, he couldn’t help but shake his head inwardly. He very much agreed with Gina’s view that hanging out with these angry youths brought no benefits. If Emily kept company with them for too long, it really wouldn’t be good. He knew that Emily, a rebellious girl, would only intensify her interaction with these people if she were forcefully kept away from them. It seemed necessary to find an opportunity to let Emily see these people for what they really were. “Emily, let’s form a group someday. I’ll sing, and you dance. We’d be the perfect pair and become famous throughout the country.” Seeing Steven go too far and feeling annoyed, even as Emily’s fake boyfriend, James saw this as a perfect opportunity. He suddenly slammed the table, stood up, and startled everyone. He yelled, “Enough! You think you can form a group with trash like yourself? Do you think you have the talent?” Emily was surprised by James’s outburst and looked at him in astonishment, while Steven jumped up, glaring, and shouted, “Do you understand music? Do you understand dance? What gives you the right to lecture us?” James snorted coldly, “You sit here criticizing this and talking about others’ shortcomings. Have you ever considered their strengths? Have you learned from those singers who became famous based on their actual talent? Do you think you’re better than those talented singers? I think you’re just jealous of their luck, of them making it, and you’re sour grapes. Emily, I’m not interested in this kind of gathering. I’m leaving. If you want to hang out, go ahead.” Sёarch* The novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With that, he strode towards the door, no longer bothering to look back at this bunch of young people who were all talk and no action.

Chapter 26 - 26 26 Cocktail Master

Comments (0)