HLM – Chapter 928 The Sparkling Wine Mixer

The drinks bar was built right next to the government office building. Wang Bo figured this way he could grab a drink whenever he wanted—when work got boring, he’d finally have a place to relax.

Taking advantage of the still-hot January weather, the drinks bar opened for business. Wang Bo rolled out a red carpet at the entrance and added a few flower stands—it looked pretty formal.

Compared to the Great Qin Café, the drinks bar was much more modern, following a green “mountains-and-rivers” nature theme.

Walking in from the entrance, there stood a pillar supporting the small building. But its exterior was covered with bark, with a few branches extending outward. Plastic leaves hung from them, and when the fan blew, the branches and leaves swayed gently.

The drinks bar’s name was simply “World Tree.” Wang Bo just wanted something easy.

The branches and leaves of the World Tree spread across the bar’s two floors. The seating environment felt tranquil—such as swings hanging under thick branches, wooden stumps for seats, and chairs that looked as if they’d grown naturally from vines and trees.

The market loved novelty, and once the World Tree opened, its environment quickly attracted tourists.

Wang Bo and a group of his people also went in to relax, each ordering a drink and chatting under the tree.

But the opening day was extremely hot. Technically, autumn should’ve cooled things down already, but the “autumn tiger” was fierce— the sun was still blazing, driving many people into the drinks bar for shade.

Seeing how quickly the place filled up, Atulu said enviously, “Boss, you really have it easy. One idea and you’re making this much money.”

Wang Bo felt this was a result of favorable timing, location, and popularity: the heat brought people in; the power of the “Pub Core” enhanced the business; and the town already had famous pubs and cafés, creating a brand effect.

But the turnout exceeded his expectations. He had only hired two drink mixers and four servers, thinking the early days wouldn’t be too busy.

He hadn’t expected the first day to be this packed, so he had no choice but to help. Hiring more people now was impossible.

The four servers were quick—two on the first floor, two on the second—so they were fine. The real bottleneck was drink preparation.

Wang Bo positioned his bar as affordable and for the masses, but everything used real ingredients. For example, the apple juice was actually freshly pressed apples.

Seeing the boss come help, Bill Duntai, the drink master who also acted as part-time manager, said, “Boss, maybe you can handle the cashier. Carmen and I can take care of the drink mixing.”

Wang Bo said, “No problem.”

But soon people kept coming to him:

“Hey, boss, you gave me the wrong change. You’re short five dollars.”

“Huh? This is a five-dollar bill? I thought it was a ten.”

“Boss, you gave me too much. Isn’t this drink twelve dollars? Why did you give me thirty-eight back?”

“Uh… you gave me twenty? I thought it was fifty. Haha, misunderstanding!”

“Boss, I think this bill is fake. Can you exchange it?”

“Impossible, I just received that one.”

“Let me see,” Juan took his place, “Yup, it’s fake. Remember what the customer looked like? Using counterfeit money—we can arrest them.”

Wang Bo was on the verge of collapse—how could he possibly remember what the customer looked like? He hadn’t lifted his head once since he started cashiering; he’d been looking down the whole time, taking and returning money.

Once Juan took over cashiering, Wang Bo was freed up again.

But he felt humiliated. He went to Bill and said, “Maybe I can help press juice? I think I have some talent. I often juice fruit at home.”

Bill laughed. “But it’s different here, boss. Your juicer at home isn’t like this one. Look—just teaching you how to use this machine will take until the day’s over.”

The juicer in the shop was like a boiler, with multiple openings on top. It could press more than twenty kinds of fruits at the same time, had its own operating system, and was controlled through an LCD screen.

Wang Bo had to admit—it would take him a few hours just to learn it.

Bill patted his shoulder. “How about this—come with me. I’ll teach you how to make sparkling wine. It’s today’s most popular drink. If you can mix it properly, I’ll add the fruit juice afterward to finish it.”

Wang Bo lacked confidence. “Bartending? You think I can do it?”

Bill laughed. “There’s barely any alcohol. It only sounds like a cocktail. This is our signature product. What you make is the half-finished base; I’ll handle the complicated part.”

“First, let me explain. You should know what sparkling wine is. It’s a must-have at parties—usually made from white or red wine, soda water, and ice.”

Wang Bo nodded. He’d seen it and drunk it at parties, though he didn’t really like the taste.

Compared to pure alcoholic drinks like beer, red wine, or baijiu, sparkling wine uses soda water, so it’s low in sugar and low in calories—not fattening.

It also helps control alcohol intake, so people don’t get drunk and ruin the party atmosphere. That’s why it’s so popular.

The drinks bar offered many sparkling wine variations—an entire series inspired by Wang Bo’s idea of “sparkling ice cubes,” which Bill and Carmen used as their base concept.

A drinks bar like theirs couldn’t survive selling plain juice or soda—they needed a signature.

Their sparkling wine came in two main types: red wine–based and white wine–based drinks.

The wine used was the type you could find anywhere in supermarkets—no need for premium brands. The soda water was made using the Spirit Spring, which Bill prepared each morning in enough quantity for the entire day.

As for ice, that was simple. The freezer was full of trays of ice molded in shapes like fruits, balls, and even small animals.

Bill instructed Wang Bo:

“First, add a few ice cubes to the glass—three to four is enough. That’s enough to keep the bubbles for fifteen minutes, which is plenty.

“Our ice is special, so don’t use too many. We can’t meet all customer demands or we’ll run out.”

“Next, pour in a little wine—not even reaching half the height of the ice. Too much wine increases the alcohol level, and then people who drive won’t be able to drink it.”

“Last, pour in soda water. Leave about two centimeters of space at the top—I’ll add fruit juice later to finish it.”

Wang Bo looked at the pale-red drink in the glass and asked, “That’s it?”

Bill smiled. “For your part, yes. The complicated stuff is still in my hands.”