"My dear friend!"
"This is too delicious!"
Venti blinked, looking at Arkz with a face full of emotion.
His eyes were watery, as if he was about to cry.
However.
This couldn't fool Arkz.
"Spare me the drama."
"If you want more, get it yourself. I won't be your servant."
"Ya-hoo!"
Venti cheered, grabbed the brewing barrel, and started gulping it down noisily.
Watching this kind of heavy drinking made Arkz's mouth twitch.
"I say, Venti, if you drink like this, how can you even taste it?"
Unfortunately, Venti's mind was already completely occupied by the strawberry fruit wine, and he couldn't hear Arkz's question at all.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
Seeing Venti's determination to drink the cellar dry, Arkz shook his head.
This truly was: Venti enters the cellar—not a drop remains.
Forget it.
Let him drink.
It's all going to be drunk by someone anyway.
Arkz picked up two barrels and stuffed them into his backpack, then turned to leave.
The brewing barrels produced liquor very quickly; such delicious strawberry fruit wine only needed seven days to finish brewing.
Even if Venti drank the entire first batch, Arkz wouldn't feel heartbroken.
Arkz was always very generous to his friends.
However.
This first batch shouldn't all be drunk by Venti alone.
The other friends on the farm should each get some too.
Good things should naturally be shared with friends.
This strawberry fruit wine was sweet and sour, smooth to drink, and the alcohol content wasn't high. If sold on the market, it should be very popular with the young women.
The two barrels of strawberry fruit wine Arkz had just put into his system space were prepared for his friends.
"Since it's a gift for others, the packaging naturally needs to be a bit more elaborate."
If Springvale Farm's wine business develops in the future, this first batch of strawberry fruit wine should be quite valuable, right?
Thinking of this, Arkz immediately started taking action.
Although Arkz usually liked to slack off, when encountering something that interested him, he was very driven.
And so.
Arkz, carrying two barrels of strawberry fruit wine, turned and walked into his workshop.
Evening.
The members of the Five-Color Squad and the farm employees had all returned to the farm.
After finishing a day's work, seeing the beautiful scenery on the farm, everyone's mood relaxed.
Sniff, sniff.
Fischl's nose twitched.
"There seems to be a sickly sweet smell in the air?"
"It smells quite nice."
Fischl's small nose moved, and then she confidently stated:
"That's the smell of alcohol. I've smelled it before. My dad likes to have a glass of wine every night when he gets home. I wouldn't mistake this smell."
"That's right, it's the smell of alcohol."
These young women, as residents of the City of Festivities, although not yet of legal drinking age, often encountered alcohol, so they were naturally familiar with its scent.
Everyone followed the aroma of the wine to investigate.
They saw that the door to the small wooden house storing the brewing barrels was wide open, and empty barrels were scattered all over the floor.
Barbara held her hands together, a little nervous, but deep in her eyes was hidden excitement. She asked in a delicate voice:
"Could it be that Treasure Hoarders have entered the farm?"
Klee shouted: "Klee knows! Someone stole the wine to drink!"
Fischl speculated:
"Could it be that Hilichurls broke in?"
Hearing this, Aqiu, cloaked in black robes, quickly spoke up to explain:
"It couldn't be Hilichurls!"
"There are wooden men patrolling the farm; no Hilichurl can break in."
Aqiu was very certain of this.
Because all the Hilichurls around the farm had been gathered by Aqiu and sent to the Oak Forest to work.
Even the Springvale Patrol Team that Amu participated in hadn't encountered any Hilichurls during their patrols for a long time.
Of course, other monsters, like Slimes and Whopperflowers, were still numerous.
However, with Amu around, they were all easily dealt with.
Ellin looked into the dark little wooden house and said:
"We'll know if we go in and look."
"If it really is a thief, we must capture him and teach him a harsh lesson!"
Ellin's suggestion was unanimously approved by everyone.
Thus, everyone cautiously entered the wooden house and discovered Venti happily asleep while hugging a brewing barrel.
"Mr. Arkz!!!"
"There's a thief on the farm!!!"
The shouts of the crowd woke up Arkz, who was researching in his workshop. He quickly pushed the door open and rushed out.
"A thief? Where?"
"Why didn't the patrolling wooden men sound the alarm?"
When Arkz saw Venti, who was tied to a wooden stake by the crowd but still sleeping soundly, he couldn't help but laugh and cry.
He quickly untied Venti and explained:
"He's not a thief."
"He's my friend, and also a guest at the farm."
"The strawberry fruit wine brewed on the farm today has matured, and this friend happens to really like drinking, so I invited him over."
"But... he drank half of all the wine in there."
Hearing this, Arkz immediately exclaimed:
"That's terrible!"
"This guy actually left half for me."
When the crowd heard this, they all facepalmed simultaneously.
Arkz looked at everyone and comforted them:
"Perfect timing, I have gifts to give you all."
With that, Arkz took out the gifts he had prepared long ago from his backpack and handed them to everyone one by one.
Exquisite wooden boxes shaped by the Dendro Element, decorated with gems condensed from the Geo Element, containing the strawberry fruit wine inside.
This beautifully packaged gift, just as Arkz expected, captured the hearts of the young women.
At the evening banquet.
Arkz poured a small cup of strawberry fruit wine for everyone.
Of course, little Klee drank strawberry juice.
The taste of the strawberry fruit wine was indeed excellent, and it quickly captured everyone's taste buds.
Unfortunately, since this strawberry fruit wine was alcohol, even if the content was low, drinking too much would still lead to intoxication. Therefore, no matter how much they pouted and pleaded, Arkz didn't allow them to drink too much.
As for Venti.
Because Venti was drunk, Ellin took out a special stamina potion made by Arkz.
It was that potion that could restore stamina but had a very strange taste.
With one gulp of the stamina potion, Venti instantly sobered up.
Fortunately, it seemed he had satisfied his craving for alcohol, as Venti didn't clamor for more drinks during the banquet.
After seeing everyone off one by one.
Arkz looked at Venti.
"Do you need me to see you off?"
Venti shook his head, but his face was full of anticipation, and he remained standing in place.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"What about my gift?"
Venti became anxious. Everyone else got a gift, why didn't he?
Arkz smiled, took out the extra-large gift he had prepared long ago—a beautifully packaged strawberry fruit wine gift box, along with a voucher.
Venti took the gift and the voucher.
He looked closely.
"Springvale Farm Cellar Free All-You-Can-Drink Voucher!"
"Really?"
"Would I joke about this?"
"My dear friend!"
Venti immediately put away the gift box and the voucher, then gave Arkz a bear hug!
Venti remembered the joke he had made with Arkz earlier: if he helped introduce the shining sisters of Mondstadt, Acting Grand Master Jean and Barbara, to him, Arkz would let him drink for free.
Now, he had enjoyed the free all-you-can-drink offer. Venti felt he couldn't just slack off anymore.
"Old Lu, do you want a wife or not?"
"Just say the word, and I'll set you up with someone!"
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"