"Mission completed! We shall leave for Taibai Bar now." Fang Tang came back to the lab at night, and called Luo Feng who was still in his thoughts. Then they headed toward the bar with his e-bike.
Taibai Bar is located in the suburbs. It is a well-known brewery bar in South Hill city. Because craft beer is a very hot business in recent years.
China is a nation that has a unique tradition of alcohol. When people get richer, they start to get fed up with the boring beer from the supermarket, and begin to look for a different beer that could fit their taste more. Therefore, craft beer came into being.
Craft beer would have a slight difference among winemakers because of their personal styles, and it has more various flavors. All of these greatly satisfy people in pursuing novelty and good taste.
In this bar, you can get bread-flavored and banana-flavored beers, such as German wheat beer Franziskaner and Paulorna. You can also get toast, clove, coriander or bitter orange peel flavored beer, such as Belgian wheat beer Hoegaarden. Tangerine-flavored American beer, like Goose 312, is available here, too. So, you can almost enjoy beer from around the world in this bar.
If you are a female, you can try fruit-flavored beer, such as cranberry, raspberry, strawberry, peach, and cherry flavor. There are also coffee, chocolate, and milk flavor. It's pretty much like nothing the winemakers in this bar can't make.
Usually, different beer is served with different glass, such as grail, pint glass, pilsner glass, and flute glass. Besides, there will also be a special coaster under the glass which printed the beer region. All this can really improve both the beer level and your taste.
South Hill is a well-developed city, and also a transportation hub. In recent years, there are many craft beer bars opened in this city. The main reason for Fang Tang choosing to come here is because the boss of this bar, Jiang Jinjiu, is his good buddy.
Taibai Bar was originally a farmer's warehouse. With the development of the city, the suburbs were gradually changed from farmlands to high-tech development zones.
Jiang Jinjiu bought an idle grain warehouse and transformed it into a bar. He said that when he bought it, he didn't think in the long run. He just liked the tranquility of this place. What's more, the well behind this warehouse has good quality water, which is good for brewing beer.
To his surprise, there was a great change in this place after a few years. And his bar turned into a good location because it is adjacent to two economic development parks. That also explains why his guests either work in the IT field or the finance sector.
As the owner of this bar, Jiang Jinjiu has also witnessed the development of entrepreneurship.
In the past, when his guests got drunk, they would like to brag that they had hundreds of thousands or millions. And now, before they even start to drink, they are talking about tens of millions or hundreds of millions. His bar is like a miniature world, and watching these guests sometimes is more interesting than watching a stage play.
When Jiang Jinjiu first came to South Hill city, there was a man in the train station yelling "catch the thief". As a young and righteous man, Jiang Jinjiu didn't hesitate and ran after that thief with his baggage putting aside. After running out a few hundred meters, he was very close to that thief, then he threw a fly kick to kick down the thief, and a combative Arm-Triangle Choke to completely lock the thief. When the policeman arrived and separated them, the thief felt like he had saved because his arms and neck were almost broken.
After that thief was taken away by the policeman, Jiang Jinjiu came back to look for his baggage and found nothing. He never expected that the result of helping others was to get his own stuff being stolen.
While he was penniless and being bothered by the realistic questions like where to sleep and what to eat, Fang Tang's father, who saw the whole thing, took that brave and righteous Jiang Jinjiu to his restaurant and smiled at him: "in my restaurant, food will the least thing you need to worry about."
In that year, Jiang Jinjiu was 17 years old, and Fang Tang was 13.
That explains why Taibai Bar is the place Fang Tang would choose for meeting friends.
When Fang Tang and Luo Feng arrived at the bar, it was already full of people. On the stage, a crewcut singer in a "Damn Couples!" T-shirt was playing the guitar and singing the song Parallel Galaxies.
Liu Hoaren was sitting in a banquette seat with the sign "Reserved" on the table. He was too focused on playing cellphone games to be aware of Fang Tang and Luo Feng approaching him.
Fang Tang waved a King Kong Palm on Luo Haoren's belly wanting to see how he reacts. Surprisingly, this fatso was still playing the cellphone game with his head down. If it was not him that moved his butt a little to give them more space to sit, you would wonder whether he was the person being hit by Fang Tang just now. As his fingers were moving really fast on the screen, he was complaining: "Shit! I almost got killed because of you! I'm helping my future GF Ke'er win this round. Don't bother me! Go find your bro Jiang and get your beer!"
'Woman first' is fatso's life principle, and Fang Tang was aware of that. He walked to the bar counter and asked the bartender: "Where is Bro Jiang?"
"I'm right here." A clear and bright voice came over the bar counter.
With that voice, a head appeared. This is a plain face, but those two eyebrows are quite attractive. Jiang Jinjiu's eyebrows are very long, like two swords. And it is his different eyebrows that give his plain appearance a unique charm. His eyebrows are thick and dark showing his distinctive confidence and vitality.
"Bro, you are playing the old trick again." said Fang Tang. Jiang Jinjiu waved his hand toward Fang Tang, and continued his performance. As he walked sideways on the floor, with the counter hiding the lower part of his body, it's like he was going downstairs, because his body descended as he walked and then disappeared. After that, he would go opposite with the same trick, so it looked like he was going upstairs from an underground room.
This set of mime movements about going up and down the stairs has a high requirement for body control and stability. You should keep your upper body straight and stable, and use your legs to do the movements. Because this counter could hide your lower body, so all people can see is your upper body. When you move correctly, you will make others believe that you are walking up and down. Fang Tang practiced this many times before, but never made it.
All of a sudden, he had an idea and ordered: "Alpha, imitate his movements."
Then, Fang Tang turned to the side and began to walk to the right. With each step he made, his knees would bend a little. After three steps, he was in a half-squatting posture; after 5 steps, in a totally squatting posture, but his upper body had to remain straight while he was doing these movements. And then, he needed to turn around, and stand up step by step, and finally stand straight.
Under the help of Alpha system, Fang Tang perfectly imitated Jiang Jinjiu's movements. And this also gave him a further understanding about Alpha's function.
Actually, Alpha system can't directly control Fang Tang's body. It is because our brain, through the nervous system, sends a pulse signal to the muscles so that we can make certain movements. And what Alpha system can do is to pre-inspire a pilot signal in the specific neuron before the brain gives instructions, and this pre-inspired signal would tell the brain which skeletal muscle is needed for the action, so that Fang Tang can use his strength correctly. In doing so, his body memory can be strengthened.
It is like a person learning how to ride a bicycle, even if he hasn't been riding it for ten years, he will still be able to know how to ride it once he started. That depends on the human body memory, or muscle memory. Body memory is obtained through repeated practice, and it can be forgotten. But the speed of forgetting is very slow.
The defect of body memory is that once you remember the wrong action, it is difficult for you to correct it. For example, once a person learns to swim in the wrong posture, it will take more time to correct it than to learn it. With the help of Alpha, Fang Tang can obtain body memory faster than before, and will never forget it. Even if his movements are wrong, it is also easy to correct them if he would like to.
"Well done! You finally got it. Now, watch me, I'm going to teach you some new tricks. I bet you this will help you win a girl's heart." said Jiang Jinjiu.
"Well, save it for fatso, he needs it more. I'm here to ask you some questions." Fang Tang stopped Jiang Jinjiu when seeing him approach a deck of cards.
"It's no use for fatso, he is happy being a B-plan. What do you want to drink?" Jiang Jinjiu asked.
"Same one like before, Lotus I." answered Fang Tang. Lotus is a specially brewed IPA (India Paleale) of Taibai bar, because lotus seeds were used as one of the ingredients, this beer contains a unique aroma and bitterness. Among the Lotus series, Lotus I is the most bitter beer, but also has the best aftertaste. As is remarked by Liu Haoren, this beer is just like coptis being put in another name.
When Jiang Jinjiu was developing Lotus series beer, Fang Tang was his handy helper. At that time, Fang Tang spent most of his summer holiday in Taibai bar. And Jiang Jinjiu's first finished product was Lotus I, It is bitter in taste, but the beer is very clear. The beer has a nice fragrance, and its pale golden foam can last a long time.
At your first sip, this bitterness might overwhelm you. But when you try to ignore this bitter flavor and give a second sip, you could feel the difference. The strong bitterness was gone, you can taste a unique sweetness with a different aroma, which is like the fragrance of a lotus flower. Besides, the aftertaste will linger in your mouth.
Fang Tang fell in love with this beer at his first try. The best-selling beer in Taibai bar is Lotus VI, because it has a mild taste. But each time Fang Tang came, he will order Lotus I. Sometimes Jiang Jinjiu would joke that if it's not for Fang Tang, he would remove Lotus I from the menu.
Fatso Liu asked Fang Tang about why would he like Lotus I so much.
"If life can start from bitterness and end with sweetness, then that sweetness is more worthwhile." Fang Tang drank off his beer and answered with smile.