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xulingfeng
xulingfeng

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What Do You Drink While You Work?

Character traits revealed through coffee choices

I wrote a fiction series with six characters. Each one drinks a different coffee.

I didn't plan it that way. But somewhere around the tenth story, I realized: what someone orders at the bar says more about them than anything they actually say.

Here's the lineup:


Lena โ€” Long Black โ˜•

Lena โ€” Long Black

Espresso and water. No milk, no sugar. Clean, sharp, nothing to hide. The bartender stopped asking her order a few episodes in. She walks in, he just makes it.


Mark โ€” Pour-over ๐Ÿซ—

Mark โ€” Pour-over

The slowest extraction method there is. You control the water temperature, the flow rate, every single step. That's Mark โ€” always three moves ahead, planting traps inside routine work.


Leo โ€” Flat White ๐Ÿค

Leo โ€” Flat White

Looks simple. Demands the most craft. Easygoing on the surface, pure technical muscle underneath.


P โ€” Espresso ๐Ÿ’ฅ

P โ€” Espresso

Shortest. Strongest. Gone in one sip. Zero decoration. Just like P โ€” zero pronouns, zero inner monologue, zero small talk.


Alex โ€” Latte ๐Ÿฅ›

Alex โ€” Latte

The most milk, the gentlest cup. He's the quietest of the six. Slowest to react emotionally. Fastest to pull up the data.


Derek โ€” Americano ๐Ÿซ 

![Derek โ€” Americano]

Espresso diluted with water. Looks like a regular coffee, but the core is still espresso. Loud and casual on the outside. Wounded pride on the inside.


Today I had an Apple-C Americano with sparkling water,
apple-c
from Luckin Coffee โ€” a chain in China that keeps inventing wild flavor combos ๐Ÿงช. Coconut foam lattes, cheese cream lattes, even a baijiu-infused one with Moutai. This one hit way too hard. For about ten minutes I was convinced I could talk to 30 AI agents at once โ€” I test an agent platform for a living โ€” then I looked at my screen and realized I'd been talking to the same one the whole time. ๐Ÿ˜…

That got me thinking: what does everyone here drink while they work?

So โ€” what's your drink? ๐Ÿ‘‡

Doesn't have to be coffee. Tea, cola, energy drinks, plain water, whatever keeps you going.

Got any interesting local coffee combos where you live? And if you had to describe your work style as a drink, what would it be?

Top comments (109)

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Water obviously
Sugarcane juice ๐Ÿน
and Indian Tea โ˜•๐Ÿคฃ

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

I asked you to tell me what browser you're using and why and you are commenting on @xulingfeng 's post.
๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿฅฒ๐Ÿ˜‘

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Because replying to your comment takes time, you know And it was my lunch time (breakfast + lunch ๐Ÿคฃ), so when Xulingfengโ€™s post came out, I commented there and then went to eat. Your comment came around that time too!

Come on, have a little patience! I was going to reply anyway. I have to eat too, right? Haha! Iโ€™ll reply a little later. Iโ€™m a working human, please understand! ๐Ÿคฃ

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

hmm

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Ohh bhagwan! ๐Ÿคฃ

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

jai shree ram ๐Ÿ”ฅ

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Ram Ram ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿป

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

ram ram, I'm eating, oh bhagwan, all thing you commented just till now no comments of which browser are you using, and why and still this discussion is going in xulingfeng's post and that's why his post is in active discussions.. uh
leave it.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐ŸคฃNeed some lemonade to cool off right now๐Ÿ˜†

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Chrome ๐Ÿ˜…

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Chrome and edge๐Ÿ˜…

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

hmm, and why

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Firefox also only 3

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

bruhh you both replying in xulingfeng's post.
then what's the point?

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

leave it, If I yelled more you guys will ignore me same like a 20year + system architect lol ๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

I ruined such a cute post and the whole thread.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

that's why you should ruin my post with comments

 
xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Because itโ€™s popularโ€ฆ But Chromeโ€™s memory hog issue is really terrible.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

yeah, ram eating monster.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Sugarcane juice gets my full praise!๐Ÿ‘

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

I like also Mango juice.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Love mango! I also recommend mango pomelo sago.(ๆจๆž็”˜้œฒ) ๐Ÿฅญ

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ • • Edited

Okay ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป
Now I am waiting for @ndcodes
(Cooking king ๐Ÿ‘‘)

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿ˜่‚ฅๅฎ…ๅฟซไนๆฐด

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

้‚ฃ่ฟ˜ๅฟ…้กปๆญ้…ไธŠ่‚ฅๅฎ…ๅฟซไน้ธกfried chicken๐Ÿคฃ

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

ๅฟ™็ขŒไธ€ๅ‘จ็š„ๅฐไผ™ๅญ ๅฐฑไธบไบ†่ฟ™ไธ€ๅฃๅฟซไนๆฐด,ไธ€ๅฃ้ธก ๐Ÿ˜› ็„ถๅŽๅ†็œ‹็œ‹็”ตๅฝฑ ็พŽๆป‹ๆป‹

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

ๆฒกๆœ‰ๅฅณๆœ‹ๅ‹้™ช็œ‹็”ตๅฝฑ๏ผŒๅทฎ่ฏ„๏ผ๐Ÿ˜

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿ™ƒ21ๅฒไบ† ไธ€ๆฌก้ƒฝๆฒก่ฐˆ่ฟ‡ ๆŽฅ่งฆ็ฌฌไธ€ๆฌกๆŽฅ่งฆ็”ต่„‘ๅˆฐ็Žฐๅœจๅทฒ็ป้™ชไผดไบ†ๆˆ‘14ๅนดไบ†๐Ÿซ  ๆ—ถ้—ด่ฟ‡ๅพ—ๅคชๅฟซไบ†๐Ÿ˜œ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿคฃๆ˜Ž็™ฝไบ†๏ผŒ็”ต่„‘ๆ‰ๆ˜ฏๅฅณๆœ‹ๅ‹

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿ˜

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

่€ๅ“ฅ็Žฐๅœจๅคšๅคงไบ†ๅ˜ž๐Ÿ™‚

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿฅน15ๅนดๅทฅไฝœ็ป้ชŒใ€‚ใ€‚ใ€‚

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿ˜ญ็œŸไฝฉๆœ ่€่ต„ๅކ

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

ๆˆ‘ๅœจๅ‰ๅนดๆ‰ๅผ€ๅง‹ๆŽฅ่งฆ่ฟ™ไบ›

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

๐Ÿ™ƒ่ฆๅŠ ๆฒน๏ผŒ่ฟ™้‡Œๅฅฝๅคš12ๅฒ13ๅฒ็š„ๅคฉๆ‰ๅฐ‘ๅนด๏ผŒๅŽๆตช่ฆๆŠŠๅ‰ๆตชๆ‹ๆญปๅœจๆฒ™ๆปฉไธŠไบ†

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿคชๅ”‰ ่€ไบ†

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

ๅฃ่ƒก๏ผŒๆฐธ่ฟœ็š„18ๅฒ่ทฏ่ฟ‡

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿซ ไธ่ฟ‡ๆˆ‘็Žฐๅœจ่ฟœ็จ‹็š„ๅทฅไฝœ ไธป่ฆๆ˜ฏๆžๆˆ‘็š„ไธ–็•ŒๆธธๆˆๆœๅŠกๅ™จ ๅผ€ๅ‘็›ธๅ…ณ็š„ ๅ†…ๅฎน็Žฉๆณ•่ฎพ่ฎกๅผ€ๅ‘ ่ฟ็ปด็ปดๆŠค ไธ€ไธชไบบ็ฎกไบ†ๅฅฝๅ‡ ๅฎถๆœๅŠกๅ™จ ๅฝ“ๆŠ€ๆœฏ ๅถๅฐ”่ฟ˜่ฆ็ปดๆŠคๅ†…้ƒจ็Ÿฅ่ฏ†ๅบ“ ๅšๅค–ๅŒ…ๅฅฝไน…ไบ† ๅฅฝๆƒณ่ฆๆญฃ่ง„็š„ๅๅคด๐Ÿ˜…

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

้‚ฃ่ฟ˜ๆ„Ÿ่ง‰ๅฏไปฅ๏ผŒ่ƒฝๅ…ปๆดป่‡ชๅทฑๅฐฑๅฅฝ๏ผŒๅคš่ตšๅคšๅญ˜๏ผŒ็•™ไธ‹่€ๅฉ†ๆœฌ

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •


่ฟ™ไธคๅนดๆƒ…ๅ†ต ๅคดๅ‘ๆ˜Žๆ˜พๆމไบ†ไธๅฐ‘ไบ† ็„ฆ่™‘ไบ† ๐Ÿ˜‚

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

็งƒไบ†๏ผŒไนŸๅ˜ๅผบไบ†๐Ÿคฃ

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acatnigh profile image
CatNight A •

๐Ÿ˜ธ

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

You guys should speak in English. I donโ€™t know that much Chinese hahaha

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Hahaha, let me sum it up and translate! This guy is single and balding, but his abilities have grown immensely, just like Saitama from One Punch Man๐Ÿคฃ

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gramli profile image
Daniel Balcarek •

Depends on the time of day:

  • Morning: Lungo
  • After lunch: Double espresso
  • Afternoon: Lungo
  • Late-night coding sessions: Long Black โ˜•

Friday? Beer! ๐Ÿบ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Bitter drinks for the grind, haha! But Iโ€™m not into bitter flavors myself โ€” I add plenty of sugar. I also occasionally grab beer late at night with grilled skewers ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿบ, absolute bliss!

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gramli profile image
Daniel Balcarek •

With the amount of coffee I drink, if I added sugar to every cup, I'd get really fat ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

And that sounds great, I'm a big BBQ fan, so anything grilled (with a beer, of course) is awesome!

Just curious, is Apple-C Americano still coffee? ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Yep itโ€™s still coffee! Espresso is the foundation, apple soda just adds fruity fizz ๐Ÿ˜‚
Totally agree, grilled food with beer hits different.
I avoid the scale these days ๐Ÿคฃ Even if I look slim, Iโ€™m nervous about the reading.

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fm profile image
Fayaz •

Daily intake

  • detox warm lemon water when I wake up
  • a lot of water the whole day
  • 1 cup of green tea mixed with mint & honey for freshness
  • 2 cups of milk tea. Sugar free most of the time, sometimes half a tea spoon of sugar

Weekly intake

  • 1 electrolyte drink 5 or 6 days of the week. 2 drinks if I feel too exhausted. 1 or 2 days break.

Used to take coffee, but not any more. Coffee makes me too much dehydrated.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Thatโ€™s such a healthy routine! Too much coffee isnโ€™t great.
Over here, our classic health hack: steeping goji berries in a thermos ๐Ÿ˜‚
Itโ€™s the โ€œadult developer survival drinkโ€!

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fm profile image
Fayaz •

Thanks. ๐Ÿฅฐ
Had unhealthy habits for a long time, not any more ๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Iโ€™m still trying to break my bad habit of eating grilled skewers late at night. But they just smell so good ๐Ÿคฃ

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fm profile image
Fayaz •

LOL. Yeah, why all the delicious food are unhealthy? ๐Ÿคฃ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Hahaha, thatโ€™s the classic dilemma! You canโ€™t have both the fish and the bearโ€™s paw. My mind picks health, but my body craves delicious food. And my body wins, so I just listen to it ๐Ÿคฃ

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technogamerz profile image
๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐š๐ณ๐ฒ ๐†๐ข๐ซ๐ฅ •

Detox warm lemon water is actually really healthy! :D

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leob profile image
leob • • Edited

While I'm working? Coffee (pleasure moment, 3 times per day), water (yeah, just hydration, lol) ... after work - a beer ("dinner augmentation") or a wine (closing the day, feeling like a priest, lol) !

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

All coffee and alcohol through the whole day! Come on, let me recommend Chinaโ€™s office wellness combo: thermos with goji berries, haha ๐Ÿ˜„

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

๐Ÿ–๏ธ๐Ÿคšโ˜ ๏ธ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ“ˆ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Compared to other community veterans, my badge collection is pretty small ๐Ÿ˜‚

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leob profile image
leob • • Edited

Lol yeah gotta make it sufferable, so I don't really have a choice!

P.S. no wait, I mentioned water as well, you ignored that! (but only a little bit, if I'm honest)

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Oops, my bad! I zeroed in on coffee and wine ๐Ÿ˜‚ Water is the unsung hero then. You can still add goji berries to it!๐Ÿ˜

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leob profile image
leob •

Haha it's okay, I mentioned the water mainly as an excuse for the rest ;-) and I'll keep the berries in mind!

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Haha, donโ€™t forget the thermos, this magic tool! But Iโ€™m curious โ€” do most of you prefer ice water? From American TV shows, I rarely see people drinking hot boiled water ๐Ÿ˜‚

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leob profile image
leob •

Just cold/cool water (from our hot/cold water machine), not ice :-)

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Got it! Cool water is refreshing enough ๐Ÿ˜‚ Our thermos goji berry drink is warm, totally different vibe.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

we both launched our 2 posts.
let's see which post will be more viral lol.
I know it's yours just kidding no challenge.
hands off to you ๐Ÿ–๏ธ๐Ÿคš
by the way I drink lemonade sometimes and plain water mostly.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Lol, fun friendly race! ๐Ÿคฃ Water & lemonade are solid picks. Iโ€™m stuck with coffee for those long testing marathons.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

I'm not adult so my mom doesn't allow me to drink coffee, I drink chai(you know this?) only when I am sick.
other wise main drink is water and lemonade

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effessdev profile image
EffessDev •

I am allergic to chai :( So coffee only. But I like coffee more, so it's a good thing ;)

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

It would be even better if there were some pictures. After all, Iโ€™ve never seen real chai in person.๐Ÿ˜…

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nyaomaru profile image
nyaomaru •

Recently, plain water is my favorite ๐Ÿ’ง
Caffeine makes me a bit too hyper ๐Ÿ˜ธ

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Water is such a solid pick! I totally get it, caffeine can make some people super hyper ๐Ÿ˜‚
Grab a thermos, add goji berries into your plain water โ€” my classic wellness hack ๐Ÿ˜†

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

it gone viral
86 comments, 39 reaction lol.
I know you will beat me.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Haha this thread totally blew up! All thanks to everyone joining this fun chat ๐Ÿ˜‚
We just keep drifting into interesting topics.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

yeah fun chat... hope that fun chat occurred in my post's chats too so that it shows up in active discussions...

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

I can give you a hint! Compare your first viral post with this one, and youโ€™ll find the answer๐Ÿ˜†

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

hmm, let me see.

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akhourianmolkumar profile image
Akhouri Anmol Kumar •

only this is different I can see. from my other posts.

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

I can only give you a subtle hint. The key lies in the postโ€™s theme, youโ€™ll need to figure it out yourself๐Ÿ˜‰

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sylwia-lask profile image
Sylwia Laskowska •

Haha long black - one and only ๐Ÿ˜‚

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Wonderful taste! Long Black is Lenaโ€™s drink in my story. Sheโ€™s also a woman with a calm, sharp mind, and this strong, unsweetened coffee suits her perfectly. It says a lot about your own great taste๐Ÿ˜„

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unitbuilds profile image
UnitBuilds •

mostly coca cola, coffee, tea, basically anything but water ๐Ÿ˜…

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

No matter what you drink, it just lacks soul without KFC fried chicken as the pairing๐Ÿคฃ

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unitbuilds profile image
UnitBuilds •

Very true... I had KFC 2 days ago, had to drive next town over for a thing, so got some on the way back. It just hits different ๐Ÿ˜‚

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

You have to drive to get KFC, thatโ€™s tough! Call KFC and ask them to open a branch near your place sooner ๐Ÿ˜‚

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unitbuilds profile image
UnitBuilds •

๐Ÿ˜ญ You dont understand, this town has NO fast food. Literally nothing, the closest we have is a restaurant that does takeaways... No pizza, burgers, chicken, nothing... So only way is a 1h drive to the next town to go get.

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unitbuilds profile image
UnitBuilds •

Btw, sorry that I've been gone for a while. Wasnt a very fun week tbh. I had to drive through to my parents to go put my 13 year old dog (toy pom) down. He wasnt doing all too great... So really havent been in a very good headspace. Luckily the mother-in-law and brother-in-law came to visit us for the next month, so gunna be a busy time ๐Ÿ˜‚

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xulingfeng profile image
xulingfeng •

Iโ€™m so sorry to hear about your dog ๐Ÿฅบ That must have been really tough for you.
Itโ€™s such a bummer that thereโ€™s no fast food nearby, a one-hour drive just for fried chicken is quite a journey.
Hope you have a nice and busy month with your family visiting!

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