Li Xiao opened the packaging for all the ingredients, tasting the flavors and textures of the different raw materials one by one. After confirming they were authentic and matched his memory perfectly, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had initially worried that the experience rewarded by the system might differ from reality, but it seemed his fears were unfounded.
The installation technician was highly skilled. In just half an hour, all the equipment was installed and calibrated. Li Xiao saved the man’s contact information for future reference, then saw him out.
Since the lemon slicer was already installed, Li Xiao couldn’t be bothered to slice the fruit by hand. Worried that the machine might accidentally injure the children, he had specifically chosen a model with a protective cover. The slicer wouldn’t operate unless the cover was closed, which greatly reduced the risk of accidents.
Just as Li Xiao was about to turn the machine on, he paused. He looked up and saw a group of Xihuan’Er watching him with curious yet timid eyes. His expression softened significantly as he waved to the child closest to him.
"Come here. I’ll teach you how to use this new machine."
The singled-out boy suddenly looked bewildered. He nervously took two steps back and subconsciously looked toward Huang Cuilian. As the person who interacted with the children the most, she naturally had her own ways of communicating. With just a few words, Huang Cuilian managed to comfort the initially fearful boy and led him over to Li Xiao.
Li Xiao slowed his movements, demonstrating as he instructed. To ensure the child understood, he repeated the crucial steps several times. After completing the process three times, he turned to the boy.
"Dong, how is it? Have you figured it out?"
Dong hesitated for a moment. He nodded first, then shook his head. "I think... I think I learned it, but I... I don’t know if I really did."
Huang Cuilian quickly encouraged him. "Since you’ve learned it, you should give it a try. Don’t worry! Brother Xiao and Mrs. Huang are both here. Just go ahead and try!"
Hearing her encouragement, Dong nodded firmly. "Okay... then... I’ll try."
Li Xiao quickly stepped aside, though not too far, ensuring he could immediately intervene if any problems arose.
Dong stood in front of the slicer in a daze for a few seconds, likely recalling the operating procedure he had just been taught. Clearly, while operating the slicer wasn’t difficult, it was still somewhat challenging for a child with an intellectual disability like Dong. A full seven or eight seconds passed. Just as Li Xiao debated whether to remind him of the steps, Dong finally moved.
He picked up a lemon and washed it carefully, taking nearly half a minute just for this step. Then, he returned to the slicer and cautiously placed the washed lemon into the machine’s groove. After inserting the lemon, Dong examined the machine from side to side. Several seconds later, he finally remembered the next step and gently closed the plastic protective cover.
With a crisp CLICK, the cover locked into place, and the previously dark red button lit up bright red. Staring at the glowing start button, he didn’t press it immediately. Instead, he turned to Huang Cuilian.
"Mrs. Huang, do I... press this?"
Huang Cuilian nodded. "That’s right! Good job, Dong! After closing the protective cover, you can press the start button."
Receiving her confirmation, Dong stopped hesitating and decisively pressed the start button.
Hearing the loud WHIR of the machine starting, Dong took a frightened step back. However, when he realized nothing bad was happening, his curiosity drew him back to his original spot. His eyes widened as he watched the blade spin rapidly inside the slicer. In less than two seconds, the entire lemon was turned into evenly thin slices.
Once the lemon was fully sliced, the machine automatically shut off. As soon as the blade came to a complete stop, the protective cover popped open on its own. Pleasantly surprised, Dong retrieved a box full of lemon slices from the slicer’s output tray.
He held them up to Huang Cuilian. "Mrs. Huang... lemon slices... all cut..."
Seeing how quickly Dong had learned, Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction. As expected, even with their intellectual disabilities, they could still learn simple operations. Operating the slicer was actually one of the more complex tasks among the new equipment. If this child could master the slicer, then the rest of the equipment wouldn’t pose much of a challenge.
Li Xiao used tongs to pick up a few lemon slices and tossed them into a cocktail shaker, then placed it onto a semi-automatic muddler.
The prototype for this muddling machine was originally designed for forging iron billets. Anyone who enjoyed watching knife-forging videos on Douyin would know that this machine was incredibly effective at hammering things out. From aerospace components to railway tracks, anything could be easily hammered into shape by this type of machine. Therefore, it had quickly spread across various industries.
In the food and beverage industry, this hammering machine was initially used to tenderize steak before being introduced to bubble tea shops for muddling lemons. Anyone who had ever bought a Boba Hand-Muddled Lemon Tea from a street stall would know the struggle. To make a good cup of lemon tea, apart from having big bo... wait, no, apart from having good lemons, one also needed enough arm strength to continuously muddle the slices, ensuring their essence and fragrance were thoroughly released.
Obviously, this manual task was too difficult for these children; if they weren’t careful, they could easily sprain their wrists. That was why Li Xiao had directly purchased this semi-automatic lemon muddler. By just placing the shaker inside, the machine’s rubber hammer would continuously pound the contents. Although it couldn’t perfectly simulate human hands, this high-end model could at least replicate eighty to ninety percent of the effect.
Li Xiao waved to Dong.
Perhaps because of the previous lesson, Dong wasn’t as timid this time. He simply glanced at Huang Cuilian, and upon seeing her nod, immediately went to Li Xiao’s side.
With their previous experience, communication flowed much smoother. Li Xiao deliberately slowed his movements and his voice. After demonstrating the process just twice, Dong successfully learned how to use the semi-automatic muddler.
The subsequent steps were equally undemanding.
Li Xiao had already preloaded the fructose dispenser with the ingredients needed for the beaten lemon tea and programmed the precise dosages. Now, with just the press of a button, all the liquid ingredients would be dispensed.
Li Xiao placed the shaker under the spout and pressed the button. The dispenser made a soft BUZZ, and soon, the exact amounts of black tea, syrup, and water smoothly flowed into the shaker.