Chapter 85: Discovering a Problem

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, then Li Xiao stated his request.

"I’d like to try the drinks you make here. Would that be possible?"

Huang Cuilian was a little surprised by the request, but she still nodded and said,

"No problem. I’ll personally..."

Li Xiao raised a hand, cutting her off.

"That’s not what I mean. I want to see the normal products. Besides cleaning, these kids are also responsible for making the drinks, right?"

Huang Cuilian nodded.

"That’s right. Most of the drinks in the shop are indeed made by the kids."

Li Xiao:

"Then just follow the normal procedure. Treat me like a regular customer and make the drinks as you usually would. I want to see what level everyone’s work is at."

Huang Cuilian now understood what Li Xiao meant. She hurried back into the shop to make the arrangements.

Soon, six different types of drinks appeared before Li Xiao.

Judging by appearance alone, the six drinks didn’t look much different from any other ordinary drinks.

However, as Li Xiao tasted each of the drinks, his brows furrowed unconsciously.

[Food Tasted: Pearl Milk Tea]

[Food Rating: 40/100 [Fail]]

[This food item did not reach 60 points and cannot be added to the Gourmet Index.]

[Food Tasted: Lemon Tea]

[Food Rating: 42/100 [Fail]]

[This food item did not reach 60 points and cannot be added to the Gourmet Index.]

...

He tasted six drinks in a row. The worst one scored only 38 points, while the best only managed a 45.

These drinks weren’t just failures; they were a far cry from even reaching a passing score.

’With products like these, if it weren’t for the pity of the local residents, this place probably would have gone out of business long ago.’

Li Xiao:

"I’d like to see the recipes for these drinks."

Yesterday, he had received two rewards from the system:

[Drink Preparation Insights] and [Drink Creation Insights].

Though he had been completely clueless about beverages before, he now possessed drink-making and creation skills superior to even master craftsmen who had been in the industry for over a decade.

Huang Cuilian noticed Li Xiao’s expression was off and didn’t dare to breathe too loudly. She quickly presented him with a somewhat wrinkled and worn recipe sheet.

Clearly, this flimsy recipe sheet was used often; otherwise, it wouldn’t be so crumpled.

He casually flipped through the recipes.

As he read through the contents, he grew more and more surprised. The recipes were a bit old-fashioned, likely compiled from some outdated information found online.

However, aside from being dated, the recipes didn’t have any major flaws. If followed correctly, the drinks shouldn’t have tasted this bad.

He frowned slightly. ’Could it be the ingredients?’

Making drinks was like cooking food—the same drink made with different ingredients could indeed yield vastly different results.

Li Xiao put down the recipe sheet.

"The recipes don’t seem to be the main issue. I’d like to go behind the counter and look at the ingredients you normally use."

"The drinks taste off. I think it might be because the wrong raw materials are being used."

Huang Cuilian was in her forties and wasn’t a big fan of sugary drinks herself, so even though she saw them every day, she didn’t have much of an opinion on them.

However, she understood what Li Xiao was getting at.

The two of them walked behind the counter.

The counter area was noticeably more spacious than a typical one, and the workstation inside was larger as well.

It was obvious the counter had been specially designed, likely to make it easier for the kids to work there.

Huang Cuilian quickly laid out all the commonly used ingredients on the workstation.

Li Xiao inspected them one by one, his confusion growing.

These drink ingredients weren’t the absolute best, but they were from major brands.

He took a sample taste and confirmed they were all genuine products, not knock-offs.

’The recipes are fine, and the ingredients are correct, yet the final product tastes terrible?’

Li Xiao’s gaze shifted, discreetly observing a few of the Xihuan’Er in the shop, who seemed a bit restless.

’I think I know where the problem is.’

If you’re making a dish where the recipe and ingredients are both correct, but the final product is a complete mess, then there can only be one problem: the chef’s skill is too poor.

Making drinks is one of the simplest forms of "cooking." It basically just requires combining various ingredients in a specific ratio and order.

If an ordinary person failed to do it right, it would definitely be an attitude problem.

But these were the Xihuan’Er, who had intellectual disabilities and weaker comprehension skills.

If they didn’t do it well, it was most likely not because they didn’t want to, but because they couldn’t.

Li Xiao quietly gave an order to Huang Cuilian:

"Have each of them make one type of drink for me to try. And have each person make three cups of that same drink."

Huang Cuilian didn’t quite understand the point of this, but since it was a request from the new boss, she could only comply.

Li Xiao hid in a corner of the counter area, quietly watching the kids begin to work.

He quickly pinpointed the problem.

’It’s just as I thought.’

They were very serious when they worked, but perhaps because of their cognitive issues, their control over their own hands and feet was far worse than an average person’s.

For the same drink, the first time they might add 40ml of syrup, the second time it would become 55ml, and the third time it would be 35ml.

When adding purified water, they were supposed to add 300ml but would pour in 500ml instead, making the concentration of the entire drink completely different.

After watching for just a short while, Li Xiao completely understood the root cause.

The recipes were correct, and the raw ingredients were fine.

But these kids were simply incapable of making the drinks according to the correct proportions.

After a moment of thought, Li Xiao figured out how to solve this problem.

Based on the current situation, the reason the kids’ drinks tasted bad was mainly their inability to control the quantity of the ingredients.

Therefore, they just needed to skip the portion control step entirely.

The solution was simple. Li Xiao opened an online shopping platform, and after some searching, he quickly found a local seller.

His eyes immediately fell on the most expensive fructose dispenser in the store.

This fructose dispenser had a total of 50 slots, which could basically meet the needs for most of the raw materials in a milk tea shop.

Each slot had its own built-in pump. You just had to pour the raw ingredients into the machine’s corresponding tanks. When needed, you could press the button for the desired amount, and the outlet would automatically dispense the required quantity of ingredients or water.

After each use, the outlet also had an automatic cleaning function, so there was no worry about different ingredients contaminating it and mixing the flavors.

The machine’s tanks and pumps also came with self-cleaning and UV sterilization functions.

Every time the machine was turned on or off, it could run a self-cleaning cycle, which greatly reduced operational difficulty and improved safety.

Of course, these rather nice features were actually secondary.