Two hundred catties of fresh fish cost five hundred yuan, with an average price of 2.5 yuan per catty. Li Zhi looked at the fish in the box; all of them were quite large. He pondered whether to let Dong Xiaorou cook two of them for lunch. It had been a long time since he had eaten home-cooked stewed fish.
"How do we transport it back?" Li Zhi asked. Two hundred catties of fresh fish were not a small amount. Although the dock was not far from the factory, it was definitely impossible for two people to carry it back.
Dong Xiaorou chuckled and asked, "Are you asking me?"
Li Zhi looked around and muttered, "If only we had a car." The factory didn't have enough money to purchase a car.
In the end, Dong Xiaorou borrowed an electric tricycle from the village to transport the fish back.
"Can we produce fish meatballs just by putting the fish into the machine?" Dong Xiaorou asked eagerly in the factory.
Li Zhi chuckled and said, "I think so."
He didn't know for sure, as the machine had only been tested last night and had not been used yet. He wasn't sure if it could produce fish meatballs.
"Do we need to operate it with a laptop?" Dong Xiaorou asked as she leaned in next to Li Zhi. On a worn writing desk, Li Zhi's secondhand laptop sat. Everything had been bought from the second-hand market in the city during the early days of their business in an effort to save money.
After starting up the laptop, Li Zhi opened a 3D blueprint on the desktop. The screen displayed six machines connected together, all of which were currently red in color.
"After putting in the raw materials, the entire equipment will turn green, and then we can produce fish meatballs," Li Zhi pointed at the computer screen.
After debugging the software, Li Zhi clicked the 'Start' button with the mouse.
The equipment for making "fish meatballs" was not even considered as an entry-level system in the Star Cloud i9 Intelligent Factory System. However, it couldn't be denied that it was the simplest intelligent processing production line in the 'Star Cloud i9 Intelligent Factory System'.
Li Zhi walked over to the grinder, took a deep breath, and poured a basket of about fifty catties of fresh fish into it.
He wasn't sure if the production line would work. If it did, that would be great. If not, all the work from yesterday would have been in vain, and they would need to dismantle everything and start over.
"Ding!" Machine 1 is running well!
Upon hearing the sound coming from the laptop, Dong Xiaorou asked in surprise, "It can make sounds too?"
Li Zhi walked back and said, "Yes, it's an intelligent system." "It can not only tell you where it's running well or where there's a problem but also prompt you if there's insufficient raw materials."
"Quite advanced!" Dong Xiaorou nodded. By this time, the first four mechanical devices had passed the inspection and were running well.
"Ding ding ding, Machine 5 has an abnormality." Machine 5 has an abnormality. Production can continue. "Do you want to continue?"
Dong Xiaorou was stunned and asked Li Zhi, "Is there a problem?"
Li Zhi walked over, and Dong Xiaorou was sitting in front of the writing desk. She was curious about the contents on the laptop. Li Zhi came over, leaned down next to Dong Xiaorou, and clicked the 'Continue Production' button directly with the mouse.
"Let's continue with the production first." "If there's any abnormality, we can debug it later," Li Zhi said.
Dong Xiaorou leaned back in her chair. Li Zhi's actions were too intimate, which made her feel a little embarrassed.
Li Zhi hadn't noticed this at first, but when he did, he straightened up. Seeing Dong Xiaorou's expression, he chuckled awkwardly and said, "Uh, it's a misunderstanding, definitely a misunderstanding!"
Dong Xiaorou gave him a coquettish look. She naturally exuded a seductive charm, leaving Li Zhi dumbfounded.
"Machine 6 is also ready!" Dong Xiaorou turned her head and looked at the computer screen.
"Oh!" Li Zhi came back to his senses, touched his nose, and said, "Now, use the mouse to click 'Start Production'."
Rumble!
As soon as Dong Xiaorou clicked, all the machines started running. The sound of a single machine might not be very loud, but when six were running together, it was quite noisy.
Some machines did not need to make any noise, but Li Zhi's current capital could not afford better equipment, so they had to make do with what they had.
Five minutes later, the first fish meatball rolled out of the machine and dropped into a container.
Li Zhi and Dong Xiaorou walked over. As Li Zhi took out the first fish meatball from the machine, the second one also rolled out, resembling a hen laying an egg.
"Fish meatballs?" Dong Xiaorou asked.
Li Zhi nodded, "Fish meatballs!"
The color of the fish meatballs was close to grayish-white, with absolutely no additives. They were about the size of a newborn baby's fist, weighing 0.6 ounces, with no water content, slightly damp, but not overly moist. When pinched with fingers, they felt solid and elastic.
Li Zhi sniffed it in front of his nose. It had a light, fresh scent, but not fishy.
"Are you going to eat it like that?" Dong Xiaorou widened her eyes and asked Li Zhi as he bit into the fish meatball.
Li Zhi only took a small bite to taste it. It was very delicious, fresh, and had a good elasticity. The smooth texture wasn't very obvious; it seemed to require cooking to fully bring it out.
"Eating raw fish, live shrimp, or fish meatballs made from fresh fish is a delightful experience, free from preservatives or additives." In theory, they can be eaten raw. The taste is good. "If you don't believe me, try it!" Li Zhi said with a smile as he chewed and spoke.
Can it really be eaten?
Dong Xiaorou wasn't a timid person. Upon observing Li Zhi take a bite, she decided to try it as well. After eating, she felt the same as Li Zhi did. The evaluation of the fish meatballs was positive, indicating that they were delicious and flavorful.
"Are our fish meatballs meant to be eaten raw?" Dong Xiaorou asked.
Li Zhi smiled and said, "Of course not." Let's just taste it. "The flavor will be even better when the fish meatballs are cooked!"
"How about I cook a few, and then we can taste them again?" Dong Xiaorou licked her lips and looked at Li Zhi. When it came to good food, she was a bit greedy!
"Haha, sure, I'm also hungry." Cook a few more! Li Zhi happily agreed. He couldn't be stingy with the products manufactured in his own factory!
With fifty catties of fresh fish, they had enough for a while. Li Zhi and Dong Xiaorou left the production workshop together. The noise inside was too loud, making it uncomfortable to stay there.
In the adjacent small room, there was an electric stove, a rice cooker, and a gas tank, all of which Li Zhi had prepared because they needed to cook during the day in the factory.
"How should we cook them?" Dong Xiaorou asked.
Li Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Let's boil a few in plain water first to taste the flavor." "If the original flavor is good, then adding seasoning will definitely make it even better!"