My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 13 Eggs
"What news did you find out today?" Zhou Jiye asked curiously.

"So what if you went out for a walk today?" Lin Ying retorted.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jiye immediately perked up. He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began to explain the contents of his notes with great enthusiasm.

As Zhou Jiye spoke, Lin Ying listened attentively. Halfway through, she interrupted him to ask about some details. Fortunately, Zhou Jiye had a good memory and had taken notes beforehand, so he explained everything he knew clearly. After Zhou Jiye finished speaking, Lin Ying nodded thoughtfully.

"By the way, you still haven't told me what you've been finding out."

"I can't compare to you. I only inquired about the black market prices at the pile driver's shop, and also checked out other places. Because I needed to exchange for grain coupons and bring back the coal briquettes I got, I didn't have much time after all that trouble," Lin Ying said, taking out a piece of paper from her pocket and handing it over. It was covered with black market exchange prices for various coupons, which Lin Ying had recorded afterward. This stuff was very useful to them now.

Just as Zhou Jiye was carefully looking at the contents of the paper, Lin Ying suddenly asked, "According to what you said today, it's okay to set up stalls at the market now, right?"

"Yes, didn't I say it's a one-cent management fee per day? As long as you pay the fee, it's fine."

Lin Ying pondered for a moment, then asked, "So, have you thought about what to do next?"

Zhou Jiye lit a cigarette and took a puff: "I've been thinking about this carefully on my way back. It seems that we can indeed start a small business now. We discussed it yesterday. Actually, there are quite a few profitable businesses now, but the key is that we don't have much capital, so we can't do many of them. In my opinion, even if we want to make money, we can only do some businesses with low investment and low risk."

"Tell me more details?" Lin Ying pressed.

Zhou Jiye said with a serious expression, "If you have the skills, it would be easier. Today I saw a lot of carpenters, bricklayers, and plumbers on the street looking for work. There is not much investment in these jobs, and it is not a problem to earn a few yuan a day if you can find work. But I don't have these skills, and neither do you. Moreover, finding work depends on luck, and it is not something you can do every day."

Lin Ying agreed, saying that they couldn't and wouldn't eat this bowl of rice, so they should just be shot.

Zhou Jiye continued, saying that he saw people collecting scrap metal in the alleyways today, and suddenly thought that maybe they could do this business. Isn't there a TV series called "Under the Zhengyang Gate"? In it, Han Chunming made his fortune by collecting scrap metal. And there's also a TV series called "The Wind Blows in Half Summer" where Xu Banxia became a big boss by collecting scrap metal.
This idea suddenly came to Zhou Jiye on his way back, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. In the parlance of later generations, collecting waste is considered an environmental protection industry of material recycling and reuse. If one could become a waste collector and do this business well, it would definitely be a good career.

"Collecting scrap might not sound appealing, but it's really lucrative! The investment is low, and it's flexible and adaptable. Don't underestimate this industry; if you do it well, it can be quite profitable! It's a pity we can't do this job anymore."

Just as Lin Ying thought Zhou Jiye was planning to go into this line of work, Zhou Jiye suddenly changed the subject and said something like this. It wasn't that he thought collecting scrap was shameful, but after careful consideration, he rejected the idea. In fact, being a scrap collector to make money wasn't shameful at all. There was even a short drama called "Back to the 1980s: Getting Rich by Collecting Scrap" made in later years. Zhou Jiye felt from the bottom of his heart that it was a very lucrative industry.

"Why do you say that?" Lin Ying asked curiously.

Zhou Jiye explained to Lin Ying, counting on his fingers, that collecting recyclables was indeed a good business, even though it didn't sound very appealing. The problem was that it wasn't a business for just anyone. He had specifically asked around today and learned that collecting recyclables required three prerequisites: first, a large enough place to store the collected recyclables; second, a cooperative relationship with a recycling station; and third, a means of transportation.

If there's no place to put the collected recyclables, where do we put them? Are we supposed to transport them all to this tiny apartment and store them here? The non-ferrous metals and old newspapers are alright, but the broken glass, chicken and duck feathers, and all sorts of other random things are filthy and smelly. If we bring them back here, let alone put them away, the landlady, Aunt Wang, would probably just kick them out with a broom.

Therefore, to enter this industry, you must first have a place to store waste. In Shanghai, where land is extremely valuable, there is simply no such place in the city center. If you want to find one, you can only look in the suburbs, and even if you do find one, it is another matter whether the other party will be willing to rent it to you.

Secondly, scrap metal collection is done through established networks. The national scrap metal collection system is part of the supply and marketing cooperative system, and this is a subordinate agency. Those responsible for collecting scrap are either formal employees of the collection stations or temporary workers. The purchase prices are standardized. Private scrap metal collectors do exist, but they are very few, and these individuals are generally registered at various collection points. For an outsider like you, without connections or a Shanghai residency permit, getting into this line of work isn't that easy.
As for the third point, there's the matter of transportation. Even if you're just collecting scrap, you still need a cart, right? Without a cart, how do you transport the scrap you collect? Where do you get a cart? How much does it cost? What if you manage to get one but can't collect anything or make any money? Wouldn't you end up losing everything?
“Maybe we can try it later, but let’s not think about it for now.” These were Zhou Jiye’s exact words. Lin Ying glanced at him thoughtfully and nodded slightly.

"So what are you planning to do? You can't exactly go to the docks and work as a laborer carrying heavy loads, can you?"

As she spoke, Lin Ying looked at Zhou Jiye with a grin, especially sizing him up and down his thick arms, as if to say, "You're tall and strong, you're a good candidate for hard labor at the docks, why don't you give it a try?" "Don't joke around, carrying heavy loads? Like a beast of burden? Before I transmigrated, I worked overtime like a beast of burden under capitalists every day, and now I'm going to work at the docks carrying heavy loads like a beast of burden? I've wasted my time transmigrating!" Zhou Jiye rolled his eyes and flicked his cigarette ash.

Seeing his expression, Lin Ying couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. After they laughed for a while, Zhou Jiye said, "But after thinking about it, there is a business that we can do. We went out late today, so we'll go to the market earlier tomorrow. By the way, you come with me tomorrow to check it out and see if it's feasible."

"What deal?"

"Selling eggs!"

Zhou Jiye stubbed out the cigarette butt, which was almost burning his fingers, into the unwashed empty bowl and spat out two mouthfuls of smoke that were stuck to his lips.

"I saw some temporary stalls in the market today, which seems like a good idea. Since farmers are bringing vegetables from the suburbs to sell, as well as other seafood like loach, eel, and turtle, we could give it a try."

"It's unrealistic to sell vegetables like them. The farmers at the temporary stalls only come every few days, carrying loads of vegetables they've grown themselves. We're neither farmers nor do we have a source of vegetables, so how could we possibly do the same? Besides, vegetables spoil quite easily. The air humidity in Shanghai is high, and vegetables don't keep for long. If they rot and spoil, it's not worth it. Farmers don't have much cost to grow their own vegetables, and they can sell whatever they want without having to worry about these things. But we have to!"

"So that's why you thought of selling eggs?"

“That’s right!” Zhou Jiye nodded and said, “I’ve inquired about it. Now the eggs in the market are all sold by state-owned stalls. The daily quantity is fixed, and unlike vegetables, eggs need to be supplied with coupons. Currently, eggs are selling for 0.8 yuan per jin and the supply still can’t meet the demand.”

“That’s a good approach…” Lin Ying thought Zhou Jiye’s suggestion made sense. Eggs are a major staple food in Shanghai, and according to the dietary habits of Shanghai residents, they love to eat them whether they are cooked or eaten directly.

However, nowadays, ordinary households have a fixed monthly quota of egg coupons, which adds up to only three to five kilograms. They eat eggs by the handful every day, so eggs are in short supply at the market. But these are only sold at state-run stalls. Zhou Jiye hadn't seen any private temporary stalls last week, and he didn't know if they even existed. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Perhaps this really was a way to go.

Have you ever thought about where these eggs came from?

"Buy! We can go to the countryside to buy!" Zhou Jiye said confidently. "Let's go to the suburbs and ask around to see if we can buy some eggs or something in the countryside. While we're buying eggs, we can also see what else we can buy. This is the era of ration coupons. Rural areas are different from cities. In the city, people with urban household registration have ration coupons, but people in the countryside don't have these things. Plus, there's the price difference between rural and urban areas, so there's definitely a profit to be made. But we'll only know how much profit we can actually make after we find out."

"That's a really good idea!" Lin Ying rarely gave Zhou Jiye a thumbs up, and then tilted her head to think for a moment before saying, "If we're going to buy eggs, we can use coupons in addition to money to exchange for them."

"Go exchange tickets? Where did you get tickets?"

"Are you stupid! This!" Lin Ying reached out and tapped on the black market ticket exchange paper she had recorded today.

"Makes sense!"

Zhou Jiye's eyes lit up instantly, and he slapped his thigh. Lin Ying's mind was really sharp; how could he not have thought of that? Zhou Jiye immediately said he would go and ask tomorrow, but Lin Ying stopped him. Lin Ying told him that this matter couldn't be rushed and couldn't be resolved in a day or two. Anyway, they should go to the vegetable market again tomorrow to thoroughly understand the situation there, including settling the temporary stalls. Otherwise, what if something unexpected happened if they foolishly went straight to the countryside? They should be thorough in their work and not act rashly.

"Let's get up early tomorrow and ask around at the market. We'll decide what to do after we've got all the information."

"Okay! Listen to you!"

(End of this chapter)