My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 18 Stroller
"Selling tea eggs..."

Zhou Jiye pondered intently. The egg supply and marketing cooperative's purchase price was 65 cents per jin (0.5 kg), while they purchased eggs in the suburbs for about 67 cents. Whether paid directly in cash or with grain coupons, the price was basically the same, slightly higher than the supply and marketing cooperative's purchase price. In addition, since they came to buy directly from the farmers' homes, the local farmers were still happy to sell their eggs to them.

If we had sold the eggs directly at the market as planned, the profit from the 30 jin of eggs we bought today would have been about 3.8 yuan.

The profit margin is barely enough, but if the eggs are made into tea eggs, the profit will be different, definitely much higher than selling regular eggs. But the question is, can this business really be done? Zhou Jiye had some doubts.

"We'll find out if it works or not by trying," Lin Ying said. "No matter what, we won't lose money. We only have so many eggs, so we'll make a profit no matter how many we sell. Also, there's a saying you probably haven't heard before."

"What?"

"Those who build atomic bombs are not as well off as those who sell tea eggs."

"Where did this fallacy and heresy come from?"

Zhou Jiye was dumbfounded. Was Lin Ying deliberately trying to fool him?

"Hmph! Believe it or not!" Lin Ying said this with great confidence. When she was young, she lived with her grandparents. Her grandfather often told her stories about the early days of reform and opening up, and he mentioned this sentence in particular.

Lin Ying's grandfather, Lin Ruoxu, had never been involved in this business, but it was a fact that people in Shanghai loved to eat tea eggs. Moreover, Lin Ying believed that her grandfather would never lie to her; since he had told this story, it must be true.

As for making and selling tea eggs, Lin Ying suddenly remembered it while washing rice and cooking downstairs. She recalled that when she was a child, her grandfather would hold her hand and buy tea eggs from a street vendor.

The small shop that sold tea eggs used to boil them in a large pot on a coal stove. Later, they switched to using a rice cooker, but the former tasted better than the latter. Perhaps it's because the rice cooker simply couldn't replicate the flavor of the eggs boiled in the stove.

Seeing Lin Ying's confidence, Zhou Jiye had no choice but to believe her. Just as she said, they had already collected all the eggs. Even if they sold slowly as tea eggs, they wouldn't lose money. What if it worked? This was a viable business opportunity. Selling tea eggs was different from selling regular eggs. Tea eggs were more expensive, with a higher profit per egg, and the demand was much lower than for regular eggs. Based on the amount they had purchased today, it would be enough to last them for several days.

"Just set up a stall right in the market?" Zhou Jiye asked.

Lin Ying shook her head: "The market won't work. Although there are many people, they are all ordinary people who rush out to buy groceries in the morning. Everyone is careful with their money and will haggle over every penny. Besides, the market is only lively for a few hours each day. Once the stalls close after eight or nine o'clock, there are hardly any people. Even if there are people, they are residents from the neighborhood. If we were just selling eggs, it would be fine, but it's not suitable to sell tea eggs now."

"Where to go?"

“I’ve figured out the location. It’s a few hundred meters east of the market. I passed by there yesterday and it was very lively. I’ll go see if I can find a place to sell. Anyway, selling tea eggs doesn’t require much land. I can just get a small cart with a coal stove and a pot.”

After listening to Lin Ying's well-reasoned explanation, Zhou Jiye had no objections and decided to do as Lin Ying suggested.

The next day, they didn't get up as early as the day before. Since they weren't planning to set up a stall at the market, there was no need to rush to the busiest time in the early morning. Besides, selling tea eggs is completely different from selling regular eggs at the market. It relies on fixed stalls and long hours of foot traffic. If you go out too early, people who are going to work haven't even left home yet, so there won't be much business.

The two went to the place Lin Ying had mentioned yesterday. It wasn't far from where they were staying; it only took about ten or twenty minutes to walk there. When they arrived, they found it was indeed bustling with activity.

This road is one of the main thoroughfares in the area, and it's not far from Xiafei Road, one of the most bustling streets in Shanghai. In addition, there's a cinema at the intersection, a university across the street, a sizable food store at the corner, and many other restaurants, hardware stores, stationery stores, fabric stores, and other shops nearby.

Even disregarding commuting hours, there's still a significant flow of people coming and going at other times, not to mention the constant stream of moviegoers coming and going from the cinema.

After looking around the area, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying both liked the spot located on the east side of the cinema entrance, believing it to be the most suitable location.

Firstly, this place is right next to the movie theater, very close to the ticket office. Secondly, there's a food shop just a dozen meters away. Since they sell tea eggs, and tea eggs are a type of food, people who come to the food shop might buy a few to try, plus there are people watching the movie.

Furthermore, the university gate is right across the street, and there are many students and teachers there, all of whom are potential customers. Add to that the foot traffic from other nearby shops and passersby, and setting up a stall here should be quite profitable. Having chosen their spot, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying inquired about the cinema from the ticket booth staff. Lin Ying's sweet talk, coupled with her talent for playing the victim, easily gained the staff's trust.

Through an introduction, Lin Ying met Director Liu of the cinema. After saying some nice things, secretly slipping him two packs of cigarettes, and promising the cinema five yuan a month for his stall, Director Liu readily agreed to Lin Ying's request to set up a stall there. He even smiled and said that it wasn't easy for them, as returned educated youth, and it was a good thing that they could support themselves. Since he was a leader at the cinema, he would help if he could. He also promised that they could use their internal tap water if needed, as long as it didn't affect the cinema's operations and they maintained cleanliness.

"Thank you so much, you're such a kind person!"

Lin Ying was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. She held Director Liu's hand and said repeatedly. Zhou Jiye also bowed to thank him profusely, which made Director Liu very happy.

Of course, partly it was out of compassion, and partly it was the two packs of cigarettes and the promise of a five-yuan monthly stall fee that worked. Leaving aside the cigarettes, five yuan a month is quite a lot. Although the movie theater is one of the eight major institutions, its profits are not as good as those of a food store. This amount of money doesn't have to be handed over to the government, so it can be used as an internal slush fund. It only takes up less than half a square meter of space at the entrance. It's convenient for others and convenient for oneself, so why not?
Having settled the stall matter, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were very happy, and their steps were lighter on the way back.

But a stall alone isn't enough; you can't exactly carry a stove and pots to set up your stall every day, can you? You need a small cart. The two discussed it and decided to go to a nearby consignment shop to see if they had a suitable cart, but when they arrived, they left without even asking.

They have shopping carts in the store, but secondhand carts aren't cheap, and they don't have much money to spare right now.

With no other option, Zhou Jiye suggested they try their luck at a scrap metal recycling station, hoping to find something suitable. So they went to a nearby recycling station. When they arrived, Lin Ying's eyes lit up, and she pointed to a pile of scrap metal and nudged Zhou Jiye beside her.

"Look! How about this one?"

"It's in such a state, is it even usable?" Zhou Jiye followed her finger and frowned when he saw a broken children's stroller. The stroller was so dilapidated that it was practically just a frame, and most of the paint had peeled off, leaving it covered in rust. To make matters worse, only the front two wheels remained; the back two wheels were nowhere to be found, having been exposed to the sun and rain alongside a pile of scrap metal for quite some time.

"It's fine as it is, just fix it up and it'll be usable." Lin Ying didn't mind and stepped forward to a man at the scrap yard who looked to be about fifty years old, and asked, "Uncle, may I ask you something?"

The man was sitting behind the counter at the junkyard, reading a newspaper. The wooden counter was quite old, and on it sat an abacus that was missing an arm or a leg.

"What's up, little girl? Selling scrap? Let me take a look." The other person was wearing reading glasses. Hearing the voice, he slightly raised his head, but did not take off his glasses. Instead, he rolled his eyes and looked at Lin Ying through the gap in his glasses.

"I'm not selling scrap; I want to buy something from you."

"Hehe, that's quite rare. We get people selling scrap every day, but it's rare to see people buying things from me." The old man laughed and kindly said to Lin Ying, "You're not here to pick up trash, are you? It's understandable that young people lack experience, but let me tell you, there's nothing worth picking up in the scrap yard. Anything useful has already been sorted out and taken away. People in this society aren't stupid."

Lin Ying was taken aback, not expecting the old man to say that. To be honest, she had indeed had such thoughts just now. Zhou Jiye had previously suggested the idea of ​​becoming a "ragpicker," and although the idea was rejected, Lin Ying had kept it in mind.

She had just been thinking that if the scrap yard had any interesting finds, it might be a good opportunity. She could come back more often after making money selling tea eggs, and maybe she could pick out some old goods, or even antiques and artifacts, from the scrap. However, the old man immediately nipped her little idea in the bud, clearly telling her that trying to take advantage of the scrap yard was simply impossible.

Come to think of it, how could people who recycle scrap metal be stupid? Even if they collect valuable items, they would have already disposed of them privately. Why would they be foolish enough to let outsiders profit from them?

"You've misunderstood. I'm not here to pick up trash. I saw a children's stroller over there and wanted to ask if you could sell it to me."

"A children's stroller?" the old man asked, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, you mean the one in the scrap heap?"

"Yes, yes, yes! This is it." Lin Ying nodded repeatedly.

"What do you need this thing for? It's just scrap metal now, there's no point in taking it back."

"The frame looks intact, but it's missing two wheels. To be honest, I plan to use this cart to carry some things. It doesn't matter if it looks ugly, as long as it works. I'll see if I can fix it after I buy it. If I can, it'll save me money," Lin Ying said frankly. Zhou Jiye, who was standing next to her, nodded with a smile and took out a cigarette to offer her.

(End of this chapter)