My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 19 Preparation
The old man took the cigarette, lit it with the light Zhou Jiye offered, took a puff, looked at Lin Ying and Zhou Jiye, and suddenly asked with a smile, "Are you two a couple?"

"You have a sharp eye!"

"An educated youth? Just returned to the city?"

"You are this one!" Lin Ying said, giving a thumbs up.

The old man chuckled and said, "I understand, I understand. I won't ask you what you want this thing for. It's just junk anyway. If you want it, just pay the purchase price. Let me take a look..."

As he spoke, the old man took out a notebook from under the counter and flipped through it, quickly finding the original purchase price: "I bought it for 28 cents, so just give me 30 cents."

Lin Ying was overjoyed: "Thank you so much, is it Sanmao? I'll give it to you right away."

As she was speaking, Lin Ying reached for her money, but before she could take it out, the old man smiled and said to her, "This cart is useless without two wheels. If you just want to take it back to load some things and push it around, how about I give you an extra 15 cents and I'll install two wheels for you?"

Lin Ying was taken aback and exchanged a glance with Zhou Jiye beside her.

"That's great, forty-five cents in total? Thank you so much." Lin Ying readily took out the money from her pocket, counted out forty-five cents, and gave it to the old man. After taking it, the old man counted to confirm the amount was correct, put the money away, and then wrote out a receipt in front of them.

He tore off a section and gave it to Lin Ying, then got up and came out from behind the counter. He led them to the pile of junk and pulled out the broken-down car.

This car was really badly damaged. After digging it out and looking at it closely, I found that not only were two wheels missing, but even one of the partitions inside was broken.

The old man took it and looked at it over and over a few times, then told them to wait and turned to go into the recycling station.

A moment later, he came out carrying several tools and a heavy burlap sack.

After returning, he turned the car upside down and placed it on the ground. He then took out several fist-sized bearings from the sack, held them up to the axle, and picked out two of the most suitable ones. Next, he took two pieces of cork, and after a few banging and clanging with a hammer and pliers, he had the two replacement bearings installed in the places where there were no wheels.

Then he took some thick lead wire and used it to tightly bind the nearly falling-off frame from front to back, especially wrapping it several times around the broken section. After finishing, the old man found some sewing machine oil and dripped a few drops into the bearings. He also did some minor repairs on the two wheels that were originally in good condition. Then he turned the bike over, placed it on the ground, dusted himself off, and got up.

"Alright, you guys give it a try."

Seeing the well-made stroller, Zhou Jiye couldn't wait to get his hands on it and pushed it back and forth a few times.

"Hey! That actually works!"

Zhou Jiye said happily that he never expected there would be such a solution. Although the two bearings replaced the missing wheels, making it noisier and less smoother to push, it still worked.

Moreover, the cart, which was bound with thick lead wire, was much sturdier. It felt very solid to the touch. Even if someone as big as Zhou Jiye sat on it, let alone put a coal stove and a pot on it, it probably wouldn't fall apart.

For just 45 cents, they got a stroller—there couldn't be a better deal! Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were overjoyed and thanked the old man repeatedly. Zhou Jiye even offered him a cigarette and chatted with him attentively for a few minutes.

This old man is a nice guy. Zhou Jiye still remembers his idea of ​​becoming a scrap collector. He thinks that if the tea eggs don't sell well and he can't make a living from this business, he might be able to switch to collecting scrap if he can get on the old man's good side.

Having solved the stroller problem, the two thanked the old man again and excitedly pushed the stroller home.

Pushing the cart back home, apart from the wheels making a lot of noise from rubbing against the ground, there were no other problems. When they got home, Lin Ying asked Zhou Jiye to carry the coal stove over and put it in the cart. Surprisingly, the middle space fit perfectly, and there was even a hook in the back space to hang a small stool. Perfect!

With a place to set up a stall and a means of transportation to and from the market, the next step is to get the business going.

To sell tea eggs, the first step is to boil them. Boiling tea eggs isn't difficult; it's something most people can do. It's simply a matter of first boiling the eggs into hard-boiled eggs, then adding soy sauce, tea leaves, and other ingredients and continuing to boil until the dark brown broth seeps into the eggs.

However, making delicious tea eggs is not easy. The tea eggs made in the previous way can only be considered ordinary. Good tea eggs require some skill. In addition to tea and soy sauce, other seasonings must also be added. The star anise, bay leaves and cinnamon that Lin Ying specially bought are for this purpose. In addition, people in Shanghai prefer sweet tastes, so rock sugar must also be added for flavor. This recipe was passed down from Lin Ying's grandmother.

One pot of tea eggs can't cook too many. When they moved in, they bought two pots. One was slightly larger and was intended for making soup later, but now it's being used to cook tea eggs.

She calculated that one pot could cook about thirty eggs, and that was because the eggs were relatively small these days. If it were the kind of large eggs from farms ten or twenty years from now, this pot would barely fit twenty or so. However, there was still space between the eggs, so Lin Ying considered going to the market early the next morning to buy some dried tofu or something similar. Selling tea eggs without also cooking some dried tofu to sell would be a waste! As for dried tofu being a bean product and requiring coupons, Lin Ying didn't care. She'd dealt with the black market before; bean product coupons weren't expensive. She'd received two when she exchanged her national grain coupons; she'd try it first.

Zhou Jiye went upstairs and counted thirty-five eggs. He washed the eggs in the sink and set them aside. Lin Ying filled a pot with cold water and then put the eggs into the pot one by one. After all the eggs were in, she added two ladles of water to cover them and then placed the pot on the coal stove.

Boiling eggs in cold water results in more even heating than boiling them in hot water, and the eggs won't stick to the shell, making them easier to peel. This is a common trick. Lin Ying skillfully completed these steps and chatted idly with Zhou Jiye. After a while, as the water in the pot boiled, the boiled eggs were ready after simmering in the boiling water for a while.

Lin Ying lifted the pot and set it aside. She then instructed Zhou Jiye to cool the eggs with cold water and gently crack each eggshell. This wasn't about peeling the eggs, but simply cracking the shells so that the seasonings could penetrate the shells when making tea eggs later.

As for Lin Ying, she went upstairs first. When she came down, she was carrying several spice packets. These packets contained the spices that Lin Ying had bought yesterday. The packets were made from gauze that she had bought at the pharmacy on her way back. Each packet was not very big. She had made three packets with the spices and tea leaves she had yesterday, which would last for two days.

"Have you finished kowtowing?"

"All done!" Zhou Jiye said, pointing to the cracked eggs in the pot.

"Give it to me." Lin Ying took it, threw a spice packet directly into the pot, and then poured in half a bottle of soy sauce. The water in the pot quickly turned dark brown. After carefully checking the water level, Lin Ying put the pot back on the coal stove, adjusted the sealing door under the stove, and continued to cook over medium heat.

"We need to buy another stove," Lin Ying said to Zhou Jiye, turning her head as if remembering something.

They only have one coal stove, which they'll use for their upcoming tea egg stall. Without the stove, they can't cook, and they're unsure how well the tea egg business will go. A pot of eggs produces about thirty-five, and if they sell quickly, they'll have to refill the pot that day.

Seasonings are no problem; you can bring your own seasoning packets and soy sauce bottles to your stall. If you need water, there's tap water available near the movie theater. However, there's no way to make boiled eggs; you'll have to cook them at home and bring them over. You can't do that without a stove.

Lin Ying's words reminded Zhou Jiye, who nodded in agreement. Just as he was saying he was going to go back to the place where he bought the stove last time to buy another one, Lin Ying told him to wait. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then told Zhou Jiye to go to the stationery store to buy two sheets of kraft paper.

"Kraft paper, what's it used for?"

"To wrap tea eggs!" Lin Ying pointed to the tea eggs boiling in the pot and said, "Plastic bags are hard to come by now and not cheap. Buy two sheets of kraft paper, cut them up and use them as paper wrappers. You can't expect people to hold the tea eggs directly in their hands after buying them, can you? They're so hot, who can hold them? And it's not hygienic either."

“That makes sense!” Zhou Jiye nodded repeatedly, took the money from Lin Ying, and went out.

He first went to the place where he had bought the stove before, picked out a stove and bought it, and then went to the stationery store to buy two large sheets of kraft paper. He rolled up the kraft paper and tucked it under his arm, and carried the coal stove in his other hand as he walked back. When he got home, the tea eggs downstairs had been boiling for an hour. As the spices, tea and soy sauce blended and the hot water boiled, an enticing aroma gradually filled the air, and it smelled delicious.

Upon entering, I immediately spotted Lin Ying and Aunt Wang, who had returned from get off work sometime earlier. The two were chatting animatedly.

"Xiao Lin, your tea eggs are really good. Just by looking at them and smelling them, you can tell they're a masterpiece."

"It's just something I've been messing around with; I don't even know if it'll taste good yet," Lin Ying said modestly.

"It'll definitely taste good!" Aunt Wang said confidently. "How could it not taste good with so many seasonings? You've really gone all out. When we boil tea eggs, we usually just put in some tea leaves and soy sauce, but you've put in so many spices, and even rock sugar. It would be strange if it didn't taste good."

Lin Ying smiled and said, "I'm relieved if you really told me. When it's cooked, take two with you and let me taste them and give you some feedback."

"No, no, how can you do that?" Aunt Wang waved her hands repeatedly: "You're in the business of selling eggs, and they're not cheap these days. You young people have it tough too, what kind of business would it be if I took them for free? I can't take advantage of this."

"It's alright, this isn't the first time I've made this. Restaurants also have to test new dishes before they're made. Whether it's good or not isn't up to me to say, it's only good if others eat it and say it's good. Aunt Wang, you've helped us so much. Without you, we wouldn't even have a place to stay. My husband and I are truly grateful to you. Please, as a good person, go all the way and help us out by trying it and giving us some suggestions. That way, I can set up my stall with peace of mind tomorrow."

"Well..." Aunt Wang was tempted, but after thinking for a moment, she said, "I can't refuse to help, but..."

"Oh, my dear Aunt Wang, no 'buts' at all! I'm so grateful for your help. It's settled then, these tea eggs need to cook a little longer so they can absorb the flavor. I'll bring a couple over once they're done, okay?"

"You, what can I say? You're so clever and know how to handle people. Auntie won't stand on ceremony!"

"Thank you, Auntie!" Lin Ying nodded with a smile, put her arm around the happy Aunt Wang, and started whispering to each other again. The two women seemed to have found something to talk about, and they chatted enthusiastically.

(End of this chapter)