My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 61 Decision
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Lin Ying didn't say anything, but pointed to the right, letting Zhou Jiye see for himself.

Following the direction Lin Ying pointed, Zhou Jiye looked in that direction and was immediately stunned by what he saw.

When did this stall appear?

“I came out the day before yesterday, but you didn’t notice, so I didn’t tell you,” Lin Ying sighed.

Lin Ying showed Zhou Jiye a stall that also sold tea eggs. A middle-aged woman wearing a blue top and with an ordinary appearance, just like Lin Ying, had somehow gotten a small cart with a coal stove inside. On the stove was a stainless steel pot, which was cooking the same tea eggs and dried tofu as Lin Ying.

The other person's stall was not far from Lin Ying, about ten meters away, right next to a barbershop.

"Will this have any impact here?" Zhou Jiye asked, frowning.

“Her stall location isn’t as good as mine, but it still has some impact. After all, people coming from that direction will pass by her stall first, and some customers don’t want to walk a few extra steps, so they just buy from her first, which is like diverting customers.”

"What about the price?"

"The price is good, it's selling for the same price as me, this is better than the one at the market."

Zhou Jiye's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He never expected that not only did he encounter problems at the market, but Lin Ying also faced the same trouble.

The emergence of competitors has changed their original unique business. With the appearance of stalls selling the same products, this will inevitably have an impact on them.

But Zhou Jiye couldn't do anything about this. He couldn't stop others from setting up stalls like him, could he? First of all, he couldn't do it at all. Secondly, whether it was the vegetable market or the area near the movie theater, the main road wasn't their property. It was a public place. If Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying could set up stalls, others could too. Everyone should earn a living with their own hands. It couldn't be that only you could do it, but others couldn't.

"This can't go on like this!"

After holding back for a long time, Zhou Jiye finally said this. Lin Ying shook her head slightly. How could she not know that if things continued like this, there would be big problems?
To put it bluntly, the market is only so big, and current consumer spending power is also limited. What used to be a business dominated by one company now has more competitors, so naturally things will be different.

To put it simply, if they used to sell 200 tea eggs a day, now that two companies are doing the same business, sales will definitely decrease. A drop in the number of tea eggs sold is inevitable. Even with the advantage of the crowds at the cinema, Lin Ying once sold nearly 300 tea eggs at her peak, but that number is unlikely to be reached in the future, which will result in a significant loss to their profits.

The same applies to Zhou Jiye. With more people selling old hens, customers have more choices. No matter how good his reputation is or how long he's been selling his products, he can't withstand the diversion of customers, not to mention the price competition.

A look of worry appeared on Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying's faces at the same time. This situation did not mean that they could not continue their business, but that with the emergence of competitors, the business would become increasingly difficult. The originally high profits would gradually decrease, sales volume would decline, and even the time spent setting up their stall would be extended. The difference would be huge.

"Let's take it one step at a time. We'll see how things go after the New Year. If it really doesn't work, we'll think of something else..." Lin Ying whispered to Zhou Jiye. Zhou Jiye nodded in agreement. They didn't have any better ideas at the moment, so this was all they could do.

In the days that followed, Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying kept an eye on the market changes. As time went on, the impact of competitors gradually increased. A few days before the Spring Festival, perhaps for some reason, there were more people selling chickens at the market.

This greatly disappointed Zhou Jiye, who had hoped to make a fortune during the Spring Festival. As for the cinema, things were alright. After a new tea egg stall appeared, no similar stalls appeared. The two stalls, which were more than ten meters apart, managed to coexist peacefully, each doing their own business. However, due to the diversion of customers, Lin Ying's daily tea egg sales were still somewhat affected.

Faced with this situation, Lin Ying appeared calm on the surface, but she felt very uncomfortable inside. However, she also knew that this was an inevitable trend that she could not stop.

Although the tea egg business is still doing quite well, even if sales continue to decline, you can still earn more than ten or twenty yuan a day. Although it is not as good as the best time, this income is still very good for ordinary people. Even if this income is reduced due to the impact of competitors, it is still several times higher than the income of ordinary people.

That day, as usual, Lin Ying handed over the stall to Zhou Jiye in the afternoon and hurried home. Every afternoon, she would go back to cook dinner; this had become their regular routine.

Arriving home, Lin Ying quickly prepared dinner. She first took the food upstairs to Fang Manxia, ​​and then prepared to go downstairs to eat before relieving Zhou Jiye. At this moment, Fang Manxia suddenly called her back.

"Xiao Lin, have you been preoccupied these past few days?" Lin Ying was slightly taken aback; she hadn't expected Fang Manxia to have noticed her unintentionally.

"What difficulties have you encountered? Can you tell me?"

Lin Ying smiled and pretended to be relaxed: "I did run into some trouble, but don't worry, it's just a small matter, nothing serious."

"It's good that it's not a big deal, but Xiao Lin, even if it's a small matter, we can't be careless. Do you remember what I told you before?" Fang Manxia looked at Lin Ying with gentle eyes: "A person who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present. We must think thrice before we act. Sometimes we should not be impulsive. We should think about the problem from all angles before and after, so that we can handle it with ease."

"But sometimes you also have to understand the principle of letting go. You have to give up something to gain something. If one path is blocked, another will open up. There are many roads to Rome. Your mindset is the most important thing."

Lin Ying was taken aback, her expression thoughtful.

Lin Ying realized that her mindset had been a bit off these past few days, and she had even started to feel anxious and insecure, which made her feel irritable.

This isn't right! Logically speaking, Lin Ying's personality shouldn't be like this. Given her and Zhou Jiye's backgrounds, one of them selling old hens at the market and the other selling tea eggs at the cinema were just temporary measures. She never intended to continue this business indefinitely. It was just that they didn't have much capital at the time and were eager to establish themselves in Shanghai, so they chose these two professions.

As time went on, both Lin Ying and Zhou Jiye did a good job, earning a considerable daily income. They made a lot of money from these two businesses, so how did they unknowingly become so serious about them?
Do you think Lin Ying and Zhou Jiye plan to keep doing this job forever? Until they're seventy or eighty and retire? Isn't that ridiculous?

A time traveler with memories of the next few decades in his mind, why does he have to struggle so much in this era that is about to change?

If people were to tell them they traveled back more than forty years and what they accomplished in their lives, and they answered that they spent their entire lives selling tea eggs at the movie theater and old hens at the market, people would laugh their heads off.

In truth, both Lin Ying and Zhou Jiye experienced a change in mindset that they themselves didn't even realize occurred to them. Perhaps they had been staying in their comfort zone for too long, getting used to setting up stalls at the market and movie theater every day for the past six months, and the sudden change caused a problem with their mindset.

Fang Manxia's words immediately snapped Lin Ying out of her rut. Yes! Why should they continue in this line of work? It's already the 1980s, the wave of reform and opening up has arrived, even pigs can fly when the wind is blowing, why bother with such a small matter?

Once Lin Ying realized what was happening, her previous anxieties vanished instantly. When Fang Manxia saw Lin Ying's furrowed brows relax, her worried expression disappear, and her smile become natural, she felt relieved and stopped saying anything, smilingly telling Lin Ying to go about her business.

As the Spring Festival approaches, the festive atmosphere outside is becoming increasingly strong, and the market is more bustling than in previous years.

Having adjusted their mindset, neither Zhou Jiye nor Lin Ying took the new competitors in the market seriously. Although this situation had a significant impact on their business, for them, their first transaction, whether at the vegetable market or the movie theater, was coming to an end.

In the South, especially in Shanghai, there is no distinction between the "big year" and "small year" of the Lunar New Year, which is different from the North.

In Shanghai, there is only a distinction between the eve of the Lunar New Year and the Lunar New Year. After the Lunar New Year's Eve comes the first day of the Lunar New Year. On the afternoon of the eve of the Lunar New Year, which is the day before Lunar New Year's Eve, Lin Ying packed up her stall early but did not go home. Instead, she went to find Director Liu at the movie theater.

"Xiao Lin, what brings you here? Sit down, sit down. It's terribly cold today. You must be freezing after a long day at your stall. Let me pour you a glass of water to warm you up."

When Director Liu saw Lin Ying coming over, he smiled, got up, walked to the side, took a cup, and poured her a cup of hot water. Lin Ying quickly said thank you and took the cup, holding it in her hands.

"Tomorrow's a holiday, what's up? Coming over to wish me a Happy New Year in advance?" Director Liu asked with a smile, glancing at the bag of things Lin Ying had brought.

Lin Ying smiled and nodded, pointing to the things she had brought, saying, "I came to see Uncle Liu today for two things. One is to wish you a Happy New Year in advance. The other is to let you know that I won't be coming here after the New Year. I'm not continuing my business after today. I'm really grateful for your help these past few days..."

"Ah! Why did you suddenly quit? You were doing so well!" Director Liu was stunned, his smile freezing on his face. He had thought Lin Ying was just making a normal visit before the Lunar New Year, since the movie theaters would be closed for the holiday starting tomorrow, and today was the last day of work before the Spring Festival holiday.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ying told him this, which greatly surprised Director Liu.

(End of this chapter)