My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 21 Opening

Zhou Jiye went to the vicinity and found two bricks. He placed the bricks under the cart to wedge the wheels and secure the cart in case it shook and tipped over the stove and pot.

After finishing all that, Lin Ying put the things she brought aside, sat down on a small stool, and put up a piece of cardboard that she had prepared yesterday in front of the cart, on which she drew a few large characters.

Tea eggs - 0.2 each, dried tofu - 0.05 each.

The price was set by Lin Ying. Zhou Jiye felt it was a bit high at the time. His idea was to add 30% to the original cost, and at most 50% profit would be about right.

Their purchase price for eggs is 0.67 per jin (500g). Then, if each jin contains 10 to 11 eggs, the cost per egg is approximately six cents.

Tea eggs require seasonings, which are not cheap. On average, the cost of one tea egg is about two cents, so the cost of one tea egg is eight cents. Then, add a profit of 30% to 50% on top of that, and the selling price is a little over ten cents and at most twelve cents.

However, Lin Ying rejected this suggestion outright. She said that the sales figures couldn't be calculated like that. The cost of the eggs they collected was theirs, and it had to be calculated based on the current market retail price. Moreover, tea eggs didn't require coupons, so the cost of the eggs alone should be calculated at nine cents per egg.

As for seasonings and such, these also need to be factored in with profit; we can't just break even, can we? Add to that other labor costs and time, and a tea egg will sell for at least two cents, while dried tofu is cheaper, only five cents a piece.

In reality, the cost of dried bean curd is even lower. A pound of dried bean curd only costs 27 cents at the market. Even with the addition of bean product coupons, the cost is only a little over 30 cents. However, a pound of dried bean curd can be cut into more than 30 small pieces, and each piece sells for 5 cents. This means that a pound costs 1.5 yuan, which is five times the original cost.

"The timid starve, the bold thrive! They don't know your exact costs, and a few cents difference in cost is easily negotiated. Besides, do people who want to buy tea eggs to try something new really care about a few cents? If you do business with your mindset, you're bound to lose money."

These are Lin Ying's original words. In terms of verbal sparring, Zhou Jiye could never win against her. Moreover, she was the one who came up with the idea for this business. From preparing the seasonings to cooking the tea eggs, Lin Ying handled everything herself. Zhou Jiye was just helping out, so naturally he didn't have as much say as her.

There was nothing he could do; since Lin Ying had made the decision, he could only accept it. As for whether it could actually be sold, to be honest, Zhou Jiye had no idea at all.

Today was the first day of setting up a stall, and since Zhou Jiye had nothing else to do, he didn't go anywhere and helped Lin Ying take care of the stall.

After the stall was set up, Lin Ying sat on a small stool and waited for customers to come. Zhou Jiye stood aside and watched over them, his eyes sweeping over the crowds coming and going on the street, praying that someone would stop and buy their tea eggs soon.

The wish was good, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. After waiting for ten or twenty minutes, although many people passed by, most of them just walked by in a hurry without even glancing in this direction. Even if someone noticed the stall, they would only glance at it, hesitate slightly, and then leave.

Lin Ying sat there, watching the flow of people with growing anxiety, especially when she saw people stop and look in her direction, only to quicken their pace and leave again. Lin Ying felt very frustrated.

Could it be that her idea was wrong? Or that her pricing was too high? That shouldn't be the case! She had calculated it carefully. Although the price was slightly high, it wasn't unacceptable. Besides, her tea eggs tasted very good, and anyone who tried them would definitely like them.

While pondering what was going on, Lin Ying suddenly realized something and subconsciously turned around to look. When she saw Zhou Jiye standing behind her, Lin Ying seemed to understand something.

Lin Ying waved to Zhou Jiye, who was smoking. Zhou Jiye quickly stepped forward, bent down, and asked with a smile what Lin Ying wanted to do.

"Can you stop standing here and get away from me?" Lin Ying said irritably.

"Why? I'm not bothering you by standing here, and I can lend a hand if business comes in." Zhou Jiye asked, puzzled.

"Give me a hand? You're standing here like a doorman, don't you know what you look like? Tall and big, with a fierce face and a cigarette dangling from your lips, your eyes are bulging like copper bells. You scare away all the customers. Who would buy my tea eggs? Please, stay away from me, okay? Now! Right now! Immediately! Roll yourself up and get as far away from me as possible!"

"I……."

Zhou Jiye felt incredibly wronged after being bombarded with complaints from Lin Ying. What had he done to deserve this? His good intentions were met with ingratitude; was it the toilet's fault for not having enough suction to poop? Was it all his fault?

Helpless, Zhou Jiye could only leave dejectedly, but worried that Lin Ying might run into trouble with her stall, he didn't dare go too far. After thinking for a while, he went directly to the other side of the street, found a curb near the university gate, plopped down, and sat down, smoking silently to himself.

Strangely enough, perhaps it was really because of him, as Lin Ying said, that business started coming in for Lin Ying not long after Zhou Jiye left. A man stopped as he passed the stall, seemingly drawn by the aroma of tea eggs in the air. He sniffed twice, then turned his head to look around and saw Lin Ying sitting behind the stall, with a cart in front of her. Inside the cart was a stove with a pot on it, the lid open, and inside, dark brown liquid was bubbling gently, with tea eggs and dried tofu bobbing slightly in the liquid.

Lin Ying held a spoon tied with chopsticks in her hand and was gently stirring the juice inside. The aroma, amplified by the fire and her stirring, became even more enticing.

"Madam, how much are these tea eggs?"

"Tea eggs are two cents each, and dried tofu is five cents," Lin Ying said, pointing to a sign hanging nearby.

"So expensive? Eggs only cost 80 cents a pound at the market!"

“You said it yourself, it’s a market. Eggs at the market are rationed, and the daily supply is limited. Plus, the price for eggs would be different if you negotiated. These are tea eggs, not raw eggs. Smell the aroma, doesn’t it smell good? And look at the seasoning I used. It’s full of good spices, which are more expensive than eggs. I even added rock sugar. These things aren’t cheap. They’re not the kind you just make with some soy sauce and ordinary tea. The high cost makes them worth the money.”

Lin Ying patiently explained, and seeing that the other party was still hesitant, she smiled and said, "If you think it's too expensive, why don't you buy two pieces of dried tofu to try first? If you like it, then you can buy the tea eggs. My friend, I earn my money through hard work, and this stall is a cooperative stall with the movie theater. Today is the first day I set up my stall, and I will be setting up my stall here every day from now on. If the products are not good, you can bring people to smash my stall without me saying a word. To be honest, I don't make much profit on a tea egg at all, just a few cents."

"This..." The man hesitated for a moment. Just then, Director Liu from the movie theater came to work. He saw Lin Ying, who had already set up her stall, and greeted her with a smile. He also asked her how business was going.

"Director Liu, you're here early! Have you had breakfast yet? How about a tea egg to tide you over?" Lin Ying quickly stood up and greeted her warmly.

"I've already eaten, but I won't have any more tea eggs. It's not easy for you to run a small business." Director Liu waved his hand with a smile.

"No way!" Without saying a word, Lin Ying picked up a tea egg with her chopsticks, pulled out a piece of brown paper from underneath, stuffed it in, and stuffed it into Director Liu's hand: "You're my boss, and today is the first day I set up my stall. As my boss, shouldn't you give me some pointers? If you think it's good, you can help me advertise and attract some customers. Besides, we ordinary people also want to improve, so isn't it normal to flatter your boss?"

"Hahaha! You, Lin, you're so young but you've got a whole repertoire of words. Where did you learn that? What kind of leader am I? Just the director of a movie theater. We're all the same, serving the people." Director Liu was so amused by Lin Ying's words that he could hardly see his eyes. He spoke politely, but he accepted the tea egg that Lin Ying offered him.

To be honest, these tea eggs have a rich aroma, and the smell alone makes his mouth water.

In front of Lin Ying, Director Liu peeled open a tea egg and took a bite. His eyes lit up immediately after the first bite: "Little Lin, you're something else! This tea egg tastes really good. It's made with high-quality ingredients and has a unique flavor. To be honest, I've only ever had this kind of tea egg before, back in the day at an old shop in the City God Temple. But that shop closed down afterward, and I haven't tasted this flavor since. I never thought I'd get to eat it again today."

"If you like them, that's fine. Why don't you take a few more home?"

"No, no, just one is enough. Taking any more would be inappropriate. Friendship is friendship, and business is business. Anyway, you'll be here every day from now on. If I want to eat it again, it'll be easy. I can just buy it from you. But you have to give me a discount, okay?" Director Liu joked.

Lin Ying readily agreed. After chatting for a while, Director Liu finished his tea egg in a few bites and said he would go in first. He also said that if there were any problems with setting up the stall, he should come and find him. After Director Liu left, the man completely believed Lin Ying's words. Besides, he had been craving the tea egg while Director Liu was eating it, and he couldn't resist the temptation.

"Two tea eggs, and four pieces of dried tofu, please," the man said generously, pointing with his hand.

"okay!"

Lin Ying readily agreed and deftly picked out two tea eggs, specifically telling him to choose the ones that had been cooked for a long time to absorb the flavor, so they would taste better.

After the tea eggs were wrapped, she picked out four pieces of dried tofu. Then she paid and received the goods. The customer was very satisfied and said thank you. He also said that if the food was really good, he would come back to buy more tomorrow. Lin Ying thanked her repeatedly and said that she would definitely save some for him for tomorrow. After seeing off this first customer, Lin Ying held the six cents in her hand and felt happy.

We're finally open!

Once you get one customer, you'll get two. After the first customer patronized Lin Ying's tea egg stall, several more customers came over the next two hours. Some bought tea eggs, some bought dried tofu, and some bought both, just like the first customer.

Although her tea egg stall wasn't always packed with customers, people would still buy from her every now and then. Around noon, perhaps because it was lunchtime, a few more customers suddenly came. After seeing them off, Lin Ying noticed that there were hardly any tea eggs left in the pot, and even the dried tofu was almost gone.

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(End of this chapter)