No Money Left? Time to Sell Some Eggs

"Looks like everyone prefers cigarettes, and Economy cigarettes seem to do the trick. They're cheap, too, only eight fen a pack."

"To make things easier tomorrow, should I buy another two packs of cigarettes?"

"But I've got no money left."

"Big Brother System, Great Master System, could you refund me one yuan?"

"You're a black-hearted system! People can even get some of the money they spend on games or tipping livestreamers refunded. Why can't you do the same?"

"This body of mine doesn't seem to be eighteen yet, either! I'm still a child!"

"Why can't you give me a little refund?"

There was nothing he could do. The system wouldn't answer.

With heaven deaf to his cries and earth offering no help, Liang Xin could only think of another way.

Having no money at all in his pockets was a problem, too.

In this era, money alone wasn't enough, but having coupons without money wouldn't do either!

The leaders really had foresight! They'd put double insurance in place!

So what was he supposed to do?

He looked at the balance of over twenty yuan in the system.

They said those living by the mountains lived off the mountains, and those living by the water lived off the water. He could only live off the system.

He remembered that when he'd first moved here, the street committee had told him to find Aunt He if he ran into difficulties.

If Aunt He couldn't resolve them, he could go to the street committee or his work unit for help.

He was having difficulties right now.

But what he was about to do wasn't really something he wanted the street committee or his work unit to know about.

He'd better go to Aunt He after all.

"Aunt He, Aunt He, have you gone to bed?"

The light was still on in He Ting's home, so Liang Xin was asking just for the sake of saying something.

But he couldn't just push the door open and walk in the way Jiang Xinxin had at his place. That would be rude.

"Xiao Liang, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"Aunt He, there is something. Could we talk somewhere private?"

"Honestly, child, what is there that you can't just say here?"

He Ting smiled and led him off to the side.

"Aunt He, I went to the countryside to make purchases today, and when I had some free time, I wandered around the village."

"Then I found a small chicken farm the villagers had built themselves."

"I asked about it offhand, and they were actually willing to sell."

"So I bought ten jin of eggs."

"What? Ten jin of eggs?"

Startled, He Ting couldn't help interrupting Liang Xin.

Then she realized she'd gotten too excited and quickly covered her mouth, afraid someone else would hear.

After all, strictly speaking, this was against the rules. If someone reported it, although it wasn't a major matter, Liang Xin would probably still catch flak from his superiors.

It might even affect his job.

Although ten jin of eggs wasn't serious enough to get him fired.

It would certainly have some effect on his becoming a regular employee and getting graded in the future.

Other apprentices basically became regular employees after three years. With a blemish on his record, he might not become one even after five or eight years.

Besides, eggs were good stuff.

What household didn't need them?

But supplies were scarce these days. Most of the time, even with both money and coupons, you still couldn't buy eggs!

Liang Xin had sold her two jin of eggs the day before yesterday, and although she still had a dozen or so left, they wouldn't last more than a few days.

"Aunt He, the villagers who sold me the eggs didn't ask for coupons, so the price is a little high. I came to see if you needed any."

"I do, I do!"

He Ting didn't even ask the price before saying she wanted them!

What was there to hesitate about with something like this?

"How about this, Xiao Liang? We'll take five jin each. What do you think?"

Liang Xin felt a little embarrassed about making money off his dear Aunt He.

So he said somewhat awkwardly, "Aunt He, they didn't ask for coupons for these eggs, so they're a little expensive, one yuan per jin. What do you think..."

If Aunt He thought they were too expensive, he'd sell them to her a little cheaper.

They'd only cost him fifty fen per jin anyway, and he hadn't needed coupons!

The reason he didn't offer them at a lower price right away was that this might not be a one-time deal. It could turn into long-term business.

So it was best to stick to the market price.

Besides, if you really sold someone something especially cheap, below the market price, was that actually a good thing?

It would be more likely to make them suspect something was wrong with your goods!

Either there was a problem with the quality or with where they'd come from!

What if they were stolen goods or something? Would anyone dare take them?

"One yuan is expensive? That's already very cheap!"

"Your Sister Liu in our department has a grandson who's still very young, and her daughter-in-law isn't getting enough nutrition, so her milk hasn't come in. She pulled some strings to buy eggs yesterday. Do you know how much they were? One yuan and twenty fen a jin!"

One yuan and twenty fen?

My dear Aunt He, are you telling me I asked for too little?

"Um, Aunt He, I'll just keep one jin. You know I live alone, and I can't eat that much."

"At this time of year, the eggs won't keep for long, either."

Hearing Liang Xin's words, He Ting realized it too.

Was five jin too much for her to take?

At this time of year, eggs could keep for around ten days, but that was as long as they'd last.

Any longer, and they risked going bad.

Five jin in ten days meant eating half a jin a day. Wasn't that a little extravagant?

Actually, with her family's income, eating that much wasn't extravagant at all!

How much did half a jin of eggs cost?

If she bought them from Liang Xin, it was only fifty fen.

Fifteen yuan a month.

She was a first-grade worker at the supply and marketing cooperative, earning 33 yuan a month.

Her husband was a fourth-grade worker at a factory, earning 50 yuan a month.

Together, the couple made 88 yuan a month.

If they really spent fifteen yuan a month on eggs, it wasn't as though they couldn't afford it.

And that would also go a long way toward improving the whole family's nutrition.

But after so many years of living frugally, they couldn't just splurge like that.

"Xiao Liang, I'll take three jin after all. We can't eat five!"