The pork bones had simmered into a milky-white broth with tender radishes, free of tough fibers.

Pouring the soup and vegetables over rice made even six-year-old Taotao finish a large bowl, let alone the adults. Xia Xiaolan insisted on adding a fried duck egg dish, though Liu Yong said it was her business capital and told her not to make it a habit.

Xia Xiaolan thought, that since giving living expenses directly wasn’t appropriate, she could only contribute to her uncle’s table this way – she couldn’t just eat and live there for free.

Fresh chives from the field stir-fried with wild duck eggs, the chive’s aroma masking the egg’s gamey smell.

“Following Xiaolan’s method of adding vinegar while beating the eggs made them tender and fluffy, almost like chicken eggs,” Li Fengmei praised, making Liu Fen happy.

People used to say Xia Xiaolan was useless, absent-minded, and too pretty to stay home. Liu Fen had never given up on her daughter, and now she had indeed become sensible – how could she not be delighted?

Xia Xiaolan thought her uncle’s family’s meals were quite good.

Though she had eaten many fancy things in her previous life, considering the general living standards in rural areas in ’83, Liu Yong’s food standards were already quite high. This was related to Liu Yong’s current ability to earn money and his willingness to take care of Xia Xiaolan and her mother.

After lunch, Liu Yong went back to work in the fields.

This time even Li Fengmei joined him in the fields. Liu Fen wanted to go too, but Liu Yong told her to stay home and weave more baskets.

“Xiaolan only has these few days to make money, don’t delay her business.”

Xia Xiaolan practiced riding the new Forever-brand bicycle. In her previous life, without elders to rely on, she had depended on kind people’s sponsorship for schooling and her hard work after entering society, easily cycling dozens of kilometers in winter for business. Later, as her position improved, her business trip expenses were fully reimbursed, and she was given a car… then she bought her car. She hadn’t touched such an old-style bicycle for almost 20 years.

Though awkward at first, she soon got smoother at riding.

Taotao watched eagerly, but at six years old he was too young, so Xia Xiaolan could only put him in the back seat, letting the little one hold her waist as she cycled around the village with him. They were stopped by a familiar woman:

“Xiaolan, my eldest daughter says you’re buying eggs, what’s your price?”

Xia Xiaolan dismounted and greeted her:

“Auntie, yes, I am buying eggs. Since everyone’s busy with farming and can’t take eggs to the county town, and the weather’s turning bad quickly, I’m collecting them to sell in town. Of course, I need to make some profit – how about 12 fens per egg?”

The woman was married into the Chen family, fourth in order, known as Fourth Aunt Chen.

Fourth Aunt Chen frowned, “I heard they sell for 15 fen each in town…”

Xia Xiaolan explained with a smile, “Town prices change constantly, honestly – sometimes 15 fen, less. If they don’t sell, or break on the way, I’m taking a risk collecting too many eggs.”

Nobody wants to argue with a smiling face, and business couldn’t run at a loss. There was wastage on the road, and Qijing Village was far from town – making a trip normally was fine, but during farming season, going back and forth would waste half a day’s work. Who had time for that?

“I’ll sell to you, let me go home and get the eggs.”

Every household kept a few laying hens – egg money paid for daily necessities. Summer brought plenty of seeds and insects, making the hens plump, with two hens laying over 20 eggs in half a month. Fourth Aunt Chen brought Xia Xiaolan over twenty eggs, paid for on the spot. News of her selling eggs to Xia Xiaolan spread quickly through the village, and thus Xia Xiaolan’s egg business began.

Liu Fen sped up her basket weaving.

Xia Xiaolan spent over a day collecting eggs from all over Qijing Village, with people from neighboring villages bringing eggs to the Liu household too.

Her capital was only seventy-some yuan, but she’d collected nearly 400 chicken eggs and 200 wild duck eggs. Needing to keep some working capital, Xia Xiaolan temporarily stopped buying.

Liu Fen had never seen so many chicken and duck eggs piled together.

The baskets were full, quite an impressive sight.

Liu Fen worried greatly, fearing these eggs wouldn’t sell – the whole family couldn’t eat them all. Besides, in these times, who could afford to spend dozens of yuan on eggs? That was more than a month’s salary for an urban worker!

“Tomorrow I’ll take 200 chicken eggs and 100 wild duck eggs to town.”

If Anqing County didn’t have two large factories, Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t dare collect so many eggs.

The factories’ thousands of workers could easily consume 300 eggs, provided she found the right channels. Relying solely on retail was inefficient – Xia Xiaolan considered finding better sales channels… Though official egg prices were only 1.2 yuan per jin, supply fell far short of demand. Not all unit logistics departments could get low-priced eggs, so this avenue was worth exploring.

Late into the night, even Li Fengmei helped weave baskets, cutting dry straw into short sections and stuffing chaff into the gaps to improve transport stability.

Taotao was too excited to sleep, waiting for Xia Xiaolan to take him to town.

But the little one was bound for disappointment – Xia Xiaolan and her mother set out at 5 AM.

Two people were safer, especially given Xia Xiaolan’s beauty – neither Liu Fen nor Liu Yong felt comfortable letting her go alone.

Cycling significantly shortened the journey to town. When they reached their previous duck egg selling spot, the day was just breaking. Today the small market outside the Agricultural Machinery Factory was very quiet – farmers were busy with fieldwork and couldn’t come to town to sell things.

As soon as Xia Xiaolan parked her bicycle, previous customers recognized her.

Her striking looks and efficient manner made her memorable to anyone who had dealt with her before.

“Oh, you’re selling eggs again?”

“Auntie, would you like to buy eggs today? We have chicken eggs!”

“I haven’t finished the duck eggs I bought the other day.”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t let a potential customer slip away, “Duck eggs are good for making preserved eggs and salted eggs, but for steaming, boiling, and frying, chicken eggs are better.”

She unveiled her basket, showing neatly arranged chicken eggs that seemed to say “Eat me,” making the woman swallow unconsciously. She had indeed made salted eggs with the wild duck eggs from last time – maybe buy a few chicken eggs?

Xia Xiaolan saw she was tempted.

“I’m selling chicken eggs for 15 fen each, but since you’re a regular customer, I’ll make it 14 fen. Wild duck eggs are still at the same price as before.”

State-run stores sold eggs for 1.2 yuan per jin, with 8-10 eggs per jin depending on size. Though cheaper than Xia Xiaolan’s prices, this assumed sufficient supply – price-controlled eggs weren’t easy to buy!

The woman couldn’t resist Xia Xiaolan’s persuasion and finally bought ten eggs.

Business picked up when workers started arriving on bicycles. Standing there gracefully, Xia Xiaolan’s beauty naturally drew second glances, and with each look, she’d ask if they wanted to buy eggs. Unlike other rural sellers who acted furtively as if stealing, she was completely open.

During the factory workers’ arrival time, Xia Xiaolan sold most of her eggs.

“See, it’s quite safe. I can come to town alone tomorrow.”

Someone needed to stay home collecting eggs – they couldn’t always trouble her aunt Li Fengmei, who had her own work. After finishing with Qijing Village’s eggs, they needed to go elsewhere, and having two people come to town wasted labor.

Liu Fen wasn’t good at speaking – she couldn’t persuade people to buy things like Xia Xiaolan could, so only Xia Xiaolan could make the town trips.

At 9 AM, Xia Xiaolan finally sold all her eggs and planned to try the Meat Processing Factory area tomorrow. She hadn’t counted the pile of small bills, but given her purchase price, she’d made a profit today. Despite being careful, some eggs had broken – such losses were unavoidable.

As the busy harvest season approached, Xia Xiaolan’s egg trading business flourished. Some called her the “Egg Beauty,” and with this reputation, certain people began to take notice of her!