Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 326

"Little girl, tell me quickly, but what? How can I pick up the egg again?" the woman asked hurriedly.

Zhao Da'e looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him with curiosity. They were all attracted by the free eggs, and many people were whispering among themselves.

"Is it really possible to get free eggs?"

"I heard from that little girl that if you can grab an egg within fifteen seconds, you can get a free box of eggs. There are twelve eggs in the box."

"Hey, do you believe it or not?"

"I don't know. This is the first person to play this game. I haven't seen anyone get the egg for free yet."

Zhao Da'e laughed and pointed to the eggs with prices marked, "Auntie, as long as you spend one yuan to buy an egg, you will have one chance to participate in this game. Every yuan gives you one chance to participate."

Hearing Zhao Da'e's explanation, the woman turned her attention to the other three baskets of eggs, each marked with a price. Zhao Da'e then explained, "The most expensive eggs, at two yuan a pound, are the best free-range eggs from around here, extremely nutritious, laid by hens fed with the finest feed. The middle eggs, at one yuan and fifty cents, are more standard, while the ones on the other side, at one yuan each, are of slightly lower quality but the lowest price. For just one yuan here, you get a chance to participate in the game."

The older woman looked around and immediately decided she wanted to buy eggs. She had come out today intending to buy eggs anyway, so she figured she might as well buy them from Zhao Da'e and participate in the little game to see if she could win some free eggs.

The woman glanced at the price; two yuan per pound for eggs was too expensive, one yuan and fifty cents per pound was just right, neither too expensive nor too cheap. The eggs that cost one yuan per pound didn't look very good and were a bit dirty, so the woman instinctively looked down on them.

"Give me two pounds of eggs, the kind that costs one yuan and fifty cents a pound." The woman immediately decided to buy the middle-sized ones. The price wouldn't be too high, so she wouldn't feel bad about spending the money. They didn't look good or bad, and she felt safe eating them.

Cai Xiaofeng immediately took out a bag and helped the old lady pack two jin of eggs. Zhou's side had a scale for weighing. Zhang Daya's family was rich, so they bought such high-tech products as soon as they came out. While other families didn't even have a TV, Zhang Daya's family already had one.

Cai Xiaofeng was familiar with this type of scale and knew how to use it. She quickly weighed out two jin of eggs for the old lady.

"Auntie, these two jin of eggs cost three yuan in total, which can be used to participate in the mini-game three times," Cai Xiaofeng said with a smile.

The woman paid promptly, then came up to Zhao Da'e with a bag of eggs and said, "I bought three yuan's worth of eggs. Can I participate three times? This time, I must pick up five eggs within fifteen seconds to get this free egg."

The woman was full of energy and couldn't wait to start picking up the eggs.

Zhao Da'e handed the chopsticks to the older woman, and with a calculator in his other hand set to timer mode, he smiled and said, "Of course."

The woman was much more steady on her first try, but her hands were still a little shaky. She managed to pick up two eggs in fifteen seconds.

The second time she tried to pick up the eggs, the woman tried her best to control her trembling hands and managed to pick up three eggs in fifteen seconds.

With the experience from the previous three attempts, the woman was much more composed when picking up the fourth egg, but time was up.

The woman failed all three of her attempts. Looking at the fourth egg she was holding, she felt a little disappointed and decided to buy another two pounds of eggs, hoping that she would succeed next time.

Another middle-aged man squeezed through the crowd and shouted, "I'll give it a try. Maybe I can succeed in the challenge too."

Zhao Da'e welcomed the idea, saying, "Everyone can take the challenge for free once. Take your time and don't rush."

For a time, Zhao Da'e's shop was bustling with activity, with many people coming to join in the fun. In particular, they could participate in a free challenge, and if they won, they might get free eggs. These were free, so why not take advantage of this bargain?

With this free egg giveaway as an incentive, there's no shortage of foot traffic here. Moreover, Zhou's shop is in a great location, right at the exit of the market, so almost everyone who comes here will pass by.

"I'd like two yuan's worth of eggs!"

"Two chances to participate!"

"Don't push me, I want to try this challenge!"

"Oh dear, I'm just one egg away from succeeding in the challenge if I put the fifth egg into the basket!"

More and more people were buying eggs from Zhao Da'e. Cai Xiaofeng was so busy calculating and weighing that her head was spinning. Luckily, Xiangzi came to help. When Zhou saw this, she was surprised. She didn't expect so many people to come to buy eggs just to have the chance to participate in this challenge. Seeing that Zhao Da'e was so busy, she couldn't sit still and went over to help.

When someone comes to buy eggs, she takes out a bag and helps weigh them.

A dozen minutes later, the woman who had already bought more than ten kilograms of eggs finally managed to put five eggs into the basket within fifteen seconds, with the time exactly reaching 14.9 seconds. Upon seeing this, Zhao Da'e congratulated her, "Congratulations, ma'am! You've become one of the people here who can get free eggs."

Zhao Da'e handed the box of eggs to the old lady, who beamed with joy, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. These were free eggs she had tried more than a dozen times to get, and she was extremely excited about them.

The old woman asked Zhao Da'e, "Young lady, if I call my family over, can I, this old woman, participate in the games instead?"

Looking at the middle-aged woman who had spent over ten yuan at her shop, Zhao Da'e smiled exceptionally gently, "Of course."

Come on, come on, the more people the better, she won't lose out no matter what.

After an hour of continuous sales, some people successfully completed the challenge, but very few; less than ten boxes of eggs were given away.

At Zhao Da'e's place, a huge number of eggs are sold at 1.5 yuan per jin (500g), followed by eggs at 1 yuan per jin, and then eggs at 2 yuan per jin. Many people feel that these eggs are not worth 2 yuan per jin. They think that since they are all eggs, why are they sold at such a high price? They feel that it is better to buy eggs at 1 yuan per jin than eggs at 2 yuan per jin.

In the market, only Zhao Da'e's shop was packed with people, so much so that it was impossible to squeeze in. Many shop owners came over to see what Zhao Da'e and his group were doing. People who had just arrived at the market also curiously joined in when they saw the crowd at Zhao Da'e's shop. With each person who went over, at least one person wanted to participate in the challenge.

Of course, with so many people, quite a few took advantage of Zhao Da'e's busy schedule to participate in the challenge once and then want to do it again. Since there were so many people, Zhao Da'e couldn't remember who had actually participated in the challenge. In such cases, Zhao Da'e would turn a blind eye. As long as it wasn't too outrageous, she wouldn't expose it. After all, it was all beneficial to her business. If she exposed it and didn't give people face, then customers wouldn't want to patronize the shop again in the future, and might even curse the shop behind its back.

Another hour passed quickly, and Zhao Da'e's eggs were mostly sold out. Several baskets of eggs were completely sold out. Several times when there was a shortage, Zhou would go home and bring back eggs from her own home to continue selling. Even Zhang Daya got busy.

As she watched the eggs dwindle, Zhang Daya was overjoyed. At least for the next month, she wouldn't have to eat eggs every day anymore. Zhang Daya was so happy she almost cried.

Zhang Daya asked Zhou to stay in the shop to help while she moved the eggs she had stored at home. It took her three trips to get them over. When she got tired, she asked Zhou to move the eggs so she could help in the shop instead.

When all the eggs were sold out, Zhao Da'e wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Everyone, all the eggs are sold out. Thank you all for your support."

Looking at the heavy wad of cash in her hand, Zhou Shi realized it was all from selling eggs—essentially over a hundred dollars. She couldn't help but regret her actions. If she had known the eggs would sell so quickly, she would have brought all the eggs from the village to sell; she would have definitely made more money. Zhou Shi was filled with remorse.

Zhang Daya was overjoyed. All the eggs were sold out, and her family was finally free of those eggs she hated. She looked at Zhao Da'e as if he were her savior. Zhang Daya couldn't help but say to Zhao Da'e, "Da'e, how about I hire you to help my mom sell eggs? Don't worry, I'll definitely pay you a higher salary, several times higher than the salary at that big factory. I don't ask for much, just that you spend two hours a day selling eggs. You don't even need to worry about where to stay. I have plenty of houses, you can choose any one you like, and I won't charge you rent. You're young, so if you don't mind, you can live with me. I can even prepare three meals a day for you!"

Zhang Daya wished she could have Zhao Dage stay right now, grant her requests, and have him come every day to help sell eggs. That way, she wouldn't have to eat eggs for a year. Zhang Daya was overjoyed at the thought of this possibility.

Zhao Da'e felt a little embarrassed and scratched her head shyly, "No need, Aunt Zhang."

When Zhao Dage refused, Zhang Daya was momentarily confused. Could it be that he hadn't mentioned the salary? Is that why Zhao Dage remained unmoved?

Thinking of this, Zhang Daya quickly added, "How about I pay you two hundred yuan a month, and you only need to work two hours a day?"

Workers in large factories only earn 300 yuan a month and have to work eight hours a day. Zhang Daya thinks she is giving them a lot, since she only requires them to work three hours a day.

Zhao Da'e shook his head helplessly. Seeing that Zhao Da'e refused again, Zhang Daya thought that she had offered too little and hurriedly said, "Is the salary too low? How about three hundred yuan? Three hundred yuan a month! That's more than enough, isn't it? Little girl, just ask around outside. A factory worker's monthly salary is only three hundred yuan, and they have to work eight hours a day. I only require you to work two hours a day, and I won't charge you rent. Isn't that good enough?"

If it were in his previous life, Zhao Da'e might have agreed, since the job was lucrative and easy. But now, Zhao Da'e could only shake his head helplessly.

Seeing Zhao D'e like this, Zhang Daya felt like the sky was falling. If Zhao D'e didn't come to help her sell eggs, her own mother would bring several baskets of eggs from the village to sell within a week. If they couldn't be sold, she would have to eat eggs again. Zhang Daya didn't want to eat eggs. Was it because Zhao D'e was giving her too few?

Zhang Daya quickly said, "How about this, Big Goose? I won't set a fixed working hours for you each day. As long as you can sell all the eggs my mom brought up, I'll give you 350 a month. Is that good enough?"

If she sold any more, she would lose money. Zhang Daya thought that she couldn't sell that many eggs in a month.

Zhao Da'e had no choice but to say, "Aunt Zhang, it's not that I don't want to come here to sell eggs, it's just that I have other things to do. I need to build a new house in the countryside, and I need to rent a shop from you in the city to do business. I can't come here every day to help you sell eggs."

"However, if you're willing, I can set aside one day each month to help Grandma Zhou sell eggs. I won't charge you anything; I'll help as much as I can. I just hope you can rent me that shop at the intersection of Sixth Street."

This was Zhao Da'e's real purpose: besides renting the shop, he also wanted to befriend Zhang Daya. Otherwise, she wouldn't have offered to help Zhou sell eggs, and she wouldn't have done so by offering to help without charging any fees.

Upon hearing Zhao Dage's words, Zhang Daya immediately breathed a sigh of relief. So that's how it is. She thought Zhao Dage would only help her sell eggs this time and wouldn't do it again. As long as Zhao Dage would come to help again, she would be happy no matter what. She would be overjoyed if eggs were never served on her dinner table again.

Zhao D'e had helped her so much, and Zhang Daya wasn't a stingy person. She patted Zhao D'e on the shoulder and said, "How about this, I'll rent the shop at the intersection of Sixth Street to you. I won't charge you rent for the first two months. You can pay me rent after you start doing business and make money."

According to the prices of shops in the city center, normal shops charge 2,500 yuan a month, while Zhang Daya's shops usually charge 2,000 yuan a month, which is several hundred yuan lower than other shops. So, if we calculate based on 2,000 yuan a month, Zhang Daya will waive the shop fees for Zhao Dage for two months, which means she will save Zhao Dage 4,000 yuan.

This could be considered Zhang Daya's compensation to Zhao Dage. After all, she had made things difficult for Zhao Dage today, making a seven-year-old child stand for three hours in the dead of winter, and helping her sell all the eggs in her house. The more Zhang Daya thought about it, the more guilty she felt. Considering that Zhao Dage said she wanted to rent a shop to do business, and that she had plenty of other things but a house and a shop, waiving two months' rent for Zhao Dage was nothing to her, just a few thousand yuan less.

Zhao Da'e's eyes lit up when she heard this. "Aunt Zhang, are you serious? You're going to waive two months' rent for me?"

Before this, Zhao D'e's best-case scenario was that Zhang Daya would charge her several hundred yuan less in rent.

Although Zhao Da'e isn't short of money these days, she tries to save wherever she can. After all, she's not rich yet, so it's better to be frugal.