Chapter 19

Previously, Jiang Ruan could sell ten eggs on the street easily. This time, she had a hundred eggs and went to the entrance of the market, where she ran into Qin Ao, who had just come back after buying more eggs.

This time, he had bought a thousand eggs. The two of them silently set up their stalls side by side.

Jiang Ruan thought to herself that she had to sell her eggs before Qin Ao did. In the afternoon, the market was not very crowded, so she shouted loudly, “Eggs, free-range country eggs, only seven cents each! Buy thirty and get one free. Come and take a look; they have an amazing flavor when boiled!”

Next to her stall, there was a hard-boiled egg cut in half. The yolk was slightly reddish, different from the typical farm-raised eggs.

Qin Ao thought that his eggs were the real free-range kind, but he was too embarrassed to shout like that. Soon, the few customers interested in buying eggs went over to Jiang Ruan’s stall.

He gritted his teeth and began to shout as well, “Country eggs, buy thirty and get two free!”

Jiang Ruan: … This guy is an idiot. With this kind of cutthroat competition, he’ll barely make any money for all his efforts.

Jiang Ruan ran over to stop him, “There’s no profit in competing like this. Let’s sell together.”

Qin Ao said, “I have a thousand eggs. Are you sure you want to sell together?”

Jiang Ruan replied, “If all you can do is try to take shortcuts and engage in cutthroat competition, you’ll eventually run into other egg sellers even if I’m not around. You can’t expect to make no profit every time, can you? Come on, let’s find a different place to sell.”

Qin Ao found her reasoning sensible, so he packed up his eggs and took Jiang Ruan on his bicycle, following her directions to a spot in front of a machinery factory.

“My dad works here!” Qin Ao was horrified at the idea of setting up an egg stall outside his father’s workplace. It would be so embarrassing.

“Then let’s go somewhere else,” Jiang Ruan suggested, and they headed to the entrance of a textile factory. Most of the workers there were women, making it a better place to sell eggs than the machinery factory.

Qin Ao was exasperated, “My mom works at this factory.”

Jiang Ruan snapped, “Are you done? You have so many relatives, friends, classmates, and teachers in this city. If you’re going to avoid all of them, then you should just give up on doing business and go home to be a parasite.”

Qin Ao became serious, “Last time, I sold 500 eggs at the market over three days. I put my pride on the line. If you think you can sell everything today, go ahead and try.”

“I’ve never sold here before, but let’s give it a shot.”

With Jiang Ruan’s one hundred eggs, they had a total of 1,100 eggs. Selling thirty eggs would earn them 0.45 yuan, but after accounting for the cost of the free egg, they’d net 0.395 yuan per sale. It was a slight reduction in profit but would speed up sales.

Jiang Ruan noticed an elderly lady struggling to sell a large bundle of homegrown scallions. She bought them all for one yuan.

“Why did you buy scallions?” Qin Ao asked, bewildered.

“So that the grandma can go home sooner.”

“Are you really going to eat all those scallions?”

“You’re so annoying. Can you just stop asking?” Jiang Ruan didn’t want to bother with him. Seeing it was almost time for the workers to get off, she urged him to hurry to the textile factory.

As the day shift ended, female workers flooded out of the factory gate. Jiang Ruan started to shout enthusiastically, “Eggs, freshly laid free-range country eggs, just brought over this morning by my brother! Buy thirty and get one free. The more you buy, the more you get!”

Jiang Ruan’s sweet and charming appearance, combined with her friendly and generous manner, made the neatly arranged, spotless eggs even more appealing.

Eggs are a household staple—whether steamed or boiled, and often given to the sick or to postpartum women. The demand was high.

In the city, real free-range eggs were rare, as most eggs came from farms. As soon as Jiang Ruan started shouting, a dozen or so women gathered around.

They examined the cut-open hard-boiled egg, impressed by its color. Jiang Ruan took out a lunchbox from her bag and cracked an egg inside. “See, ladies, these are all genuine free-range eggs laid by chickens that find their own bugs to eat. Buy thirty and get one free. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”

“I’ll take thirty.”

“My daughter just had a baby, so I’ll take sixty.”

With the added bonus of a free egg, most sales were in multiples of thirty. As she filled each bag, Jiang Ruan threw in a few scallions, saying, “Scallion and egg stir-fry is delicious. These are homegrown scallions, much more flavorful than store-bought ones.”

The freebies were a hit, and some customers even rushed forward to pack their own eggs and press Qin Ao to collect the money.

Although 1,100 eggs seemed like a lot, it only took twenty or thirty customers to sell out completely. Changing locations really made a difference; if only he had thought to come here last time.

As he looked at the empty egg baskets and the bag full of coins and small bills, Qin Ao felt the joy of making money. He had felt a bit of joy from earning 7.50 yuan last time, but it had taken three hard days of selling at the market, which didn’t seem worth it compared to a regular job. This time was different; he had spent half a day collecting eggs and less than half an hour selling them.

Just as he was about to split the money with Jiang Ruan, the maid suddenly grabbed a cloth bag and ran off, saying, “Your mom is coming. Deal with her yourself. Settle the money and give it to me tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?” Qin Ao found himself liking the nanny more.

“To be a hero.”

Qin Ao thought to himself… She wants to be a hero? Why doesn’t she apply to the police academy? Oh, right, they probably wouldn’t accept someone so foolish.

“Qin Ao, are you out of your mind? Instead of repeating a year, you’re here selling eggs and making a spectacle of yourself?”

Ke Mu sleeves were flapping as she ran, but she couldn’t catch the nanny and could only see her son counting money.

Initially, Qin Ao had felt embarrassed about selling eggs outside his mother’s factory, but with the money in his hand, any shame had long evaporated.

He did some mental calculations. The cost for a thousand eggs was fifty yuan. Following the nanny’s selling strategy, they sold 960 eggs and gave away thirty-two as freebies, earning 67.76 yuan. Although the free eggs had cost him real money, this selling method sped up the process.

After deducting costs, he made over seventeen yuan in a day. That was remarkable! Even if he only bought and sold eggs for ten days a month, he’d earn over 170 yuan, more than his parents’ combined salaries.

People in rural areas knew that city prices for eggs were higher, but the time, effort, transportation costs, and risk involved in selling a hundred eggs in the city made it impractical. That was why there was money to be made for middlemen like him.

This time, not even a herd of oxen could change Qin Ao’s mind about selling eggs. He said, “Mom, I think selling eggs is just fine. If you find it embarrassing, you can pretend you don’t know me.”

…

Mu Xuehui’s mother also worked at the textile factory. After her divorce, which was caused by an affair, life became very difficult for her at the factory. Mu Xuehui felt ashamed to approach her mother, but today, she had no choice.

Her mother had a childhood friend named Shen Yuzhen. In her past life, Shen Yuzhen had been the catalyst for Qin Yan’s parents’ divorce. In this life, Mu Xuehui had saved her mother from carbon monoxide poisoning and managed to get her parents divorced again. Now, only Qin Yan’s parents’ divorce remained before she could follow the same trajectory as in her past life, where her father and Qin Yan’s mother remarried, and she became Qin Yan’s stepsister.

However, as she arrived at the textile factory entrance, she saw Qin Ao selling eggs with the nanny.

Qin Ao—so disappointing. He had actually become a lowly street vendor, and of all things, selling eggs, a trade with no future.

In her past life, after becoming Qin Yan’s stepsister, Qin Ao had stood up for her when Qin Yan mocked and bullied her, which gradually brought the two closer. Now, it was too early to approach Qin Ao, but seeing him with the nanny was unbearable.

Mu Xuehui still had plans for Qin Ao. In this life, once she achieved success and fame, she would transfer all her assets, file for divorce, and leave Qin Ao with nothing.

For now, she had to let him suffer a bit and focus on helping her father form a new family.

After finding her mother, who had just gotten off work, and having a conversation, Mu Xuehui left.

…

After arranging things between her mother and Shen Yuzhen, Mu Xuehui finally had time to worry about Han Qingqing. She noticed that her father’s superior, Liao Chunxing, had been visiting Han Qingqing, which made her very uneasy.

She had anonymously submitted a report accusing Liao Chunxing of being a scumbag who coerced female colleagues into improper relationships, hoping to eliminate the only blemish in her life. But now that he was targeting Han Qingqing, she felt uncertain.

Han Qingqing’s older brother was a police detective. Wasn’t Liao Chunxing afraid?

She asked Han Qingqing several times, but Han Qingqing, though distraught, refused to say anything.

Growing impatient, Mu Xuehui asked, “Qingqing, did he assault you?”

“No, absolutely not,” Han Qingqing replied. If people misunderstood, she wouldn’t be able to face anyone.

Mu Xuehui had seen with her own eyes that scumbag forcing Han Qingqing into an alley. Han Qingqing hadn’t dared to cry out; she had to have been assaulted. Once it happened the first time, she would be at his mercy. This was an opportunity to pull Han Qingqing to her side and fight against that scumbag’s threats together.

She took a risk and confided, “Actually, that disgusting man assaulted me too. Qingqing, I understand your fear. Let’s fight him together!”

“What?” Han Qingqing stopped crying, her eyes filled with pity. Compared to her own situation, Mu Xuehui’s plight seemed even worse. Her friend had shared such an embarrassing secret, and so she opened up as well.

“Huihui, he didn’t assault me, but he said he knows my family’s secret. He said I’m not really a daughter of the Han family, and he’s using my background to threaten me into doing his bidding.”

Not a real daughter—Han Qingqing wasn’t a biological child of the Han family!

How could this be? The Han family’s elder uncle was about to be rehabilitated and would soon return to a senior position in the government. If Han Qingqing wasn’t the biological daughter, what value did she have?

Han Qingqing didn’t notice Mu Xuehui’s inner turmoil and continued, “I don’t believe it. I told my brother, who’s a detective, to investigate. If I really am not their biological child, then I’ll accept it, but I will never let him use it to threaten me.”

“No, you absolutely can’t!” Mu Xuehui almost screamed.

“But if it’s true, the truth is still the truth.”

Mu Xuehui sneered inwardly. This spoiled young lady had grown up in luxury and thought every child could be as fortunate as her?

She deeply regretted filing that anonymous report. If she hadn’t done so, Liao Chunxing wouldn’t have coerced Han Qingqing to steal her brother’s investigation report. The report was written by her, after all.

This was becoming too complicated. Mu Xuehui needed time to process everything and first needed to stabilize Han Qingqing’s emotions.

“Qingqing, haven’t you seen the situations some of our female classmates face? If your biological family values boys over girls, or if their living conditions aren’t as good as now, would you really be able to adapt? When that time comes, the parents who cherish you won’t anymore, and your doting brothers will turn their attention elsewhere. Could you accept that?”

Han Qingqing was speechless, unable to respond.

…

Jiang Ruan had been following the situation for a few days and finally stumbled upon a new development.

She boiled a tub of water and prepared a medicinal bath for Qin Yan, covering him with a thick blanket to keep the heat in.

“Brother Qin Yan, I saw my elder sister’s supervisor threatening Han Qingqing after school, taking her into an alley. Then Han Qingqing came out crying. I saw that man touch my sister; could he have touched Han Qingqing too?”

Han Qingqing’s brother was a police detective; Liao Chunxing would have to be insane to target her.

One was a high school senior, the other a divorced man with two children—there was no conceivable connection. In the previous life, Han Qingqing had never even met Liao Chunxing.

Something unexpected had clearly occurred. Liao Chunxing’s threats toward Han Qingqing had to be about more than just assault.

Qin Yan said, “For the next few days, you are not allowed to help Qin Ao sell eggs. Before and after school, I want you to keep an eye on Han Qingqing.”