3: Semi-finished and complete spiced tea eggs

One hour later.

Mo Li fished out a tea egg from the brine that hadn't fully absorbed the flavor and brought it to Qi Manman.

"Try the saltiness first..."

Qi Manman took the tea egg and examined it carefully.

"This tea egg, after only an hour of cooking and soaking, already shows the initial patterns on the egg. That's impressive!"

With that, Qi Manman eagerly took a bite, then, without much regard for her image, quickly devoured the rest in a few mouthfuls.

Finally, she looked at Mo Li somewhat sheepishly.

"Uh... I ate too fast just now and didn't really taste it. How about I try another one?"

Mo Li gave Qi Manman an exasperated look.

"Are you Pigsy eating ginseng fruit here? You didn't swallow it whole, so how could you not taste it? Tell me, how does it taste?"

"It's delicious! This is the first time in my life I've had such a delicious tea egg!"

"Such high praise?"

Mo Li asked, a bit suspiciously.

Qi Manman herself was a good cook; she knew how to cook and how to eat, and she had very high standards for food.

Such high praise caught Mo Li off guard.

Qi Manman nodded to Mo Li very solemnly and said seriously:

"I promise this isn't just politeness; it's genuinely delicious. The most unbelievable thing is that it's this good even before it's fully flavored. I can't even imagine how good it'll be after soaking until tomorrow morning!"

"With your evaluation, my efforts weren't in vain. Wait a moment, I'll go get you another tea egg."

Mo Li returned to the kitchen to get a tea egg, suddenly remembering that the intelligence system could upgrade with positive reviews from customers. He then glanced at the system.

"Current System Level: LV1 (1 / 1000)"

"One positive review increases it by one point? It needs 1000 positive reviews to upgrade. That'll take forever. Can I fake reviews?"

Mo Li mumbled to himself, then returned to the living room with two tea eggs.

"It's indeed delicious!"

Mo Li ate a tea egg himself, then gave his own evaluation and glanced at the system.

"Current System Level: LV1 (1 / 1000)"

It proved that reviewing oneself counted as an invalid positive review.

Mo Li then turned his gaze to Qi Manman.

"How is it? Is it delicious?"

Qi Manman looked at Mo Li with a strange expression.

"Your five-spice tea egg is indeed delicious, but you don't need to be so smug about it, do you?"

"Stop with the nonsense, just tell me if it's delicious or not!"

"Okay, okay, I'll say it with my hand on my heart: it's delicious, especially delicious!"

Qi Manman patted her ample chest, once again giving a five-star review for the five-spice tea egg made by Mo Li.

Mo Li immediately glanced at the system.

"Current System Level: LV1 (1 / 1000)"

There was still no change.

Mo Li initially guessed that a positive review from the same customer for the same food he made would only be counted once.

It was temporarily unclear whether it was only counted once per day or only once in total.

This answer could only be further verified tomorrow.

But no matter what the final result, if he wanted to get enough positive reviews to upgrade the intelligence system, he needed enough customers.

Setting up a stall or opening a shop was the most reliable method.

Qi Manman and Mo Li chatted for a while longer, then she got up and returned to her room to rest.

Mo Li sat alone on the sofa in the living room, starting to plan the tea egg stall business.

This pot of tea eggs today had a total of 24 eggs, weighing a little over 2 catties.

The retail price of chicken eggs at the supermarket was 4.5 yuan per catty, so these eggs totaled a little over 9 yuan. The cost of spices and tea used in the brine was around 2 yuan.

The total material cost was 11 yuan.

The market price for tea eggs in Binhang City ranged from 1.5 yuan to 2 yuan each. Taking the lowest price of 1.5 yuan per egg.

24 tea eggs could sell for a total of 36 yuan, with a gross profit of 25 yuan. The gross profit for one tea egg was over 1 yuan, with an overall gross profit margin of nearly 70%.

If the stall location was chosen well, the price of a single tea egg could be set at 2 yuan each.

The gross profit for one tea egg could reach 1.5 yuan.

Here, the purchase price of eggs was still calculated at retail price.

If the business was good enough and the egg usage was large enough, the egg procurement cost could be further reduced, further increasing the gross profit.

All in all, this business had great potential!

After Mo Li made up his mind, he quickly planned what he needed to do tomorrow.

Leaving aside the possibility of new useful intelligence appearing with an intelligence refresh.

The first thing to do was to scout locations and decide on a stall spot.

The second thing to do was to get a cheap and easy-to-use large pot, and then a convenient food cart for setting up the stall.

After getting these two things done, he would go to the Chengdong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market to find a cheap and stable source of eggs.

Once all these things were taken care of, he could set up his stall and sell tea eggs... Early the next morning.

After Mo Li woke up, he glanced at the intelligence system.

"Today's Intelligence Has Been Refreshed"

"Hawker Chronicles (Normal): 'Internet celebrity 'Exploding Egg Bro' wants to switch to live streaming, urgently selling a second-hand stainless steel breakfast food cart. Original price 1500, now selling for whatever price! Address: Fallen Street Back Alley, University City.'"

"This piece of intelligence is so useful to me!"

Mo Li thought for a moment and decided to go look at the breakfast food cart first. If it met his requirements, he would decisively buy it.

After that, he would go to the Chengdong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market to look for cheap egg suppliers.

After a quick wash, Mo Li took the pot of soaking tea eggs from the refrigerator and, following the instructions on the secret recipe, reheated and stewed the tea eggs a second time.

Gurgle... gurgle... gurgle... The brine soaking the tea eggs quickly boiled again under the high heat of the natural gas stove, and the enticing aroma once again filled the kitchen.

After soaking all night, the aromas of the five spices had further extracted and blended. The aroma released after heating was even more enticing than last night.

"I was half-asleep and smelled a fragrance, almost drooling all over my pillow... You could at least consider my feelings."

Qi Manman poked half her head out of the kitchen and complained to Mo Li.

Mo Li held up two fingers to Qi Manman.

"I'll treat you to two tea eggs later!"

"Tempting me with food? Deal!"

Soon, the fully developed five-spice tea eggs, which had been soaked all night to absorb the flavor and then reheated a second time to further force the brine flavor into the eggs, were served on the dining table.

Qi Manman pointed to the soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table.

"I went out and bought some soy milk and fried dough sticks just now. They'll go perfectly with your tea eggs."

"Never mind the soy milk and fried dough sticks for now, you should try the full version of the five-spice tea egg first."

"Mm..."

Qi Manman didn't stand on ceremony. She deftly peeled a tea egg, took a small bite, and then ravenously devoured the rest.

"The flavors of the five spices have completely merged, forming a wonderful taste, and it has fully penetrated the egg. It's truly delicious!"

"One bite makes me want a second, one egg makes you want another..."

As she spoke, Qi Manman took a sip of soy milk, didn't even glance at the fried dough stick, and picked up a second five-spice tea egg, deftly peeled the shell, and, without regard for her image, stuffed it into her mouth...