4: The stall plan obtained after the field investigation

While Qi Manman was eating her second five-spice tea egg, Mo Li glanced at the system.

“Current System Level: LV1 (2 / 1000)”

Qi Manman’s positive review increased the system experience by 1 point, indicating that positive reviews from the same diner would become effective again after a certain period.

Mo Li guessed that this reset time was most likely synchronized with the intelligence refresh.

Positive reviews obtained from the same diner for the same food could repeatedly upgrade the system level, which significantly reduced the difficulty of upgrading the system. This discovery greatly improved Mo Li’s mood.

“Eat slowly, don’t choke… There are plenty of tea eggs left in the pot, take as many as you want.”

Qi Manman nodded and took a sip of the soy milk on the table.

“Soy milk, fried dough sticks, and tea eggs are simply the perfect breakfast combination!”

“That’s right…”

Mo Li replied, picked up a fried dough stick from the table, and began to ponder.

Breakfast stalls usually include soy milk, fried dough sticks, and tea eggs, and some even have porridge, steamed buns, and mantou.

Diners buying breakfast want to save trouble and time, so they usually buy all their breakfast items at one stall.

Few people would buy soy milk at one stall, fried dough sticks at another, and then just tea eggs at a third stall.

Currently, the five-spice tea egg had not yet been market-tested. If he only sold five-spice tea eggs, it might not be appropriate.

Mo Li thought for a while and decided that when he went to acquire a breakfast cart, he would conduct an on-site inspection before making further plans… After breakfast, Qi Manman tidied up and left for work.

Mo Li took the fully flavored tea eggs out of the brine and put them into a clean plate for cold storage.

The soaking time for tea eggs was not a case of the longer the better.

According to the instructions on the secret recipe, soaking overnight was best, but it should not exceed 12 hours at most.

Otherwise, the tea eggs would have a bitter aftertaste, which would severely damage the overall flavor of the tea eggs. Storing them out of the brine was the safest option.

After tidying up, Mo Li rode a shared bicycle to Fallen Street Back Alley in University Town, not far from his rented apartment.

As soon as he entered the back alley, he saw the prominent sign for “Exploding Egg Bro” and the stainless steel dining cart behind the sign.

Mo Li approached and carefully observed the condition of the stainless steel dining cart.

This was a very typical street vendor cart, with a gas tank, gas stove, soup pot, steamer, and various other tools, all readily available.

It was clear that Exploding Egg Bro was a diligent person; the cart was well-maintained and looked quite new.

The owner of Exploding Egg Bro was currently behind the cart, greeting customers while live-streaming on his phone, looking somewhat excited.

“Welcome~~~”

The owner saw Mo Li walk up to the cart and greeted him somewhat distractedly.

Mo Li quickly scanned the food sold on the cart.

Porridge, mantou, steamed buns, and tea eggs were all very conventional breakfast items.

“How much are the tea eggs?”

Mo Li pointed to the tea eggs in the deep stainless steel soup pot.

“Two yuan and fifty cents each, how many do you want?”

“I’ll have one tea egg… And the steamed buns? Are they all two yuan each? I’ll take one with braised pork and one with fresh meat.”

Mo Li bought a tea egg and steamed buns, then stepped aside to quietly observe the foot traffic in front of Exploding Egg Bro’s stall.

tea eggs in Binhai City generally sold for 1.5 yuan to 2 yuan each. tea eggs at 2.5 yuan each were already significantly higher than the market price.

The market price for small steamed buns was 1 yuan to 1.5 yuan each, and Exploding Egg Bro’s price was also noticeably higher than the market price.

Most of the time, roadside stalls focused on cost-effectiveness. Under normal circumstances, business for items significantly above market price should not be very good.

However, to Mo Li’s surprise, the foot traffic in front of Exploding Egg Bro’s stall was not small at all.

After a rough estimate, in about half an hour, Exploding Egg Bro sold at least 50 tea eggs and 100 steamed buns.

Mo Li looked at the tea egg and steamed buns he bought from Exploding Egg Bro with some confusion.

“The steamed buns and tea eggs don’t smell good enough; the actual taste must not be great. Why are so many people buying them?”

Mo Li took a bite of a small steamed bun, still puzzled.

The steamed bun tasted very ordinary, the kind of mass-produced item you could buy and eat anywhere.

Afterward, Mo Li tasted the tea egg from Exploding Egg Bro, and the taste was still very ordinary.

“This must be processed from semi-finished products… Can this even be sold?”

“No! I was thinking about it wrong… The steamed buns and tea eggs do taste very ordinary, but the point is that neither of them is bad-tasting.”

“In the morning, when people are in a hurry, being able to buy breakfast that isn’t bad-tasting is already good enough. Even if it’s slightly more expensive, it’s better than taking a detour to buy from other places.”

As he analyzed the situation step by step, Mo Li’s thoughts gradually became clearer.

Can’t make steamed buns? Can’t make mantou?

That’s not important!

There’s something called semi-finished products in this world!

Semi-finished steamed buns, semi-finished mantou—as long as these items are purchased and slightly processed, selling them at a stall is perfectly fine. At most, they just lack distinctiveness and have lower profits.

And his “five-spice tea egg” just happened to make up for the lack of distinctiveness, giving nearby diners an irresistible reason to buy breakfast from his stall.

“So, only after an on-site inspection do you have the right to speak… How could I have thought of this before coming here?”

…Mo Li waited for a while, until the morning rush hour ended and no new customers appeared at Exploding Egg Bro’s stall, then he approached the dining cart again.

The owner of Exploding Egg Bro glanced at Mo Li somewhat distractedly.

“Today’s breakfast is all sold out. Please come early tomorrow.”

“Boss, your business is so good, why do you want to stop?”

Mo Li went straight to the point.

The owner of Exploding Egg Bro looked at Mo Li in surprise.

“I just had this idea and haven’t told anyone. How did you know?”

Mo Li pointed to the owner’s phone.

“Your mind is completely on live-streaming, not on the breakfast stall. Anyone with eyes can see that…”

“The breakfast business is a standard demanding industry. You have to get up at three in the morning every day; it’s very hard. If given a choice, who would want to do it? My live-streaming is picking up now, so my mind is definitely on live-streaming.”

Mo Li nodded. The catering industry, especially breakfast, was indeed very tough.

It was normal for the owner of Exploding Egg Bro to focus on live-streaming once it started to pick up, as he had found an easier way to make money, and his mind was no longer on the breakfast stall.

Mo Li pondered for a moment and then said to the owner of Exploding Egg Bro:

“Why don’t you sell the breakfast cart and focus on live-streaming? As you are now, trying to manage both, you won’t do well in either.”

The owner of Exploding Egg Bro patted the breakfast cart somewhat helplessly.

“Sigh, do you think I don’t want to? You don’t know, when I had someone make this, it cost several thousand, and now no one wants it when I try to sell it. I just can’t bear to part with it.”

Hearing the words of Exploding Egg Bro’s owner, Mo Li couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.

The meaning conveyed in the owner’s words was already very clear.

He had spent a large sum making the dining cart, and now he couldn’t recover any of the cost, which was a mental hurdle he couldn’t overcome.

Since you can’t get past this hurdle, I’ll help you!