5: Now that we have the food truck, the next thing we need to do is get the eggs.

“To be honest, I'm in the business of recycling restaurant equipment and utensils. I've dealt with many people like you, so I could tell at a glance that you wanted to change professions.”

Mo Li bluffed.

Exploding Egg Bro’s boss looked at Mo Li with some suspicion.

“You recycle restaurant equipment? Do you mean you want to buy my food cart?”

“No, no, no... you misunderstand. This food cart isn't worth much. I want to buy the gas stove and cooking utensils on it. Of course, if this deal goes through, I can kindly help you dispose of this useless food cart.”

“This...”

Upon hearing Mo Li's words, Exploding Egg Bro’s boss quickly fell into indecision.

Mo Li wasn't in a hurry; he just quietly watched Exploding Egg Bro’s boss, waiting for his reply.

The catering industry is like this: if a legitimate restaurant sells its equipment second-hand, no one will even come to look at it unless it’s heavily discounted.

Not to mention a food cart like this, which almost no one is willing to take over.

A few minutes later, Exploding Egg Bro’s boss sighed deeply and said to Mo Li:

“You... you name a price... If the price is right, I'll transfer all these things to you.”

“No, no, no, I must emphasize again, I'm mainly buying the gas stove and cooking utensils on the cart.”

“Alright... I understand what you mean. I appreciate you helping me dispose of this food cart.”

Hearing Exploding Egg Bro’s boss's words, Mo Li went to the back of the food cart, which was inside the food cart where Exploding Egg Bro’s boss was.

“Gas tank, gas stove, deep soup pot...”

Mo Li quickly inventoried the items on the food cart, then took out his phone and, in a professional manner, used the calculator to add up the prices.

“I'll give you 150 yuan in total, how about it?”

“What? 150? Why don't you just rob me! I spent 1500 yuan to have this food cart made, and these cooking utensils cost several hundred!”

“Hey... didn't I say I'm mainly buying the gas stove and cooking utensils? You said several hundred, I'll count it as five hundred yuan. I'm offering 150 now, which is very fair.”

“This...”

Exploding Egg Bro’s boss once again fell into indecision.

Mo Li knew that at this moment, he couldn't give him time to hesitate, otherwise, he might decide not to sell. So, he coaxed him:

“Equipment in restaurants that costs tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand, only fetches a few thousand in second-hand recycling. There are plenty of videos of equipment recycling on short video platforms; I'm not tricking you.”

“I'm not saying you're tricking me, but... but 150 yuan is too little. My morning breakfast sales today were more than that.”

“You can't say that. If you get rid of all this and focus on live streaming, making a rich person happy, they might just send you a virtual sports car on a short video platform. Isn't that better than selling breakfast?”

Exploding Egg Bro’s boss seemed to have been hit by Mo Li's words, and the conflicted expression on his face instantly vanished without a trace, quickly replaced by a resolute look.

Then he said to Mo Li with a firm tone:

“You're right! I can't keep being so indecisive. 150 it is, they're all yours!”

“That's right!”

With that, Mo Li took out a pen and paper from his bag and meticulously listed the items to be transferred and purchased.

Finally, he specifically noted that the stainless steel food cart was included as a gift.

The list was in duplicate. Mo Li handed one copy of the list to Exploding Egg Bro, and said earnestly:

“You take a look first. It’s all written clearly in black and white, to avoid any disputes later...”

Exploding Egg Bro’s boss took the list, quickly scanned it, and nodded in satisfaction.

“As expected of a professional... Even such a small transaction is considered so thoroughly.”

“Just a professional habit, nothing more. If there are no problems, sign it... Once you sign, I'll transfer the money to you immediately.”

The transaction was quickly completed. Exploding Egg Bro looked at the food cart with a complex expression, then left resolutely... Mo Li pushed the food cart back to his rented house, paying special attention to the time it took to travel from Fallen Street Back Alley in the University Town to the rented house.

The one-way trip was about 20 minutes, not too close, not too far.

If the food cart was fully loaded with food, the one-way trip would definitely be slower, estimated at 30 minutes, which was completely acceptable.

After bringing the food cart back to the small courtyard of the rented house, Mo Li immediately rode a shared bicycle to Chengdong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market without stopping.

Mo Li wandered around the agricultural wholesale market for a while and found a sign placed in front of a store called “Li Ji Fresh Egg Wholesale.”

The sign read “Discounted Imperfect Eggs.”

The boss of Li Ji Fresh Egg Wholesale saw Mo Li and enthusiastically greeted him.

“Boss, our store has chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, quail eggs, and pigeon eggs. Bulk purchases get better prices. What would you like to buy?”

Mo Li pointed to the sign at the store entrance.

“Boss, what's the deal with the imperfect eggs written on this sign?”

“They are eggs that have suffered slight damage during transportation, but they are all fresh eggs transported from the farm early this morning. It's only been a few hours in total. If you use them today, there will definitely be no problem.”

Hearing the boss's words, Mo Li frowned.

Before tea eggs are stewed in brine, the eggshells need to be cracked first. Only then can they better absorb the flavor and develop attractive patterns.

Slightly damaged eggs, in theory, would not affect the final appearance of the tea eggs.

However, before being stewed in brine, the eggs need to be boiled in clear water first.

If the eggs are severely damaged, the step of boiling them in plain water cannot be completed at all, let alone the subsequent stewing.

Mo Li thought it over and decided to first see the extent of the damage on these so-called “imperfect eggs.”

He then said to the boss of Li Ji Fresh Egg Wholesale:

“Boss, what kind of damage are you talking about? Can I take a look?”

“They are all stacked over there...”

Saying that, the boss pointed to a stack of eggs to Mo Li's right.

Mo Li turned his head and glanced. At first glance, he didn't even feel there was anything wrong with these eggs. Then he deliberately moved closer and examined them carefully up close, only then understanding what was going on.

These eggs mostly had slightly damaged shells, but the membrane inside the shell was not broken. This kind of imperfection was neither significant nor negligible.

But the crucial point was that this level of imperfection, whether displayed on supermarket shelves or market stalls,

would be noticed by buyers with a close look, making it impossible to pass them off as perfect.

No wonder the boss specifically picked them out and labeled them “imperfect eggs” for disposal.

Based on Mo Li's experience, with this level of damage, if boiled in plain water with a low flame, the impact would not be significant.

Even if a small portion of eggs cracked during the boiling process due to imperfections, resulting in some loss, it would still be completely acceptable as long as the price of these eggs was cheap enough.

At most, the final boiled eggs would not be as intact as regular eggs, and their appearance would not be perfect.

But this problem, in the face of tea eggs, was no problem at all!

Soon, Mo Li made a decision in his heart.

“Boss, how much are these imperfect eggs?”

...