6: Outrageously cheap eggs

The boss of Li Ji Fresh Egg Wholesale, hearing Mo Li's inquiry, unhurriedly took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Mo Li.

Mo Li waved his hand at the boss.

"No, thank you. I don't smoke."

The boss lit a cigarette for himself, took a puff, and then said to Mo Li:

"Today's wholesale price for eggs is 7.5 yuan per kilogram. Defective eggs are half price, so that's 3.75 yuan per kilogram."

Hearing the boss's words, Mo Li quickly calculated in his mind.

These eggs aren't very big; one kilogram has roughly 24 to 28 eggs. Let's assume the minimum of 24.

If sold at Exploding Egg Bro's retail price of 2.5 yuan per tea egg, 24 tea eggs would sell for 60 yuan.

Even including the cost of the braising ingredients, the material cost would be less than 6 yuan, resulting in a gross profit of 54 yuan and a gross profit margin of 90%.

That's ridiculously high!

Mo Li suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth and said to the boss:

"Boss, what's the minimum wholesale quantity for these defective eggs?"

The boss held up three fingers to Mo Li and calmly said:

"One crate minimum, which is about 15 kilograms."

Mo Li looked at the egg crates with some difficulty. Each layer had 64 eggs, and each crate had 6 layers, totaling 384 eggs.

That's too many!

These defective eggs must be used today if purchased.

The question is, for his first time setting up a stall, could he really sell nearly 400 tea eggs in one go?

The five-spice tea eggs had only been tested by Qi Manman and hadn't truly faced the market test yet, so Mo Li wasn't as confident as he seemed.

Mo Li considered it briefly, still feeling that buying so much stock for the first time was too reckless and the risk was a bit high. He then said to the boss:

"Boss, can I buy half a crate? You know these defective eggs, if they're not used today, they'll just have to be thrown away..."

"Of course I know..."

The boss pointed to the ordinary eggs nearby and then continued:

"Those ordinary eggs are two crates minimum. Defective eggs are a special case, so it's one crate minimum. If you only want half a crate, you might as well buy normal eggs; it's not much of a price difference."

Normal eggs are 7.5 yuan per kilogram, so half a crate, about 7.5 kilograms, would cost around 56 yuan.

Defective eggs are 3.75 yuan per kilogram, so half a crate would cost around 28 yuan.

In absolute terms, half a crate of eggs only differs by 28 yuan, which doesn't seem like much.

But that's not how you calculate it!

Proportionally, the egg cost has doubled!

All the saved costs are profit; should he just give away such a substantial profit?

What a waste!

Mo Li cleared his throat and said to the boss:

"I'll still take the defective eggs then... Just this one crate. Could you weigh it and see how much it is?"

"Alright!"

The boss didn't waste words, picking up the crate of defective eggs Mo Li had chosen and placing it on the scale.

"15.45 kilograms, 57.93 yuan. Just give me 57."

Mo Li confirmed the amount and decisively scanned the QR code to pay.

The boss picked up the crate of eggs and asked Mo Li:

"Where's your car? I'll carry it to your car..."

Mo Li suddenly realized a problem.

He had initially only intended to buy a few kilograms of eggs, a weight he could carry back in a bag.

He never expected to get carried away and buy 30 jin (15 kg) of eggs directly.

Trying to transport so many eggs back solely by hand and foot, relying on human power, would be quite difficult.

Even the egg seller assumed he had driven there to pick up his order.

"I'm really paying for my inexperience!" Mo Li grumbled inwardly.

Fortunately, Mo Li quickly thought of a solution and calmly said to the boss:

"Boss, leave the goods here for now; I'll go get my car..."

"Alright! Don't worry, I won't run off, and your goods won't either!" the boss readily agreed.

Mo Li didn't doubt him. This was a wholesale market, and the boss sought stable customers and long-term business; he wouldn't stoop to swindling a few dozen yuan worth of eggs.

After searching around for a while, Mo Li found a shared electric bike station outside the agricultural wholesale market.

Beep... beep... As Mo Li scanned the code and paid, the shared electric bike unlocked.

"A shared electric bike is only for emergencies. I need to buy an electric trishaw that can carry goods. Tomorrow, after I see how the stall performs, I can decide on the budget for the electric trishaw."

...

After Mo Li rode the shared electric bike to Li Ji Fresh Egg Wholesale to retrieve the crate of eggs he bought, he browsed the wholesale market for a while longer, purchasing some pre-made steamed buns and plain buns.

To ensure that the food from his breakfast stall wasn't too subpar, Mo Li bought pre-made items from major brands.

Pre-made steamed buns were 1.5 yuan each, and plain buns were 0.5 yuan each. Selling them at the breakfast stall for 2 yuan per steamed bun and 1 yuan per plain bun, this portion of profit was just a bonus.

With all the ingredients bought, Mo Li rode the shared electric bike back to his rented room.

The first thing he did upon returning to the rented room was to thoroughly clean the breakfast cart he had bought for 150 yuan that morning, from top to bottom, in the small courtyard.

He also thoroughly cleaned the cooking pots that came with the breakfast cart.

"This stockpot is good; it's big and deep enough to boil 15 kilograms of eggs at once without a problem."

Mo Li carefully washed the eggs one by one, then placed them in the stockpot, and was about to light the fire to boil them when he suddenly stopped.

"Just this one pot won't do. Once the eggs are boiled, they must be immediately put into cold water, otherwise they'll become very difficult to peel... I can't even stand it for myself, so if eggs sold to others turn out like this, it's like digging my own grave."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be another pot; a few stainless steel basins will do. They're cheap, sturdy, and easy to use..."

Mo Li turned off the gas tank valve, hurried out to a nearby supermarket to buy ten stainless steel washbasins, and only then reopened the gas tank valve and lit the fire to boil the eggs.

To minimize the chance of the defective eggs cracking during boiling, Mo Li first boiled them over high heat for a while. Once the water temperature in the stockpot had noticeably risen, he immediately switched to low heat to simmer them slowly.

Gurgle... gurgle... After an unknown amount of time, the water in the stockpot began to boil.

Bang!

Contrary to his wishes, one egg in the stockpot cracked open, a bit of egg white escaping and quickly solidifying under the high temperature.

Bang!

Another egg cracked.

Bang... bang... bang... Mo Li stood by the stockpot, listening to the sound of the eggs cracking, his heart unperturbed.

These eggs were bought at half price. As long as fewer than half of them cracked, he definitely wouldn't lose money.

As time passed, the stockpot became calm again.

According to Mo Li's estimation, no more than thirty eggs had cracked, a loss that was completely acceptable.

Once the eggs were boiled, Mo Li quickly scooped the cooked eggs out of the stockpot with the large skimmer that came with the dining cart.

While raw eggs required careful handling, cooked eggs could be handled with force.

It didn't matter if they cracked now; even if they didn't crack now, he would have to crack each shell individually later for soaking.

He deftly scooped the cooked eggs into the stainless steel basins filled with cold water, then checked the time.

"It's still too early. I'll braise them tonight. First, I need to make a new sign for my breakfast cart!"

...