Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Lijiatun had returned to its peaceful state, but today was particularly different. A faint fragrance was floating in the air above the village, following it like a shadow.

The greedy children followed the scent all the way to Zhang Xiuhua's house.

Jilin and the other two stood by the pot in the kitchen, drooling with greed, "Mom, what are you cooking? It smells so good."

"Tea eggs. I'm going to take them to the train. When I'm done, you can have a few!" Zhang Xiuhua scooped the cooked eggs into a bucket, cracked them, and put them into the steel pot on the donkey. There were cooked tea leaves and seasonings in it. Putting them in directly, the flavor of the tea leaves will penetrate through the cracks in the eggs, making them fragrant.

Simmer over low heat until it's well-seasoned and you can eat it.

Zhang Xiuhua scooped one for each of them. Yaoyao carefully peeled the eggshell. The egg white was brown and looked appetizing. She put it in her mouth. It had a salty and fragrant taste with a strong tea aroma. It was elegant and smooth when she took a bite, leaving a lasting aftertaste.

"It's delicious!" Jilin couldn't wait to speak.

Seeing that the door was full of children, Ji Lin took the eggs and went out, asking them to go home and let his family cook a few.

"These eggs smell delicious! You have eggs at home, too."

Some children raised their hands timidly, "But we don't have tea at home."

This is true. They don't produce tea here. I haven't heard of anyone who likes to drink tea. At most, they make some dandelion tea to moisten their throats.

"If you don't have tea, you can bring the eggs over and cook them in our pot." Zhuzhu said with understanding.

This idea gave us new ideas, and some children actually ran home to get eggs.

Before long, Zhang Xiuhua harvested more than ten eggs. She washed the eggs and put them directly into the pot, cooking them slowly over low heat, and scooped out a tea egg for each of them.

The children stood in a row, each holding an egg and taking small bites of it. Even though it was obviously very hot, they were still reluctant to spit it out.

"smell good!"

"Zhuzhu, your mother's cooking is so delicious."

"So this is the smell of tea?! I have also drunk tea?!" The childish words made Zhang Xiuhua laugh.

When she returned to work, Zhang Xiuhua carried a bucket of tea eggs with her. Li Jianguo asked his elder brother to help look after the orchard while he took Zhang Xiuhua to the town to take the bus.

Zhang Xiuhua carried tea eggs and a bag of food and got on the bus.

Although the barrel was covered, the faint fragrance could be smelled, making the passengers curious.

After changing trains, Zhang Xiuhua first put the food on her bed, and then went to find the team leader carrying the tea eggs.

When the team leader learned that she wanted to sell tea eggs on the bus, he frowned and said, "We are a state-owned unit, and selling personal items is not allowed."

"It's not me who sells the eggs, but our train. We can just consider it as generating revenue for the train. It's killing two birds with one stone." Zhang Xiuhua added, "There are many chicken farms in our county, and some of them can't sell their eggs. The villagers asked me for help, and I was embarrassed to refuse, so I made eggs and gave it a try. If it works, each of us can get more money."

Hearing that she was willing to give up the benefits, the team leader smiled and said, "Okay! I'll go to the cafeteria and talk to the manager. He said the other day that the ingredients we provide are too few."

Reform and opening up had just begun, and many counties had not yet opened chicken farms. Even if they had, the eggs were enough to be consumed in the county. Only in the Northeast could they not be consumed. Because the land was vast and the population was sparse, so many chicken farms were opened at once, and the eggs could not be consumed, so they had to go bad.

Zhang Xiuhua waited for half an hour before the team leader finally came back and asked her to carry the tea eggs to the kitchen.

There is a row of special restaurants here, where chefs cook. Due to the high prices, there are few customers who come to eat in the restaurant.

The manager was sitting at a table, apparently checking numbers with the chef.

Zhang Xiuhua came over carrying tea eggs, and before she got close, she saw them looking up.

"Tea eggs? They smell so good."

Zhang Xiuhua opened the lid, and the manager and the chef each took one, peeled it, and took a bite. The egg was very tasty.

The chef glanced at Zhang Xiuhua and said, "You are quite generous with your ingredients. You use only good ingredients."

Farmers were suffering at that time, and many families only used salt when cooking. She had tea leaves, spices, and rock sugar, so the cost was not low.

The chef nodded to the manager. "It tastes good. If I were to make it, it would be similar."

The manager also ate one. He had no problem with the taste. He felt that it was a bit unreliable to ask Zhang Xiuhua to bring eggs every time. At least it happened every time. He asked, "I remember your husband is Li Jianguo."

"Yes! We have a phone at home. If necessary, we can ask him to take us to the station in advance. He knows the train stop time." Zhang Xiuhua said with a smile.

The manager looked relieved. It was easy to talk to smart people. As soon as he mentioned something, she knew what he was worried about.

The manager nodded and said, "Since your village has a chicken farm and you don't have to worry about running out of food, we can provide it."

The biggest worry for train passengers is the lack of food, which would cause dissatisfaction among passengers. Now that she can provide it on a long-term basis, she can give it a try.

He looked at the chef, "Then add the tea eggs. You can buy them without a ticket."

The chef nodded. "Okay! I'll tell the salesmen later and ask them to promote the tea eggs."

The manager looked at Zhang Xiuhua and said, "We have to be careful with everything we buy. If it were someone else, I would definitely not feel comfortable. You are our own people, so the eggs you provide must be fresh, and you cannot sell any rotten ones, otherwise we will all be punished."

Zhang Xiuhua understood what he meant, "Don't worry, we will definitely use the freshest eggs."

The manager also reminded her, "I have reported this to the higher-ups. They also want to solve the problem of passengers having difficulty in dining. But we have to bear our own profits and losses. So you have to calculate the cost and I will set the price."

Because it is to generate income for the entire train, the account for tea eggs is recorded separately. All ingredients are purchased by Zhang Xiuhua, and all expenses are recorded, and the cost is deducted from the money collected later.

Since the price of goods soared last year, eggs are now sold at 1.5 to 1.7 yuan per pound on the market (an average of 0.21 to 0.22 yuan per egg). Their chicken farm sells them wholesale at 0.1 yuan each. After adding various spices and labor, Zhang Xiuhua sets the purchase price at 0.3 yuan, making a profit of about 0.1 yuan. The manager sets the price at 0.5 yuan, so the train can make a net profit of 0.2 yuan.

This price was relatively low compared to other food on the train. The eggs were also large, and they didn’t require a ticket. Zhang Xiuhua sold all of them in one go.

Of course, this is because people abroad don't recognize this. If it goes back, there will be more Chinese passengers, so it will definitely sell better.

When the team leader saw that she had sold out, she asked her to call her husband and ask him to give her more tea eggs when he came back.

Zhang Xiuhua asked how much?

The team leader replied to the manager, "Let's say 500 for now. We have a long way to go. The unsold tea eggs can be stored in the refrigerator."

Each of their trains can carry about 2,000 people. But because it is an international train, it is rarely full, with about 1,000 people. There is not much food on the train, and the food they brought with them has almost gone bad by the time they get here. If there is a food that is affordable, I guess they will be happy to spend money to buy it.

Zhang Xiuhua agreed. She borrowed a phone from her manager's office and called Li Jianguo to ask him to prepare the tea eggs. She even gave him instructions on how to make them, fearing he didn't know how to make them.

It's just that the train is too noisy, so she has to shout when she makes a phone call, and by the time she finishes speaking, her voice is hoarse.

After I got home, I made myself a cup of Sterculia lychnophora to moisten my throat.