Chapter 384: Gourmet System of the Eighties (22)

When Xie Yang left on her bicycle, Xue Lihua was still standing at the mouth of the alley, craning her neck in wait.

【Host, she is waiting in vain; her relative missed the bus into town.】

"Hmm, I can sell another pot of tea eggs tomorrow."

Xie Yang calculated today's earnings and headed home in a pleasant mood.

Selling tea eggs these days is truly profitable!

In just this short while this morning, she sold forty-five of them; even at twenty-five cents each, she made eleven yuan.

That was only because her pot was too small, having boiled only fifty in total.

If she switched to a larger pot and went to the bus station, where the foot traffic is much greater than at the alley entrance, she wouldn't even need much—selling a hundred tea eggs a day would bring in over six hundred yuan a month.

And currently, the salary of an Ordinary Workshop Worker is only fifty or sixty.

No wonder there is a saying: those making missiles aren't as well off as those selling tea eggs.

In this era, those who dare to quit their jobs and dive into entrepreneurship can all reap the dividends of being "bold."

Unfortunately, most people still dare not take that step.

Everyone says, "Selling tea eggs seems quite profitable," but ultimately, they feel it isn't a stable livelihood.

People would rather earn a dead-end salary of fifty or sixty than dare to be the first to eat a Crab.

Xie Yang has none of these hesitations.

After returning to her neighborhood, she first went to check the construction progress of the Snack Bar and communicated with the construction workers.

Then she went home to tidy up the yard, tend to the vegetable patch, and continue boiling tea eggs in the afternoon.

The next day, she rose early as usual and rode her bike for half an hour to the alley near Xue Lihua's house to continue selling tea eggs.

This time, she switched to a large canteen-style pot and boiled one hundred; they were sold out from five-thirty to eight-thirty, surprisingly.

Most residents, upon hearing that four cost only one yuan, felt it would be a loss not to buy four, even though they had only intended to buy one to taste, so they all changed their minds and bought four.

Even Xue Lihua's husband, who had clearly already eaten breakfast at home, squeezed in to buy two when he opened the door and smelled the fragrance of the tea eggs.

But he didn't take them home to share one with Xue Lihua, let alone give any to Shuisheng or Musheng; instead, he ate them while walking and finished both eggs before reaching the factory gate.

Even the Main System couldn't help but complain: 【That woman gives all the good things to this man to eat, yet he secretly eats it all himself. He's really not even as good as a woman!】

Xie Yang didn't like the last sentence: What do you mean "not even as good as a woman"? Where are women inferior? Since when did you, System, develop gender discrimination?

Main System: 【...】

It forgot that its Host is also a woman.

Regardless, although it was only the second day of business, Xie Yang's tea egg business was quite popular.

Even those who had eaten breakfast squeezed in to buy some, let alone those who hadn't.

You take four, I take four... they sold out even earlier than she had anticipated.

She still kept five—one for herself to eat and four for the two children to supplement their nutrition—and wrapped up the stall successfully once again!

Xue Lihua was still waiting at the alley entrance for her distant relative.

It was agreed that they would come to take the children these past two days; they didn't come yesterday, so they should be here today, right?

Xie Yang climbed over the wall into the yard as before.

Once is a stranger, twice is an acquaintance; when she climbed in today, both children were squatting under the eaves.

Shuisheng had guessed she would come.

Musheng was just following Shuisheng's lead.

"Mom!"

Seeing her, Shuisheng stood up and went to greet her.

Musheng tilted his head; he didn't recognize the disguised Xie Yang, but he smelled the fragrance of the tea eggs in her hand.

"Mom!"

He hopped up and down with joy.

But at the same time, he was very confused: why did Mom look different than before?

Xie Yang was amused by his blank little expression, picked him up, and weighed him: "Seems a bit lighter, didn't you eat enough?"

Musheng was very familiar with this embrace and turned to burrow into her arms: "Mom! Mom! Musheng wants to go home!"

"Wait a little longer. It'll be soon."

Shuisheng finished a tea egg in two bites and secretly hid the other one, saving it for when he was hungry at night.

He had something more important to tell his stepmother: "Mom, I overheard them saying they want to give my younger brother away for adoption."

In the original world, Shuisheng had no backing to rely on; after overhearing the conversation between Xue Lihua and her current husband, he begged her not to give his brother away.

Seeing that he knew, Xue Lihua simply stated clearly that she intended to give not only Musheng away for adoption but him as well.

Fearing separation from his brother, Shuisheng begged bitterly to no avail, then revealed he had food and could support his brother, thereby exposing the Gourmet System.

But in this life, because of Xie Yang, after overhearing these words, Shuisheng felt only anger, not fear, and he didn't speak of it until he saw Xie Yang; as if seeing his backbone, he pouted angrily and tattled.

Tattling on one's biological mother to a stepmother—no one would believe it if told.

Yet, this was the truth.

Xie Yang rubbed his head and said: "You don't need to worry about this; I'm here! Not only will I not let anything happen to you, but even if she really succeeded, I could still find you and bring you back."

"Mm-hmm!" Shuisheng nodded his little head vigorously.

He trusted his stepmother.

"Eat the egg quickly; it spoils easily in this heat, don't save it."

Seeing that he had saved an egg, Xie Yang urged him to eat it as soon as possible.

She then pulled a paper parcel from her pocket, which contained a few soft little cakes and dried meat, and told Shuisheng to put them away.

"If you're hungry, use this to fill your stomach. In two days at most, Mom will take you both home."

Xie Yang did not stay long; the Main System reminded her that Xue Lihua would be back soon, so she took turns hugging the two brothers and climbed over the wall to leave.

Xue Lihua did not meet her relatives today, so she was a bit angry.

She thought that family had gone back on their word and was not coming to adopt Musheng anymore.

She was still waiting to use the three hundred yuan they had agreed upon!

Her husband wanted to buy a bicycle, and she wanted to get a new wristwatch for herself.

If they changed their minds and didn't want him, not only would she not get the money, but what would she do with the two little ones at home? Did she really have to keep them and raise them?

The more Xue Lihua thought about it, the angrier she got; when she arrived home, she didn't even pay attention to the two children, grabbed her handbag, locked the courtyard gate again, and went to her maiden home to complain that the family had gone back on their word.

Xue Mu comforted her, "Wait a little longer! Perhaps they were held up by something! If they really changed their minds, they would definitely have someone send us a message."

Xue Mu had guessed correctly; that family had indeed been held up by a matter that had popped up unexpectedly.

Recently, every village and town had been going door-to-door to conduct a population registration, and after the registration was completed, identity cards would be issued.

After hearing this, that family was worried that the adopted child would not be able to be registered in the household records, so they were currently asking around for information.

Before hearing any definite news, they didn't dare to rashly take a child back, as it would be troublesome if the child became an unregistered resident. After all, they weren't just looking to adopt one for themselves; they also had to introduce one to another family.

Xie Yang learned of this situation through the Main System and went home with peace of mind.

The tea egg business could still be run for two more days.

Upon returning home, she discovered that the street where she lived was also promoting identity cards; with an identity card as exquisite and compact as a card, one would no longer need an introduction letter to travel far in the future.

Xie Yang naturally knew the benefits of an identity card, so without a word, she took her household registration book and marriage certificate, cooperated with the neighborhood office, and filled in her personal information in the registry, including the identity information of the two children.

She took this opportunity to change her name; from then on, the name on her identity card would not be Xie Dani, but Xie Yang.

The staff member who came to the door was temporarily transferred from another street and did not know the specific situation of the two Zhang children; seeing Xie Yang cooperate so well with the neighborhood office's work, they gave her a tube of Toothpaste as a reward, then happily closed the booklet and went to the next household.

【Congratulations, Host, you finally have an identity in this world.】 The Main System teased her on purpose.

Xie Yang: "Don't you know? When you are out and about, your identity is whatever you give yourself."

【...】