1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 41 Demand exceeds supply
In the third national census in 1982, the urban population of Cenhe reached 5213. Now it is the end of 1980, and even if no statistics have been compiled, the urban population is definitely no less than 5100.

Judging from this population figure, it's clear that Cenhe Town truly deserves its reputation as a renowned ancient town with a history of over a thousand years.

After all, even in later generations, the permanent population of many towns and villages did not reach 5000, let alone in the 1980s.

When assessing the economic prosperity of a town, population size is undoubtedly an essential and crucial indicator.

Although many rural people would bring eggs they had saved up for ten or fifteen days to sell to the commune, the baskets or half baskets of eggs they brought were simply a drop in the ocean compared to the huge demand from more than 5,000 people.

The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't lack eggs to sell, but you need to provide egg coupons to buy eggs from it.

Therefore, the residents of Cenhe Commune have always been short of eggs. This is the main reason why rural people never have to worry about selling their eggs. Basically, as long as rural people bring eggs to the commune to sell, they are quickly snapped up.

In some cases, customers with better financial means would even buy all the eggs themselves.

Today, the Qiao siblings came to the commune to sell eggs for the first time. With Qiao Erhe's shouts, they attracted nearby customers and passersby, crowding around the small egg stall.

After calling everyone over, Qiao Erhe said loudly, "Comrades, my brother and I are from Qiaojiawan in Hongshan Brigade. More than two months ago, we started raising 1000 laying hens. I believe many of you here have heard this news."

"I've heard about this. Oh, so you two are siblings!"

"I've heard about that too. You two siblings are truly remarkable!"

"Wow, that's fast! It's only been less than three months since we started raising it, and it's already started laying eggs?"

"..."

As Qiao Erhe introduced himself, many guests and passersby present showed expressions of sudden realization.

In those days, due to a lack of entertainment, everyone paid close attention to what was happening in the surrounding villages. The news that the Qiao family was raising 1000 laying hens was a very sensational event. It caused a huge stir not only in the villages but also in the towns.

The guests and passersby present were surprised to find that the individual farmers they had been discussing recently were actually selling eggs at the commune today.

In other words, the 1000 laying hens they raised have now officially entered the harvest season.

While everyone was discussing, Qiao Erhe continued, "The laying hens we raise are fed with good things like corn, insects, earthworms, and green vegetables. Moreover, through scientific feeding, the laying hens are very healthy, and their eggs are much better than ordinary chicken eggs."

As for exactly why they're better, we're not sure yet, but one thing is for sure: our eggs taste significantly better than regular eggs. If you're interested, you can buy a few and try them to see for yourself.

Upon hearing this, one of the guests couldn't help but ask, "Comrade, don't all eggs taste the same?"

Qiao Erhe shook his head and laughed, "Comrades, the reason why all the eggs you eat taste the same is because you have been eating free-range eggs for a long time. The way free-range chickens are raised is similar, so the taste of their eggs is naturally not much different."

However, I can responsibly tell you that not all eggs taste the same as free-range eggs.

For example, laying hens that are kept in cages for a long time are fed specially developed feed to promote their rapid growth. The eggs laid by these feed-fed hens cannot compare to the taste of free-range eggs.

Our laying hens are fed the best food and given plenty of space to roam, so the eggs they lay are absolutely the best-tasting.

These words left the guests and passersby present looking at each other in bewilderment. In this day and age, factory-farmed chickens have not yet truly taken off. Whether in rural areas or in cities, the chickens and eggs they usually eat are all from free-range chickens and free-range eggs. They never imagined that factory-farmed chickens existed in this world.

Hearing Qiao Erhe say this now, everyone feels like their eyes have been opened.

Immediately, a customer said, "Comrade, I want to buy 10 eggs. I want to try them and see if they taste better than other eggs, just as you said."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Don't worry, comrade, our eggs will definitely not disappoint you. From now on, we will set up a stall here to sell eggs every day. My brother and I want to do business with repeat customers, and we will definitely not ruin our reputation."

"That makes sense, then I'm relieved."

"Comrade, give me eight eggs."

"Comrade, I need six eggs."

"Comrade, I'd like a carton of eggs."

"Comrade..."

It must be said that Qiao Erhe's words were indeed convincing. The guests present took out their money to buy eggs, and even passersby who originally just came to join the fun joined the egg-buying frenzy.

Although the number of eggs purchased by the guests from Cenhe Commune could not compare with the number of eggs purchased by the guests from Shashi yesterday, the large number of people gathered there, buying ten or eight eggs at a time, caused the number of eggs to decrease at a visible rate.

In less than 20 minutes, all 990 eggs were snapped up by customers.

It was Qiao Erhe who said that his family would be setting up a stall here to sell eggs for a long time. If he hadn't said that, the customers would probably have snapped up the eggs even faster.

After all the guests had left, Qiao Sanduo suddenly realized what was going on and exclaimed with a smile, "My goodness, selling eggs is so easy!"

Qiao Sihai looked at his second brother with admiration and said, "Third sister, what do you know? It's not that eggs are easy to sell, it's that our second brother is born to do business. He can talk a good game. I don't know how he knows so much."

Qiao Dajiang asked curiously, "Second brother, how do you know so much?"

Qiao Erhe said with a smile, "If you could read more books, you would understand too."

These words immediately silenced Qiao Dajiang, Qiao Sanduo, and Qiao Sihai.

Leaving aside the fifth, sixth, and seventh siblings who are still in school, Qiao Erhe, despite only graduating from junior high school, already has the highest level of education among the four siblings.

Qiao Erhe put the money from selling the eggs into his pocket and said, "Alright, now that the eggs have been sold successfully, let's go back!"

Qiao Sihai licked his lips and said expectantly, "Second Brother, the eggs are selling so well, and it's almost noon. How about we go buy some guokui (a type of flatbread) to try?"

Qiao Erhe glanced at him and laughed, "Alright, let's go buy some guokui (a type of flatbread). It tastes better when it's hot."

(End of this chapter)