Chapter 39: Earning An Awesome Sum

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Both of them had scolded the Qi siblings yesterday.

They hadn’t been very harsh, and the Qi siblings hadn’t gotten angry either. But now that they had come to ask for their cakes, it was a bit embarrassing. Both of them looked a little ashamed.

They were deeply afraid that the Qi family would not budge. After all, the Qi family were in the right.

However, the Qi siblings were as enthusiastic as they had been the day before, acting as if no disagreements had taken place. They even served a plate of cake in two colors, cut into neat triangles, along with sweet jasmine tea.

The double-colored cake looked beautiful and tasted delicious. Not bothering to first discuss the details of how they would sell the Qi family’s goods wholesale, the two shopkeepers asked, “Why does this cake have two colors?”

Qi Fang smiled and said, “One layer is made with brown sugar, and the other with white sugar. Baking this is more troublesome and expensive. We’ve made some just for our family.”

The two shopkeepers hurriedly said, “How expensive is it? If you’re willing, we can take some stock back and try selling it.”

The previous afternoon, and this morning, many people had asked them if they could buy the Qi family’s cakes at their shops. The two shopkeepers recalled the looks of resentment on the faces of those customers, upon being told that their stores did not stock the Qi family’s cakes. They could not help but shudder at the memory.

They finally understood that people would buy delicious food even if it was expensive.

Besides, these items weren’t outrageously expensive, and were very filling. Many people said that they wanted to buy some and have them for breakfast at home.

Qi Fang nodded. “The cost price of each double-colored cake is twelve cents. You can sell each for fourteen or fifteen cents.”

The two shopkeepers nodded vigorously. “Sure, we’ll take it.”

As there was no dispute over the prices, the two shopkeepers finished ordering the goods very quickly, and left after that.

They actually wanted to take the goods immediately…

Unfortunately, the Qi family had run out of stock, and they could only come back two hours later.

They both ordered a thousand cakes and five hundred loaves of bread.

They also ordered ten boxes of double-colored cakes, four in each box. The Qi family had packaged them up in advance, and the wholesale price of one box was fifty cents.

…

In the afternoon, more than ten people came to order wholesale goods, and more than twenty thousand cakes and loaves of bread were ordered very quickly.

They could finish baking the orders before midnight today, but it would be impractical for the shopkeepers to collect the goods in the middle of the night. Many shopkeepers pushed the collection to the next morning.

Qi Fang and the others saw that they didn’t have enough cake or loaf pans, and they were limited to only one oven, so they suggested making more pans or building another oven. Qi Mianmian shook her head. “How would we get this many orders every day? No matter how delicious the food is, customers will get sick of it after a long time. We will only be this busy for one more day. We will have much less work to do the day after tomorrow.”

Everyone thought about it and realized that it was true. They smiled and started to get busy.

…

Today was already the third day.

Business was so good today. Even if each cake or loaf of bread only gave three cents of profit, selling thirty thousand—as Qi Mianmian and co. had done today—would result in nine hundred yuan…

Qi Shan and Zhao Xiulian had practically turned green with envy. Deciding that they simply couldn’t wait till their husbands came home, they begged Elderly Lady Qi to persuade Qi Mianmian for them.

Zhao Xiulian said, “Mom, Mianmian and the rest earn 900 yuan a day. Their business is so prosperous. Let them bring us along.”

Qi Shan said, “Yeah, they’re so tired every day. Surely their health won’t be able to take it for much longer. Why don’t you ask them to let us join their business?”

The two of them felt that Elderly Lady Qi would definitely stand on their side. However, contrary to their expectations, Elderly Lady rolled her eyes coldly. “When Mianmian gave me five hundred yuan a few days ago, all three of us agreed not to get involved in her business. Why the change of mind now? Are you going back on your word?”

Zhao Xiulian thought to herself, “How was I to know that they would earn so much money? Why don’t we return the five hundred yuan to her?”

Anyway, not all of the five hundred yuan would end up in her hands.

Furthermore, compared to earning nine hundred yuan a day, what was five hundred yuan?

Although she thought so, she dared not say it out loud.

If she said it, Elderly Lady Qi would definitely scold her.

When Qi Shan saw this, she did not dare to say anything either. She decided to endure it for now and wait for her husband and her older brother-in-law to return home.

Although her husband did not have the gift of sophistry, her brother-in-law often came up with bold ideas. All she needed to do was wait, and she would be able to get some benefits.

At this moment, Qi Mianmian walked in with the navy blue cardigan that she had just knitted for Elderly Lady Qi. She said in embarrassment, “Grandma, I’ve been too busy these few days. I promised you that I would finish knitting it in two days, but I only finished it today. Do you like it?”