The wool that Elderly Lady Qi had bought from the village stalls was not of very high quality, but Qi Mianmian had added some wool of the same color that she had stored in her dimension. She had chosen to use a flat stitch for the embroidery.
Plenty of embroidered plum blossoms adorned the cardigan. The embroidery was raised, giving rise to a three-dimensional effect.
It looked both exquisite and grand.
Before Qi Mianmian had finished knitting, Elderly Lady Qi had already fallen in love with this kind of embroidery. Now that she saw that the finished product was better than she had imagined, she was so happy that her smile nearly split her face in half. Quickly, Elderly Lady Qi went to try on the cardigan.
Qi Shan and Zhao Xiulian were not in the mood to pay any attention to this, but they could not afford to offend their mother-in-law. They laughed dryly and complimented Elderly Lady Qi's cardigan.
After a bout of praise, Zhao Xiulian couldn't help but say, "Mianmian, your business is doing so well. Can you bring us along?"
Qi Mianmian gave a small smile. "Our business won't always be this good. If you don't believe me, just wait and see. We'll take a break the day after tomorrow."
Zhao Xiulian was speechless.
What reply could she give to that?
She wanted to say, "From today's sales alone, your family has earned nine hundred yuan. You'd be able to rest for a year if you wish."
But surely such a reply wouldn't achieve her purpose of joining Qi Mianmian's business.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to vent her anger. Yet, worried that doing so would worsen the situation, she decided to endure it for the time-being. She would wait for Qi Jingshu to come home before doing anything.
At this moment, Wan Meiling walked out.
She still had a bitter expression on her face, but her voice was very gentle. "Mom, Sister-in-law, Third Sister-in-law, Qi Fang and Mianmian will be going back to school in a while. Our family's business is getting overwhelmingly busy, so I'm preparing to quit my job. Can you help me introduce someone I can sell my position to?"
In the morning, Wan Meiling had pondered for a while before deciding to ask Qi Mianmian, and not Elderly Lady Qi, about the transfer of her position.
As expected, Qi Mianmian gave her a most satisfactory plan: she should not quit for the time being. Instead, she should take a leave of absence, then begin spreading the word that her position at the factory was up for grabs, and that the highest bidder would get the job.
After hearing Wan Meiling's words, Zhao Xiulian and Qi Shan were once again astonished.
Wan Meiling had a job that they had always yearned for, but had no hope of getting. Yet, she was actually going to resign?
But they supposed this decision was to be expected.
If their family could earn nine hundred yuan a day, who would care about a job that paid little more than ten yuan a month?
Right now, they didn't care either, did they?
They only wanted to join Qi Mianmian in her cake business.
Elderly Lady Qi was also very surprised.
However, her focus was on Qi Mianmian and Qi Fang's schooling.
After she came back to her senses, she nodded with a smile. "Education is good, education is good. Yes, I'll go offer incense to our ancestors now, and ask for Qi Fang to be blessed with good results in his studies."
With that, the old lady dashed off into the house.
Zhao Xiulian was speechless.
Qi Shan was speechless.
The two of them had a great number of things they wanted to say—largely consisting of swear words—but… they didn't dare to voice any of them.
They did not dare to offend Qi Mianmian.
If they offended her, there was no need to hope for any good prospects to come their way.
For money, they would endure.
…
Half a day passed easily.
Qi Jingshu and Qi Jingzhong got off work at half past five and returned home immediately.
Qi Shan and Zhao Xiulian quickly updated their husbands on what had happened, and began scheming.
After a short discussion in Qi Jingshu and Zhao Xiulian's bedroom, the four of them went to the Qi family's kitchen together to look for Qi Mianmian.
They knew that they could only look for Qi Mianmian for this matter, not anyone else.
Qi Jingshu was thick-skinned and voiced his thoughts bluntly. "Mianmian, I heard that you guys earned 900 yuan in just one day?"
A whopping nine hundred yuan. When Qi Jingtang first heard about it, he thought he was hallucinating.
Qi Mianmian, who had actually earned nearly 2,000 yuan today, smiled slightly. "It's more than nine hundred yuan. Just now, a few more customers came to our house, so we've earned more than a thousand so far. If more customers come later, we'll earn even more. What's the matter, Uncle… Do you want a share?"
Everyone was speechless.
Mianmian sure had a talent for rejoinders.
Even Qi Jingtang, who did not enter the kitchen after returning home and had instead quietly returned to his own bedroom, could not help but listen keenly after hearing Qi Mianmian's reply.
Qi Jingshu, who had always been thick-skinned, actually felt a little embarrassed. He did not know how to reply.
Qi Jingzhong, meanwhile, was quite quick-witted. He gave a chuckle. "Mianmian, you can't blame us for asking. We have been poor for so long. Seeing you earn so much money—it's only natural that we'd want to do so too."
They were jealous, plain and simple.