“And it’s so much cheaper than the ones at the department store!” Qiao Mei said.
Xia Fang looked at the ingredients in the kitchen and did some calculations. One catty of eggs was only about one dollar and the flour was only a few cents. After adding the sugar, oil and other ingredients, the total cost was probably around three dollars.
The cost of making so many cakes was at most five dollars, but the shop sold the cakes at such a high price. No wonder Qiao Mei stopped her from buying the cakes.
Qiao Mei thought that if she opened a cake shop in the capital, it should be much more profitable than going back to the countryside to grow bean sprouts. Growing bean sprouts was a tiring and time-consuming business, and there would be times when the harvest was not good. It was different making cakes. The raw materials could all be bought off the shelves, and she just had to make them.
Moreover, it was more profitable than selling bean sprouts.
Qiao Mei started thinking about the cost of opening a shop in the capital.
Xia Fang suddenly looked at Qiao Mei and asked, “Mei Mei, what do you plan to do after this?”
“Huh? After this?” Qiao Mei looked at Xia Fang in confusion.
“Yes, meaning in the future. I suppose you will become a military spouse,” Xia Fang said.
“Definitely. Besides, Xia Zhe also wants me to become a military spouse and stay with him in the army,” Qiao Mei said excitedly.
However, Xia Fang was filled with worry. She became a little unhappy to hear Qiao Mei say so firmly that she wanted to become a military spouse.
Qiao Mei did not understand why Aunt looked so ill at ease when she talked about being a military spouse.
“Mei Mei, I’ve also been a military spouse for a period of time before. It’s a very tough thing to do. You may be in the mountains or by the sea, or even on an island. Do you want to follow him even though you have to take care of a child as well?” Xia Fang said worriedly.
It was then that Qiao Mei understood Xia Fang’s worry and she said with a smile, “I’m not afraid of hardship. Our village is also in the mountains. To go to town, we have to walk a distance of 15 kilometers on the mountain roads, and further if we go to the county city. Moreover, the natural environment there is rough. When we go out in winter, the cold can freeze off our ears!”
“Well, it… it’s not as tough as that…” Xia Fang looked at Qiao Mei with some heartache.
She did not expect Qiao Mei to have gone through such a tough life when she was young. These were things that she could not imagine. Even when she followed Xiang Jin as a military spouse, her life was not as tough as what Qiao Me described .
Xia Fang suddenly felt that there was nothing bad about having a daughter-in-law from the countryside. Girls in the city did not suffer much from a young age. What city girls saw as hardships were not hardships in the eyes of village girls. The village girls would just see that as part of life and deal with it.
Moreover, Qiao Mei was sensible and had a good heart and a sense of propriety. She had been taught well by Qiao Qiang and did not behave like an uneducated boor at all.
It turned out that Xia Fang had also thought that only a young lady from a big family in the capital was worthy of her Xia Zhe. Now, it seemed that Xia Zhe was the lucky one to be able to find a wife like Qiao Mei.
Qiao Mei silently packed the rest of the cakes into boxes and put them into her backpack. “Aunt, let’s go and distribute the cakes to the others. There’s so many that we won’t be able to finish them. Let’s share with everyone!”
Xia Fang looked at Qiao Mei, feeling gratified that the girl knew the ways of the world as well.
She had heard from her neighbors about what happened to Qiao Mei in the courtyard yesterday. The neighbors said that Qiao Mei was smart enough to see through the schemes of Qian’e and her mother, and managed to protect Xia Zhe’s reputation.
This young lady was really smart. Their Xia Zhe was really lucky.
Xia Fang brought Qiao Mei to visit every household in the compound to express her gratitude. She also introduced Qiao Mei as her niece-in-law to everyone, confirming Qiao Mei’s status in her family.
Qiao Mei’s baking skills received praise from everyone. A few people even expressed interest to learn from her.
Qiao Mei’s smile froze on her face. It was starting to look like she would have no time to rest during this period of time, given the number of women who told her that they wanted to learn how to bake cakes.
Xia Fang saw the awkwardness on Qiao Mei’s face and rejected everyone upfront. “Since our Mei Mei is pregnant, she can’t be too tired. She needs to rest well.”
Everyone understood what Xia Fang meant. Furthermore, if anything really happened to the baby, they would not be able to bear the consequences as well.
They all knew the kind of person Xia Fang was. She may look like a friendly person, but in reality, if someone really provoked her, even an immortal from the heavens could not save the person.
She could not even be bothered to respect the hospital director, let alone a few neighbors. They all thought that it would be better not to agitate her.
Everyone gave up on the idea of going to Xia Fang’s house to pick up some culinary skills.