The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 107: The Grand Entrance of Xi Fei’s Return to the Palace
When Tong Huaqiong left the Gu Guangkui’s home with Gu Taohua and her two grandchildren, she had an extra basket of sweet melons in her hand.
As soon as she got home with the melons, she instructed Gu Taohua to invite Qin Qingyou from the Qin Family to come to town to set up a baking oven whenever he had free time over the next few days.
Qin Qingyou assured her that he’d make time for it.
With the shop at hand, the whole family busily set to work.
Gu Guangkui took Gu Xiaocao, Qin Qingyou brought along his tools, and with the rest of the Gu Family eager to personally experience their very own shop, they followed Tong Huaqiong in a bustling crowd towards Rouge Alley in Yan Guan Town.
Tong Huaqiong didn’t keep her shop-opening a secret; the villagers were also customers of pastry shops, and she naturally wanted to spread the news across the entire village.
The whole Qinghe Bay was in an uproar!
No one in Qinghe Bay had opened a shop to do business before; most families lived off farming, earning pocket money by going to the mountains to burn charcoal or doing odd jobs around the town or county during the offseason. Tong Huaqiong was the first in Qinghe Bay to open a shop.
It’s something that could be recorded in the village chronicles.
When they heard that Gu Guangkui was called by Tong Huaqiong to help run the counter at the shop, and that even her useless granddaughter was to cook and do odd jobs at the shop, Huang Pozi and Yan Pozi were endlessly clucking behind their backs, furiously cursing that Tong Huaqiong was opening a shop under false pretenses, and her real intention was to seduce men in town.
Of course, Tong Huaqiong couldn’t hear the backstabbing from Huang Pozi and Yan Pozi.
Even if she could, she’d simply dismiss it with a slap, not letting such low comments disturb her peace of mind.
Tong Huaqiong led everyone to the shop, and when the Gu Family stepped into the first shop of their own, they were very excited.
Especially the couple from the first household who were coming for the first time, even Liu Yueer, were so excited they didn’t know where to put their hands and feet.
Rouge Alley was a prime location in Yan Guan Town, teeming with the wealthy of the area. Those upscale shops were so elegant that they, with their meager savings, dared not enter.
But now that their mother-in-law had bought a shop in such a prime area, how could they not be overjoyed?
"Uncle Guangkui, I don’t think Aunt Tong is anything like the people in the village make her out to be. The other day I set up a baking oven for her at her house, and she paid me for it. I think people in the village are just jealous of her abilities and that’s why they deliberately smear her. But smearing her is useless, her shop is already open." Qin Qingyou told Gu Guangkui.
"Your Aunt Tong was very reasonable when she was young; I think it was Grandpa Dashi and Grandma who forced her to become unreasonable." Gu Guangkui thought of how his own mother had pressured his family.
He understood the importance of supporting a wife and daughter, unlike Brother Gu who never seemed to support Tong Dajiao.
"But you’re right, your Aunt Tong indeed has skills, this shop is really big." Gu Guangkui couldn’t suppress the envy in his tone.
Although Gu Guangkui and Qin Qingyou were envious, they were not the least bit jealous; they knew they lacked the capabilities to open a shop, and they were already very grateful that Tong Huaqiong thought of them for such a good opportunity.
After exchanging a few words, they each buried themselves in their work.
"Sister-in-law Tong, I just measured, and we need to buy some more lumber." Gu Guangkui said to Tong Huaqiong.
With a framework from the wine racks, Gu Guangkui decided to modify it to achieve the effect Tong Huaqiong wanted, buying more only if necessary.
Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "Sure, buy it."
Qin Qingyou approached Tong Huaqiong and said, "Aunt Tong, I’ve calculated the bricks and cement needed."
Tong Huaqiong confidently said, "Whatever you say goes."
Having hired two workers to get started, Tong Huaqiong decided to trust them completely.
Seeing how decisive Tong Huaqiong was, Gu Guangkui and Qin Qingyou became even more committed to their work.
Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and called Gu Dahuan over, saying, "You should come to town to supervise the work for the next few days. Whatever Uncle Guangkui and Qingyou need, they’ll discuss it with you. Here’s thirty taels of silver upfront; spend it as you see fit."
Moved by his stepmother’s trust, Gu Dahuan accepted the silver and vowed to supervise the work earnestly.
Tong Huaqiong said to Gu Guangkui, "You handle the cabinets, counters, and racks; everything concerning that is up to you. If you need anything, tell Dahuan. Use good materials; don’t try to save me money."
She didn’t need to instruct Qin Qingyou; she was quite satisfied with the previous oven he’d built, so he just needed to maintain that standard.
As for Gu Xiaocao, since the shop wasn’t open yet, there was no need to cook for the clerks; she only needed to cook for Gu Guangkui, Gu Dahuan, and Qin Qingyou. The courtyard already had a pot, and the ingredients were ready.
After cooking, she’d then tidy up the courtyard behind the shop.
Tong Huaqiong originally intended to hire professionals to build the warehouse and oven room, but Gu Dahuan said he, along with Qin Qingyou and Gu Guangkui, could handle it.
If there weren’t enough people, they could hire two more workers.
Originally, Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe were also labor forces, but they were busy dealing with Manager Feng and couldn’t attend to the shop.
Seeing her stepson’s confidence, Tong Huaqiong let him manage it, as long as the work could proceed smoothly without delaying the opening.
After giving her instructions, Tong Huaqiong took Gu Taohua, her two daughters-in-law, and Man Er and Yaozu to the opposite side of Crispy Food Garden, to reopen the stall after a three-day break.
Previously, it was just her and Gu Taohua, but now with both daughters-in-law helping, the four of them quickly set up the stall and hung the sign, ready for Taohua Dessert to conquer the taste buds of Yan Guan Town once more.
Many customers were attracted by the deliberately tall, wind-swayed sign of Taohua Dessert, flocking towards it.
Even those in line at Crispy Food Garden began to break formation and head over to Taohua Dessert.
Manager Feng was beside himself with anger.
He initially thought Tong Huaqiong was pretending when she’s in the woods; after his threats, she would never dare show up in Yan Guan Town again.
Over the past three days, she hadn’t appeared, prompting him to almost throw a celebration.
Unexpectedly, Tong Huaqiong was back with a vengeance and dared to continue setting up stall right in front of Crispy Food Garden.
This was a blatant provocation.
Things had been tough at Crispy Food Garden these three days, leaving Manager Feng in a bad mood.
He was confident the recipes for taro mash pastries and meat floss cupcakes given by Tong Huaqiong were genuine, but obtaining some ingredients like butter and condensed milk was not as straightforward even among the barbarians, and what he bought was far from satisfactory.
Yet, Crispy Food Garden was Crispy Food Garden. The missing ingredients were substituted, and although the taste of the substitutes was slightly inferior to Taohua Dessert’s, they were still very delicious.
He thought people would accept it.
But those picky customers insisted they weren’t as authentic as Taohua Dessert’s and clamored for refunds.
If it hadn’t been for familiar customers also demanding refunds, Manager Feng would have thought those making trouble were sent by Tong Huaqiong as shills.
It got to the point where the boss was alerted, expressing dissatisfaction for the first time in so many years.
In the end, money was refunded and other pastries were given away to appease everyone, and the taro mash pastries and meat floss cupcakes were taken off the shelves.
Manager Feng didn’t initially intend for the taro mash pastries and meat floss cupcakes to replace Crispy Food Garden’s other pastries; his main aim against Tong Huaqiong was to drive Taohua Dessert out of Yan Guan Town.
But now, not only had Taohua Dessert remained, but it returned with even more customers.
Tong Huaqiong boldly set her stall up, knowing that at that moment, Manager Feng was on the second floor of Crispy Food Garden, so she directed a provocative smile his way.
Mouthing, "Whether I leave Yan Guan Town or not, is up to me, not you."
"Come on, everyone, give it a try. I’ve got authentic taro mash pastries and meat floss cupcakes here."
Tong Huaqiong shouted aloud, intending to present herself with the grand style of Xi Fei returning to the palace.
Manager Feng, on the second floor of Crispy Food Garden, could undoubtedly read the provocation in Tong Huaqiong’s lips, and seeing the customers swarming around Taohua Dessert, he felt an urge to overturn Taohua Dessert’s stall.
Furious, no one had ever dared to openly challenge Crispy Food Garden like this before.
Stay calm.
Manager Feng told himself, if the forceful approach didn’t work, he would have to resort to more devious means.
He thought of the Zheng Family.
He’d uncovered that Tong Huaqiong had a grudge with the Zheng Family’s cousin, scholar Zheng Junren.
The eldest son of the Zheng Family was hanging by a thread and wasn’t expected to live much longer. Perhaps by leveraging Mr. Zheng to incite the Zheng Family’s wrath, the Zheng Family could be made to deal with Taohua Dessert.
