The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 121: Popular Shop

The first day’s buzz at Taohua Dessert doesn’t mean much.

Sustained buzz is needed to establish a firm footing.

Seven days into the shop’s opening, the flow of customers at Taohua Dessert remains undiminished.

Visiting Yanguan Town for market and shopping, people checking in at Taohua Dessert in Rouge Alley has become a new lifestyle trend.

Even if they don’t buy anything at Taohua Dessert, there are free cake samples to taste and free tea to drink.

As such, Taohua Dessert’s reputation has been firmly established.

Taohua Dessert has clearly become the influencer hotspot in Yanguan Town.

In the past, when people talked about pastry shops in Yanguan Town, they would think of Crispy Food Garden, but now it’s Taohua Dessert.

It’s quite apparent that Taohua Dessert is soon going to replace Crispy Food Garden as the leading pastry brand in Yanguan Town.

Ma Ming is naturally unhappy about it.

Being unhappy, he can only endure it; he cannot and dares not sabotage Taohua Dessert.

Firstly, Tong Huaqiong did him a favor by returning the land deed and stamp for Crispy Food Garden that Feng Chuan had stolen to his home.

However, Tong Huaqiong didn’t give him this favor without reason; he agreed to a commitment for fair business competition.

Moreover, when Feng Chuan owed her silver, and Manager Feng mortgaged Crispy Food Garden to her, she didn’t take advantage and informed Ma Ming about it, her virtuous act spread throughout Yanguan Town and is well-known by all.

Now, everyone praises Widow Tong for her integrity, making it difficult for Crispy Food Garden to tackle Taohua Dessert.

If anything happens to Tong Huaqiong or Taohua Dessert, the first to be suspected by the entire town would undoubtedly be Crispy Food Garden; by then, Crispy Food Garden would face being abandoned by Yanguan Town customers.

Of course, Tong Huaqiong deliberately spread news of her virtuous act; she also had Gu Jingzhe write scripts and paid the storyteller two taels of silver to perform at the teahouse.

Secondly, Ma Ming witnessed Tong Huaqiong’s ruthlessness and capability, and feels a bit wary of her, worrying that she might have something on Crispy Food Garden, and fearing that if pressed, she might destroy Crispy Food Garden first.

Rather than that, it’s better to allow Taohua Dessert to exist.

Ma Ming can’t bring down Taohua Dessert and believes the blame for this situation lies with Manager Feng.

If it weren’t for Manager Feng’s underestimation of the threat, if it weren’t for Manager Feng’s greed, how could Taohua Dessert have emerged?

The more Ma Ming thought about it, the angrier he got. He spread the story of how Manager Feng cheated his master throughout Pingchuan County and threatened that anyone daring to hire Manager Feng would be opposing him.

As a result, Manager Feng is now completely isolated in Pingchuan County; he can only sell his house and take his family, along with Feng Chuan, back to the countryside.

When a person loses their spirit, they become utterly dispirited.

However, none of this has anything to do with Tong Huaqiong; she neither cares nor sympathizes.

Everything at Taohua Dessert is getting on track.

Everyone performs their duties diligently, working with great enthusiasm.

It’s just that sometimes, the manpower is not sufficient.

"...Shopkeeper, can my wife and I work in the store long-term?"

On this day, as Tong Huaqiong was checking the accounts, Liu Yueer’s brother and sister-in-law, Liu Shan and Hu Shi, came to Tong Huaqiong to request a formal job.

Recently, Tong Huaqiong had been observing coldly and found that Liu Shan and Hu Shi are indeed capable and honest, making them great helpers.

She was willing to bring them into her team.

"Why not?" Tong Huaqiong said.

Liu Shan was excited and sincerely said, "Aunt Tong, don’t hire us because of Yue Er. Hire us because you believe we’re suitable; otherwise, we’d have no face to stay."

This attitude made Tong Huaqiong admire Liu Shan and his wife even more.

Tong Huaqiong seriously stated, "Your sister’s influence doesn’t sway me. Take Sufen’s brother and sister-in-law for example; why haven’t I let them come? I initially let you both come to help because I saw how reliable and capable you were. I wasn’t mistaken, and I’ve long wanted to invite you to stay in the shop permanently."

Hearing this, Liu Shan and Hu Shi were immensely touched.

From now on, they, too, would be formal clerks at Taohua Dessert.

"Liu Shan, I want you to work with Dashi in charge of purchasing for the shop in the future," Tong Huaqiong said. "How does that sound to you?"

Liu Shan was stunned.

After all, those responsible for purchasing are usually trusted inner-circle members of the owner’s family.

The fact that Tong Huaqiong entrusted such an important task to him filled Liu Shan with both immense pride and gratitude.

This indicated that Tong Huaqiong fully recognized his character.

Declining would make him seem ungrateful, so Liu Shan readily accepted with a thump on his chest in assurance.

"Aunt Tong, rest assured, I’ll work hard, and I guarantee that the accounts for my purchases will be impeccable."

Tong Huaqiong nodded.

Don’t doubt if you choose to trust; she believed in Liu Shan.

"Liu Shan’s wife, you can join Sufen in the bakery room for now, assisting with the baking. Once you’re skilled, you’ll become a pastry chef," Tong Huaqiong said to Hu Shi.

"Rest assured, your salary will be paid as usual."

These days, as Hu Shi cooked, Tong Huaqiong noticed she had a knack for culinary arts.

It would be a pity to let such talent go to waste on cooking ordinary meals; it’d be better to put it to use in the bakery room.

Currently, she and Chen Sufen are responsible for baking pastries, but Taohua Dessert is no longer just a small stall. She needs to focus more on management and uncovering other business opportunities.

Therefore, she must gradually pull away from frontline baking duties.

Pastry chefs are critical to a pastry shop, and Tong Huaqiong never believed that recipes should be kept secret. To expand the pastry shop, a team of professional pastry chefs must be developed.

Hu Shi would be the second pastry chef she cultivated, besides Chen Sufen.

The prospect of Hu Shi entering the bakery room was even more shocking to the couple than Liu Shan taking on the purchasing role.

It should be known that, in these times, skilled artisans didn’t easily share their recipes; hence the saying, "Teach the apprentice, starve the master."

Many apprentices had to work for free in shops for five years to learn the craft.

Now, after merely cooking for a few days at Taohua Dessert, Tong Huaqiong was willing to teach her pastry-making; such treatment was unparalleled in Pingchuan County.

Hu Shi was almost moved to tears and said to Tong Huaqiong, "Aunt Tong, I will never forget your kindness, and I’ll work diligently. As long as you need me, I won’t leave Taohua Dessert."

Tong Huaqiong smiled and said, "Just to be clear, there’s still a probationary period. If you don’t pass, you’ll go back to your original job."

Liu Shan and his wife nodded; they were already very grateful for the opportunity!

Success depended entirely on themselves.

After speaking, Tong Huaqiong asked Ma Huateng to bring out the ready-made employment contracts.

All job content, salary, and conditions were clearly listed.

Liu Shan and his wife were illiterate, so Ma Huateng read it to them twice. The couple thought they didn’t need to sign any agreement, but Tong Huaqiong insisted, and they sealed it with a fingerprint, officially becoming Tong Huaqiong’s employees.

"Your business at Crispy Food Garden floundered through your own doing; how can you still have the face to come to our Taohua Dessert? If you want to buy cakes, you’re welcome; if you’re here to cause trouble, I’ll beat you up."

Tong Huaqiong had just finished signing the employment contract with Liu Shan and his wife when she heard Gu Taohua yelling at someone.

"Taohua, what’s going on?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Did Gu Taohua get carried away?

Yelling at people at their own store’s entrance—did she forget Tong Huaqiong’s rule that business should never be affected?

Although it was closing time, Tong Huaqiong didn’t want anyone breaching this rule.

Gu Taohua ran in, angrily explaining, "It’s a clerk from Crispy Food Garden."

Tong Huaqiong admonished Taohua, "It’s just a clerk from Crispy Food Garden; not worth getting angry over. Bring him in."

Now that Taohua Dessert and Crispy Food Garden were evenly matched, and even vaguely gaining the upper hand, Tong Huaqiong’s good business made her attitude generous.

She warmly welcomed the clerk from Crispy Food Garden.