The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 160: Extraordinary Salesmanship

Seeing Tong Huaqiong eating with such enjoyment, others couldn’t help but swallow.

Tong Huaqiong initially planned to cook these rice dumplings to let everyone in the shop have a taste and open their eyes, showing them that savory dumplings are not inferior to sweet ones.

"Come on, everyone, have one each."

After Chen Sufen and Hu Family took out the rice dumplings, Tong Huaqiong invited everyone.

Since it was lunchtime anyway, the rice dumplings served well as the main dish.

Gu Taohua couldn’t resist and peeled one to eat. After just one bite, she couldn’t care to speak with anyone else and buried herself in eating.

Then, Chen Sufen, Hu Family, and Qin Qingyou all opened the bamboo leaves and began eating.

"I have to say, these savory rice dumplings are delicious," Chen Sufen said.

"Of course, just look at the ingredients inside. With that large piece of meat and whole salted egg yolk, who else would be so generous with ingredients? Crispy Food Garden sells a lot of sweet dumplings every year, but the most they put in one is a single date," Hu Family said.

Qin Qingyou chimed in, "I find it tastier than the sweet ones."

Seeing Liu Qiaoyun walking from the store to the backyard, he called out, "Wife, come try these savory rice dumplings. Aunt Tong’s craftsmanship is truly something special."

Liu Qiaoyun, Gu Xiaocao, and Liu Yueer took turns having their meals, and today it was Liu Qiaoyun’s turn to have lunch in the backyard.

She had already smelled the aroma upfront.

After taking a bite, Liu Qiaoyun exclaimed it was delicious and said, "Customers outside just asked what we’re cooking in the courtyard that smells so good. We can start selling these savory rice dumplings this afternoon, but I think these two baskets won’t be enough to meet demand."

Tong Huaqiong laughed and said, "This is just a trial run. There’s still a few days until the Dragon Boat Festival. If they sell well, we’ll make more."

After finishing her meal, Liu Qiaoyun went back to the store, and Gu Xiaocao and Liu Yueer took turns to eat, all praising the rice dumplings highly.

Only Ma Huateng insisted that rice dumplings should be sweet and refused to eat savory ones.

"Heresy, this is heresy! I’m not eating," he said, even as Gu Dashu placed an opened rice dumpling in front of Ma Huateng, who adamantly refused to take a bite.

Tong Huaqiong held her forehead and sighed, thinking that not all literary integrity needs to be applied to sticking to a particular food preference.

If it were in Tong Huaqiong’s previous life, Ma Huateng would undoubtedly be online, leading the sweet dumpling faction in a heated debate against the savory dumpling group, perhaps even drafting a few academic papers to argue his case.

Tong Huaqiong couldn’t force Ma Huateng to eat savory rice dumplings.

"Dashu, go to the private school and deliver some savory rice dumplings to Mr. Su," Tong Huaqiong instructed Gu Dashu, "and deliver some to Meng Yanping as well, to thank him for his support of Taohua Dessert recently."

Since Taohua Dessert opened, students from the private school stopped coming to the shop.

This was because of Gu Jingzhe.

When Taohua Dessert was just a stall, they didn’t know the relationship between Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe. But once Taohua Dessert had a store and Gu Jingzhe was smiling at the entrance as a human signboard, the students from the private school recognized the connection.

Considering Gu Jingzhe’s past reputation for being indifferent to everything at the private school, they associated this impression with Taohua Dessert and stopped visiting en masse.

Sending rice dumplings to Mr. Su and Meng Yanping served two purposes: first, Tong Huaqiong hoped to still attract business from the private school, and second, she wanted to take this opportunity to show goodwill to the students, as she didn’t want Gu Jingzhe to feel too isolated at the private school now that he had rejoined.

After all, it takes time to build a new reputation.

Gu Dashu agreed and went off.

Mr. Su was from Jiangnan, where it was customary to eat savory rice dumplings during the Dragon Boat Festival. Upon moving to the northern region, he had not tasted them for years.

When he ate the savory rice dumplings delivered by Tong Huaqiong, tears welled up in his eyes with emotion.

Qin Qingyou placed the savory rice dumplings on display in the shop, and Gu Taohua made a sign, which not only listed the name "Pork and Salted Egg Yolk Dumplings" but also detailed the ingredients in smaller print.

This was at Tong Huaqiong’s insistence.

In the shop, all products had their ingredients listed, thanks to Tong Huaqiong’s policy.

This move undeniably attracted more customers to Taohua Dessert.

In this era, food shops rarely displayed ingredient lists; they even went to great lengths to conceal their recipes during preparation so others wouldn’t learn them.

By being transparent about their ingredients, Taohua Dessert sent a message that they weren’t afraid of others imitatively; after all, copying it wouldn’t yield the same result.

Although Crispy Food Garden tried to imitate the yam paste, pork floss, and cake roll, they couldn’t get it right.

"Shopkeeper, do we only have savory dumplings and not sweet ones? Without sweet dumplings, won’t we be driving away business?" inquired the sweet dumpling supporter, Ma Huateng.

Others shared the same concern.

Hu Family even considered rolling up their sleeves to make sweet dumplings, as the ingredients were already available.

Tong Huaqiong said, "We’re only selling the savory ones, not the sweet ones."

Everyone asked why.

This didn’t seem like Tong Huaqiong’s usual business approach; why not take advantage of this opportunity to earn more?

Tong Huaqiong explained, "We can’t corner all the business. Look around; many small stalls have started selling sweet dumplings, and even village women are making dumplings to sell in town to earn some money for oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. As business owners, we can’t cut off their livelihoods. I started as a small vendor and understand their struggles."

Her words elevated respect for her among the shop staff.

Tong Huaqiong continued, "For future Dragon Boat Festivals, we’ll only make savory dumplings so that everyone associates them with Taohua Dessert."

Being the first to market them would certainly create a brand effect.

"Aunt Tong, your perspective is truly admirable; I feel unworthy," Ma Huateng said genuinely. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Aunt Tong, now I understand why you could open a store in such a short time; it’s because of your sincere heart," Liu Qiaoyun remarked.

"Exactly. Back in the village, when everyone said Aunt Tong was difficult, I knew she was exceptional," Qin Qingyou added.

...

Amidst the praises, Tong Huaqiong didn’t lose herself.

She didn’t sell sweet dumplings, in part, as she mentioned earlier, to give other vendors a chance to earn a living.

Additionally, she had her reasons: if everyone sells sweet dumplings, what’s the point? Taohua Dessert, as the town’s newly popular shop, needed to offer its unique dumplings.

She knew not everyone in Yan Guan Town would accept savory dumplings, as surely there were many like Ma Huateng who preferred sweet ones.

But her savory dumplings targeted those with disposable income and leisure or those willing to try something new.

In the afternoon, customers who came to buy pastries at the shop were indeed curious about the savory dumplings.

Initially, few people bought them—partly because of the price, and partly because savory dumplings were outside most people’s taste preferences.

No matter how enthusiastically Liu Yueer and Liu Qiaoyun described them, many people hesitated more than they purchased.

"Taohua, what’s this savory dumpling all about?"

Gu Taohua was busy noting down an order for a birthday cake for Yihong House’s top lady when she looked up to see Yu Qin, the head maid from Huang Yuanwai’s house, walking in.

Yu Qin was there to buy pastries for Old Mrs. Huang.

"Sister Yu Qin, you’re here! I’m busy right now; let my second sister-in-law give you an introduction," Gu Taohua said with a smile.

Liu Yueer welcomed Yu Qin with a smile and said, "These savory dumplings are so fragrant and delicious; I can’t even describe it. How about I peel one for you to try?"

Liu Yueer invited Yu Qin into the shop, peeled a savory dumpling, and handed it to her.

As the dumpling’s aroma grew stronger, Yu Qin found it hard to refuse and took a bite.

Goodness, it was like a live taste test!

And without any prior rehearsal, Yu Qin couldn’t finish a bite before exclaiming how delicious it was and asking how dumplings could be so tasty.

Yu Qin’s reaction caught the attention of the surrounding customers.

After all, as the maid of Huang Yuanwai, the richest man in Yan Guan Town, Yu Qin’s food and clothing were even more refined than those of many young ladies from ordinary families.

If Yu Qin said it was good, it must be extraordinary.

"I’ll take two."

"I’ll try one first."

"Give me five."

People eagerly opened their purses to buy.

Yu Qin’s ability to influence purchases was undeniably strong; a basket and a half of dumplings were gone in an instant.