The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 95: The Dutiful Son’s Self-Redemption Strategy
Manager Feng’s eyes were dark and obscure.
The robber who was holding a knife to Gu Dashu’s neck received Manager Feng’s signal. With a slight force, the knife grazed Gu Dashu’s neck.
"Mom, I’m going to die."
Warm blood dripped onto Gu Dashu’s hand. He thought his throat had been cut and screamed in fear.
Gu Taohua, standing nearby, was also trembling with fear, but what she feared more was Tong Huaqiong.
Her own mother was more ruthless than she had imagined!
Even with her brother cut by a knife, their mother showed no concern.
"Hmph," Tong Huaqiong sneered coldly.
Tong Huaqiong was truly not playing psychological games with Manager Feng.
If she had to sacrifice someone, she would rather sacrifice Gu Dashu.
After all, she was not Tong Dajiao, and felt no psychological burden.
Tong Huaqiong turned to leave.
This ruthlessness astonished Manager Feng.
He couldn’t let her leave; his intention was to obtain the dessert recipes.
Not to kill anyone.
However, Widow Tong didn’t care about her son’s life, surely she would care about her own life?
He raised his hand, and the leader blocked Tong Huaqiong’s path with a knife.
"What, you want to kill me?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
"Not kill you, but I could cut your hand or scar your face." Manager Feng personally brandished a knife in front of Tong Huaqiong’s face.
"Kill me instead, just let my mom go," Gu Dashu shouted.
In truth, Gu Dashu’s shout touched Tong Huaqiong a little. This son’s filial piety was pure, without any impurity. She had clearly intended to give him up, yet Gu Dashu still dutifully considered her his mother.
However, it wasn’t Gu Dashu’s shouting that made Tong Huaqiong give up resistance, but rather the malice she saw in Manager Feng’s eyes.
Manager Feng wouldn’t kill her, but he would ruin her.
For a moment, Manager Feng truly wanted to scar her face.
Even though she was a widow with grandchildren, she no longer had the opportunity to rely on her looks for marriage. But she didn’t want her face ruined.
Appearances still mattered in business; a disfigured face would surely affect customers’ moods.
"Isn’t it the dessert recipes you want? There’s no need for all this violence," Tong Huaqiong said.
Hearing the softening in Tong Huaqiong’s words, Manager Feng sighed. This widow didn’t care about her son’s life but seemed to value her face.
"I’ll give it to you," Tong Huaqiong said.
Seeing Tong Huaqiong giving in, Manager Feng put on a smile and said, "If you had done this earlier, none of this would have happened."
"I didn’t want to go to extremes either."
Even as he spoke, Manager Feng’s hand holding the knife did not relax.
"I don’t want your other dessert recipes. I want Yam Puff, Chestnut Puff, Cookies, and Floss Roll," Manager Feng said.
These four are Taohua Dessert’s flagship products. Tong Huaqiong relied on them to steal Crispy Food Garden’s business.
He didn’t believe that with the recipes, a roadside stand could compete against a pastry shop that had stood in Yan Guan Town for over a decade.
What’s more, Crispy Food Garden had also started retailing now.
"Put down your knife, and I’ll give it to you," Tong Huaqiong said.
Manager Feng hesitated.
"You have a whole team with big knives. Do you think I can run anywhere?" Tong Huaqiong mockingly retorted.
Manager Feng laughed and put away the knife, pulling out some paper and a pen from his pocket, then handed them to Gu Taohua, saying, "Widow Tong, you read, and your daughter will write."
He had already checked that Gu Taohua could read; the words on Taohua Dessert’s packaging were all written by this girl.
Tong Huaqiong grabbed the pen and paper, saying, "Who do you look down on? I don’t need my daughter to write; I’ll do it."
Then she wrote down the recipes for the four flagship products.
Manager Feng took the recipes with narrowed eyes and asked, "Have you truly disclosed everything in these recipes?"
Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "You have to trust me now. I’m not daring to deceive you; my life is in your hands."
Manager Feng smiled; he naturally trusted the recipes.
He never intended to take Tong Huaqiong’s life; he wanted her out of the Yan Guan Town pastry scene.
"These recipes are one thing, but you must also ensure that Taohua Dessert never appears in Yan Guan Town again," Manager Feng said.
"And if I don’t guarantee it?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
Manager Feng made a gesture of killing.
"I’ve got it," Tong Huaqiong said.
"Then I’ll take it as your guarantee," Manager Feng said.
In fact, he didn’t care whether Tong Huaqiong guaranteed or not. Now that he had the recipes, he had the means to drive Taohua Dessert out.
He’d heard Taohua Dessert planned to open a shop; let it remain a dream.
As darkness gradually engulfed the sky, Manager Feng left with the recipes and his men.
Tong Huaqiong’s legs felt weak.
Saying she wasn’t scared would be a lie; having a knife pressed to one’s neck was not a pleasant feeling.
Her bravado with Manager Feng was merely an act, to show him that threatening her with her family wouldn’t work.
In the future, she not only wanted to open a shop in Yan Guan Town but also aimed for Pingchuan County and even Shengjing. Today’s situation was just a rehearsal; she couldn’t hope for the day when the entire Gu Family would be wiped out by competitors.
"Mom," Gu Taohua helped lift Tong Huaqiong up.
Her legs were also a bit unsteady.
Gu Dashu was slumped on the ground, blood seeping from the wound on his neck. Thankfully, the wound wasn’t deep.
Gu Dashu couldn’t see the situation of his wound, only feel the blood dripping down, and when he touched it, his face turned pale with fear, thinking he was really dying.
"Mom, am I dying!" Gu Dashu laid on the ground and said.
"Mom, you often complain that I’m lazy and can’t do anything right. I don’t blame you for wanting to abandon me just now. If I die, let Yue Er remarry, just take good care of Yaozu."
As Gu Dashu spoke, tears began to fall.
To be pinned to the ground with a knife while his own mother remained unmoved was very heartbreaking.
But he truly didn’t blame his mother, not one bit.
He just thought that in the past, he was too useless. If he could have been more capable, his mother wouldn’t have needed to sell pastries in town, thus avoiding today’s knife-wielding threats by competitors.
To put it simply, it was all his doing.
Gu Dashu, as a filial son of ancient times, began a personal development journey.
Thinking that he may not be able to show filial piety in the future, he felt a deep pang of sadness and burst into tears.
"Dashu, what are you wailing about? You’re not dying; the wound on your neck isn’t even as deep as a raindrop making a dent in muddy ground," Tong Huaqiong said.
Seeing no resentment in Gu Dashu’s eyes, Tong Huaqiong felt a bit of warmth.
She truly developed some maternal feelings for this son.
"Brother, it’s really just a small cut on your neck. You won’t die," Gu Taohua pulled out a handkerchief to press on the wound.
"Dashu, don’t think that I don’t care about you. The reason I acted like that was to gamble with Manager Feng. If Manager Feng really harmed you, I would surely give him the recipes," Tong Huaqiong said to Gu Dashu.
Though it might sound like emotional manipulation, there was no other choice.
Tong Huaqiong couldn’t break ties with Gu Dashu and could only try to play the part of a mother acting out of necessity.
"Mom, I understand."
Regardless of whether Tong Huaqiong believed it herself, Gu Dashu certainly did.
"Your wound is fine; apply some medicine when we get home, and it will definitely scab over by morning," Tong Huaqiong said.
Luckily, Tong Huaqiong had Man Er fetch some antiseptic from the space.
She genuinely feared that, in an era with not-so-great medical conditions, Gu Dashu might die of tetanus from a small cut.
Who knew what that knife had sliced before? It could have been used on humans or animals.
She didn’t want Gu Dashu dead, as this son still had a big role to play.
As soon as he heard he wouldn’t die, Gu Dashu rolled to his feet and asked with a worried look, "Mom, you just gave the recipes to Manager Feng like that?"
