The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 429 - 428 A Light at the End of the Tunnel

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"My last name is Li, I live in room 1808, and if you need any help, you can come to me."

Shen Mingzhu was somewhat surprised, the 18th floor was the top floor of the hotel’s guest rooms, and the entire floor was comprised of presidential suites, only the rich and prestigious could afford to stay there.

Ding.

The elevator reached the floor where Shen Mingzhu lived, and she stared at the opening elevator doors, hesitating for a moment before turning her head.

"Miss Li, do you know of any baking kitchens in Hong City that are available for rent to the public? I’d like to make some pastries."

...

Manager Xu looked Shen Mingzhu up and down with admiration on his face, "You’re impressive, actually getting Miss Li to speak for you. The manager said, you can use the Western kitchen’s baking kitchen however you like."

Shen Mingzhu was delighted and also became curious about Miss Li’s identity.

Manager Xu looked at her, "You don’t know Miss Li?"

Shen Mingzhu recounted her chance encounter with Miss Li at the coffee shop.

After listening, Manager Xu couldn’t help but feel that she had stumbled on dumb luck.

Miss Li’s real name was La Shiran, the new favorite of Ao City’s richest man, and the hotel Shen Mingzhu was staying in was one of the many properties owned by Ao City’s wealthiest man.

Three hundred ice skin mooncakes, fifty Snowy Mooncakes, Shen Mingzhu certainly couldn’t finish making all of them on her own.

She found the two pastry chefs who had helped her before, and hired them for a daily wage of one hundred yuan each to assist her.

No choice, the cost of living in Hong City was just that expensive.

Knowing Shen Mingzhu had ingratiated herself with the big boss’s woman, Manager Xu’s attitude did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, proactively helping her to prepare all the necessary ingredients.

The next day before dawn, Shen Mingzhu and the two pastry chefs began their busyness.

It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that all three hundred ice skin mooncakes and fifty Snowy Mooncakes were finally finished.

To ensure the best taste for the ice skin mooncakes and Snowy Mooncakes, Shen Mingzhu even hired a refrigerated truck to deliver the goods to the customers’ homes one by one.

All that effort resulted in no profit, and she ended up spending five hundred yuan of her own money.

But Shen Mingzhu’s intention wasn’t to make money, it was to build a reputation and a customer base.

Last night’s customers who ordered the ice skin mooncakes, she gifted each one with two boxes of Ronghua mooncakes.

Hoping to use this method to bring in some orders.

Having returned to the hotel, Shen Mingzhu quickly tidied up, changed into appropriate clothes, then took the ice skin mooncakes and Snowy Mooncakes to the top floor.

The elevator entrance was guarded by a bodyguard, so Shen Mingzhu had to entrust the snacks to the bodyguard to pass on to La Shiran.

It was a way to thank her for her help.

"What is this?"

"Oh, it’s pastries, a friend I met yesterday. I helped her with a small favor, she said it’s to thank me."

"Stay away from things of unknown origin," the man said in a quiet voice.

La Shiran pouted, glaring at the man with eyes full of accusation, "You’re just looking down on me, and by extension, my friends too."

The man sighed helplessly, "Is that what I mean?"

"Someone kindly brings me some pastries, and you’re all suspicious," she complained.

He pulled her towards him and whispered soothingly, "You need to be careful nowadays. People who suddenly get close to you all have their ulterior motives, you have to learn to discern."

La Shiran hummed, "I don’t understand any of it, and I don’t want to bother with it. I’m hungry now and want to eat a piece of pastry. Will you let me have it or not?"

The man pinched her chin indulgently, "Go ahead, eat."

Having gotten her way, La Shiran smiled triumphantly, opened the packaging on the table, and looked around with her doe-like eyes before picking an orange-flavored ice skin mooncake, taking a bite, and revealing a surprised delight on her face.

"It’s delicious, you should try it."

The man eyed the pale-yellow mooncake she brought to his mouth and, to give face, took a small bite.

"How is it? Tasty, right?"

"It’s alright."

After finishing the ice skin mooncake, which was the size of a small coin, in two or three bites, La Shiran picked a matcha-flavored Snowy Mooncake and ate it bit by bit, chewing like a rabbit, making the man chuckle quietly.

...

"Miss Shen."

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Shen Mingzhu dragged her suitcase out of the hotel when a front desk staff called out to her.

"This is a letter for you from Miss Li."

Shen Mingzhu took the envelope and opened it, revealing a postcard inside.

On the back of the postcard was written: "Thank you for the snacks, they were delicious, do visit Ao City if you get the chance."

At the end was La Shiran’s signature, along with a string of phone numbers.

Shen Mingzhu didn’t pay much attention and casually stuffed the letter into her bag.

It was highly unlikely that they would meet again.

She passed through customs, took a ferry, and headed to Shenzhen City to catch a flight back to Fengcheng.

At the airport, she met with Yan Su and Yan Jing.

The two sisters had arrived in Shenzhen City a day earlier than her to attend a business cocktail party. Shen Mingzhu had intentionally stayed in Hong City for an extra day, hoping to secure some mooncake orders.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned.

Outside the window, the pure blue sky and clusters of cotton-like clouds combined to form a vast, fairy-tale-like beautiful scenery.

Yet Shen Mingzhu had no mood to appreciate it, her mind preoccupied with this year’s mooncake sales.

Without new orders, when she returned, she would have to tell the workers to stop working.

...

Mid-flight, a stewardess came around to distribute snacks and beverages. Shen Mingzhu, distracted by her thoughts, accidentally spilled her drink on her leg.

As she took out a handkerchief from her bag, the postcard inadvertently came out and fell to the floor.

Yan Jing, from the opposite side, picked it up for her and handed it back.

"Thank you, Mrs. Ning."

"You’re welcome."

After Shen Mingzhu got herself sorted out, Yan Jing suddenly asked, "How many mooncakes do you still have in your factory?"

Shen Mingzhu looked at her, somewhat unable to react.

Yan Jing smiled, "I’m thinking of ordering 20,000 boxes of mooncakes. Is there any problem?"

Not only was Shen Mingzhu surprised, but even Yan Su looked at her elder sister with disbelief.

Shen Mingzhu’s mind raced, "Mrs. Ning, when do you need the goods?"

"Before the Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s fine if the packaging is simple; it’s for sending to nursing homes and welfare institutes."

"Okay, no problem."

Just when things seemed hopeless, a sudden turn of events brought a new opportunity.

Looking out of the window once more, Shen Mingzhu felt the scenery was exceptionally stunning.

...

"Miss Zhong, Shen Mingzhu is now at her wit’s end; otherwise, she wouldn’t have run off to Hong City, trying to break into the market there."

Sun Feifei said with a sneer, "She didn’t even consider how many well-known local brands there are in Hong City, each with strong backgrounds. A mainland girl with neither money nor influence trying to compete with the big players for the market is simply overestimating herself."

Zhong Ying and others echoed in agreement, taking turns to mock Shen Mingzhu’s daydreaming.

Afterward, Sun Feifei discussed with Zhong Ying and others their next move against Shen Mingzhu.

Yan Yi’s warning still echoed in her ears; she didn’t dare confront Shen Mingzhu openly now. So, she planned for Zhong Ying and the others to set up a food trading company, through which she would go to Hong City to negotiate the agency for some foreign brands, directly competing with Shen Mingzhu’s company, determined to drive Shen Mingzhu’s food factory out of business.

After separating from Zhong Ying and the others, Sun Feifei drove back to her place, took a bath, changed into a newly bought sexy dress, did her makeup, sprayed perfume, and then went out to the hotel where Qiang Tai was staying.

"Tai Ge, you’re leaving tomorrow, so I came to keep you company tonight."

Qiang Tai looked her up and down with his eyes, and with a smirk, he pulled her into the door.

As the door closed, their two bodies tangled together like dry wood meeting fierce flames.

Just as things were heating up, there was a thunderous knocking at the door.

Irritated, Qiang Tai picked up a bath towel, wrapped it around his waist, and got up to open the door.

Upon seeing the person outside, Qiang Tai’s face went from anger to shock and guilt.