The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 25 Big Customer, Big Order
"No wonder people say that no one in our Yanguan Town has a more filial son than Master Huang. Seeing it today, it is indeed true."

“Master Huang, you have entrusted me with such an important task, and I cannot let you down. The birthday celebration of the old man is so important that I will not do it carelessly. How about this, I will make some pastries of various kinds and send them to your residence for tasting in the next two days. If the old man is satisfied, you can then place an order with me.”

Tong Huaqiong showered Huang Yuanwai with flattering words as if they were free.

She has to accept this order.

But there are rules to accepting gifts. She can't just make a bunch of pastries and deliver them to the old man on his birthday. What if he's not satisfied or changes his mind?
She had to make a sample first, and only after Master Huang and his mother tasted it and were satisfied could she begin work.

Of course, a deposit is essential.

In this way, if Master Huang changes his mind halfway through, she will not suffer any loss.

Master Huang was visibly pleased upon hearing this.

He took the mung bean cake and mung bean pancake, fanning himself with a smile, and said, "Little sister, you're so thoughtful. My old man has gone to the temple to pray for blessings and won't be back until the day after tomorrow. Come to my house early the day after tomorrow."

Master Huang secretly thought more highly of Tong Huaqiong.

It must be said that this widow is quite methodical in her business dealings. Instead of rashly accepting his order, she first sent samples to his door.

With this understanding, he had confidence in the widow.

"Everyone should try it! I think this young lady's mung bean cakes and mung bean pancakes taste even better."

Before leaving, Master Huang gave Tong Huaqiong a few words of encouragement.

It has to be said that Master Huang has a strong ability to sell goods. The remaining mung bean cakes and mung bean pancakes were quickly sold out, and even the dried biscuits were sold out.

"Mother, we made five taels of silver in total." Gu Taohua counted the copper coins, her face beaming with excitement.

I feel so accomplished!

Her worries were unfounded.

They actually managed to snatch food from the jaws of death right next to the Crispy Food Garden.

Anyone who has tried their mung bean cakes has said they are delicious!

Originally, Gu Taohua thought it would be fine if she couldn't sell them all, as she could keep them to satisfy her cravings. But now, compared to eating mung bean cakes, the new clothes were more appealing to her.

After all, her mother had promised her on the way that she would buy her new clothes once she earned five taels of silver.

Tong Huaqiong was also very happy, as she had finally earned her first decent amount of money with her own two hands.

Although she might only make a small profit after deducting costs, her pastry brand had already become famous.

Once Master Huang's mother's birthday is over, she believes her pastry business will be firmly established.

Soon, she will be able to rent a shop to compete with Su Shi Yuan.

Just thinking about it makes me excited.

"Mother, you promised that if I earned five taels of silver, you would buy me new clothes." Gu Taohua laughed so hard that her fat face jiggled, and her eyes were squeezed so tightly that they were hard to see.

“You only saw that you sold five taels, and that doesn’t even include the cost.” Tong Huaqiong scolded Gu Taohua with a stern face, “If you try to spend all the money you earn, our family will just have to wait to starve. How come you don’t know how to plan for the future at all?”

Thinking back, Gu Taohua was just a fourteen-year-old girl. Other girls her age were still in middle school and being pampered by their parents, while Gu Taohua was already doing business and hawking her wares.

It's not easy being a chubby girl either.

She shouldn't have dampened Gu Taohua's spirits.

Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong's tone softened, and under Gu Taohua's somber gaze, she said, "I will definitely keep my promise to you. After we finish eating, I will take you to get some clothes, and also get one for your sister-in-law and Man'er."

Gu Taohua's disappointment vanished, and she became excited again, saying, "I knew Mother loved me."

"By the way, Mother, Master Huang wanted to buy all the remaining cakes, why did you refuse? Wouldn't it have been better to sell them all to him?" Gu Taohua asked the question that had been on her mind while tidying up the baskets.

She really didn't understand what her mother was doing.

Isn't it better to sell them all at once than to sell them in smaller quantities?
Tong Huaqiong reasoned with Gu Taohua: "Our foundation is weak. What we need now is not a one-off deal, but a long-term deal."

“If Master Huang buys all the rest, we’ll only be able to eat mung bean cakes and mung bean pancakes for the next few days. What if he gets tired of them and never buys them again? Wouldn’t we lose such a big customer?” Gu Taohua seemed to understand, nodded, and said with a smile, “Mother is really amazing. Master Huang actually ordered a large quantity of pastries.”

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "She hasn't even said that this is a form of scarcity marketing yet."

The main selling point is limited editions, so that people will be curious about her pastries.

Once people become curious, they are willing to try new things, and that's when business will come in.

"Oh no, Mother, we forgot to ask where Master Huang's house is!" Gu Taohua stamped her foot and said.

"You'll find out if you just ask around."

Tong Huaqiong wasn't worried at all.

Given Master Huang's reputation for being charitable, how could the town not find out where he lives?
After tidying up the baskets for pastries, Tong Huaqiong led Gu Taohua to the noodle stall next door.

"Boss, six bowls of noodles, please." After Gu Taohua finished speaking to the boss, she turned to Tong Huaqiong and said, "Mom, you watch the noodles, I'll go buy a basket of meat buns from the side."

Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but twitch her lips.

Gu Taohua has quite a big appetite.

She ate two bowls of noodles, and Gu Taohua ate four bowls, but even that wasn't enough to fill her up. She still needed to eat a basket of meat buns.

The noodles were served quickly. They were clear broth noodles with sesame oil and chopped green onions. Tong Huaqiong ate them with great relish.

Gu Taohua handed the meat buns she bought to Tong Huaqiong, but Tong Huaqiong waved her hand to indicate that she didn't like them.

Gu Taohua thought that her mother was being kind to her and deliberately saved the food for her. Touched, she kept two to take home to her sister-in-law.

Tong Huaqiong didn't actually dislike meat buns; it was just that pork from that era had a gamey smell.

She remembered that her second son's wife had mentioned that there were castration masters in Pingchuan County. After she finished repaying the Zheng family's money, she sent Gu Dashu to invite a castration master to her home to castrate the pig.

After filling their stomachs, the mother and daughter headed straight for the cloth shop, full of high spirits.

After buying the fabric, there are still many things to do, such as buying various ingredients for making pastries.

She needs to think carefully about what kind of pastries she can make to win over Master Huang, her big customer.

After just one day of interaction, she realized that Master Huang was a show-off.

His mother's birthday celebration would surely involve inviting many people, so the pastries she made had to make Master Huang look good in front of the guests, which would also be a good way to advertise for herself.

……

"Are you sure? Is it really my heartless stepmother?"

In the Nie family courtyard, Tong Dajiao's stepdaughter, Gu Baishuang, sat down to drink tea after finishing her chores. She overheard Granny Fei, who was out buying groceries, mentioning that her heartless stepmother was selling pastries at a stall.

“Madam, I couldn’t be mistaken, your sister is here too. And your sister, who in the whole Yanguan town is as fat as her? She’s such an eyesore standing there,” said Granny Fei.

What Granny Fei didn't say was that the mistress's heartless stepmother was also her enemy. In order to get revenge, she forked several pieces of mung bean cake from the tasting box, which made the fat girl roll her eyes at her.

Gu Baishuang thought to herself that it seemed the heartless stepmother had really been driven to a dead end and was starting to think of ways to make money.

A few days ago, Gu Dashu came to apologize to her, but she didn't open the door.

Based on her mental experience, she concluded that a weasel visiting a chicken for a New Year's greeting was not a good thing.

Especially the bad bamboo raised by Tong Dajiao had no good intentions.

"Madam, you must tell me, her mung bean cakes and mung bean pancakes taste even better than those from Su Shi Yuan. I bought a few pieces for you to try."

Granny Fei handed the mung bean cakes and mung bean pancakes to Gu Baishuang, but Gu Baishuang did not take them.

She wouldn't eat anything made by that heartless Tong Dajiao even if it were given to her for free.

(End of this chapter)