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

Chapter 71 The Rich Student
Soon we arrived in town.

Tong Huaqiong, familiar with the place, directed her two sons to pull her across from the pastry shop. After the cart stopped, the Gu brothers, Dashu and Jingzhe, unloaded the pastries, and Gu Taohua unfurled the "Peach Blossom Desserts" sign.

The first batch of pastries from Su Shi Yuan is coming out of the oven, and the aroma that makes your mouth water wafts through the streets.

"Mother, are you and Taohua alright here?" Gu Dashu asked, wiping his sweat as he unloaded the last basket of pastries from the cart.

He was worried that his mother and sister might try to steal food from the dessert shop, and that they might be tricked by the shop's people. If a conflict broke out, and there was no man around, what would happen if they were bullied? He wanted to stay and keep the Peach Blossom Dessert Shop in check.

Tong Huaqiong chased Gu Dashu home and said, "You and Lao San should go back. Water the wheat on the other plot of land at the foot of the mountain, and gather up the edges of our land to plant vegetables. Also, you two carry the manure from the pigsty and chicken coop to the fields. There's so much work to do at home, why stay in town?"

Gu Dashu pointed to the Su Shi Yuan (a type of pastry shop) and said, "Mother, look at the way those Su Shi Yuan employees are looking at our stall. I'll stay. If Su Shi Yuan kicks you out, I can look after you and my sister."

Tong Huaqiong naturally noticed the look in the eyes of the Su Shi Yuan employee, not only today but also yesterday.

I even deliberately spat at her as I passed by her stall yesterday.

In business, competition and underhanded tactics are normal. She's not afraid; she'll just deal with whatever comes her way.

Could you possibly kill her?

If she can't even manage a small pastry shop, how can she open a shop in the capital? Rely on the Lu family?
“I don’t need you to stay. When have I ever suffered a loss? Just tell me, when have I ever lost in the fight for land and water in our village? I’ve never lost not only in Qinghe Bay, but I’ve also never lost when representing the village in a fight for water with Moon Bay,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Gu Dashu said, "That's different. That method of crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide might work in the village, but this is doing business in town. How can you do business this way?"

Tong Huaqiong said nonchalantly, "What's the difference? Aren't the employees of Su Shi Yuan human? If you piss me off, I'll run to the entrance of Su Shi Yuan and make a scene, threatening suicide. If anyone gets in my way of doing business, I'll make them close down."

"I'm barefoot, I'm not afraid of those wearing shoes!"

Gu Dashu: "."

"Second brother, let's go back," Gu Jingzhe, with two bumps on his head, advised. "I trust Mother and my sister."

Gu Jingzhe has been working in the fields these past two days and has discovered that there is a lot to learn about farming. He has found it very rewarding to approach farming with the attitude of a scholar.

At this point, he wanted to go back and investigate why the wheat in the village was growing differently.

"Let's go, second brother." Gu Jingzhe grabbed Gu Dashu and turned to leave.

Tong Huaqiong was wondering why Gu Jingzhe was in such a hurry when she saw the students from the private school walking towards Peach Blossom Dessert Shop from afar. Tong Huaqiong understood that Gu Jingzhe didn't want to confront his classmates from the private school directly.

Gu Jingzhe ran faster than a rabbit. Among his classmates was Fan Tong, the only scholar in the private school. He had always been at odds with Fan Tong, and he didn't want Fan Tong and the others to see the bump on his head and the injury on the corner of his mouth.

What a shame!

"Open for business!" Tong Huaqiong said to Gu Taohua.

"Come and see, Peach Blossom Desserts are truly wonderful! Peach Blossom Desserts offers a variety of delicious pastries, including mung bean cakes, mung bean pancakes, chestnut pastries, honey-glazed pastries, cookies, and coconut pastries."

"Whatever you want to eat, Peach Blossom Desserts can satisfy you; whatever you want to try that you've never eaten before, Peach Blossom Desserts can also have."

"Peach blossom desserts are available for free tasting; if you don't like them, you don't have to pay."

"Peach blossom desserts, even Master Huang says they're delicious. Come and take a look."

Gu Taohua started calling out.

She wore a loose pink dress. Although she was plump, her skin was fair and her round face was incredibly cheerful. She looked like a large, blooming pink peach blossom, which was very attractive. In addition, she wore a pearl hairpin given to her by Lu Zhaozhao, which swayed with her shouts, making her even more lively.

As Gu Taohua called out, customers gradually gathered around Taohua Desserts, and even customers queuing at Su Shi Yuan couldn't help but turn back and come to Taohua Desserts' stall.

Anyway, the tasting is free, and if it's not good, you can just go back to Su Shi Yuan and queue up again.

"I heard that the jujube cake at Peach Blossom Dessert is delicious. Let's go try it."

"Master Su tasted it yesterday and said it was delicious."

The students at the private school were captivated by Gu Taohua's voice, and several of them went to buy some pastries to try.

Fan Tong didn't really want to go. He'd discovered that Gu Taohua was interested in him, but her widowed mother was too difficult to deal with. Even if he didn't go, he wanted Taohua to see him; he wanted to give Gu Taohua a hard time!

Yesterday, he stood at a distance observing the sales of peach blossom desserts, estimating that they could sell at least ten taels of silver a day. If Gu Taohua could bring peach blossom desserts as part of her dowry when she married him, he might not be unwilling to accept her stone-like figure.

"Auntie, eight pieces of jujube cake, please." A student tasted the sample in Tong Huaqiong's hand, pointed to the jujube cake, and asked for eight pieces directly.

"Okay!" Tong Huaqiong smiled broadly.

This student is obviously rich; he just casually threw in eight pieces of jujube cake.

"Take whatever you want to eat, it's on me," the wealthy student said to the other students.

"Oh, Meng Yanping, I feel so bad that you keep treating me," one of the students said with a smile.

"Alright, stop dawdling." Meng Yanping began to unpack the money bag.

The other students laughed and joked, some wanting walnut pastries, some wanting chestnut pastries, and some wanting honey-glazed pastries. Gu Taohua wrapped up the pastries and handed them to the students, while Tong Huaqiong collected the money.

It sold one or two taels of silver as soon as it opened.

"Hey, where did Senior Brother Fan go?" a younger student asked.

Upon hearing "Senior Brother Fan," Gu Taohua instinctively looked up. She had just seen Fan Tong, but when the group of students surged over, he had instead turned and gone to the nearby Pen and Ink Hall.

Gu Taohua looked disappointed.

"Ignore him," Meng Yanping said.

"Since your senior brother isn't here, and you bought a lot today, I'll give you four extra cookies to give to your senior brother."

Seeing that Tong Huaqiong was busy attracting other customers and hadn't noticed her, Gu Taohua wrapped up the cookies and handed them to the young student who had called out "Brother Fan" earlier, asking him to give them to Fan Tong.

The students took the cookies and scattered. Gu Taohua saw Fan Tong come out of the Pen and Ink Hall and smiled at her from afar.

Gu Taohua felt as happy as if she had drunk a bowl of iced mung bean soup on a hot June day; her heart was bubbling with joy.

After Fan Tong left, Gu Taohua looked at her mother and found that Tong Huaqiong hadn't paid any attention to her at all. She was slightly relieved and started shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Peach blossom dessert."

"Peach blossom desserts are available for free tasting; if you don't like them, you don't have to pay."

More and more people gathered around.

Everyone in town knows that you can sample the peach blossom desserts, and everyone is eager to try the pieces of pastry cut into pieces on the plate.

Tong Huaqiong stared intently at the tasting plate, worried that some elderly woman might try to take it away.

Peach Blossom Desserts became an instant internet sensation in Yanguan Town upon its debut, and with the added boost of tastings, Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua were busy all morning without a break.

The mother and daughter ate steamed buns and eggs they brought from home for lunch and then continued their business.

Tong Huaqiong expressed her satisfaction, saying that she didn't even need to hire people to queue up for her, and her reputation spread quickly.

"Shopkeeper, look, the people in line behind us have all gone to Peach Blossom Dessert Shop. Can you think of a solution?"

The young waiter from Su Shi Yuan watched the lively scene at Tao Hua Dessert Shop for a while at the entrance, then came looking for Manager Feng with a worried expression.

Manager Feng's expression was also unpleasant. He muttered about the widow and her daughter, who had stolen a lot of business from the past two days.

"Go and buy them some pastries," Manager Feng said to the young shop assistant after a moment's thought.

What sports do you like to watch at the Olympics? For me, every Olympic Games I've experienced includes table tennis, diving, gymnastics, and women's volleyball.



(End of this chapter)