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

Chapter 92 So it was Ma Huateng!

Rouge Lane.

Pastry shop.

Tong Huaqiong grasped the key information.

It all became clear in an instant: Could this "Ma Huateng" be the tavern owner that Gu Dashu was talking about, who was clueless about household affairs?
He's here to discuss transferring the shop with me.

Tong Huaqiong patted her chest, her dream of becoming an internet queen shattered.

Fortunately, this "Ma Huateng" wasn't targeting Gu Taohua.

"Oh, yes, I want to turn Peach Blossom Desserts into a pastry shop." Tong Huaqiong flashed eight teeth, her politeness and enthusiasm returning.

What a coincidence!
Tong Huaqiong's first customer for her pastries was Ma Huateng, and he was also the first person to come and transfer his shop when he wanted to open one.

If this young man weren't such a rising star, Tong Huaqiong would have already considered their relationship as a matter of fate and love.

"You wouldn't happen to be the young master who almost bankrupted your own tavern, would you?" Gu Taohua blurted out.

Ma Huateng blushed.

At the same time, sadness welled up in his heart because he had failed to save his father's shop.

If it weren't for his elderly mother who needed medicine and urgently required money, he wouldn't have ended up having to sell his shop.

“Yesterday at the tavern, I ran into Brother Dashu, who was looking for a shop. He looked at my shop and was quite satisfied with it. He said he couldn’t make the decision on his own and needed to go back and discuss it with you. I figured since you have a stall here, I’d make a trip to talk to you in person,” Ma Huateng said.

Tong Huaqiong was overjoyed.

Rouge Lane is a good location, yet his tavern is on the verge of closing down, which shows he really doesn't know how to do business.

Moreover, the fact that he rushed to find Tong Huaqiong so impatiently showed that he urgently needed to transfer the shop.

It's good that she urgently needs to transfer the shop; this will help her negotiate a lower price.

Even though Ma Huateng is a VIP customer of Peach Blossom Desserts, she still has to bargain.

“Aunt Tong, isn’t it a coincidence? I was just thinking of transferring my shop, and you just happen to be looking to rent one,” Ma Huateng said.

Tong Huaqiong thought it was a coincidence.

However, although everything was just right, the initiative was in Tong Huaqiong's hands; she had many choices.

She has other shops besides Ma Huateng's, and if Ma Huateng can't rent out a shop anytime soon, her livelihood will probably be in trouble.

“It’s a coincidence, I just closed my stall. Let’s not chat here anymore, let’s go take a look at your shop,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Ma Huateng was pleased with Tong Huaqiong's straightforwardness.

Help Gu Taohua tidy up the signboard and packaging bags.

Tong Huaqiong secretly observed and discovered that Ma Huateng truly had no interest in Gu Taohua, so she was completely relieved.

Since it was still early and Gu Dashu had not yet come to town to pick up Tong Huaqiong and her daughter, Tong Huaqiong temporarily left her things in front of Grandpa Xu's car, and then took Gu Taohua and followed Ma Huateng to Rouge Lane.

When I arrived at Rouge Lane, I was struck by how great the location of the tavern was.

Across the street is a jewelry store, to the left is a cosmetics store, and to the right is a high-end restaurant.

The fact that Ma Huateng could still manage to run the shop like this shows how incompetent he really is.

“Aunt Tong, I’m not good at business. I used to study at Wanliu Academy and I’ve already become a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations). I would still like to study if I had the chance. After I took over the shop, not only did I struggle to run it well, but it also interfered with my studies.”

Ma Huateng knew he was a failure for turning a perfectly good shop into a bankrupt one, and he explained to Tong Huaqiong with an embarrassed expression.

Tong Huaqiong inexplicably thought of a very popular ancient comedy martial arts drama that she watched when she was a child in her previous life. Wasn't Ma Huateng the prototype of Lu Xiucai?

And believe it or not, their appearance and temperament are quite similar.

Coincidentally, Tong Huaqiong, who is about to become the proprietress of this shop, shares the same surname as the shopkeeper, Tong, and has never met her nominal husband. She is a widow from the very beginning of her career.

"Is this shop rented or does it belong to your family?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Ma Huateng said, "It's my own. If it weren't my own, I wouldn't even be able to afford the rent."

Tong Huaqiong nodded, showing she had a good understanding of her own limitations.

"So, do you want to rent or sell?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Ma Huateng has been thinking about this issue for the past two days, and he is quite undecided.

His mother was ill, and he needed money to buy books, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. His mother wanted him to sell his property, get married, buy a few acres of land, and move to the countryside to live a peaceful life, saying that no one in their family for eighteen generations had ever been a scholar, so he shouldn't even think about it.

He was always unwilling to accept this situation, and even less willing to get married or return to the countryside.

Besides, this shop was earned by my father through hard work, so it would be a real shame to sell it.

He prefers to rent it out.

Renting out a shop also has its troubles. His mother said that he was not good at housework, and collecting rent every month was a hassle. What if he ran into a ruthless businessman and couldn't outmaneuver him, and the shop was taken away? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

“I want to rent it out, the rent is ten taels of silver a month,” Ma Huateng said.

He found out that the rent for shops in the surrounding area was basically the same.

Tong Huaqiong frowned and said, "This rent is a bit high."

Ma Huateng said, "Aunt Tong, the rent isn't high. I won't lie to you, this is the price all around here."

Tong Huaqiong said calmly, "Look at the other shops, they're all bustling with activity, but yours is deserted. How am I supposed to know if it's bad feng shui or something else? What if I take over and don't get many customers in a day? I'd be losing a lot of money."

Ma Huateng: "."

“Aunt Tong, this is a prime shop. I’ve already said that it was doing very well when my father was alive. It’s because I don’t know how to do business that customers aren’t coming in,” Ma Huateng explained again.

Tong Huaqiong remained unmoved and said, "I don't care. Anyway, your father can't come back to life and let customers come to my shop. What I see now is a shop with pitifully low customer traffic."

Ma Huateng was driven crazy by Tong Huaqiong's unreasonable and irrational behavior.

I thought Tong Huaqiong was a country woman who was very amiable when doing business, and that she was easy to talk to. I never expected her to be so difficult.

Ma Huateng is really bad at negotiating prices.

Seeing Ma Huateng's predicament, Tong Huaqiong decided to take advantage of the situation and said, "Actually, I think you should just sell this shop to me as a one-off deal, so you don't have to collect rent every month."

“Selling the shop to you is not as secure as having income every month,” Ma Huateng said.

Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "Of course there is."

Ma Huateng asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

Are you suggesting he lend money at exorbitant interest rates? He can't even run the tavern his father entrusted to him properly, let alone navigate the intricacies of loan sharking.

Tong Huaqiong smiled and said, "Seeing that you're a scholar, you can write and paint, and you can do accounting too. Why don't you sell your shop to me, and I'll let you be the accountant in my shop? What do you think?"

Tong Huaqiong would rather buy than rent.

She felt more secure owning the shop than renting it.

She didn't want to become envious and have people kick her out at several times the rent if her business improved.

Especially since Su Shi Yuan is keeping a close eye on him.

The horse vine has turned to stone!

He hadn't expected Tong Huaqiong to come up with this plan.

How could a scholar like him possibly condescend to deal with money?

He'd be better off taking his mother back to the countryside to farm than working as an accountant.

“Young man, I’m genuinely trying to help you. Think about it, you’re not good at business, and this shop is a waste of your talent. It’ll be different if you sell it to me. You’ve seen it yourself, I can even steal food from the pastry shop with just a stall. If I had a shop, wouldn’t I be able to run it like a thriving business? If you sell the shop to me, I’ll let you be the accountant. You can do the accounting every day without interfering with your studies, and you’ll still have income every month.”

"Besides, you're a scholar, and judging from your appearance, you're destined for a career in government. Not only will the imperial examinations test your knowledge of general affairs, but you'll also need to be proficient in general affairs if you become an official. The reason your shop went bankrupt is because no one taught you. No one is born knowing how to do business. You're learning the business by keeping accounts in the shop, which is laying the foundation for your future career as an official. Am I right?"

Ma Huateng never expected that Tong Huaqiong would have such insight.

His father used to say the same thing, but he never listened.

So when his father died, he was completely lost.

"Don't rush to answer me. Think it through before you come back to me. I'll give you two days to consider," Tong Huaqiong said.

“Alright, I’ll go back and discuss it with my mother,” Ma Huateng said.

Tong Huaqiong then left the tavern with Gu Taohua. Before leaving, Tong Huaqiong asked, "What are the characters in your name?"

"The 'ma' in 'tall horse,' the 'hua' in 'painting,' and the 'teng' in 'vine,' Ma Huateng." Ma Huateng was quite surprised that Tong Huaqiong could read, but she still solemnly told him which characters were in his name.

So it's a horse vine!
(End of this chapter)