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

Chapter 102 Bargaining
"Aunt Tong, you haven't set up your stall. A lot of people are asking about you at the entrance of Su Shi Yuan." Ma Huateng took a sip of tea, composed himself, and exchanged pleasantries with Tong Huaqiong.

"I've been too tired from setting up my stall lately, so I plan to take a break for the next few days," Tong Huaqiong said.

It's not unusual for customers who are used to eating peach blossom desserts and pastries to ask about her when they don't see her at her stall, but Tong Huaqiong isn't surprised at all.

Ma Huateng nodded, but instead of mentioning the shop, he brought news that excited Tong Huaqiong.

"Aunt Tong, something big happened at Su Shi Yuan today. In the two days you weren't setting up your stall, Su Shi Yuan started selling taro pastries and pork floss cakes, just like Tao Hua Desserts. They look exactly the same as yours, but they taste completely different. Some customers were dissatisfied and wanted a refund. Su Shi Yuan said that once the pastries have been eaten, there's no reason to return them, which led to an argument. When I arrived, the argument was so loud that it was affecting Su Shi Yuan's business."

Manager Feng wanted the recipe for peach blossom dessert, and Tong Huaqiong generously gave it to him, but it was impossible to completely replicate the same taste.

Putting aside other things, especially pastries and meat floss pastries, even if Su Shi Yuan has a baking master in charge and uses the same recipe and baking time, they still can't make the same taste as Peach Blossom Dessert.

There's no other reason than the difference in raw materials.

Chinese-style pastries, such as those with pork floss, naturally use lard and pork as the main ingredients. However, in this era, pork always has a faint, unpleasant smell that cannot be masked even when incorporated into the pastries.

Back when there was only Su Shi Yuan, people were used to it and didn't care. They thought it wasn't authentic if it didn't have that gamey smell.

However, Tong Huaqiong used cheating methods to make pastries with modern, non-greasy pork floss from her space. They were incredibly fragrant. After everyone ate Peach Blossom Desserts and compared them with Su Shi Yuan, they knew which was better.

Su Shi Yuan must have been working day and night these past few days making pastries according to Tong Huaqiong's recipe, but so what?

Their disadvantage isn't highlighted by the fact that they don't sell the same pastries as Peach Blossom Desserts.

Now, Manager Feng can only say that he has shot himself in the foot.

Gu Taohua, Chen Sufeng, and Liu Yue'e learned from Ma Huateng that Su Shi Yuan had messed up the taro paste pastry and pork floss cake, and they were so happy that they wanted to high-five each other.

Deserve it.

In fact, Su Shi Yuan has its own signature products, such as mung bean pastries and Chinese-style pastries. These traditional pastries are delicious and beautiful, but they insist on abandoning their own signature products to compete with Tao Hua Desserts' signature products.

Not only did they lose their flagship product, they also ruined their reputation.

Su Shi Yuan's mistake was that it couldn't tolerate any competitors.

"Doing business always involves various risks," Tong Huaqiong said with a smile.

Ma Huateng expressed his admiration, wondering if Aunt Tong's decision not to set up her stall was because Su Shi Yuan (a dessert shop) was preventing her from continuing to operate in that area. Otherwise, why would Su Shi Yuan start selling the same pastries as Tao Hua Desserts?

If it were anyone else, they would have slapped their thighs and cursed Su Shi Yuan long ago, but Aunt Tong can still treat Su Shi Yuan with a calm and detached attitude.

He exudes the aura of a king.

It's very similar to the style his father used to run his liquor shop.

Could it be that it was fate that my shop was transferred to Aunt Tong?

After some internal discussion, Ma Huateng said to Tong Huaqiong, "I'm not here today to waste time talking to Aunt Tong. I went back and discussed it with my mother, and we agreed to sell the shop to you. I'll also make a living in your shop."

Tong Huaqiong smiled but didn't reply; she had expected this outcome.

If Ma Huateng wants to do something, he has to sell the shop to her.

The reason she didn't respond was that she wanted Ma Huateng to take the initiative to talk about the price.

In the business arena, whoever speaks first about price loses, doesn't that mean they lose?

Seeing that Tong Huaqiong didn't speak, Ma Huateng braced himself and said, "Aunt Tong, how much are you prepared to offer for my shop?"

He added, "That's a prime location. Several people have inquired about it in the past two days after hearing that I was selling it."

The emphasis on the prime location, which attracted inquiries from several businesses, was something his mother taught him, intended to put pressure on Tong Huaqiong that "this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." In reality, the shop's prime location was in his father's hands.

Since he took over the business and it plummeted, a few people have come to inquire, but they all treat him like a foolish son of a landlord, trying to get their hands on his shop for free.

Although he wasn't good at business, he could still tell what those people were up to.

Tong Huaqiong calmly ate a biscuit and smiled, "Since several companies have come to inquire, why don't you sell to them, Xiao Ma? Instead, you've come all the way to Qinghe Bay to find me."

Trying to trick her? No way.

Ma Huateng thought that Tong Huaqiong would take the initiative to continue the discussion after hearing him talk about prices, but he didn't expect her to fight back.

Who said that rural women are ignorant and easily fooled?

It's already a miracle that Aunt Tong isn't trying to fool him.

Ma Huateng continued, "Because I promised Aunt Tong that I would consider it for two days and then get back to you, and one must be trustworthy, I declined the offers from others. The reason I came to your house is that I sincerely want to sell the shop to you, so that I can tell others that I have already sold the shop to you."

Tong Huaqiong calmly passed the buck to Ma Huateng, and asked in return, "Since you're so sincere, let me ask you, how much do you plan to sell the shop for?"

Ma Huateng was prepared regarding the price of the shop; he discussed it with his mother and decided to ask for two hundred taels of silver.

"Two hundred taels, that's the lowest I can go," Ma Huateng said.

The price is neither high nor low for Rouge Lane, and considering the shop has a courtyard with a storage room, it's quite reasonable.

If Aunt Tong weren't out of her mind, she would know that he hadn't overcharged her.

Tong Huaqiong pondered for a moment, and realized that Ma Huateng's asking price was indeed reasonable.

But people always like to haggle when buying things. If they don't try to get a discount from the original price, they'll feel cheated no matter how cheap it is.

Tong Huaqiong, who has lived two lives, is no exception.

"It's too expensive," Tong Huaqiong said.

"Expensive?" Ma Huateng spat out the water in his mouth with a "pfft".

Ma Huateng couldn't help but shout, "Aunt Tong, I didn't charge you a single penny more. If you ask around at other shops, you'll see how good the price I gave you is."

Tong Huaqiong retorted, "I'm buying a shop to sell pastries. Your shop doesn't have as much foot traffic as Su Shi Yuan, and the surrounding area is mostly filled with shops selling rouge and fabrics. There's also a brothel not far away. It won't be easy for my shop to attract customers there; at best, I can only rely on regular customers. If I were to open a rouge shop, your prices wouldn't be too high, but if I were to open a pastry shop, my prices would be much higher."

Ma Huateng was truly amazed. Widow Tong's bargaining strategy was unconventional, and he couldn't refute it even if he wanted to.

He was not good at business, and he didn't know whether it was appropriate to open a pastry shop in Rouge Lane.

In the end, all they could do was flatter Tong Huaqiong, saying, "With your skills, you'll have no trouble making a living no matter where you open your shop."

This is true.

Tong Huaqiong seemed quite pleased with the praise she received.

"Aunt Tong, how much are you willing to pay?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "One hundred and seventy taels."

Ma Huateng took a step back: "One hundred and ninety taels."

Tong Huaqiong took a step forward: "One hundred and eighty taels, and we can close the deal today."

(End of this chapter)