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

Chapter 112 Raising troops to investigate crimes
The sign for Peach Blossom Desserts has been hung up.

Thanks to Tong Huaqiong's promotion, everyone in the town knew that Peach Blossom Dessert Shop was opening.

The shop was located in Rouge Lane, in the former wine shop of the Ma family. The Ma family's wine shop officially withdrew from the stage of Yanguan Town from this point on.

Even so, the Ma family's liquor store was once a popular establishment throughout the town, and everyone knew its exact location.

Every day when Tong Huaqiong sets up her stall, she shouts to customers about the upcoming opening of her shop. She not only promotes the shop but also creates a grand opening promotion, offering free gifts with every purchase of pastries.

So even when Peach Blossom Dessert was still in the preparation stage for its opening, it had already attracted the attention of the entire town, truly receiving top-tier treatment right from the start.

With such a commotion, the sound of Taohua Dessert Shop opening naturally reached Su Shi Yuan as well.

It wasn't that no one had ever run a pastry shop in the town before, but they usually closed down after a few months.

To be precise, they were all defeated by Su Shi Yuan in market competition.

The reason why Su Shi Yuan has been able to stand the test of time is all thanks to Manager Feng.

With Manager Feng around before, everyone didn't need to worry about competitors; they could just focus on their own business.

But it's different now.

Now that Manager Feng is sick, Su Shi Yuan is suddenly leaderless and doesn't know how to deal with Peach Blossom Desserts.

"We need to get the shopkeeper to come up with a solution."

The pastry chefs and staff at Su Shi Yuan were getting increasingly anxious about Peach Blossom Desserts' increasingly arrogant attitude.

It's just a small stall now, but it's already taking away a lot of business from Su Shi Yuan. If it opens a shop, will Su Shi Yuan still have a chance to survive?

Everyone gathered to discuss how to withstand the onslaught of Peach Blossom Desserts and maintain the status of Crispy Food Garden. The pastry chefs in the kitchen unanimously suggested that Manager Feng was the best at this matter.

"What's with all this talk about countermeasures? Let's just do our jobs well. It's not like a town can't accommodate two pastry shops. If you ask me, we've taken Peach Blossom Desserts too seriously, which is why we've ended up like this. If we hadn't neglected our flagship product and instead tried to imitate Peach Blossom Desserts' taro paste pastry and pork floss cake, we wouldn't have lost so many customers."

The person who said this was Hong Xiaoxi, the shop assistant who had been exposed by Tong Huaqiong when he went to Taohua Dessert Shop to buy pastries under a false identity.

"What do you know? Can one shop and two shops earn the same amount of money?" the pastry chef rebuked Hong Xiaoxi.

"What can we do? Peach Blossom Desserts were already taking away our customers when they first set up their stall. Wouldn't it be even more likely that they would attract our customers once they opened a shop?" Hong Xiaoxi had no confidence that Su Shi Yuan could squeeze out Peach Blossom Desserts.

Besides, the pastries at Peach Blossom Desserts are indeed delicious, and as a worker at Su Shi Yuan, he should say something fair.

"Peach Blossom Desserts focuses on new styles, while we focus on old traditions. We've been open for so many years and so many customers recognize us. The two stores can coexist." Hong Xiaoxi kept talking.

The older employees and pastry chefs disagreed, arguing that only when one business dominates can everyone live comfortably.

"What nonsense are you spouting, you little brat who hasn't even grown all your fur yet? Whose side are you on anyway? Peach Blossom Dessert Shop opens in three days, hurry up and invite Manager Feng over." One of the waiters scolded Hong Xiaoxi.

Hong Xiaoxi dared not speak.

If Tong Huaqiong knew that Hong Xiaoxi had such insight, she would definitely have poached him to work as a shop assistant in her shop.

After drinking the medicine, Manager Feng felt slightly better.

He wasn't actually sick; he was so angry with Feng Chuan that he vomited blood. After a few days of rest, he was not only able to get out of bed, but his mind also returned to normal.

When the shop assistants came to his door to discuss how to deal with Peach Blossom Dessert, he was actually planning to deal with Tong Huaqiong.

This widow is like a persistent ghost; she's the biggest obstacle in his career. Even having a knife pointed at him in the woods didn't make her back down.

He should have killed her back then.

Relying on the Zheng family is unlikely; after all, this matter cannot be planned for too long, and Peach Blossom Dessert Shop will officially open in three days. The shop must be nipped in the bud before it even opens.

Feng Chuan couldn't possibly ignore this, so he planned to temporarily divert the money from Su Shi Yuan over the past few months.

Despite the great risks involved, his employer discovered his absence and he had to leave.

He even tried to drive Tong Huaqiong out of Yanguan Town to embezzle money. If the embezzlement was discovered, the owner would forgive him because he had eliminated his biggest competitor.

After all, only he could keep the Su Shi Yuan pastry shop, the only one in Yan Guan Town, from existing.

How should we deal with peach blossom desserts?

Manager Feng had no better options, so he resorted to a vicious and brutal method: the day before Peach Blossom Dessert Shop opened, he hired someone to spread rumors that the desserts had caused stomach upset, and then on opening day, he would bring the aggrieved customer to the shop and cause a scene.
You handle this.

Manager Feng summoned his most trusted employee, whispered a few words in his ear, and after the two of them agreed on a plan, a triumphant smile appeared on their faces.

After the waiter left, another group of people broke into Manager Feng's residence.

This person is the elder brother and sister-in-law of Feng Chuan and Manager Feng.

Feng Chuan was being pressured by Gu Dashu to return the money, and whenever he saw Gu Dashu, he would run away in fear, like a cat seeing a mouse.

These past few days he's been coming to Manager Feng every day to ask for money, first by playing the victim and begging, and finally by acting like a rogue.

Manager Feng was not going to give in easily. He wanted Feng Chuan to experience the helplessness of falling into a desperate situation and then give him a glimmer of hope. Maybe Feng Chuan could change his ways because of this.

He even planned to drag things out until the last day to help Feng Chuan cover his losses, so that he could get Feng Chuan to write him a guarantee and an IOU, thus giving him leverage over Feng Chuan.

In short, he couldn't just leave Feng Chuan unattended, and the clan wouldn't agree to it either. He wouldn't be able to manage him as he had before, without any principles.

Coincidentally, the deadline for Feng Chuan to pay off his gambling debts was the day Peach Blossom Dessert Shop opened.

Feng Chuan felt overwhelmed the moment he entered.

Seeing that Feng Chuan was followed by his older brother and sister-in-law, his blood pressure rose even higher.

"Second brother, this is how you treat my son after I gave him to you for adoption? He was fine when he was with us, how come he picked up bad habits after being adopted by you? You've corrupted my good son."

The eldest brother of the Feng family strode in, and without caring about Manager Feng's condition, he went up and punched Manager Feng.

“You and your sister-in-law can’t lay eggs, so I’m giving you my family’s eggs to continue the family line. Don’t you know how to be grateful? Now my son is in debt, but you’re unwilling to pay up. There’s no such thing as a free lunch!” Sister-in-law Feng said angrily, echoing her husband.

"Brother, sister-in-law, what brings you here?" Manager Feng, suppressing his anger, offered his brother and sister-in-law seats.

There was nothing that could be done; since he was adopted, Manager Feng always felt that he was shorter than his elder brother and sister-in-law.

"Why did we come? If we hadn't come, my son would be dead."

"He wasn't born from your crotch after all, and you don't care, letting him lose his hands and feet to others. Oh dear, what sins have I committed? My son, whom I carried for ten months, was adopted by you, and now he's about to lose his life."

Sister-in-law Feng spat at Manager Feng and then clapped her hands and jumped up and down in a performance.

“My poor son, you are here to continue the family line, but they treat you like a tool.”

“Second Uncle, my son had a son, ensuring your family line continued smoothly, but now you turn your back on us. You live a life of luxury as a shopkeeper in town, while we toil away at home farming and you still managed to ruin one of our sons. Oh, why is my life so miserable?”

Sister-in-law Feng cried and cursed at the same time.

The eldest brother of the Feng family pulled up a chair and sat down with a gloomy face, looking like he was about to interrogate someone.

(End of this chapter)