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

Chapter 12 Testing the Waters by Selling Steamed Buns

Tong Huaqiong led Gu Dashu and the others out of the Zheng family's gate, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Tong Huaqiong felt no guilt whatsoever after thoroughly outmaneuvering the Zheng couple.

It's inhuman to ask someone else's daughter to marry your son who's on the verge of death.

Moreover, in Tong Dajiao's memories of her previous life, Man'er, who had become a concubine, clearly told Tong Dajiao about her miserable life in the Zheng family when she was seeking revenge. It was a history of blood and tears.

Less than two months after Man'er arrived at the Zheng family, the eldest son of the Zheng family died. The Zheng couple blamed Man'er for their son's death and tortured her terribly. They beat her three times a day, didn't give her enough to eat, and made her sleep on the floor in front of Madam Zheng's bed every night, being at her beck and call. The young Man'er lived like a servant in the Zheng family.

When Man'er was ten years old, the good-for-nothing youngest son of the Zheng family cornered her in the garden. Madam Zheng falsely accused her of having an affair with her brother-in-law, and the scholar Zheng opened the ancestral hall to drown Man'er in the pond.

In a fit of rage, Man'er burned down the Zheng family's house and fled all the way to Shengjing.

Tong Huaqiong showed no sympathy for the eldest son of the Zheng family, who was driven to the point of vomiting blood by Tong Huaqiong's tantrum.

This guy isn't a good person either.

Not only did he have physical illnesses, but he was also psychologically abnormal. Before he died, he used a branding iron to burn Man'er's thighs and abdomen.

Man'er barely escaped death in his hands.

As for Wang the matchmaker, Tong Huaqiong didn't feel that she was implicated.

She ran a matchmaker's business, and in this era of arranged marriages, she portrayed the black as white, the disabled as good, and the ugly as handsome, deceiving countless good girls.

"Mother, you've gone all out and made a scene. Do you think the Zheng family will let us off the hook?" Gu Dashu asked, still shaken.

"If we don't make a scene, will you send your sister or Man'er into a fire pit? Even if your mother goes into a fire pit, they won't want her. What do you suggest we do?" Tong Huaqiong snorted and said to Gu Dashu, "If we don't make a scene, this marriage can't be called off. Those with nothing to lose aren't afraid of those wearing shoes. Scholar Zheng has a family, a business, and a good reputation, so he's somewhat restrained. We, on the other hand, are poor and have nothing to lose. If the Zheng family really causes us trouble in the future, who's afraid of whom is still uncertain."

Tong Huaqiong truly believes this!

We might as well just go all out.

"Are we really going to pay back the fifty taels of silver we owe the Zheng family?" Liu Yue'e asked.

If anyone has to pay it back, let his brother-in-law do it; after all, he's the one who caused this mess.

“Of course we should return it. I’ll have Gu Jingzhe go to Wanliu Academy in the prefectural city to see if we can get it back,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Even if she can't get it back, she has ways to deal with it.

"Mother, we've offended Matchmaker Wang now. What if she ruins my reputation?" Gu Taohua thought of Scholar Fan from the neighboring village and felt a little worried.

"Come on, do you think your reputation would be any better if this hadn't happened?"

Tong Huaqiong rolled her eyes at Gu Taohua.

The chubby girl was quite confident in her reputation.

They don't even realize they're at the age where they should be looking for a partner, yet matchmakers never show up.

Gu Taohua pouted.

"You two cooperated exceptionally well today, and I'm very pleased."

Tong Huaqiong praised a few bad bamboos at the right time.

Gu Dashu thought to himself, if he didn't cooperate, would he really have to acknowledge that pretty boy Zheng as his stepfather? He wouldn't be able to face his biological father in the afterlife.

"Mom, are we going home now? And why did you make me carry this big basket of steamed buns? Even if it's just for food on the road, is it really necessary to carry so many?" Gu Dashu asked, adjusting the basket on his back.

Tong Huaqiong smiled when the topic of steamed buns came up.

She used this steamed bun to test the waters—to test what kind of path, of course, the path of business.

These steamed buns weren't made with wheat flour; the Gu family didn't have that much refined flour.

Instead, it is steamed using a mixture of wheat flour and sorghum flour.

In those days, the wheat flour and sorghum flour used by farmers were ground very coarsely, resulting in a poor texture when used to steam buns.

Yesterday, she ordered Gu Dashu to grind the wheat flour and sorghum flour again. Tong Huaqiong was only satisfied when the stone mill produced fine flour with sparks.

Following Chen Sufeng's instructions, she used white sugar during fermentation and layered white flour and sorghum flour during steaming. Tong Huaqiong tasted one at breakfast and found it soft, sweet, and fragrant, almost unable to stop herself from eating it.

She planned to sell the big steamed bun to the porters.

“I’m going to sell these steamed buns,” Tong Huaqiong said.

"What?"

Gu Dashu, Gu Taohua, and Liu Yue'e were all stunned.

Selling steamed buns?
Widow Tong has spent her whole life working in Qinghe Bay, and she still can't even take care of the crops properly, so she has to start selling steamed buns.
The entire Tong and Gu families, spanning generations, have lacked any talent for business.

"No way? Don't underestimate me. Before I got married, I was a capable woman both at home and outside. It was only after I joined your Gu family that I started to slack off." Tong Huaqiong straightened the pearl hairpin in her hair, took out a clean handkerchief to wipe her face, and then ordered a few bamboo sticks to straighten her clothes.

When selling food, the key is to be clean and efficient.

Otherwise, a wrinkled outfit would be unappetizing.

"Mom, where should we go to sell steamed buns?" Gu Taohua listened to Tong Huaqiong now. Since her mother wanted to sell steamed buns, then she would go sell them.

"Let's go to the dock," Tong Huaqiong said.

There are many dockworkers and sandbag carriers at the dock. These people certainly wouldn't want to eat at a restaurant, so steamed buns are just right.

It just so happened that Gu Dahan, the stepson, was carrying sandbags at the dock, so I took the opportunity to call him home so he wouldn't have to do manual labor anymore.

So the group headed towards the dock in a grand procession.

Fortunately, the dock wasn't far away, and Tong Huaqiong quickly made her way there using Tong Dajiao's big feet.

It was just lunchtime.

Tong Huaqiong looked around and saw many small vendors hawking their wares, some selling herbal tea, some selling noodle soup, some selling pancakes... in short, all simple and convenient fast food.

“Let’s shout it out too,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Gu Dashu and Gu Taohua felt a little embarrassed.

"You really think you're young masters and misses?" Tong Huaqiong sneered.

No wonder the Gu family lived in such poverty; the root cause was simply laziness.

If Tong Dajiao and the few wicked bamboos had used their frivolous and unreasonable energy to get rich, Gu Jingzhe wouldn't have needed to cheat his sister and sell his niece for tuition fees.

"Selling steamed buns, big steamed buns, big steamed buns that will keep you full!" Tong Huaqiong began to call out.

Gu Yaozu, being a child at heart, found it amusing and joined in shouting, "Selling steamed buns, fragrant steamed buns, white flour and mixed grain steamed buns, steamed buns that won't hurt your throat!"

Tong Huaqiong was delighted.

This grandson finally satisfied her, accurately describing the characteristics of Gu family steamed buns.

"how much for one?"

Some people were indeed curious about the taste of the non-greasy multigrain steamed buns. A traveler-looking man got off the boat and asked.

“Five coins,” Tong Huaqiong said.

"Not cheap," the traveler said.

"You can try my steamed buns and see if they're good before you say anything."

Tong Huaqiong broke off a piece with her clean hands and handed it to the traveler.

Can you still taste the steamed buns?
The traveler became even more interested and took a piece to eat.

And I must say, these multigrain steamed buns are soft, sweet, and surprisingly don't hurt your throat at all; they're no different from pure white flour steamed buns.

"Two, please." The traveler expressed his satisfaction.

"We've just opened, so I'll give you a discount of one coin, two for eight coins." Tong Huaqiong handed the steamed buns to the traveler, holding them on a handkerchief.

"Goodness, Mother, you're amazing! You really sold them all!" Gu Dashu muttered as he watched the departing traveler.

Once the business opened, it couldn't be stopped. Many porters and dockworkers heard that Tong Huaqiong's multigrain steamed buns were just as soft and sweet as those made with white flour, so they bought some to try.

Seeing the benefits, Gu Dashu and Liu Yue'e, who had been watching from the sidelines, rolled up their sleeves and came to help.

Gu Taohua held up two large steamed buns as a living signboard; her plump figure was indeed very eye-catching, attracting even more people to buy the buns.

Soon, the entire basket of steamed buns was sold out.

Tong Huaqiong patted the money bag and smiled so broadly her eyes disappeared.

Selling this basket of steamed buns wasn't about making money; it was about building her and her few bamboo shoots' confidence in achieving a better life.

The success of the steamed buns' debut was a good start.

Tong Huaqiong didn't know about others, but she was very confident at this moment.

She was surprised by how popular it became, even more so than she had anticipated.

She hasn't made roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) or tea eggs yet.

(End of this chapter)