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

Chapter 121 Internet Celebrity Store

The overwhelming popularity of Peach Blossom Dessert Shop on its first day of opening doesn't mean anything.

Only sustained popularity can ensure a foothold.

Seven days after the shop opened, Peach Blossom Dessert Shop still saw a steady stream of customers.

People who come to Yanguan Town for the market and shopping have made visiting the peach blossom dessert shop in Yanzhi Lane a new lifestyle trend.

Even if you don't buy anything at Peach Blossom Desserts, you can still get free pastries to try and free tea.

Therefore, the reputation of peach blossom desserts has been firmly established.

Peach Blossom Desserts has become a popular online store in Yanguan Town.

In the past, when people mentioned pastry shops in Yanguan Town, they would think of Su Shi Yuan; now it's Tao Hua Desserts.

It is quite obvious that Peach Blossom Desserts will soon replace Crispy Food Garden as the top pastry brand in Yanguan Town.

Ma Ming was naturally unhappy.

He could only suppress his displeasure; he couldn't and dared not do anything malicious to Peach Blossom Desserts.

Firstly, Tong Huaqiong did him a favor by returning the stolen land deed and seal of the Sushi Garden to his home.

However, Tong Huaqiong did not do him a favor for no reason; he made a business commitment to fair competition with Tong Huaqiong.

Moreover, when Feng Chuan owed her money and Feng Zhanggui mortgaged the Su Shi Yuan restaurant to her, Tong Huaqiong did not take advantage of the situation and informed Ma Ming. Her righteous act became known throughout the entire Yan Guan Town.

Everyone is now saying that Widow Tong is loyal and righteous, which makes it impossible for Su Shi Yuan to deal with Peach Blossom Dessert.

If anything happens to Tong Huaqiong or Peach Blossom Dessert, Su Shi Yuan will be the first to be suspected by the whole town. At that time, Su Shi Yuan will be abandoned by the customers of Yan Guan Town.

Of course, Tong Huaqiong's righteous act was deliberately spread by her. She also had Gu Jingzhe write a storybook and gave the storyteller two taels of silver so that the storyteller could perform it in the teahouse.

Secondly, Ma Ming witnessed Tong Huaqiong's ruthlessness and ability, and was somewhat wary of her. He worried that Tong Huaqiong might have some leverage over Su Shi Yuan, and that she might destroy Su Shi Yuan first, even if it meant mutual destruction.

Rather than that, it would be better to allow peach blossom desserts to exist.

Ma Ming couldn't shut down Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, and he believed that the fault for this situation lay with Manager Feng.

If Manager Feng hadn't underestimated the enemy, and if he hadn't been greedy, how could a peach blossom dessert have come about?

Ma Ming grew angrier the more he thought about it, so he spread the word throughout the shops in Pingchuan County about how Manager Feng cheated his owners, and threatened that anyone who dared to hire Manager Feng would be going against him.

Now, Manager Feng was completely isolated and helpless in Pingchuan County. He had no choice but to sell his house and take his family and Feng Chuan back to the countryside to live.

When a person loses their spirit, they become utterly listless.

However, all of this had nothing to do with Tong Huaqiong; she neither cared nor sympathized with her.

Everything at Peach Blossom Desserts is on track.

Everyone was doing their job and working enthusiastically.

However, there are sometimes not enough people.

"Shopkeeper, is it possible for me and my sister-in-law Yue'e to work at this shop for a long time?"

That day, while Tong Huaqiong was keeping accounts, Liu Yue'e's brother and sister-in-law, Liu Shan, and Madam Hu came to Tong Huaqiong asking for formal employment.

Tong Huaqiong had been observing them closely these past few days and concluded that Liu Shan and the Hu couple were indeed capable and honest, and good helpers.

She was willing to bring them under her wing.

“Of course we can,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Liu Shan became excited and said from the bottom of his heart, "Aunt Tong, please don't just hire us because of Yue'e. You only hired us because you think we're capable. Otherwise, my husband and I would be too ashamed to stay."

This attitude made Tong Huaqiong look at Liu Shan and his wife with new respect once again.

Tong Huaqiong said seriously, "Your sister's face doesn't matter to me. We're all family, why wouldn't I let Su Fen's brother and sister-in-law come? I asked you two to come and help because I valued your reliability and competence. These days I've seen that I haven't misjudged you. I've been wanting to tell you for a while that you can stay in the shop for a long time."

Liu Shan and Hu were deeply moved by these words.

From now on, they will be official staff at Peach Blossom Desserts.

“Liu Shan, I’m thinking of having you work with Da Shu in charge of the store’s purchasing from now on,” Tong Huaqiong said. “What do you think?” Liu Shan was stunned.

Those in charge of purchasing are usually the owner's trusted confidants, or family members.

Liu Shan was moved and filled with immense pride at being entrusted with such an important task by Tong Huaqiong.

This shows that Tong Huaqiong fully approves of his character.

If he refused, he would seem ungrateful, so Liu Shan patted his chest and gladly accepted.

"Aunt Tong, don't worry, I will definitely do a good job. I guarantee that there will be no problems with the accounts of my future purchases."

Tong Huaqiong nodded.

If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use someone, don't doubt them.

She believed in Liu Shan.

"Liu Shan's wife, you'll work in the oven room with Su Fen for baking from now on. You can assist her for now, and become a pastry chef once you've become more skilled," Tong Huaqiong said to Hu Shi.

"Don't worry, you'll be paid as usual."

These past few days, as Hu has been cooking, Tong Huaqiong has discovered that she has a talent for making delicious food.

It's such a waste to waste such talent in the kitchen; it would be better to transfer it to the oven room for baking.

Now she and Chen Su-fen are in charge of baking pastries, but Peach Blossom Desserts is no longer the small stall it used to be. She wants to shift more of her focus to business management and even explore other business opportunities.

Therefore, she had to gradually withdraw from the front line of the oven room.

Pastry chefs are of paramount importance to a pastry shop. Tong Huaqiong never believes that recipes should be kept secret. If a pastry shop wants to expand, it is necessary to train a group of professional pastry chefs.

Ms. Hu was the second pastry chef she discovered, besides Chen Su-fen.

The couple was even more shocked to have Hu Shi put in the oven room than to have Liu Shan in charge of purchasing.

It's important to understand that in this era, skilled masters wouldn't easily pass on their recipes; this is the origin of the saying "teaching an apprentice can starve the master."

Many apprentices who went to the shop to learn a trade had to work for the shop for free for five years before they were allowed to learn the trade.

Now that Ms. Hu has been cooking at Taohua Dessert Shop for a few days, Tong Huaqiong is willing to let her learn to make pastries. Such treatment is unique in Pingchuan County.

Moved to tears, Ms. Hu said to Tong Huaqiong, "Aunt Tong, I will never forget your kindness. I will work hard and never leave Peach Blossom Dessert Shop as long as you need me."

Tong Huaqiong said with a smile, "Let's make it clear first, there's a probationary period for everyone. If you don't pass, you'll go back to your original jobs."

Liu Shan and his wife nodded. They were already very grateful that Tong Huaqiong had given them a chance!
Whether they can do a good job or not depends entirely on themselves.

After Tong Huaqiong finished speaking, she asked Ma Huateng to take out the employment contract that had already been written.

The job description, salary, and benefits are all clearly stated.

The Liu couple were illiterate, so Ma Huateng read it to them twice. The couple thought, "Why do we need to sign an agreement?" Tong Huaqiong insisted that it was necessary, so the couple pressed their fingerprints and made their signatures, officially becoming Tong Huaqiong's employees.

"Your Su Shi Yuan business is bad now, it's all your own fault. How dare you come to our Tao Hua Dessert Shop? If you want to buy desserts, we welcome you. But if you're here to rip us off, I'm going to hit you."

Tong Huaqiong had just finished signing the employment contract with Liu Shan and his wife when she heard Gu Taohua cursing someone.

"Peach Blossom, what's going on?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Have the peach blossoms drifted away?
Standing in front of his own store and cursing people, has he forgotten Tong Huaqiong's rule that he must never affect the store's business?

Even though it's closing time, Tong Huaqiong doesn't want anyone to break this rule.

Gu Taohua rushed in, looking angry, and said, "It's the staff from Su Shi Yuan."

Tong Huaqiong scolded Tao Hua: "He's just a waiter from the Su Shi Yuan (a type of pastry shop), is it really worth getting angry over? Call him in."

Now, Peach Blossom Dessert and Crispy Food Garden are evenly matched, and Peach Blossom Dessert even has a slight advantage. With business booming, Tong Huaqiong is in a good mood.

She was very generous to the staff at the pastry shop.

(End of this chapter)