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

Chapter 162 What Did Miss Huang Do Wrong?
"Our young lady will be of marriageable age this autumn. She has been looking after potential husbands since she was twelve, from young masters in the prefectural city to young masters in our Yanguan Town. The master and mistress have arranged countless marriages for her."

Gossiping is human nature. Yuqin rolled up her sleeves and helped Tong Huaqiong wash the zongzi leaves while gossiping about her own family.

Since the topic had come up with Miss Huang, Tong Huaqiong naturally had to say a few words of flattery, saying, "The girl I saw sitting next to Old Madam Huang last time was so beautiful, she must be your daughter."

Yuqin said, "The one with the beautiful face is the old lady's cousin, my young lady."

Yuqin felt it wasn't appropriate to discuss her young mistress's appearance in public, so she kept quiet.

Tong Huaqiong understood instantly.

It seems Miss Huang isn't very pretty.

But what does it matter if she's not good-looking? She's still the young lady from the richest family in Yanguan Town, so she won't have to worry about finding a good husband.

“However, my young lady’s marriage is about to be finalized, and we will definitely order the wedding cakes and pastries from your shop,” Yuqin said.

"That's great. I just wonder which young master your young lady has chosen?" Tong Huaqiong asked casually.

"He's a scholar who studied at a private school in our town. He said he'll be going to the prefectural city next year to take the imperial examination for the title of Juren. His future looks bright there," Yuqin said with a smile.

The scholar was studying at a private school in town.

Tong Huaqiong seized upon the key information and asked, "Then isn't that Scholar Fan Tong?"

Yuqin smiled and nodded: "It's him. Although his family is poor, there are advantages to being poor. If he becomes the Huang family's son-in-law, wouldn't he be like half a son to the master if he supports his studies?"

Tong Huaqiong wanted to tell Yuqin that she was overthinking it.

Why would Fan Tong be interested in Miss Huang, who wasn't particularly attractive? It was because he was after the Huang family's wealth.

Fan Tong is not the kind of person who is grateful for kindness. He is the kind of person who, once he turns his life around, will kill off his benefactors and make sure everyone who knows about his impoverished past is wiped out.

Master Huang was a nouveau riche who always hoped that his family could benefit from the influence of scholars.

When arranging a marriage for their daughter, they hoped to find a family with a scholarly background.

These days, it's a common problem among scholars to believe that beauty can be found in books, and they place even more importance on a girl's looks. As a result, several relationships have fallen through.

Only a scholar from a poor family like Fan Tong was willing to become half a son-in-law of the wealthy Huang family.

After piecing things together, Tong Huaqiong knew the cruel truth behind this marriage.

Tong Huaqiong searched through Tong Dajiao's memories but found no trace of Fan Tong's connection to the Huang family's daughter in her previous life.

It's estimated that in the previous life, Gu Taohua would come to town from time to time to keep an eye on Fan Tong, preventing him from getting close to Miss Huang.

In this life, although Gu Taohua also had feelings for Fan Tong, she had no time or energy to pay attention to Fan Tong because she was busy doing business with Tong Huaqiong all day. Therefore, Fan Tong took the opportunity to curry favor with the Huang family.

Fan Tong's connection with the Huang family is a good thing for Gu Taohua, as it means that the affair between Fan Tong and the village chief's daughter can no longer be blamed on Gu Taohua.

But no matter what, Master Huang was the benefactor who brought her into this world and started her career.

She didn't want Master Huang to lose his daughter and his fortune for Fan Tong, only to end up with nothing.

Even if it weren't for Master Huang, what wrong had Miss Huang done?

If you're not pretty, you deserve to marry a poor scholar, give up your dowry, serve your mother-in-law, and then have to endure one concubine after another.

What makes Fan Tong so special?
In his past life, he wreaked havoc on the peach blossoms of Gu; in this life, he'll wreak havoc on the Huang family's daughter.

Such a despicable person's plan must be rendered futile.

So Tong Huaqiong said to Yuqin, "Miss Yuqin, I shouldn't be interfering in your young lady's marriage, but Master Huang has been kind to me. My son is studying at a private school, and I heard that Scholar Fan has some designs on the daughter of the village chief of Wild Buffalo Valley."

"Perhaps I misheard. What kind of person is Master Huang? With his keen eyes, he's definitely better at judging people than I am."

Just touch on it and stop.

Yuqin, who served Old Madam Huang, was a shrewd and intelligent person, and she understood immediately upon hearing this.

This kind of thing is definitely not baseless; Aunt Tong dares to say it's highly likely to be true.

Wild Buffalo Valley is located two mountains away from Yanguan Town, and few people usually go there. Most of the villagers make a living by hunting or relying on the mountains, and they rarely come to Yanguan Town.

We definitely need to send someone to Buffalo Valley to investigate thoroughly. When Tong Huaqiong introduced Xu Zaohua to Fan Tong, she wasn't afraid of the Xu family finding out.

Because she knew Xu Jin, who was destined to use his daughter to pave the way for the Xu family. If Xu Jin really took a liking to Fan Tong, he wouldn't mind as long as Fan Tong didn't marry the village chief's daughter.

But Master Huang was different.

Based on Tong Huaqiong's understanding of Master Huang, he genuinely wanted to find a good marriage for his daughter.

After learning Fan Tong's true colors, he would never marry his daughter to Fan Tong.

By evening, the meat dumplings in the pot were cooked.

Hu fished it out.

Tong Huaqiong packed the zongzi into a box and handed two boxes of pastries to Yuqin.

The remaining zongzi were displayed in the shop for sale.

In just one afternoon, everyone who bought Taohua Dessert's meat dumplings raved about them, sparking curiosity among many who wanted to try them.

There was a long queue for peach blossom desserts, and the meat dumplings were sold out as soon as they were served.

Those who didn't manage to buy it showed regret on their faces.

"Come again tomorrow, everyone will definitely be able to eat tomorrow." Tong Huaqiong, as the manager, came out to personally apologize to everyone.

Then, Ma Huateng registered the customers who hadn't been able to buy zongzi in line. The next day, they could queue up to buy meat zongzi and receive an egg yolk pastry by showing their registered names.

Tong Huaqiong's actions calmed the customer's anger.

Ma Huateng sighed inwardly as he registered.

The river winds are blowing coldly, and traditions have been abandoned.

Meat-filled rice dumplings are simply heretical in the world of rice dumplings.

"Looks like we need to make more meat dumplings; we simply don't have enough to sell today," Liu Yue'e said excitedly after closing time.

Liu Qiaoyun asked, "Several shops in Rouge Lane have come to ask if we can pre-order some items. Should we accept them or not?"

Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "We'll only accept orders for zongzi on Dragon Boat Festival. These next few days, we'll focus our efforts on individual customers at the shop."

Everyone agreed with Tong Huaqiong's idea.

Gu Taohua remained silent, looking listless.

Tong Huaqiong asked, "Taohua, what's wrong?"

Gu Taohua forced a smile and said, "It's hot outside attracting customers."

The peach blossoms are plump, and it's the height of summer now.

Ever since Gu Jingzhe went to study at the private school, Gu Taohua has been beckoning to older women at the door from time to time. Standing there for a long time will naturally make you hot.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Go quickly and put down the fan in front of the ice basin."

"I'm fanning my Aunt Peach Blossom."

Liu Xiuxiu moved a stool and placed it in front of the ice basin, and Gu Taohua sat down on the stool.

Soon, Gu Taohua's complexion regained its rosy hue.

Gu Taohua was in a very bad mood.

She came to the courtyard in the afternoon to check if the zongzi were ready and overheard Yuqin and Tong Huaqiong's conversation.

Thus, they learned that Fan Tong had become involved with the Huang family's daughter.

Just two days ago, Fan Tong asked a student from the private school to bring her a handkerchief covered with poems.

If this incident hadn't happened, Gu Taohua wouldn't be so angry.

(End of this chapter)