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

Peach Blossom Desserts has been doing very well since its opening, and even when it competes with Crispy Food Garden, it is considered a "high-end business war" in terms of strategy.

This was the first time Gu Taohua had encountered such a crude and blatant tactic of standing in front of customers to slander Taohua Desserts.

You know what, although Granny Cai and Xu Zaohua's methods weren't very clever, they were effective.

If not handled properly, it could have a fatal impact on the peach blossom dessert.

Xu Zaohua and Gu Taohua have never gotten along since childhood. The two had a lot of arguments when they were in Qinghe Bay. This time, Xu Zaohua was obviously well-prepared.

Gu Taohua was, after all, a fourteen-year-old girl, and she was inevitably a little flustered in this situation.

She regretted not overturning Xu Zaohua's carriage earlier that morning.

"Granny, you said you bought my hazelnut pastries, but I haven't served you since the shop opened," the shop assistant who had served the Zheng family's maid said loudly as he walked out of the shop.

Only he could say this, since Gu Taohua had just arrived and hadn't personally witnessed whether the Zheng family had gone into Taohua Dessert Shop or bought hazelnut pastries.

The man was furious.

When the old woman and the maidservant failed to get their hands on hazelnut pastries for free at Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, they resorted to slander.

Her lavish attire couldn't conceal the old woman's desire to take advantage of others.

Who decided that wealthy families don't pay for things and just expect to receive them for free?

"You wouldn't recognize me if I didn't buy it. It was my maid who bought it. My young mistress got sick after eating the hazelnut pastry. If she weren't pregnant, I wouldn't be here. To put it bluntly, my young mistress is carrying a treasure that's practically a gold nugget. If anything were to happen to her, even if all of your Peach Blossom Desserts combined, it wouldn't be enough to compensate her. Get your manager out here to speak."

Granny Cai's voice grew louder and louder, causing passersby to stop and stare.

Seizing the opportunity, Gu Taohua caught a loophole in Cai Mama's words and asked, "Mama, please don't be hasty. If it really is a problem with my Taohua Dessert Shop, we certainly won't avoid it. May I ask when your maid came to buy the hazelnut shortbread? How many pounds did she buy and how much did she spend? Could you please have your maid come out so the shop assistants can identify her? What if the hazelnut shortbread wasn't bought at Taohua Dessert Shop? Wouldn't that delay your young mistress?"

Granny Cai sneered, "How many pastry shops are there in the entire Yanguan Town? If it wasn't bought from your shop, whose shop could it be? How dare you say something like 'Let my maid come out so the shopkeeper can identify her'? Do you think my little maid is some kind of prostitute that you can look at her like that?"

Gu Taohua was speechless for a moment.

Faced with Granny Cai's slander, the waiter's face turned red with anger, and he said, "Granny, are you too guilty to send your maid to confront us? Are you trying to extort money from our Peach Blossom Dessert Shop?"

Granny Cai was just waiting for these words, and she became even more energetic, saying, "You little rascal, you're good at twisting the truth! Your Peach Blossom Dessert Shop's hazelnut pastries made my young mistress sick, but you don't dare admit it's your fault. Fellow villagers, my master is Zheng, a scholar from Pingchuan County. With the wealth of my Zheng family, would I need to extort money from your Peach Blossom Dessert Shop? The meager income my master makes is enough for your Peach Blossom Dessert Shop's monthly revenue."

"That heartless, unscrupulous merchant made my young mistress sick."

“I’m not going to talk to that brat and the shop assistant. Let your manager come out and talk. I want to see what kind of black-hearted rotten seed your manager is made of, that he would allow the shop assistant to sell spoiled hazelnut pastries.”

Granny Cai shouted loudly, trying to attract everyone's attention.

She peered into the peach blossom dessert shop but couldn't see He Chao anywhere. She didn't believe He Chao wouldn't come out.

Her goal was not only to severely damage Peach Blossom Dessert Shop to avenge the Zheng family, but also to cut off He Chao's escape route.

As the crowd grew larger and larger, and some people left the queue, Gu Taohua became anxious and desperately tried to think of a solution.

"Peach Blossom Dessert Shop has never had a problem since it opened. What a coincidence that the young mistress of this shop got sick from eating there," someone in the crowd muttered.

"That's hard to say. Just because there were no problems before doesn't mean there aren't now. These shops are all the same; once they get big, they stop caring about their customers. Su Shi Yuan didn't have any problems in the first six months after it opened, but later they had a problem mixing moldy pastries into the good ones. Who knows what would have happened if it hadn't been discovered and made a big fuss?" An old man shook his head with an air of knowing everything.

“It’s hard to say whether this old woman is framing Peach Blossom Dessert Shop. She just said that the owner of the shop is the Zheng family from Pingchuan County. As far as I know, the owner of the Crispy Food Shop is the cousin of the Zheng family. Maybe the Zheng family is unhappy that the Crispy Food Shop was merged into Peach Blossom Dessert Shop and wants to avenge the owner of the Crispy Food Shop, so they deliberately caused trouble for Peach Blossom Dessert Shop,” a young man who looked like a scholar said casually.

"Although Su Shi Yuan and Tao Hua Dessert Shop are competitors, the owner of Su Shi Yuan and Manager Tong have a good relationship. Su Shi Yuan was unable to continue operating and offered to sell to Manager Tong. Since Su Shi Yuan and Tao Hua Dessert Shop have no enmity, how can there be any talk of Scholar Zheng avenging the owner of Su Shi Yuan? It must be that the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family got a stomachache after eating the hazelnut pastry from Tao Hua Dessert Shop, which is why they came to seek revenge." Another old lady passed by Xu Zaohua's carriage and saw that Xu Zaohua's face was pale, and she felt full of sympathy.

Amidst the various opinions of the onlookers, Gu Taohua told herself to stay calm.

We will definitely be able to resolve this crisis.

"Second Master, should I go and call Manager He?" the shop assistant quietly asked Gu Taohua.

At this moment, Manager He was in the baking room instructing the workers and was unaware of what was happening outside.

Because of Tong Huaqiong's requirement, Peach Blossom Desserts has regulations that the baking room must be a "sterile" environment. Anyone entering the baking room must undergo a series of cleaning procedures, and ordinary employees are not allowed to enter.

Therefore, even if the staff outside knew that Granny Cai was causing trouble, they couldn't notify Manager He in time.

"Not for now," Gu Taohua said.

"Dear fellow villagers, I believe many of you have bought or tried the pastries from my Taohua Dessert Shop. From the time we started selling at a stall to when we opened a shop, there has never been a case of anyone getting sick from eating our pastries."

Gu Taohua did not intend to confront Granny Cai directly. Since Granny Cai controlled public opinion, why couldn't she?

Her mother taught her to use the opponent's weaknesses to launch a magical counter-attack.

Remember that sincerity is the key to attracting customers. If necessary, you can reveal the conflict between the parties involved and let the customers make their own judgment.

Gu Taohua raised her voice and said, "Since this nanny says she is the Zheng family nanny from Pingchuan County, then I'll just say it directly. The young mistress of the Zheng family, Xu Zaohua, is from our Qinghe Bay. She is two years older than me, and we have known each other since we were little. To be honest, Xu Zaohua and I have never gotten along since we were little. We have argued and fought countless times since we were young. Although the enmity we have formed is not as deep as a blood feud, it is enough to make us hate each other."

"Since Peach Blossom Dessert opened, why is it that only Xu Zaohua got sick today? I believe everyone has their own judgment."

"Since the nanny said that Xu Zaohua is pregnant, and that it is the posthumous child of Young Master Zheng, she should be very precious. Why did the nanny, upon seeing that Xu Zaohua's stomach was upset, not hurry to call a doctor, but instead came to Taohua Dessert Shop to argue? Aren't you afraid that if you delay, Xu Zaohua's child will be lost? Aren't you afraid that Scholar Zheng and Madam Zheng will hold you accountable?"

Xu Zaohua asked Granny Cai with a smile. (End of Chapter)