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

Chapter 252 Mooncakes
When Liu Yue'e returned home that evening, she was shocked to learn from Yaozu that her son had pushed down the county magistrate's son.

Who is the magistrate's son?
The young tyrant and chief son of Pingchuan County.

Even if she called her own mother-in-law "great-grandmother," there was still a difference between her own son, a farmer's son, and the magistrate's son. Instead of coaxing the magistrate's son, Yaozu actually pushed him away.

If they angered him, or if Magistrate Liu found out, wouldn't their second branch of the family have offended someone?

If I lose my mother-in-law's favor, will I still have a good life?
Thinking this, Liu Yue'e grabbed Gu Yaozu's ear and said, "What did I tell you? What kind of status does Young Master Liu have? How could you possibly afford to offend him? I told you to treat Young Master Liu well. He hit you and you didn't fight back, he cursed you and you didn't talk back, but you actually pushed him. You little brat, I'll beat you to death."

Gu Yaozu cried out in pain as he was pinched, and said aggrievedly, "Mom, Grandma didn't blame me. Grandma is on my side."

Liu Yue'e said, "Your grandmother is on your side, so you can't be rude to Young Master Liu."

Liu Yanhong and Man'er saw Gu Yaozu having his ear twisted at the door of the second room, and went to Tong Huaqiong to ask for help.

Tong Huaqiong had already heard Liu Yue'e's curses.

With her loud voice, Tong Huaqiong couldn't possibly pretend not to hear her.

"Is this how you discipline your child? You just grabbed him and pinched his hand without even asking what happened."

Tong Huaqiong reprimanded Liu Yue'e.

"What's wrong? Is our Yaozu not as noble as the magistrate's son? Liu Yanhong's father is the magistrate, so he's in the right to fight with Yaozu, right?"

"Don't be so despicable. Yaozu did nothing wrong today, so you can't hit him."

Normally, Tong Huaqiong does not interfere in the second wife's children's education.

But today is different. Today, Liu Yue'e's beating of Yaozu was clearly an attempt to curry favor with the county magistrate's son.

This era is not about disrespecting the powerful and wealthy, but Tong Huaqiong does not agree with admitting mistakes when there are none.

For her, it was unacceptable for Yaozu to be obsequious to Liu Yanhong.

Liu Yue'e said decisively, "Mother, I understand. I won't act like that anymore."

Tong Huaqiong: "."

Liu Yue'e was scolded by Tong Huaqiong, but instead of being angry, she was happy.

The current mother-in-law clearly favors Man'er, which Liu Yue'e finds very dissatisfying, but she doesn't dare to show it usually because of Tong Huaqiong's "tyranny".

She thought that Yaozu had long lost his mother-in-law's favor, and that no matter what Yaozu did, his mother-in-law no longer cared.

To her surprise, her mother-in-law was so protective of Yaozu.

Today, her beating and scolding Yaozu at least confirms that Yaozu still holds a place in her mother-in-law's heart.

The mother-in-law still treats Yaozu like her own grandson.

He wasn't afraid to offend even the county magistrate's son for the sake of his grandson.

Tong Huaqiong, seeing Liu Yue'e's fawning gaze, thought Liu Yue'e had lost her mind.

The more I scold her, the happier she seems.

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Tong Huaqiong came up with several mooncake recipes.

Mooncakes from this era were relatively simple, mainly filled with five kinds of nuts, but also with fillings such as red bean paste and jujube paste.

Tong Huaqiong lived in an era with a wide variety of mooncakes, but she actually preferred these simple, old-fashioned mooncakes.

She especially loves the five-nut mooncake without candied fruit peel; as long as the filling is plentiful, she thinks it's better than any other mooncake.

However, from a businesswoman's perspective, innovative mooncakes are even more needed in this era. Like in her previous life, a certain Hong Kong mooncake brand established its position as the leading mooncake brand by boldly innovating and creating the lava mooncake.

Peach Blossom Dessert now has two shops in Yanguan Town, and shops in Pingchuan County and Fucheng will also open before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Unlike Yanguan Town, Pingchuan County and Fucheng are more competitive, with each pastry shop having its own signature products. If Taohua Desserts wants to build a brand and gain a foothold, it must launch its own unique pastries.

Pastries are not meals, nor are they necessities; they are the icing on the cake of daily life.

The only things that draw people to pastry shops are festivals, especially Mid-Autumn Festival, which is closely associated with pastries.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household visits relatives and friends, and when visiting relatives and friends, one must bring mooncakes and pastries.

This is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake season to revolutionize mooncakes with innovation and a radical overhaul, thereby attracting everyone's attention.

For Tong Huaqiong, with her modern soul, creating a mooncake recipe that would be refreshing for this era is not difficult at all.

Egg yolk mooncakes, lava mooncakes, snow skin mooncakes, lotus seed paste mooncakes, ham mooncakes, and of course, traditional Zilaihong mooncakes, five-nut mooncakes, and red bean paste mooncakes.

Tong Huaqiong knew that material resources were relatively scarce in this era, and nuts such as melon seeds and peanuts were quite precious. Five-nut mooncakes rarely contained enough nuts; they were usually filled with cheap winter melon paste and candied fruit peel. This was why she and many of her peers disliked eating five-nut mooncakes when she was a child.

When I grew up, I baked five-nut mooncakes myself and found that their deliciousness exceeded my expectations.

Tong Huaqiong, the owner of Taohua Desserts, also doesn't skimp on ingredients for her five-nut mooncakes. She follows her own recipe and stuffs them full of melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts, and sesame seeds.

The oven in the courtyard was lit, and Tong Huaqiong grilled food non-stop from morning till night.

Chen Sufen was kept at home by Tong Huaqiong to help out.

Besides Chen Sufen, Liu Yue'e's niece Liu Xiuxiu also assisted.

Tong Huaqiong discovered Liu Xiuxiu's talent for baking and intended to nurture her.

"Grandma Tong has so many ideas. People in our Yanguan Town area have never even seen these mooncake recipes before, let alone eaten them," Liu Xiuxiu said while pressing mooncakes with a mooncake mold. "These molds are pretty too."

The mooncake molds were also beautiful, featuring scenes of Chang'e flying to the moon, Wu Gang chopping down a tree, and the word "reunion." These molds were custom-made by Tong Huaqiong at the Lu family's shop.

A beautiful mold can enhance the texture of mooncakes, making them especially impressive when given as a gift.

Chen Sufen smiled without saying a word.

Her mother-in-law has a knack for making things happen, but even so, it's still inseparable from her mother-in-law's ingenuity.

Even if a pile of raw materials were placed in front of her, she still couldn't come up with the recipe her mother-in-law had come up with.

"The reason I can come up with ideas is because I dare to try them out," Tong Huaqiong said.

She discovered that Chen Su-fen and Liu Xiu-xiu both had a talent for baking, but the difference was that they were both constrained by the mindset that "failure would be a waste of materials," so they dared not make bold recipes or bake boldly.

They can master her methods after hearing them only once, but they hesitate to use methods they have developed themselves.

This cannot continue.

Taking the opportunity, Tong Huaqiong said to Liu Xiuxiu, "Since I've put you in charge of the bakery, I'm not afraid of you wasting materials. Just like when I was figuring out this mooncake recipe, it wasn't something I could succeed on the first try. It took repeated attempts to find the best flavor. A qualified baker should be able to adjust and create their own recipes. If you can create your own recipes, I can accept the waste of materials."

At this point, Tong Huaqiong realized that she couldn't just keep giving instructions; she needed to establish a set of rules for the future.

Every baker has to come up with a new recipe every month.

If the recipe you develop receives widespread praise from customers, you will receive an extra bonus.

Only in this way can we encourage everyone to dare to innovate.