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

Chapter 253 Eating Mooncakes

"Grandma Tong, I understand. I will try to figure out the recipe like you do."

Liu Xiuxiu nodded.

It's no wonder Liu Xiuxiu didn't dare to figure out the recipe; her mother, Madam Hu, was always nagging her. She was already indebted to Tong Huaqiong for being able to come to Peach Blossom Dessert Shop to learn the craft.

As a worker, all she needed to do was follow the instructions from the baking room.

We must not cross the line.

For example, he would figure out the recipe himself so as not to make Tong Huaqiong worry.

Tong Huaqiong liked Liu Xiuxiu's cleverness, so she laughed and said, "Is it because your mother always teaches you that she's worried I'll be suspicious if you figure out a recipe and think you've secretly learned the skill to go out and work on your own?"

Liu Xiuxiu smiled shyly.

Although Tong Huaqiong doesn't go to the shop much these days, she's always been very good at managing it, and nothing that happens there escapes her notice.

Hu, Liu Yue'e's sister-in-law, shared the thoughts of most shop assistants in that era: secretly studying the owner's skills was disloyal to the shop. Not only did shop assistants have this idea, but many shop owners thought even more strongly.

They even went so far as to suppress their employees.

Tong Huaqiong, however, did not think that way.

The development of a pastry shop depends not only on recipes, but also on marketing and management.

Even if someone from the shop takes the recipe for Peach Blossom Desserts and goes out to do business on their own, Tong Huaqiong is confident that Peach Blossom Desserts will definitely not decline or fail to develop because of this.

Tong Huaqiong said to Liu Xiuxiu, "Since I've let you learn a skill in my shop, I'm not afraid of you leaving. If you learn well and go out to work on your own, I'll applaud you. There are so many businesses in the world, and our Yanguan Town can't just have one peach blossom dessert shop forever. Sooner or later, there will be competitors. Whether the competitor is someone in the shop or someone else, I'm not afraid."

"Now that you're working as a baker in my shop, you need to do your job well, which means coming up with more recipes for my shop so I can make more money. That's how you repay Peach Blossom Desserts. Instead of being cautious and hesitant about this and that."

Liu Xiuxiu felt relieved after hearing Tong Huaqiong's words.

She can now confidently and boldly work on the recipe and refine her skills.

"I'll listen to you. I'll learn the craft well and work hard to figure out the recipe so we can make money with our peach blossom desserts," Liu Xiuxiu said.

Liu Xiuxiu is very simple-minded. She felt that since Tong Huaqiong encouraged her to figure out a recipe, she should figure out a recipe that would make money for Peach Blossom Desserts.

Even after she completes her apprenticeship, she will not go out and work independently.

During her time at Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, she realized that mastering one skill was not enough to open a shop.

If it were all that simple, why would the master chefs at Su Shi Yuan, who are so skilled and can make all kinds of pastries with ease, stay at Tao Hua Dessert Shop instead of going solo after Su Shi Yuan closed down?

To become a master chef, all you need to do is refine your skills.

Opening a shop requires considering sales channels, employee management, and revenue.
She prefers to stay in the baking room and work on pastries rather than open a shop.

The first batch of mooncakes was baked very quickly.

This batch of mooncakes is made with double yolk lotus seed paste.

As soon as the stove was opened, the aroma wafted out.

The workers building houses for He Chao and Boss Qian on the neighboring wasteland almost dropped their bricks when they smelled the aroma.

A sweet fragrance permeated the entire Qinghe Bay.

Tong Huaqiong placed the baked mooncakes into the steamed bun basket.

Mooncakes are not at their best when they are fresh out of the oven; they need to sit for two or three days to allow the oil to seep back into their flavor before they taste good.

But the aroma is so tempting, who could resist eating it?

Man'er, Yaozu, and Liu Yanhong will not go out to play with their friends today; they will stay in the yard and wait to eat mooncakes.

As soon as the mooncakes were served, the three children couldn't resist grabbing them, but Tong Huaqiong slapped them back.

"Be careful, it's hot. Eat it later." After saying this, Tong Huaqiong immediately instructed Chen Sufeng to bake the next batch. After they cooled slightly, Tong Huaqiong picked up the mooncakes and handed one to each person.

"good to eat."

"Grandma's mooncakes are even tastier than those from the capital city."

As Liu Yanhong ate, he kept nagging. Tong Huaqiong was worried; the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and no one had come to pick up the child yet.

Is Magistrate Liu treating this place like a boarding school?

"The oil from the egg yolk melts into the lotus seed paste, making it fragrant and sweet, and not greasy at all," Liu Xiuxiu said after taking a bite and savoring it.

Chen Su-fen nodded in agreement.

The two of them would taste pastries every day in the bakery. Only exceptionally amazing pastries would make their eyes light up. Judging from their expressions, this mooncake had achieved an amazing taste.

Tong Huaqiong felt that Taohua Dessert's mooncakes, like meat-filled rice dumplings, had once again become a popular product in Yanguan Town.

Next, lava mooncakes, ham mooncakes, as well as five-nut mooncakes and red bean paste mooncakes were baked.

Everyone tried every flavor.

Liu Xiuxiu thought Yunnan ham mooncakes tasted the best, Chen Sufen thought lotus seed paste and salted egg yolk mooncakes were the most delicious, and Tong Huaqiong's favorite was the simple five-nut mooncake.

Everyone has different tastes, which means that these mooncakes have their own target audience.

"I used to always eat five-nut mooncakes, but I think Grandma Tong's five-nut mooncakes taste better than any I've ever had before," Liu Xiuxiu said after finishing her five-nut mooncake.

Tong Huaqiong laughed and said, "Don't you even look at the materials we used?"

In order to create the delicious five-nut mooncakes that Tong Huaqiong envisioned, she did a lot of preparation beforehand.

During the Great Heat of the solar term, Tong Huaqiong went to Pingchuan County to buy the best quality raw melon seeds, peanuts, walnuts and other nuts. After buying them, she discarded the inferior ones, washed and dried them, and then stir-fried them in a large pot at home.

Then, the village's young and clean-cut wives were organized to shell the nuts, and several large basins of fragrant nuts were brought out.

How could such a meticulously made five-nut mooncake not be delicious?
These mooncakes made at home will be taken to the shop for the bakers to taste.

After all, the bakers in the shop had only ever tasted five-nut mooncakes and red bean paste mooncakes; they hadn't tried other types of mooncakes. They had to taste them to know the requirements of the recipe so that they could bake mooncakes of a quality suitable for sale.

Tong Huaqiong handed the mooncake recipe to Chen Sufen.

Chen Su-fen then taught the baking masters in the shop.

Tong Huaqiong is hoping that these delicious and fresh mooncakes will make Peach Blossom Desserts a hit once again.

As Tong Huaqiong predicted, Peach Blossom Desserts' mooncakes sparked a new buying frenzy as soon as they were launched.

In the past, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Su Shi Yuan's five-nut mooncakes were an essential pastry for visiting relatives and friends in Yan Guan Town.

Now it has been replaced by mooncakes made with peach blossoms.

Unlike Su Shi Yuan, Tao Hua Desserts offers a wider variety and more choices of mooncakes.

For many nostalgic fans who miss Su Shi Yuan's five-nut mooncakes, after trying Tao Hua Dessert's five-nut mooncakes, they silently gave Tao Hua Dessert a thumbs up in their hearts.

Besides the great success of the mooncakes, what made Tong Huaqiong even happier was that one of the pigs in the pigsty was about to be released.

When it comes to the pigs leaving the pen, Tong Huaqiong feels both happy and worried.

The good news is that she can finally show off her meat buns, braised pork, braised pork hock, and braised pork chops; the bad news is that this pig was raised by Man'er by cutting pig feed, and even though the pig went to the pig farm in the temple, Man'er still goes to deliver pig feed to it every day.

Tong Huaqiong was afraid that if she killed it, she wouldn't be able to explain it to Man'er.

But if it isn't killed, its merits won't be realized.

As the first pig in Tong Huaqiong's pig farming business, this pig was the first to be castrated, and now it is the strongest and fattest, most suitable for slaughter in the fall.

Its sale will mark the initial success of Tong Huaqiong's aquaculture business.