They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 182 The Tomatoes Are a Hit

Madam Zeng and Mr. Zeng had a fierce argument.

However, the head of the family is the head of the family. When Master Zeng gets really angry, Madam Zeng is completely helpless.

Besides, she was just a woman with no connection to Madam Lu, so there was no way she could personally plead with the authorities. Her husband forbade his son from getting involved in the matter anymore, so she was completely helpless.

Madam Zeng fell ill from anger and grief.

Master Zeng showed no mercy and declared that if she continued to cause trouble in the family, the Zeng family would completely abandon the Fang family and treat Fang Zhengduan the same as any other prisoner, letting him eat and wear whatever he wanted.

Sure enough, this subdued Madam Zeng.

In order to make her beloved brother's life in prison a little easier, Mrs. Zeng had no choice but to compromise.

However, she took all her anger out on Xu Zhichun and Zeng Xiaoyan, which made her even more resentful.

The investigation into Sifang Restaurant uncovered numerous problems, including issues with personnel management and appalling levels of corruption.

Managing such a large restaurant, it's impossible not to take some benefits. As long as it's not excessive, Master Zeng would turn a blind eye and not say anything. But he didn't expect that his brother-in-law wasn't just greedy, he wanted it all.

The accounts looked good on paper, and he could easily find out from the accountant when he asked. In reality, no silver had actually been deposited into the treasury; the lady had instructed that this was acceptable.

Okay, that's fine!

Mr. Zeng was so angry that he almost wanted a divorce.

Tomato and egg, braised tofu with tomatoes, stewed pork ribs with tomatoes, stewed fish with tomatoes, tomato and egg soup, tomato noodles, and cold tomato salad.
The sweet and sour, vibrant red tomato dishes brought Lianhua Restaurant back into the spotlight, and the Qin family's restaurant in the neighboring county also became a booming success, making them very wealthy.

Eighty catties every other day is not enough; we could double that amount.

Xu Zhichun had no choice. Her warehouse was fully stocked, but her vegetable garden only had eighty or ninety plants. Even at its peak, the yield couldn't supply more than a hundred kilograms a day.

Neither her family's nor Aunt Zhu'er's family's would work.

Unable to resist Manager Tang's persistent persuasion, he promised to take good care of the tomato seedlings in the field when he got back, and to try his best to make them grow stronger, bear more fruit, and ripen earlier. He also promised Manager Tang that he would try his best to supply 90 catties every other day.

It's the limit.

Manager Tang sighed with regret, but had no choice but to agree.

Xu Zhichun and Aunt Zhu'er were filled with regret: so much money flew right before their eyes, but they could only watch helplessly.

Even the usually composed Zeng Xiaoyan was starting to lose her composure. If it weren't for her awful second sister-in-law's inhuman behavior, she could have made a good fortune. If she caused trouble again next year, she would fight her head-on without hesitation.

But the price definitely won't be this good next year.

Making money depends on the right timing, location, and people.

Madam Lu and her family also loved these tomatoes. They would often ask Granny Ji to tell Xu Zhichun to send them five or ten catties, paying twenty-five coins per catty.

Madam Lu kept some for herself, and had the rest sent to the county school for the dean and several teachers to try.

The gentlemen all loved it. The tomatoes were peeled and chopped, then cooked with minced meat to make a topping, which was poured over the noodles. A few drops of vinegar and a sprinkle of chopped green onions added. It was a very appetizing dish for the hot summer.

As a result, all the students in the county school knew about tomatoes.

The students naturally wanted to follow the teachers' preferences, so everyone tried their best to get people to buy tomatoes.

They searched the whole city for supplies by asking family members, relatives, or the canteen's purchasing agents.

But apart from the Lotus Restaurant, there's nowhere else to find tomatoes. And the Lotus Restaurant, unfortunately, doesn't sell tomatoes; it only sells dishes made with tomatoes.

There is no other way.

If you really want to eat it, you can only buy dishes that have already been cooked by others.

Manager Tang thought to himself, "You wish! These are just the things that are delivered each time. Not only do we share them with the restaurant next door in Qingyang County, but we also have to send some to the master's mansion every few days."

The Qin family also liked her. If it weren't for Xu Zhichun's connection with Madam Lu, Qin Xiuhe might have done something else.

Not only tomatoes, but also ice jelly.

Of course, after seeing what happened to Young Master Zeng, she didn't dare.

Although she was unwilling to give up, she had her nanny try to persuade Xu Zhichun to buy the ice jelly recipe. Xu Zhichun politely refused. She was unhappy behind his back, but only dared to mutter a few words and did not dare to do anything more.

She also liked the tomatoes very much, and with the reminder from her maids and nannies, she immediately discovered something new: these tomatoes have seeds!

If we take the seeds and have the servants plant them, wouldn't we be able to harvest lots and lots of tomatoes?

Overjoyed, Qin Xiuhe had her maid Shuangfu forcefully ask Manager Tang for twenty catties of tomatoes. She immediately sent them back to her husband's family so they could retrieve the seeds, dry them, and plant plenty next spring.

Madam Qin also had a lot of tomato seeds brought to her, planning to have a fertile plot of land cleared on the estate next year, and have the estate manager find several experienced, meticulous, and capable farmers to take care of the tomatoes.

Qin Xiuhe knew she should save the seeds, but seeing her sister-in-law doing the same made her feel uneasy, as if her own things were being divided up.

The thought that Xu Zhichun and the others would definitely keep the seeds and plant a lot of them next year made him even more uneasy.

It seems like tomatoes won't be worth much next year.

Qin Xiuhe's enthusiasm immediately waned, and her fiery passion quickly faded.

Back at the county school, Madam Qin doted on her son and would send some things to Qin Ning'an every few days.

As a result, Qin Ning'an became the most dazzling student in the county school, enjoying immense popularity. His senior classmates all adored him, especially when it came to sharing tomatoes.

This tomato stew is absolutely delicious! The gentlemen have great taste; the things they like are never bad.

Dou Zhongli asked the Zeng family to help him buy the items, but it didn't work out. The Zeng family was in a huge mess because of Fang Zhengduan's matter, so the young master Zeng didn't have the energy to deal with these things. He just sent someone to look around the streets, and if they couldn't find anything, he just let it go.

Dou Zhongli, who was competitive, felt that he had lost face and was particularly unhappy.

His henchmen were all eager to lure Qin Ning'an over, since Qin Ning'an was naive and rich, and once they got him on board, they'd have everything they needed for the future.

Qin Ning'an, however, was completely devoted to Liang Mingxuan and Lu Xiaoyue, ignoring all their attempts to flatter and bribe her.

They were so angry that they couldn't even vent their anger.

After all, there are only a few ways to frame someone in the academy, such as falsely accusing someone of theft. But Qin Ning'an is so rich, would he steal anything?

Who would believe it if I told them? Even they themselves don't believe it.

She took her anger out on Liang Mingxuan and tried to frame him, but she almost broke down when she faced Liang Mingxuan, as if all her dirty thoughts had nowhere to hide in his eyes. She was so guilty that she dared not do anything.

Lu Xiaoyue has incredibly powerful backing, so there's no need to even think about it.

(End of this chapter)