The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 252: Mooncakes

Liu Yueer was startled to learn from Yaozu that their son had pushed down the County Magistrate’s son.

Who was the County Magistrate’s son?

The little tyrant of Pingchuan County, the premier young master.

Even if their son called his grandmother a wet nurse, he was still a peasant’s son, separated by a barrier from the County Magistrate’s son. Instead of appeasing him, Yaozu had gone so far as to push him.

If they accidentally angered him, or if County Magistrate Liu found out, wouldn’t their family offend these people?

If they lost the favor of his grandmother, could they still live a good life?

Thinking so, Liu Yueer twisted Gu Yaozu’s ear and said, "What did I tell you? Do you know the status of Young Master Liu, someone you can’t afford to offend? I told you to treat Young Master Liu well, not to retaliate when he hit you, and not to answer back when he insulted you. Yet, you went ahead and pushed him. You little rascal, just see how I deal with you."

Gu Yaozu squealed as his ear was twisted, saying aggrievedly, "Mom, Grandma didn’t blame me. Grandma stood by me."

Liu Yueer said, "Even if your grandmother supports you, you still can’t be disrespectful to Young Master Liu."

Liu Yanhong and Man Er stood at the second house’s door, seeing Gu Yaozu getting his ear twisted, and went to Tong Huaqiong for help.

Tong Huaqiong had already heard Liu Yueer’s scolding.

With her voice, it was impossible for Tong Huaqiong to pretend not to hear.

"Is that how you discipline a child? Twisting without distinguishing right from wrong?"

Tong Huaqiong reprimanded Liu Yueer.

"What, just because our Yaozu isn’t as noble as the County Magistrate’s son? Is it justified for Liu Yanhong’s father to be a magistrate and for him to fight with Yaozu?"

"Don’t be so lowly in life. Yaozu did nothing wrong today, so you shouldn’t hit him."

Normally, Tong Huaqiong didn’t interfere with the second house’s way of raising children.

But today was different; Liu Yueer’s beating of Yaozu was obviously an act of currying favor with the County Magistrate’s son.

This era was not about not respecting the powerful, but Tong Huaqiong didn’t agree with admitting fault when there was none.

She couldn’t allow servile submission from Yaozu to Liu Yanhong.

Liu Yueer said straightforwardly, "Mom, I understand. I won’t disgrace myself anymore."

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

Liu Yueer, after being scolded by Tong Huaqiong, wasn’t angry but rather pleased.

Currently, it was evident that Grandma favored Man Er, causing considerable discontent for Liu Yueer, who usually didn’t dare express it due to Tong Huaqiong’s "intimidation."

She thought Yaozu had long lost his grandmother’s favor and that his grandmother no longer cared regardless of what he did.

To her surprise, his grandmother defended Yaozu so steadfastly.

Her beatings and scoldings today confirmed that Yaozu still had a place in his grandmother’s heart.

The grandmother still looked at Yaozu as her own grandson.

For her grandson’s sake, she wasn’t even afraid to offend the County Magistrate’s son.

Facing Liu Yueer’s fawning gaze, Tong Huaqiong thought Liu Yueer must have lost her mind.

Why did the more she scolded, the happier she seemed?

...

As the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, Tong Huaqiong had come up with a few mooncake recipes.

Mooncakes of this era were relatively simplistic, primarily filled with five nuts, with some made of red bean paste or date paste.

Living in an era with a wide variety of mooncakes, Tong Huaqiong particularly favored these old-fashioned traditional mooncakes.

Especially the five-nut mooncakes without green and red silk; as long as they were filled to the brim, she thought they were better than any other mooncake.

However, from a business perspective, the era needed more inventive mooncakes.

Like in previous times, mooncakes in some parts of Hong Kong became the top mooncake brand because of their bold innovation, creating custard mooncakes.

Now, Taohua Dessert not only had two shops in Yan Guan Town, but the shops in Pingchuan County and Prefecture City were also set to open before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Pingchuan County and Prefecture City differed from Yan Guan Town, with competition so intense that each dessert shop had unique flagship products. Taohua Dessert had to launch its specialty pastries to establish its brand and secure its footing.

Pastries aren’t like meals; they’re not necessities but embellishments in daily life.

The times when everyone gathers at a pastry shop are mostly festivals, especially Mid-Autumn, which is deeply associated with pastries.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household visits friends and family. Don’t they bring mooncakes and pastries?

It was a perfect opportunity to use the Mid-Autumn mooncake season to bring a revolution by innovating to upend tradition and thereby attract attention.

For a modern soul like Tong Huaqiong, concocting a unique mooncake recipe that captures the interest of this era was an easy feat.

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

Tong Huaqiong knew that materials in this era were relatively scarce, with nuts like melon seeds and peanuts being precious. Not many nuts were put in five-nut mooncakes, usually filled with cheap winter melon paste and green and red silk, which was why she and many of her peers back in the day detested five-nut mooncakes.

Once grown, she realized the deliciousness of homemade five-nut mooncakes surpassed her expectations.

Taohua Dessert’s five-nut mooncakes showed no cuts on quality, compounding sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnut kernels, and sesame as full as possible according to her taste preferences.

The oven in the yard fired up and Tong Huaqiong baked tirelessly from morning to night.

She had Chen Sufen stay home to assist in menial tasks.

Besides Chen Sufen, Liu Yueer’s niece Liu Xiuxiu was also helping out.

Tong Huaqiong noticed Liu Xiuxiu’s talent in baking and aimed to cultivate her.

"Grandma Tong has so many ideas, people around Yan Guan Town haven’t even seen, let alone tasted, these mooncake recipes of ours." Liu Xiuxiu remarked as she pressed mooncakes with a mold. "This mold is also beautiful."

The mooncake molds were beautiful too, showcasing Chang Er flying to the moon, Wu Gang chopping trees, and words of reunion. These molds were custom-ordered by Tong Huaqiong at the Lu family’s shop.

Beautiful molds could enhance the quality of the mooncakes, especially giving more face when gifting them.

Chen Sufen smiled and said nothing.

Her mother-in-law had a golden touch, and even so, it was inseparable from her cleverness.

Someone like her, even with a pile of raw materials in front of her, couldn’t come up with the recipes her mother-in-law devised.

"The reason I can come up with ideas is that I dare to try boldly," said Tong Huaqiong.

She noticed both Chen Sufen and Liu Xiuxiu had baking talent, but they were restricted by the thought that "failure wastes materials," making them reluctant to try bold recipes and bake with confidence.

They could apply her recipes after hearing them once, but when it came to creating their own, they hesitated.

This wouldn’t do.

Tong Huaqiong took the opportunity to tell Liu Xiuxiu, "Since I entrusted you with managing the baking room, I’m not afraid of you wasting materials. Just like with my mooncake recipes, it wasn’t a success in one go. It requires repeated trials to find the best-tasting flavor. A competent baker should be able to prepare their own recipes, to create recipes. If you can create your recipe, even if it wastes materials, I can handle it."

Upon saying this, Tong Huaqiong thought she couldn’t just preach but needed to set some rules.

In the baking room, every master must come up with a recipe every month without exception.

If a recipe gained wide approval from customers, it would merit an additional bonus.

Only then could people be encouraged to innovate.