The night they returned, Xiaocao fell ill. Xiuer was very worried and took Xiaocao to see a doctor, but the doctor said that the child was weak and needed good medicine to take care of her. Xiuer was also in a dilemma, as she did not have that much money.
"Xiuer, I'm useless. This is all I have, it's all yours," Zhao Ergou said, handing over half a tael of silver. How could that be enough?
Xiuer could only buy some medicine and go home first; she would deal with the rest later.
"How about this, Xiuer? Didn't the Zhou family say they could let you work at their pastry shop? Why don't you go? I'll stay home and take good care of Xiaocao," Zhao Ergou said.
Xiuer wanted to shake her head, but after looking at the little grass, she finally nodded. She had finally, completely let Rou Niang down!
"I welcome you to come and work for me, since you're naturally most familiar with the pastry recipes you provided. However, we need to sign a contract of servitude," said Butler Zhou.
"What? I'm doing this job, not selling myself! I won't sign!" Xiu'er said angrily, turning to leave, but Er Gou grabbed her.
"Workmanship? Go and see, which shop can match our workmanship? If you don't sign, what if you sell our recipe to someone else someday? Wouldn't we be left with nothing? Do you think everyone is as stupid as Bao Ni's Pastry Shop?" Butler Zhou said coolly.
Xiuer was filled with shame at the ridicule, but the contract of servitude meant she would become a slave if she signed it, so she hesitated!
"Xiuer, don't worry, we'll sign a temporary contract. Once Xiaocao recovers and we have some savings, I'll redeem you. It won't be like this forever; this is just a temporary measure!" Ergou advised.
In the end, Xiuer signed the papers.
A month later, Zhao San Niangzi came into the shop: "Rou Niang, a new pastry shop opened across the street, and it's exactly the same as our shop, both in terms of decoration and the pastries on the flyers!"
Li Rouniang said with a headache, "That's right, I just saw the flyer too. I don't know who's imitating this."
"No, I'm going to check. Wait for my news!" Zhang San Niangzi was an impatient person, and Li Rou Niang couldn't stop her. She ran out like the wind.
When Zhang San Niangzi arrived at Zhou's pastry shop across the street, she was shocked: "Xiuer? It's you!"
Xiuer had actually been mentally prepared, but when the day actually came, she was still incredibly ashamed.
"Do you have any conscience? You're actually using the pastry-making skills Rou Niang taught you to steal Rou Niang's business here!" Zhang San Niangzi said angrily.
"Sister Zhang, I have my reasons, please let me explain," Xiu'er stepped forward and grabbed Zhang San Niangzi's arm.
"Who's your sister? Stop trying to curry favor with me. I really didn't expect that you, who always seem so delicate and weak, would do something so ungrateful! Don't forget, if it weren't for Rou Niang's kindness back then, you would have been dead long ago!" Zhang San Niangzi's barrage of words left Xiu'er speechless. Her eyes were filled with tears, on the verge of crying.
Her frail appearance drew stares and whispers from onlookers who saw the domineering Zhang San Niangzi. Some even impulsively stepped forward to "defend justice." In the end, Zhang San Niangzi was kicked out before she could buy any pastries!
"I'm so angry!" Zhang San Niangzi returned to Bao Ni's pastry shop, furious, and told Li Rou Niang what had happened.
Li Rouniang remained calm because she had guessed it. After all, the only person who could make this pastry exactly the same was Xiuer, who had been learning from her every step of the way. Thinking about how she had worried about Xiuer not being well, it seemed she had been really foolish!
"Rou Niang, Zhao Xiu has gone too far. What should we do next?" Zhang San Niangzi asked.
"Mom, we're back!" At this moment, Old Man Mo led the children back. Today, everyone went to the town entrance to pick up Xiaoshan and came back together. Of course, Qian Duobao shamelessly came along as well.
"Xiaoshan's back, and Duobao's here too! That's wonderful! I've prepared the meal. Let's wash our hands, eat first, and then we can chat. Sister Zhang, don't leave either, come join us. I see Brother Zhang and the others will be leaving the yamen soon; I'll call them all over later," Li Rouniang said with a smile.
"You still have the appetite to eat? You're really carefree," said Madam Zhang. "Those two aren't coming; they have things to do tonight. Since you invited me, I'll shamelessly freeload."
The meal was naturally enjoyed very much.
"Mother, I heard Aunt Xiu and the others have left?" I heard it from Sanni on the mountain path.
"Yes, Zhao Ergou, also known as Xiaocao's father, took them home," Li Rouniang said.
"It's good to be reunited with family." Qian Duobao sighed. His parents only cared about their own world and hadn't come back for a long time. He could only receive letters from them. Sigh~ He was still a child. They didn't seem to care at all.
“What’s so good about it? That Zhao Xiu is the most heartless one. She’s working at the Zhou family’s pastry shop across the street now, and she makes the same pastries as Rou Niang. She’s just trying to steal our business!” Zhang San Niangzi said.
Everyone was taken aback.
Zhao Erni was furious and secretly went to demand an explanation for her mother after dinner, but Qian Duobao stopped her: "Erni, where are you going?"
"Duobao, I'm going to teach them a lesson for my mother! They're so mean!" Zhao Erni said with a childish expression.
“Erni, going like this won’t help Aunt Li; it might even cause her trouble. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a way to make sure that Zhou family’s shop goes out of business!” Qian Duobao said. He was an expert in business!
"Really?" Zhao Erni asked, tilting her head.
"Trust me!" Qian Duobao patted Zhao Erni's head. So cute!
Three months later, Zhou's pastry shop went out of business!
The Zhou family boss personally visited Qian Duobao at the Qian family mansion. He never expected that the Qian family was the one who had orchestrated the establishment of Bao Ni's pastry shop! If he had known, he wouldn't have bothered to sabotage it. Now, he's offended the future head of the Qian family. This young master's business acumen is truly remarkable, even surpassing that of the old master Qian. Moreover, he's incredibly lucky. Don't underestimate him just because he's a child; he's more capable than the adults.
The Zhou family's businesses were all severely suppressed, forcing him to back down.
"Tell me about it, Mr. Zhou, what's going on with your pastry shop?" Qian Duobao said, putting on airs.
"Speak, I'll speak, just to amuse the young master." Boss Zhou bowed and scraped.
This story begins a few months ago. As Bao Ni's pastry shop became more and more successful, he got the idea to get involved. He also learned about Zhao Er Gou by chance. At that time, Zhao Er Gou was still wandering around another town. He planned to bring him back and devise a scheme to get the recipe from Zhao Xiu. If successful, he would give Zhao Er Gou fifty taels of silver. That's how the rest of the story came about.
Now, Zhao Ergou, who had survived by the skin of his teeth and was a hoodlum in another place, was unexpectedly struck by a windfall. Naturally, he readily agreed. He knew that Xiu'er would not agree if he insisted, so he used a scheme to force Zhao Xiu to submit step by step.
When Qian Duobao told Li Rouniang and the others about this, everyone sighed in sympathy.
"Aunt Li, will you go and help her again?"
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