Anle grinned.
"Auntie, I find it quite novel too."
Which of those wealthy and noble young men and women isn't pampered and spoiled?
Those pampered young ladies ate my family's pastries and nothing happened to them.
You guys are so tough and thick-skinned, eating only coarse food and vegetables, and you can't even handle this stuff?
Is it really as this old man says, that your child is destined to be poor and unable to enjoy my pastries?
The old man chuckled, tapping his pipe and grinning with his big yellow teeth, "Yes, yes, that's exactly it."
Your child must have done something terrible in their past life to be born into such a privileged situation.
Anle chuckled, genuinely amused by the old man watching the spectacle.
The woman's face stiffened, and she glared at the old man with a mixture of anger and resentment.
"Hey, why are you glaring at me like that, woman? Isn't that the truth?"
I see that the people coming in and out of this shop every day are all maids, servants and young men from wealthy families. How come the people from these high-class families can eat without any problems?
Is your child's belly more precious than the belly of someone pampered by the delicacies of a wealthy family?
"Who knows what your kid ate that gave him an upset stomach, and now he's coming here to cause trouble at this dessert shop?"
Your words, as a bystander, have once again shifted the tide of public opinion.
"Hey, that's really true!"
With so many maids and servants coming and going every day, why haven't we seen any wealthy or powerful families come knocking on our door complaining of food poisoning?
"Oh, right! If there really is a problem with the pastries sold here, it wouldn't just be your child who gets poisoned, would it?"
Wouldn't that poison a huge number of wealthy and powerful families?
The poor, burly man standing next to him stiffened his neck and shouted, "Maybe it's just the box my child ate that's the problem. It just so happens that my child was unlucky enough to run into it."
Anle glanced at the poor, stout man with a wistful look in her eyes.
"The pastries sold in my shop are not made in one batch per box. Each time, I prepare enough ingredients to make several batches and several boxes at once."
If the box your child ate is problematic, then everyone else who ate it will be affected too.
"Oh, by the way, I still have a very good impression of you as a guest."
Because the customers who come to my shop are all wealthy and influential people.
I've never had a poor customer like you, dressed in patched-up clothes, come to my door to buy pastries before.
So I remember you; you came here to buy pastries yesterday, didn't you?
I remember you bought a box of melt-in-your-mouth snacks from this shop near my house.
You said my family's pastries made your child sick, and you probably brought that box of melt-in-your-mouth cookies as evidence, right?
The poor, burly man stammered, "They...they ate them all, they were all given to the children."
Seeing such a novel treat, the child naturally ate it all up.
Anle feigned surprise and exclaimed, "Wow, your family is really willing to spend a lot of money to feed the child this expensive stuff!"
This thing that costs fifty silver coins, you don't even bother to eat it as a snack, you'll just eat it all in one meal, right?
This doesn't sound like the behavior of a poor family at all; it sounds more like the behavior of a wealthy and powerful family.
The poor, stingy man got angry. "What business is it of yours what I do? Anyway, the pastries from your place made my child sick. What do you say we should do about it?"
Anle's face immediately turned cold, and she said expressionlessly.
"What should we do? Let's go to the authorities, seek justice, and settle things in court."
Upon hearing that they would have to go to court, the poor, stout man panicked, and the woman panicked too.
"I didn't mean to ask anything of your family."
My child got sick from the food your family gave him, and I'd like to ask you to spend some money to treat him. I don't mean anything else.
Why are you the one being so persistent?
Anle sneered, "I didn't mean anything? But ruining the reputation of my Paradise Dessert Shop is a big deal."
If this matter isn't clarified, my Paradise Dessert Shop's reputation will be ruined by your family.
If people really misunderstand and think there's something wrong with my pastries, how am I supposed to keep my business going?
"Oh, right, we've finished the pastries, but we should still have the pastry box, right?"
"Bring your pastry box, let's meet in court."
The pastry box clearly shows the production date of the product, indicating exactly when it was made.
Once you have the box and know the exact date and time it was made, you can check it against pastries made at the same time in her shop to see if there's a problem.
Proving one's innocence is a very simple matter that can be accomplished.
But her goal was to force the family to tell the truth!
She needed to find out whether the family was greedy and extorting money, or if someone was behind it.
The thought that someone might be watching her and plotting against her made her quite unhappy.
She's the one who schemes against others, when did it become her turn to scheme against her?
She was determined to get to the bottom of things.
Anning tugged at Anle's sleeve and whispered something in Anle's ear.
"Little sister, we've already finished all the pastries, what use is the box to you now?"
Anlejuan glanced at Anning and deliberately raised her voice to let the poor, stingy man hear.
"Of course, it's to prove whether this family bought the pastries to eat themselves or not."
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