"Auntie, please let me go. Brother Jinlu doesn't want me anymore. Do you still want to ruin my reputation and my whole life?"
Zhu Wenjuan's cleverness finally returned; she pushed Zhu Xiaohua's hand away.
He returned to his room with a blank stare.
"Heh—you brat, you don't appreciate my kindness! What have I done to ruin you? I'm doing all this for your own good, you're just wasting your time and effort, eating and drinking for free at my house, and you can't even hook up with some greenhorn, you good-for-nothing!"
Zhu Xiaohua was so angry she nearly fell over. She muttered curses under her breath for a long time before returning to the main room.
"Get your niece out of here right now! The engagement's off, what's the point of keeping her around? Don't you think we should pay for our food? She's just eating and drinking for free. Does she really think the Chen family is a savior?"
No wonder they're mother-in-law and daughter-in-law; they say almost the same things. Chen Lishi's face was long and she looked very mean.
"Grandma, why chase her away? I have a good match for her. You know Aunt Efen from our village, right? Her son is already 20 and still not married. Aunt Efen is so anxious. She said she's going to give 5 taels of silver to help her son Wangtao find a wife. As a result, matchmakers have been knocking down her door. Wenjuan is pretty, and Wangtao will definitely like her."
Li Rulan, Zhu Xiaohua's eldest daughter-in-law, chimed in.
She and Zhu Xiaohua were on the same side, so she naturally knew her mother-in-law's plans.
With a dowry of five taels, after deducting the four taels that had to be given to the mother-in-law's family, they could still get at least one tael, while Wenjuan could only afford a few mouthfuls of food.
This deal looks like a great deal no matter how you look at it.
"Really? Then hurry up and take her to meet potential husbands. The sooner she gets married, the less food she'll have to eat from our family."
Mrs. Chen felt so sorry for her.
Since her money had already been stolen, she had nightmares every night, dreaming of beating the thief.
There's another mouth to feed.
The family became even poorer.
"Don't worry, Grandma. Look at her condition. She won't recover in a day or two. Here's what I'll do: I'll go and tell Aunt Efen later that I'll take her to the Liu family for a consultation the day after tomorrow."
"Alright, Xiaohua, if that kid Wangtao doesn't like her, then get rid of her right away, understand?"
Chen Li-shi, still feeling uneasy, gave another word of advice.
"I know, Mother. You don't trust Rulan to handle things? She's already asked for it, so it's bound to work out."
It can definitely be done.
Because Liu Wangtao had already set his sights on Zhu Wenjuan.
It's just that before, she was in a relationship with Jinlu.
That day, Li Rulan arrived at the Liu family's house and stayed there for about half an hour.
He left with a big smile on his face.
Another night passed, and in the backyard of Yan's pastry shop, the mother and daughter rolled up their sleeves and kept busy.
The persimmon tree in the yard was laden with green fruit, swaying back and forth in the gentle breeze.
The dense foliage blocked the hot sun, making the mother and daughter feel less hot.
The cicadas and birds in the trees were chirping at each other, seemingly vying to see who was better.
Midsummer is always exceptionally lively.
Today, Yanxia officially launched its new product, ice jelly.
Last night, the whole family stayed in the yard, making bamboo tubes and digging wooden spoons, working until late into the night, so much so that Yan Xia slept for an extra half hour at noon.
I'm so sleepy.
Making money is not easy.
To protect the copyright, Yan Xia even carved the character "Yan" on the outside of the bamboo tube.
It uses her own unique and adorable font.
"Mom, do you still have ice jelly? The customer who bought 9 cups before is back again. He said he wants 12 cups this time because he wants to give them as gifts."
Jin Lu looked flustered. The restaurant was packed with customers today, all coming for the ice jelly. Just now, two customers almost got into a fight because of cutting in line.
"That's all, that's all. We only made 300 bamboo tubes yesterday, and they're all sold out. Tell the customers not to queue anymore, the promotion still has two days left."
Since we did an event yesterday, we definitely need to do one today too.
Half a tael of silver for one cup, one tael of silver for three cups.
Even a fool would buy a tael of silver; her regular customers were never short of money.
The streets were bustling with people, most of whom were crowded outside Yan's Pastry Shop. Even the scorching afternoon heat couldn't dampen their enthusiasm for buying ice jelly.
"Dad, our shop's business is getting worse and worse. Ever since that incident with the flower cakes, hardly anyone has come to the shop. Anyway, I'm just sitting here doing nothing. Let me go home and keep Yuefang company."
Monday was incredibly boring.
Although he only comes to the shop around noon every day, half an hour there feels like a year.
“What kind of behavior is this? When are you ever late? Come earlier tomorrow. You sleep in every day. Do you really think this shop is your father’s or mine?”
Zhou Laocai was extremely annoyed.
If business continues to be this bad, the shop will have to close down sooner or later.
If the business closes down, what will his family eat and drink?
His cousin came to inspect the place a few days ago.
They said the money in the accounts this year is less than last year.
Zhou Laocai was terrified. Could his family afford a house in town and spend 8 taels of silver to get his son married off with a monthly wage of less than half a tael of silver? Of course not.
He secretly tampered with the ledgers, which was the reason he dismissed the old accountant.
If he audits the accounts at the end of the year and finds that more than half of the revenue has been lost, his cousin will definitely suspect him.
Even if he only stole two ounces this year.
Zhou Laocai stood at the entrance of his shop, his eyes fixed on Yan's Pastry Shop across the street with a venomous look.
I have no idea what he's thinking.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're sold out! All the ice jelly is gone! Come back tomorrow. The promotion lasts for two more days, so if you want some, come early tomorrow or the day after. We close for a break at noon and reopen at the end of the day, so don't make a wasted trip."
Jin Fugang came out of the backyard and relayed his mother's words to the customers in line.
"Wow, what a waste of time queuing up. Business is really good. How about this, give me a bag of peach shortbread, peach flavor."
"Oh, it's so hot! Pour me a glass of water. I won't buy the peach shortbread, but I'll have a bag of flower cakes. It's so hot, and the peach shortbread makes my mouth dry."
"I'm going home. Why bother queuing if there's no ice jelly? I'll come first thing tomorrow morning and see who tries to take it from me."
"I should have bought six cups earlier. Three cups weren't enough. I only ate two bites after I got home and they were gone. Sigh, there are too many people in my family, we have to fight for food."
Two-thirds of the group left immediately.
I used the remaining third of the money to buy flower cakes or peach shortbread.
We'll close the shop a little earlier today.
It's too hot, so the pastries aren't selling well, unlike the fruit vendors who sell out their stalls by noon.
In the backyard, the three of them drank a large glass of cold water to relieve their fatigue and heat. Yan Xia sat on a stool and began to check the accounts.
I made 98 taels of silver today after deducting costs from 300 cups of ice jelly.
Yes, the cost is only two taels of silver.
Brown sugar and rose jam make up the majority of the ingredients.
These two are too expensive.
Watermelons are not worth mentioning.
Including the flower cakes and peach shortbread, today's income is 120 taels.
Yan Xia put away the silver, each carrying a large watermelon, closed the shop, and went home.
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