The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 32 - The Endless Mooncakes
Chapter 32: Chapter 32: The Endless Mooncakes
Chapter 32 -32: The Endless Mooncakes
Shen Baolan felt that she had been incredibly unlucky lately, with everything going against her.
Her husband was cold and ignored her every day, her in-laws were rather displeased with her, and her superiors at the factory scolded her for no reason.
Even her coworkers laughed at her behind her back.
So, when she saw Shen Mingzhu, the “chief culprit,” blocking her way, she didn’t look at her with any grace.
“A good dog doesn’t stand in the way!”
Shen Mingzhu retorted, “A good donkey doesn’t bray either.”
Shen Baolan’s expression darkened even more, “Shen Mingzhu, are you picking a fight on purpose or what?”
“Baolan, why are you so worked up?
I’ve been specially waiting here for you for quite a while, wanting to thank you personally.”
Under Shen Baolan’s suspicious gaze, Shen Mingzhu grinned, “Well, I couldn’t sell my mooncakes and was about to give up, but thanks to you advertising them around the factory, now everyone knows about my expensive mooncakes.
Every leader in the factory wants to try them, and I have more orders than I can fill.
My hands are sore from making mooncakes.”
Doesn’t that just irritate you?
Shen Baolan was already irate, and hearing Shen Mingzhu boast, her face nearly twisted with fury.
“Shen Mingzhu, what’s there for you to be so smug about?
Do you really think you are that capable?
It’s all because you’re riding on your cousin’s coattails.
Without her, you’re nothing!
What are you so proud of?
At least I am a worker at the textile factory.
What are you?
Just a housewife, depending on a man at home and on your cousin outside.
What real skills do you have?
You still have the face to show off in front of me, I spit on that!”
“You’re right, I am depending on my cousin, can’t help it, who made me so fortunate?
I have to thank you for giving such a good man like Pei Yang to me; I genuinely want to thank you.
Why are you still angry?”
“Shen Mingzhu, just enjoy it while it lasts.
I’ll wait and see you cry!”
“Then you’ll wait for the rest of your life, because even if I cry, I’ll never let you see.”
“Shen Mingzhu, let’s wait and see who laughs last!”
“Let’s see, then.”
Back home, Shen Baolan complained to her mother-in-law Ma Sufen about the injustice she faced, seeking comfort.
Instead of comfort, she was scolded by Ma Sufen for bringing it upon herself, and Shen Baolan became even more emotional.
In stark contrast to Shen Baolan, Shen Mingzhu was in a great mood.
She hummed a tune all the way home, put on her apron, and prepared to make some good dishes to celebrate her recent success in selling mooncakes, which had brought her nearly twenty in income.
The quarrel between Shen Mingzhu and Shen Baolan spread quickly in the residential compound, especially Shen Mingzhu’s line “Thank you for giving such a good man to me,” which people found very entertaining.
With the digging of the gossip-hungry crowd, the whole story of the “suitor selection” incident was revealed.
Outsiders naturally couldn’t fathom Shen Baolan’s thought process, how she could forgo a handsome young man with great prospects like Pei Yang for someone like Zhou Shuhuan, who had a criminal record.
But as her mother-in-law, Ma Sufen felt that Shen Baolan had good judgment, which pleased her greatly.
She decided to no longer hold against Shen Baolan the trouble she had caused before.
Zhou Shuhuan also felt a lot of pride because after all, he had won over Pei Yang and stopped giving Shen Baolan the cold shoulder. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Yet Pei Wenping was quite upset.
Although she looked down on Shen Baolan, she did not know it was Shen Baolan who did not think highly of her younger brother.
“Pah, who does she think she is, Shen Baolan, daring to look down on my brother Pei Yang.
Are those eyes just for decoration?”
Pei Wenping didn’t find it easy to bring this matter up to Shen Mingzhu, so she could only go home and vent to her husband.
Chen Yi wasn’t particularly bothered, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
While Pei Yang is outstanding, he’s hardly ever at home all year round.
It’s normal for others not wanting to marry into our family just to be left alone.
What’s there for you to be angry about?”
Convinced by her husband, Pei Wenping came to terms with it and held Shen Mingzhu in even higher regard.
“Mingzhu is still the best, pretty, with a nice personality, clever thoughts—she’s better than Shen Baolan in every aspect.
No, I have to call Pei Yang and tell him to come home more often.
Can’t let such a good daughter-in-law be snatched away by someone else.”
Chen Yi chuckled, “He’s at sea, can’t come back even if he wants to, you just need to help him keep a close eye on things.”
Pei Wenping thought her husband made sense, and at the same time, she set a target for him, insisting that he must help sell two hundred mooncakes.
She figured that with Shen Mingzhu busy at home every day, there was no opportunity for anyone to tempt her.
Pei Wenping set a target not only for her husband but also enlisted her brother-in-law and her parents-in-law to help sell the mooncakes together.
When everyone pitched in, the flame rose higher.
Shen Mingzhu’s mooncake orders kept increasing; there were too many to bake—impossible to finish.
Just as she was considering whether to buy another oven, a major customer came knocking.
The visitor was a manager from a food factory who had tasted Shen Mingzhu’s mooncakes by chance and wanted to discuss a partnership with her.
The food factory proposed two options: one was for Shen Mingzhu to sell the mooncake recipe outright to them, and the other was a technical cooperation where Shen Mingzhu would receive a dividend based on the profits of four types of mooncakes each year.
Shen Mingzhu did not hesitate to choose the latter.
After completing the existing orders, Shen Mingzhu stopped baking mooncakes and focused on teaching the factory workers how to make them instead.
With the Mid-Autumn Festival only a few days away, the food factory wanted to rush out a batch of mooncakes before the festival to test the market response.
If it was good, they could increase production next year.
The residents of the family compound noticed that Shen Mingzhu no longer baked mooncakes and was constantly running out, and they speculated whether the mooncake business had failed.
When Shen Baolan heard this news, she was so happy she could have set off fireworks to celebrate.
So that evening, after dinner, she sought out Shen Mingzhu again.
“Why did you stop baking mooncakes?
Couldn’t sell them, could you?
I’ve said before that this was a short-lived business, not a long-term plan.
Did you really think you could rely on your elder aunt’s reputation forever?”
Shen Mingzhu didn’t let Shen Baolan enter, so Shen Baolan stood at the door and mocked her, eagerly awaiting the sight of Shen Mingzhu fuming with anger.
However, before she could finish speaking, Shen Mingzhu slammed the door shut with a bang.
Luckily, Shen Baolan dodged quickly, otherwise her nose might have been broken.
Initially, she was a bit angry, but then it dawned on her that Shen Mingzhu must be stewing with resentment behind closed doors, and she felt happy again.
“Is it true, how can this young woman be so capable?”
“Indeed…”
As Shen Baolan came out from the building where Shen Mingzhu lived, she heard a group of residents in the family compound gathered together, chattering excitedly about something.
Her first thought was that she was the subject of their discussion.
Among the young wives in the family compound, she was considered top-notch, able to handle both social settings and the kitchen, take care of the children, serve her in-laws, and had a stable job to boot.
No one could outdo her.
She pretended to bend down to brush off the dust on the cuffs of her pants, lingering to hear more about how they were praising her.
Instead, she heard everyone talking about the food factory, “You have no idea, those master chefs there can’t stop praising her skills and are vying to learn from her.”
Turns out they weren’t talking about her.
Disappointed and, at the same time, curious who they were discussing, Shen Baolan hadn’t heard of any family compound wife working at the food factory.
Out of curiosity, Shen Baolan joined in, “Who are you talking about?
Who works at the food factory?”
As soon as they saw her, the expressions on everyone’s faces became meaningful.
