The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 38 - None Sold
Chapter 38: Chapter 38 None Sold
Chapter 38 -38 None Sold
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“Mom!
Mom!
How did the sales go today?
Did you sell out?
How much did we earn?”
As soon as Shen Baolan entered the home, not even bothering to change her shoes, she eagerly asked Ma Sufen, who was peeling potatoes in the sitting room.
Ma Sufen glanced at her with eyelids half-lifted, her face as long as a donkey’s, “Earn?
We didn’t sell a single one all day.”
Shen Baolan simply couldn’t believe it and thought that Ma Sufen was joking with her.
“Mom, stop joking around with me.
My egg cakes are both delicious and cheap.
How could they not sell?
It’d be more likely that we didn’t have enough to sell!
Tell me the truth, how much did we really make?
Was it this much?”
Shen Baolan made a gesture indicating the number five with her hand.
She wasn’t greedy, she’d be content with just earning five yuan.
Even earning two or three yuan would be fine.
Ma Sufen rolled her eyes, “It’s in the kitchen cabinet, go look for yourself!”
Brimming with joy, Shen Baolan ran into the kitchen, flung open the cupboard door, fully expecting to see a pile of money.
Instead, both the upper and lower shelves of the cupboard were crammed full of her egg cakes and Double Ninth cakes.
Shen Baolan was stunned for several seconds before realizing that her mother-in-law wasn’t joking, she really hadn’t sold any.
“Mom, did you really set up a stall downstairs today?”
She suspected that her mother-in-law simply hadn’t had the nerve to go out and set up the stall.
Ma Sufen angrily raised her voice, saying that she went downstairs early in the morning and didn’t pack up the stall until four in the afternoon to go pick up her grandson from school—and not a single customer had come.
Shen Baolan, refusing to be deterred, questioned whether Ma Sufen’s lack of enthusiasm, poor attitude, or failure to offer samples might be to blame.
In any case, she was adamant that the failure to sell was entirely Ma Sufen’s fault, and it definitely wasn’t because her products were lacking.
At bedtime, Shen Baolan complained to her husband with dissatisfaction, blaming Ma Sufen for holding her back and even failing at running a simple stall.
Zhou Shuhuan simply replied, “Then you try setting up a stall for yourself.”
“I’ll try it, if I set it up myself I can definitely sell everything!”
The next day, Shen Baolan called a coworker from the canteen to swap shifts, securing a day off to give proper attention to her stall.
By the time Shen Mingzhu had breakfast and was sending Pei Ziheng to the kindergarten, Shen Baolan’s stall was already set up.
Shen Mingzhu immediately noticed that the items on Shen Baolan’s stall were the same batch that Ma Sufen had tried to sell the day before.
With this weather, it wasn’t much of a problem for cakes to sit out for a day or two, but it seemed the sealing hadn’t been done properly.
The egg cakes had darkened on the surface and the Double Ninth cakes were dry and brittle, looking far from fresh and hardly appetizing.
“Egg cakes for sale, fragrant and sweet egg cakes, only two yuan and thirty cents a pound…”
Long after walking away, Shen Baolan’s voice, loud as a horn, could still be heard.
A few of the mothers on good terms with Shen Mingzhu teased her about Shen Baolan, saying she was trying to emulate Shen Mingzhu, but unfortunately lacked her talent and skill.
They laughed and asked Shen Mingzhu what she had been up to lately and why she hadn’t set up her stall.
Shen Mingzhu saw no need to hide anything and openly shared that she had been staying home to read, looking to improve her education, which earned her the continuous praise of the other mothers for her ambition.
Shen Mingzhu merely smiled, not taking it seriously.
It wasn’t until the afternoon when Shen Mingzhu picked up Pei Ziheng from school and returned home after shopping at the market that she saw Shen Baolan’s stall was still there.
Some of the egg cakes had sold, though it looked like less in quantity, and the Double Ninth cake was missing a piece, as if someone had tasted it but didn’t buy.
Shen Mingzhu merely glanced casually, however, to Shen Baolan’s eyes, it seemed as though Shen Mingzhu was mocking her, and she blocked Shen Mingzhu’s path angrily.
“What are you laughing at?”
Shen Mingzhu was perplexed, “Which eye of yours saw me laughing?”
“`
“I did see it!
You’re laughing at me!”
Shen Baolan’s expression was furious, and her tone carried a hint of grievance.
She was not only aggrieved but also baffled.
It was incomprehensible to her why they both made egg cakes, yet Shen Mingzhu could earn money, whereas she could not, even after she had specifically spent twenty yuan to learn the craft from a master egg cake maker outside.
The more Shen Baolan thought about it, the more aggrieved she became, and she began to rant at Shen Mingzhu, “What right do you have to laugh at me?
Last time you set up a stall, you didn’t sell a single mooncake.
Wasn’t it my man who looked after your business?
I’m stronger than you at least.
I managed to sell two jin of egg cakes.”
Shen Mingzhu was utterly speechless—her mom could open the door to speechlessness and welcome it home.
She just passed by and glanced for a moment, big sister!
Even if she did laugh, so what?
Is she not allowed to laugh now?
However, what was even more absurd came next: Shen Baolan stubbornly grabbed onto Shen Mingzhu, refusing to let her leave, claiming that since Zhou Shuhuan had bought her mooncakes last time, it was only proper that this time, Shen Mingzhu should buy her Double Ninth Festival cakes.
Shen Mingzhu was shocked by Shen Baolan’s shamelessness, “You have the nerve to bring up mooncakes?
Have you forgotten how you came to me desperately wanting a refund that day?”
“Would I have asked for a refund if you hadn’t scammed my man first?”
Shen Mingzhu finally understood the meaning of turning the tables against her.
“My egg cakes are cheap and delicious.
If you buy two jin to take back, I guarantee you won’t be at a loss.”
Buy two jin, huh?
She’d have to be out of her mind to buy these treats that looked terrible and tasted just as bad—she wouldn’t want them even if they were given for free.
“I’m not buying.”
“You have to buy.”
Shen Mingzhu was so angry that she shouted towards Shen Baolan’s husband, “Zhou Shuhuan, come take care of your wife!”
Shen Baolan instinctively looked back but found no one behind her.
Only then did she realize Shen Mingzhu had tricked her.
By the time she turned around, Shen Mingzhu had already run off with Pei Ziheng, leaving her so furious she stomped her feet.
It was completely dark before Shen Baolan finally packed up her stall and returned home.
As soon as she entered, her mother-in-law Ma Sufen came over with a sneer, “Oh ho, look, our capable daughter-in-law is back.
How much money did you make selling from morning till night?”
Upon seeing that a large amount of the egg cakes was left and the Double Ninth Festival cakes were unsold, Ma Sufen immediately began to ridicule her without any courtesy.
“I thought you were so capable.
You can make these things, why don’t you sell them?
It’s such a waste to spend so much money on books for you.
You’d better not take on work you can’t handle if you don’t have the skills.”
Shen Baolan was already feeling blocked up inside; being criticized like this by Ma Sufen made her unable to hold back her tears.
“It’s fine if others laugh at me, but even you, mom, are making fun of me.
When I said I wanted to buy books to learn a skill, didn’t you agree?
Now that the business has failed, why is it all my fault?
I’m also doing this for our family, trying to make more money so you all can have a better life.
What did I do wrong, wuu wuu wuu…”
Ma Sufen wasn’t buying her act, “You even have the nerve to cry.
Just think about how much money you’ve wasted during this period!
You still dare to boast about being better than Pei Yang’s wife; I think you’re not even half as good as her!”
Zhou Quanxiong couldn’t help but join in the scolding of Shen Baolan, “From now on, just manage our home well and take care of Xiaohao.
As for making money, that’s a man’s job; you don’t need to worry about it.”
After being berated by her in-laws, Shen Baolan initially felt deeply hurt and aggrieved, but as she wallowed in her sadness, she suddenly had an epiphany.
The reason Shen Mingzhu was able to make money was because she had Pei Wenping, her influential aunt.
Although she didn’t have an impressive aunt like Pei Wenping, she had her man!
The whole reason she did everything in her power to marry into the Zhou family was because she hoped Zhou Shuhuan would make it big one day and give her a good life!
All she needed to do was secure her position as Zhou’s wife and wait to enjoy the good life later on.
Why bother competing with Shen Mingzhu, who had the fate of a widow?
She must have lost her mind!
