Chapter 12: Selling steamed buns to test the waters
Tong Huaqiong walked out of the Zheng family's gate with Gu Dashu and others, feeling refreshed.
After playing a tough trick on Mr. Zheng and his wife, Tong Huaqiong did not feel any psychological pressure at all.
It is not a human thing to let other people's daughters bring good luck to your own son who has stepped into the gates of hell.
What's more, in Tong Dajiao's memory of her previous life, Man'er, who had become a concubine, clearly told Tong Dajiao about her miserable life in the Zheng family when she was seeking revenge. It was simply a history of blood and tears.
Man'er had been in the Zheng family for less than two months when the eldest son of the Zheng family died. Mr. Zheng and his wife attributed the cause of their son's death to Man'er. They tortured Man'er, beat her three times a day, did not give her enough food, and made her sleep on the floor next to Madam Zheng's bed every night to be ordered around at any time. At such a young age, Man'er spent her days in the Zheng family like a slave.
When Man'er was ten years old, the good-for-nothing youngest son of the Zheng family blocked Man'er in the garden. Madam Zheng accused him of having an affair with her brother-in-law, so Mr. Zheng opened the ancestral hall and wanted to drown Man'er in the pond.
In a rage, Maner burned down Zheng's house and fled all the way to Shengjing.
Tong Huaqiong also had no sympathy for the eldest son of the Zheng family, who was so upset that he vomited blood.
This guy is not a good person either.
Not only was he physically ill, he was also mentally abnormal. Before he died, he used an iron to burn Maner's thighs and stomach.
Man'er had a narrow escape from death in his hands.
As for Matchmaker Wang, Tong Huaqiong didn't think she was implicated.
She was a matchmaker. In this era of blind marriages, she deceived many good girls by saying that black was white, the disabled was good, and the ugly was pretty.
"Mom, if you make such a fuss, will the Zheng family forgive us?" Gu Dashu asked with lingering fear.
"If we don't make a fuss, will it be your sister or Man'er who will go to hell? If I go to hell, they don't want me, your mother, to go to hell. What do you think we should do?" Tong Huaqiong snorted and said to Gu Dashu, "We can't cancel the marriage even if we don't make a fuss. The barefoot are not afraid of the ones wearing shoes. Mr. Zheng has a family, a career, and a good reputation, so he has some concerns. We are poor and have nothing to worry about. If the Zheng family really makes trouble for us in the future, it's hard to say who will be afraid of whom."
Tong Huaqiong really thought so!
At worst, I can just risk it.
"Are we really going to pay back the fifty taels of silver we owe the Zheng family?" Liu Yue'e asked.
If anyone wants to pay it back, let my brother-in-law pay it back. It was he who caused this anyway.
"Of course I have to return it. I'll ask Gu Jingzhe to go to Wanliu Academy in the city to see if he can get it back." Tong Huaqiong said.
If she really doesn't come back, she has a way to deal with it.
"Mom, we have offended Matchmaker Wang now. What if she ruins my reputation in the future?" Gu Taohua thought of Scholar Fan from the neighboring village and felt a little worried.
"Come on, if this hadn't happened, how good would your reputation be?"
Tong Huaqiong rolled her eyes at Gu Taohua.
The fat girl is quite confident about her reputation.
Don’t you realize that they have reached the age of getting married, but the matchmaker never comes to their door.
Gu Taohua pouted.
"You two cooperated very well today. Mother is very pleased."
Tong Huaqiong praised a few bad bamboos at the right time.
Gu Dashu thought that if he didn't cooperate, would he really have to acknowledge that pretty boy Zheng as his stepfather? He would not be able to explain to his biological father in the underworld.
"Mom, are we going home now? And why did you ask me to carry such a big basket of steamed buns? Even if they are dry food for the road, there is no need to carry so many, right?" Gu Dashu asked, supporting the basket on his back.
When talking about big steamed buns, Tong Huaqiong smiled.
She used this steamed bun to explore the way. What way? Of course, the business way.
These steamed buns are not made with white flour, the Gu family doesn’t have that much refined flour.
Instead, it is steamed with a mixture of white flour and sorghum flour.
In this era, the white flour and sorghum flour used by farmers were ground very coarsely, and the taste of the steamed buns used for steaming them was very bad.
Yesterday she ordered Gu Dashu to grind the white flour and sorghum flour again. Tong Huaqiong was only satisfied when the stone mill produced fine flour with sparks.
Chen Sufen followed the method she taught, using white sugar during fermentation and a layer of white flour and a layer of sorghum flour during steaming. Tong Huaqiong tasted one for breakfast; it was so soft and sweet that she almost couldn't stop.
She planned to sell the big steamed bun to a porter.
"I'm going to sell these steamed buns." said Tong Huaqiong.
"What?"
Valley of Great Heat, Valley of Peach Blossoms and Liu Yue'e were all stunned.
Selling steamed buns?
Widow Tong has been wandering around Qinghe Bay all her life, and she doesn’t even know how to take care of the crops, and now she wants to start selling steamed buns for a living?
The entire Tong family and the Gu family combined, for generations, have never had the talent for business.
"No? Don't underestimate me. Before I got married, I was a good hand at home and outside. It was only when I came to your Gu family that I started to act like a loser."
Tong Huaqiong straightened the pearl flowers on her head, took out a clean handkerchief to wipe her face, and ordered a few bamboo sticks to straighten her clothes.
When selling food, the main focus is on being clean and neat.
Otherwise, the sight of wrinkled clothes would be disgusting.
"Mom, where are we going to sell the steamed buns?" Gu Taohua now listens to Tong Huaqiong very much. Since her mother wants to sell steamed buns, then she will go and sell them.
"Let's go to the dock." Tong Huaqiong said.
There are many porters and workers carrying sandbags at the dock. These people certainly don't want to go to restaurants, so big steamed buns are just right for them.
It just so happened that my stepson Gu Dahan was carrying sandbags at the dock, so I called him back home and told him not to do hard labor anymore.
So the group walked towards the pier in a mighty procession.
Fortunately, the pier was not far away, and Tong Huaqiong borrowed Tong Dajiao's big feet to get there quickly.
It was just time for dinner.
Tong Huaqiong looked around and saw many small vendors hawking their wares. Some were selling herbal tea, some were selling noodle soup, and some were selling pancakes... In short, they were all simple and convenient fast food.
"Let's shout too." Tong Huaqiong said.
Gu Dashu and Gu Taohua felt a little embarrassed.
"You really think yourselves are the young masters and young ladies." Tong Huaqiong sneered.
No wonder the Gu family lives in such poverty, the root cause is laziness.
If Tong Da Jiao and a few evil bamboos had used their energy in making money, Gu Jingzhe would not have had to betray his sister and sell his niece for Shu Xiu.
"Selling steamed buns, big steamed buns, big steamed buns that can keep you from getting hungry." Tong Huaqiong opened her mouth and started shouting.
Gu Yaozu was a child at heart, and he just thought it was fun, so he followed suit and shouted, "Selling steamed buns, big fragrant steamed buns, big steamed buns made from white flour and mixed grains, big steamed buns that don't make your throat hurt."
Tong Huaqiong was happy.
This grandson finally satisfied her and accurately described the characteristics of Gu family's steamed buns.
"how much for one?"
Some people were actually curious about the taste of the multi-grain steamed buns that would not make their throats dry, so a man who looked like a traveler walked down from the boat and asked.
"Five cents." Tong Huaqiong said.
"Not cheap." said the traveler.
"You can try my steamed buns and see if they are delicious."
Tong Huaqiong broke off a piece with her clean hands and handed it to the traveler.
Can I still taste the steamed buns?
The traveler became even more interested and took a piece and put it in his mouth.
What’s more, this multi-grain steamed bun is soft and sweet, and it doesn’t make your throat irritated at all. It is no different from pure white flour steamed bun.
"Two please." The traveler expressed his satisfaction.
"We just opened, so I'll give you a discount of one cent, two for eight cents." Tong Huaqiong handed the steamed bun to the traveler with a handkerchief.
"Wow, mom, you are so awesome. You really sold it." Gu Dashu muttered as he watched the traveler going away.
The business couldn't be stopped once it opened. Many porters and dock workers heard that Tong Huaqiong's multi-grain steamed buns were as soft and sweet as those made with white flour, and they bought some to try.
Gu Dashu and Liu Yue'e, who were watching from the sidelines, saw the benefits and rolled up their sleeves to help.
Gu Taohua held up two big steamed buns as a living sign. Her fat body was really cool and attracted more people to buy steamed buns.
Soon, the whole basket of steamed buns was sold out.
Tong Huaqiong patted her purse and smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.
Selling this basket of steamed buns is not for making money, but to build the confidence for her and a few bad bamboos to move towards a well-off life.
The success of Mantou’s debut is off to a good start.
Tong Huaqiong didn’t know about others, but she was very confident at this moment.
Unexpectedly, the popularity was better than she expected.
She hasn't even prepared the whole roujiamo or tea-leafed eggs yet.