The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 224: The Stepmother Is Even More Hateful Than the Real One

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: The Stepmother Is Even More Hateful Than the Real One

"Taohua, did the Zheng Family cause trouble just now?"

As soon as He Chao stepped out of the bakery, he heard that the young mistress of the Zheng Family in Pingchuan County and the nanny had falsely accused Taohua Dessert’s hazelnut cake of causing stomach issues.

He broke out in a cold sweat.

There was no need to think it over; if the Zheng Family people caused trouble, it was definitely aimed at him.

When Xu Zaohua’s maid Xiao Que came to the shop asking for hazelnut cake, he should have foreseen this.

It was his fault for avoiding Xu Zaohua and only sending her maid Xiao Que away; he didn’t expect Nanny Cai to also accompany Xu Zaohua to Yan Guan Town.

He didn’t wait for the clerk to finish speaking before he ran off to find Gu Taohua in a hurry.

He feared that the co-owner might be schemed against by Nanny Cai and Xu Zaohua, and impulsively fall into their trap.

Xu Zaohua was indeed malicious.

He himself had fallen into Xu Zaohua’s trap and couldn’t stay in Pingchuan County.

Gu Taohua waved grandly and said, "Manager He, everything has been resolved without causing any impact."

He Chao was slightly relieved and pressed Gu Taohua for the details on how it was handled.

Gu Taohua explained the situation once over.

"Manager He, the rogue tactics my second brother used before turned out to be quite useful. If it weren’t for my brother finding someone to deflect the blame back, it wouldn’t have been resolved so smoothly," Gu Taohua said to He Chao.

"Dashu did indeed handle it well this time. For some people, you simply can’t use conventional methods, especially those who slander our Taohua Dessert,"

He Chao expressed his satisfaction with Gu Dashu’s plan.

In business, you can’t rely on honorable methods for every affair.

No matter the method—whether a white cat or a black cat—if it can catch mice, it’s a good cat.

Speaking of deliberately framing others, can you deal with it according to the rules?

Even if the matter is resolved, it will take considerable energy and time, and public opinion by that time has already fermented, making it difficult to turn the situation around, even if you’re innocent.

He Chao felt that Gu Dashu’s method was quite commendable.

Not only did it expose Nanny Cai and Xu Zaohua’s plot, but it also preserved the reputation of Taohua Dessert.

Although it was somewhat underhanded, it did no harm to the innocent, but was merely a strong counterattack to Nanny Cai and Xu Zaohua’s lowly tactics.

Tong Huaqiong had entrusted the shop to him; he couldn’t betray the owner’s expectations.

If Xu Zaohua and Nanny Cai’s scheme had succeeded today, it didn’t take much to imagine how the public opinion would ferment.

He would betray Tong Huaqiong’s trust and become the scapegoat of Taohua Dessert, leaving him no ground in Yan Guan Town.

This was the first crisis he encountered at Taohua Dessert.

Its resolution was inexplicable.

This time, it was just good luck.

He couldn’t count on luck every time in the future.

He Chao decided to strengthen the public opinion training of Taohua Dessert, so that everyone could handle such occurrences well next time.

...

"Nanny, did you offend someone outside? Why did that young man insist that you were a thief and dragged me into it too?" Xu Zaohua, still recovering from the shock, sighed while patting her belly.

Having escaped the whirlpool of public opinion, Xu Zaohua seemed a bit amused at Nanny Cai being publicly called a thief.

Her reputation was truly in ruins. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Nanny Cai’s arrogance in front of Xu Zaohua was halved, and she gritted her teeth, "I didn’t offend him; I don’t even know him."

There was a tinge of guilt in Nanny Cai’s words.

Since her youth, she had been arrogant, often offending people by relying on her young lady’s favor; later, as she followed Mrs. Zheng to the Zheng Family and became their chief nanny, she acted even more heedlessly.

She didn’t even know how many people she had offended or who she had offended without remembering.

"Nanny Cai, you are the pillar of our household. Mother-in-law can’t do without you at her side during outings and social interactions. Perhaps someone was jealous of your favor from mother-in-law and used this tactic to retaliate against you. It just shows how unfathomable people’s hearts are," Xu Zaohua said with a sly smile.

Nanny Cai heard the full sarcasm in Xu Zaohua’s tone.

Wasn’t this a jab at her flamboyant conduct, offending people without knowing it?

Nanny Cai restrained herself again and again, ultimately unable to hold back. Having lost all dignity and now being ridiculed by Xu Zaohua, how could she bear it?

So she sneered, "How would the young mistress not be clear about whether I am a thief? Wasn’t it aimed at me? Not necessarily; didn’t they mention you too, young mistress? Who knows who’s implicated by whom."

The skill of turning the tables left Xu Zaohua momentarily speechless.

Patting her belly, she resolutely aimed to bear a son.

Thinking of this, Xu Zaohua softened her tone and smiled, "Nanny, don’t be angry, I’m young and ignorant and just spoke casually. This matter was all because of He Chao; if it weren’t for He Chao being entangled by Widow Tong, we wouldn’t have been falsely accused of being thieves. I say, He Chao is a jinx; he came out of the Zheng Family, so let’s not willingly get involved with him."

Xu Zaohua certainly didn’t want Nanny Cai to go looking for trouble with He Chao again and implicate her.

Nanny Cai let out two cold laughs.

She didn’t have to find trouble with He Chao, it was just a coincidence.

Seeing Nanny Cai’s attitude, Xu Zaohua knew she had persuaded her.

"Why did I go to see He Chao if not for his disrespect towards the Zheng Family? Who was it for?" Nanny Cai mused.

Nanny Cai’s attitude greatly displeased Xu Zaohua.

It’s often said that a big family’s chief maid can be more troublesome than the lady of the house, and a nanny beside one’s mother-in-law can harbor an even more their mentality than the mother-in-law herself.

Nanny Cai was exactly like this, with an increasingly severe trend of being a pseudo-mother-in-law.

Xu Zaohua wished to deal with her on the spot.

Ultimately, it came down to her not having a firm footing within the Zheng Family.

Being pregnant wasn’t enough; if her child was taken away by her in-laws to be raised, she’d still find it hard to gain a foothold in the Zheng Family.

She needed to get involved in the Zheng Family’s business.

So she had to expedite the development of Widow Tong’s pesticide for exterminating pest, ensuring a bountiful corn harvest within the entire city.

With such great merit, she’d surely be awarded a title like Young Mistress, and with such a title, no one in the Zheng Family would dare to bully her—people would surely flock to curry favor with her.

Once her status was secured, leveraging the Zheng Family’s connections to obtain the exclusive rights to the pesticide would be akin to the court’s monopoly on salt and iron; she believed she wouldn’t fare worse than Widow Tong in selling pastries.

She intended to sell the pesticide worldwide.

Then, she’d be the deity overseeing abundant corn harvests.

...

After Gu Dashu finished with the Taohua Dessert’s main store issues, he arrived at the branch to pick up Gu Taohua to return to Qinghe Bay.

Gu Taohua, smiling, praised Gu Dashu’s idea of falsely accusing Nanny Cai of being a thief earlier that morning.

The more Gu Dashu listened, the more confused he became, and finally, he couldn’t help but interrupt Gu Taohua.

"Wait, Taohua, when did I find someone to feign [support]? If you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have known about this."

Gu Taohua’s smile abruptly stopped; she was stunned for a moment before stomping her foot, "I paid that guy five taels of silver."

This was infuriating!

The young man deliberately played along with her story, swindling five taels of silver and four boxes of pastries from her.

"Just wait until I catch him. I’ll make sure he has no place to bury his bones."

Gu Taohua fumed, gnashing her teeth.