Chapter 263: Hunger Marketing

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Herlyee Translations

Madam Hou lowered her eyes to hide the mockery in her eyes. Her tone became even gentler. ‘Master is right. A village girl is naturally not worthy of our

Tianxiang. But now that Master has just been promoted, if anything happens at this juncture…”

Her words stopped abruptly. Magistrate Ma naturally understood what she meant.

“Then send someone to keep an eye on Tianxiang. Don’t let anything happen to him again.”

“Alright, I understand.” Madam Hou smiled.

Now, Ma Tianxiang was locked in a quiet room in the backyard, but nobody would respond to his shouts.

This was because on the night he harassed Feng Chunyan, his third leg had been crippled by a masked man in black.

A crippled son was equivalent to trash.

However, Madam Hou did not intend to tell Magistrate Ma about this. After all, she was about to welcome her own child.

Hongxing Restaurant.

Ji Zhao looked at the entire set of jewelry on the table and her eyes flickered.

“It seems that Madam Ma has achieved her wish. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given such a big thank-you gift.” Shen Yao casually picked up a pearl hairpin and chuckled. “But my Ah Tao is really amazing. She can be called the goddess who delivers babies, right?”

Hearing the teasing tone in his voice, Ji Zhao shrugged helplessly. “Actually, it’s not that Madam Ma couldn’t conceive. It’s just that her diet over the years is a little strange.”

“Ah Tao, did you notice something?” Shen Yao inserted the pearl hairpin into Ji Zhao’s bun and asked with interest.

“The dishes that Madam Ma uses for her three meals a day are more spicy.

Moreover, she has to drink a bowl of peanut barley soup every afternoon. The barley rice is cold in nature. If she eats it in large quantities for a long time, it will cause her kidneys to be deficient and not beneficial to her children.” “You mean that someone doesn’t want Madam Ma to be pregnant?”

He did not expect such dirty methods to be hidden in a small county magistrate’s residence.

“Perhaps.” Ji Zhao thought for a moment, turned around, picked up a pen, and seriously wrote down some food supplements that were good for the woman’s body. “l think Madam Hou will like this gift.”

After this matter came to an end, Eldest Brother Shen was no longer in a hurry to expand the Shen Ji Pastry Shop.

Now, he had a son and was satisfied with everything.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, Dingyuan County welcomed an even brighter April day.

At the same time, a new county magistrate was welcomed.

“This Lord Ji is really to make drastic changes to an organization upon taking charge.” In Hongxing Restaurant, Second Manager You fiddled with his abacus as he said, “The ‘old rules’ left behind by Lord Ma have been revoked. If this Lord Ji is really an honest and good official, then our restaurant’s profits should be even greater!’

The previous Lord Ma Bin was a money-grubber.

“I heard that when Lord Ma’s family moved out of the county office, they secretly carried out six sealed large boxes, right?” Ji Zhao stirred the boiled sugar and teased with a smile, “It seems that our Lord Ma has plundered a lot of people over the years!”

The world was unfair. Those corrupt officials who bullied the common people climbed up the social ladder and rose step by step.

Shen Yao, who was making a sugar painting seriously, could not help but smile. “Sometimes, the higher you climb, the worse you fall.”

‘Why are you two talking in riddles?” Second Manager You listened to the conversation between the two of them and frowned curiously.

“Second Brother You, try this sugar painting. How does it taste?’ Ji Zhao smiled and handed him a sugar painting with a gold ingot pattern. “Try it?”

“I really don’t understand what the two of you are thinking. The business in the shop was so good a few days ago, but you actually posted a notice to rest? Is the money burning you?” Second Manager You took a bite of the sugar painting fiercely, then his eyes lit up. “Eh, why is it different from the ones I ate before?” The sugar paintings he had eaten before were stiff and sweet. He wanted to throw it away after two bites.

However, the sugar painting made by Ah Tao and her husband was different.

The texture was crisp and the sweetness was not greasy at all. There was even a faint fragrance.

“I specially added some tea powder into the brewed syrup.” Ji Zhao smiled and helped Second Manager You resolve his confusion. “Not only is the sugar painting not greasy, but it also has another taste.”

“Wonderful!” Second Manager You praised generously. “Ah Tao, I’m really convinced by your culinary skills.”

“But I still don’t understand. Why did you choose to close the shop for three days when the claypot rice and the earth jar soup were the most popular?” Second Manager You said regretfully. “If you don’t open for three days, I’m afraid you’ll lose nearly a hundred taels of silver!’

“Second Brother You, there is an infinite amount of money to be earned,” Ji

Zhao said with a smile. ‘We need to strike a balance between work and rest!”

“Then aren’t you worried that if you close the shop for three days, the business will become bleak?”

“No!” Ji Zhao raised her eyebrows confidently. “Second Brother You, there’s a term called hunger marketing.”

‘What do you mean?’

“Previously, in order to successfully launch clay pot rice and earth jar soup in my shop, didn’t I invest a lot of money in marketing and publicity? Now, the citizens of Dingyuan County know that only my Spring Breeze Pavilion has delicious clay pot rice and delicious earth jar soup. You saw the long queue outside the shop yesterday, right?”

“Ah Tao, the more you explain, the more I don’t understand!”

“Second Brother You, just you wait. When Spring Breeze Pavilion reopens, business will be even better!”

At that moment, Shen Yao handed Ji Zhao a sugar painting that he had just finished.

The chubby peach looked extremely cute.

Ji Zhao opened her mouth and took a bite without hesitation. She narrowed her eyes happily. “It’s so sweet!’

“Then should I try it too?” Before she could answer, Shen Yao had already grabbed her wrist and bit the spot where she had bitten.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled. They could see the gentle love in each other’s eyes.

“Am I old? Why do I feel like my teeth are a little sore now…” Second Manager

You said in a faint tone, then obediently turned around and left.

“Shall we set off for the village tomorrow morning?” Shen Yao stretched out his finger and gently wiped the sugar stain on the corner of Ji Zhao’s lips as he said softly.

“Okay.”

Ji Zhao nodded obediently. “By the way, Shen Yao, isn’t it Mother’s birthday in two days? Why don’t we go out for a walk later and choose a birthday gift for Mother?”

“Okay,” Shen Yao agreed readily. “But Ah Tao, is there any use for you to let me make so many sugar paintings?”

“Yes, I want you to accompany me somewhere.” Ji Zhao looked up at him and smiled brightly. ‘Where are we going?”

“Ci’an Hall.”

Ci’an Hall was located to the south of Dingyuan County. It was a dilapidated courtyard with three entrances and three exits.

The people living there were all lonely old people and homeless children..