The Stepmother’s Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era
Chapter 229 - 228: Joy Falls from the Sky

Chapter 229: Chapter 228: Joy Falls from the Sky

"Eh, is it fruit candy? Not spicy strips and dried tofu?"

Seeing that Yan Yi ignored him while changing clothes, Ning Yuan picked up a bag of soft candy. The packaging instantly made him flash a grin, "She’s started making candy again?"

Ning Yuan, like Yan Yi, wasn’t interested in fruit candy, but he definitely had to try the candy made by Shen Mingzhu.

Simply because he felt that her candy, just like her, must be unique.

Indeed, it wasn’t bad.

Chewy and elastic, with a perfect balance of sweet and sour, one could eat a piece and then crave a second without getting a sore throat.

Ning Yuan decided to skip the wine and munched on the candy while watching videotapes.

Yan Yi, now dressed in house clothes, sat on the sofa with a cup of tea, his gaze sweeping over the candy in Ning Yuan’s hands before he took a sip of tea and finally spoke.

"What trouble have you caused this time?"

"Ah, let’s not talk about it. Didn’t my mom set me up on a blind date recently? We all agreed it was just for show, to satisfy the family, but then... Forget it, just thinking about it makes me depressed."

Yan Yi let out a cold snort and glanced at his crotch, "So you couldn’t control your lower half again? Big sister was right at the beginning."

"What?"

Yan Yi took a sip of tea, looking unruffled, "She should’ve used scissors to cut that thing off."

Ning Yuan, horrified, covered himself and said with a sense of grievance, "It wasn’t my fault this time. She deliberately got me drunk. After just one time, she clung to me. I was so annoyed by her that I had to come here to hide."

"Is the candy good?"

Yan Yi suddenly changed the subject, and Ning Yuan, stunned for a few seconds, caught on and nodded wildly, "Tasty, hey, and isn’t it strange? Shen Mingzhu’s cooking skills are really exceptional. Anything she makes just turns out different from others’."

Yan Yi was noncommittal, "The principles of indebtedness, owing favors for things received, shouldn’t need explaining to you, right?"

Ning Yuan looked at the candy in his hand and then at Yan Yi’s half-smiling face, understanding instantly.

"I’ll go to the company tomorrow and talk to logistics, this year’s employee gifts for Fengcheng, let’s use Mingzhu’s candy."

Meeting Yan Yi’s chilly gaze, Ning Yuan quickly corrected himself, "Use Miss Shen’s."

Yan Yi looked away, his eyes lowered as he sipped his tea, "The procurement isn’t that urgent, her paperwork probably still needs a couple of days."

"Then I’ll give the company a heads-up tomorrow."

After saying that, Ning Yuan tried to ingratiate himself, "Dear little uncle, may I stay here for a while?"

"I don’t have a bed for you."

"No problem, I can sleep on the sofa."

"Suit yourself, just don’t disturb me, or you’ll have to leave."

With that, Yan Yi got up and went to his study.

Ning Yuan joyfully made a gesture toward his retreating figure, "Yes Sir!"

...

Shen Mingzhu hung up the phone, bursting with excitement as she rushed into the bathroom and planted a big kiss on Pei Yang’s face.

Pei Yang was scrubbing their intimates, and faced with his wife’s sudden big kiss, he was left dazed.

"Did you find some money? You seem so happy?"

Shen Mingzhu’s eyes curved in a smile, "I’ve got good news."

Pei Yang glanced at her stomach, "Are you pregnant?"

Shen Mingzhu spat out, "You wish, it’s not that easy. It’s about the registration; Director Liu just called me to say that our new product has been approved, and she asked me to come collect the registration number tomorrow."

At this, Pei Yang was both excited and puzzled, "That was fast?"

Shen Mingzhu happily propped her chin in her hands, watching Pei Yang wash their clothes as she spoke, "I initially sent Liu Yuehua some apple candy just to try, and I didn’t expect her to take it to heart, but she took care of it today. It’s good to have connections in the government."

"I have to think of something to give to Director Liu as a gift."

While scrubbing clothes, Pei Yang suggested, "Didn’t you say she loves Sichuan cuisine? Invite her over, make her an authentic Sichuan meal, she’ll love it for sure."

Shen Mingzhu thought about it and felt that it was a feasible plan.

Giving a gift too light would be embarrassing, and one too expensive might be construed as bribery, inviting trouble, so inviting someone to dinner was just right.

She immediately went back to the bedroom to draft the menu.

The next evening, Liu Yuehua arrived as promised.

To make the occasion lively, Shen Mingzhu also invited Pei Wenping and Li Bing to join them for company.

Liu Yuehua enjoyed the meal very much and, when leaving, patted Shen Mingzhu affectionately on the shoulder and told her to come to her if she ever needed anything.

A few days after treating Liu Yuehua to dinner, the test report was obtained, and Shen Mingzhu began to arrange production on a grand scale.

Fruit candy is different from small snacks like spicy strips and potato chips; the target audience for fruit candy is wide-ranging, with adults being the main consumers rather than children.

Shen Mingzhu decided to develop new sales channels—supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores.

Admittedly, it wasn’t easy to break into these two places.

But how would you know without trying? She believed that there were always more solutions than problems.

Three days passed.

The idea was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

She and Pei Yang had almost visited all the supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores in Fengcheng, but not a single one wanted to sell her apple gummies.

It wasn’t because they didn’t taste good, but because her food factory was not well-known.

Given similar prices, consumers naturally preferred to buy candy from well-known brands, which offered both quality and prestige.

Fortunately, there was good news.

The apple gummies were selling well in snack stores and kiosks, as children naturally couldn’t resist the sour, sweet, soft, and chewy gummies.

Considering the weak purchasing power of children, Shen Mingzhu specially produced them in small packets, five pieces per packet, priced at ten cents each.

Since the channels through the supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores were temporarily inaccessible, Shen Mingzhu decided to focus on developing the lower-end market.

She planned a scratch card activity for the Spring Festival.

Each packet of gummies would contain a small card with a scratch-off area, offering a chance to win another packet.

Once the scratch card promotion was introduced, within just two days, sales in various snack stores and kiosks increased to varying degrees.

Just as Shen Mingzhu was considering whether to extend the scratch card promotion to potato chips, good fortune struck—

"Are you sure? You want to purchase two thousand catties of apple gummies?"

Shen Mingzhu looked at the sudden big customer in disbelief, her heart pounding with excitement.

"Yes, our boss really likes your apple gummies and wants to purchase three thousand catties as Spring Festival benefits for the employees, but..."

The other party looked around the food factory with some doubt, "We need the delivery by the 25th of next month, which gives us less than a month’s time, can you complete the order?"

"We can!"

Shen Mingzhu didn’t hesitate, "Rest assured, even if it means working 24 hours a day, we will produce the amount you want. However, as you can see, we are a small factory, and if you sincerely wish to place the order, we will need a 30% down payment as a deposit."

"No problem."

Afterward, they agreed on the price and made an appointment to sign the purchase contract at the company the next day.

...

"Manager Huang, we’ve been cooperating for so many years. Even if you don’t do it for me, do it for old times’ sake. Please give me a straight answer, who did I lose the deal to?"

"I have all the goods ready, just waiting to sign the contract, and suddenly you change your mind and don’t want my products. Even if it’s the end for me, I deserve to know why."

Huang Yuan, the purchasing department manager of Hengxing, gave Shi Guangsheng a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"This is a directive from the young boss himself, saying that they’ve had enough of your factory’s candy year after year and wanted to try something new."

Shi Guangsheng responded immediately, "Changing flavors is no problem. Just tell me what flavor you want, and I will make it for you."

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