As the weather gradually grew warmer, life became even more difficult.
The city was already crowded.
The refugees outside the city also lived hard lives, exposed to the scorching sun with no rain.
The Cheng family, however, lived relatively peacefully.
Because of the intense heat, the crispy cakes were no longer selling well, but the glutinous rice dates were still doing decently.
Su Miaomiao, along with Cai Shi and Xi Shi, came up with ice jelly and grass jelly.
With these two cold desserts, they successfully stabilized their pastry shop.
This made their competitors in the city gnash their teeth with envy.
They had initially thought that as the weather heated up, their pastries would stop selling.
And that everyone else would seize the opportunity to develop their own pastry businesses.
Who knew they would come up with something called ice jelly, which, when chilled with the ice from their extremely precious ice cellar, successfully attracted the attention of many wealthy households. It had even become a highly sought-after item.
This made their competitors grit their teeth, but there was nothing they could do.
After all, the five major families relied on the Cheng family's pastries for their business and naturally protected them, so the Cheng family's pastry brand was firmly established.
The small workshop had expanded from its original small courtyard to include the adjacent one they had also rented. In the current times, situations were constantly changing, and many people had moved out of good courtyards to save money.
Cheng Hao seized the opportunity and rented the small courtyard next door.
Now they had two large courtyards.
Making pastries was incredibly fast. Fortunately, making grass jelly and ice jelly was not difficult, so their output volume was spectacular. These goods were to be sold throughout Quezhou City.
Such a large city.
The daily sales volume was truly astonishing. The Cheng family head could no longer fathom how much money his legitimate son earned daily, as the pastry business accounts did not go through him, so he had no knowledge of the details.
Those working under the young couple, however, knew some things.
From the benefits they received and the increasingly better food, they could tell. But they didn't mind, as long as they were not mistreated.
Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao knew how much money they were making, but they didn't hold onto much of it. After deducting the funds for operating the workshop, the remaining money was used by the two of them to buy materials and improve their carriages.
It was only when they started spending money that they realized how many excellent materials were available in this region.
Going treasure hunting with Cao Lisong and working together, the carriage designs became exceptionally detailed and robust, with various modifications. Their own carriage naturally received the most investment.
Although the other people's carriages were slightly inferior to the young couple's, compared to other people's carriages, they were still top-notch.
This was because only Cheng Hao's carriages had such powerful defensive functions, with many mechanisms and hidden weapons. As long as one knew how to use them, they could definitely take down a large group of enemies and ensure safety inside the carriage.
Cao Lisong was initially shocked by the young couple's ideas and was very interested. However, due to his lack of funds, he couldn't realize his ambitions. But now, with the young couple's money, he declared that being able to participate in the creation of such carriages was something he could boast about for a lifetime!
During the process, Cheng Hao and Su Miaomiao were once again impressed by Cao Lisong's abilities, and thus extended an olive branch, smiling and saying, "If that day truly comes, you can all leave with us!"
They also mentioned that one of the carriages was definitely reserved for them.
Cao Lisong was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, "If I can bring her to escape, I will definitely flee with you two!" His implication was that if he couldn't, he would likely not abandon his beloved and leave alone.