I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home

"Business was great today! If it’s like this every day, Mom is going to be exhausted. Shouldn’t we hire a few people to help?" Hayley had been busy all day and felt more tired than when she used to run her own shop.

Running this kind of food business was exhausting work. You were constantly on your feet, without a minute’s rest.

Grace Winslow and Irene Lynch were now sitting to one side, settling the accounts.

The "Closed" sign was already hanging on the door.

All the pastries they had prepared for the day were sold out. In fact, they hadn’t even had enough to meet the demand toward the end.

Irene Lynch also hadn’t expected business to be this explosive. Even the neighbors who lived next door had come by to show their support.

"Hayley, today was our first day, and we were running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. The prices were low, so everyone came to check it out. It’s hard to say if it’ll be like this later without the sale," Grace Winslow replied as she continued to count the money.

Irene Lynch added, "That’s right. It’s normal for business to be a little better on the first day. The neighbors were also kind enough to come and support us."

"These pastries aren’t exactly cheap, so it’s not like every family can afford to eat them daily. It definitely won’t be like this in the future."

Hayley sat down beside them, rubbing her lower back. "But can Mom really handle making so many pastries all by herself?"

"We should really find someone to help. She’s not young anymore. We can’t let her work herself to exhaustion."

Grace Winslow agreed on this point. "I think so too. Mom, why don’t we hire an apprentice? You can train them, and then you can hand off the work to them in the future."

These days, you didn’t really need to worry about the old saying, ’Teach an apprentice everything, and the master will starve.’ Most people had a conscience and treated their masters well. It was unlikely they’d learn a skill and immediately leave to start their own business.

Besides, there were many rules that came with a formal apprenticeship.

Irene Lynch thought for a moment. Seeing that Grace Winslow, Hayley, and Lily Callahan were all insisting she find someone to help, she finally relented with a nod. "I can teach them how to make the ordinary pastries, but I can’t teach them the medicinal ones. I learned those from someone else, and I can’t just pass them on without her permission."

Grace Winslow mulled it over for a moment and didn’t object.

"We have an oven in the shop now, which makes baking these pastries much more convenient. As long as you watch the heat, there shouldn’t be a big problem."

"Then let’s find two apprentices to start. They can learn the basics from you. Mom, for the medicinal pastries, you can keep the core techniques to yourself but teach them the simple parts, like preparing the dough or the fillings. There’s always something you can teach them, and you won’t have to work so hard all by yourself."

This time, Irene Lynch didn’t refuse.

By the end of the day, everyone was exhausted.

Grace Winslow decided they should just go eat at the state-run restaurant.

Irene Lynch insisted on treating everyone to the meal.

After they had eaten their fill and returned home, Irene Lynch had to get busy again.

She had to prepare the ingredients for the next day and get up at three or four in the morning to start baking. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be nearly enough to sell in the morning.

Grace Winslow heard a noise in the middle of the night and got up to see a busy figure working under the light.

Although Irene Lynch was busy, her happiness was plain to see. She had found work she loved and was earning money with her own two hands. It was a feeling she had never imagined before.

Grace stood to the side watching for a while. Just as she was about to go help, she saw that someone had beaten her to it—it was Joanne Chase.

"Godmother, can you check on the beans I’m soaking? Are they ready?"

Grace had no idea what time Joanne had gotten up; she must have woken up with Irene to get to work.

After watching for a moment, she joined in as well.

The few of them worked until six in the morning, then sent the prepared pastry dough to the shop to be baked.

Because they had sold out the previous day, they had doubled their workload. The pastries weren’t placed on the shelves until eight o’clock.

By then, customers were already starting to arrive.

Some came to ask about the prices, thought they were too expensive, and left. Others had bought some the day before, found them delicious, and came back for more.

Grace Winslow, Joanne Chase, and Irene Lynch were busy all day. At one point, Irene and Joanne even had to make another batch to restock. By a little after five, the pastries they had made were mostly sold out.

"This business is almost too good. I feel like I’ve seen a few people come by several times. It couldn’t be that someone paid them to come, could it?" Grace had a good memory, and now that she had a moment to think, something felt off.

She worried it was a competitor who also wanted to start a similar business and had deliberately sent people to buy multiple portions to take back and study the recipes. ’If that’s the case, we’re in trouble.’

After all, the recipes for these things weren’t that complicated. With enough effort, someone could eventually figure them out.

Grace decided to be cautious and planned to secretly follow them the next day to see what was going on.

Irene Lynch and Joanne Chase were completely exhausted. The two of them had woken up early and worked nonstop all day without a break.

Grace’s heart ached watching them.

"Mom, Joy, go home and rest. Don’t worry about dinner. Hayley and I will take care of it." Grace quickly tidied up, grabbed the cash box, and urged Irene Lynch and Joanne Chase to go home and get some sleep.

The two of them went home and went straight to bed, while Grace tallied the day’s accounts.

Hayley passed by and glanced over her shoulder. When she saw the amount Grace had written down, she was shocked. "Grace, is that for real? We’ve earned that much in just two days?"

Grace Winslow nodded and locked the money away. "Yes. We’ve almost made back the money we spent on the storefront. After costs, the net profit is three thousand."

"That’s a crazy profit. No wonder so many people want to get into the restaurant business. But it’s really hard work. I woke up in the middle of the night yesterday and saw Mom busy at three or four in the morning. She deserves every penny of this hard-earned money."

"Grace, don’t you think Mom is working too hard? Won’t she be too tired? I feel like at her age, she should be at home enjoying a quiet life."

Hearing this, Grace Winslow smiled at her. "Hayley, what do you think ’enjoying a quiet life’ means? Is doing laundry, cooking, and taking care of grandchildren at home considered a blessing?"

"Mom loves doing this. It makes her happy, and she’s earning money from it. Nothing could bring her more joy than this. I think her happiness is the most important thing."

"As for being tired, she’s still in high spirits right now. Let’s just let her enjoy it for a while."

Hayley thought about it and felt that made sense. "You have a point. But what about that classmate of yours? Is she reliable? She won’t turn around and do something to hurt Mom, will she?"

"There shouldn’t be any problems. You trade sincerity for sincerity. If our sincerity is met with ingratitude, then that’s just our fate. We can’t blame anyone else for it." Grace thought for a moment, not daring to sound too certain.

’It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been a poor judge of character.’

’Wasn’t I blind enough to fall for a scumbag like Caleb Forrest back then?’

’And didn’t Ivy White wrap me around her little finger?’

"Let’s hope she has some conscience. Mom is treating her really well," Hayley said with a nod. "By the way, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Let’s go inside and chat for a bit."