Chapter 56

"Mom." Lin Feifei's voice was a bit soft, but fortunately, it came through the microphone.

"Feifei, what happened?" Lin Shengnan immediately sensed something was off in her daughter's voice and asked urgently.

"Nothing; we're just at the entrance of the 3A mall." Lin Feifei had a lot to say, but swallowed her words.

"We? I'm coming down now." Lin Shengnan hung up the phone and hurried downstairs.

Could it be she's still with that guy who's been seeing three people at once?

Thinking about this, she quickened her pace.

"Mom, do you think she's still mad?" Lin Feifei leaned against Jia Fuhai, looking a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry, the anger's all directed at me." Jia Fuhai said with a bitter smile. After all, to Feifei's mother, he was the outsider.

Lin Feifei touched her not-yet-visible belly and tried to comfort him: "It'll be fine; I'm pregnant now. Mom won't go too far. Besides, we're here to help her too!"

"You're funny. Just a moment ago, you were scared out of your mind, and now you're encouraging me. Don't worry, I've got thick skin." Jia Fuhai said jokingly.

"Hehe." Lin Feifei leaned against him, feeling less afraid at that moment.

When Lin Shengnan came out, she saw the two of them hugging. She frowned and walked over quickly.

It had been a year since she last saw her daughter, and though she was furious, she held back her urge to curse and asked in a low voice, "Feifei, why are you still with him?"

"Mom, what's wrong with Haige? Besides, I'm pregnant." Lin Feifei decided to drop the bombshell right away to avoid a heated argument.

"What? You…" Lin Shengnan was so shocked that her finger trembled as she pointed at her daughter. She immediately turned to Jia Fuhai and shouted angrily, "Is this how you treat my daughter?"

"Auntie, we're serious about spending our lives together." Jia Fuhai said shamelessly, and he wasn't wrong either.

"Hmph, and what about the other two?" Lin Shengnan asked, not letting him off easily.

"Mom, we get along well as sisters." Lin Feifei responded unhappily.

Zhen Linqi treated her very well. Thanks to Qiqi, she was able to apprentice under Doctor Li Lian. And at home, Qiqi handled everything, leaving Feifei free to focus on her studies.

Zhen Linna… well, she was her past love.

"What are you thinking?" Lin Shangnan's face was stern as she questioned her daughter. She truly didn't understand why her daughter was being so irrational.

"Mom, everyone has their own life preferences, don't they? I'm really happy with how things are now." Lin Feifei argued.

"Then why did you come to find me?" The more Lin Shengnan thought about it, the angrier she got. What was it about this man who juggled multiple relationships that her daughter liked so much?

Seeing Lin's anger rising, Jia Fuhai was afraid things would get worse and quickly revealed their purpose: "Auntie, we're here to recommend cakes for the supermarket."

"You? With your character, what could you possibly have to recommend?" Lin Shengnan was furious and didn't believe he could offer anything worthwhile.

"Mom, you always said business is business. We should judge based on the product, right?" Lin Feifei quickly added, knowing that if they changed the subject, they might avoid a big fallout.

The two of them both knew that if they didn't shift the focus, the conversation would surely end badly.

Knowing her mother's strong business sense, they wisely played on that to calm things down.

"Hmph, do you think I haven't seen good products before?" Lin Shengnan softened slightly but still maintained her attitude. She decided to give her daughter a chance to mend things, while also figuring out what to do about the baby and how to handle this man who was dating multiple women.

Jia Fuhai, knowing he wasn't welcome, opened the box and handed the cake to Feifei for her to give.

"Here, Mom." Lin Feifei unwrapped the cake and handed it over.

"Such flashy packaging." Lin Shengnan frowned as she took the cake. She was only stalling for time to think about how to handle the situation without hurting her daughter.

"Mom, try a bite." Lin Feifei encouraged her from the side.

Reluctantly, Lin Shengnan took a bite, thinking she'd had plenty of cakes in her time as a store manager, and this one couldn't possibly be that special.

"Mmm~" As soon as she took a bite, her face went from (???) to ⊙v⊙.

Her pupils shrank, and her eyes widened.

Clearly, the flavor had shocked her.

If she had looked at the packaging, she would have known it was a five-star cake.

Jia Fuhai had already established a star-rating system for the products from his food factory, ranging from one to five stars.

A one-star cake had 50%–60% of the flavor of one he made personally.

A two-star had 60%-70%.

A three-star had 70%-80%.

A four-star had 80%-90%.

And a five-star cake had over 90%.

The cake Lin's mother was eating was the highest-rated, and she was savoring it.

"This cake is so delicious. How did you make it?" Lin Shengnan's business instincts kicked in as she finished eating and started to inquire about the cake's details.

"Auntie, would you like to see the production process? You can visit the website xxx and see a video of how this cake was made. The production details are printed on the packaging." Jia Fuhai explained while handing her another cake.

By now, Lin Shengnan had fully transitioned into her store manager mode and eagerly took the cake to inspect it.

But before looking at the packaging, she finished eating the cake—it was simply too good.

Afterward, she checked the packaging.

The front featured a logo with the words "Jia Ji" and five stars. The rest was mostly transparent, allowing a view of the cake inside.

She quickly turned it over.

The first thing she saw was the ingredient list, which was surprisingly simple: just three ingredients—flour, eggs, and honey.

"Is this ingredient list fake?" Lin Shengnan asked immediately.

"Mom, what are you talking about? This isn't some shady shop. Besides, who would dare do that here in Xiangjiang?" Lin Feifei said, feeling exasperated.

"You're right… It's just, I've never seen such a simple ingredient list before." Lin Shengnan admitted, realizing that if the ingredient list were fake, the entire industry would be in trouble.

Suppressing her inner doubt, she continued reading.

There were execution standards, production licenses, and the production date...

"Why is the shelf life only three days?" Lin Shengnan asked again, concerned about the competitiveness of such a short shelf life in a fast-moving consumer goods market.

But given the taste, she wasn't too worried about competitiveness.

"Haige said three days is the optimal consumption period. It could last a week, but for the best taste, it's three days." Lin Feifei quickly explained.

The cakes were produced in a sterile environment; otherwise, the shelf life would be even shorter. Over the past few days, she had been involved in discussions and had learned a lot.

"Alright, I'll give you that one." For once, Lin Shengnan complimented Jia Fuhai. This was the first time she had seen someone willing to shorten the shelf life for better taste.

She continued to read the details, like the production location and manufacturer's number, but skipped over the less important parts.

Finally, there was a note: 

"To view the production video of this cake, please visit the xxx website and enter the production date and the anti-counterfeiting code to watch the cake's production process."

"You can actually watch the production video?" Lin Shengnan muttered in disbelief as she logged onto the website with her phone.

"Yes, all batches can be tracked, and you can even watch the production live, though we only produce cakes at night." Jia Fuhai added from the side.