The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 105: Finally Got a Shop
"Do you think your second brother can beat Feng Chuan?"
Taking advantage of Gu Taohua and Gu Dashi being elsewhere, Tong Huaqiong asked Jingzhe.
The mother and son exchanged a glance, knowing they were on the same page about handling Feng Chuan.
"Don’t worry, Mother, Second Brother can." Jingzhe had great confidence in Gu Dashi.
Since Jingzhe had faith in Gu Dashi’s ability to manage Feng Chuan, Tong Huaqiong decided to trust this young genius for now.
Even if Gu Dashi couldn’t manage it, under Jingzhe’s strategy, Feng Chuan would still lose.
Jingzhe’s performance lately had been quite satisfactory to Tong Huaqiong.
This son was intelligent and capable; with his mind in the right place, he would certainly be an asset to both the country and family.
"Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to town. You and I will go to the government to handle the shop paperwork and then deal with Feng Chuan with your brother," Tong Huaqiong told Jingzhe.
Jingzhe was familiar with all the legal documents of the time, and although Tong Huaqiong believed Ma Huateng wouldn’t deceive her, she wanted to be cautious about everything.
After all, buying a shop was a big deal, similar to buying a house in later generations.
Everything needed to be airtight legally.
Having Jingzhe to scrutinize everything on her behalf wasn’t a bad idea.
"Alright." Jingzhe agreed readily.
Jingzhe could clearly feel his mother’s attitude towards him had improved, and he was very happy about it.
"There’s something else I need to tell you. Ma Huateng is selling the shop to me, but on the condition that he wants to work as the accountant at our shop; I agreed. You have no objections, right?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
Jingzhe thought, even if he had objections, he wouldn’t dare voice them, plus there were none.
After Tong Huaqiong had Jingzhe drop out, Jingzhe had mentioned to her that after harvests, he would go to Pingchuan County or the provincial city to find accounting work to earn money for school.
It was like half-working, half-studying.
Now their own shop was employing Ma Huateng, leaving Jingzhe out, which was understandable, but even so, she wouldn’t consider letting Jingzhe be the accountant at the shop.
Jingzhe still had to eventually return to private school.
She just wanted to keep Jingzhe hanging on to cultivate his character a bit more.
"I have no objections. Mother, I really have no objections," Jingzhe said.
"That’s good." Tong Huaqiong said.
At night, Tong Huaqiong got up drowsily and saw the light still on in Jingzhe’s room.
She was about to get mad. Did lamp oil cost nothing? What kind of household was this, burning a lamp all night?
Through the window, she saw Jingzhe holding a book, realizing he was working during the day and studying late into the night.
It’s undeniable that in his past life, Jingzhe went from a farmer to a top scholar without any exaggeration. With such willpower, he became third in the exams only because his striking appearance held him back; otherwise, he would have been the top scholar.
Tong Huaqiong almost wanted to use a fire poker to mark Jingzhe’s face, to lower his looks a bit; after all, being the top scholar’s mother sounded more impressive than being the third scholar’s mother.
After relieving herself, Tong Huaqiong sighed and went back to sleep.
She decided that once the shop opened and made money, Jingzhe would quickly return to private school to study.
With her as his mother, Jingzhe surely wouldn’t stray down a wrong path.
However, to go to the Wanliu Academy, he would have to rely on his own abilities.
Early the next morning, Tong Huaqiong took her two sons to town.
First, they went to find Ma Huateng, then they all headed to the government to sign the land and house transaction contract.
The land and house transaction contract was this era’s deed for property, serving as the legal proof of property rights. Normally there would be four copies: one for Ma Huateng, one for Tong Huaqiong, one for the broker, and one for the county government to retain as a safeguard against property disputes.
Since Tong Huaqiong and Ma Huateng were dealing directly without a broker, only three copies were needed, saving Tong Huaqiong some transaction fees.
Normally, they would have to go to the county government, but Yan Guan Town was the most developed commercial port in Pingchuan County; the county goverment had set up an office for handling business procedures there, so Tong Huaqiong and the others didn’t need to make another trip to Pingchuan County.
This saved both time and cost.
After signing the land and house transaction contract, Tong Huaqiong paid Ma Huateng one hundred taels of silver, then signed an eighty taels debt contract and Ma Huateng’s employment agreement under government witness.
The whole process took half a morning.
After completing the paperwork, Tong Huaqiong meticulously reviewed the contract under the sunlight, her excitement indescribable.
Her hand trembled slightly as she touched the key.
She was now a property owner in this world.
She recalled when her parents in the later generations bought a house in the city where she was studying; after leaving the transaction hall, the three excitedly went to a restaurant to celebrate.
Tong Huaqiong thought of going to the best restaurant in town to celebrate but dropped the idea when she remembered she still owed Ma Huateng eighty taels of silver.
Gu Dashi had the same idea and got scolded by Tong Huaqiong.
Those two bad bamboos hadn’t even helped clear the obstacle of Manager Feng yet, and they already wanted to spend money—no way!
Having become Tong Huaqiong’s hired worker, Ma Huateng parted ways with her at the intersection.
Tong Huaqiong then took the two bad bamboos to Rouge Alley.
Opening the shop door, Tong Huaqiong was extremely excited.
The shop was spacious and bright, with shelves full of wine. Ma Huateng, unwilling to deal with the hassle, half-sold, half-gifted the wine to Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong then went to the back of the shop, where there was a large courtyard that could house a baking workshop and warehouse.
The two sons were as excited as Tong Huaqiong.
Coming from Qinghe Bay to Yan Guan Town to open a shop, the Gu family had taken over twenty years.
No, truly moving forward only took these past few months.
It felt like a dream.
"All these shelves need to be dismantled and redone."
"This is where accounts will be settled."
"We need to set up racks for pastries here."
"This shelf is reserved for birthday cakes."
Tong Huaqiong busied herself around the shop, determined to make it more appealing than the Crispy Food Garden.
"No time to lose, we must quickly find a carpenter to redo the shelves and such," Tong Huaqiong said. "Who would be suitable?"
"Uncle Guangkui from our village makes shelves quickly and nicely, Mother, do you remember he made all the furniture for my wedding?" Gu Dashi said.
Tong Huaqiong searched Tong Dajiao’s memories and recalled that solitary household living outside the village.
The Uncle Guangkui mentioned by Gu Dashi was really Gu Guangkui.
Gu Guangkui and the others were part of the Gu family, and by rank, he was of the same generation as the deceased Mr. Gu.
His mother was the old woman who, along with Yan Pozi, needled Tong Huaqiong on Mr. Xu’s ox cart last time.
That old woman’s attitude toward the Gu family was very complicated.
"Alright, let him do it," Tong Huaqiong said.
Since they were family, and she quite liked Gu Guangkui’s wife, who had greeted her warmly a few days ago.
There was no hesitation in handing the shop’s shelves and counters to Gu Guangkui.
Let Gu Guangkui make money off the shelves, and the oven in the courtyard would be handed to Qin Qingyou.
"Mother, won’t Grandma Huang use this as an opportunity to cause trouble?" Jingzhe asked, slightly worried. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Jingzhe referred to the old woman as Grandma Huang.
"Let her try, she’ll get nowhere with me," Tong Huaqiong replied contemptuously.
Her mother had this confidence, so Jingzhe felt he might have been overthinking it.
