The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 169: More Fields, Fatter Pigs
"From now on, I’ll leave these fifty acres of land for Da Han to manage." Tong Huaqiong put away the land deed and said to Gu Dahuan.
Gu Dahuan was extremely excited to hear this.
He loved farming and was passionate about it.
He didn’t like doing business; when serving customers at Taohua Dessert, he never knew where to put his hands and feet.
Now that his stepmother entrusted all the family’s land to him, he felt a great sense of responsibility and appreciated being valued.
"Don’t worry, Mother. I will definitely manage these lands well," Gu Dahuan said.
"Let’s plant grain on these lands," Tong Huaqiong said.
"Our granary will surely be full next year," Gu Dahuan said happily.
Gu Dahuan was now full of energy.
Tong Huaqiong not only let him manage the family’s land but also put him in charge of the pig farm.
The Gu Family initially only had five acres of land, but now they’ve bought fifty acres, totaling fifty-five acres.
These fifty-five acres are to be planted with grain first since grain is extremely important in any era.
Whether during famine or war, having grain means survival.
Once the family acquired more land, she would consider developing economic crops.
She had already carefully searched for information in her space; this area’s most suitable economic crop is cotton.
If she bought more land, she planned to plant cotton.
She realized that most people in this era wore linen clothes, and only rich households like Huang Yuanwai could afford cotton cloth.
The main reason was the low yield of cotton during this era, combined with poor cotton textile technology, which made cotton cloth rare and expensive.
Tong Huaqiong dug out Tong Dajiao’s winter clothing and found that there were few cotton-padded clothes; most jackets were filled with reed flowers.
Winter days were indeed hard to endure!
If she developed the cotton planting industry and improved cotton textile efficiency, her business could take off.
Becoming a business queen was not impossible.
She couldn’t touch salt or iron, so she would start building her business empire by discovering new opportunities.
Of course, there was also the existing pig farming venture.
After finishing her meal, Tong Huaqiong went to the pig farm.
Watching the pigs rooting around in the feed trough, Tong Huaqiong felt great joy in her heart.
These pigs were not only silver coins but also dishes like braised pork, stewed ribs, candied pork knuckle, and stir-fried intestines.
Tong Huaqiong was crazy about eating these delicacies.
The twenty-something pigs were growing fat and strong, and the one Gu Dahuan bought could be slaughtered around the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The twenty pigs sent by Lu Zhaoyang could be slaughtered by the end of the year.
Other families’ pigs took over a year to be ready for slaughter, but Tong Huaqiong’s pigs had a shorter growth period.
In this era, most pigs were fed grass, and people were reluctant even to give them straw, reserving it for firewood.
Let alone feeding pigs corn or beans, which would be considered wasteful.
After all, in this era, most people saved grain by not shelling millet.
Tong Huaqiong was the first in Qinghe Bay to feed pigs with corn and beans.
This new method of feeding led the villagers to click their tongues in astonishment.
Ever since her pig farm was set up at the temple, villagers couldn’t stop watching.
Gu Dahuan strictly followed Tong Huaqiong’s instructions, feeding the pigs fresh grass and mixing corn and beans with crushed straw in the feed trough.
Indeed, corn and beans sped up the pigs’ growth, and the twenty-something pigs seemed to inflate rapidly.
The two pigs taken from Yan Pozi’s household to offset debts grew noticeably better than at Yan Pozi’s place.
Besides corn and beans, Tong Huaqiong also bought blood bone powder, fish meal, and other pig feed in her space. She had Man Er bring them out of the space, and handed them to Gu Dahuan, asking him to mix them in with the pigs’ feed daily.
Fortunately, Gu Dahuan was obedient and trusted her, feeding the pigs exactly as she instructed.
With the aid of modern technology, their pigs grew fatter and stronger.
Tong Huaqiong inspected the pigpen and was extremely satisfied with the growth of their pigs.
"Sister-in-law Tong,"
Tong Huaqiong left the pig farm and met Uncle Guangkui on her way home.
Since Tong Huaqiong had sent Xu Si into exile, Yan Pozi had lost her influence in the village, and the fortunes of Uncle Guangkui’s family began to change.
Without any worries, he started taking furniture-making jobs outside the village.
Uncle Guangkui was returning from work in another village at this moment.
"Uncle Guangkui, you’re back from work?" Tong Huaqiong thought they were just exchanging pleasantries in passing.
Uncle Guangkui nodded, clearly wanting to say something to Tong Huaqiong, so she stopped walking.
"I’ve been working in Black Dragon Village these past few days and ran into your brother and sister-in-law. They asked me to let you know that they would like you to visit home if you have time," Uncle Guangkui said.
Traveling from Qinghe Bay to Black Dragon Village wasn’t easy; it required crossing two mountains and walking several dozen miles of mountain roads.
Therefore, Uncle Guangkui had been staying at his employer’s house while working in Black Dragon Village.
When Tong Dajiao’s brother and sister-in-law learned that he was a carpenter from Qinghe Bay, they asked him to pass a message to Tong Huaqiong to visit Black Dragon Village.
Tong Dajiao’s parents were both dead; it was clear they weren’t inviting her home just for a visit, but to exploit her.
During wheat harvest, her brother and sister-in-law had already sent a message, which Tong Huaqiong ignored, and now they had asked Uncle Guangkui to convey a message.
It seemed they wouldn’t give up!
"Both my parents are dead, there’s nothing to see at my maternal home." Tong Huaqiong sneered, then thought for a moment and asked Uncle Guangkui, "Did they ask about my situation?"
Uncle Guangkui rubbed his hands and said, "They did inquire, how could they not?"
They asked if Tong Huaqiong had started a business in town, if she was making money...
In short, they never asked how she was coping without a husband.
Knowing full well how hard it is for a widow, they didn’t show concern, only inquiring if she was making money.
In Uncle Guangkui’s eyes, such siblings were heartless, and he looked down upon them.
"...Aunt Tong, they were asking about your business affairs, but I didn’t know what to say, so I said I wasn’t sure," Uncle Guangkui said.
He didn’t tell Tong Dajiao’s siblings that Tong Huaqiong had opened a shop.
He knew what Tong Dajiao’s brother and sister-in-law were like; if they knew she had a shop, they would come to leech off her.
In Uncle Guangkui’s heart, Tong Dajiao had been their family’s benefactor ever since she dealt with Xu Si and employed Gu Xiaocao, and he certainly wouldn’t let their benefactor get tangled with her troublesome siblings.
"Uncle Guangkui, you did the right thing. My brother and sister-in-law’s family are trying to exploit me, and I don’t want them to know about my shop," Tong Huaqiong agreed with Uncle Guangkui’s approach.
Even though Tong Huaqiong’s personality had changed, Uncle Guangkui was still a bit surprised by her response.
In the past, Tong Dajiao poured her heart out to her maternal family; everyone in the village knew she frequently sent Gu Dashu to Black Dragon Village to deliver things to them.
When her in-laws were living in the village, she argued with her mother-in-law every year because of her dissatisfaction with Tong Dajiao giving things to her maternal family.
Her nephew Tong Zhijie was even raised under her roof for several years, and she was even more affectionate towards him than towards Gu Dashu, only rivaled by Gu Jingzhe from the past.
Tong Huaqiong sighed at how her blood had nourished her siblings.
A blood bag used for a long time would surely anger the leeching party once it was taken away.
Her brother and sister-in-law had repeatedly asked people to deliver messages for her to return home, but Tong Huaqiong didn’t take them seriously. She estimated it wouldn’t be long before they barged in to demand answers.
Tong Huaqiong was spirited, ready to welcome the arrival of the vampires.
