The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 359: New Gossip

"Thank you, Mr. Su."

On the way back, Tong Pandi repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Mr. Su.

If it hadn’t been for Mr. Su’s reputation and willingness to lend a hand, her divorce wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.

Tong Huaqiong was curious about what Mr. Su had said to the Wu Family Patriarch to make him agree so readily.

Mr. Su chuckled twice and said, "Did you think I was just a bookworm who only knows how to talk about principles? A few days ago, I went to Fengle Building for a meal and chatted with Boss Qian. From him, I learned that the Wu Family wanted to arrange a marriage between his eldest daughter-in-law’s cousin and their family. Wu Ren has a daughter, and the patriarch has a daughter too. Originally, the matchmaker intended to propose the patriarch’s daughter, but Wu Ren intercepted it. The patriarch held a grudge against Wu Ren. So, I hinted to the patriarch that Boss Qian’s eldest daughter-in-law’s cousin studied with me for two years. He listens to me the most, and recently wrote to me asking what kind of girl he should marry."

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

Without Mr. Su needing to elaborate, Tong Huaqiong, Gu Jingzhe, and Tong Pandi understood that the patriarch hoped Mr. Su would act as a matchmaker and bypass Wu Ren to propose his daughter to the cousin of Boss Qian’s eldest daughter-in-law.

It was unexpected how this matter took so many turns to land on Boss Qian.

Mr. Su was indeed quite cunning.

Tong Huaqiong couldn’t help but ask, "So, did Mr. Su agree?"

In her view, the Wu Family Patriarch wasn’t a good person either, and if that cousin was a good match, arranging marriage with the Wu Family would only bring trouble.

Mr. Su smiled and said, "I didn’t say I guaranteed the proposal would succeed."

Tong Pandi was very grateful to Mr. Su. Mr. Su lived alone and had no one to take care of him. She noticed that the stitching on Mr. Su’s sleeves had worn out, so after returning to Qinghe Bay, she took a piece of blue satin and sewed a robe for Mr. Su.

Mr. Su accepted the robe without hesitation and wore it right away.

...

Tong Pandi temporarily stayed at Tong Huaqiong’s home.

After the divorce, Tong Pandi was filled with energy. She worked at the pig farm at Tong Huaqiong’s with Mrs. Cao and took the initiative to learn to read with Chen Sufen and Liu Yueer in the evenings.

Tong Huaqiong’s pig farm focused on scientific breeding.

Tong Huaqiong taught Tong Pandi scientific pig farming knowledge, such as "Postpartum Care of Sows" and "Pig Feed Selection," which she had copied from a space.

Tong Pandi had a good memory and could grasp it after hearing it twice.

Compared to Chen Sufen’s talent in baking, Tong Pandi had a knack for farming.

Tong Huaqiong couldn’t help but marvel at how astute the women of the Tong Family were.

In a previous life, Tong Dajiao could read and even raised a genius like Gu Jingzhe; as Tong Dajiao’s niece, Tong Pandi was equally smart, merely constrained by the Wu Family in her past life. Now, without a man, she was unhindered and could manage the whole pig farm.

Tong Huaqiong planned to expand the pig farm after spring, reassemble and build pigpens in the abandoned temple, breed sows and boars, buy new piglets... each task required a lot of effort.

In winter, there was no need for everyone to work outside, nor was there fieldwork to do, so Tong Huaqiong’s previously hired farmhands were idle in winter.

Tong Huaqiong hired a few people to tend the pigs, and she let Tong Pandi coordinate them.

With more pigs, naturally, a large amount of pig feed was needed.

Tong Huaqiong set up a corn procurement station at home with Tong Pandi.

Originally, this matter could’ve been handled by Gu Dahuan, but he was busy with the village’s waterworks and had no time. The growth of winter wheat in spring was crucial, and every winter, the village organized people to dig canals. Qinghe Bay was no exception, and every household had to send at least one person to dig ditches in winter.

Moreover, Tong Huaqiong thought Tong Pandi was more suited for dealing with outsiders than Gu Dahuan, so she involved Tong Pandi in procuring pig feed.

Tong Pandi worked and nursed her child without feeling tired at all.

Hua Er, Man Er, Xiao Long, and Yaozu were raised together, while Hua Er was plump with Mrs. Hong’s friendly help during the day.

In between, Tong Fusheng, unwilling to give up, tried to have someone he knew come to Qinghe Bay to talk to Tong Pandi about returning to apologize and continue living as the young mistress of the Wu Family.

He was scolded by Tong Huaqiong and Tong Pandi.

Of course, the Wu Family’s wish to marry the cousin of Boss Qian’s daughter-in-law fell through.

When Boss Qian learned of the Wu Family’s deeds, he told his eldest daughter-in-law, who recounted how the Wu Family mistreated their daughter-in-law with added details to her aunt, leading to the end of the proposal.

The outside world’s chaos had nothing to do with Tong Huaqiong; she was busy with the pig farm and the expansion of Taohua Dessert at Black Dragon Pond, so much so that the lunar month flew by.

Once the lunar-eighth passed, it was New Year.

In no time, the New Year’s atmosphere began to grow intense.

The festival inevitably involved visiting, and Liu Yueer’s older sister, Liu Yuechang, came from Moon Bay to visit her family in Qinghe Bay and stopped by Tong Huaqiong’s home.

During gossip, Liu Yuechang mentioned a pretty girl named Luo Qiuyu in Moon Bay who, as a maid in the Lian Family of Pingchuan County, got involved with the young master and got pregnant. As the Lian Family young master was engaged, they feared the news of a child before marriage would spread and become scandalous, so they sent Luo Qiuyu home.

Luo Qiuyu, being a strong-willed person, took poison in a fit of rage, resulting in both deaths.

The Lian Family, fearing trouble from the Luo Family, sent the steward to Moon Bay to give the Luo Family one hundred taels of silver. Qiuyu’s parents accepted the money, but Qiuyu’s brother disagreed with taking the money and demanded that the Lian Family honor Qiuyu’s memorial tablet in their ancestral hall.

Tong Huaqiong found the Lian Family in this gossip quite familiar.

She remembered that Huang Yuanwai’s daughter, Huang Jingshan, was engaged to the Lian Family in Pingchuan County.

So she asked Liu Yuechang, "Which Lian Family young master is the father of the child Qiuyu carried?"

Liu Yuechang wasn’t surprised by Tong Huaqiong’s interest in gossip; even someone as formidable as Aunt Tong enjoyed romantic gossip. So she said, "It’s the second young master." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The Lian Family had three young masters; the eldest had already married, and the second and third had just gotten engaged one after the other.

Huang Jingshan was engaged to the second young master.

Liu Yuechang sighed, "They say he’s a scholar, but what a waste. If he wasn’t going to marry Qiuyu, why involve her? Now he’s caused two lives. People in our village used to envy Qiuyu for catching the Lian Family’s eye, enjoying the same food and clothes as the family’s daughters. Now it seems they were just deceiving her."

Liu Yuechang’s understanding earned Tong Huaqiong’s admiration.

Liu Yuechang stayed a while longer in Tong Huaqiong’s house, but as the evening approached, she bid farewell.

Without delay, Tong Huaqiong went to town the next day.

First, she inspected her own Taohua Dessert shop, then hurried to the Huang Family.

Officially, it was to deliver pigs to the Huang Family, but in reality, it was to reveal the Lian Family incident.

Tong Huaqiong sneaked into Old Mrs. Huang’s house to share what she heard from Liu Yuechang about the second son of the Lian Family and Luo Qiuyu. Unsurprisingly, the Huang Family was completely in the dark about this sordid affair.

Old Mrs. Huang started clamoring to break off the engagement halfway through the story.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Old lady, I might have misunderstood and falsely accused someone. You’d better send someone to inquire."

Old Mrs. Huang, agitated, said, "There’s absolutely no mistake. Among the three Lian sons, only the second son, who is engaged to Jingshan, studies. Even if it were the eldest or third son committing such a vile act against a maid, this marriage cannot proceed. A corrupt family culture breeds continuation of bad traditions; my Jingshan mustn’t step into such a pitfall at the Lian home."

Tong Huaqiong nodded, indicating that the old lady was indeed correct.