The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 74: A Youthful Heart

"Big brother, I’ve discovered a pattern in the fields these past few days. Regarding the two plots of land at the entrance of the village that mother asked about, marked by our family’s boundary, the growth differs on both sides. No matter whose wheat field is on the left, it’s lush and green with large spikes. But on the right, like ours, the spikes are short, the stalks are yellow, and the leaf tips are withering," Jingzhe told Gu Dahuan.

Ever since Gu Dahuan had beaten Jingzhe, the two brothers hadn’t spoken for several days.

Gu Dahuan didn’t know how to start, and Jingzhe felt awkward facing his big brother, leaving the brothers in an uncomfortable stalemate.

Upon hearing Tong Huaqiong’s concern for the wheat, Jingzhe took the initiative to break the ice with Gu Dahuan.

"After discovering this issue, I told mother, who wants to know from you if this was the case before," Jingzhe continued.

Gu Dahuan instinctively wanted to refute because, in his mind, what did Jingzhe, a scholar, know about farming?

Recalling Jingzhe’s old tricks, he wondered if this was another setup.

After all the beating, he couldn’t believe Jingzhe accepted it quietly, surely he harbored some malicious intent to get their stepmother to deal with him.

See, here it comes—bringing up the wheat in the field.

"Third brother, what do you mean by this? Some families tend to their fields diligently, so they’re good, while those lazier see poorer harvests," Gu Dahuan, being straightforward, replied with a hint of confrontation.

Tong Huaqiong sighed, realizing Gu Dahuan was honest to a fault, believing that the quality of farming hinged entirely on diligence.

Still, this contradicted what he said earlier about his own diligence not yielding better results for those two plots.

So, Tong Huaqiong asked, "Dahuan, you are not lazy in farming. So why aren’t our fields yielding well? Haven’t you thought about the reason?"

Gu Dahuan was momentarily speechless.

At that moment, he ignored other thoughts, sure that Jingzhe was seizing the chance to humiliate him with the main aim of restoring his stepmother’s previous attitude towards him.

With these thoughts, he avoided directly answering Tong Huaqiong and instead said to Jingzhe, "Third brother, you’re often at the private school studying and seldom in the fields. There’s a big difference between farming and studying. What you described happens often in the village, with some people doing well and others poorly. As for the reason, I’d say it’s all up to Heaven."

Tong Huaqiong was a bit speechless at her stepson’s attitude.

He was truthful, but too stubborn.

"Dahuan, I’m not blaming you. I mentioned the wheat because I don’t want you to waste your effort in the fields. If you struggle all year only to end up with bad yields, isn’t that all in vain?" Tong Huaqiong said.

"Do you think I’m trying to pressure you today with the harvest issue because of hitting your third brother, and that we’re teaming up to hold you accountable for the fields’ yield?" Tong Huaqiong directly addressed Gu Dahuan’s thoughts, saying, "Then you’re mistaken. You hit your third brother, and it was deserved. He promised me he wouldn’t hold a grudge. If he did, I wouldn’t let him off. But you can’t let go, holding onto grievances against your third brother, brushing aside the field issue he discovered."

Gu Dahuan was embarrassed at having his thoughts exposed, rubbing his clothes hem, saying timidly, "Mother, that’s not what I mean..."

"Enough, that is what you mean, and you’re bad at lying. But I don’t blame you for thinking that way. After all, I am a stepmother, and you’ve suffered a lot from me. It’s normal for you not to trust me and your third brother. But since I’ve decided to change my past behaviors, I won’t revert to my old temper. I don’t ask for full trust, but don’t always assume the worst of me, thinking I’m plotting against you."

"I just want to live a good life now, with no interest in scheming against you,"

Tong Huaqiong interrupted Gu Dahuan.

These days, Gu Dahuan was obedient as before at home but overly cautious.

At the slightest issue, he jumped to the conclusion that Tong Huaqiong was out to get him.

This interaction tired her out, and exhausted him, too.

Tong Huaqiong wasn’t a Holy Mother; she didn’t intend to fully make up for the harm Tong Dajiao caused to Gu Dahuan, nor could she. Gu Dahuan was an adult; she couldn’t treat him like Man Er, always trying to guess and please him.

What she could do was try to live well together with Gu Dahuan.

If he couldn’t let go and was attached to his grudges, she had no solution.

At most, they’d divide the family later. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Today, she intended to lay everything on the table because of the wheat.

"Mother..." Gu Dahuan’s face turned beet red.

He’d grown used to being manipulated and traumatized, he almost wished his stepmother were still tough on him.

Feeling wronged and angry, he passively accepted, without knowing how to resist—that was his comfort zone.

Now that his stepmother was kind to him, he felt like he was treading unfamiliar territory and didn’t know how to act.

This left him with a deep sense of failure!

"Big brother, no matter how wrong I was in the past, I’m not raising the wheat issue now to set you up with mother. It really hurts me to think you see me this way," Jingzhe, though a genius youth, was still just a teenager.

Being young and fiery was characteristic of him, so he couldn’t help but express his grievance and discontent.

Tong Huaqiong shot Jingzhe a glance and said, "For someone with a record like yours, it’s only fair to be wary."

Jingzhe: "..."

Could their brotherly bond ever be mended? He realized his mother was the stumbling block to reconciling with his big brother.

Tong Huaqiong calmly explained to the restless Gu Dahuan, "The wheat issue your third brother discovered is important. You’ve been working hard on those two plots without improvement, making it seem like you weren’t diligent. You were too focused on your work to notice that the wheat growth on both sides was very normal."

"You said your third brother is a scholar, and studying differs from farming, but that’s not entirely true. Studying is to explore the world’s truths, and that includes farming. The results your third brother observed in the fields these days are significant, at least regarding our family’s wheat yield."

"I kept in mind what your third brother noted about the wheat. While selling cakes in town, it was on my mind. As I was wrapping up, I chatted with a big lady selling eggs next to me, and brought up the wheat issue. Someone buying our cakes overheard this and told me the reason. If it had been anyone else, I might not have believed it, but I trusted this person."

Gu Dahuan and Jingzhe both looked at Tong Huaqiong, waiting for her to continue.

"This person was an agriculture officer, here to check the wheat. He said our wheat was likely nitrogen-deficient, a specific fertilizer issue. He told me where in the county town you could buy nitrogen fertilizers, so I had someone go that very day and bring it back. It’s all stored in my room now," Tong Huaqiong explained.

She then looked at the genius youth, Jingzhe.

She needn’t worry about Gu Dahuan; his faith made him easily believe.

With official endorsement, he had no doubt whatsoever.

Jingzhe, this time, didn’t express skepticism. Pingchuan was a crucial grain-producing area, with agriculture officers visiting annually, even advising students at private school last year to care about farming alongside their studies.

He also didn’t doubt Tong Huaqiong’s purchase of nitrogen fertilizers, knowing she and his sister handled the stall while he and his big brother worked on the farm these past days.

"Mother, where are those nitrogen fertilizers?" Jingzhe asked.