The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 41 Castration of Boars
After Butler He left, the Gu family fell into an eerie silence.

"What's wrong? The Zheng family's matter is resolved, so I'm not in the mood anymore. Everyone should go do what they're supposed to do. What are you all standing here for?" Tong Huaqiong waved her hand at the group of bastards and said.

Gu Dashu and the others looked at each other, then all turned to look at the pigsty.

"No, Mother, I don't understand, why would you castrate a pig for no reason?" Gu Dashu asked in a terrified tone.

His mother had heard somewhere that castrated boars are ready for market faster. Just like eunuchs, although he had never seen a real one, the eunuchs played on stage were all as thin as monkeys.

Come to think of it, if your testicles have been removed, how can you be in the mood to eat?
"Bullshit! You're the one who's trying to shoo me away. Do you think I'd bother a pig for no reason? I heard castrated pigs are ready for market faster, otherwise why would I even consider castrating one?"

Tong Huaqiong was very tight-lipped in front of Butler He just now, giving Butler He the impression that she was thinking of castrating the boar because she was dissatisfied with it not gaining weight.

It's because she doesn't want to spread the news that castrated pork tastes better for the time being.

She also wants to develop the pig farming industry. To expand her business, she needs to seize the opportunity.

In front of her family, she only said that castrated pigs are ready for market faster.

“Nobody’s ever castrated a pig. Mother, your news is probably false. Don’t believe it. Raising a pig isn’t easy for us. It would be heartbreaking if it got stabbed to death,” Gu Dashu said.

Tong Huaqiong understood Gu Dashu's thoughts. After all, in those days, a pig was a very important asset for a family, and the whole family was waiting to sell it at the end of the year to make money.

“Mother, I think my second brother is right. Raising a pig is not easy for our family, and this method has never been tried before, so it might not work. Mother is worried that the pig will be slow to market, so let Man’er cut more grass and feed it more.” Chen Sufeng, who always agreed with Tong Huaqiong, also expressed her objection.

"Yaozu also cut grass together and fattened the pigs up together," Liu Yue'e added.

Gu Taohua did not participate in the discussion, as this was a field she did not understand.

Even so, she still thought her mother's idea was quite crazy.

“You all know how hard it is for our family to raise a pig, which is why I wouldn’t joke about a pig. You say this news is fake, but what if it’s true?”

"You're worried the pig won't survive the cut, but I don't think you need to worry. The castrators can even castrate people, and the castrated people can still be lively and energetic, which shows that the castrators are highly skilled. Is it harder to castrate a pig's testicles than a human's?"

“You don’t need to persuade me anymore. I’m still the head of this household, so I’m determined to keep this boar’s eggs.”

Tong Huaqiong made the final decision, and no one dared to object.

Otherwise, Tong Huaqiong would say, "Since that's the case, you should be in charge. With Tong Huaqiong around, who would dare to be in charge?"

Gu Dashu felt that the pig hadn't even been castrated yet, and he was already in a state of agonizing pain.

At this moment, Gu Jingzhe spoke up.

“I support Mother’s decision. Every household in our village has pigs. If you pay attention, you’ll find that boars do grow slowly, and even when they’re ready for slaughter, the meat is rather tough. Not only boars, but even sows have a gamey smell. Let’s try castrating this pig first. We can observe how castrated pigs grow and compare the taste of castrated pork. Maybe castrated pigs will grow faster and taste better.”

After Gu Jingzhe finished speaking, he looked at Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong almost wanted to give Gu Jingzhe a thumbs up. It has to be said that the qualifications of a second-rank official in the imperial court far surpass those of Gu Dashu and others.

He was able to immediately grasp the potential advantages of castrating pigs.

“If castrated pork tastes good, we might as well raise more pigs. After all, pigs are ready for market faster and yield more meat than sheep. Mother, do you agree with what your son is saying?” Gu Jingzhe asked with a smile.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "This kid actually managed to see through my plans from the matter of castrating pigs. He really is a genius!"

“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” Tong Huaqiong said with a smile.

Tong Huaqiong had nothing to hide from Gu Jingzhe; after all, they were all in the same boat.

“In that case, let’s not tell anyone else yet. Let’s castrate the pig quietly. Mother, what do you think? Let’s not invite the castrator to our house. The pig’s squealing will be too loud, and someone will definitely ask. To avoid unnecessary trouble, let my second brother and I tie up the pig and take it to the castrator’s place in Pingchuan County on a flatbed cart to be castrated,” Gu Jingzhe said.

Tong Huaqiong thought about it and felt that Gu Jingzhe's consideration was very thorough.

So he nodded.

"Alright, then you two go tomorrow." Tong Huaqiong made the decision decisively. There was no time to lose; the pig was only four months old, otherwise it would be difficult to castrate it.

Then he instructed everyone, "None of you should tell anyone."

"Don't worry, Mother, I won't tell."

Chen Sufeng and Liu Yue'e had the same thought: how could they tell outsiders about castrating pigs? If people found out, they would say that the Gu family was a bunch of idiots.

Gu Taohua thought to herself that she would never say it, no matter who said it. How could a grown woman like her talk about pig eggs?

Gu Dashu looked completely bewildered.

He's going to tie up a pig tomorrow to feed it eggs; it's just ridiculous.

Since even Gu Jingzhe, the most educated person in the family, thinks the pig's testicles should be cut off, then we have no choice but to cut them off.

Gu Dashu cast a sympathetic glance at the pigsty. "Pig, you won't be a real boar tomorrow."

As if sensing something, the boar jerked and nudged to the feeding trough, grunting and searching for food.

After arranging the castration of the pigs for the whole family, Tong Huaqiong walked briskly into the house.

Man'er was still sleeping, holding a plum blossom mold in her hand.

Tong Huaqiong lifted the quilt, took the mold from her hand, and then took the mold out of the quilt.

She sighed. Today she had witnessed Gu Jingzhe's intelligence, and she figured Gu Jingzhe would find out sooner or later that she had a spatial ability.

She was still thinking about how to smooth things over.

Gu Jingzhe is not as easily fooled as others.

Never mind, we'll deal with it once we find out.

After breakfast, the whole family got busy.

Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe went to tend the wheat fields, Gu Taohua washed clothes, and Tong Huaqiong led Chen Sufeng and Liu Yue'e to make pastries.

With yesterday's experience in controlling the heat and the help of the mold, baking today was incredibly easy.

Several kinds of pastries were quickly made.

Chen Sufen and Liu Yue'e were curious about the mold. Tong Huaqiong said that the mold they found in the house might have been brought by Gu Baishuang before.

So the two daughters-in-law believed it without even thinking.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that it was fortunate that the two of them were just curious and not suspicious.

They had no doubts about the mold, and not even any curiosity about the butter.

Tong Huaqiong tore it open in front of them, and they smelled it and agreed that the butter must have been bought by Tong Huaqiong from the merchant Hu.

Tong Huaqiong acquiesced.

When Gu Jingzhe returned from the fields that evening, Tong Huaqiong called out to him.

"Write my name on a piece of paper, and I'll hang it on my stall."

Since I'm going to set up a stall tomorrow, I need to have a legitimate reason for it; my stall must have a name.

Otherwise, if someone asks a customer who bought her pastries where they bought them, she doesn't want to hear them say they bought them from Su Shi Yuan, because that would be driving customers away to Su Shi Yuan.

(End of this chapter)