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

Chapter 70: He really is a top student.
The flatbed cart was piled high with pastries.

Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua sat calmly on the seats made of hay, while Chen Sufen and Liu Yue'e couldn't help but twitch their lips.

This back-and-forth must have exhausted Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe.

"Su-Fen, make the peach shortbread, mung bean cake, and honey-glazed pastries. Don't work too hard. Yue-E, you'll be in charge of the fire, cooking, and washing clothes. If you slack off, I won't forgive you. If you do a good job, I'll give you some money from my savings."

Tong Huaqiong gave her two daughters-in-law some instructions, focusing on giving Liu Yue'e a warning.

She was worried that if she went to town, Liu Yue'e would act like a big shot at home and dump all the housework on Chen Sufen.

Upon hearing that there was some secret stash of money, Liu Yue'e became excited and patted her chest, promising that she would not let Tong Huaqiong down.

With one pulling and the other pushing, the two brothers, Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe, worked together to pull the flatbed cart out of the Gu family's house.

Under the big tree at the village entrance, Tong Huaqiong handed two pieces of mung bean cake and two pieces of jujube cake to Grandpa Xu to thank him for his kindness yesterday. Grandpa Xu was quite disappointed when he learned that Tong Huaqiong was not taking the bus.

He felt that Widow Tong was a good person after getting to know her better. Despite her domineering personality, she never missed a fare payment.

It must have been caused by his nephew from the same clan yesterday, who made him lose two passengers at once.

No, it should be four passengers, since Tong Huaqiong paid for four people's fare.

Thinking of this, Grandpa Xu felt heartbroken and cursed Xu Si and Granny Yan in his heart until he was exhausted.

"Tong Dajiao".

Before Tong Huaqiong could react, she saw an old woman with a headscarf and a basket approaching her.

Tong Huaqiong searched her memory and matched the old woman with Liu Qiaoyun's mother-in-law, Granny Qin.

"Sister-in-law Qin," Tong Huaqiong greeted her.

"My daughter-in-law told me you'd been selling cakes in town these days, and I didn't believe it. But seeing you today, it's clear you've turned over a new leaf and are living a proper life. Heaven has opened its eyes; even Tong Dajiao can finally clear her name. Tsk tsk tsk." Old Lady Qin's words were rather unpleasant.

Tong Huaqiong glanced sideways at Granny Qin and, channeling her inner Tong Dajiao, said, "I'm just living a peaceful life, what right do you have to interfere? A good dog doesn't block the way, move aside, I'm going to the market if there's nothing else."

This was Tong Dajiao's speaking style. Tong Huaqiong decided to implement it in the village. As a widow, she couldn't afford to portray herself as understanding if she didn't want to be bullied.

"You have quite the mouth," Granny Qin said, flashing the cucumbers and mulberries she had picked that morning in front of Tong Huaqiong. "We can't finish them all, so we're planning to give them to your family."

Tong Huaqiong looked at the juicy cucumbers and dark purple mulberries—pure, green, and pollution-free fruits and vegetables—and her mouth watered. She reached out to take them.

"This isn't for you to eat. I'll take some to your house for your eldest son's wife and Man'er later. If you want to eat, you can grow your own, but you're so lazy you probably can't. If you were more diligent, those little plots of land over there wouldn't be lying fallow," Granny Qin said, covering the basket with both hands.

Tong Huaqiong: "."

Old Lady Qin was clearly there to thank her for saving her daughter-in-law Liu Qiaoyun from Xu Si's clutches, but she was too embarrassed to express her gratitude directly.

Despite her harsh words, Granny Qin was indeed a kind-hearted and warm-hearted old woman from the countryside.

Yesterday, I sent my son and daughter-in-law to the Gu family to deliver a basket of eggs. This morning, knowing that she was going to set up a stall, I specially waited at the village entrance to thank her.

How could just showing her the cucumbers and mulberries be enough?
“Sister-in-law Qin, look, isn’t that your Qingyou?” Tong Huaqiong pointed ahead and said.

Granny Qin turned her head to look over, but didn't see anyone. She only felt her hand suddenly become heavy and then light, and when she turned her head again, the basket was already in Tong Huaqiong's hands.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law Qin! These cucumbers and mulberries are really good, I love them."

Tong Huaqiong rubbed the cucumber and took a bite. Not bad, fresh and crisp.

Granny Qin stamped her foot and cursed, "Tong Dajiao, have some decency! You even take away things meant for your granddaughter!"

It's clear he hasn't changed his nature!

Gu Taohua grabbed a handful of mulberries, waved her hand, and said, "Aunt Qin, if you feel sorry for Man'er, you can send another basket home." Tong Huaqiong, while munching on cucumbers, ordered Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe to push the cart and leave quickly.

Granny Qin smiled and shook her head, then walked towards her vegetable garden.

As the flatbed cart passed by her own wheat field, Tong Huaqiong glanced into the field.

The wheat ears, not yet fully filled, swayed gently in the morning light, facing the wind.

After working hard in the fields during the Grain Awakening and Grain Great Heat periods, the grass is not as thick anymore, but the wheat ears do not look as full as those in the surrounding fields.

Of course, the land is a bit dry.

It wasn't just the Gu family's land that was suffering from drought; the entire Qinghe Bay had barely seen any rain from spring to early summer, and everyone's land was somewhat parched.

Those diligent families who went out early and returned late every day to fetch water to irrigate their fields saw their wheat grow noticeably better.

For example, right now, Tong Huaqiong sees many people carrying loads on their shoulders walking from the riverbank at the village entrance towards the fields.

In the case of the Gu family's clump of bamboo, when Gu Dahan was not at home, no one had ever thought of fetching water to irrigate the fields, always relying on rain from heaven.

Therefore, the wheat grown by the Gu family was not as good as that of other families.

"I'm not trying to criticize you two brothers, but look at how well the Qin family's wheat is growing, and then look at our land. I won't even mention that the third brother used to study at a private school, but the second brother, tell me how lazy you are. The reason our wheat is growing like this is all because you're too lazy."

"You get all excited when it comes to food, but you can't handle one kind of grain. From now on, eat two fewer bowls of rice per meal."

Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but curse when she saw her own wheat field.

Gu Dashu hunched his shoulders and gritted his teeth as he pulled the cart; he felt wronged too.

These days he has been carrying water to irrigate his fields every day, but the crops still can't keep up with the growth of the Qin family's land next door. He also doesn't feel that Qin Qingyou has been more diligent than him these days.

Gu Jingzhe pointed to the wheat field and said to Tong Huaqiong, "Mother, look at this wheat field. Starting from the Qin family's land on the left, the wheat is growing better than ours and the wheat on our right. It's understandable that Qin Qingyou's wheat is growing well, but our right side belongs to my second brother's in-laws. My second brother's brother-in-law, Brother Liu, is even more capable than Qin Qingyou, and his wheat field is growing about the same as ours. I've been working in the field for the past few days, and I've been wondering why the wheat is growing differently on the left and right sides, with our land as the dividing line?"

Following Gu Jingzhe's finger, Tong Huaqiong indeed discovered that the wheat fields on the left and right sides were growing differently.

The wheat fields on the left are generally growing better than those on the right.

The wheat fields on the right, including those belonging to the Gu and Liu families, generally have shorter wheat plants with leaves that are greenish-yellow, and some even have withered tips.

"Third brother, you are very observant."

Gu Jingzhe is indeed a top student; even when he goes home to farm, he can discover patterns that others cannot.

Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but admire that if Gu Jingzhe had gone to an agricultural university in her time, she might have made a great contribution to the world.

Tong Huaqiong had never farmed in her previous life, but she had seen and heard about farming. Her grandmother's family was from the countryside, and there were large wheat fields around her parents' factory.

She has a certain understanding of what season to plant, what season to harvest, how to fertilize, and how to even out seedlings.

After carefully observing the wheat field on the right, Tong Huaqiong made a decision: the soil on the right must be lacking a certain element compared to the soil on the left.

She didn't know what she was missing.

“I saw what you said about the wheat problem, Third Brother. I’ll ask someone in town who knows about it to see what’s going on,” Tong Huaqiong said.

She decided to go online that night to search for a solution, hoping to find one that could help.

My heart was pounding last night watching the mixed doubles table tennis match—we won! I love Sasha so much!



(End of this chapter)