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

Chapter 105 Finally, a Shop Was Available
Do you think your second brother can beat Feng Chuan?

While Gu Taohua and Gu Dashu were not around, Tong Huaqiong asked Gu Jingzhe.

The mother and son exchanged a glance and knew they were on the same page about how to deal with Feng Chuan.

"Don't worry, Mother, Second Brother can do it." Gu Jingzhe had great confidence in Gu Dashu.

Since Gu Jingzhe was confident that Gu Dashu could subdue Feng Chuan, Tong Huaqiong decided to trust this genius boy for the time being.

Even if Gu Dashu can't subdue him, Feng Chuan will still lose under Gu Jingzhe's planning.

Tong Huaqiong was quite satisfied with Gu Jingzhe's performance during this period.

This son is intelligent, resourceful, and with a righteous heart, he would definitely be a great asset to the country and the family.

"Tomorrow I'll go to town with you. You'll come with me to the government office to handle the shop's paperwork, and then you and your older brother will go deal with Feng Chuan," Tong Huaqiong said to Gu Jingzhe.

Gu Jingzhe was familiar with all kinds of legal documents of this era. Although Tong Huaqiong believed that Ma Huateng would not lie to her, she still had to be careful about everything.

After all, buying a shop is a major event, similar in nature to buying a house in later generations.

There should be no room for dispute regarding the procedures.

It wouldn't be bad to let Gu Jingzhe help her with this.

“Okay.” Gu Jingzhe agreed readily.

Gu Jingzhe clearly sensed that his mother's attitude towards him had improved, and he was very happy.

"There's something else I want to tell you. Ma Huateng sold the shop to me, but on one condition: he had to come and work as the accountant in our shop. I agreed. You don't have any objections, do you?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Gu Jingzhe thought to himself, even if he had an opinion, he wouldn't dare to say it, let alone have one.

After Tong Huaqiong made Gu Jingzhe drop out of school, Gu Jingzhe suggested that after the wheat harvest, he should go to Pingchuan County or the prefectural city to find a job as an accountant and earn money to continue his studies.

It's a combination of part-time work and part-time study.

Now, her own shop has hired Ma Huateng to exclude Gu Jingzhe. It's normal for Gu Jingzhe to have some thoughts, but even so, she doesn't consider letting Gu Jingzhe work as an accountant in the shop.

Gu Jingzhe will eventually return to the private school.

She just wanted to keep Gu Jingzhe hanging on and try to temper his temper.

“I have no objection. Mother, I really have no objection,” Gu Jingzhe said.

"That's good," Tong Huaqiong said.

At night, Tong Huaqiong woke up half-asleep and saw that the light in Gu Jingzhe's room was still on.

She was about to get angry, thinking, "Is lamp oil free? What kind of family is this? They're keeping the lamp burning all night."

Looking through the window, I saw Gu Jingzhe holding a book and reading. I suddenly realized that Gu Jingzhe was working during the day and reading at night.

It has to be said that Gu Jingzhe's rise from a peasant family to the third-ranked scholar was no accident. With such willpower, his achievement was only limited by his outstanding looks; otherwise, he would have been the top scholar.

Tong Huaqiong even wanted to use a fire poker to stamp her youngest son's face to lower his appearance, since the mother of the top scholar sounds more impressive than the mother of the third-ranked scholar.

After relieving herself, Tong Huaqiong sighed and went back to her room to sleep.

She decided that once the shop opened successfully and made money, she would have Gu Jingzhe quickly return to the private school to continue his studies.

With her as his mother, Gu Jingzhe is unlikely to go astray.

However, if he wants to go to Wanliu Academy, he must rely on his own abilities.

The next morning, Tong Huaqiong took her two sons to town.

First, they went to find Ma Huateng, and then they went together to the government office to sign the land and house transaction contract.

The land and house transaction contract, also known as the land, house, and shop contract of this era, served as legal proof of property rights. Originally, it was made in quadruplicate: one copy each for Ma Huateng and Tong Huaqiong, one copy for the intermediary (the real estate agent), and one copy kept by the county government as a guarantee in case of property disputes.

Since Tong Huaqiong and Ma Huateng were trading directly without any brokers or intermediaries, they only needed to sign three copies, which saved Tong Huaqiong a transaction fee.

They were originally supposed to go to the county government office, but Yanguan Town was the most developed commercial area in Pingchuan County, and the county government had set up an office there for handling business procedures, so Tong Huaqiong and the others didn't have to make another trip to Pingchuan County.

This saves both time and cost.

After signing the land and house transaction contract, Tong Huaqiong paid Ma Huateng one hundred taels of silver, and then, under the witness of the government officials, signed a debt agreement for eighty taels of silver and an employment contract for Ma Huateng. The entire process took half a morning.

After completing the formalities, Tong Huaqiong carefully read through the contract in the sunlight, her heart filled with immense excitement.

Her hands trembled slightly as she touched the keys.

She is now a propertied person in this world.

In later years, after Tong Huaqiong's parents bought her a house in the city where she was studying, the three of them excitedly went to a restaurant for a big celebration after leaving the transaction hall.

Tong Huaqiong also wanted to go to the best restaurant in town to celebrate, but she gave up the idea when she thought about the eighty taels of silver she still owed Ma Huateng.

Gu Dashu had the same idea and was scolded by Tong Huaqiong.

The two scoundrels haven't even cleared away Manager Feng's obstacle for them yet, so there's no way they're going to spend money.

Ma Huateng, who had become Tong Huaqiong's employee, parted ways with Tong Huaqiong at the intersection.

Tong Huaqiong then took two bamboo sticks to Rouge Lane.

When she opened the shop door, Tong Huaqiong was incredibly excited.

The shop was spacious and bright, with the counter full of wine. Ma Huateng found it troublesome to deal with the wine, so he sold or gave it to Tong Huaqiong at half price.

Tong Huaqiong then went to the back of the shop, where there was a fairly large courtyard, which could be used to build a baking workshop and a warehouse.

The two sons were just as excited as Tong Huaqiong.

It took the Gu family over twenty years to move from Qinghewan to Yanguan Town to open their shop.

No, actually, the real progress is only a matter of these last few months.

It's like a dream.

“All of these shelves have been dismantled and reassembled.”

"This is where you collect your debts."

"Here should be placed clips for holding pastries."

"This cabinet is specifically for displaying birthday cakes."

Tong Huaqiong wandered around the shop, determined to make it even more appealing than Su Shi Yuan.

"We need to hurry and find a carpenter to rebuild the cabinet," Tong Huaqiong said. "Who should we ask?"

“Uncle Guangkui from our village makes cabinets quickly and well. Mother, you’ve forgotten that he made all the cabinets and furniture for my wedding,” Gu Dashu said.

Tong Huaqiong searched through Tong Dajiao's memories and matched them with the lonely family living outside the village.

The full name of the Uncle Guangkui mentioned by Gu Dashu is Gu Guangkui.

Gu Guangkui and Gu Dashu were from the same clan, and according to seniority, they were of the same generation as the deceased old man Gu.

His mother was the old woman Huang who had been teasing Tong Huaqiong with Granny Yan on Grandpa Xu's oxcart last time.

The old woman, Huang, had a lot to say about the Gu Guangkui family.

“Alright, let him do the beating,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Since they were all from the same family, she had a pretty good impression of Gu Guangkui's wife; the woman had even greeted her a few days ago.

Therefore, Tong Huaqiong did not mind handing over the shop's cabinets and counters to Gu Guangkui.

Gu Guangkui will earn the money from the counter, while Qin Qingyou will take care of the oven in the yard.

"Mother, will Granny Huang take this opportunity to cause trouble?" Gu Jingzhe asked with some concern.

The "Grandma Huang" that Gu Jingzhe mentioned is actually Granny Huang.

"I'm not afraid of causing trouble; she won't get away with it from me," Tong Huaqiong said dismissively.

Mother was confident in this much, and Gu Jingzhe felt he was overthinking it.

(End of this chapter)