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

"Master, this is the result of my discussion with Lao He," Hong said with a smile.

She has never experienced rural life.

I was very curious about the countryside, and when I arrived at Qinghewan, I found the grass green, the sky blue, and the river clear, and I fell in love with it immediately.

It would be nice to settle down in Qinghewan in the future.

He Chao and Madam Hong exchanged a smile and said, "The air is fresh and the space is large in the countryside, which is good for Madam's condition."

This is true.

"That's why my wife and I came here this time, hoping to ask our employer to help us buy a house in Qinghe Bay," He Chao said.

The intense love in He Chao and Hong Shi's eyes was a cruel blow to two single people.

Tong Huaqiong's lips twitched.

Mr. Qian wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling his face getting hot again.

Tong Huaqiong said, "It's not difficult for you to buy a house in the countryside. You can buy a plot of land in our village to build a new house or buy a yard that someone is selling. I'll ask the village chief to help make the connection."

Tong Huaqiong expressed her appreciation for He Chao's decision to buy a house in the countryside.

For the people of this land, regardless of the era, a large part of their sense of security comes from having a fixed place to live.

He Chao didn't own a house before. After leaving the Zheng family, she lived in a tenement and suffered all sorts of petty grievances. Even after she turned her life around, she would still buy a house to settle down in.

Unlike Tong Huaqiong's previous life, in this era, having land in the countryside provides a greater sense of security than living in the city, especially during years of disaster or war, as having land means one can survive.

Tong Huaqiong then asked He Chao, "It's a good thing that you're thinking of buying land. I also wanted to advise you to buy land before, but what I want to ask is, who will farm the land if you buy it?"

He Chao manages a shop in town, and she may send him to other places to develop markets in the future. Not to mention normal times, he may not be able to return to Qinghewan to farm even during the busy farming season.

As for the Hong family, she didn't even need to ask.

Although Hongshi had recovered from her illness, she still looked like a sickly beauty and was unlikely to be able to do farm work. Moreover, given how much He Chao doted on his wife, he would not let Hongshi do any work.

He Chao said, "That's not difficult. I plan to rent out the land I bought."

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "As long as there is good land, it is easy to rent it out."

Renting out the land is one possible solution.

The key issue is that land in Qinghewan is not easy to buy now.

Good farmland is hard to come by these days, and the fifty acres of land that Tong Huaqiong managed to find at the foot of Xishan Mountain are a rare find.

If He Chao wants to buy land, he can only look around in Qinghe Bay or buy land in the villages around Qinghe Bay.

But this is not a problem.

He Chao was aware of this situation and took the initiative to say, "There's no rush about the land. We'll be living in Qinghe Bay from now on, so we can just look for a place nearby."

Hong also largely agreed with He Chao's idea.

Now that she's in the countryside, she feels an indescribable sense of ease.

She used to spend half the year bedridden with illness and always felt guilty towards He Chao, feeling that she was a burden to him.

Now that she is almost fully recovered, she is also full of energy. If she were to live in the countryside, she would learn to manage the household and crops so that He Chao could focus on running the shop for Tong Huaqiong without any distractions.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Our village chief knows exactly which residential plots are for sale and which courtyards are for sale. He'll be coming to my house this evening, so let's do it today. Anyway, if you become a villager in Qinghewan, you'll inevitably have to deal with him."

Even in modern times, there is a household registration system.

If a person suddenly appears in the village and isn't reported, the village chief will be punished by his superiors.

In times of war, neighbors in the village would be organized together for deployment.

If He Chao and Hong want to become villagers of Qinghewan, they need to obtain household registration in the county.

That's not difficult. They're both law-abiding citizens, so they can register their residency after buying the house.

With the fact that Magistrate Liu's son called Tong Huaqiong his godmother, no one dared to obstruct He Chao's settlement in Qinghewan.

He Chao laughed and said, "That's great!" He Chao was prepared.

He had planned to see the village chief before he came, and brought some silver with him, intending to pay the village chief according to the market price, since he also had to pay a middleman when buying a homestead.

At this moment, Boss Qian coughed twice to make his presence known.

Tong Huaqiong glanced at him sideways.

If he hadn't made a sound, Tong Huaqiong would have forgotten about his existence.

I don't know why he followed He Chao and his wife when they came to Qinghe Bay to buy a house and land.

Tong Huaqiong looked at Boss Qian and asked, "Boss Qian, what brings you to Qinghe Bay? Are you here to buy a house or land?"

Mr. Qian visibly flinched under Tong Huaqiong's gaze.

However, he quickly straightened his back again.

It should be noted that this was the first time Tong Huaqiong had responded to him since he confessed his feelings to her.

And she even took the initiative to speak up.

What does this signal mean? It means he still has a chance.

Mr. Qian said with a serious expression, "Manager Tong, you guessed right. I do indeed want to buy a plot of land in Qinghe Bay."

Tong Huaqiong: "."

No, she was just asking casually, wondering why this person actually came to Qinghewan to buy a house plot.

He Chao and the Hong family were also quite surprised, as Mr. Qian hadn't given any prior notice.

He Chao asked, "Mr. Qian, you have a house in this town, and I heard you also have houses in Pingchuan County and Fucheng. Why are you thinking of buying a plot of land in Qinghewan?"

Mr. Qian said, "This is my first time in Qinghewan. I must say, the village is quite nice. It has mountains, water, and farmland, giving it a pastoral feel. I like it."

Trying to evoke a pastoral idyll, Tong Huaqiong almost rolled her eyes to the sky, making Granny Yan jump up and down, ready to fight you to see that rural life isn't all that wonderful.

“No wonder Manager Tong goes home every day. If I had a courtyard in Qinghe Bay, I would be willing to come back too,” said Boss Qian.

Boss Qian looked around Tong Huaqiong's room.

To be honest, it's a bit plain; the walls are mud, and the furniture is simple, but it's clean and tidy.

He noticed as soon as he entered the courtyard that it was very large, but the number of houses was a bit crowded for Tong Huaqiong's family, and half of them were thatched houses and the other half were mud houses.

Mr. Qian admired Tong Huaqiong even more; a widow could live a prosperous life in such circumstances.

Tong Huaqiong said irritably, "Your house in town isn't any better than your house in the countryside, so why are you buying a house in Qinghewan?"

She had never been to Boss Qian's house, which was said to be the second largest mansion in the town after that of Master Huang.

Tong Huaqiong was familiar with Master Huang's mansion, having been there many times, and she could roughly imagine the level of luxury in Master Qian's mansion.

Mr. Qian said, “Manager Tong, the town is not as quiet as the countryside. Manager He and I hit it off immediately. Manager He buys things here, so I’ll follow suit. We can be neighbors in the future and play chess and drink tea together when we’re old.”

Mr. Qian was thinking that no matter how big the house is, it will feel lonely if you don't have someone you like living with.

Of course, he only dared to think these words; if he were to say them aloud, Tong Huaqiong would definitely kick him out.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "Why don't you say we'll dance in the square together when we're old?"

He Chao laughed; that's why he and Boss Qian hit it off immediately.

Best buddies should be neighbors.

He Chao said, "That would be great, boss. Let's talk to the village chief about it. Boss Qian and I will both buy it, and ask the village chief to handle it together. I heard from Da Shu that there's a piece of wasteland in your backyard that no one uses. See if you can sell it to us. We can be neighbors."

Tong Huaqiong even regretted bringing them in; who would want to be neighbors with Boss Qian?

A lecherous old man with malicious intentions.

Seeing Tong Huaqiong's hesitant expression, Hong asked nervously, "Master, is it difficult to sell us the wasteland in the backyard?" (End of Chapter)