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

“Village chief, I’m afraid to pass by that wasteland at night, for fear that the wronged spirits inside might come out.”

One of the younger employees backed out.

"What's there to be afraid of? As the saying goes, every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. You yourself said it's a vengeful spirit, so naturally it'll seek revenge on its enemies. In all these years, have you ever seen a vengeful spirit seek revenge on any family? Besides, the Gu family has lived here for so many years, and not only have they been fine, their lives have only gotten better and better. Jingzhe was the first person in the village to pass the imperial examination, and your Aunt Big Foot opened the first shop in the village." Liu Tielian spat and said, "It shows that even vengeful spirits know who their enemies are and who their neighbors are. They even know how to offer free shipping to their neighbors."

Tong Huaqiong's lips twitched.

"Those fears are just things in your heart. If you haven't done anything wrong, why are you afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night?"

“Some of you are young and don’t know what happened back then. Those who came to our village for refuge were hacked to death before they even reached the village. They weren’t killed by the people of Qinghewan, but by those rebel soldiers. Now, Mr. Qian from Fenglelou in town wants to build a mansion behind the village and is willing to pay for the funeral rites for those wronged souls who were hacked to death. This is a good thing for both them and us. Why do I say this? For the wronged souls in the fields, they can finally rest in peace and enter the cycle of reincarnation sooner. For us, we no longer have to worry about the wronged souls coming out. Since we have contributed, the wronged souls will surely thank us and protect us when they are released from their suffering.”

Liu Tielian continued to work on everyone's mindset.

Gu Dahan chimed in, “Uncle Liu is right. Think about it, we have no grudge against them, so why would they come looking for revenge? If they wanted revenge, our entire Qinghe Bay would probably be a deserted village by now. Put yourselves in their shoes. They died unjustly under the swords of the chaotic army and have yet to be properly buried or offered incense. If we give them a proper burial, they would be grateful to us in the afterlife, not cause us any trouble. Anyway, I don’t know about others, but I’m definitely not afraid.”

Liu Tielian and Gu Dahan's words greatly changed everyone's mindset.

Thinking about it carefully, it's true that everyone says that the land is where wronged souls are buried, but over the years, no wronged souls have been seen to harm anyone.
People avoided the wasteland simply because they were afraid.

The Gu family has lived on that wasteland for so many years and nothing's happened to them.

Putting aside everything else, let's take Tong Dajiao for example. She used to be a local tyrant in the village. After her husband died, she became more and more energetic and even opened a shop in town.

Thinking this, one of the older hired workers said, "The village chief is right. We haven't done anything wrong, so what are we afraid of? It's a good thing to let them rest in peace. Even Boss Qian isn't afraid and is going to build a house on it, so there must be nothing wrong with that. Think about it, Boss Qian is a businessman. Businessmen are very particular about feng shui. Would he just build a house anywhere? He must have calculated that the wasteland was a blessed place before building a house there."

Tong Huaqiong: "."

She hadn't thought of this angle.

There are many hidden talents among ordinary people.

These words are logically consistent; even Tong Huaqiong couldn't think of a more perfect reason.

Sure enough, the workers were swayed by these words and began to believe that the land was a blessed place.

He rolled up his sleeves, ready to follow Gu Dahan to dig up the remains.

Some people even thought this was a good thing, and that the owner of the remains would be grateful to them if they knew in the afterlife.

"Alright, let's go dig it up. It's a good thing to let them rest in peace."

"If we're not afraid of the extreme cold, what are we afraid of?"

"That's right. If we're talking about dead people, what dynasty hasn't had them? Just our family alone has countless people buried under our feet."

Once one person takes the lead, others will readily follow suit.

Seeing everyone's softened expressions, Tong Huaqiong added fuel to the fire, saying, "Since everyone is so kind and righteous, I won't treat you unfairly. The wages will be the same as if you were working at my house."

"There's a large wasteland behind there, so let's start today and dig around the locust tree. To be honest, the remains of my boss's parents are buried under the locust tree. We can wait to dig up the other remains after we finish working on my cornfield."

Upon hearing that the remains were those of the parents-in-law of the owner of Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, what else could be said? They weren't even afraid anymore.

What's more, there's also wages to be paid.

Everyone picked up their tools and got ready to dig.

Tong Huaqiong knew that Hong Shi was eager to bury her parents, so there was no time to lose. The sooner they were dug up and buried, the sooner Hong Shi would be at peace. So she asked Gu Dahan to lead everyone to the crooked tree. He Chao, carrying a hoe, also went with Hong Shi.

Hong wanted to see her parents' remains brought to light.

Tong Huaqiong did not go with them; she still had to meet the second group of people at home.

After giving some instructions under the crooked tree, Liu Tielian figured that everyone in the village was cooking dinner, and since everyone was home, he could call everyone to come to Tong Huaqiong's house to get disinfectant and insecticide.

Every year, as corn approaches maturity, almost every household's corn crops become diseased and infested with insects, leading to a significant reduction in yield.

Corn happens to be the main crop in Pingchuan County.

Even the county magistrate was worried about the problem of disease and pests in the corn.

After becoming the village chief, Liu Tielian naturally hoped that his village would get better and better. For most families in Qinghewan who made a living by farming, a good harvest was more important than anything else.

Therefore, promoting the use of fungicides and insecticides for corn is the most important thing for the village chief at this stage.

Now that Tong Huaqiong has solved this problem, Liu Tielian is so happy that he wants to worship Tong Huaqiong.

Like Liu Tielian, every household in the village hoped for a bumper corn harvest.

I didn't believe it when I heard that Tong Huaqiong had concocted a medicine to kill bacteria and insects.

But when they saw that the corn ears were free of bacteria after the Gu family had sprayed pesticides, and there were dark insects on the ground, they began to believe it.

With the Liu and Qin families already following Gu Dahan's example and spraying pesticides in their fields, the villagers were eager to get their own pesticides and spray them on their fields as soon as possible, fearing that if they were too late, the effect would be minimal and affect their harvest.

Soon, a large crowd gathered in front of Tong Huaqiong's house.

Since Tong Huaqiong went to town to open a shop, she has rarely interacted with the villagers. In addition, the villagers have been busy in the fields these days and rarely visit the Gu family.

Therefore, when Tong Huaqiong appeared, many people in the village felt both familiar and unfamiliar with her.

What's familiar is that the person in front of you is clearly Tong Dajiao, but what's unfamiliar is that the aura brought by Tong Huaqiong has completely transformed Tong Dajiao. In everyone's eyes, she is no longer the sharp-tongued and mean-spirited person she used to be, but a poised, generous, and imposing figure.

The previously noisy crowd fell silent the moment they saw Tong Huaqiong walk out of the courtyard.

Everyone was busy looking Tong Huaqiong up and down.

Some people sighed inwardly, wondering if this was still the same shrew Tong Dajiao.

If Tong Dajiao had claimed to have concocted a medicine to kill bacteria and insects in the past, the villagers would never have believed her. But now, Tong Dajiao is a capable person in the village, able to open a shop and make money. She is also the unofficial godmother of the county magistrate, so everyone thinks highly of Tong Huaqiong.

Once you think highly of someone, you'll believe what they say and what they do.

"Aunt Big Feet".

"Aunt Tong".

"Great Summer Mother."

Everyone greeted Tong Huaqiong with such enthusiasm that the entrance to the Gu family's house turned into a bustling market. (End of Chapter)