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

"Lu Zhaozhao, you're here really early."

"Being the boss really makes a difference."

Upon hearing that Lu Zhaozhao was in Tong Huaqiong's room, Gu Taohua hurriedly dressed and washed up before coming to see Lu Zhaozhao.

Last night, Lu Zhaozhao was so busy serving customers that she didn't have time to chat with Gu Taohua in detail.

Upon seeing Gu Taohua, the two happily linked arms and moved to a corner to whisper secrets.

After washing and dressing up, Tong Huaqiong was surrounded by her son, daughter-in-law, and other women as she went downstairs for breakfast.

She noticed that Liu Yue'e's eyes were red, and after holding back, she couldn't help but secretly ask Gu Dashu if he and Liu Yue'e had quarreled.

"Hey, what's all the fuss about? She's just jealous because I spent the whole night playing with Yaozu and Man'er. Tell me, what's she jealous about at her age? I said a few words to her last night, and she started crying," Gu Dashu said.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Your wife may not be upset about this. You should comfort her."

Gu Dashu smiled and thought it was no big deal. His wife was just being temperamental, and he could coax her into it and everything would be fine.

"Mom, are you going to Peach Blossom Dessert Shop or our family's pesticide and seed shop today?" Gu Dashu asked when they were almost finished with breakfast.

"Let's go to the pesticide and seed shop," Tong Huaqiong said.

Yesterday, Tong Huaqiong inspected Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, gave all the necessary instructions, and made all the necessary preparations. They are just waiting for the opening tomorrow.

With He Chao, Hong Xiaoxi, Master Song, and others around, Tong Huaqiong doesn't need to worry.

Her family's pesticide and seed shop was the first shop they opened in the prefectural city, so naturally she wanted to go and take a look.

Firstly, she wanted to see how the shop was doing, and secondly, she wanted to see Gu Dashu's management skills.

If Gu Dashu doesn't know what's good for him, Tong Huaqiong won't let him take over the shop. She'll make Gu Dashu go back to the Peach Blossom Dessert Shop in Rouge Lane as a waiter, or go back to Qinghe Bay to raise pigs.

The pesticide and seed shop is selling the first batch of pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry at the market.

It was a shop rented from the Lu family.

The Lu family had two or three vacant shops in the prefectural city, and the reason they rented them in the Tougu Market was Tong Huaqiong's idea.

The Tougu market is where farmers buy and sell poultry and livestock, which are the target group for seeds and pesticides.

Since Tong Huaqiong developed a pesticide to eliminate corn ear rot, her fame has spread throughout the Ningcheng area.

However, it wasn't Tong Huaqiong's name, but rather that of the widow Tong.

Tong Huaqiong simply gave up and started calling her pesticide and seed shop "Tong the Widow's Seed and Pesticide Shop".

After the shop opened, people not only inquired about pesticides for ear rot, but also about pesticides for all kinds of crop problems.

After all, this era was still primarily agricultural, and a good harvest was a matter of great concern to most people.

Now, in addition to medicine for ear rot, the shop also has some other pesticides.

Of course, Tong Huaqiong and Yiwo Daizhu both knew perfectly well that the pesticide formulas were obtained by Tong Huaqiong through cheating in her spatial dimension.

The annoying thing about this place is that you can't directly sell the pesticides inside.

Tong Huaqiong tried it, and once she did, the space would pause and open up to her.

So Tong Huaqiong had no choice but to take the recipe and find someone to prepare it.

It must be said that there is no shortage of talented people in any era. When someone takes out a formula, someone actually manages to replicate it.

This person came from a family of alchemists. It is said that his grandfather and father were so obsessed with alchemy that one was blown away and the other died from poisoning caused by his alchemy.

After learning about this eccentric person from Lu Chaoyang, Tong Huaqiong quickly had Gu Dashu recruit him into her ranks.

This person probably never expected that instead of refining the elixir of immortality, they would find a new way to concoct various pesticides.

Because his ancestral home was destroyed by the explosion of his alchemy furnace while he was refining pills, he had been living in a dilapidated temple in the prefectural city ever since.

Following Tong Huaqiong's instructions, Gu Dashu repaired the leaky roof for him and provided him with silver, rice, and flour every month so that he could concentrate on his chemistry experiments.

Gu Dashu originally thought it wouldn't be easy to go to the mountains in the suburbs, so he wanted to bring the person to the shop, but Tong Huaqiong scolded him.

Did the person coming next intend to blow up the entire shop?

Gu Dashu then completely abandoned his plan to bring the person to the shop. At the entrance of the inn, Tong Huaqiong temporarily bid farewell to Lu Zhaozhao and went to the pesticide and seed shop in Tougu Market.

Lu Zhaozhao's shop is also in Pearl Lane, not far from Peach Blossom Dessert Shop. Tong Huaqiong plans to support Lu Zhaozhao's rouge shop after returning from Tougu Market.

Seeing that Tong Huaqiong's group was large but they only had one carriage, Lu Zhaozhao generously lent her own carriage to Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong didn't stand on ceremony either.

The group arrived at Tougu Market in a large throng.

Tong Huaqiong went into her family's pesticide and seed shop.

Nowadays, the shop has one assistant and one accountant, and Gu Dashu is both the manager and the assistant.

After meeting the shop assistant and the accountant, Tong Huaqiong began to look through the account books.

Gu Dashu was extremely nervous.

While working at Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, he learned from He Chao how to manage the shop and read the accounts. Just as he was getting started, Tong Huaqiong sent him to Fucheng to open a pesticide and seed shop.

He was afraid that his accounts wouldn't match up, which would anger his mother, who would then strip him of his managerial position and send him home to farm and raise pigs.

Tong Huaqiong frowned as she finished reviewing the account books.

Before Gu Dashu could say anything, Liu Yue'e asked with a worried look, "Mother, is there something Dashu did wrong?"

Tong Huaqiong closed the ledger and said, "There are no problems with the accounts."

Liu Yue'e and Gu Dashu, a married couple, both breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Dashu patted his chest and said, "I was so scared! I thought something was wrong. Mother, I'm not trying to take credit for you, but I really only sleep a few hours a day to keep the shop running, and I check the accounts over and over again, just in case there's a problem."

Tong Huaqiong said, "I think your handwriting is ugly. Look at your handwriting, it looks like a ghost's scribbles. You really can't understand it without a lot of skill. It hurts my eyes to look at it."

Gu Dashu smiled sheepishly and said, "I'm not like my third brother who's taking the imperial examinations to become a scholar or a top scholar. As long as what I write is readable, that's fine."

Gu Dashu learned to write from Tong Dajiao, but he wasn't good at reading. He only knew a few common characters, and he couldn't write them well.

Liu Yue'e gave Gu Dashu a shove and said, "From today onwards, you'll learn to read and write. Next time you're doing the bookkeeping, don't make your mother's eyes hurt. Let me tell you, this isn't my order, it's my rule. Not only you, but Yaozu and Man'er will also start learning to read, and my sister-in-law and I will also learn three to five characters every day."

Gu Dashu was overjoyed when he heard that his son was going to start his formal education.

He had assumed that the Gu family only supported Gu Jingzhe's education.

His son will also be going to school in the future.

In this day and age, who wouldn't want their son to study for the imperial examinations?

The Great Heat of Grain is no exception.

Gu Dashu ruffled Yaozu's hair and said, "It's your blessing that your grandma is willing to support your studies. You better study hard, understand? Like your third uncle, try to become the top scholar in the imperial examination in the future."

Yao Zu was stunned when his son became the top scholar in the imperial examination; his father's expectations were truly high.

Yaozu said in a low voice, "I only need to pass the county-level imperial examination."

Gu Dashu said with exasperation, "Why are you so unambitious?"

Tong Huaqiong slapped Gu Dashu on the head and said, "Alright, how dare you talk to your son like that? Don't you know how many characters you know? You don't even set a good example for your son, yet you expect him to be the top scholar. Do you see how I demand this of your third brother?"

Gu Dashu thought to himself, "Why aren't there any requirements?"

When my third brother was in his early childhood, you asked him to pass the imperial examination and become a high-ranking official so that he could earn an imperial title for you.

How could you have forgotten all of that now?

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, Mother. I'll start learning to read and write again from tomorrow."

However, Gu Dashu dared not say it, for fear that if he opened his mouth, his mother would beat him to death.

He had no choice but to agree.

However, with his wife and sister-in-law both learning to read, it would be too shameful for him, as the man of the family, to back down in learning to read.

We must learn. (End of Chapter)