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

Chapter 44 Mother and Daughter Unleash Their Power

The day had arrived for delivering pastry samples as agreed upon with Master Huang.

The whole family knew this deal was important, so before dawn, everyone got up to help Tong Huaqiong prepare.

After carefully inspecting all the pastries, I put them, along with their packaging, into my basket.

The packaging paper was designed by Gu Jingzhe and written by Gu Taohua, aiming to be beautiful and elegant. When placed in the basket, Tong Huaqiong felt that what was being sold was not just pastries, but also culture.

Last night, Tong Huaqiong had already reserved a parking space for Grandpa Xu, and Grandpa Xu readily agreed, but the fare was still charged for four people.

Tong Huaqiong didn't mind, as the baskets and crates they carried, besides Gu Taohua's, also took up a lot of space.

Once they've made a lot of money, they'll definitely buy a covered carriage.

Having a private car is convenient in any era.

Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua were going to take Grandpa Xu's earliest oxcart to town.

After checking the pastries, Chen Sufeng and Liu Yue'e prepared breakfast. Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua did not sit down to eat, but instead took steamed buns and eggs to eat on the way.

While Man'er was still asleep, Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe tied up the little boar in the pigpen, put a cage cover over its mouth, and together lifted it onto a flatbed cart. They planned to go to the castration master's address provided by Steward He to castrate the pig.

It was Tong Huaqiong's request to keep it from Man'er, after all, the child was still young and couldn't understand it. She might think they had tied up a pig and slaughtered it, which would be too much of a shock to the child's mind.

The two brothers were a little uneasy, wondering if the ritual master would feel insulted by bringing a boar to his door and throw him out.

Tong Huaqiong wasn't worried at all. The eunuch master Ga Dan wasn't doing charity work; he was making money, mainly by giving money, regardless of whether it was for men or boars.

Having learned that it would cost two taels of silver to give someone a calamari egg, Tong Huaqiong gritted her teeth and gave Gu Dashu two taels of silver.

It's really expensive; two taels of silver is enough to buy half a pig's leg.

There's no way around it; when someone is the first to try something new, they always have to pay a price.

Gu Dashu and Gu Jing first helped Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua put the pastries on Grandpa Xu's oxcart, and then pushed the pig towards Pingchuan County.

Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua sat steadily on the oxcart, which was filled with people from Qinghewan. Some were going to town to buy oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar; some were going to town to do small business; and some were going to town to do odd jobs.

After everyone got into the car, they kept their distance from Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua, knowing that the mother and daughter were not to be trifled with and that they were afraid of being extorted if they got involved.

To begin with, Widow Tong and her swarm of scoundrels already had a bad reputation in Qinghe Bay. Ever since the story of Gu Jingzhe accepting money from the Zheng family to give Man'er to the eldest son of the Zheng family for a marriage of convenience was spread by Matchmaker Wang, everyone was filled with contempt for Tong Huaqiong's family and didn't want to associate with them at all.

If Grandpa Xu hadn't been greedy for the four-seater fare paid by Tong Huaqiong, he wouldn't have wanted to get involved with Tong Huaqiong and her daughter.

The pastries placed around Tong Huaqiong continuously emitted a fragrant aroma, permeating the entire oxcart.

The aroma was so enticing that everyone on the bus looked toward the basket next to Tong Huaqiong.

The people of Qinghewan are no strangers to this aroma. For the past few days, the enticing fragrance has been wafting through every corner of Qinghewan, making every child drool with envy.

At first, no one knew where the fragrance came from. All the children in the village, with their dogs, conducted a thorough search and finally discovered that the fragrance came from the Gu family.

The whole village was curious about what kind of food the Gu family had made that made everyone so hungry they couldn't eat or sleep.

But they dared not inquire at the Gu family's place, for Widow Tong and her gang of scoundrels were not to be trifled with.

There were still some bold ones, like some ignorant children who ran to the Gu family's house and peered at the gate for a long time. They managed to get information out of Gu Yaozu and finally found out that Widow Tong was making pastries and was going to set up a stall in Yanguan Town to sell them.

According to workers in Yanguan Town, they did see Widow Tong selling pastries near the Su Shi Yuan (a traditional pastry shop) with Gu Taohua. The villagers were all laughing at her, thinking that Widow Tong's pastries might be counterfeit, and who would dare buy them?

They even dared to set up a stall at the entrance of the Crispy Food Garden, completely oblivious to their own limitations.

At this moment, the two women opposite Tong Huaqiong exchanged glances and looked down at the basket next to Tong Huaqiong.

"Widow Tong, what's in your basket?" Granny Huang asked.

Tong Huaqiong replied irritably, "What you pretend to be is none of your business."

In Tong Huaqiong's memory, Tong Dajiao and Granny Huang didn't get along. Last year, the two of them fought over water and land, pulling each other's hair and rolling from one end of the land to the other.

To be honest, the hair-pulling incident between Tong Dajiao and Granny Huang wasn't Tong Dajiao's fault. Granny Huang, taking advantage of Tong Dajiao's dead husband, falsely accused Tong Dajiao of stealing cabbages from her field. Tong Dajiao couldn't argue with her, so she took the initiative and pulled Granny Huang's head bald.

Because Tong Dajiao was unpopular and had a bad reputation in the village, everyone sided with Huang Pozi, and Tong Dajiao's reputation plummeted even further because of this incident.

When Huang Pozi met with a rebuff from Tong Huaqiong, she felt a slight ache in her scalp.

Pah! You heartless bastard, you want to set up a stall and sell pastries? What are you thinking?
Granny Yan, who was looking at Granny Huang, chuckled twice and said, "Widow Tong, I heard you've been selling cakes in town lately. This basket is full of cakes, isn't it? They smell so good. Why don't you let us old sisters have a taste? If you like them, I'll buy a pound to support your business."

Tong Huaqiong said coldly, "Are you a beggar who opens your mouth to ask for food? Who do you think you are to patronize my business?"

This old woman Yan is even more hateful than old woman Huang.

Her son, Xu Si, was the most notorious hooligan in the village, who usually took pleasure in harassing women.

Every time the family of a girl who had been harassed came to her door, Granny Yan would not only not scold her son, but would also turn the tables and smear the girl, saying that she had seduced her son.

Don't let Tong Dajiao's seemingly unremarkable appearance fool you; she would never do something like this. If Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe dared to act like hooligans, Tong Dajiao would chop off their hands and feet.

She hasn't settled the score with Xu Si for deliberately bumping into Chen Sufen's butt last time.

Granny Yan rolled her eyes, nudged Granny Huang, and said sarcastically in a low voice, "You're dressed so pretty, who knows if you're selling cakes or something? Not only are you selling them yourself, but you're bringing your daughter along too."

As they spoke, the two old women glanced at Gu Taohua and gave each other ambiguous smiles.

"Oh, it seems Granny Yan has a lot of experience in selling things. I see you go to town every three to five days. Are you going to find your lover or to sell what you're talking about? Otherwise, how come you can connect something else to my selling of cakes?"

"It's better for you to take your son to sell your ass than for me to take my daughter to sell cakes. Selling cakes is so tiring, it's not as easy as you spreading your legs and sticking your ass out. No wonder everyone says that Granny Yan's family is getting better and better. It's a pity that I don't have such good fortune."

As soon as Tong Huaqiong said this, everyone on the bus couldn't help but laugh.

In truth, Granny Yan's reputation in the village was even worse than that of Tong Dajiao. Tong Dajiao's bad reputation was mainly due to her being a vicious stepmother and mother-in-law, which was considered internal, while Granny Yan's reputation was external, showing favoritism towards her own son and indulging him like a beast.

Which of these families isn't worried that their daughter will be taken advantage of by her son, Xu Si?

Tong Huaqiong's retort has undoubtedly improved her image among the villagers.

Xu Si sat next to Gu Taohua. Seeing his mother losing the argument with Widow Tong, he waved his fists, widened his eyes, and cursed, "How dare a widow bully my mother? Believe me or not, I'll throw you off the bus."

Gu Taohua suddenly stood up, pointed at Xu Si, and cursed, "My mother is a widow, which is indeed not as good as your mother. Your mother found you a bunch of bastard fathers. Who are you pointing your fist at? You dare to lay a finger on me and see what happens. Believe me, I'll crush you to death. You even wanted to throw my mother off the car. I'll throw you first."

Gu Taohua grabbed Xu Si's wrist and pulled him so hard he almost fell off the car.

Tong Huaqiong gave Gu Taohua a thumbs up.

(End of this chapter)