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

Chapter 530 Stockpiling Coal
Because of the mild winters in the past few years, the price of charcoal has been relatively cheap. Especially now, the price will be even cheaper if you start stocking up. In addition, Tong Huaqiong stocked up in large quantities at once, which saved her a lot of money.

In winter, the stockpiled charcoal is sold, priced one to three coins higher per pound than last year's charcoal. This ensures that the common people of Pingchuan have charcoal for burning while also generating profit, a win-win situation.

Tong Huaqiong was making her plans meticulously.

"Of these fifty catties of charcoal, fifty thousand catties will be stockpiled as gold-thread charcoal, one hundred thousand catties as silver-thread charcoal, and the rest will be ordinary charcoal," Tong Huaqiong instructed Gu Baishuang after thinking for a moment.

Ordinary people use cheap, regular carbon, and this batch of carbon is the main source of stable market prices.

Silver charcoal is generally made by well-off families, and the price can be higher.

Golden charcoal is mainly sold to wealthy families who don't care about the price, so it's a good opportunity to make money off them.

Gu Baishuang agreed and considered it in her mind. Regardless of whether it was a cold winter or not, the charcoal still needed to be sold. Even if it wasn't sold out, it wouldn't spoil and could be sold again next year.

It just takes a little longer to recoup the investment.

Then Tong Huaqiong summoned Gu Dashu and wrote a letter to Lu Zhaozhao, asking Gu Dashu and Gu Baishuang to deliver the letter to Lu Zhaozhao when they went to the prefectural city to stockpile charcoal, so that the Lu family could also take the opportunity to stockpile charcoal.

Tong Huaqiong could only take over Pingchuan Market, but the entire prefecture consisted of one city and three counties, so the Lu family would take over the rest.

Firstly, the Lu family is wealthy enough to dominate the market, and secondly, even if it's for his grandson's career, Old Master Lu wouldn't take the opportunity to raise prices.

If the Lu family can stabilize the price of charcoal in Ningcheng during the extreme cold weather and prevent more people from freezing to death because they cannot afford charcoal, it will be helpful for Lu Zhaoyang's career.

This was a gift that Tong Huaqiong presented to Lu Zhaoyang by taking advantage of the information gap, and also a political achievement for Prefect Yao.

She has a pet dragon, and if his protagonist aura breaks down and that damned old emperor wants to slaughter his entire family, she hopes that Prefect Yao will put in a good word for her, considering his achievements. After all, she has heard from Old Master Lu that the Yao family never takes sides and is deeply trusted by every emperor.

"Mother, should we tell the Liu and Huang families about the cold weather this year?" Gu Dashu asked.

Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "No need."

Magistrate Liu and the wealthy Huang family would never lack charcoal, and Tong Huaqiong didn't want anyone else to take a share.

If the news gets out, other merchants will have already stockpiled all the charcoal, leaving her with none.

Other merchants are not as kind as her and will not think about the plague. In that case, the charcoal will be in the hands of other merchants, and the scene of Tong Dajiao freezing to death because she could not afford charcoal in her previous life will be repeated.

"I'm not sure if there will be extremely cold weather this winter, so don't spread rumors when you go out. If you cause panic, the authorities will punish you," Tong Huaqiong warned.

Seeing Tong Huaqiong's serious expression, Gu Dashu and Gu Baishuang quickly agreed.

After discussing the matter of stockpiling charcoal, Gu Baishuang mentioned that Tong Huaqiong had entrusted her to buy maids and servants.

The matchmaker said she had already brought the person.

Tong Huaqiong has been so busy lately that she has completely forgotten about this matter.

The maids and servants brought by Gu Baishuang have been busy tending to the house in Pingchuan County lately, and Tong Huaqiong, who is being waited on, is increasingly in need of help.

"Call the people over, and while you're at it, call Peach Blossom and Moon'e over too. They can choose their own maids," Tong Huaqiong said to Gu Baishuang.

Gu Dashu's eyes flashed with joy. He had long wanted to buy a maid or servant to take care of his wife. He was worried that his mother and sister were still without anyone to take care of them, and he was afraid that Tong Huaqiong would be unhappy and have a problem with Liu Yue'e.

"I'll go call Yue'e and Taohua, and you go bring the matchmaker up here, eldest sister." Gu Dashu ran out happily.

Less than a cup of tea later, after Gu Taohua and Liu Yue'e came up, Gu Baishuang brought in the matchmaker.

Tong Huaqiong looked up and saw several maids and servants following behind the matchmaker.

"Manager Tong, these people were all carefully selected by me," the matchmaker said with a smile.

Tong Huaqiong waved her hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Aunt Lu."

Tong Huaqiong carefully inquired about the names, hometowns, and origins of the old woman and the maid.
They answered one by one. Tong Huaqiong sighed inwardly. They were all pitiful people. Take these maids for example. Some were sold because their families were poor, while others were sold to pay for their brothers' education. One of them was originally a daughter of an official, but was sold because her brother was implicated in his official career.

The old women weren't much better off. Some were sold off by their original masters, some were sold off on the spot because their masters couldn't take them with them when they moved, and some were sold off by their husbands' families.

In short, they are all a group of unfortunate people who have no control over their own lives.

Tong Huaqiong casually selected four clever maids, chose two rough-and-ready women for washing and cooking, and also selected a woman for Chen Sufeng.

Gu Taohua selected two maids, and Liu Yue'e chose a personal maid.

Tong Huaqiong paid the money, and the matchmaker, beaming with joy, led the rest of the group to the next shop.

When Tong Huaqiong looked up, she saw the young lady of an official family looking at her with longing eyes. Tong Huaqiong couldn't bear it and bought the young lady.

The daughter of an official bowed and kowtowed.

She was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. I was really afraid that if she went to a wealthy family, the master or young master would take her as a concubine.

“Fine, come back to Qinghe Bay with me and teach my granddaughter,” Tong Huaqiong said.

This way, Man'er won't need to go to a private school; she and Duo'er can have a teacher at home.

The official's daughter's name was Su Qing, and Tong Huaqiong did not ask her to change her name.

After finishing all that, Tong Huaqiong looked up and realized it was already late. She walked out of Jufulai.

"Gu."

When Tong Huaqiong heard someone calling her, she saw her adopted nephew Tong Zhijie and Tong Zhaodi carrying two chickens and mountain goods to her.

When Tong Huaqiong encountered the vampire Tong family, her hands began to itch.

Tong Zhijie and Tong Zhaodi hadn't expected that Jufulai was owned by Tong Huaqiong. They had just gone inside and were dazzled by all the good stuff, but they didn't have any money in their pockets.

At this moment, they saw Tong Huaqiong standing at the entrance of Jufulai, and the customers and staff coming in and out called her "boss." Only then did the two realize that Jufulai was owned by their aunt.

Wow, Auntie is so amazing!

From the pastry industry to the department store industry, that's quite a leap.

Tong Zhijie regretted offending his aunt; otherwise, given his aunt's temperament, Jufu would have given him a share of everything.

"Auntie, you own this shop. You're really amazing."

Ever since witnessing Tong Huaqiong's methods last time, Tong Zhijie has dared not act presumptuously in front of her and has been obediently flattering her.

Tong Huaqiong interrupted her rudely: "Whether I'm good or not is none of your business to praise. What are you all doing here?"

Could it be that the two chickens and mountain produce she was carrying were gifts from Tong Fusheng who had a change of heart?

Goods can be accepted, but meals cannot be invited, and requests cannot be granted.

Tong Zhaodi said, "Father asked us to come and visit the Wu family."

Oh, so Tong Huaqiong was overthinking it. The things they had were for the Wu family.

Tong Huaqiong asked, "Wu Ji is over there, let's go."

Tong Huaqiong then thought that Tong Pandi had already divorced the Wu family, so the Tong family and the Wu family should have severed ties. Why were they still interacting like in-laws? There must be something fishy going on. Could it be that the two families were plotting against Tong Pandi together?

Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong stopped the two and asked, "Tong Pandi has already divorced Wu Musheng, so why are you still in contact with the Wu family?"