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

Chapter 551 Murder in the Village

In the blink of an eye, the field turned golden.

Corn, soybeans, and sesame are ripening one after another, and the entire Qinghewan area is engaged in a rush to harvest them.

With favorable weather from the beginning of spring to the height of summer, this year's corn harvest has naturally been bountiful.

In addition to a bumper corn harvest, Tong Huaqiong also enjoyed a bumper cotton harvest on 30 mu (approximately 2 hectares) of land.

The snow-white cotton bolls bloomed in the fields, like gleaming silver waving to Tong Huaqiong.

Picking cotton is more laborious than picking corn, as you need to break open the cotton husks and then pick the cotton bolls one by one.

Since there were no cotton sorting machines in that era, and cotton fibers were easily covered with dead leaves and dirt, a lot of manual labor was needed for subsequent sorting. Therefore, Tong Huaqiong specifically instructed the cotton pickers to try their best to prevent the dead leaves from the cotton branches from getting on the cotton fibers.

Harvesting 30 acres of cotton is quite a project.

This time, Tong Huaqiong left the cotton-picking work to the older women, girls, and wives in the village. Firstly, the women are meticulous when picking cotton, and secondly, she wanted the women in the village to earn money.

Picking five catties of cotton earns one copper coin and includes lunch; this job is incredibly easy for the villagers.

While the cotton workers in the village were picking cotton one by one with cloth bags around their necks, Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop was almost ready.

After assembling and modifying the first cotton spinning machine, Gu Daqiao immediately assembled the second and third. With the experience of the first machine and the help of some skillful young men in the village, he quickly assembled ten cotton spinning machines.

In addition, there are cotton ginning machines.

Of course, cotton, the most important means of production, was indispensable. In addition to the 3,000 jin of cotton from their own 30 mu of land, there were also 100,000 jin of cotton that Tong Huaqiong had Gu Baishuang and Gu Dashu hoard.

This is enough to test the waters of the cotton textile industry.

In the first year, Tong Huaqiong didn't plan to make much money; she just wanted to break even.

The weaving workshop was set up in the old house and courtyard abandoned by Grandpa Gu and his grandparents.

This courtyard was originally inherited by the brothers, Old Master Gu and Second Uncle Gu. Before Gu Xiaoxue married Xu Dabao, the two brothers had always had a good relationship and had never argued about the courtyard.

Both families had courtyards and houses, and the sons also had plenty of courtyards and houses. In addition, after Grandpa Gu moved south with Uncle Gu, this courtyard became a place for Uncle Gu and Aunt Gu to grow vegetables and raise chickens.

As time went by and no one lived there, the house became dilapidated, but the yard remained neat and tidy.

After the Xu family vandalized Grandpa Gu's house, he considered moving to the courtyard left by his parents. However, considering that the house leaked and was worse than his own house which had been vandalized, he gave up the idea of ​​moving.

After discussing it with Uncle Gu, Tong Huaqiong readily agreed to let her open a weaving workshop in the courtyard.

Anyway, he didn't lose out at all. After the weaving workshop opened, his daughter-in-law and granddaughter followed Tong Huaqiong in weaving, and their annual earnings were enough to buy so many vegetables in the yard.

Tong Huaqiong happily gave Uncle Gu two bags of flour and a piglet as payment.

The house repairs were handed over to Liu Tong, Liu Tielian's eldest son and the village's most skilled bricklayer. The table and shelf for displaying cotton cloth was given to Gu Guangkui, Gu Xiaocao's father.

The two gathered a group of workers and quickly started work.

Tong Huaqiong inspected the cotton harvesting in the cotton field and then planned to visit the weaving workshop to check on the progress of the project.

In the autumn of Qinghewan, every household is piled high with golden corn, and the fields after the harvest exude a fresh, earthy fragrance.

Tong Huaqiong was in a good mood as she walked down the street.

Upon arriving at the village entrance, I encountered Gu Xiaoxue carrying a basket and walking towards her own field.

By this time, the corn had already been harvested and brought home. Every household was in the fields cutting corn stalks, and after cutting the corn stalks, they would sow wheat seeds.

Farmers have to work against the clock; even a heavy rain could ruin this year's planting plans.

Just now, Tong Huaqiong passed by the cornfield of the old house and saw that Gu Ruinian, who hadn't been seen for a long time, was also participating in the work. It was like a knife piercing her buttocks and opening her eyes.

Gu Xiaoxue approached Tong Huaqiong and greeted her with a smile, "Auntie."

The basket she was carrying on her arm contained a water jug, and Tong Huaqiong knew she was delivering water to her family members who were working in the fields.

Tong Huaqiong gave a faint smile as a greeting, still harboring a sense of disappointment and frustration towards Gu Xiaoxue.

"Auntie." After taking a few steps, Gu Xiaoxue suddenly called out to Tong Huaqiong. Tong Huaqiong stopped, and Gu Xiaoxue took out a scallion pancake wrapped in a cloth from her basket and came to Tong Huaqiong's side, saying earnestly, "Auntie, I know who is good to me. I made this scallion pancake especially for you."

Tong Huaqiong did not answer.

"I put in a lot of oil, it smells amazing." Without saying another word, he shoved the basket into Tong Huaqiong's hands, then picked up the basket and walked step by step toward the field.

Tong Huaqiong suddenly felt that Gu Xiaoxue was different today than usual.

Tong Huaqiong attributed all of this to the fact that she had put on new clothes, which gave her courage and made her less timid and humble than before.

Tong Huaqiong recognized Gu Xiaoxue's new clothes; they were a gift from Gu Taohua.

The clothes fit her perfectly, no longer like those old clothes that clung tightly to her body.

The thought that Gu Xiaoxue would soon marry Xu Dabao made Tong Huaqiong feel heartbroken.

Oh well, it was her own choice.

Tong Huaqiong carried the warm scallion pancake towards the weaving workshop.

It wasn't lunchtime yet, and Tong Huaqiong, having worked in the cotton field, wasn't hungry. But the aroma of scallion pancakes tempted her. Tong Huaqiong took out a scallion pancake and popped it into her mouth. She had to admit that Gu Xiaoxue's cooking skills were excellent; the scallion pancakes were crispy and fragrant.

Tong Huaqiong stayed in the weaving workshop for a while and expressed satisfaction with the efficiency of Liu Tielian's eldest son, Liu Tong.

"Someone drank pesticide!"

"Gu Xiaoxue has killed someone!"

There were hurried footsteps outside the door, and people were shouting and running.

What?
Drinking pesticide? Murder? Gu Xiaoxue?
When these three things were put together, Tong Huaqiong's mind went blank for a moment.

"Who drank pesticide?"

Who did Xiaoxue kill?

Tong Huaqiong disregarded past grievances and grabbed Granny Luo.

Granny Luo clapped her hands, her eyes gleaming with excitement, and said, "Xiaoxue tried to poison Xu Dabao, but the pesticide went into Qingsong's stomach."

After finishing her sentence, Granny Luo skipped off to the melon-eating scene.

Upon hearing that the poison had entered his younger brother's stomach, Liu Tong was so frightened that the mud bricks in his hands rolled off his hands, and he rushed to the front of the crowd with a howl.

Tong Huaqiong didn't have time to think further and ran after them.

The riverbank where the incident occurred was crowded with people.

A series of sobs, sometimes loud and sometimes soft, came from inside. Tong Huaqiong recognized the voice as that of Liu Tielian's wife, Yi Shi. Her heart sank. Could it be that Liu Qingsong had been poisoned?

A crowd was shouting at one person, and Tong Huaqiong peeked out.

Liu Qingsong was being forced to drink water, and the person pouring the water into Liu Qingsong's mouth was Gu Jingzhe, who had just returned from the prefectural city.

"Brother Liu Tong, help me gag his throat," Gu Jingzhe said to Liu Tong.

Liu Tong's legs went weak and his hands trembled.

Without saying a word, Gu Dahan ripped Liu Qingsong's throat open, and Liu Qingsong vomited out with a howl.

"Pour it in again."

"Deduct again."

Gu Jingzhe calmly gave the order, and saw that Liu Qingsong had vomited up all the acid in his stomach, was exhausted and pale, and was carried home by a group of people.

The doctor followed along, but he didn't know whether Liu Qingsong was ultimately dead or alive.

Applying pesticides is likely to lead to serious consequences.