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

Chapter 578 Tong Family Weaving Workshop
On a crisp autumn morning, Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop opened for business.

The opening of the weaving workshop was a double celebration for Tong Huaqiong. The first was that Chen Sufen gave birth to a healthy daughter.

Firecrackers were set off early in the morning at the entrance of the weaving workshop.

I thought it was already quite a show of magistrate Liu coming with his mother, Han, and son, Liu Yanhong, but I never expected that Prefect Yao would also come.

The scissors that were originally intended for Magistrate Liu to cut the ribbon were given to Prefect Yao.

There was no other way. Even if he didn't hand it over to Prefect Yao, Magistrate Liu's hands trembled so much in front of his superiors that he couldn't hold the scissors properly.

Therefore, this ribbon-cutting ceremony could only be performed by Prefect Yao.

Old Master Lu brought Lu Zhaozhao to show their support, and the Lu family's good in-law, Master Huang, naturally also came.

Merchants from Pingchuan County and Yanguan Town sent congratulatory gifts.

Boss Qian stood aside with several familiar merchants, while He Chao, who had been transferred from Peach Blossom Dessert Shop to Weaving Workshop, stood behind Tong Huaqiong with his sales assistant.

Gu Baishuang, Gu Dashu, and Liu Yue'e returned from Pingchuan County to celebrate.

Lian Hengruo and Aunt Tang not only sent congratulatory gifts, but also arrived early in the morning by carriage.

Tong Huaqiong blushed when she saw Prefect Yao glance at Lian Hengruo.

She wondered why someone as high-ranking as Prefect Yao would attend the opening ceremony of her weaving workshop.

There are many commercial activities starting every day in Ningcheng, and some of these businesses are larger and have a wider scope than hers. Prefect Yao probably wouldn't attend them all, but she chose to come to Qinghewan to cut the ribbon for a rural weaving workshop.

Seeing that Prefect Yao was glancing at Lian Hengruo from time to time, while Lian Hengruo stood next to Gu Taohua trying to remain calm and introducing herself to Lu Zhaozhao, Tong Huaqiong's temples throbbed. She had already played matchmaker once, and it seemed she would have to play matchmaker a second time.

What Tong Huaqiong didn't know was that before coming to Qinghe Bay, Prefect Yao had made a special trip to Pingchuan County to repay Lian Hengruo the money he owed for buying pearls last time.

Neither of them expected to meet again at the entrance of Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop.

These days, the rural economy relies mainly on farming. Even if there are some commercial activities, they are mostly small-scale businesses like grinding tofu and pressing sesame oil, and cannot be scaled up. In the villagers' minds, the weaving workshop is the first large-scale commercial enterprise in Qinghewan.

In fact, Tong Huaqiong considered her pig farm to be one, but in the minds of the people of Qinghewan, who doesn't raise a few pigs? Therefore, Tong Huaqiong's pig farm was excluded.

The opening of the weaving workshop was as lively as when Tong Huaqiong was named the village lord and the top scholar in the Mid-Autumn Festival.

After all, everyone believed that the weaving workshop was not only a major source of income for Tong Huaqiong, but also closely related to their own earning potential.

They used to be afraid to grow cotton for fear of losing their crops. Now that Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop supplies cotton cloth, they can grow cotton with peace of mind. From now on, they will sell their cotton to Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop.

Secondly, the weaving workshop needs cotton carders, yarn spinners, and cloth weavers. Although we have enough female workers now, we can't wait for the business to boom and we will need to add more looms. Maybe in the future, someone from our family will also go to work in the weaving workshop to earn money.

To put it another way, one can't become a weaver without growing cotton. As Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop grows bigger and bigger, it will surely benefit her neighbors in the future.

Putting aside other things, the village's private school was established with the sponsorship of Tong Huaqiong.

Therefore, the villagers who were watching felt proud and were genuinely happy for Tong Huaqiong.

The area in front of the weaving workshop was crowded with people, including villagers from both the village and other villages.

The young women and wives who had been hired by the weaving workshop stood in front of the workshop, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.

Who would have thought that they would be able to earn money just like men in the future?

Seeing the envious or jealous looks in the crowd, they unconsciously raised their heads high.

Their families, standing in the crowd, also looked at them with pride. One old woman even wiped her eyes as she stared at a round-faced girl in front of the loom. Her granddaughter had lost her parents at a young age, and after coming of age, she was betrothed, but the man died of tuberculosis before they were even married.

Her uncles and brothers in the clan thought she was unlucky and cursed her for bringing misfortune to her parents and husband, so they wanted to sell her off far away.

She thought the price had been agreed upon and that her granddaughter was beyond saving, but then things took an unexpected turn for the better.

This girl is very strong and has a great skill at fluffing cotton.

When Tong Huaqiong's weaving workshop was hiring, she secretly came to apply. She easily loaded hundreds of kilograms of cotton onto the cotton ginning machine and was immediately hired as a cotton ginner at the workshop.

During this time, some people in the clan tried to sabotage her, sending someone to tell Tong Huaqiong that she had a tough fate and was bad luck for others. Tong Huaqiong shrugged and said that was great, the weaving workshop needed someone with a tough fate, and sent someone to her home to tell her that the girl was already a cotton carder at the weaving workshop, and that if anyone dared to mess with her, she would report them to the authorities.

If others reported it to the authorities, they might try to smooth things over by saying it was a family matter. But she is now the village head, and the government will have to give her some face if she reports it to the authorities herself.

Now no one in the clan dares to mention selling her anymore.

The old lady looked at Tong Huaqiong with red eyes. She really wanted to go past everyone and take Tong Huaqiong's hand to thank her.

But knowing it was a joyous occasion with the county magistrate and prefect present, she couldn't afford to be presumptuous, so she wiped her eyes and smiled.

Tong Huaqiong was naturally unaware of her grandmother's inner thoughts as a cotton-fluffing worker. At this moment, she was standing next to Prefect Yao. As Prefect Yao cut the silk ribbon with a pair of scissors, Tong Huaqiong asked Magistrate Liu to unveil the red silk cloth on the plaque.

The red silk cloth slowly fell down, revealing the words "Tong Family Weaving Workshop" on the plaque.

"Tong Family Weaving Workshop".

It happened to be the private school's day off, and the children studying there crowded around to join in the fun, loudly reading out the words on the plaque.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken? Isn't this the Gu family's weaving workshop?" The Gu family patriarch, who was illiterate, asked incredulously.

Ever since Gu Ruinian's leg became lame, the head of the Gu family has been dedicated to repairing his relationship with Tong Huaqiong, trying to make his presence felt even when facing Tong Huaqiong's cold attitude.

The prefect and county magistrate both attended the opening of the weaving workshop. He arrived at the workshop early in the morning to find a spot close to the two officials.

When he heard his child read "Tong Family Weaving Workshop," he subconsciously felt that it was a mispronunciation.

"correct."

"Yes, it's the Tong family's weaving workshop."

Several children studying at the private school pointed at the plaque and read it aloud.

The head of the Gu family was very displeased. Tong Huaqiong had gone too far. How could a daughter-in-law of the Gu family be nominally affiliated with the Tong family's weaving workshop? It was simply outrageous.

“Although Dashu’s mother is a widow, she is still a daughter-in-law of our Gu family. It’s not appropriate to call it the Tong Family Weaving Workshop,” the clan chief muttered.

He was saying this to those around him, but he didn't dare to speak loudly, for fear that Tong Huaqiong in front of him would hear it and hold a grudge against him again.

This feud has become an intractable knot, impossible to untie.

"Clan chief, why are you meddling so much? My mother-in-law's surname is Tong, so what else should her weaving workshop be called but Tong Family Weaving Workshop? Even if it's called Gu Family Weaving Workshop, you can't get a share of the profits." Liu Yue'e had already seen through the clan chief's thoughts when he asked the question.

Liu Yue'e sneered. If she were capable enough to open her own shop, she would love to call it Liu Family Shop or Yue'e Shop.

The clan leader was so angry he was about to explode.

That's outrageous, absolutely outrageous.