The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 225: The Village Surrounded

In the evening, Tong Huaqiong listened to Gu Taohua’s work report and learned that Gu Taohua was cheated out of five taels of silver and four boxes of pastries. She comforted Gu Taohua, saying, "It’s like you’ve spent money to avoid disaster."

Tong Huaqiong wasn’t being magnanimous; it was because this young man’s appearance indeed broke Nanny Cai’s plan.

Even if his intent wasn’t to help Taohua Dessert, the final result was that Taohua Dessert resolved a crisis, making the silver and pastries worth spending.

Moreover, he didn’t intentionally deceive; wasn’t it Gu Taohua who misjudged the situation and willingly rushed to give the money?

Seeing Gu Taohua’s annoyed expression, Tong Huaqiong didn’t have the heart to point out her mistake.

Gu Dashu felt sorry for his sister and said to Gu Taohua, "It’s my influence that affected your judgment, I’ll give you this month’s allowance as compensation."

Gu Taohua said confidently, "Second brother, if you give me silver, I’ll accept it. It really is your fault; if you hadn’t always come up with such terrible ideas, I wouldn’t have thought it was your idea this time."

Tong Huaqiong knew Gu Taohua didn’t really blame Gu Dashu.

She’s just a fourteen-year-old girl who felt annoyed after being cheated and needed to distract herself to find comfort.

Gu Dashu was that distraction.

They have a good sibling relationship, with one compensating with silver and the other accepting it. It’s normal sibling cooperation.

She didn’t plan or need to interfere.

Tong Huaqiong hadn’t been idle these days; she was keeping a close eye on the former village head Xu Yong.

Strangely enough, Xu Yong hadn’t made any moves.

This surprised Tong Huaqiong.

Based on her understanding of Xu Yong, he should be like a fly attracted to a cracked egg, swarming over the disinfection and pest control formula.

She had distributed the disinfectant to villagers many days ago, yet Xu Yong remained unmoved.

She thought Xu Yong was observing the effectiveness of the disinfectant.

After all, she saw Xu Yong often venturing into the cornfield at dawn and dusk these past few days.

Tong Huaqiong didn’t intend to keep the corn disinfectant formula a secret.

If she wanted to keep it secret, she wouldn’t have distributed the medicine freely to the villagers.

She believes one shouldn’t underestimate the people of this era; once someone knows Qinghe Bay has such a medicine, surely there will be someone who wants to try making it.

The formula isn’t simple, but if someone wants to make it, they surely can; it’s just a matter of time.

Rather than letting others benefit, she’d rather present the formula herself.

But to whom should she present it?

Naturally, to County Magistrate Liu.

Besides being the only official she knows, County Magistrate Liu is a good local leader who cares deeply about agriculture, visiting fields each season for crop planting and harvesting. She feels it’s most appropriate to give the pesticide formula to County Magistrate Liu for promotion.

However, deciding when and how to present it is a dilemma.

Tong Huaqiong isn’t the Holy Mother; she hopes to gain praise by presenting the pesticide formula, ideally obtaining official recognition, aiding her commercial development.

Meanwhile, she thinks Xu Yong’s recent quietness seems unusual.

Originally, she planned to let Xu Yong hastily make the medicine. When its poor effectiveness caused public discontent, she would present the formula to elevate her image through comparison.

Upon calming down these days, she realized she couldn’t proceed that way.

Allowing people like Xu Yong to make the medicine would harm crops and farmers.

Farming is difficult for rural families; if Xu Yong’s ineffective medicine results in a total crop failure, it would be a significant offense.

Therefore, Tong Huaqiong plans to find an appropriate opportunity soon to visit Pingchuan County and meet County Magistrate Liu.

After the disinfectant was promoted in Qinghe Bay, the corn ears began to quickly grow.

The plump corn ears indicated Qinghe Bay’s long-awaited bountiful autumn harvest.

Seeing the medicine had no adverse effects in Qinghe Bay’s cornfield, she decided to visit Pingchuan County to hand over the disinfectant formula to County Magistrate Liu.

She planned to have Village Head Liu Tieshan accompany her.

After all, the village head knows the village’s situation best, providing credibility.

Based on her understanding of County Magistrate Liu, he wouldn’t rashly accept the formula and would surely personally visit Qinghe Bay to see the cornfield and witness the pesticide’s effectiveness.

If so, that would align with Tong Huaqiong’s intentions.

As she isn’t deeply versed in agricultural science, she’s unsure if other townships’ cornfields can use this formula. County Magistrate Liu personally seeing the effectiveness provides clarity, ensuring future issues won’t affect her.

Early in the morning, Gu Dashu hitched a donkey cart to take Tong Huaqiong and the village head to Pingchuan County.

But upon reaching the village entrance, the donkey cart couldn’t proceed; Qinghe Bay was surrounded.

A crowd wielding iron shovels, sickles, and hoes came from all directions, blocking the entrance completely.

Not seeing Liu Tieshan was fine, but upon seeing him, everyone immediately halted.

Liu Tieshan glanced around and said to Tong Huaqiong, "These people are from several neighboring villages."

Qinghe Bay and the neighboring villages have intricate ties, with relatives and acquaintances from both ends, some even sharing land and cooperating in hunting and working, thus forming many familiar faces from nearby villages. Liu Tieshan, seeing familiar faces, knew they were villagers from the vicinity of Qinghe Bay.

These people clearly didn’t come with good intentions.

Liu Tieshan, being a native farmer, deeply understood disputes between villages.

Farmland, water channels, marriages...all could spark conflicts, escalating to physical altercations and armed clashes.

Such disputes could even result in fatalities.

As village head, seeing this setup, Liu Tieshan felt uneasy.

Needless to say, just last spring, Qinghe Bay and the neighboring Guazhou Bay clashed over irrigation water sources.

At that time, Xu Yong was the village head; not only did he fail to resolve the issue, but he escalated it, leveraging the Xu family’s number to provoke a conflict between the villages.

To this day, the villagers of Qinghe Bay and Guazhou Bay meet with hostile glares. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Liu Tieshan saw Guazhou Bay people leading at the front, triggering alarm bells, unsure of their purpose here.

Tong Huaqiong had never faced such a large crowd wielding tools, poised for trouble.

Despite being modern, Tong Huaqiong understood that rural areas, apart from being simple and sincere, also adhered to the law of the jungle; disputes and conflicts were common even in her modern life, let alone a time dominated by feudal clans.

She exchanged glances with Liu Tieshan, both puzzled over their motive for coming to Qinghe Bay.

Could it be because Qinghe Bay’s cornfield prospered after using her pesticide, drawing neighboring villages to steal the medicine?

Liu Tieshan shook his head lightly, uncertain why they came to Qinghe Bay.

No conflicts between Qinghe Bay and neighboring villages were heard recently.

Liu Tieshan eyed the large pesticide barrels on the donkey cart, then looked up at Tong Huaqiong, both realizing the same thing.

Perhaps these people came for the pesticide.

A hint of fierceness flashed in Liu Tieshan’s eyes; if they came peacefully to discuss, he could give it, but if they seized, then they shouldn’t blame him for being unkind.

The people of Qinghe Bay aren’t easy to bully.