The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!

Chapter 589: Fortune Favors the Bold

Very soon, Dashi and his group set out for the border.

To avoid causing a big impact, they set out on a moonless, windy night.

Liu Yueer was tearfully reluctant to let Dashi go.

She was afraid, afraid that her husband would be conscripted into the army at the border, or kidnapped by the people from Mo Bei.

In the past, Liu Yueer had envied the Shopkeeper of the Lu Family, who could sail to Shengjing and handle affairs on their own. She always encouraged Dashi to go out and make a name for himself, hoping they could leave Tong Huaqiong and become local leaders together.

But now that her wish was granted, she was still uneasy.

Mrs. Zhao saw her daughter’s reluctance, and as soon as Dashi left, she took Liu Yueer home to scold her: "Crying in front of your mother-in-law, what does that look like? Dashi is going out to deliver goods and gain experience, not to fight a war."

Mrs. Zhao didn’t know that these cotton clothes were military supplies, thinking they were just for sale near the border.

Seeing her daughter’s in-laws entrust this business to her son-in-law made her happy. What did this mean? It meant that her daughter’s in-laws valued Dashi, while her daughter always had her little thoughts.

Liu Yueer’s visits to Jufu Supermarket recently made her more flamboyant, with her dress and style becoming more pronounced. Mrs. Zhao felt the need to knock some sense into her.

Liu Yueer said with a bitter face: "Mom, what do you know? Do you know where Dashi is going?"

Liu Yueer, being a big mouth, didn’t know the final destination of the cotton clothes because Tong Huaqiong kept it a secret, but she knew the dangers of the border.

"He’s going to the border. Mom, you don’t go out from Qinghe Bay, so you don’t know the war at the border. It’s all over Pingchuan County, they say Mo Bei people infiltrate the border areas, setting fires and killing people. Our side has sent troops to fight, and now the border is in chaos, with many border merchants having returned. Yet my mother-in-law lets Dashi go to do business at the border instead of avoiding it."

"My mother-in-law is just money-obsessed. What if Dashi gets captured?"

Liu Yueer heard plenty of news about the border in Pingchuan County and was deathly afraid.

Mrs. Zhao said: "There’s wealth in danger. Your mother-in-law has her reasons. I see your mother-in-law as someone with fortune on her side, able to accomplish what she sets out to do. Dashi will definitely succeed on this trip. Think about it, she prepared so many cotton clothes to send to the border without fearing a loss? I guess the Lu Family has already arranged the business at the border and your mother-in-law took it over. Since the Lu Family is involved, Mr. Lu must have seen all kinds of ups and downs, everything is surely arranged before letting Dashi go."

"Just rest assured a hundredfold."

Reflecting on it, Liu Yueer realized that the Lu Family indeed arranged for escort agency people to accompany him, so she prayed in her heart for Dashi’s safety in everything.

After the cotton clothes were sent away, Tong Huaqiong breathed a sigh of relief.

These two months were really torturous, with the Weaving Workshop working at full power, but at last, the task was completed.

Tong Huaqiong thought it’s no wonder that in the big Ning City, only Mr. Lu could sail, only Mr. Lu was an Imperial Merchant—the mental pressure was truly not something an ordinary person could bear.

These days, not only Tong Huaqiong was enduring hardship, but also the people at the Weaving Workshop.

Now that the task was done, Tong Huaqiong thought of giving the female workers at the Weaving Workshop a holiday, but they shook their heads, unwilling.

"Aunt Tong, are you unhappy with us?" Song Qiaoniang asked, voicing the workers’ fears.

Looking at their anxious eyes, Tong Huaqiong said, "No, I’m very satisfied."

Indeed, very satisfied—fulfilling the order on time, how could she not be?

Song Qiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief and asked puzzled, "Then if you’re satisfied, why give a holiday?"

Tong Huaqiong: "..."

It’s like an unstoppable race!

But thinking about it, it’s indeed better not to have a holiday for the Weaving Workshop; her cotton fabrics were all used for military supplies and not officially marketed yet.

Tong Huaqiong planned to sell this new batch of cotton fabric at Jufu Supermarket.

Even without waiting for the extreme cold weather, cheap and warm cotton fabric would be accepted by the common people.

"Aunt, I ordered three carts of coal in town—Aunt Hong didn’t want one, saying Uncle He stocked enough coal for two years. Both carts are for you; you have a big house with many people."

When Tong Huaqiong returned home, she saw two ox carts parked at the door, with Tong Pandi directing people to unload the coal.

Tong Pandi didn’t know that Tong Huaqiong had already hoarded a lot of charcoal and planned to profit from the cold winter.

Tong Pandi, being reborn, naturally knew that extremely cold weather was coming, but didn’t know how to tell Tong Huaqiong, so she only bought the coal and gave it to her.

Looking at the two full ox carts of charcoal, Tong Huaqiong estimated it was enough for her household use.

Tong Pandi really was generous.

Her niece was someone who understood gratitude.

These days, almost all the coal in Pingchuan had been hoarded by Huang Yuanwai, causing coal prices to rise. Tong Pandi feared she spent half of last year’s earnings buying so much coal.

Tong Huaqiong didn’t expose Tong Pandi and said, "I forgot to tell you, we have coal in Jufu, I don’t lack coal. Did you spend a lot of money buying so much?"

Tong Pandi said, "Don’t worry about the money; consider the coal my tribute to you, and Jufu’s coal is Jufu’s issue."

But Tong Huaqiong didn’t want Tong Pandi to waste money.

However, sending back these two ox carts of charcoal wasn’t an option either.

Anyway, when it gets colder, villagers will need to buy coal, so better to let Tong Pandi sell it to them.

"Pandi, no one will be colder than me when it gets cold. Rest assured; I’ve stocked thousands of pounds of charcoal—not only enough for my use, but I also plan to sell some. I forgot to tell you earlier, so maybe sell it to the villagers to save them a trip to town," said Tong Huaqiong, conservatively stating she had stocked thousands of pounds of charcoal to keep the secret.

Thinking it over, Tong Pandi agreed.

For Tong Pandi, Qinghe Bay provided refuge after her divorce; the village women went from not understanding her to showing kindness. She couldn’t bear to see them wait until extreme cold weather came to buy coal.

By then, it would be too late.

"I’ll sell it at the price I bought it for the villagers," Tong Pandi said with a smile.

Tong Huaqiong said, "The coal is yours, you get to decide."

News spread that Tong Pandi was selling coal, and many in the village wanted to buy it.

With coal prices rising daily in Pingchuan and Yan Guan Town, the two ox carts of coal were ordered a few days ago. Even without raising the price, it was cheaper than the coal currently on the market.

Villagers initially planned to buy before the coldest days of the New Year or during snowfall, but hearing Tong Pandi’s price, they came to inquire.

The price was right, saving the effort of carrying it from town, making buying from Tong Pandi more sensible.

Very soon, Tong Pandi’s two carts of coal were sold out.

Originally, Tong Huaqiong wanted to advise Pandi not to be so straightforward and consider raising the price a bit, but ultimately held her tongue.

Tong Pandi thought very simply: Heaven granted her rebirth, she was grateful.

As long as it didn’t violate her principles, she was willing to do a little good.

Besides, she didn’t incur a loss, only incurring transportation fees for the two ox carts, while the coal itself sold at the original price.

As for the transportation fees, it was negligible to her current self.