The evil mother-in-law does not whitewash, she only abuses her children

The first snow of winter is falling.

Tong Huaqiong's heart was beating fast as she watched the falling snowflakes, wondering if extremely cold weather was about to arrive.

The storeroom at home was filled with charcoal, enough for the home and the weaving workshop.

I thought the extreme cold weather would come with the snow.

After the snow stopped, the weather didn't get much colder.

The temperature was about the same as the year Tong Huaqiong came here.

Tong Huaqiong was already numb to the arrival of extreme cold weather, but she had already made all the necessary preparations.

She has focused all her energy on the weaving workshop. Now the cotton cloth woven in the workshop has begun to be supplied to the market, but she has to rely on her real skills to win the favor of customers.

I thought I could focus on promoting cotton cloth, but then news came from the capital that there was a second batch of cotton clothes to be produced for the border.

Tong Huaqiong was worried about the shortage of cotton, but Governor Yao sent some cotton to her, so Tong Huaqiong only needed to weave and sew.

This saves a lot of trouble.

So a new round of assignments began.

After the villagers finished sewing the first batch of cotton-padded clothes, they thought that such a good thing would not be available until next year, and they felt regretful.

It's such a long winter, and I have to stay at home and spend money on food and other necessities, but there is no way to make money. It's frustrating just thinking about it.

Unexpectedly, we received a new task and everyone was smiling from ear to ear.

Tong Huaqiong told the female workers in the weaving workshop that they would be busy throughout the twelfth lunar month and would have to work until the first day of the New Year.

The female workers in the weaving workshop smiled and said, she was not afraid of being busy, but she was afraid of having no work.

Now they have all tasted the sweetness of making money with Tong Huaqiong, and they are now more confident at home. When they go home, they are either praised by their mother-in-law or respected by their husbands.

Besides, the weaving workshop is much warmer than home. People at home would not burn charcoal until it snowed heavily and the cold became unbearable, but Tong Huaqiong would light the charcoal basin early as soon as winter came in the weaving workshop. In her words, the most precious thing for the women workers in the weaving workshop is their hands, and they must not get frostbite.

Not only that, she also brought rose juice cream from the provincial capital, which was said to be only for the concubines of Shengjing to use, and asked them to apply it after washing their hands.

"Boss, let me tell you, my uncles and aunts wanted to sell me far away before, but now they are clinging to me. It's because they see that I'm making money and want to take money from me. I'm not stupid, I keep them hanging from time to time, but now I wish I could stay at home and not get married and give all the money I earn to them." Li Mingxiu, a cotton-fluffing worker, took the opportunity to relax and told Tong Huaqiong about family matters.

Li Mingxiu is the girl whose parents have both passed away and whose strong uncles and aunts want to sell her to a distant place.

She is now the leader of the cotton fluffing workers. Sometimes Tong Huaqiong suspects that she is as tireless as an electric motor.

Cotton-picking is a strenuous job. Every time Tong Huaqiong saw Li Mingxiu playing cotton, he was like Lang Lang playing the piano in later generations, playing with ease and devotion.

Tong Huaqiong smiled and said, "Then you have to hold on to your money tightly, making them feel they can get it, but also making them unable to get it."

Li Mingxiu nodded and said, "Boss, thank you for your reminder. I lied to them now that I will not get married and will stay in the weaving workshop to work and earn money, implying that I will give my money to whichever nephew treats me well. Now several cousins ​​are fighting with each other for money, and they want their sons to treat me well."

Tong Huaqiong was happy.

This girl is quite clever.

......

When the first snow melted, Tong Huaqiong came out of the weaving workshop against the wind and rubbed her hands. The weather was getting colder and colder.

The maids Xueqing and Xiaoxi took Damao's clothes and put them on Tong Huaqiong. The three of them, master and servants, walked towards home in the thin setting sun.

A gorgeously decorated carriage passed by.

"Boss, this carriage is heading towards the old house." Su Qing said.

Tong Huaqiong wondered if there were any wealthy relatives in the old house that she didn't know about. That was impossible, as Tong Dajiao didn't remember any of them.

Could it be that someone from the Wei family has come?

But she heard that Wei's family in the south was quite wealthy.

After turning a corner, Tong Huaqiong could just see the old house. He saw a young man in fur clothes getting off the carriage.

The young man looked so familiar. Tong Huaqiong thought that he looked like the young master Zheng in her memory.

If Tong Huaqiong guessed correctly, this person should be the second son of Zheng, and he came to the old house to look for Gu Ruinian.

The second young master Zheng did come to see Gu Ruinian.

Gu Ruinian was shivering with cold at home.

Considering that it was a cold winter, Tong Huaqiong delivered the charcoal to her parents-in-law a few days ago.

Mr. and Mrs. Gu were reluctant to burn charcoal and insisted on waiting until the New Year to do so, so the house was as cold as an ice cave.

This was the first time in Gu Ruinian's two lifetimes that he had experienced cold. He also had to chop wood and fetch water, so he got frostbite on his hands.

When he saw the second son of Zheng come in, Gu Ruinian felt like he was welcoming a golden Buddha.

"...You said in your letter that this winter is extremely cold. Is that true?" Mr. Zheng entered the old house. Because it was too cold, he got into the carriage again. He held the hand warmer and said to Gu Ruinian, "Although this weather is cold, every winter is like this?"

Gu Ruinian was flustered for a moment, then he said calmly, "That's what is written in the history books of later generations. If you don't believe me, I can't do anything about it. Now we are hoarding charcoal and selling it at a high price when the weather gets extremely cold to make a fortune. Even if the history books are wrong, charcoal won't spoil. If we can't sell it this year, we can still sell it next year."

Gu Ruinian said this because he was not sure when the extreme cold weather would arrive.

If the winter weather had been normal as usual, he would have been able to get away with it by saying that the history books were wrong.

Gu Ruinian guessed the expression of Mr. Zheng Er and said, "I don't have the money. If I had the money, I would never have given you this news."

Mr. Zheng thought for a moment and gritted his teeth and said, "I'll trust you for now. I'll ask the housekeeper to stock up on charcoal when I get back. Since you told me this news, if it's really as cold as you said, I'll give you 20% of the profit from the charcoal."

Gu Ruinian breathed a sigh of relief.

Mr. Zheng asked, "How is your high-strength gunpowder going?"

Gu Ruinian raised his chilblained hands and said, "It's snowing these days and it's too cold at home. My hands are covered in chilblains and they bleed when I work. There's really nothing I can do."

The second son of Zheng had a gloomy look in his eyes and said, "You know that the border war has started, right? If high-strength gunpowder really can't be produced, you can always produce the heavy artillery you mentioned."

As he spoke, the second young master Zheng threw a blueprint to Gu Ruinian.

Gu Ruinian unfolded it and saw that it was the design drawing of a musket.

"Didn't you say that where you live there are flying airplanes, Scud-like trains, and missiles that can fly thousands of miles? You don't need to build these. You can improve the musket into heavy artillery." said the second master Zheng.

Gu Ruinian was holding the drawing of the musket, his face full of black lines. He wondered if the Second Master Zheng knew what industrialization was. In this era, even gunpowder had to be prepared manually. How could he possibly transform it into a heavy artillery?

But he didn't dare to say no, for fear that the Second Master Zheng would just walk away in anger.