Chapter 106 Helping in times of need
Tong Huaqiong and her two sons had a bowl of noodles for lunch, and then urged her two sons to get in touch with Feng Chuan.
She continued to inspect the shop, and after she had some ideas about the decoration, she returned to Qinghe Bay.
When I arrived at the entrance of the village, I met Gu Taohua.
Gu Taohua was eating melon with Maner and Yaozu.
Maner and Yaozu saw Tong Huaqiong coming over and calling her grandma loudly, and handed her a melon to eat. Gu Taohua smiled so hard that her teeth were showing when she heard that the shop procedures had been completed.
"Where did the melon come from?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
The weather was a bit hot. Tong Huaqiong was sweating as she walked from the town to Qinghe Bay. The crisp melon made her feel alive.
The Gu family did not grow melons. Seeing that there was no one in the fields at the entrance of the village, Tong Huaqiong suspected that Gu Taohua, Man'er and Yaozu had stolen the melons from other people's fields.
"Gu Xiaocao gave it to me." said Gu Taohua.
"Originally, they were not given to me. My aunt plucked the melons from Xiaocao's grass-cutting basket and saw two melons inside, so she insisted on taking them." Gu Yaozu revealed Gu Taohua's true intention as soon as he opened his mouth.
Gu Taohua looked upset and said, "What are you talking about? I saw her melon and asked if she could give me one, and she gave it to me. I didn't steal it."
Wasn’t it clearly given by Gu Xiaocao?
Gu Taohua was justified.
Tong Huaqiong's mouth twitched. How could she not know Gu Taohua? Based on Gu Taohua's previous reputation and body shape, she asked Gu Xiaocao if he could give her a melon. How dare the honest Gu Xiaocao refuse?
"Okay, it's just a melon, just eat it. But don't bully Xiaocao in the future." Tong Huaqiong knocked on Gu Taohua.
Speaking of Gu Xiaocao, Tong Huaqiong happened to think of the need for Gu Xiaocao's father Gu Guangkui to work as a counter in the shop, so she took a detour to Gu Guangkui's house.
Gu Taohua followed with Maner and Yaozu.
Gu Xiaocao was chopping grass to feed the chickens at the door of her house. When she saw Tong Huaqiong, Gu Taohua and others coming towards her house, her scalp went numb.
She didn't want to give Gu Taohua the melon at all, but she was afraid of Gu Taohua's eager look, so she had to give it to her.
When she saw Tong Huaqiong and her group, she began to worry whether there was something wrong with the melon she gave.
Widow Tong was not easy to mess with in the village. If she offended him, she would destroy her family. And Gu Taohua was also very scary. If she got angry, she could tear down the beams of her house.
If this mother and daughter work together, it would be like a hurricane hitting her house.
"Auntie Tong..." Gu Xiaocao threw away the knife for chopping grass and stood up tremblingly.
Tong Huaqiong heard the fear in Gu Xiaocao's voice and smiled gently.
Gu Xiaocao became even more frightened.
Gu Taohua pulled out the stool that Gu Xiaocao had been sitting on when he was chopping grass and handed it to Tong Huaqiong to sit on.
"Where is your father?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
"Auntie Tong, you're looking for my dad...what...what's the matter..." Gu Xiaocao asked.
"Xiaocao, don't be afraid. I asked your father to make a cabinet for my family." Tong Huaqiong said.
Look how scared the girl is.
"Oh, I see." Gu Xiaocao breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time she was a little bit unconvinced. She pointed to the distance and said, "My dad is in the field. I'll go and call him for you."
"Okay, I'll wait for you at your house." Tong Huaqiong said.
Seeing that Tong Huaqiong had sweat on her face, Gu Xiaocao went into the house and poured a basin of water and a bowl of tea for her.
Tong Huaqiong felt deeply moved that Gu Xiaocao was such a good girl.
No wonder Gu Guangkui would rather live at the entrance of the village than reconcile with Huang Pozi for the sake of his daughter.
Through Tong Dajiao's memory, Tong Huaqiong had a very good impression of Gu Guangkui.
Gu Guangkui was driven out by his own mother, Mrs. Huang.
Gu Guangkui and Gu Dahan were both honest and stubborn. He had only one daughter, Gu Xiaocao, who was two years older than Gu Taohua. Two years ago, Xu Si had molested her in the bushes. When Gu Guangkui wanted to settle the score with Xu Si, Huang Pozi stopped him.
Mrs. Huang was not happy that Gu Guangkui had only one daughter. When Gu Xiaocao was molested by Xu Si, she added fuel to the fire and accused Xu Si of seducing Gu Xiaocao, saying that Gu Xiaocao had brought shame to their ancestors and that she wanted Gu Xiaocao to marry Xu Si.
Gu Xiaocao was so upset that he wanted to hang himself to calm the turmoil.
Mrs. Huang felt that it was shameful that Xu Si had taken advantage of her, so she drove Gu Guangkui's entire family out.
The honest Gu Guangkui and his wife and daughter built two thatched houses at the entrance of the village to settle down.
Gu Xiaocao's reputation was ruined, and people in the village avoided Gu Guangkui's family, especially Mrs. Huang, who bullied her son's family particularly harshly.
Not only did she call Gu Xiaocao a vixen, she also teamed up with the poisonous honey Yan Po to bully her son's entire family.
When gossiping in the village, Mrs. Yan often said that Gu Xiaocao was Xu Si's slut. Whoever dared to marry her in the future would have to wait and see, because in the end they would have to give themselves to Xu Si.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, others avoided Gu Guangkui's family, but Tong Huaqiong was not afraid.
Not only was she not afraid, she also took the initiative to visit and invite jobs.
Gu Guangkui and his wife Zhang were in the fields when they heard Gu Xiaocao say that Tong Huaqiong came to their house and asked Gu Guangkui to make furniture, but the couple didn't believe it.
I stood up from the ground and saw the vague shadow of Gu Taohua, then I believed it.
The couple hurried back home and saw Tong Huaqiong so nervous that she didn't know where to put her hands.
This was the first time that any villager from the village came to visit Gu Guangkui's family since they moved to the village entrance.
"Mrs. Tong, I heard from Xiaocao that your family wants to make a cabinet?" Zhang asked.
Tong Huaqiong nodded and said with a smile: "That's right."
Gu Guangkui and Zhang looked excited.
Gu Guangkui has a good craft, but ever since Gu Xiaocao's reputation was ruined by his mother and the Xu family, the villagers no longer dared to ask him to make furniture.
He didn't dare take business from other villages, for he was afraid that Xu Si would take revenge on Xiaocao after he left.
"So, Sister Tong, what style do you want?" Gu Guangkui asked.
"It's not my home, it's the pastry shop in my town that's about to open, and we need a counter and stuff." Tong Huaqiong said.
"Sister Tong, you are really capable. You even opened a shop."
Zhang was happy for Tong Huaqiong.
Everyone in the village knew that Tong Huaqiong was selling cakes in the town. She didn't expect that Tong Huaqiong had opened a shop so recently.
In the past, Tong Huaqiong had a bad reputation in the village, and Zhang didn't dare to talk to Tong Huaqiong.
Ever since she learned from Liu Qiaoyun that Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua had dealt with Xu Si, she dared to say hello to Tong Huaqiong when she met her at the village entrance.
After hearing this, Zhang felt that Tong Huaqiong was a good person. Their family suffered from reputation problems, and Zhang felt that Tong Huaqiong's reputation was ruined by her mother-in-law and Mrs. Yan.
"Going to town..." Gu Guangkui was a little hesitant.
What should his wife and daughter do at home when he goes to town?
If Xu Si takes the opportunity to take revenge, his daughter will have no way out.
In her heart, Zhang wanted Gu Guangkui to take over Tong Huaqiong's job. Tong Huaqiong thought of letting Gu Guangkui work the counter when she opened a shop, which showed that she valued their family. She should accept this kind of timely help.
At worst, she and Xiaocao could just carry a knife with them at all times.
"I know what you are worried about. You are just afraid that when you are not at home, that bastard Xu Si will cause trouble for Xiaocao. Don't worry. My shop still needs someone to cook for the guys. Xiaocao can do it, right? If so, I'll go with you." Tong Huaqiong said.
Gu Xiaocao raised her eyes in surprise. She didn't expect that she could go to town too.
"It's true that Xiaocao can work, but will Xiaocao affect the shop's business?" Zhang was so excited that she was about to cry.
Tong Huaqiong understood what Zhang meant. Gu Xiaocao's reputation was ruined by Xu Si, and she was afraid that this reputation would affect the pastry shop business.
"Who doesn't buy cakes for the taste?" Tong Huaqiong said indifferently.
"Can Xiaocao really go to the shop to work?" Gu Guangkui was too excited to believe it was true.
"Uncle Guangkui, what are you talking about? I can follow my mother to do business, so why can't Sister Xiaocao do it?" Gu Taohua said.
Gu Guangkui and Zhang thanked him repeatedly with red eyes.
"How about I pay you 500 wen a month?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
"What, there's still wages?"
Gu Guangkui's family was even more excited.
Tong Huaqiong was not a saintly womanizer when she tried to win over Gu Guangkui's family. She had her own selfish motives.
She would definitely need workers to open a shop, and she was not familiar with hiring people from outside now.
Start with the people around you. Gu Guangkui has good skills, and Gu Xiaocao is pretty, honest and careful. These two people play a big role in the initial development of the shop.
What's more, Gu Guangkui and his family will definitely be devoted to her because of her timely help.
In her previous life, Gu Xiaocao was ultimately unable to escape the schemes of Mrs. Yan and was forced to marry Xu Si. Even though her own situation was so miserable, she still managed to secretly give Man'er several hundred coins and dry food when Man'er escaped from the Zheng family and returned to the village to look for her parents in vain.
She just regarded it as repaying Maner's kindness in her previous life.
Let Gu Xiaocao start by doing cooking and odd jobs. When the shop is open, train Gu Xiaocao to be a waiter, and then develop her into a backbone of the shop.