Transmigrated into the role of the matriarch, I ensured my family had enough to eat and wear during

Old Mrs. Yang frowned, following the stench, and finally grabbed Lu Hao's sleeve, sniffing closely. Her face darkened: "The stench is coming from you!"

Before Lu Hao could react, she reached into his pocket and quickly pulled out an egg—the shell was already black and covered in dirt. When she brought it close, the smell of rotten eggs was even stronger, making her wince.

Old Mrs. Yang immediately tossed the egg into her hand, weighed it in her hand, and began to scold Tang Susu angrily: "Susu, you child, how can you be so stingy! This is the county magistrate's son, how can you give him rotten eggs? I think these eggs have been sitting for at least eight or nine days, they're completely rotten!"

Tang Susu was completely bewildered and quickly waved her hands: "Auntie, that's not how it is! Our family never keeps eggs overnight; we collect them and eat them on the same day. We haven't boiled any eggs recently..."

She frowned and tried to recall carefully. Suddenly, she remembered that on the day of the grain harvest, Lu Hao had volunteered to help lead the ox and tidy up the ropes. She was so happy that she rewarded him with a boiled egg. Unexpectedly, he hadn't eaten it and had kept it in his pocket ever since.

"I didn't eat the rotten eggs!" Lu Hao's face flushed red as he hurriedly explained, his tone tinged with grievance and seriousness. "I didn't know these eggs were cooked; I thought they were raw. I was thinking of keeping them to take home for my dad to try. This is the first reward I've ever received for working hard; it's a trophy, so it has a different meaning. I couldn't bear to eat it."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Yang was stunned for a moment. Then, the anger on her face vanished without a trace, replaced by a look of gratitude. She nodded repeatedly, "So that's how it is. I misunderstood you and Su Su."

Looking at Lu Hao, she felt more and more gratified. She secretly wondered why Lu Hao, as a county magistrate, was so poor. He couldn't even bear to eat an egg, saving it for his father. No wonder Lu Hao was so honest and incorruptible, only collecting six percent of the people's taxes. He loved the people so much.

"Good boy, you are such a filial and sensible child." Old Mrs. Yang patted Lu Hao's shoulder, her tone much gentler. "You don't need to be so frugal in the future. When the ducks at my house lay eggs, I will send you some fresh duck eggs. Take them back to the yamen for your father to try, and also to nourish yourself."

As she spoke, she picked up the blackened, smelly egg and casually tossed it into the roadside bushes, without paying it any attention.

Lu Hao looked at the eggs in the grass and felt a pang of heartache—those were his prizes that he had cherished for several days. But because of his pride, he was too embarrassed to bend down and pick them up. He could only grit his teeth and pretend not to care, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn down.

Tang Susu stood to the side, seeing his little actions clearly. She found it amusing but didn't say anything. She simply nudged his arm, signaling him to get in the car quickly so as not to be late for the trip to town.

The oxcart bumped along for nearly an hour before finally arriving at Dongtai Town.

The town was bustling with people, filled with the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and haggling over prices, a stark contrast to the tranquility of the village.

After everyone got off the bus, they went their separate ways and each took on their assigned tasks.

Lu Hao cupped his hands in greeting to Tang Susu: "Aunt Yang, I'll go back to the county office to change my clothes first, and I'll be right back. I definitely won't run away."

After saying that, he turned around and walked quickly toward the county government office.

Tang Chengyu also spoke up, "Elder sister, I'll go to Shuyun Pavilion to see if I can find some book-copying work, and while I'm at it, I'll buy some pens, ink, paper, and inkstones for the children."

After saying that, he headed towards the Shuyun Pavilion in the town.

The remaining Tang Susu, Old Lady Yang, and Yang Defu headed towards the grain shop. As they walked, Yang Defu instructed, "Don't worry, after I sell the grain, I'll stay near the grain shop to watch the carts and make sure our things aren't stolen."

The three arrived at the entrance of the grain shop and saw a notice posted there, which read the decree issued ahead of schedule by Magistrate Lu. The handwriting was neat and eye-catching.

Tang Susu stepped forward, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but nod.

The shopkeeper, seeing them looking at the notice, quickly stepped forward and explained with a smile: "Fellow villagers, this is a special decree issued by Magistrate Lu, prohibiting merchants from buying grain indiscriminately. If people go to the granary to sell grain, the price of white rice is ten copper coins per catty; our grain shops cannot sell it for more than twelve copper coins per catty. Hoarding grain and price gouging are strictly prohibited."

Old Mrs. Yang couldn't help but ask, "Shopkeeper, white rice used to cost only six copper coins a pound, how come the price has increased so much now?"

The shopkeeper sighed and said helplessly, "This year's drought has resulted in a poor harvest and a shortage of grain. The price of ten copper coins per pound is already a reasonable price. If it weren't for Magistrate Lu's control, the price of grain would have already soared to over fifty coins. In that case, the people wouldn't be able to afford grain and would be forced to become homeless. It might even trigger a peasant rebellion, which would be a real problem."

Upon hearing this, Tang Susu nodded with deep feeling: "Lord Lu is right. This policy is good. It can not only protect the interests of our people, but also reduce the hidden dangers of refugees and stabilize people's hearts."

Afterward, the three of them sold and exchanged grain in an orderly manner.

Yang Defu stepped forward first, handed over the grain he had prepared, and said in a heavy tone, "Shopkeeper, I'm selling this 280 jin of grain to get some copper coins. My family member is sick and we need the money to see a doctor."

The shopkeeper nodded hurriedly, quickly weighed the grain, calculated the money, and soon handed the copper coins to Yang Defu.

Next came Old Lady Yang. She pulled over two bags of grain and said with a smile, "Shopkeeper, I'll sell these 200 jin of grain to get some copper coins for emergencies. As for the remaining 200 jin, I won't exchange them for money. I'll exchange them for millet, wheat flour, beans, corn, buckwheat noodles, and other coarse grains. The more the better, enough to last for half a year."

Finally, it was Tang Susu's turn. She handed over the hundred catties of white rice she had brought and said softly, "Shopkeeper, I don't want to exchange this hundred catties of white rice for copper coins. I'll exchange it for 50 catties of millet, and then exchange it for some black flour, corn flour, buckwheat flour, beans, and old rice, 20 catties of each kind."

The shopkeeper was quick and efficient, and soon helped them exchange the grain and bag it one by one.

Yang Defu took his copper coins, carefully put them away, and said to Tang Susu and Old Lady Yang, "You two go ahead and do your work. I'll stay here and watch over the carts and guard our grain."

Tang Susu and Granny Yang nodded, then turned and headed towards the cloth shop in town—they wanted to go there to ask about the prices of Lanxia embroidery.

There are quite a few cloth shops in Dongtai Town, about eleven or twelve in total. Each shop does a fairly good business. Many women make embroidery on weekdays and sell it at the cloth shops to earn some pocket money, working as part-time embroiderers.

After browsing for a while, the two chose a regular fabric shop with the busiest customers. As soon as they entered, the shopkeeper greeted them warmly, smiling and saying, "Ladies, please come in. What would you like to see? Are you buying fabric or embroidery?"

Old Mrs. Yang smiled and nodded, then took out the piece of scrap fabric Lan Xia had embroidered from her bosom and handed it to the shopkeeper. She asked nervously, "Shopkeeper, take a look. How much is this embroidery worth? This was embroidered by my child using scraps of fabric, and the stitches are quite fine."

The shopkeeper took the apron, examined it carefully, and ran his fingertips over the stitches. He said slowly, "Auntie, to be honest, the embroidery is really well done. The stitches are fine and the embroidery is beautiful. It's clear that the embroiderer put a lot of effort into it."

Hearing this, Old Lady Yang's face lit up with joy, but the shopkeeper's next words made her slightly disappointed: "It's just that the fabric is too poor; it's all scraps. Besides, it's a year of famine now, and people are barely able to eat their fill. Nobody wants to spend money on this kind of decorative little apron. If it were a year of good harvest, when people have more money, this apron would be worth two copper coins."

Even so, Old Mrs. Yang was still very satisfied, nodding repeatedly: "Good, good, two copper coins are fine! As long as the craft can earn money, that's all that matters. When things get better, we'll get better fabrics and have her make more, so she can supplement the family income with this craft in the future."

As she spoke, she pulled Tang Susu and prepared to turn and leave, but Tang Susu stopped her and said with a smile, "Auntie, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Since we're here, let's buy some cloth and make some new clothes for our families for autumn and winter. The weather is getting colder and colder, and we can't keep wearing last year's old clothes."

Old Mrs. Yang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "No need, no need. We still have old clothes at home that we can wear. There's no need to waste money buying new ones. Food is the most important thing."

"It's not a waste." Tang Susu leaned close to Old Lady Yang's ear and whispered, "Auntie, I used the hundred taels of silver that Lord Lu gave me before. It wasn't money from selling grain. We should use it to buy some cloth for our parents-in-law to show our filial piety. It's only right."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Yang immediately understood and, without further hesitation, nodded: "Alright, I'll listen to you. You're very thoughtful."

Afterwards, the two carefully selected fabrics at the fabric shop, calculating the sizes of their family members one by one.

When choosing fabric for her parents-in-law, Tang Susu specifically picked blue homespun cloth to make clothes for her mother-in-law, and gray homespun cloth to make clothes for her father-in-law. She chose sixteen or seventeen feet of each type, enough to make two sets of clothes, one inside and one outside. This kind of homespun cloth was cheap and affordable, costing two copper coins per foot, making it very cost-effective.

When it came time to choose fabric for Lu Hao, Old Lady Yang insisted on paying for it herself, saying with a smile, "Young Master Lu is a guest, and also the son of the county magistrate. We can't let him suffer. Let's buy him some mid-range fabric, something more presentable." With that, she picked out a piece of mid-range fabric, which cost thirteen copper coins per foot, enough to make two new outfits.

Next, they also picked out mid-range fabrics for Tang Chengyu, in the same price range as Lu Hao's—Tang Chengyu was a scholar, and dressing more respectably would better suit his scholarly status.

As for the boys in the family, Tang Susu chose cheap homespun cloth to make their coats, and cotton cloth that cost eight copper coins per foot to make their undergarments. It was soft, comfortable, and warm. In addition, she bought some sturdy cloth to make cloth shoes for everyone, and also asked for some scraps of cloth to make insoles, which were absorbent and comfortable.

After choosing the fabric, the two bought some needles, thread, thimbles and other miscellaneous items. The shopkeeper quickly calculated the price and said with a smile, "Aunties, it will cost a total of 798 copper coins. Let's round it up to 799."

Tang Susu smiled and paid the money. The two of them carried the fabric and other items out of the fabric shop.

Old Mrs. Yang walked along the roadside, looking at the fabric in her hand, her eyes slightly reddening. She held Tang Susu's hand and said in a choked voice, "Susu, I'm so sorry for you. After Lao San passed away, I never expected you to be so filial. You even took the initiative to buy clothes for your parents-in-law. You are such a good child. If Lao San knew this in the afterlife, he would be at peace."

Tang Susu smiled and patted her hand, saying gently, "Auntie, don't say that. My in-laws treat me like their own daughter. It's only right that I buy them some fabric and make them some clothes. From now on, our family will live a good life together, and things will get better."