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

Little Fish clutched the small half of chestnut that Yang Xiaobao had given him, treasuring it so much that he wouldn't even lick it twice before running home in a flash.

He rushed into the yard, handed the chestnuts to Aunt Liu, and pleaded with his little face, "Mom, please try these! They're so delicious! Can you make chestnuts for me that taste just like this?"

Aunt Liu took the chestnut with a puzzled look, broke off a small piece, and put it in her mouth.

The sweet and rich flavor melted instantly on her tongue, accompanied by a strong chestnut and caramel aroma, making her squint her eyes involuntarily.

But the next second, she frowned, launched into a rant, and yelled, "That Tang Susu is such a spendthrift who can't manage a household! Putting so much oil and sugar in chestnuts, only thinking about her own pleasure, without considering the family's future livelihood! No wonder Old Lady Yang dislikes her, I think she's a complete spendthrift!"

Her house was separated from the Tang family's by only a wall, and the sharp curses reached Tang Susu's ears clearly.

At this moment, Tang Susu was sitting on a low stool in the courtyard, chopping shepherd's purse, preparing to make a cold shepherd's purse salad to go with the chestnut porridge for dinner.

Hearing the insults, she didn't stop what she was doing—the original owner's reputation was already extremely bad, and there were always plenty of people who would insult her. If she were to argue with each and every one of them, she simply wouldn't be able to keep up.

Tang Susu remained unmoved, but Tang Liqiang exploded.

He was chopping wood in the yard when he heard Aunt Liu verbally abusing his sister by name. He immediately threw down his axe, grabbed his machete, and rushed out, standing between the two houses' walls, angrily demanding, "Aunt Liu! Who are you cursing?"

Aunt Liu was startled by the wood-chopping knife in his hand, and then she got angry and retorted, "Who am I cursing? I'm cursing Tang Susu, so what? I've never mistreated you boys before. In good years I'd give you cakes, and in famine years I'd bring you wild vegetable dumplings. But she only cares about her own enjoyment and doesn't care about your lives at all!"

She was telling the truth; Aunt Liu had indeed taken extra care of the Tang family's boys in the past.

Because of this affection, Tang Liqiang tightened his grip on the knife, but ultimately didn't actually raise it. He simply argued stiffly, "My older sister is very good to us! These chestnuts were cooked by my older sister, and Xiaobao even shared some with Xiaoyuer!"

"Liqiang, come back!" Tang Susu's voice came from the courtyard, calm but with an undeniable authority. "Go to the kitchen to burn firewood, don't fool around here."

Tang Liqiang was stunned for a moment, then as if a pause button had been pressed, he obediently put down the wood-chopping knife and turned to go into the kitchen.

Aunt Liu stood there, her face full of doubt.

Previously, Yang Tangshi had a very bad relationship with these boys. She would scold Tang Susu in front of them, and they never reacted. But today, Tang Liqiang actually came to confront her with a knife for Tang Susu's sake.

Seeing that her mother wouldn't agree to make chestnuts, Little Fish muttered softly, "Mom, Xiao Bao has sixteen chestnuts in his pocket, six more than me..."

"Aren't you satisfied yet?" Aunt Liu flicked him on the forehead and scolded him angrily, "Get back to gathering firewood!"

Little Fish covered his head and ran away, but Aunt Liu couldn't help but move her feet and quietly approach the base of the Tang family's courtyard wall, peeking out slightly and half-closing her eyes to look into the courtyard.

Upon closer inspection, she was even more surprised—Tang Susu was sitting calmly on a low stool picking shepherd's purse, while Miao Yulan sat beside her doing needlework. The two were each doing their own thing, quietly and peacefully.

She remembered that after Miao Yulan married into the family, Tang Susu basically did no work. Every day she either ran to the Tang family or lay at home cursing. Now, this scene was like seeing a ghost.

Before long, the sweet aroma of chestnut porridge wafted from the Tang family's kitchen.

After mending Yang Xiaobao's torn pants, Miao Yulan went into the kitchen to help prepare shepherd's purse.

She originally thought that it would be good if everyone could eat three or five chestnuts to fill their stomachs for dinner, but she didn't expect that Tang Susu not only cooked a whole pot of chestnut porridge, but also specially made a cold shepherd's purse salad.

She couldn't help but sigh to herself that in Yangqu Village, people usually ate dark buckwheat noodles, corn bran, and millet noodles, mixed with wild vegetables to make hard, sticky vegetable dumplings that were difficult to swallow when boiled.

The chestnut porridge at the Tang family's house tonight was sweet and soft, and paired with refreshing and delicious cold shepherd's purse salad, it was simply heavenly.

At dinner, the chestnut porridge and cold shepherd's purse salad on the table were completely devoured.

The three boys, Tang Liqiang, Yang Gousheng, and Yang Xiaobao, licked the plates, bowls, and pots clean, not wasting a single drop of soup.

Miao Yulan tasted the cold shepherd's purse salad and found it to be completely free of bitterness, refreshing and appetizing. However, it was a bit wasteful of seasonings, oil, and firewood.

I used to use this much oil in a whole year, but today I used quite a lot in just one meal.

After the meal, Tang Susu asked Miao Yulan to put the wild fruits that Xiaobao had picked during the day on the table: red bayberries, green plums, and bright red firethorn berries, all sweet and sour, crisp and juicy.

The whole family sat together and ate all the wild fruit, their bellies round and full, feeling extremely happy.

Yang Xiaobao leaned back in his chair, patting his round belly, and exclaimed happily, "Mom, if only we could go hungry every day like this!"

Yang Gousheng was not so optimistic. He secretly calculated that the family had 28 catties of white rice and 22 catties of white flour. According to the family's three meals a day, two catties per meal, it would only last for seven or eight days.

After holding it in for a long time, Tang Liqiang finally asked the question everyone was most concerned about: "Sister, if we finish all the grain we got from exchanging the hairpin, what will we eat from now on?"

Tang Lifu quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, the rice in the fields will be ready for harvest in another month, and then we'll have grain."

The moment those words were spoken, the relaxed and lively atmosphere in the room instantly cooled down.

It hasn't rained for nearly two months. The only river in the village has long since dried up, and the rice in the fields is almost withered and can't produce any rice ears at all.

The entire village depends on the crops grown in the fields for their livelihood, but if it doesn't rain soon, they may not only fail to harvest any crops in a month, but they may also face an even greater disaster.

Seeing everyone looking worried, Tang Susu waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about it. Things will work themselves out. Go wash up and go to bed."

The two boys were exhausted after a long day, and they fell fast asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Tang Susu had been sleeping in the same bed with her son for days and was already used to it. She fell asleep soon after lying down.

Late at night, Yangqu Village was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog.

Suddenly, a terrified scream pierced the night: "Thief! Thief! My food!"

Tang Susu was suddenly awakened from her sleep and sat up instantly.

Not long after, Tang Lifu walked to her door and whispered, "Sister, it seems there are grain thieves in the village."

Tang Susu's heart tightened, and she immediately got out of bed and went to the grain storage box to unlock and check it.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the rice and noodles inside were still intact.

"It was Aunt Liu's house next door that was burgled; all the grain was stolen," Tang Lifu continued. "The village head has already led the able-bodied men of the village to chase after them, but we don't know if they can get it back."

Tang Susu nodded, got dressed, and went into the yard.

At this time, most of the able-bodied men in the village went to chase the thieves, while many women gathered in Aunt Liu's yard, whispering words of comfort to her.

Aunt Liu slumped to the ground, her hands hanging limply at her sides, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls. She sobbed uncontrollably, "What sins did I commit in my past life?! All the grain I painstakingly saved has been stolen! Heaven, please strike that damned grain thief to death!"

She sobbed uncontrollably, "The grain in the field is long gone, and the stored grain has all been stolen. There are six mouths to feed in the family. How are we going to survive? That was nearly seventy catties of grain! I had to eat every single grain. Even the two baskets of chestnuts I picked on the mountain yesterday were stolen..."

Tang Susu stood aside, pondering to herself.

Both she and Aunt Liu lived in the area closest to the village entrance, making them prime targets for grain thieves.

The Liu family are not of the same surname. When Grandpa Liu fled famine, he settled in Yangqu Village. The house he was allocated was naturally located on the very edge of the village.

The house she lived in was left by a man from another family in the village who had no sons. After the original owner separated from the Yang family, the village head gave her this drafty empty house.

The village women watching listened to Aunt Liu's tearful account and secretly thought to themselves: They never expected that the Liu family had actually hidden seventy catties of grain. Even if the six of them only ate one meal a day, it could last them for two or three months. They really knew how to hide it.

Not long after, Yang Lizheng returned with the able-bodied young men who had chased the thief. They looked exhausted, clearly having failed to catch him.

This fifty-year-old village head had served as village head for thirty years and was highly respected.

He looked at Aunt Liu, who was slumped on the ground, and sighed, "There's less than a month until the harvest. Let's all lend a hand and contribute some grain to help the Liu family get through this difficult time."

After saying that, he went home first and brought over a small bag of millet.

Other villagers wanted to help, but every household was short of food, and even if they only ate one meal a day, their stored food wouldn't last more than a few days.

In the end, everyone gritted their teeth and scraped together a little grain from between their teeth, piecing together two jin of grain, which they handed to Aunt Liu.