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

The entire village marched into the mountains, and in about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they arrived at the lotus pond.

The nearly five-acre dried-up pond wasn't particularly large, but beneath the hard, dry soil lay a tangled web of lotus roots; a single shovelful would always bring up several intertwined ones.

However, because the soil was too dry and compacted, it was extremely difficult to dig. Even with all one's strength, it would only take the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to dig out two or three whole roots.

If you want to ensure that the lotus roots are not broken during digging, it will take even longer.

Tang Susu led the four boys down into the pond, choosing a spot with more shade, and instructed them: "Don't be too serious, just dig wherever you want. The most important thing is to protect your hands and avoid getting blisters."

Tang Liqiang clapped his hands and said confidently, "Don't worry, sister, I have thick skin, I'm not afraid of getting scratched!"

As he spoke, he raised the shovel high and vigorously smashed it into the soil.

Tang Lifu and Yang Gousheng were not to be outdone, so they rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Yang Xiaobao was too young to do heavy work, so he was responsible for cleaning the soil off the dug-up lotus roots and putting them into the basket.

Tang Susu didn't want to shirk her responsibilities, so she picked up a small hoe and tried digging lotus roots.

But after digging twice, she felt a burning pain in her palm. When she looked up, she saw that three or four large, shiny blisters had appeared.

"Sister, stop digging and rest over there. We'll take care of things here." Seeing this, Tang Lifu quickly put down his shovel, stepped forward, and took the hoe from her. "Just sit and watch; you don't need to lift a finger."

Tang Susu nodded and told the four boys to stretch out their hands to check.

Their hands were all very rough, covered with thick calluses, yet after digging for so long, there was no sign of anything amiss.

She was speechless to herself—the original owner had been lazy and didn't work for a long time, and her hands were more delicate than those of a ten-year-old girl; she really couldn't endure even the slightest hardship.

With no other option, she had to put down her tools, find a clean rock under the shade of a nearby tree, and sit down to watch the four boys work.

The villagers were already used to the original owner's lazy and gluttonous ways, so when they saw that she didn't work, no one said much, at most they would gossip about it in private.

Amid the discussions, most expressed envy for Tang Susu's "good fortune": "Look at Tang Susu, she's so lucky. She has many men in her family, both of her younger brothers are capable laborers, and her two sons are grown up and can help her. As the eldest sister, she can also make her sisters-in-law and daughters-in-law obediently listen to her without having to do any work herself."

Most of the women in Yangqu Village were inevitably jealous of her, especially Shen.

She only had two daughters, so she never had much influence in her husband's family and hated people who had many sons.

She glanced sideways at her two daughters who were engrossed in their work, her face as long and drawn, looking extremely unpleasant.

Fangjuan and Taohua, seeing their mother's unfriendly expression, were so frightened that they trembled and could only obediently bury their heads in digging lotus roots.

Their little hands had already developed several blisters, some of which had burst and were bleeding. They grimaced in pain, but dared not utter a sound, for fear of upsetting their mother.

Tang Susu sat under the shade of the tree for a while, just as she was about to get up to help Xiaobao clean the lotus roots, a system notification sounded in her mind: [Ding dong! Wild ginseng discovered!]

A thought struck her, and she immediately changed her mind.

Instead of returning to the lotus pond, he turned and headed deeper into the mountains—since the system had given him a hint, perhaps there were other treasures hidden in this dense forest, so he decided to go and explore.

Following the location displayed on the system's LCD screen, Tang Susu pushed aside the dense foliage and arrived at a huge, ancient broad-leaved tree.

Hidden among the lush foliage, she found the wild ginseng: its roots were thick and shaped like a human figure, and its surface was covered with fine lines, as if etched with the marks of time.

Tang Susu's heart suddenly raced, and her fingers trembled slightly.

She carefully took out the small shovel she carried with her, afraid of damaging the ginseng roots, and slowly dug it up little by little.

Just as I dug up the whole wild ginseng, the system notification sounded again:

[Ding! Wild ginseng detected, valued at 130000 coins. Would you like to sell?]

"Yes!" Tang Susu responded in her mind without hesitation.

13 copper coins are equivalent to 130 taels of silver.

In those days, there were very few households with a hundred taels of silver, so she suddenly became a rich woman, and she was so excited that she could hardly calm down.

She immediately operated on the trading panel, exchanging 13 copper coins for silver notes and silver ingots: one 1-tael silver note, two 2-tael silver ingots, one 5-tael silver ingot, and the remaining 1 taels for 5000 copper coins.

After the exchange was completed, the cloth bag at her waist instantly became bulging, making it difficult for her to walk.

Tang Susu took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her excited emotions.

To conceal her sudden "wealth," she bought a bamboo rat on the trading platform—it's reasonable for bamboo rats to be found in this mountainous area with its many bamboo forests.

Carrying the bamboo rat, she slowly returned to the lotus pond, smiling as she greeted everyone: "I was lucky today, I caught a bamboo rat in the mountains. You guys take your time digging, I'm taking the bamboo rat home to process it."

The villagers, who were engrossed in digging lotus roots, were instantly abuzz when they saw the bamboo rat in her hand. Their eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, and resentment as they drooled and gossiped among themselves.

"My goodness, Tang Susu is so lucky! She just sat there resting and caught a bamboo rat!"

"Bamboo rat meat is so delicious, stewing it is the most nutritious way to eat it!"

Yang Erfu stared at the plump bamboo rat, his mouth watering.

He slowly moved closer to Yang Xiaobao and pleaded softly, "Xiaobao, when we get back, could you secretly let me try a small piece of bamboo rat meat? Just a tiny piece, okay?"

Yang Xiaobao remained silent, but Tang Liqiang snorted coldly and retorted, "When your family was eating fatty meat before, why didn't you think of sharing some with us? Now you have the nerve to ask for some?"

Yang Xiaobao nodded in agreement and said in a childish voice, "Brother Erfu, you're stingy, so I'm stingy too. I won't give you any."

Yang Erfu was so angry he was practically fuming. He hurriedly retorted, "That happened several years ago! I haven't been stingy for a long time!"

As he spoke, he pulled a crumpled chestnut from his pocket and offered it to Xiaobao: "How about I trade you this?"

Yang Xiaobao glanced at the chestnut, his face full of disdain: "My mom's roasted chestnuts are much better than this, I don't want them."

Yang Erfu was so anxious that his eyes turned red, and he almost cried.

Seeing this, Old Yang walked over and flicked him on the forehead, scolding him angrily, "What are you crying for? If you want to eat, go catch it yourself! All you know is to ask others for it!"

Yang Erfu trembled from the scolding, immediately stopped crying, and said defiantly, "Catch them then! I'll go catch bamboo rats in the mountains right now!"

"Come back here!" Old Master Yang shouted angrily, his face stern. "Finish the important business at hand first! Don't make excuses to shirk your responsibilities!"

Yang Erfu shrank back in fright and had no choice but to obediently return to his position and continue digging for lotus roots.

Before long, it was noon. The elderly, women, and children who had stayed at home carried food boxes and brought meals to the people who had gone into the mountains to dig lotus roots.

The food brought by each family was very simple, consisting of wild vegetable dumplings, mixed grains and wild vegetable porridge, or hard wild vegetable pancakes.

To avoid appearing too special, Tang Susu specially instructed Miao Yulan to make cornbread buns in advance, so that each boy could eat one, along with a bowl of buckwheat and wild vegetable porridge.

The group found a shady spot and ate their meal there.

Everyone ate very quickly, and after eating until they were half full, they rested for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before returning to their posts to continue digging lotus roots.

After resting, Yang Dafu wandered aimlessly around the pond, looking for a spot with lots of lotus roots. Suddenly, he slipped and sank into a patch of soft mud. Terrified, he screamed, "Dad! Help! I'm stuck!"

Upon hearing this, Old Master Yang strode forward, cursing irritably, "You brat, you have no composure at all! You're almost getting married, and you're still so loud and boisterous!"

Yang Dafu was pulled out by his father, patted the dirt off his clothes, and retorted indignantly, "Liqiang is two months older than me, and he hasn't gotten married yet, so why am I in such a hurry?"

This conversation initially went unnoticed by Tang Susu, but when she turned her head, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of Yang Gousheng beside her.

Tang Liqiang didn't react to these words and continued digging lotus roots, but Yang Gousheng blushed, looked a little unnatural, and looked away.

Tang Susu wondered to herself: Yang Gousheng, this kid, is usually cunning and clever, and rarely shows this kind of expression. Could it be... that he's just fallen in love?

Her lips twitched involuntarily.

Tang Liqiang is fifteen years old this year, and Yang Gousheng is only fourteen years old. In modern times, they would still be junior high school students buried in a sea of ​​questions every day.

But in this ancient time, Tang Lifu had just turned seventeen when his wife was about to give birth, and they were about to have their first child.

She couldn't help but sigh: People in ancient times really fell in love early, got married early, and had children early, and correspondingly, their lifespans were shorter.

Yang Gousheng noticed Tang Susu's gaze, panicked, and quickly lowered his head to hide his unusual behavior.

He made an excuse: "I'm going to check if Brother Dafu is alright."

As he spoke, he dropped the shovel in his hand and ran over quickly, afraid that Tang Susu would ask him questions.

Tang Susu noticed his embarrassment but didn't press him for details, lest she make him feel awkward.

She turned to Tang Lifu beside her and asked, "Do you know what's going on with Gousheng?"

Tang Lifu looked completely bewildered and shook his head: "I don't understand, wasn't he perfectly fine just now?"

Tang Liqiang also stopped what he was doing, pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head: "I don't understand it either."

Just then, Yang Xiaobao blinked his big eyes, leaned closer, and said, "Mommy, I know! Ask me!"

Tang Susu smiled and ruffled his hair: "Then tell your mother, what happened to Gousheng?"

"Last time, my older brother asked me if I wanted a sister-in-law, and he even said he would take Bao'er to see her!" Yang Xiaobao said in a childish voice.

Tang Susu was instantly shocked—a fourteen-year-old boy was already thinking about getting married?

Although she found it unbelievable, she also understood that the marriage concepts of the ancients were completely different from those of the moderns.

Moreover, the fact that Yang Gousheng had the idea of ​​"wanting to marry someone he likes" shows that he was serious about the matter and could be considered responsible.