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

When Shen Cuihe asked about their living arrangements after marriage, Tang Susu replied with a smile, "I've already made plans for where we'll live. I'll have Gousheng build a big thatched shed in the backyard. It's spacious enough to house your future children, and we won't have to worry about it being too crowded no matter how many we have in the future."

Shen Cuihe's eyes widened instantly, her face turning extremely ugly.

Although her family was poor, they lived in a proper mud-brick and thatched house. She never expected that the Yang family would actually let her live in a thatched hut—what difference would that be from sleeping on the streets?

But Yang Gousheng was overjoyed, his voice trembling with excitement.

He originally thought that after getting married he would only be able to squeeze into the main room or storage room, and having a separate thatched hut would be a huge luxury for him.

He clenched his fist and promised Tang Susu, "Mom, I remember! Cuihe and I will definitely take good care of you and live a good life from now on!"

Tang Susu ignored Yang Gousheng's excitement and continued to add with a smile, "You don't need to follow any strict rules after you marry in. It's just that Yulan is pregnant and can't do heavy work, so from now on, all the housework, such as laundry, cooking, and feeding the pigs, will be left to you."

Shen Cuihe's face darkened completely. She gripped the grain bag tightly in her hand, her eyes reddening again. With a sob in her voice, she protested, "Auntie, you've misunderstood! There's really nothing between me and Gousheng. I only see him as a brother, and I never thought of marrying him! It was all a misunderstanding!"

Tang Susu thought to herself: In this feudal era, there are actually such scheming green tea bitches.

She turned to look at Yang Gousheng, who looked incredulous and as if all his strength had been drained, and knew she needed to add fuel to the fire to bring him to his senses.

Tang Susu's face turned cold as she stared at Shen Cuihe and pressed, "Are you sure you don't want to marry Gousheng? Don't regret it."

Shen Cuihe nodded vigorously, tears welling in her eyes: "I'm sure! It's all a misunderstanding. I'm sorry for causing trouble for Auntie and Brother Gousheng."

"Since it's a misunderstanding, that's fine." Tang Susu's tone was icy. "If you don't want to get married, don't borrow my family's grain, lest word get out and ruin Gousheng's reputation. This bag of lotus roots in your hand is what I prepared for my future daughter-in-law. Since you're not her, return it."

Before Shen Cuihe could react, Tang Susu stepped forward and snatched the bag containing lotus roots from her hand.

Shen Cuihe was both embarrassed and flustered. Only then did she realize how formidable Yang Gousheng's mother was, as rumored. She secretly rejoiced that she hadn't immediately agreed to the marriage.

Tang Susu handed the lotus root to Yang Gousheng and said coldly, "I won't ask you for the ten catties of grain I borrowed from you last time. But from now on, you are not allowed to set foot in my Yang family's house again, nor are you allowed to have any designs on Gousheng. Go back to your Ma'an Village and stop wandering around in these mountains."

Fearing that Tang Susu would say something even more hurtful, Shen Cuihe, clutching the grain bag she had gotten from Yang Ersha, lowered her head and quickly left, disappearing into the mountains and forests shortly afterward.

Tang Susu turned to look at the four boys and found that they were not surprised by her "fighting power" just now.

She guessed that if the original owner encountered such a thing, she would only rush over and pull hair and curse in the street. Her actions just now were already considered mild.

Her gaze fell on the absent-minded and dejected Yang Gousheng. Unable to bear seeing him wallowing in the gloom of heartbreak, she gently changed the subject: "Gousheng, don't just stand there. You're the smartest one in our family. Think carefully about how to bring the water from the mountains to the village."

Yang Xiaobao, standing to the side, immediately protested, pouting and muttering, "Mommy, I'm the smartest one in the family! I'm sure I can come up with a good idea first!"

He secretly resolved to figure out a way to divert water before his older brother, to prove that he was smarter.

The family of five did not linger. They walked deeper into the mountains and forests, picking mushrooms and wild vegetables along the way, while also figuring out how to get water.

They hadn't walked far when Yang Xiaobao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he shouted excitedly, "Mom! I've got it! There's plenty of bamboo in the mountains. If we remove the nodes from the bamboo, and then connect the bamboo stalks together like a pipe, we can bring water to the village!"

Tang Susu patted his head in delight and praised, "Xiao Bao is so clever! This is a great idea; using bamboo tubes to draw water is definitely feasible."

However, she immediately pointed out the shortcomings: "The bamboo tubes are too narrow, and the water brought in is only enough for our daily drinking and cooking. We need to think of another way to bring more water into the fields so that even if it doesn't rain, the grains in the fields can still have a good harvest."

Yang Gousheng, who was still immersed in disappointment, slowly came back to his senses after hearing these words.

He frowned and thought for a while before suggesting, "Mother, why don't we dig a ditch from the mountains all the way to the fields in the village? The water can flow along the ditch, and we can dig it as wide as we need to irrigate the fields. That should be enough water for irrigation."

"That's a great idea!" Tang Susu nodded with a smile. "That's exactly what I was thinking. But digging a ditch is no small task; we need to calculate it carefully first—how far is it from the water source to our village? How many laborers will we need? Approximately how long will it take to dig?"

Yang Gousheng stood up, tried to take five steps forward, and estimated, "Five steps is about ten feet. If I were to dig such a long ditch, it would probably take an hour. But the distance from the water source to the village is so far, I can't calculate how many hours it would take in total, or how many people would be involved."

Tang Susu then prompted him, "Our village has about five hundred able-bodied men. If everyone dug together, how long would it take to break through?"

Yang Gousheng scratched his head, looking confused: "Five hundred people... I don't know, I can't count."

Tang Susu was speechless, thinking to herself: "Arithmetic problems that even six or seven-year-old children can do in modern times are something that very few people in this feudal society can understand."

She secretly resolved that once life settled down, she would teach these boys to read and write and to learn math, so that they wouldn't end up like the rest of the village, blind for their entire lives.

As the sun gradually sets in the west, dusk begins to envelop the mountains and forests.

Tang Susu led the four boys home, and not only did they successfully find a water source, but they also picked several pounds of fresh and tender termite mushrooms on the way back.

She took most of the termite mushrooms to town and sold them, earning eight hundred coins. She kept only one pound to cook at home.

At this moment, the silver in her hand had become one hundred and thirty taels and six hundred and thirty-seven coins.

Thinking about finding a water source and making money along the way, Tang Susu was in a particularly good mood.

But as soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw Miao Yulan standing at the village entrance, anxiously looking around, her face pale.

"Big sister, you're finally back!" Miao Yulan rushed forward, her voice trembling with tears.

"What's wrong?" Tang Susu's heart skipped a beat, and she had a bad feeling.

Miao Yulan choked up as she said, "Grandma Yang from the west end of the village... starved to death at home."

She explained, "Aunt Yang's family actually still has some food stored up. Even if they run out, they can make do with grass roots, pig feed, and tree bark from the mountains, so they won't starve to death. It's all because she wanted to save the food for her grandson, and she hasn't eaten a single grain of rice for many days. When she was found just now, her belly was so bloated that it reached her back..."

Tang Lifu shook his head and sighed, adding, "I saw Aunt Yang in the fields a few days ago. She told me that our Yangqu Village had angered the gods and would suffer calamities. Even if we didn't starve to death, we would die a violent death. I guess she felt that living was too painful, so she deliberately saved her food for her grandson and sought death herself."

Tang Susu remained silent. She knew that even if Aunt Yang really didn't want to live, she would definitely want to have a good meal before she died.

The old woman's experience made her deeply understand the pain and despair that famine brought to the villagers; that heavy shadow was suffocating.

Not long after I got home, before it was completely dark, Old Lady Yang arrived.

She called Tang Lifu outside the courtyard and instructed him, "When you got married, Aunt Yang helped you a lot; she practically watched you grow up. Go to her house now, burn some incense, kowtow, and then come back."

Tang Lifu nodded and turned to walk towards Aunt Yang's house.

Old Mrs. Yang walked over to Tang Susu and lowered her voice, saying, "I asked the other women in the village about that girl Shen Cuihe, and guess what? That girl has been involved with Yang You's son, Yang Ersha, for a long time, and the two families are almost ready to get engaged! When you asked her before, was it because you wanted to arrange this marriage for Gousheng?"

Tang Susu smiled sheepishly and replied, "I misunderstood because I didn't find out clearly beforehand. Let's take our time and see how things go with Gousheng's marriage."

Old Mrs. Yang nodded: "That's fine. I'll find a matchmaker to help me ask around. Not only Gou Sheng, but also Li Qiang, he's not young anymore."

As the two were talking, Yang Xiaobao walked into the yard carrying a large basket of chopped wild vegetables. The two hens in the yard immediately rushed over excitedly and pecked at the basket.

When Old Mrs. Yang saw the hen, she looked astonished and asked, "Oh dear, didn't we eat all your chickens last time? Where did these two come from?"

Yang Xiaobao proudly raised his little face and explained with a smile, "Grandma, you don't understand! This is a wild pheasant that Mom and I caught in the mountains. It's really amazing; it lays two eggs every day!"