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

Miao Yulan stood by the stove, watching Tang Susu pour a large bag of brown sugar into the pot, and frowned with heartache.

In those days, meat and sugar were precious commodities. This large bag of brown sugar was worth at least sixty or seventy copper coins.

She had a doubt: using the readily available and inexpensive lantern fruit to make food, it was hard to say whether she could even recoup the cost of the sugar.

Miao Yulan always listened to Tang Susu's every word. Even if she had doubts, she didn't say them out loud and continued to help with the fire.

Yang Xiaobao ran back with bulging pockets filled with a bunch of bright red hawthorn berries.

Tang Susu patted his head and praised, "Xiao Bao is so capable. The first bowl of jelly will be yours as a reward when it's ready."

Yang Xiaobao was as hungry as a cat staring at a fish. He squatted by the basin of jelly, his eyes fixed on the jelly soaking in the spring water, not even daring to look away.

Tang Susu wiped her hands clean and poked at the cold jelly in the bowl with her chopsticks.

After so long, the jelly was still a thick liquid and had not solidified at all.

She frowned and thought hard, and soon realized the problem—when making jelly in modern times, the mixture is put into the refrigerator to cool and set, but there are no refrigerators in this era.

She tried hard to recall the tutorial on how to make the hair, and vaguely remembered that a white powder needed to be added.

But I can't remember exactly what kind of powder it was for the time being.

"Mom, can we eat the jelly now?" Yang Xiaobao asked, looking up as his legs went numb from squatting.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Yang Gousheng secretly stretched out his finger, dipped it in the sticky liquid, and put it in his mouth.

The moment he tasted it, his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Mom, this is cool and sweet, it's so delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaobao immediately found a small wooden spoon, scooped up a spoonful, and put it in his mouth.

After finishing his meal, his eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, "Delicious! It's so refreshing to eat on a hot day, I'm sure I can make money this way!"

Tang Susu looked at the unsolidified "failures" in the basin and smiled helplessly: "They're edible, but they're so sparse, they can't be sold at all. We need to keep improving them."

Miao Yulan felt a pang of anxiety, thinking that she might have missed a step when she was helping, which was why the jelly noodles hadn't been made properly, and she was worried that it would affect Tang Susu's small business.

"It's not your fault, I forgot to add one thing." Tang Susu shook her head and reassured everyone, "Everyone, have a couple of bowls to fill your stomachs first, and then we'll make dinner."

After saying that, she turned and strolled to the backyard, continuing to ponder the name of the white powder.

Tang Susu walked back and forth in the yard twice, then suddenly slapped her forehead and remembered—the recipe called for lime powder.

She recalled being puzzled at the time, wondering how the lime powder used for painting walls could be eaten. It was only after her assistant explained the uses of edible lime powder that she understood.

However, in this era, there was probably no edible lime powder.

Furthermore, if she wants Miao Yulan to take over the production in the future, she can't rely on the trading platform to buy every time.

She then thought that lime powder and starch have similar properties, so perhaps she could try using corn starch or cassava starch.

Thinking of this, she immediately ran back to her room and bought various powders she needed, such as cassava starch, corn starch, and wheat starch, on the trading platform.

When Tang Susu returned to the courtyard with the powder, she saw Tang Lifu, Miao Yulan, Yang Gousheng, and Yang Xiaobao, each holding a bowl containing unformed jelly, sipping it slowly.

After taking a sip, he smacked his lips, his satisfied expression making Tang Susu burst out laughing.

"Don't just focus on eating," Tang Susu stepped forward to remind you. "What we're eating now is half-finished product. If you fill your stomachs up, you won't be able to eat when the finished jelly is ready."

She glanced at the sky; the sun hadn't completely set yet. She then called out to everyone, "While there's still sunshine, let's all lend a hand and divide the lantern fruit seeds that Tang Lifu has rubbed into several small bowls. Add cassava starch, corn starch, and wheat starch to each bowl separately. Let's try a few different kinds."

Everyone put down their bowls and immediately got to work.

While waiting for the jelly to solidify, Tang Susu and Miao Yulan prepared dinner together.

Tonight's dinner is mushrooms and wild vegetables with white rice.

Looking at the simple meal, Tang Susu wondered if she should buy some meat from the trading platform to improve her diet.

But fearing that suddenly producing meat without a legitimate reason would arouse suspicion, he had no choice but to give up for the time being.

Even so, such food was considered extremely luxurious in Yangqu Village.

As the family finished their last bite of dinner, the sky gradually darkened.

Tang Susu got up and went to the yard to examine the three bowls of jelly with different amounts of starch added.

I noticed that the pot with tapioca starch coagulated the fastest, already turning into a transparent gel-like state. I estimate it will be finished in another 15 minutes.

Tang Susu immediately went back to the kitchen, took out all the wooden bowls in the house, and began to assign tasks: "Lifu, you are in charge of chopping the hawthorn into pieces; Yulan, you fill the brown sugar water and divide it equally into each bowl; Liqiang, Gousheng, and Xiaobao, you go and get a few baskets and put the bowls containing brown sugar and hawthorn into the bamboo baskets."

After making the arrangements, she took charge of cutting the solidified jelly-like jelly into small, square pieces, arranging eight pieces neatly in each bowl.

At this time, a few old farmers were still scattered around in the rice paddies in front of their homes.

They were so excited because the rice suddenly had water that they couldn't bear to leave. They walked back and forth on the ridges of the fields, afraid that it was all a dream and the water would suddenly disappear.

When Tang Susu passed by the rice paddies, many people greeted her warmly.

Such treatment would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

Tang Susu arrived at Old Yang's house carrying a bamboo basket full of jelly.

Old Yang's family was sitting under the osmanthus tree in the yard, enjoying the cool evening breeze, and the fragrance of osmanthus wafted through the air.

Old Mrs. Yang immediately noticed the bamboo basket in her hand and asked warily, "You've really come here to let us sample some food?"

"Yes, Mother." Tang Susu nodded and explained with a smile, "I recently had the children pick some lantern fruits, and I tried making some snacks. It was my first time making them, so I brought them here for everyone to taste. If they taste good, I'll take them to the market to sell tomorrow and see if I can earn some money to supplement the family income."

As she spoke, she took out eight bowls of prepared cold noodles from the bamboo basket.

Old Yang's family has twelve members. She was planning to call some of the children back to her own home to eat the leftovers—the jelly made from wheat starch and corn starch. Although it hadn't solidified enough to be sold, it tasted just as good for her family.

Before Tang Susu could speak, Madam Shen impatiently called out to her two daughters, "Fangjuan, Taohua, hurry up and get the bowls! There won't be any left if you're late!"

She secretly thought Tang Susu was stingy; there were many people in the old house, yet she only took eight portions, as if she was afraid that her own daughter wouldn't have enough to eat and that the second branch of the family would suffer a loss.

Upon hearing their mother's words, Fangjuan and Taohua immediately ran over and each brought back a bowl.

In this way, all four members of the second wife's family now had liangfen (a type of cold noodle dish).

Tang Susu picked up two more bowls of cold noodles and handed them to Old Mrs. Yang and Old Mr. Yang.

There were two servings of cold noodles left on the table. Seeing this, Yang's wife, Wen, took the initiative to arrange: "Dafu and Erfu, you two brothers share one serving; Lanxia and Lanqiu, you two sisters share one serving."

Tang Susu stood aside and watched silently. She could tell at a glance who was straightforward and who was scheming, especially Shen's little schemes, which were obvious to her.

She smiled and said to the children present, "Dafu, you're quick on your feet, go to my house and get a few more bowls, and bring back as much jelly as you want."

Upon hearing this, Yang Erfu immediately raised his hand: "Me too! Me too!"

The two children held hands and ran out quickly.

Looking at the translucent jelly in the bowl, Grandpa Yang hesitated before asking Tang Susu, "Third daughter-in-law, is this called jelly?"

Old Mrs. Yang frowned and said nervously, "I've lived for fifty years and have never seen this thing before. It doesn't look like something you can eat."

Seeing this, the eldest son quickly tried to smooth things over: "Mother, if it weren't edible, my third sister-in-law wouldn't have brought it for us to try. We'll know once we try it."

He picked up the bowl, brought it to his lips, and drank half of it in one gulp.

After finishing it, he stood there, stunned, his eyes wide like saucers, his face full of amazement: "This jelly tastes like ice cubes, it makes my whole body feel cool and refreshed, it's so comfortable!"

He asked Tang Susu in disbelief, "Third sister-in-law, is this really made from lantern fruit? How did you manage to do that?"