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

Before Yang Gousheng returned, the task of delivering the cold noodles fell to Tang Susu and Tang Liqiang.

Seven buckets of jelly were steadily loaded onto the oxcart. The two men sat on either side of the cart. The oxcart slowly drove towards Dongtai Town, delivering half a bucket of jelly to each of the two taverns in the town. Then it headed towards Jiangtou Town.

Upon arriving in Jiangtou Town, they first delivered goods to the neighboring tavern and Zuiyuefang, and finally went to Chongwentang.

After delivering all the jelly noodles, there was still plenty of time.

Tang Susu asked the driver Yang Defu to wait at the entrance of town, planning to take Tang Liqiang around—firstly, to buy some chicks and ducklings to expand the family's poultry and livestock, and secondly, to help Aunt Liu buy some.

The two went straight to the stall where they had bought chickens and ducks before, and the stall owner was the same man.

Seeing that it was Tang Susu, a repeat customer, the man greeted her warmly, "Young lady, you're here again! Buying chicks and ducklings again? I just got a new batch, all very lively, eight copper coins each, take your pick, and if you find a male, I can even give you a refund!"

Tang Susu looked at the chicks and ducklings on the stall. They did look stronger and more energetic than the last time, but the price was two copper coins more expensive.

"Boss, I'm serious about buying, so give me a fair price." Tang Susu got straight to the point. "I'll take all the ducklings, and keep twenty-five chicks. If you're really serious, I won't bother looking around anymore."

The man looked distressed: "Miss, I really can't lower the price any further. I've been raising these seedlings for a long time, and I'm almost at the cost of everything. But since you're a repeat customer, I'll give you seven copper coins each, that's the lowest I can go."

Tang Susu gently shook her head, her tone indifferent: "I don't need you to refund the money since I bought the males. Just charge six copper coins per animal. If that doesn't work, I'll go look elsewhere. We don't have enough grain at home to raise that many."

After saying that, she grabbed Tang Liqiang and made a move to leave.

Seeing this, the man hurriedly grabbed her, saying, "No, no, no! Miss, please wait! Six is ​​fine! I'll take a loss, but it's better than having the rest of the seedlings stuck with me."

Seeing this, Tang Susu readily gave two more copper coins and bought the cages where the stall owner kept the chickens and ducks, purchasing a total of fifty-five ducklings and forty chicks.

After buying the chicks and ducklings, Tang Susu took Tang Liqiang to a shop selling writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

When she inquired about the price, she was shocked to realize that the cost of sending her child to school in this era was so high—the monthly tuition at Chongwen Hall was two taels of silver, which amounted to twenty-four taels a year.

The cheapest inkstone costs more than three ounces, and the worst writing brush costs more than a hundred copper coins.

Tang Susu originally thought that having a hundred or so taels of silver made her a little rich, but when she saw the price of these school supplies, she realized that this amount of money was not enough to last long.

Tang Liqiang was so shocked by the price that his mouth dropped open. He muttered under his breath, "Too expensive, too scary," and unconsciously took a step back, wishing he could escape this "high-end" place immediately.

"Don't worry, it's just asking about the price." Tang Susu patted his shoulder reassuringly, telling him to wait aside while she looked at the books on the shelf.

She planned to buy Yang Xiaobao a copy of the Three Character Classic for early learning. The Three Character Classics on the shelf were all handwritten copies, with varying prices, the cheapest being forty-five copper coins and the most expensive being two hundred copper coins.

Tang Susu picked up two books of different prices to compare: the cheaper one had neat but not very impressive handwriting; the more expensive one had strong and powerful handwriting, rich ink, and sharp strokes, which was pleasing to the eye. Buying it would not only allow Xiaobao to learn to write, but also serve as a calligraphy practice book, killing two birds with one stone.

Upon seeing this, the shopkeeper couldn't help but praise, "Young lady, you have excellent taste! This is a handwritten copy by Tang Chengyu, the most outstanding student of Chongwen Hall. It also includes his insights on the content of the Three Character Classic, making it especially suitable for beginners." The shopkeeper added, "Tang Chengyu comes from a poor family and earns his tuition fees entirely by copying books. Even the headmaster of Chongwen Hall says that he has the best chance of passing the provincial examination next year."

When Tang Susu saw the signature "Tang Chengyu" at the end of the book, her heart skipped a beat and her fingertips trembled slightly.

She suppressed the turmoil in her heart, asked no more questions, paid two hundred copper coins, picked up the book, and pulled Tang Liqiang away from the shop.

On the way, Tang Liqiang kept glancing furtively at the Three Character Classic in Tang Susu's hand, his eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown, his heart filled with unease.

He was worried that when he got home, his older sister would force him to study—he didn't even know arithmetic and couldn't remember the characters, so his older sister would definitely criticize him.

They were also afraid that their eldest sister would favor the children who were good at studying. Tang Chengyu was already being treated differently by his eldest sister because he was a student. If his eldest sister spent all the money she earned on Tang Chengyu, then they and their younger brothers would not get any.

After struggling with this decision all the way, Tang Liqiang made up his mind: even if I don't like studying, I have to force myself to study!

If Bao'er can learn it at such a young age, I can definitely do it too.

If you can't remember it the first time, read it a few more times. If you can't remember it dozens of times, try a hundred times. As long as you are willing to work hard, you will eventually remember it.

When the two passed by the government office in Jiangtou Town, they took a detour and found the gates tightly closed. They guessed that the county magistrate was probably still out there busy searching for a water source.

When they returned to Yangqu Village, it was not yet noon, but Miao Yulan had already prepared lunch. She had been taking medicine twice a day for the past few days, and her spirits had improved considerably. She was now able to help cook for her family.

Lunch was simple: a bowl of millet porridge for each person, along with a plate of stir-fried wild vegetables and eggs.

In Yangqu Village, this is considered a top-notch delicacy: other families would just boil a handful of millet and half a pot of wild vegetables into a porridge, which would be good enough to fill their stomachs; but the Tang family could drink pure rice porridge and eat eggs.

Looking at the food on the table, Tang Susu was secretly worried. If the villagers found out about this, she feared it would cause them to be envious and bring unnecessary trouble.

Not long after the meal, Madam Shen brought over nearly thirty catties of peeled lantern seeds and came to settle the bill.

Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui arrived on time, ready to help with the seed rolling.

In no time, the Tang family courtyard became bustling with activity again, with everyone busy with their tasks.

Shen wanted to linger and try to learn some tricks for making jelly, but she had only been standing there for a short while when Wen called her home and told her to continue peeling the remaining lantern fruits.

Having no other choice, Ms. Shen could only reluctantly rush back.

With yesterday's experience, Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui were much more skilled at rubbing seeds today, and it took them half as long to rub a pound of lantern seeds as yesterday.

Seeing that the weather was still hot and that it would be easy to get heatstroke if they went to work in the fields, the two approached Tang Susu and asked for more food.

Tang Susu carefully examined the two men's hands and, seeing that they were only slightly pale and not peeling, nodded: "Let's add half a jin for each of them, and let Liqiang take care of the remaining half jin."

With the combined efforts of the three, the three and a half jin of lantern seeds were all washed in no time.

Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui each carried fifteen copper coins and happily went home.

While Tang Susu was focused on filtering the jelly in the main room, she saw Yang Xiaobao herding the flock of ducklings home and called out to him, "Bao'er, go to the village head's house and ask your brother Zhimao to come over. I need to talk to him."

Xiao Bao scratched his head: "Mom, Brother Zhimao is probably still in the mountains looking for wild vegetables right now, he might not be home."

Just then, Aunt Liu's cheerful voice came from outside the courtyard: "Su Su, are you home? I've come to pick up the ducklings!"

Tang Susu got up and walked into the yard, pointing to the newly bought ducklings in the corner of the wall and said, "Little Fish's mother, they're all here. Fifty-five ducklings, six copper coins each. You can choose how many you want."

Aunt Liu went over to take a look and saw that the ducklings were all strong and healthy. She was overjoyed and caught twenty of them. She carefully herded them back to her own home, planning to have her sons, Corn and Wheat, take the ducklings to their field to help them eat grasshoppers.

Tang Susu looked around her small courtyard and began to think: half of the courtyard was a vegetable garden, with lush green seedlings arranged neatly and growing vigorously.

In front of the vegetable garden is a tiny pond, which was dug for the first batch of ducklings. Now that the number of ducks has increased significantly, this small pond is no longer needed.

The other half of the yard is an area for raising chickens and ducks.

Inside were two robust hens, Da Hua and Er Hua, a majestic rooster, Zhuang Zhuang, along with fifty-five newly purchased fluffy ducklings and forty lively chicks, making it quite a lively place.

The sounds of roosters crowing and ducks quacking filled the small courtyard with life. But Tang Susu knew that in the past, with fewer chickens and ducks, taking care of them and maintaining hygiene was much easier;

Now that the number has increased several times over, the subsequent sanitation and maintenance will probably require a lot of effort.