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

With the number of chickens and ducks in her home increasing several times over, and the sweltering summer heat, Tang Susu's biggest worry was that raising them together without paying attention to hygiene could lead to avian influenza.

She didn't dare delay and immediately assigned tasks: "Liqiang, go up the mountain and cut some sturdy tree trunks; Bao'er, go with you and pick up some dry grass to bring back."

"Once your older brother comes back from the fields, we'll build special chicken coops and duck sheds to raise the chickens and ducks separately. We can let them out occasionally to bask in the sun and exercise, which will also improve the cleanliness of the house."

Tang Susu knew that there were many ready-made disease prevention powders on the trading platform, which were effective and convenient.

But she dared not use it—what if Aunt Liu also raised chickens and ducks, and later found that her own chickens and ducks were growing well and not getting sick, and came to ask her about the method? She would not be able to explain the source of the medicine powder, and it would only cause trouble.

Since we can't use ready-made pesticide powder, we have to find our own ways to prevent and control it.

However, she knew nothing about poultry disease prevention in this era, so she went back inside, closed the door, and bought a "Practical Handbook for Poultry Disease Prevention" on a trading platform.

Fortunately, the methods introduced in the book were simple and easy to understand, mostly using common materials such as wood ash and lime. She mastered them all after reading them once.

"Yulan, come here for a moment." Tang Susu called Miao Yulan over and taught her the method from the book. "Find all the wood ash in your house, mix it with water, boil it, let it cool, and then filter out the residue. Use the prepared wood ash water to thoroughly spray the area where the chickens and ducks are currently living to disinfect and sterilize, which can prevent avian flu."

Miao Yulan nodded and immediately went to do as instructed.

As the busy day drew to a close, Tang Susu felt a sense of satisfaction looking at the neatly arranged materials in the yard, the disinfected poultry shed area, and the wild vegetables drying under the eaves.

Miao Yulan had already gone into the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Yang Xiaobao, following Tang Susu's instructions, squatted down next to the chickens and ducks in the front yard, counting and muttering to himself, using the counting of chickens and ducks to train his counting skills.

After counting, Yang Xiaobao looked up at Tang Susu, pointed towards the foot of the mountain, and asked, "Mom, shouldn't Brother Zhimao be back from the mountains by now? Should I go and call him over?"

Tang Susu thought for a moment and nodded, "Go ahead, I happen to need to see him."

Before Yang Xiaobao could move, footsteps could be heard at the courtyard gate.

Yang Zhimao carried a basket full of wild vegetables, including purple clover, fan palm leaves, and bracken, as he slowly walked into the courtyard.

When he saw Tang Susu, his heart tightened, and he instinctively wanted to back away—he had been severely scolded by Tang Susu for asking Yang Gousheng and Yang Xiaobao to go out to play before, and after that, he never dared to come to the Tang family again.

"Zhimao, wait a moment." Tang Susu noticed his restraint, tried to soften her smile, and took the initiative to call out to him.

Yang Zhimao wanted to make an excuse that his family was waiting for him to come home for dinner, but when he looked up, he saw Miao Yulan walking past the chicken coop, casually taking two eggs from under the chicken's rear end, and turning around to go into the kitchen, seemingly to cook.

He couldn't help but swallow, the aroma of eggs instantly flashing through his mind.

He could hardly remember what eggs tasted like anymore. Last time, his family caught a rooster that didn't lay eggs, and his grandmother couldn't bear to kill it for meat, so she released it.

Tang Susu smiled and asked him about his apprenticeship. She learned that he had once listened to the shopkeeper's grandson recite the Three Character Classic in a shop in town and had memorized a lot of it.

Tang Susu was very impressed. She took out the handwritten copy she had bought during the day from the house and handed it to him: "Read it aloud and see how much you still remember?"

Yang Zhimao took the book, nervously swallowed, and began to read aloud. He recited the first few sentences fluently, but he got stuck when he encountered unfamiliar words.

In total, he could recite nearly forty sentences in one go, but he stopped at "Rong was four years old and could share pears". He could then recite a few more sentences of "The three lights are the sun, moon and stars" smoothly.

Tang Susu nodded to herself. This content was enough for a child who had never learned to read before to study for a month.

"Zhimao, I'd like you to teach me to recite the Three Character Classic," Tang Susu said directly. "Teach me one line every day, and I'll reward you with an egg, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Liqiang was instantly excited, thinking that his older sister wanted to study on her own and that he no longer needed to force them to study. He secretly rejoiced that he had escaped a disaster.

Yang Zhimao's Adam's apple bobbed as he stared into Tang Susu's eyes to confirm, "Really...really? You'll give me an egg for every sentence I teach you?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, he quickly nodded: "I'm willing! I'll teach you right now!"

Tang Susu went back into the house, got a warm egg, handed it to her, and said with a smile, "Teach me the first two lines first."

Fearing she might change her mind, Yang Zhimao quickly stuffed the eggs into his pocket, picked up the book, and began to teach her, word by word: "At the beginning of life, people are inherently good..."

He didn't actually understand the meanings of the characters "初" and "善" at all; he only recognized their shapes.

When I was helping my grandfather memorize the names of villagers, I sometimes used symbols to represent the character "初" when I encountered characters I didn't know how to write.

As he taught, he tried his best to memorize how to write the character "善" (goodness), thinking that he wouldn't need to draw the symbol again when he encountered this character in the future.

Tang Susu learns very quickly; she can memorize something after listening to it only once.

Seeing that his task was complete, Yang Zhimao clutched the eggs in his pocket and ran home with light steps, feeling very pleased with himself—exchanging a book for an egg, what a great deal!

Tang Susu watched his retreating figure, feeling both amused and exasperated.

She originally planned to teach it as a complete sentence, with six characters constituting one sentence, but this kid insisted on splitting two sentences into two, thus ripping her off half the value of her egg.

She made up her mind to ask him to teach her one more sentence tomorrow to make up for what she had "lost".

Seeing Yang Zhimao run away, Yang Xiaobao hurriedly chased after him, saying, "Brother Zhimao, wait a minute, teach me again!"

Tang Susu stopped him, smiling, and said, "No need to chase after her, Mother has already learned it, I'll teach you."

As she spoke, she called over Tang Liqiang, "Liqiang, come and learn together."

Tang Liqiang's smile froze instantly, and he looked completely dejected—it turned out he hadn't escaped the "clutches" of studying after all.

"Mom, Brother Zhimao spoke too fast, I didn't hear him clearly," Yang Xiaobao said aggrievedly.

"It's alright, we'll learn slowly." Tang Susu picked up the Three Character Classic and first had them memorize "At the beginning of life, people are inherently good." Then she pointed to the characters in the book and taught them to recognize them. She even found a small twig and taught them to write it on the ground.

Yang Zhimao, who had just run to the gate of the courtyard, was so surprised that his jaw almost dropped when he heard the clear and orderly reading voice coming from inside the house.

Back in the shop, he listened and read along every day, repeating it hundreds of times, before he could barely remember the first few sentences, albeit haltingly.

Tang Susu can memorize it after only listening to it once, and she can even teach others. That's amazing!

He stood at the door, a strange urge to go in and participate stirring within him.

He used to read quietly or silently in his mind, and he had never read a book out loud like this before. He really wanted to experience this feeling.

Yang Zhimao reluctantly returned home, carefully taking the warm egg out of his pocket and holding it in his palm.

When the village head's wife saw the eggs, her eyes widened instantly. She grabbed him and demanded sharply, "Where did these eggs come from? Did you steal them from someone else?"

"I didn't steal them!" Yang Zhimao quickly explained, recounting how Tang Susu had asked him to teach and given him eggs as a reward. He proudly added, "I can recite forty lines of the Three Character Classic, which can be exchanged for forty eggs!"

The village head's wife and Zhimao's mother were both stunned.

Zhimao's mother wondered, "Could it be that a family in Xihe Village produced a scholar who passed the imperial examination, and my third sister-in-law wants her child to compete with him?"

The village head's wife shook her head, pouting, and said, "I think it's a waste of effort. Bao'er is already nine years old and still can't read a single word. How can he compare to the Tang family's children?"

Yang Zhimao pouted, unconvinced: "Whether it's a waste of effort or not, as long as I get the eggs in my stomach, it's not a complete waste!"

The village head's wife was amused by him and gave him some advice: "You're a clever child. When you go to teach tomorrow, teach her a few more sentences so she doesn't feel cheated and change her mind and refuse to give you eggs. You also need to learn more so you can earn eggs in the long run."

Yang Zhimao's eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded vigorously: "I understand! When Grandpa comes back, I'll go to the street with him to learn more from Brother Wenchao!"

He thought to himself that as long as he could memorize the content, it didn't matter whether he could read or not, as long as he could earn eggs.

The more he thought about it, the more clever he felt.

Seeing his excited expression, the village head's wife sighed softly and lamented, "In our Yangqu Village, there isn't even a single literate person, let alone a school. It's so difficult for the children to go to school!"

She paused, her tone full of helplessness, "Everyone knows that education is important, but which family can afford the tuition? If a school could be built in the village, the cost of the children's education would be less, and maybe one of them could become successful."