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

Tang Susu immediately placed an order for a fetal heart monitor on the trading platform. After the device was delivered and she carefully read the instruction manual, she tiptoed into Miao Yulan's room and made sure to close the door behind her.

Her heart was pounding with anxiety. She was worried that the fetus had died—if so, she would have to find a way to induce labor—but she also hoped that the fetus could survive safely, so that there would still be hope of saving the pregnancy.

Tang Susu carefully lifted Miao Yulan's clothes, placed the probe of the fetal heart monitor on her abdomen, and slowly moved it to examine her.

Not long after, a strong "thump-thump" sound came from the instrument, which was the fetal heartbeat!

She held her breath, carefully counted the heartbeats, and repeatedly checked the instructions to confirm that the fetus was in good condition.

It seems that Miao Yulan's continued coma was due to the mother's weakness, not a problem with the fetus.

Tang Susu breathed a sigh of relief, packed up the equipment, and returned to the backyard to continue reading medical books in search of suitable medications to prevent miscarriage.

Soon, she found a new drug that specifically targets various unstable pregnancies, and the effects seemed quite good.

But when she saw the price, she couldn't help but frown—one pill cost six taels of silver, and she had to take it for at least three consecutive days, one pill a day, for a total of eighteen taels of silver.

Tang Susu felt extremely distressed and gritted her teeth inwardly. She knew she had to settle this score with Yang Houcai and make him suffer for a few more days to vent her anger.

She immediately ordered three pills. After the pills arrived, she crushed one of them, dissolved it in warm water, and brought it to Miao Yulan's bedside.

Miao Yulan was still conscious and knew that the medicine was to save the child. She struggled to open her mouth and actively cooperated by drinking the medicine.

Just as Miao Yulan finished taking her medicine, the sound of an oxcart came from outside the courtyard gate. Tang Lifu and Tang Liqiang had returned with their delivery.

Tang Lifu walked into the kitchen with a dejected look on his face and said to Tang Susu, "Sister, I couldn't buy any fish in town. I couldn't find any fish for sale anywhere. I saw that pigeons were nutritious, so I gritted my teeth and bought one for fifty-eight copper coins."

As he spoke, his tone was full of guilt. Fifty-eight copper coins were no small sum; it would take him several days to earn them. He secretly resolved to work even harder in the future to repay his elder sister's kindness.

Tang Susu nodded in agreement, saying, "Although the pigeons aren't very big, they're rich in vitamins and are a great tonic for pregnant women. It's a worthwhile purchase. You clean the pigeons, and I'll make soup."

Tang Liqiang scratched his head and added with a smile, "By the way, eldest sister, we heard from people in town that the county magistrate has found nearly twenty water sources! With water, the crops can be saved. I guess Gousheng will be home soon, right?"

Tang Susu's heart instantly relaxed. These days she had been worried about Yang Gousheng, fearing that he would suffer from cold and hunger outside, and also worried that he would encounter danger.

She couldn't help but laugh at herself, wondering how she, who used to be a carefree single person, had become so fussy and worried about her family.

Tang Susu went into the kitchen and began preparing the ingredients for stewing pigeon.

She secretly bought nourishing ingredients such as red dates, goji berries, and codonopsis from the trading platform, planning to stew them into a soup. After stewing, she would remove the residue and only let Miao Yulan drink the clear soup, which would be easier for her to absorb.

While simmering pigeon soup, she took out cornmeal, mixed it with eggs and chopped wild vegetables, stirred it well, shaped it into small cakes, stuck them to the inside of the soup pot, and cooked them with the soup as the family's staple food.

Just then, Yang Xiaobao rushed in excitedly, clutching a still-warm egg in his hand. He proudly showed it to Tang Susu, exclaiming, "Mom, look! Da Hua just laid this egg, it's still warm!"

He stared curiously at the pigeon in the pot and asked, "Mom, Aunt needs to nourish her body. Is it better to make chicken soup or pigeon soup?"

Tang Susu patiently explained, "The best thing to nourish your aunt's body is fish soup, especially crucian carp soup and perch soup. But chicken soup and pigeon soup are also good, they are all very nourishing."

Yang Xiaobao's eyes lit up instantly, and he hurriedly asked, "If I can find fish, does that mean I won't have to kill the big and small spotted fish?"

Tang Susu smiled and shook her head, pointing to the mountain spring outside the courtyard and saying, "The spring water is too clear; there's nowhere for fish to hide or forage, so there's no way there are any fish. If you want to look, try our field; you might be surprised by what you find."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaobao's eyes lit up even more, and he turned around to rush into the field.

"Wait!" Tang Susu called out to him, "Bring the firewood from the yard to the kitchen first, then go to the field."

Yang Xiaobao obediently replied "Okay" and immediately ran to fetch firewood.

After Yang Xiaobao carried the firewood into the kitchen and ran towards the field, Tang Susu took the opportunity to look around and make sure no one was paying attention to her before quickly walking towards her own field.

She bought two large bass from the trading platform and carefully put them into the shallow water in the field. If she put small fish in, they would likely be eaten by the ducks. Although putting large fish in would easily arouse suspicion, she could easily cover it up by saying that her "deceased husband had appeared."

After releasing the fish, Tang Susu quickly returned to the yard and called out towards the field, "Xiao Bao, hurry back! Once you've caught the fish, get the ducks home right away!"

Yang Xiaobao responded from the field, first herding the ducklings that had eaten their fill back to the yard, then barefoot, he slowly strolled along the six-acre field ridge, carefully searching for traces of fish.

While searching for fish, he also caught locusts to play with. After catching dozens of locusts, he finally saw the shadow of a fish in a puddle.

"Mom! There's a fish!" Yang Xiaobao shouted excitedly. Without thinking, he rushed over and buried the fish under the rice stalks beside him.

He excitedly parted the rice stalks and was astonished to see two palm-sized fish struggling. A bright smile immediately spread across his face as he carefully picked up the fish.

Carrying two large fish, Yang Xiaobao ran back to the yard excitedly. As soon as he entered the gate, he ran into Old Lady Yang.

Old Mrs. Yang was holding a small earthenware bowl. When she saw Tang Susu, she immediately lowered her voice and said, "Susu, your second uncle in the village is a hunter. He caught a deer last night. After he learned about Yulan's situation, he specially sent me a small bowl of deer blood, saying that it's good for nourishing the body. You can heat it up for Yulan to drink."

She turned her head and saw Yang Xiaobao, soaking wet and carrying two large fish. She froze on the spot and asked in surprise, "Xiaobao, where did you get these fish?"

Yangqu Village originally had a river where fish were common. The village had a rule that fishing was not allowed on ordinary days, and only during the Spring Festival would the whole village be organized to go fishing together and share the fish.

However, pregnant women are an exception; if they need to nourish their bodies, they can go to the river to catch fish to eat.

But the river has long since dried up, so there's no way there could be a fish that big.

Yang Xiaobao proudly waved the fish in his hand and said loudly, "I caught it in our family's field! The fish is still alive, Mom, quickly cook it for Aunt!"

Tang Susu walked over, took the fish, and put it in a wooden bucket to keep it. She deliberately pretended to be puzzled and said, "Our fields have only been flooded for ten days. How could such a big fish grow? This is too strange."

Old Mrs. Yang nodded repeatedly, agreeing, "Yes, it would take at least several months for a small fish to grow to this size. But looking at Xiao Bao, he doesn't seem to be lying. What's going on?"

Taking the opportunity, Tang Susu sighed and said sadly, "I think it must be that Gou Sheng's father is watching over us from heaven. He knows we are having a hard time, and Yu Lan is heavily pregnant and needs to be nourished, so he went to great lengths to put the fish in the field. These fish were sent by Gou Sheng's father, so they must be good fish. I just hope that the baby in Yu Lan's belly will be safe and sound."

Old Mrs. Yang's eyes instantly reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes. Wiping away her tears, she choked out, "Fujun, what a good boy he was! When he joined the army, he sent his monthly pay home on time every month, never spending a penny of it himself. Now that he's gone, he still thinks of his family and always puts us first, never caring about himself."

Tang Susu secretly planned that in the future, whenever she encountered such unreasonable and inexplicable things, she could blame it on Yang Fujun and use the excuse of "her deceased husband appearing in spirit" to deal with it.

Old Mrs. Yang handed over the earthenware bowl containing deer blood, urging Tang Susu to heat it up quickly for Miao Yulan to drink.

Tang Susu frowned. She knew that deer blood could carry pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Miao Yulan was pregnant and weak, and drinking it could easily increase her risk of infection, and might even harm the normal development of the fetus—for example, toxoplasmosis could cause birth defects.

She quickly declined, telling Old Mrs. Yang to take the deer blood home and share it with Old Mr. Yang: "Mother, you and Father are getting old and need to nourish your bodies. Yulan has fish and pigeons here, which is enough to nourish you. You should take the deer blood back."

Old Mrs. Yang slammed the earthenware bowl down on the table, her face darkening. "Your father and I are old enough that drinking this stuff is useless to us and a waste. You can keep it and heat it up for Yulan tomorrow. Add some salt to preserve it."