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

After reading out the names of the twelve team leaders, the village head emphasized, "You were elected entirely because of your outstanding performance during your previous village patrols. You must continue to carry out your work diligently and safeguard the stability of the village!"

He paused, then added the reward and punishment rules: "The team captain can choose twelve members to form their own team. I will periodically assess each team's performance, and the top three teams will each receive an extra copper coin as a reward!"

The twelve team leaders were thrilled and their faces flushed with excitement as they clasped their hands in response.

Among the crowd, Tang Liqiang's figure stood out—he was only fifteen years old, the youngest of the twelve team leaders.

Previously, Tang Susu had always arranged for him to participate in village patrols. Although he was honest and simple, he was strong and responsible. He never shirked his duties and was down-to-earth, which met the criteria for the village chief to select a "pragmatic" candidate.

After being elected captain, Tang Liqiang stood up straight and his chest was held high, as if he had reached the pinnacle of his life.

His mind was filled with thoughts of calculating his salary: working three days a month, earning eighteen copper coins each day, three times eighteen equals fifty-four, and his monthly income would be a full fifty-four copper coins!

He secretly resolved to work hard, save the money, buy some meat for his older sister, and make her happy.

Tang Susu walked over to Tang Liqiang, looked at his adorable appearance, and couldn't help but smile. She gently reminded him, "Liqiang, be careful when choosing team members, don't be careless."

She changed the subject, her tone becoming serious: "You must remember that you are the youngest of the twelve team leaders. When selecting team members, try not to choose elders from the Yang family."

Tang Liqiang was stunned for a moment, looking at her with a face full of doubt.

Tang Susu patiently explained, "In our generation, filial piety is highly valued. As the younger generation, we must be filial to all the elders in the clan. If you choose an elder from the Yang family as a team member, it will be difficult to manage them later—if you are too strict, people will say you are not filial; if you are too lenient, you will not be able to patrol the village effectively, and it will be easy to get into gossip and disputes. We should avoid these troubles from the source."

Tang Liqiang lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded, his tone firm: "Big sister, I understand, I'll listen to you."

The team member selection officially began under the banyan tree, with members chosen in descending order of age and seniority according to the captain.

Most team leaders prioritize selecting from their own relatives, choosing uncles, cousins, and other close relatives one by one, wishing they could bring all their direct relatives into their teams—Yangqu Village has a small population to begin with, and the villagers are more or less related to each other, so choosing family members makes them more trustworthy to work with.

When it was Tang Liqiang's turn to choose, there weren't many candidates left.

He kept Tang Susu's instructions firmly in mind, his eyes scanning the crowd, specifically targeting teenagers of different surnames around ten years old.

Yang Dafu and Tang Liqiang were the same age, with Yang Dafu being only two months older. Yang Dafu had always thought that he was close to Tang Liqiang and would definitely be selected. However, as Tang Liqiang selected one person after another, his name was never on the preliminary list. He was so anxious that he coughed repeatedly and kept giving Tang Liqiang meaningful glances.

Old Mrs. Yang, standing not far away, saw everything clearly. She immediately walked over, grabbed Yang Dafu by the collar, and scolded him: "What are you coughing for? Li Qiang has his reasons for selecting team members. Who are you to interfere? Stand up straight right now!"

Yang Dafu shrank back after being scolded and dared not utter another sound.

Shen, standing to the side, pursed her lips and complained in a low voice, "Liqiang has lived in the Yang family for so many years and is a member of the Yang family. Yet he only picks people with different surnames to be his team members, leaving his two own brothers, Dafu and Erfu, out in the cold. It's such a waste of our love for him."

Hearing her complaint, Old Mrs. Yang's face instantly darkened. She turned and glared at her, saying, "Stop gossiping! Liqiang has his own ideas, and it's none of your business to tell him what to do! Go home and make breakfast!"

Ms. Shen was filled with resentment, but dared not argue with her mother-in-law. She could only turn away dejectedly, secretly resolving to see if her mother-in-law would still favor her brother-in-law's child after she gave birth to a son.

When Tang Liqiang was selecting the eleventh person, he was in a dilemma—most of the remaining candidates were older members of the Yang family, and a few were notorious lazybones.

He was hesitating when he heard Yang Dafu cough again. He turned around and saw Yang Dafu looking at him pitifully.

Tang Liqiang thought to himself that Brother Dafu was of the same generation as him, not an elder, so there should be no problem in choosing him. Therefore, he added Yang Dafu as the eleventh person.

He continued to select the last team member and found that the remaining members were either the difficult-to-manage elderly Yang family or Yang Erfu, who was only twelve years old and too weak to patrol the village.

Just then, Zheng Dahu stepped forward, patted his chest, and volunteered, "Captain Liqiang, choose me! I'm a great fighter. If we encounter thieves or troublemakers, I guarantee I can subdue them!"

Tang Liqiang recalled that two days ago, Zheng Dahu had voluntarily stepped forward to testify, saying that he saw Widow Lan and Yang Houcai meeting in the woods, which helped clear his family of suspicion and was a great help to them.

He thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, then I'll choose you for the last one."

At this point, all twelve members of Tang Liqiang's team have been finalized.

Knowing that some people would be dissatisfied with the selection results, the village head added, "Don't worry, the patrol team will continue to expand its recruitment based on the village's needs. Outstanding members will have the opportunity to be promoted to team leader. Those who weren't selected this time will still have opportunities to join in the future!"

After he finished speaking, he adjourned the meeting, and the villagers dispersed to attend to their own livelihoods.

Tang Liqiang ran excitedly to Tang Susu's side, boasting, "Big sister, I've chosen my team members!"

Tang Susu patted his head and gently encouraged him, "Being elected as the team leader is a good thing, but you can't be arrogant. From now on, you have to work hard, patrol the village well, and not bring shame to your deceased parents and brother-in-law."

"I understand, big sister! I will definitely do my best!" Tang Liqiang straightened his back and solemnly replied.

Tang Susu turned to look at Yang Gousheng beside her. Seeing that he had lost a lot of weight and his face was pale, she said with heartache, "Gousheng, you've worked hard these past few days. I'll make you something delicious tonight to help you recover."

Yang Gousheng, wearing the brand-new fine cotton clothes bestowed upon him by the county magistrate, looked somewhat uneasy. He tugged at the hem of his clothes and said softly, "Mother, this fabric is too fine. It's a pity for me to wear it. Why don't you have my aunt alter it and give it to you?"

"Silly child, this is a reward from the county magistrate. You earned it with your own abilities, so you should wear it yourself." Tang Susu smiled and rejected his idea, then asked, "What happened during these five days of searching for water? Tell your mother."

Yang Gousheng nodded and slowly began to recount: "We not only found thirteen groundwater sources, but also determined the excavation route. Several villages initially refused to cooperate, not wanting us to use their land to dig irrigation ditches. Later, it was only after the government intervened that we were forced to comply."

"On the third day, the feng shui masters from Qianjiang Town and Jiangtou Town came over specifically to learn how to find water. I told them all the water-finding techniques we had discussed before without reservation."

At this point, he lowered his head somewhat nervously and took the initiative to admit his mistake: "Mother, I know that this method of finding water was your idea. It should have been kept for our own use, but I was worried that if we kept the method to ourselves, it would delay other villages and towns from saving their rice, and that they might not be able to harvest their crops, so... so I told them everything. Mother, will you blame me?"

Tang Susu gently patted his head and said firmly, "Mom doesn't blame you. You did the right thing. Doing good deeds is like accumulating treasure. You helped people in other villages and towns, so when our family encounters difficulties in the future, someone will help us too. This is accumulating blessings for yourself and your family."

Upon hearing this, Yang Gousheng's eyes lit up instantly, his anxiety vanished, and he happily confirmed, "Mother, do you really think I didn't do anything wrong?"

"Of course that's right." Tang Susu nodded with a smile, and praised, "And you even earned back five hundred copper coins, that's impressive. Come on, let's go home."

The mother and son walked home side by side. Just as they reached the gate of the courtyard, they heard Aunt Liu's cursing coming from next door.

"You spendthrift! Are you out of your mind?" Aunt Liu grabbed Liu Yingcai's ear and angrily scolded, "Pork costs nearly fifty copper coins a pound! Why don't you buy corn bran, wheat flour, or millet—things that last longer—and instead buy this pittance of meat! Did the winds fly?"

Liu Yingcai winced in pain and hurriedly explained, "Mother, don't be angry! The children haven't tasted any meat since the New Year, and I wanted to improve their diet. Besides, when I bought the meat, the butcher gave me a bone as a gift, which we can use to make soup for the children tonight."

The five men who went out to find water each received five hundred copper coins as payment. Almost every family in the village bought meat to improve their meals. Liu Yingcai didn't want his children to envy others, and felt that it was worth spending the money on his wife and children!

Aunt Liu's two children, Xiaoyuer and Maisui, were staring longingly at the meat in Liu Yingcai's hand.

Little Fish, being so young, couldn't help but shout, "Mommy, I want to eat meat! I want to eat meat!"

Mai Sui was more sensible than her younger brother. She tugged at his clothes and whispered, "Mom, I don't want meat. I'll just have soup."

Looking at the children's expectant eyes, Aunt Liu's heart softened instantly. She released her grip on Liu Yingcai's ear and said to the children, "Alright, alright, let's go home! We can't eat all this meat at once. We need to slice it thinly and stir-fry it with wild vegetables. We can also pickle the rest with salt and save it for later. We can't be like those families who don't plan ahead and waste money. We need to spend our money wisely."

On the other side, Yang Gousheng followed Tang Susu home, took out two catties of meat wrapped in cloth from his pocket, and the remaining four hundred and twenty copper coins, and handed them all to Tang Susu: "Mother, this is the meat I bought, which cost eighty copper coins. The rest of the money is here."

Tang Susu took the copper coins and put them away. She then cut off three ounces of meat from the pork, wrapped it in a clean cloth, and handed it to Yang Gousheng: "Gousheng, this is the first time you've earned money through your own efforts. You should take good care of your grandparents. Take this meat over and let them have a taste."

"Okay!" Yang Gousheng obediently took the meat and turned to walk towards the Yang family ancestral home.

At this moment, breakfast was being prepared at the Yang family ancestral home. Old Master Yang, Old Lady Yang, along with Madam Wen and Madam Shen, were all busy in the courtyard.

Madam Wen immediately noticed Yang Gousheng's new clothes. She quickly went over, circled him, and praised him repeatedly: "Oh my, Gousheng, these clothes are so beautiful! They must be made of fine cotton. The texture is so soft and comfortable to the touch. These clothes are worth at least sixty or seventy copper coins. Your Excellency is truly generous!"