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

Based on her previous life's business marketing logic, Tang Susu felt that the village head's help in facilitating the distribution of liangfen (a type of cold noodle) was essentially a marketing job, and giving him 10% of the profits as a commission was reasonable.

But as soon as she finished speaking, the village head hurriedly waved his hand and refused: "Su Su, this is unacceptable! I'm just helping to pass on a message, how can I take your profits? You small business owners work hard, and it's not easy for you to earn money."

He paused mid-sentence, then suddenly realized—a thousand servings of cold noodles a day, at two copper coins per serving, would generate two taels of silver in revenue. After deducting costs, he could net at least five coins. This was no small business.

But the village head still insisted on not taking any benefits that came with it. After thinking for a while, he suggested, "How about this, the favor I did for you this time will be deducted from the credit your family deserved when we were looking for a water source."

That sixty taels of public funds should have been your family's share anyway. So, we're even now, and you don't need to bring up the commission issue with me anymore.

Seeing his resolute attitude, Tang Susu stopped hesitating and nodded in agreement.

Subsequently, Tang Susu informed the village head that the thousand servings of jelly would not be completed until the next day, and the most pressing need was manpower. She wanted to borrow his two sons, Yang Feicheng and Yang Feimo, to help out. They didn't need to supervise him all day; just a couple of hours each day would suffice.

The village head readily agreed: "No problem! I'll go back and call them over right away, and have them do a good job for you."

After seeing the village head off, Tang Susu went to find her neighbor, Liu Yingcai.

Before her husband could speak, Aunt Liu smiled and agreed on his behalf: "Su Su, don't worry, Ying Cai will definitely help out. You just need to arrange the work."

At this point, the number of people helping to wash the lantern seeds had increased to five.

The main room simply couldn't hold so many wooden basins, and filtering the jelly required even more containers, so Tang Susu asked Yang Xiaobao to borrow basins and buckets from the ancestral home first. When that wasn't enough, they borrowed some more from Aunt Liu. Soon, the small courtyard was filled with all sorts of basins and buckets.

Next, Tang Susu instructed Tang Lifu to fence off a large area in the backyard, first erecting a fence and covering it with thatch for shade and rain protection, and then building a stove specifically for boiling water and making lantern seeds.

Tang Lifu immediately picked up his tools and began clearing the trash and weeds from the backyard.

Yang Gousheng and Tang Liqiang carried axes to the mountains to cut tree branches and thatch.

Yang Xiaobao was responsible for finding reeds along the field ridges to reinforce the fence.

The four members of the family, uncle and nephew, had clear division of labor and worked together to build a rough model of the site in no time—first ensuring that it could block the view and protect against wind and rain, and then gradually improve the details of the roof later.

Before the venue was fully cordoned off, the brothers Yang Feicheng and Yang Feimo arrived with Liu Yingcai.

Everyone worked together to move the wooden basin and lantern seeds to the open space in the backyard.

In front of everyone, Tang Susu clearly stated the wages: "Ten copper coins for washing one pound of lantern seeds. Each person only needs to wash one pound per day, don't be greedy, lest you hurt your hands. If you don't know how to do it, just learn from Yang Fuqiang, he is already very skilled at this job."

Having made these arrangements, Tang Susu confidently handed over the on-site work to Yang Fuqiang, who was reliable and dependable. She then began to plan her next move—the existing stock of lantern seeds might not be enough to sustain long-term supply to other towns, so she needed to increase the purchase volume as soon as possible.

With that thought in mind, Tang Susu turned and headed towards the Yang family's ancestral home.

Seeing that Granny Yang and Madam Wen were busy in the courtyard, she announced directly, "Mother, sister-in-law, starting today, I will raise the price of lantern seeds to twelve copper coins per pound. No matter who it is, as long as they bring lantern seeds, I will buy them. The more the better."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Yang immediately put down her work, frowned, and objected: "Lantern seeds are everywhere on the mountainside, they're not worth that much money! You child, do you have too many coins to handle? Why pay such a high price? Making more money and giving away less profit is the right thing to do."

Tang Susu's forehead creased with annoyance, but she patiently explained, "Since I dared to offer this price, I definitely won't lose money, so please don't worry about it."

But Old Mrs. Yang still disagreed, and kept muttering that Tang Susu didn't know how to manage a household.

Seeing this, Tang Susu suggested, "Mother, if you have nothing to do, come and help me boil water. It's for the people who make lantern seeds. I'll give you two copper coins a day for your work."

She had a plan in mind: she wanted to let Old Lady Yang experience what it meant to be busy, and she also wanted to shut her up from her constant complaints about her being "lazy".

At first, Old Lady Yang thought that having to pay copper coins to boil water was simply treating money like dirt. But then she thought that it was a good thing to earn copper coins without much effort. After thinking for a moment, she agreed and arranged to start working the next day.

As soon as Tang Susu returned home, a woman from a neighboring village rushed to her courtyard gate, looking panicked. She said, "Susu, something terrible has happened! Someone from your family is looking for you! I just saw your mother-in-law (Old Lady Yang) and your cousin Tang Xiaomi heading this way. You'd better hurry home and check on them!"

Tang Susu was slightly taken aback, then realized what was happening and quickly walked home.

Hearing the commotion at the ancestral home, Old Lady Yang immediately put down her needlework and followed.

Wen called out to her from behind, "Mother, those are Su Su's family members. They might have some private things to say. It might not be appropriate for you to go over there now."

Old Mrs. Yang paused, then stamped her foot, her face full of worry, and said, "What do you mean 'okay'! I'm just afraid that her family is a bottomless pit that will suck away all the coins Su Su has worked so hard to earn! Heaven is too blind; it finally allowed Su Su to live a good life, and then this happens."

As she spoke, she turned and called to Yang Erfu, "Erfu, hurry up and go to Su Su's house. Hide outside and listen to what they're saying. If there's anything going on, come back and report to me in detail!"

Yang Erfu nodded and ran towards Tang Susu's house.

As soon as Tang Susu reached the courtyard gate, she saw Old Mrs. Tang and Tang Xiaomi standing there.

Old Mrs. Tang came once two months ago. At that time, the Tang family's courtyard was empty, without a single decent thing in it.

Looking back now, there are flocks of chickens and ducks in the yard, and a few chubby puppies in the corner. In those famine years, being able to keep dogs meant that the family had plenty of food and was doing well.

Her mind immediately started calculating. Originally, she was only thinking of asking for two taels of silver as tuition, but now she immediately changed her mind and decided to ask for ten taels first. Even if Tang Susu bargained, she could at least get five taels.

Hearing the commotion at the gate, Tang Lifu put down his work and quickly walked to the front yard.

The moment he saw Old Lady Tang, his body stiffened abruptly, and his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the past: before his eldest sister separated from the family, she often secretly sent grain and money to the Tang family; after the separation, she openly subsidized her family.

Now that the Tang family has come knocking on his door, he has a strong premonition that the wonderful life he has worked so hard to achieve is about to be disrupted again.

He secretly resolved to put down roots in Yangqu Village. If his elder sister continued to subsidize her family without any limits and was unwilling to live a good life with him, he would slowly save money to buy land and start his own household.

Yang Gousheng, Tang Liqiang, and Yang Xiaobao also heard the commotion and came to the front yard.

Four boys, barely out of school, stood side by side at the entrance of the main room, their gazes like sharp arrows, fixed on Old Mrs. Tang and Tang Xiaomi, their hostility undisguised.

Old Mrs. Tang felt extremely uncomfortable under their gazes and couldn't help but angrily say, "What's wrong with you children? I'm your own grandmother, your own maternal grandmother, why are you looking at me like I'm your enemy?"

Tang Susu walked slowly into the courtyard with a faint, mocking smile on her lips.

She glanced at the four boys at the door and deliberately "reminded" them, "Grandma and Grandma have come all this way, surely to repay the twenty-seven taels of silver you borrowed before?"

After saying that, she looked at Old Lady Tang with a smile, her eyes full of undisguised mockery.

Old Mrs. Tang's anger surged to her chest instantly. If she could return the twenty-seven taels of silver, she would never have stooped to ask for tuition fees.

Suppressing her anger, she sneered, "I'm not here today to return the money. Tang Chengyu went to Chongwen Hall for school, and the tuition and school supplies cost a total of ten taels of silver. Hand over the money."

Tang Susu's smile vanished instantly, replaced by a calm yet slightly mocking expression as she retorted, "Why should I pay for Tang Chengyu's tuition?"

She secretly wondered if Tang Chengyu had told the Tang family about her making money selling jelly at Chongwentang.