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

Tang Chengyu's flowery words left Old Lady Yang completely bewildered. She felt that the words of a scholar were pretentious and not at all genuine.

Before she could speak again, Tang Chengyu picked up the two large wooden boxes and walked straight to the storage room next to the main room, completely ignoring her reaction.

Old Mrs. Yang was extremely anxious. She grabbed Tang Susu's arm and pressed her for an answer, "Susu, why did you let another member of the Tang family move in? How long is he going to stay? When is he leaving?"

Tang Susu sighed helplessly, knowing that her mother-in-law was worried again, and patiently explained, "Mother, don't worry, Chengyu won't just eat and not do any work. I've already arranged some chores for him."

Old Mrs. Yang didn't believe it at all, and curled her lip: "His arms and legs are as thin as sticks, he's skin and bones, what kind of heavy work can he do? Besides, I heard that he's going to take the imperial examination soon. Why is he leaving his good school and preparing for the exam at home to come and join in the fun at our house?"

Tang Susu didn't argue with her much. She turned to Tang Chengyu and arranged for him to help her filter the jelly: "This job doesn't require much effort, it just requires care and patience. Just follow me."

Tang Chengyu nodded and followed Tang Susu to the temporary construction site in the backyard.

Seeing Yang Fuqiang and others busy in the courtyard, he realized that making a bowl of cold noodles was so time-consuming.

Considering that the cost of making jelly was not low, yet it only sold for three copper coins a serving, he secretly resolved to work hard and repay the elder sister's kindness in taking him in.

Tang Chengyu found a haystack to sit down and picked up a gauze to start filtering the jelly.

But after a short while, he felt severe pain in his lower back. This seemingly easy task was much more strenuous than copying books and articles.

But he gritted his teeth, endured the discomfort, and continued working.

Old Mrs. Yang was boiling water nearby, but her eyes were always on him.

She initially disliked Tang Chengyu, but seeing him struggling despite his exhaustion, she couldn't help but feel a pang of pity.

She worried that this promising student might be ruined by this hard work, or that he might hold a grudge against the Yang family and seek revenge later when he became successful. So she quickly walked over and snatched the gauze from his hand: "You child, how can you do this with your delicate skin? Stop doing it and go rest and study over there."

Tang Susu found it amusing. She could tell that her mother-in-law was just being stubborn and soft-hearted, and didn't really dislike Tang Chengyu.

Tang Chengyu was somewhat at a loss. He knew that it was not easy to find a job that paid five taels of silver a month. His elder sister had been very kind to him, and he had to do something to repay the debt.

So, without resting, he turned around and went to the front of the house, looking around for something he could help with.

I happened to see Yang Xiaobao chopping wild vegetables in the yard, preparing to feed the chickens and ducks.

He stepped forward and said, "Xiao Bao, let me help you."

Yang Xiaobao nodded happily, took out the remaining wild vegetable paste from the kitchen, and handed it to him: "Uncle Yu, can you feed Yang Dabai for me?"

"Yang Dabai?" Tang Chengyu was taken aback, not understanding the meaning of the name.

"That's our dog!" Yang Xiaobao explained, pointing to the doghouse in the corner.

Tang Chengyu walked to the doghouse and saw a small white dog whose leg had not yet fully healed and who was walking with a limp. After smelling the aroma of food, it happily wagged its fluffy, long, broom-like tail and waddled out of the doghouse.

Although he felt that the puppy didn't look like an ordinary mongrel, he didn't think much of it and poured the wild vegetable paste into the dog bowl.

After feeding the dog, Yang Xiaobao called out to Tang Chengyu, "Uncle Yu, let's go pick some wild vegetables on the mountain!"

The two of them each carried a bamboo basket and walked side by side out of the village.

The villagers working in the fields stopped what they were doing and began to discuss it:

"This Tang Chengyu is really good. Not only is he very knowledgeable, but he is also so hardworking and not spoiled at all."

"I wonder if he's married yet? Such a fine young man, if he could pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, his status would be so noble that even daughters of officials would be a match for him."

"That's right! Passing the imperial examination at the county level means your family is exempt from grain taxes. That's a blessing that comes from eight generations of accumulated wealth!"

Tang Susu was busy in the yard when she vaguely heard the villagers' discussions and couldn't help but feel sorry for Tang Chengyu.

Although the Tang family is despicable, Tang Chengyu was not a bad person by nature. However, he was falsely accused of cheating and was deprived of his qualification for the imperial examination, which will probably become a regret in his life.

She wanted to help him, but she knew she was just an ordinary village woman with no connections or resources. Fortunately, the provincial examination wasn't until six or seven months later, so she had time to figure out a solution.

In the evening, Yang Fuqiang and the others finished their work, received their wages, and left.

Tang Susu and Old Lady Yang sat down together to filter the jelly. The eighteen buckets didn't seem like much, but it took a lot of effort to do it.

Before long, Old Mrs. Yang was seeing stars and her back ached. She couldn't help but mutter, "This job looks easy, but it's really tiring! There's so much, I don't know when we'll finish."

Tang Susu rubbed her numb lower back and estimated, "If one person does it, it will take until midnight to finish. With your help, plus Li Fu, the three of us working together can probably finish before dark."

Old Mrs. Yang was astonished, not expecting so many people to be busy until dark without even a moment to rest. She offered, "How about I find you two more helpers? More people means more help."

Tang Susu smiled and agreed, and even offered her wages: "I'll give you three copper coins for each bucket you finish."

Having experienced it firsthand, Old Lady Yang knew how difficult the job was and felt that the reward of three copper coins was reasonable.

But she secretly planned to find some idle old women in the village to do it, and then pay them only two copper coins, so she could make a profit.

Tang Susu saw through her thoughts but didn't point them out, letting her make the decision entirely.

Feeling relieved, Old Lady Yang hurried off to look for the person, her legs still numb.

Tang Susu was thinking that by outsourcing the work of filtering the jelly, she could free up her hands to do other things.

For example, I went into the mountains to look for opportunities to generate income—I recently spent a lot of money on batteries and medicine, and my money is getting tighter and tighter, so I urgently need to replenish my funds.

Not long after, Old Lady Yang brought over two other old women from the Yang family.

She specifically chose those with good eyesight and quick hands and feet. The three old women sat together, chatting about everyday things while working. Their movements were crisp and efficient, much more so than before.

These two old women were also sensible, knowing what questions to ask and what questions not to ask. They never pried into the secrets of making jelly, and the atmosphere at the temporary construction site was very harmonious.

Before the sun had completely set, the filtering of all eighteen buckets of jelly was completed.

When settling the wages, Tang Susu gave Old Lady Yang fifteen copper coins—including her wages for boiling water and filtering the jelly. The other two old ladies each received thirteen copper coins. The last bucket was filtered by the three of them equally, and everything was calculated clearly.

The three elderly people received their wages and went home happily.

The yard was filled with wooden buckets filled with cooled boiled water. Tang Susu carefully put the filtered jelly into the buckets and chilled it with spring water overnight so that the jelly would taste better when she delivered it the next day.

Just then, Yang Xiaobao and Tang Chengyu returned home, carrying bamboo baskets full of wild vegetables and chatting and laughing.

As soon as Yang Xiaobao entered the door, he excitedly ran to Tang Susu: "Mom! Mom! We found so many delicious mushrooms! Can we cook mushrooms for dinner tonight?"

Tang Susu walked out of the main room and saw that Tang Chengyu's originally clean and tidy clothes were covered with yellow mud, and his trousers were torn at the hem. She guessed that this was his first time doing this kind of farm work and that he had probably fallen while going up the mountain.

She didn't say much, thinking it would be good for him to experience and practice with Yang Xiaobao.

Simply reading books isn't enough; practical experience is what elevates one's thinking. Letting him understand the hardships of farming families isn't a bad thing.

Tang Susu took the bamboo basket and went into the kitchen, where she found a good amount of wild vegetables and mushrooms.

She planned to pick out the mushrooms with the highest selling price and sell them to the trading platform to earn some money;

The remaining inexpensive vegetables are cleaned and used to make a mushroom, wild vegetable, and egg soup, a stir-fried dandelion, and finally a pot of millet porridge. That makes a hearty dinner.

After the millet porridge was cooked, she deliberately ladled out a small bowl, secretly added some milk powder, mixed it well, and brought it to the doghouse to feed Yang Dabai.

When it was time to eat, Miao Yulan did not stay in her room, but instead went to the table and sat down.

Seven people sat around a low table; although it was a bit crowded, it was very lively.

It was not yet completely dark, so there was no need to light the lamps in the main room.

After dinner, the whole family began their daily study time.

Since Tang Chengyu took over as the teacher of the four boys, there have been many more rules and regulations for teaching.

He stood tall and straight in front of the table, while Tang Lifu, Tang Liqiang, Yang Gousheng, and Yang Xiaobao sat upright in their chairs, reciting the Three Character Classic aloud, again and again, their voices loud and clear.

Although Miao Yulan was resting in the room, she also quietly recited along with Tang Chengyu's voice.

She knew that Tang Lifu wasn't very bright, so she wanted to help him memorize more things. If Tang Lifu didn't understand something at night, she could explain it to him.

Tang Susu then hid in her room, took out the thick agricultural disaster book, as thick as a Xinhua Dictionary, from under her bed, and began to study it carefully.

The first few chapters of the book mainly introduce the origin of locusts, and also elaborate on the various disasters caused by locusts from ancient times to the present, as well as the suffering and social unrest caused by these disasters to the people.