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

Houcai quickly put away her two wild eggs, not even bothering to argue with Aunt Liu, and hurried towards the chestnut tree with her basket.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered that there were actually four or five chestnut trees hidden there. The three of them exchanged glances, said nothing, and each grabbed a tree trunk and began to shake it vigorously.

"Splash—" The spiky chestnuts fell like rain, hitting the fallen leaves with a dull thud.

After shaking them, the three of them immediately squatted down and buried their heads in picking chestnuts into their baskets, without saying a word the whole time.

Everyone knows that the good stuff in these mountains is for everyone who sees it; if you're slow to act and other villagers come and fight over it, you'll lose out big time.

Before long, all three of their baskets were full, so heavy that the straps dug deep into their shoulders.

Even if I wanted to collect more, there was simply no place to put them.

At this time, villagers who had heard the commotion from afar came over one after another and immediately joined the team to grab chestnuts.

Tang Susu's basket contained about thirty pounds of chestnuts, enough for the family to eat for several days.

She didn't try to do too much; she shouldered the heavy basket and walked with difficulty in the direction she had agreed upon with the four boys.

On the way, Tang Susu thought to herself: If there were enough chestnut trees in the mountains, even if the harvest was not good this year, the villagers of Yangqu Village could still eat chestnuts and avoid the suffering of hunger.

The reality is that, apart from these few chestnut trees, there are no other wild fruits in this forest that can be used as a staple food. Ideals can never overcome harsh reality.

They hadn't gone far when Yang Xiaobao came running over, his face beaming with excitement, and shoved a bunch of miscellaneous wild fruits he'd been carrying into Tang Susu's hands: "Mom, I found so many wild dates and wild grapes!"

Tang Lifu and Tang Liqiang arrived shortly after, their baskets also brimming with a bountiful harvest of mushrooms and wild vegetables, which looked incredibly fresh.

After packing up their spoils, the group went to find Yang Gousheng, who was chopping wood.

Yang Gousheng was chopping firewood with an axe halfway up the mountain. Behind him, two neat stacks of dry firewood had been piled up, looking very solid.

Tang Lifu stepped forward and tied the firewood tightly with straw rope. The five family members carried, hugged, or shouldered the things and set off on their way home.

It was still early, and there was still some time before dinner.

Back home, Tang Susu put the basket on her back in the yard and called her four boys to sit on the stone steps to peel chestnuts: "You guys peel these chestnuts first, and be careful not to prick your hands with the thorns."

She stood to the side, pondering how to eat chestnuts.

I wanted to make braised chicken with chestnuts, but I didn't have any extra chickens at home, and chickens are a rare commodity, so it would be too conspicuous to take them out.

I finally decided to make a simple yet delicious chestnut porridge, and also roast some sugar-roasted chestnuts for the kids as a snack, which would satisfy their cravings and keep them full.

Having made up her mind, Tang Susu went into the kitchen.

She first made cross-shaped cuts on the tops of the fresh chestnuts that the boys had peeled, then boiled them in boiling water for 5 minutes. After taking them out, she peeled off the outer shell and the inner thin skin while they were still hot, and cut them into small pieces for later use.

She secretly bought a few red dates from the mall for one coin, washed them, and removed the pits.

Add enough water to a pot, add rice and red dates, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer slowly.

Once the rice porridge has thickened, add the chopped chestnuts and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes, until the chestnuts are fully cooked.

While Miao Yulan turned around to add firewood, she secretly added some rock sugar for flavor, stirring until the rock sugar was completely dissolved before keeping the porridge warm on the stove.

Just as the chestnut porridge was ready, Tang Susu started preparing roasted chestnuts.

She steamed another portion of the processed chestnuts first, then poured most of a bottle of oil she had bought from the mall into the pot.

Miao Yulan was tending the fire under the stove when she saw so much oil, and her heart couldn't help but tremble.

In the past, my family wouldn't use this much oil in a year. When cooking, we would just dip a little bit with chopsticks and flick it into the pot to moisten it. But my older sister used up a whole year's worth in one meal.

But then he thought about it again. The family hadn’t had any oil for at least seven or eight months, and the children were so thin they were skin and bones. So he felt relieved and actually made the fire burn even brighter.

After the oil is heated, Tang Susu adds a large amount of rock sugar and slowly simmers it to make syrup.

When the syrup turned dark brown and started bubbling, she immediately poured in a full basket of cooked chestnuts and quickly stir-fried them, while telling Miao Yulan to reduce the amount of firewood in the stove so the fire wouldn't get too strong.

As the chestnuts were continuously stir-fried, their color gradually became bright and enticing. A rich and mellow chestnut aroma, mixed with the scent of caramel, wafted out of the kitchen window and permeated the entire yard.

Tang Lifu, who was gathering firewood in the backyard, couldn't help but stop what he was doing when he smelled the aroma. He took a deep sniff and swallowed hard.

He wondered to himself what delicious food the kitchen was making, the aroma of which made him feel weak all over, and his limbs almost wouldn't obey him.

Yang Xiaobao couldn't resist any longer. He threw down the chestnuts he hadn't finished peeling and ran straight to the kitchen, drooling all the way.

He ran to the kitchen doorway, clung to the doorframe, and shouted, "Mommy! It smells so good! What's that delicious thing?"

Tang Susu handed the spatula to Miao Yulan, asking her to take turns stirring the food, while she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

At this moment, the whole pot of chestnuts was stir-fried until they were shiny and oily. The cross-shaped cuts made earlier had split open, revealing the glistening chestnut meat inside, which looked incredibly tempting.

She picked up a piping hot chestnut that had just come out of the pan, blew on it, and handed it to Xiaobao: "Be careful, it's hot. Eat slowly."

Xiao Bao took it, his mouth burning from the heat, but he couldn't bear to put it down. He quickly peeled off the outer skin and stuffed the steaming chestnut meat into his mouth.

The chestnuts were hot, fragrant, and sweet as soon as they entered my mouth. Their soft and glutinous texture melted on my tongue, bringing a sweetness that warmed my heart.

He breathed on them to cool them down while mumbling "delicious." He had picked chestnuts in the mountains and cooked them before, but he had never tasted such a top-notch flavor.

Just then, as the roasted chestnuts were being served, Yang Erfu's voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate: "Third Aunt, Grandma asked me to bring you some chestnuts."

Tang Susu walked out of the main room and saw Yang Erfu holding a small basin filled with roasted chestnuts.

She stepped forward, took the basin, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble. Please thank Grandma for me when you get back."

Yang Erfu didn't dare to stay any longer. He used to always go out and play with Yang Gousheng, and every time he would be scolded by the original owner. Now, just thinking about those sharp scoldings still makes his ears ring.

Like a mouse seeing a cat, he dropped the chestnuts, turned, and ran away quickly without looking back.

Tang Susu watched his retreating figure, chuckled, and shook her head.

She had originally planned to have Yang Erfu bring some roasted chestnuts and chestnut porridge back to the old house, but this saved her the trouble.

Back in the main room, she gave each child a handful of roasted chestnuts, told them to eat them and then go out to play, and to come home for dinner in half an hour.

With his mouth full of chestnuts, Yang Xiaobao asked indistinctly, "Can...can I still eat?"

In his opinion, being able to eat such delicious chestnuts, there was no need to eat anything else.

Tang Susu smiled and put the remaining roasted chestnuts into a bowl: "Chestnuts can only satisfy cravings, not be eaten as a meal. I'll cook chestnut porridge for dinner, which is better for the stomach than this."

Xiao Bao was relieved, stuffed both pockets full of chestnuts, and skipped off to play.

He ran to the big banyan tree in the village and saw a group of teenagers surrounding their neighbor Liu Xiaoyu, all of them drooling and vying to ask Liu Xiaoyu for some chestnuts to eat.

Liu Xiaoyu's pockets were full of roasted chestnuts, and he was eating them with great relish, showing no intention of sharing them at all.

At this moment, Yang Zhimao, the eldest grandson of the village head, also came over. His pockets were bulging with chestnuts, which he ate as he walked.

The boys who were originally surrounding Liu Xiaoyu immediately shifted their focus and swarmed around Yang Zhimao, completely surrounding him.

Yang Zhimao was generous, taking out chestnuts and saying, "I don't have many here, each person can only have half."

Each of the eight boys received half a chestnut, carefully put it in their mouths, chewed a few times, and then exclaimed happily, "Zhimao's mother's chestnuts are the best!"

Liu Xiaoyu, unconvinced, excitedly held up her chestnut: "No way! My mom's are much tastier!"

"No one can do as well as my mother!" Yang Xiaobao pushed through the crowd and shouted loudly.

As he spoke, he spread all the roasted chestnuts from his pocket onto his hand, just like Liu Xiaoyu did. "Try my mom's; I guarantee you'll want more!"

The boy nicknamed Cat, who had initially been siding with Yang Zhimao, immediately changed his tune when he saw the shiny, oily roasted chestnuts in Xiaobao's hand: "Stop arguing, stop arguing, just try them and you'll know!"

The eight boys' eyes lit up when they saw the three different chestnuts in front of them, and each grabbed one and stuffed it into their mouths.

After a few bites, they could tell a clear difference, and all eight pairs of eyes were fixed on Yang Xiaobao's roasted chestnuts, their mouths watering.

The cat, its mouth watering, asked Xiaobao curiously, "Didn't your mother always scold and beat people? How come her chestnuts taste so good?"

Xiao Bao immediately frowned and retorted, raising his chin high and saying arrogantly, "You're talking nonsense! My mother never hits or scolds people! My mother is the best mother in the world, no one can compare!"

The air under the banyan tree was filled with the aroma of chestnuts. Liu Xiaoyu's mouth watered, and she followed closely behind Xiaobao, whispering to him for another one.

Xiao Bao only had two chestnuts left in his pocket. He hesitated for a long time, then took one out, took a big bite, handed the remaining half to Liu Xiaoyu, and then turned around and ran home as fast as he could, afraid that he would lose even the last chestnut.