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

Old Mrs. Yang took the "white, porous thing" that Shen had brought back to the well and washed it clean, revealing a pale yellow outer skin. When she broke it open, there were still thin strands connecting the two sections, and the flesh was very white.

She had some doubts, so she took the thing and walked to the osmanthus tree, handing it to Grandpa Yang: "Take a look, what is this? Fangjuan said she dug it up on the mountain."

Grandpa Yang put down his pipe, took the item, examined it carefully, sniffed it, broke off a small piece, and chewed it.

A moment later, a glint of light flashed in his cloudy eyes, and he slapped his thigh: "This is lotus root! It's lotus root from the south!"

He recalled his childhood experiences: "When I was young, I worked with a镖队 (bodyguards) and also worked for a carpenter in the south. I've seen this stuff before. In the south, lotus roots were a rare commodity. They were dug up and sent to the capital to be eaten by nobles. Locals could only pick up the leftover small lotus roots to taste. I was lucky enough to eat lotus root stewed with pork bones once, and I'll never forget that taste!"

Old Master Yang's tone became serious: "In these famine years, this thing can save lives!"

He immediately pressed Fangjuan, "Where did you find them? How many are there?"

"Deep in the woods, in the valley between two mountains, there's a huge area! The ground is covered with withered lotus leaves!" Fangjuan replied excitedly.

Grandpa Yang acted swiftly and decisively, immediately ordering, "Fangjuan, go and call your eldest uncle, father, and Dafu and Erfu back! The whole family, hurry up and eat, then come with me into the mountains to dig lotus roots!"

Upon hearing that this was life-saving food, Old Lady Yang didn't dare to delay for a moment. She turned around and ran to the kitchen, taking out twelve wild vegetable dumplings from the jar—giving the largest ones to the able-bodied men, the middle ones to the two sisters-in-law, and the smallest ones to the children.

This meal consumed two pounds of cornmeal and four or five pounds of wild vegetables.

After the meal, Old Lady Yang volunteered to stay behind to guard the stored grain, while the rest of the people carried hoes and wooden sticks and headed into the mountains in a large group.

The Yang family walked along the winding mountain road into the deep mountains, passing through dense thickets of thorns and jujube forests, and finally saw the cracked pond in the valley, with withered yellow lotus leaves covering the ground.

"This is it! These are the remnants of lotus leaves!" Grandpa Yang said confidently, and then explained to everyone, "These lotus leaves will grow into lotus flowers, and after the flowers wither, they will produce lotus seeds. Those lotus seeds are more valuable than the lotus roots, and only nobles in the capital can afford to eat them. We common people have no chance to see them at all."

Yang Dafu looked at him with admiration: "Sir, you are truly knowledgeable!"

Grandpa Yang stroked his beard smugly: "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. It's always good to go out and see the world."

Yang, the eldest brother standing to the side, curled his lip and retorted in a low voice, "Isn't it because none of us can read?"

Grandpa Yang ignored him, walked straight to the lotus pond, picked up a wooden stick, and went down into the pond.

He seemed to be walking around casually, but he was actually secretly measuring the area.

After some calculations, he had a good idea of ​​what to expect: the lotus pond was a full five acres in size. Although the drought had affected the yield, the yield per acre was still at least eight or nine hundred catties, and a total of about four thousand catties of lotus roots could be dug up.

He frowned as he looked at the dry, cracked, and hard mud beneath his feet—digging lotus roots was extremely difficult, and even if his family of ten or so worked day and night, it would take them several months to finish digging.

Old Master Yang pondered by the pond for a long time, then turned to Yang Dafu and instructed him, "Go and invite the village headman here. Tell him you have something important to discuss."

"Father!" Yang Laosan immediately frowned and objected, "This lotus pond was first discovered by our Yang family, it rightfully belongs to the Yang family, why should we have to invite the village head? It shouldn't be divided among the whole village!"

Grandpa Yang patiently explained: "What do you know? First of all, this lotus pond is too big. Four thousand catties of lotus are simply not enough for our family to eat or dig up."

"Secondly, if Fangjuan can find this place, others can find it too. If we go any further, we will be in the territory of Ma'an Village. If the people of Ma'an Village find us, our Yangqu Village will have nothing left."

"Thirdly, rather than letting outsiders take it, we should take the initiative to distribute it to the whole village. This will give us a good reputation and make us more influential in the village in the future."

Yang Laosan was still indignant, while Shen stood aside without saying a word, but bit her lip tightly, her face showing resentment.

Seeing this, Old Master Yang had no choice but to relent: "Alright, let's dig for one day first, and bring the village head over tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

She had a little plan in mind—she had married into the village of Ma'an, and she intended to secretly hide some lotus roots on this day to send to her family later so that they could also have something to eat.

Afterwards, more than ten members of the Yang family rolled up their sleeves and got busy in the lotus pond, using hoes and wooden sticks to dig up the lotus roots.

Meanwhile, Tang Susu and her four boys dug up some mushrooms and wild vegetables, and returned home at noon.

She handed the two lotus root sections she had dug up to Miao Yulan: "Wash them clean, cut them into pieces, and I'm going to take them to the village head's house."

She wanted to use the lotus root as an excuse to get closer to the village head, so that it would be easier for her to handle things in the village in the future.

On the way, Tang Susu looked at the fields cracked by drought, the seedlings in the fields had long since withered, and several strong men squatted at the edge of the field, their faces full of dejection.

She couldn't help but sigh, but she also understood that if it didn't rain, there was nothing anyone could do.

When they arrived at the village head's house, only the village head's wife was sitting under the eaves doing needlework.

When she saw Tang Susu arrive, her eyes widened in surprise. Recalling the chaotic scene when Tang Susu had caused trouble during the last time she came to divide the family property, her tone was noticeably distant: "You're looking for the village head?"

"Yes, is Uncle Village Head home?" Tang Susu asked with a smile.

The village head's wife sighed and shook her head: "He's not here. With this severe drought, the county magistrate is so worried he's turned gray. He's summoned all the village heads to a meeting in town, probably to discuss the harvest. Your village head uncle was so worried last night he didn't sleep a wink, he has no time to worry about anything else."

The implication was clear: Tang Susu should stay away and cause trouble.

Seeing this, Tang Susu didn't press the matter further and said with a smile, "Then I'll come back later."

After saying that, he turned and left.

As evening fell, a rich aroma wafted from the Tang family's kitchen.

Tang Susu chopped lotus root into small pieces, mixed it with mushrooms and previously rendered lard to make a filling, wrapped it in white flour dumpling wrappers, and made pan-fried lotus root dumplings.

The golden, crispy dumplings had just come out of the pot when Yang Xiaobao ran to the kitchen door, drooling and staring longingly at the dumplings on the cutting board, unable to move his feet.

Tang Susu picked up a steaming dumpling, blew on it, and popped it into Xiaobao's mouth: "You little glutton, you've eaten plenty of good food these past two days, why are you still so greedy?"

Little Bao winced as the dumplings burned his mouth, but quickly chewed them, swallowed them, and mumbled, "Mom is such a great cook! These dumplings are so delicious!"

The crispy outer layer, the sweet filling, and the subtle mushroom aroma left him wanting more.

Tang Susu smiled and shook her head, then took out a clean bowl and filled it with twenty dumplings: "Xiaobao, take this to Grandpa and Grandma."

"Alright!" Xiao Bao grabbed the bowl and ran off to Old Yang's house.

At this moment, Old Mrs. Yang was at home, cooking a thin corn porridge in a pot, so thin you could see your reflection in it, but her family members who had gone into the mountains to dig for lotus roots had not returned.

She would crane her neck to look towards the village entrance every now and then, her heart filled with unease, worried that they might encounter wild animals in the mountains.

Suddenly, a rich aroma wafted over.

Immediately afterward, Yang Xiaobao skipped into the yard, shouting, "Grandma! Mom asked me to bring you something delicious!"

When Old Mrs. Yang looked down, she saw that the bowl contained twenty large, glistening, and fragrant pan-fried dumplings made of white flour.

She clutched her chest, heartbroken, and couldn't help but curse, "That spendthrift! What a waste of food!"

Despite his complaints, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the dumplings, curious about what this oily stuff was.

"Grandma, these are pan-fried dumplings, they're so delicious, you could swallow your tongue!" Yang Xiaobao excitedly introduced.

While complaining, Old Lady Yang secretly wondered: This girl Tang Susu is trying to please her with such nice things during this famine, and she hasn't mentioned moving back to the old house. She must be up to something bad.

She grabbed Yang Xiaobao, who was trying to run away, and asked, "Has your mother been nagging about anything lately?"

Xiao Bao tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Mom said that she wants us to have plenty to eat every day, and when we build a new house, she wants us to have meat every day!"

Old Mrs. Yang's heart skipped a beat, and she became even more convinced that Tang Susu was laying the groundwork for moving back to the old house.

She secretly made up her mind: if this third son's wife really wants to come back, she must change her old bad habits and live a proper life, otherwise, there's no way she'll get back!

Seeing his grandmother deep in thought, Yang Xiaobao seized the opportunity to pull his hand away and ran home in a flash.

When Tang Susu returned home, Miao Yulan was standing in the yard waiting for her. Seeing her return, she quickly went up to her and said, "Sister, you're back just in time. That Liu Yumi is really hardworking and honest."

"Today, they not only helped dig up a full basket of wild vegetables, but also filled the water tank at home and piled up the chopped firewood neatly. No one had to worry about them at all."