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

After dinner, Tang Susu carried a bowl of warm, pan-fried lotus root dumplings and headed back to the village head's house.

She knew in her heart that if the food shortage could not be made up during these famine years, inhumane acts such as selling children or even exchanging children for food could happen.

She didn't want to see such a tragedy happen in Yangqu Village, so she decided to inform the village head about Lian Gen's situation and help the whole village overcome the difficulties.

The village head and his wife were somewhat surprised to see her come to their door again, this time with food.

Tang Susu got straight to the point, handing over the bowl: "Uncle Village Head, Auntie, these are dumplings I made this afternoon using something I dug up in the mountains. Please try them."

She went on to explain, "This morning I dug up something white and clean with holes in a pond of dead leaves in the mountains. I tried chopping it up, mixing it with mushrooms, wrapping it in flour to make dumplings, and frying them. They tasted very good."

"I guess this stuff tastes good whether boiled or stewed, and its properties are probably similar to sweet potatoes; it might even be a staple food."

After a pause, she revealed crucial information: "Moreover, there are nearly five acres of such dry leaf ponds in the mountains, and several thousand kilograms of this stuff are hidden under the dry mud. If we can dig them out, it will be enough to sustain our village for a while."

Upon hearing this, the village head's wife's eyes lit up instantly, and she exclaimed excitedly, "Several thousand catties? If that's distributed among every household, we won't go hungry for at least a month!"

The village head picked up a dumpling and tasted it. The oily, crispy skin and the sweet, refreshing filling with a subtle mushroom aroma instantly amazed his taste buds.

He was both surprised and delighted, but also somewhat suspicious: "I've never seen this in Yangqu Village before. Can it really be eaten as food?"

Just then, footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, and Old Master Yang walked in, leaning on his cane.

As soon as he entered, he caught sight of the dumplings in the bowl. Upon closer inspection of the filling, he immediately recognized it: "This is lotus root! The kind you're talking about, it's lotus root from the south!"

He walked to the table and added, "I've seen this stuff when I was young, working in the south. They ate lotus roots as food there, and it was incredibly precious. Once dug up, it had to be sent to the capital overnight as tribute. The locals could only eat the leftover small lotus roots. This stuff could truly save lives; during famine years, it could save many lives!"

As he spoke, Old Master Yang looked at Tang Susu, his eyes full of approval: "Susu, you have a great heart. My wife and I were narrow-minded before and misunderstood you."

These words inadvertently highlighted Shen's petty and narrow-minded desire to monopolize the lotus root.

Tang Susu smiled and explained, "Uncle Village Head, there are six people in my family, including pregnant women and young children. Even if we take all these lotus roots, we still can't finish them all. Besides, I have a way to dig wild vegetables to exchange for rice and noodles to fill our stomachs. There's no need for me to compete with everyone for life-saving food."

Upon hearing this, the village head's doubts were completely dispelled. He stood up impatiently, "This is life-saving food! We can't wait! Old woman, quickly get me a pair of straw sandals! I'll go into the mountains to check right now!"

The village head's wife grew anxious: "There are wild beasts in the mountains at night, it's too dangerous! Why don't we wait until dawn?"

"We can't wait any longer!" the village headman declared resolutely. "If people from other villages find out, our Yangqu Village will be finished!"

In the end, the village head's wife couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she quickly prepared torches—torches could provide light and also scare away wild beasts.

The village headman called up his three strong men, and Old Master Yang also called up his eldest and second eldest sons. The seven strong men gathered together and headed into the deep mountains in a grand procession.

Having more people around ensures safety and allows for faster verification of the lotus root's condition.

Meanwhile, the Yang family returned from the mountains in the evening.

After a full day of intense lotus root digging, the whole family was so tired that they could barely lift their hands. The children's little hands were covered in blisters, and the adults' palms were covered in thick calluses from the rough mud and tools, with blood seeping out.

Old Mrs. Yang was heartbroken and quickly went back to the kitchen to cook another pot of buckwheat and wild vegetable porridge. She also took out the remaining vegetable dumplings for everyone to have a little something to eat.

This meal finally allowed the whole family to recover.

Old Master Yang took a puff of his pipe, rested for a short while, then stood up and said he wanted to go to the village head's house to explain the matter of Lian Gen.

Seeing this, Old Lady Yang couldn't help but scold, "Are you crazy? You've been working all day, can't you go tomorrow morning? Don't you want to live?"

Madam Shen quickly chimed in, "Father, Mother is right. It's already completely dark, and it's not safe in the mountains. Let's talk about it tomorrow."

But Old Master Yang was adamant: "I won't sleep well tonight until I've explained this to the village head. This is the village's lifeline; we can't delay!"

After saying that, he put on his straw sandals and, by the faint starlight, walked straight toward the village head's house, where he happened to meet Tang Susu, who was explaining the situation to the village head and his wife.

As for the Shen family, ever since they heard Old Master Yang say during the day that he wanted to invite the village head to distribute the lotus roots, they had been harboring their own selfish desires.

She married into the village of Ma'an, but she always kept her family home in her heart.

Having learned that she could dig for a day first and then inform the whole village, she secretly sent her youngest daughter, Fangjuan, to Ma'an Village to inform her family so that they could also come and dig lotus roots to fill their stomachs.

The next morning, the village head and Old Master Yang and others verified the lotus root situation overnight. After confirming that everything was correct, they immediately gathered the whole village under the big banyan tree for a meeting.

Many villagers had already heard rumors and were discussing it privately:

"I've heard there's something good in the mountains that can be eaten as food, called lotus root?"

"They say it's similar to a sweet potato, you can boil or stew it, and it's delicious!"

"If this thing really existed, we wouldn't have to go hungry!"

The village head stood on the slope and cleared his throat.

The previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent—food was the top priority for the entire village at the moment, and no one dared to neglect it.

"Fellow villagers," the village head's voice boomed, "there are indeed large patches of lotus roots in the mountains. This stuff can be eaten as food; it's a life-saving treasure!"

He immediately gave the order: "There's a severe drought now, and there's no work to be done in the fields. Starting today, all villagers should bring shovels, hoes, baskets, and other containers. Anyone who can help, adults and children alike, should come with me into the mountains to dig up lotus roots. Let's dig up all the lotus roots as quickly as possible!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a cheer erupted from the crowd.

Immediately afterwards, someone asked loudly, "Uncle Village Head, how do we divide the lotus roots we dug up?"

This is also the issue that everyone is most concerned about.

The village headman raised his hand to quell the noise, then continued, "I've set two rules: First, whoever digs it keeps it; second, we're all one family in this village, and we can't just stand by and watch the old, weak, sick, and disabled starve to death. So, each household must hand over twenty catties of lotus roots after digging, totaling about three hundred catties, which will then be distributed among the village's elderly, children, and the frail!"

The villagers were instantly thrilled by the fair and reasonable distribution rules and cheered.

After handing over twenty jin, each family will still have at least two hundred jin left. If they tighten their belts and eat sparingly, it will be enough to last for two months and get through the current famine.

The entire village formed a long line and headed into the mountains. Along the way, news about the origin of the lotus root and the little incident from the previous night gradually spread.

"I heard that the Yang family was the first to discover this lotus root. It was Old Master Yang who knew its value and recognized it at a glance."

"That's right! Old Master Yang is kind-hearted. He went to the village head immediately and didn't try to monopolize it."

"If you ask me, the most infuriating thing is Shen! She actually sent her daughter to Ma'an Village to inform her family. Last night, while I was in the mountains with Grandpa Yang to verify the situation, they were already digging up her family's house in Ma'an Village!"

"People from other villages have come to our village's mountains to steal our grain? This is outrageous!"

"Fortunately, the village head was kind-hearted. Seeing that the Shen family's children were pale and thin, he gave them about twenty catties of lotus roots. It was precisely because he was afraid that everyone from Ma'an Village would come and rob them that the village head was in a hurry to organize all of us to go into the mountains to dig lotus roots today."

"The people of Ma'an Village are already dishonest; they dug traps in the mountains to steal our prey before, and now they're trying to steal our lotus roots!"

Shen, who was in the group, heard all the discussions clearly and was both angry and anxious.

She felt wronged: her daughter Fangjuan had discovered the lotus roots first, so what was wrong with letting her family dig some up? It was only natural! These villagers had received benefits from the Yang family, yet they were criticizing her; they were truly ungrateful!

But she also knew that she would still have to live in the village in the future, and she couldn't afford to fall out with the whole village. She was even more afraid that if Old Lady Yang found out, she would be held accountable. So she could only suppress her anger and dare not directly argue with anyone.

After much thought, Madam Shen vented her resentment on her youngest daughter, Tao Hua.

She suddenly stopped, grabbed seven-year-old Tao Hua's ear, and pulled her up forcefully.

"Ouch! Mother, it hurts!" Peach Blossom cried out in pain, tears welling up instantly, and she stomped her feet in agony.

In front of the surrounding villagers, Madam Shen loudly defended herself: "Stop gossiping! I didn't send her to deliver the message, it was this brat! She ate the lotus root and thought it was delicious, so she ran to her grandmother's house to show it off, which is how she attracted the people from Ma'an Village!"

She lowered her head, glaring fiercely at Peach Blossom, and threatened in a low voice, "If you dare to gossip like that again, I'll sew your mouth shut! Do you hear me?"

Peach Blossom covered her mouth in terror, tears streaming down her face like broken beads. She felt wronged but dared not utter a sound.

It was clearly her mother who told her to go to Ma'an Village to inform her grandmother, but now all the responsibility is being pushed onto her.

She remembered her grandmother saying that when her mother was pregnant with her, she always thought it was a son, but when she was born it was a daughter, she always scolded her as a "money-losing thing" and never gave her a kind look.

Peach Blossom dared not expose her mother's lie, and could only silently endure the pain, covering her ears which had been twisted until they were bright red, and staggering along behind the group.