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

Tang Susu knew that the plot to seize grain in Ma'an Village had not been thwarted and that conflict was likely to follow, so she had to prepare in advance.

She returned to her room, closed the door, and immediately brought up the system's trading platform screen to begin selecting self-defense items.

The platform offered a wide variety of self-defense tools, and after looking at them for a long time, she finally chose a foldable dagger.

When unfolded, this dagger is incredibly sharp; when folded, it is small and portable, taking up almost no space when tucked into one's pocket.

She clicked to buy, paid 550 copper coins, and the dagger instantly appeared in her palm.

She picked up a piece of wood next to her and tried it. With one cut, the wood broke in two, but the blade was not damaged at all.

"This money was well spent." Tang Susu nodded in satisfaction.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Tang Liqiang walked in carrying a bowl of water. He immediately noticed the dagger in her hand.

He was instantly captivated, his eyes widening. He strode forward, staring intently at the dagger, and demanded, "Sis, what's this? It looks so sharp! Where did you get it?"

Tang Susu was too lazy to come up with a complicated lie, so she calmly made up a lie: "I found it in a dark alley when I went to town last time."

Tang Liqiang swallowed hard, rubbing his hands together incessantly, his face full of longing, his eyes glued to the dagger.

"Sister, could you... could you give me this dagger?" he asked cautiously, his voice trembling slightly.

Tang Susu looked at his greedy expression and smiled helplessly, then handed him the dagger: "Here, be careful and don't hurt anyone."

"Thank you, sister!" Tang Liqiang was overjoyed. He took the dagger, gripped it tightly in his hand, and skipped away, afraid that Tang Susu would change her mind.

Having solved Tang Liqiang's self-defense problem, Tang Susu started searching on the trading platform.

This time, she set her sights on a self-defense ring.

This ring looks ordinary, but it actually has a hidden secret. Not only does it have hidden spikes, but it can also generate electricity. A single discharge can knock down a strong man.

Although the price was not cheap, costing one tael of silver, Tang Susu bought it without hesitation for her own safety.

The seller also included a black leather cord as a gift.

Tang Susu strung the ring on a leather cord to make a pendant, which she wore around her neck close to her body, making it very convenient to access whenever needed.

As evening approached, Miao Yulan spent half the day in the kitchen preparing a sumptuous dinner.

Two wild eggs were beaten and made into a shepherd's purse and egg soup with wild shepherd's purse, while the remaining three eggs were boiled into hard-boiled eggs, with each person receiving half an egg; there was also stir-fried wild bracken and fried lotus root pancakes, served with fragrant rice.

Even though they've been eating their fill every day for the past few days, the four boys still drooled with envy at the sight of the table full of food. They sat up straight, their eyes fixed on the table, waiting for Tang Susu to start eating.

"Eat up." As soon as Tang Susu finished speaking, the four boys couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and put food into their bowls.

Tang Susu gave everyone half a boiled egg, and specially scooped a few extra spoonfuls of egg soup into Miao Yulan's bowl, which still had a lot of egg drop soup in it.

Looking at Miao Yulan's slightly protruding belly, and remembering that she was still in labor and that she herself had little experience with childbirth, she said, "Yulan, when I'm less busy in a few days, I'll ask Dr. Zhang to come and give you a check-up."

She paused for a moment, then explained, "Just like crops in the field need to be checked regularly to see how they are growing, you also need to check on your baby periodically while you're pregnant to make sure you and the baby are safe."

Miao Yulan held the bowl, her eyes instantly reddening, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

She had been married to Tang Lifu for a year, but she never had much status in the Tang family. She only managed to get by because Tang Lifu secretly doted on her.

She had previously hoped to start her own business with Tang Lifu, but unfortunately, her family had neither land nor connections, so it was impossible for her to achieve this.

Now, her sister-in-law not only takes special care of her health, but also gives her extra food. For the first time, she feels warmth in the Tang family besides her husband, and she feels that her sister-in-law has become someone she can rely on.

The initial thought of starting my own business completely vanished.

She opened her mouth, wanting to thank Tang Susu, but her throat tightened, and she couldn't say a word.

Tang Susu noticed her embarrassment, reached out and patted her shoulder, teasingly saying, "Silly girl, you're about to become a mother, don't cry. Be careful the baby cries every day after it's born, and it'll tire you out."

Miao Yulan was amused by her and stopped crying. She quickly held back her tears, picked up her chopsticks, and lowered her head to eat.

The family was enjoying their meal when a timid girl's voice suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate: "Excuse me... is Brother Gousheng home?"

Upon hearing the sound, Yang Gousheng dropped his chopsticks on the table with a "clatter," immediately put down his bowl, jumped up, blushed, and ran out the door.

Tang Susu curiously put down her chopsticks and went to the door to look around.

Outside the courtyard wall, there was a girl's head, wearing a brown patched shirt. She looked tall and slender, but was very thin, clearly from a family that had suffered from famine and lack of food and clothing.

"Who is this?" Tang Susu asked Yang Xiaobao, turning around.

Yang Xiaobao blinked his big eyes and said with a grin, "Mommy, this is Sister Cuihe! She's the sister-in-law that Big Brother said he'd take me to see!"

Tang Liqiang also came over for a look and nodded in agreement: "This girl is quite pretty, with clear eyebrows and bright, large eyes. Although her clothes have patches, they are clean and tidy, which is rare in this famine year."

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the young girl Shen Cuihe, her pupils reflecting the glow of the evening glow. She slightly raised her eyes to look at Yang Gousheng, who had run out, her eyes filled with a hint of shyness.

Yang Gousheng was extremely flustered, unsure of what to do with his hands, his head bowed low, not daring to even look the other person in the eye.

Watching this scene, Tang Susu couldn't help but chuckle to herself: This innocent and pure youthful affection is truly something to reminisce about.

But as she laughed, she started to worry again.

Judging from Yang Gousheng's appearance, he is clearly deeply in love with Shen Cuihe and will marry no one but her.

Shen Cuihe took the initiative to visit him, which suggests that she also had some feelings for Gousheng.

So, does that mean I'll be a "mother-in-law" soon?

The thought of spending a lot of money to get a wife gave Tang Susu a headache.

Although she had 130 taels of silver, this silver was obtained through system transactions and its source was unknown, so she couldn't openly use it.

How to "launder" this money has become an urgent problem to be solved.

She turned to Tang Lifu beside her and asked, "Lifu, how much silver did you spend when you married Yulan?"

Tang Lifu's face turned bright red instantly, and he stammered, "I...I don't know, it was all arranged by my mother and grandfather."

Miao Yulan's face turned as red as a ripe apple, and she buried her head, wishing she could bury her face in the bowl.

Yang Xiaobao was quite frank: "I know! Grandma said that when my aunt came in, she didn't have to spend a single copper coin!"

As soon as he said that, a memory of the original owner suddenly flooded into Tang Susu's mind.

In that memory, Tang Lifu and Miao Yulan, who sold vegetables in town, fell in love at first sight and secretly became engaged.

Miao parents were honest and not greedy. Knowing that Tang Lifu's family was not well-off, they still agreed to their daughter's marriage.

Old Mrs. Yang, feeling sorry for her youngest son, secretly gave him 500 copper coins as a betrothal gift. The Miao family then gave these 500 copper coins back to Miao Yulan as part of her dowry.

However, the original owner kept the money and then sent it to the Tang family to subsidize her younger brother.

Not long after Miao Yulan married into the family, Yang Gousheng's father died in battle, and the original owner of the body insisted on separating from the family.

From then on, Miao Yulan lived a life of hard work, little food, and constant scolding and hunger in the Tang family, but she never dared to complain to her family because she was afraid of worrying them.

After reading this memory, Tang Susu felt a pang of pity for Miao Yulan.

At this moment, Yang Gousheng scratched his head, his face flushed, and walked into the house. He said awkwardly, "Sister, Cuihe... Cuihe heard from the people in her village that every family in Yangqu Village has been given lotus roots, and she wants to borrow some grain from our family."

"How much do you want to borrow?" Tang Susu asked.

Yang Gousheng first held up two fingers, then thought for a moment, then withdrew one and whispered, "She...she wanted to borrow 20 jin, but I told her that my family wasn't well-off either, so I asked her to borrow 10 jin first."

Tang Susu understood. Ten catties of lotus root wasn't much, and besides, Yang Gousheng was fond of Shen Cuihe, so she definitely had to help him with this.

She nodded: "Okay, go to the cellar and get 10 catties of lotus roots yourself, and take them to Cuihe."

"Thank you, sister!" Yang Gousheng was overjoyed and turned to run towards the cellar.

Tang Susu turned to Miao Yulan and said gently, "Yulan, you've been married into our family for a year now, and you haven't been back to your parents' home to see them yet, have you? Tomorrow, take 15 jin of lotus roots and go back to your parents' home to visit them."

She considered that as an elder in Miao Yulan's husband's family, the Miao family was a proper in-law family, and 15 catties of lotus root as a visiting gift would be just right, neither too much nor too little.

Miao Yulan was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this, and her eyes welled up with tears again.

Having been married into the family for so long, she has never dared to mention her family in front of her husband's older sister, let alone go back to her family home or send them gifts.

She never expected that her sister-in-law would actually ask her to bring food to visit relatives.

When Shen Cuihe, who was outside the courtyard gate, heard Yang Gousheng say that he could only borrow 10 catties of lotus root, her expression instantly darkened, filled with disappointment.

She originally wanted to borrow 25 jin of lotus roots from Yang Gousheng, but now she only got 10 jin and has no idea how to explain it to her father.

Yang Gousheng came out carrying 10 jin of lotus roots, handed them to Shen Cuihe, and apologized guiltily: "Cuihe, I'm sorry, the lotus roots at home were dug up by my two uncles and Xiaobao together, each of them only had forty or fifty jin, I'm really embarrassed to take too much, please don't be angry."

He couldn't be like his mother before, always disregarding the difficulties of her family and blindly subsidizing her own family, because that would put his sister in a difficult position.