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

With a fawning smile, Madam Shen leaned forward and suggested, "Mother, I think Fangjuan should help Third Aunt with the chores. Lanxia is only ten years old; she's still too young and weak to do heavy work."

Hearing this from the side, Wen laughed and retorted, "It's just a job of feeding the chickens and ducks with a basket of wild vegetables every day. It's not tiring at all, and Lanxia can handle it perfectly well."

As she spoke, she turned to Lanxia and instructed her, "You have to do a good job when you go. If you don't do it well, this job will fall to your sister Fangjuan."

Lanxia immediately straightened her back and nodded vigorously: "Grandma, I understand, I'll definitely do a good job!"

When Shen saw that her proposal had been rejected and Wen had retorted, she was so angry that her blood boiled.

Suppressing her anger, she pinched Fangjuan hard beside her and hissed in a low voice, "You taciturn girl! You wouldn't speak when I told you to, and now look what happened! All the benefits were snatched away by that girl Lanxia!"

Fangjuan shuddered in pain from being pinched, feeling wronged, tears welling up in her eyes.

She clearly wanted to go from the beginning, but her mother pinched her and wouldn't let her speak.

Now that she hasn't gained anything, her mother is blaming her instead.

The night in Yangqu Village still carried the lingering heat of the day.

The chirping of insects in the fields and the calls of birds in the trees intertwined, creating a unique lullaby that helped the villagers gradually drift off to sleep. The night passed quietly.

The next morning, Tang Susu got up early.

The busy days left her with backaches and sore waists, but these were minor issues that she could recover with a rest.

She packed her things quickly, and together with her four sons, Tang Lifu, Tang Liqiang, Yang Gousheng, and Yang Xiaobao, carrying their belongings of the cold noodles, she boarded Yang Defu's oxcart and headed to Jiangtou Town once again.

The dock was already bustling with activity in the early morning, with men carrying goods coming and going, creating a lively scene.

Tang Susu still had everyone split into two groups to set up stalls and sell cold noodles.

Thanks to the previous scarcity marketing and the good reputation of the jelly itself, the two buckets of jelly were sold out in less than an incense stick's time after the stall was set up.

After selling out, even though many people still came to inquire and want to buy, Tang Susu didn't sell any more. Instead, she took the last bucket of jelly and led the children to Chongwentang.

There was still some time before the students finished class, so the family of five found a stone bench by the roadside to sit down and rest.

Tang Susu looked at the four boys beside her and asked, "Do you want to study at Chongwen Hall?"

Tang Lifu scratched his head, looking completely misunderstanding, and asked, "Mother, do you want us to go into the school to do business?"

"It's not about doing business," Tang Susu explained helplessly. "What I want to ask is whether you yourselves want to go to Chongwen Hall to study, learn to read and write, and acquire knowledge."

Upon hearing the word "studying," Tang Liqiang shook his head vigorously, refusing repeatedly: "Mom, I'm not going! I'm too stupid, I definitely can't study, I'm only suited for heavy work."

Yang Gousheng frowned and said frankly, "Mother, I inquired beforehand, and the monthly tuition at Chongwen Hall is two taels of silver. Even the cheapest set of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones costs one tael of silver. Our family simply doesn't have that much money to support our studies."

Tang Susu looked at them, her tone gentle yet firm: "You don't need to worry about the money. As long as you truly want to study, Mother will find a way. The key is, do you yourselves want to study?"

A glimmer of hope flashed in Yang Xiaobao's eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Mom, I want to study. But... I'm afraid that school is too expensive and will drain all the family's money. Then we won't even be able to afford meat."

Tang Susu gently stroked his head and promised with a smile, "Don't worry, Mom will find ways to earn more money so you can focus on your studies. Once you've learned something, you can come back and teach your uncles and your older brother."

In fact, she had long had the idea of ​​sending Xiaobao to school. Now that she had some money, she planned to save up three taels of silver in a few days and then officially send Xiaobao to Chongwentang.

An old man resting nearby overheard their discussion and couldn't help but offer some advice: "Young lady, you probably don't know, but Chongwen Hall isn't a place anyone can just enter. Only those who pass the preliminary examination are qualified to study there. Judging from the age of your children, they probably haven't even started their formal education yet; they'll need to be sent to a primary school to build a foundation first."

Upon hearing this, Tang Susu thought to herself: So Chongwentang has an admission threshold.

There is no private school in Yangqu Village. The nearest private school is in Xihe Village, but she has so many past grievances with the Tang family that it is impossible for her to send her child to study there.

After much deliberation, Tang Susu could only set her sights on the school in Dongtai Town.

She decided that before sending Xiaobao to school, she would go to Dongtai Town in person to find out the specific details of the school, including tuition fees and admission requirements.

Just then, the noon bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

Tang Susu temporarily put aside the matter of sending Xiaobao to school and led the children to the spot she had chosen in advance to set up a stall to sell jelly.

Students flocked out and quickly surrounded the cold noodle stall.

In no time, two-thirds of the jelly in the bucket had been sold.

A few teenagers bought some cold noodles and stood by the stall eating them, occasionally discussing the teacher's teachings and trivial matters in the school.

Tang Susu pricked up her ears and listened attentively.

She was completely unfamiliar with this era and desperately needed to acquire more relevant information in order to better establish herself.

One student said, "With this persistent drought, the rice harvest within a thousand miles of Jiangtou Town is unlikely to be good this year. I wonder if the imperial court will introduce any measures to provide disaster relief."

Another student chimed in, "Maybe the teacher will use this as the topic for the monthly exam and have us write an essay on it. By the way, have you heard? There's a small mountain village in Dongtai Town next door that found a water source. The whole village worked together to dig a ditch from the mountain to bring water down to irrigate thousands of acres of farmland, and this year's harvest has been saved."

Tang Susu was quite surprised to hear this.

The news of water diversion from the mountain villages of Dongtai Town even reached Jiangtou Town, reaching the ears of students who are usually focused on studying the classics. This shows how severe the drought is and how widespread the disaster is.

Just then, Tang Liqiang suddenly widened his eyes, pointed in the distance, and shouted to Tang Susu, "Mother! Look! It's Yu-ge'er!"

Yang Xiaobao tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Tang Susu looked in the direction he pointed.

Tang Chengyu, dressed in the blue and white academy uniform of Chongwentang, holding several books in his hand, slowly walked out of the Chongwentang gate.

He hadn't planned to walk this way, but he vaguely sensed someone watching him. Following their gaze, he met Tang Susu's eyes.

Tang Chengyu was stunned for a moment, then recognized Tang Susu.

He was filled with doubt: he was right last time, it really was the eldest sister.

But why would the eldest sister be selling cold noodles at the school gate?

He then realized that the jelly noodles that the students in the school had been praising recently were actually sold by his older sister.

Tang Chengyu respects and likes Tang Susu from the bottom of his heart.

His tuition fees for studying at Chongwentang were all given by his eldest sister.

The eldest sister treated him better than her own younger brothers Tang Lifu and Tang Liqiang, and her own sons Yang Gousheng and Yang Xiaobao.

He figured that his older sister was selling cold noodles because she wanted to save more money to support his continued education.

Thinking this, Tang Chengyu no longer hesitated and strode towards the cold jelly stall.

Yang Xiaobao's heart pounded instantly.

He stood calmly beside the bucket of copper coins, like a little guardian, secretly determined to protect the copper coins in his home with his life.

But then he realized that if his mother insisted on giving money to Uncle Yu, he would be powerless to stop her, and his mood instantly plummeted.

Tang Susu greeted customers who came to buy jelly noodles with her signature smile. After finishing this round of business, she finally looked up at Tang Chengyu, who had already walked up to her.

She remembered that Tang Chengyu was the original owner's cousin.

The original owner doted on this cousin the most because Tang Chengyu was a good student and passed the imperial examination in less than three years. At that age, becoming a student was already considered very outstanding.

Just then, several students who had come with Tang Chengyu seized the opportunity to surround him, teasing him with a mocking tone: "Oh, Brother Tang, you actually have spare money to eat cold noodles?"

"That's right. You can only earn a hundred copper coins by copying books for half a month. This bowl of cold noodles costs three copper coins. Are you willing to eat it? Don't eat this bowl and then have to copy books on an empty stomach for the next half month."

Tang Susu listened with some surprise in her heart.

Back in Xihe Village, Tang Chengyu was the pride of the Tang family and the focus of everyone's admiration. Unexpectedly, in Chongwen Hall, he was ostracized and ridiculed by his classmates.

She had assumed that Tang Chengyu would feel somewhat embarrassed or awkward in this situation.