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

Tang Susu walked to Lan Xia's side and whispered, "Lan Xia, you don't need to gather wild vegetables to feed the chickens and ducks tomorrow. I've arranged other chores for you. Just come to my house as usual tomorrow morning."

Lan Xia's heart sank at first, thinking she was about to be fired. But when she heard there was a new job, she immediately smiled and nodded vigorously, "Okay, Auntie!"

After giving her instructions, Tang Susu turned around to go home and continue making jelly. She had just taken a step when Grandpa Yang called out to her, "Gou Sheng's mother, wait a minute."

She turned around and saw Grandpa Yang pointing at the sawn oak pillars and asking, "How tall do you want the wooden barrels for your house? I'll make them to that size."

Tang Susu then realized that the old man was cutting down trees to make a new wooden bucket for her.

She felt a mix of emotions—her previous attempts to curry favor with the Yang family were merely to ease tensions and make things easier in the future; she had never intended to ask for such benefits.

Tang Susu suppressed her complicated emotions and smiled sincerely: "Grandpa, just make it the same height as the wooden barrels we have now. You've worked hard, I'll definitely give you a tip for your trouble."

Old Master Yang took a puff of his pipe and waved his hand: "Why bother with a tip? We're family, no need for formalities. Once the bucket is finished, have Lifu hire someone to paint it. That way it'll last for over ten years, maybe even be passed down to future generations. Don't worry about these things with me, it's just part of the Yang family's property."

Having said all that, it would be too formal for Tang Susu to argue further, so she could only express her sincere gratitude and turn to leave the ancestral home.

Shen, who was in the backyard, saw this scene clearly and was so angry that she gritted her teeth.

She felt that her in-laws were too biased towards their third son's family. The basins and buckets they borrowed last night had not yet been returned, and now they were making new ones to give to them. It was as if they were giving all the benefits to the third son's family.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Suppressing her anger, Shen rushed from the backyard to the front yard and complained to Old Lady Yang, "Mother, look at this water vat! The water is almost gone, and we don't even have a wooden bucket left. How are we going to fetch water?"

The implication was clear: they were urging Tang Susu to return the borrowed bucket.

As soon as she finished speaking, footsteps came from the courtyard gate. Tang Liqiang walked in carrying a load of water, his forehead covered in sweat.

He put down the bucket and offered, "Second Aunt, we'll need to borrow the bucket for a few more days. From now on, I'll fetch the water for the ancestral home."

Seeing Tang Liqiang covered in sweat, Old Mrs. Yang felt sorry for him and quickly called to Erfu, "Quickly, go and get Liqiang a bowl of water!"

She glanced at Shen Shi, her eyes filled with dissatisfaction.

Shen's face turned red and then pale, and she was both angry and anxious—she never expected that Tang Susu would send Tang Liqiang to fetch water for the ancestral home.

With a large family living in the ancestral home, the water consumption is high, requiring several trips a day to fetch water from the mountain paths – no easy task.

Tang Liqiang didn't rest. After finishing his water, he continued to fetch water, carrying it back and forth four times before filling the large water tank in the ancestral home.

He wiped his sweat, didn't linger, and immediately rushed home to help Tang Susu make jelly.

Back home, Tang Susu had already divided the three and a half jin of lantern seeds into seven portions and was preparing to rub the seeds, filter them, and solidify them into jelly.

Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui followed them in and were stunned when they saw the lantern seeds in the basin. They had thought that jelly was made by cooking lantern fruits and adding other ingredients, but they did not expect that the seeds had to be peeled and washed first.

Tang Susu bluntly said, "Big brother, second brother, let me make this clear to you, this job is a bit hard on your hands, and you might even get peeling skin. Think it over before you decide whether you want to do it or not."

Yang Fuqiang waved his hand dismissively: "What's the big deal? Everyone gets skin peeling when doing farm work. It's nothing."

Yang Fugui hesitated for a moment, not saying whether he would do it or not, but instead asked directly, "Third sister-in-law, how much will the wages be?"

Yang Fuqiang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly nudged him with his elbow, signaling him not to be so direct.

Tang Susu witnessed the entire scene.

Tang Susu smiled and said frankly, "Since I asked you to come and help, I certainly won't let you work for nothing."

She then clarified the pricing method: "Washing half a pound of lantern seeds will cost five copper coins. Each of you can wash a maximum of one pound, as washing more will hurt your hands. Also, when rubbing the seeds, use a light touch and don't crush them, otherwise they will be difficult to filter. Furthermore, your hands cannot be soaked in water for more than two incense sticks' worth of time; you need to rest occasionally. This will reduce the damage and allow you to continue working for me in the long run."

Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui were both incredulous when they heard the amount of their wages.

Grinding half a pound of seeds takes about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, and you can get five copper coins. A pound would yield ten coins, which is truly an unexpected windfall.

Tang Susu then changed the subject and put forward the core requirement: "And the most important point is that after you leave my workplace, no matter who you work with, you can't talk about what you saw or did here."

She explained, "I'm in business, and what I fear most is the recipe being leaked. Once it's leaked, this business will be impossible to continue."

Yang Fuqiang immediately pledged his loyalty: "Third sister-in-law, don't worry! Even if Mother asks, I'd rather die than tell!"

Yang Fugui also assured him, "Even if my wife pulls my ear, I won't say a word!"

It was the first time the two brothers had done this job, so they were extra careful and moved slowly. It took them twice as long as expected, and it took them two hours to finish rubbing the two basins of lantern seeds.

Tang Susu checked the results and found they were quite good. The seeds were clean and not many were broken. She immediately took out twenty copper coins from her pocket and gave ten coins to each person.

Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui, clutching the heavy copper coins, were slightly unsteady on their feet. They were still not fully dazed when they entered the ancestral home.

Yang Fuqiang was even more excited—he never expected that helping his younger brother and sister-in-law with some work would earn him so many copper coins. These ten copper coins were like a pie falling from the sky.

Old Mrs. Yang was sitting under the eaves of the main room, sewing shoe soles. Seeing the two men looking so absent-minded, she teased them playfully, "What's wrong with you two? Are you drunk or still half asleep?"

Yang Fuqiang immediately spread out the copper coins in his palm, while Yang Fugui exclaimed, "Mother, the work my third sister-in-law asked us to do is very easy, and she's incredibly generous!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen immediately rushed forward, grabbed Yang Fugui's hand, and examined it closely. She coldly said, "Relaxed? Look at these hands, they're all white from being soaked! If you keep working like this for a few more days, these hands will be ruined. Ten copper coins won't even be enough to buy medicine!"

Old Mrs. Yang glanced at Madam Shen and said directly, "Second son, you don't need to go work for your third sister-in-law tomorrow. I'll find someone reliable to take your place."

Upon hearing this, Madam Shen's face instantly changed, and she quickly forced a stiff smile, changing her tune: "Mother, I was just a little upset and muttered a few words. I really didn't blame my third sister-in-law for giving me too little money!"

She knew in her heart that farm work was much more tiring and more harmful to her hands. She might even cut her fingers while chopping firewood, and she wouldn't earn more than ten copper coins a day. This job was already a rare and good one.

Old Mrs. Yang ignored her and took five copper coins from each of Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui: "These five coins are for the public account. Use them to help your third sister-in-law with her work, but don't neglect the work at home. You two sit down and rest for a while, then hurry up and go to the fields to pull weeds. It's cooler now, so it'll be more comfortable to go out."

Shen pulled Yang Fugui back into the house, anxiously pressing him for details: "Tell me the truth, what kind of work did you do at your third sister-in-law's house? What were you washing?"

Yang Fugui scratched his head, remembering Tang Susu's request for secrecy, and said stiffly, "My third sister-in-law said I can't tell."

Shen was so angry that she gritted her teeth. She became even more convinced that Tang Susu was on guard against her, and her resentment towards Tang Susu grew even stronger.

As Shen walked out of the house, she saw the lantern grass that Fangjuan had just picked in the yard and secretly thought to herself: When I have time, I will also pick some lantern fruits and take them to Tang Susu to exchange for copper coins.

She had previously tried to imitate making jelly, but after cooking the physalis fruits, she had no clue how.

Now she walked up to Fangjuan, picked up a few lantern fruits, peeled them open, saw the brown and black seeds inside, brought them to her nose and smelled them, and found that the taste had nothing to do with the unique texture of jelly.

She stood in the courtyard, staring at the lantern seeds, completely baffled, unable to understand how they could be made into jelly.

On the other side, Madam Wen pulled Yang Fuqiang into the house, carefully hiding the remaining five copper coins in his hand into the crack of the bed, and whispered to him, "Third sister-in-law gave you this job because of our family ties, so you must do it well and don't be lazy, otherwise you'll let her down."

Yang Fuqiang nodded emphatically: "Mom, I know! I'll definitely do my best!"

In the Tang family courtyard, Tang Susu was busy with her three sons.

After deducting the two jin of lantern seeds that Yang Fuqiang and Yang Fugui helped to roll, there was one and a half jin left.

Tang Susu asked Tang Liqiang to share half a jin, while she would take responsibility for one jin.

She put on rubber gloves and sped up the process of rubbing the seeds.

After all the seeds were rubbed, she poured them into a basin, carefully filtered out the impurities, and then put them into a bucket—this task required extreme seriousness and patience, which the easygoing Tang Liqiang simply couldn't do, so she had to do it herself.

As Tang Susu filtered the jelly, she couldn't help but worry: if things continued like this, and the sales of jelly increased further, she was afraid she would be exhausted.

As the sun gradually set, its golden afterglow painted half the sky red.

After a flurry of activity, the seven buckets of jelly were finally all made.

Tang Susu picked up a small bag of tapioca starch, added a little to each bucket, and stirred it well.

At this point, the entire process of making jelly is considered complete.