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

Tang Susu had no concept of the ancient unit of measurement "mu" and couldn't determine the area of ​​wasteland she wanted to buy. So she smiled and said to the village head, "Uncle Village Head, I haven't figured out the exact number of mu of wasteland yet. I'll go home and discuss it with the children to get a rough idea, and then I'll tell you later."

She had just left with Yang Gousheng when Yang Feichen, the village head's eldest son, walked into the house, frowning as he asked his father, "Dad, what did Aunt Yang want with you?"

Upon learning that Tang Susu claimed there was a water source deep in the mountains, he retorted with disbelief, "Aunt Yang used to only cause trouble and make a scene in the village. She's never done anything serious. Dad, you actually believe her?"

The second son, Yang Feimo, chimed in, "That's right, I think she's just trying to cheat the village out of the land! Maybe there's no water source at all, and she's just making up lies to fool you."

The village head, puffing out his beard and glaring at his two sons, said fiercely, "What do you know! Wasn't it Tang Susu who told everyone about digging up lotus roots last time? If it weren't for her, our whole village would still be starving! You can't think too badly of people."

He paused, then said, "Whether it's true or not, I'll take some men into the mountains tomorrow to find out. Even if she wants to lie, she can only fool an old man like me for one night. What good is that?"

The village head's wife chimed in, "I think Gousheng's mother is indeed different from before. Haven't you noticed? She's cleaner now, and not as thin as before. Even Gousheng looks more energetic. He's completely unrecognizable from his previous listless appearance."

Tang Susu and Yang Gousheng were walking home when they stopped at the wasteland at the foot of the mountain.

This land was overgrown with withered yellow weeds, and its terrain was uneven, making it extremely difficult to cultivate. The people of Yangqu Village had always looked down on it.

"Mother, this wasteland is about forty mu," Yang Gousheng said to Tang Susu, pointing to the wasteland. He then began to calculate the price. "Uncle Village Head said one mu is seven qian of silver, two mu is fourteen qian, three mu is..."

As he got to the end, he frowned and got stuck, unable to figure it out no matter what he did.

Tang Susu patiently taught him a simpler method: "Don't add it up little by little. Ten mu of land is seventy coins, and forty mu of land is four seventy coins. Calculate how much four seventy coins add up to."

Yang Gousheng nodded, squatted down, picked up stones, and drew lines to count them. He drew seven lines for each pile, and drew four piles in total.

He counted them one by one, then jumped up excitedly and shouted, "Mother! I've figured it out! Four seventies add up to two hundred and eighty coins!"

Tang Susu shook her head helplessly and continued to prompt him on unit conversions: "You forgot? One tael of silver equals ten coins. So, how many tens are in two hundred and eighty coins?"

Yang Gousheng drew lines on the ground again, dividing the 280 stones into groups of ten. After counting them, he suddenly realized, "There are twenty-eight tens! That's twenty-eight taels of silver!"

He looked up at his mother with admiration in his eyes, praising her, "Mom, you're so smart! You can even calculate such difficult numbers."

Tang Susu sighed softly. Twenty-eight taels of silver was no small sum. With her family's current income, it would take them a while to save up that amount.

Yang Gousheng noticed her worry and quickly comforted her, "Mother, we already have fourteen mu of land. My eldest uncle, second uncle, and I farm it together, and we can manage it. There's no need to buy more wasteland and spend that money."

"I'm buying this wasteland not to grow crops," Tang Susu said, patting his head mysteriously. "Don't overthink it. We'll decide whether to buy it or not once we've earned enough money."

After saying that, he led Yang Gousheng home.

As the mother and son crossed the ridge between the fields, they could see a large number of villagers gathered under the banyan tree in the distance, their chatter rising and falling.

As I got closer, I could hear that everyone was anxiously discussing the water outage.

"The well is completely dry, and the village head hasn't offered any solutions. What are we going to do?"

"If there's no water left to drink, we'll have to pack our bags and flee the famine. We can't just wait to die in the village."

Some suggested, "Why don't we go to Xihe Village to fetch water? It only takes an hour to get there and back, which is better than dying of thirst."

Immediately someone chimed in, "I heard that there are six wells in Ma'an Village, and five of them still have water. We can go and take a look."

But everyone knew that even if the neighboring village was willing to lend water, it would take nearly two hours to carry one load back. In this heat, just the journey would exhaust them, and they simply couldn't endure it in the long run.

When Tang Susu got home, she lifted the lid of the water tank and found that there wasn't a single drop of water left inside.

Fortunately, there was still a pot of water left on the stove that had been boiled but not finished.

Miao Yulan walked over nervously, blushing as she apologized, "Big sister, I'm sorry, I used up all the water in the water tank while I was cooking. I'll go to the neighbor's house to borrow some water for you to wash up."

Ever since Tang Susu started requiring the whole family to take a bath every day, she has always made sure to prepare hot water in advance. Today, she was so busy that she forgot and was afraid of upsetting Tang Susu.

"No need to bother," Tang Susu waved her hand. "I'm not washing up today. You're pregnant and have had a long day, go to sleep."

Miao Yulan was stunned for a moment. Seeing that Tang Susu was indeed not angry, she breathed a sigh of relief, thanked her, and went back to her room to rest.

After it was completely dark and the whole family was fast asleep, Tang Susu quietly got up and went out into the yard.

She accessed the system's trading platform, bought two eggs for one coin, and stealthily placed them in the henhouse, disguising them as eggs the hen had just laid that night.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Yang Xiaobao's excited shouts echoed through the courtyard: "Mom! Dad! Big Brother! Second Brother! Come quick! Da Hua and Er Hua laid four eggs last night!"

He gave the two hens random names, and the sound was so loud it echoed throughout the entire yard.

Tang Susu had expected this to happen, so she wasn't surprised. She slowly got dressed and walked out of the room.

The water shortage crisis in Yangqu Village has now fully erupted.

Before dawn, villagers rushed to Xihe Village to fetch water, but when they returned, they all complained with indignation, "Xihe Village is so greedy! They demand two jin of buckwheat noodles or millet in exchange for a single bucket of water! This is outrageous!"

Someone immediately added, "Ma'an Village is even worse! They demand six jin of cornmeal or millet for every bucket of water. This isn't borrowing water; it's robbing grain!"

The villagers were utterly devastated, lamenting, "In this sweltering heat, we can't survive without water! How are we going to live like this?"

Just as everyone was in a panic and chaos, the clerk walked over with a solemn expression.

He found a high spot, cleared his hoarse throat, and shouted, "Fellow villagers, please be quiet for a moment!"

The noisy crowd fell silent instantly, and all eyes turned to the village head.

In this time of crisis, the village head is the spiritual pillar of Yangqu Village, and everyone hopes that he can point out a way out.

The village head's gaze swept over the crowd, and he said coldly, "Think about it, everyone. Two pounds of buckwheat noodles mixed with wild vegetables are enough for a family to eat for a day. If we use this life-saving food to exchange for water, the people of Xihe Village and Ma'an Village can survive, but the people of Yangqu Village will only starve to death like Granny Yang!"

He paused, his tone growing increasingly somber, "When that time comes, those who die first might at least have a coffin to be put in, but those who die later might not even have a straw mat to wrap their bodies in!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water, chilling everyone to the bone and intensifying their sense of panic.

An elderly man couldn't help but wail, "We people of Yangqu Village are honest and law-abiding citizens. We've never done anything immoral or harmful. How could God be so cruel as to cut off our path to survival!"

"Silence, everyone!" the village head raised his voice, suppressing the sobs. "When God closes a door, He opens a window!"

He told everyone that he hadn't slept all night and had thought about it carefully. The flowers, trees, and shrubs in the mountains were growing lushly, and the pheasants and rabbits were thriving, which proved that there was definitely no shortage of water in the deep mountains. What Tang Susu said was probably true.

"There's no water to drink right now, and you're just feeling a little unwell. It's not life-threatening, so there's no need to worry too much," the village head reassured everyone. "Those who need to go to the fields should go to the fields, and those who need to do housework should do housework. Everything should proceed as usual."

Finally, he made the following arrangement: "Let's all gather here again in the evening and discuss the follow-up plans."