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

As soon as Yang Gousheng finished explaining his plan on the high platform to gather all the able-bodied men in the village to dig ditches and bring water to the village in two or three days, the audience erupted in a cacophony of questions and rebuttals.

"What do you know, you little brat? What nonsense are you spouting! Digging mountains and opening canals is a pipe dream!" a middle-aged man shouted, his face full of disdain.

Someone chimed in, "Exactly! If the whole village goes to dig ditches, who will take care of the fields? What if we miss the planting season? Even if we bring in water, it'll be all for nothing!"

Others shook their heads and sneered, "Finished in two or three days? You're trying to fool us! It takes our whole family several days to clear an acre of wasteland. The soil in the deep mountains is harder and there are more rocks, so it will only be more difficult to dig. Don't even think about it for less than a month!"

The scene was filled with sarcastic remarks, noisy chatter, and complete chaos.

Fourteen-year-old Yang Gousheng had never seen such a scene before. He was already nervous, and being surrounded and questioned by so many adults made him even more uneasy. He stood on the stage, at a loss, his face turned red, and he couldn't even speak.

In modern times, he would only be a junior high school student. Facing the questioning of nearly two thousand people, he would be lucky to even stand still; he would have no way to cope.

Just as the situation was about to get out of control, Tang Susu strode up to the platform and stood next to Yang Gousheng.

In her previous life, she was the chairperson of a group company, and public speaking and controlling the situation were commonplace for her. At this moment, facing the gaze of the entire village, she was not flustered at all and remained calm.

When the villagers saw that she was no longer the disheveled woman she used to be, that her skin was fairer and her demeanor had become calm and composed, and that she was completely different from before, they all fell silent in astonishment.

They weren't afraid, but rather genuinely surprised by her change, and for a moment they forgot to argue.

"Everyone, please be quiet." Tang Susu's voice was not loud, but it carried a strange persuasiveness. "Whether Yang Gousheng's plan is feasible or not, it's useless to just talk about it. We'll know once we demonstrate it in practice."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Yang Feicheng below the stage: "Feicheng, could you please get a hoe and dig a ditch ten feet long right here in this open space? Everyone, let's keep track of the time and see how long it takes you to finish digging."

Yang Feicheng was a strong man in his late twenties, with great strength.

He quickly grabbed a hoe, walked to the designated spot, and began digging.

With a single stroke of the hoe, a large pit was dug out; the movement was quick and powerful.

In less than fifteen minutes, a ditch ten feet long and of suitable depth was dug.

The villagers below the stage were stunned, their faces full of astonishment—they never expected that digging ditches would be so easy, much simpler than clearing land themselves.

Tang Susu chimed in at the opportune moment, "As you can see, digging trenches on flat ground is quick. However, the soil in the mountains is harder than here, and there might be rocks, so it definitely won't be finished in a quarter of an hour. Let's be conservative and say we'll dig one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) every two hours, is that safe enough?"

After saying that, she stepped down from the stage, handing the spotlight back to Yang Gousheng.

With his mother's support and practical demonstrations as a foundation, Yang Gousheng felt much more confident.

He hadn't slept all night, calculating all the data countless times. Now, he smoothly explained the accounts to the villagers: "There are over five hundred strong laborers in the village. Each person is responsible for two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) of the ditch, and it can be dug in two hours. Even if we split into two groups to take turns, it will definitely be completed in three days at most!"

With Yang Feicheng's demonstration and Yang Gousheng's reasoned explanation, most of the villagers in Yangqu Village were convinced, and the original doubts gradually subsided.

The village head stepped onto the stage again, his expression solemn as he announced the regulations: "Digging ditches is a matter of life and death for the entire village. All able-bodied men over the age of fifteen must participate! Now, everyone go home immediately to bring hoes, shovels, and other tools. In fifteen minutes, everyone must gather here and we'll go into the mountains together!"

A few villagers still had doubts. One of them asked loudly, "Village head, what if there isn't enough water from that source? Also, my fields are far from the foot of the mountain. What if the water can't be brought over and the rice doesn't get enough water?"

Zheng, the punk in the crowd, stood up and refused outright: "I'm not going! Who knows if this is some kind of stupid idea from that short-sighted shrew Tang Susu, making a fool of us!"

Several people echoed this sentiment, including Hou Cai's wife—her husband had previously harbored feelings for Tang Susu, which was why she had always disliked Tang Susu.

Then there's Shen, the second daughter-in-law of the Yang family. Seeing Tang Susu's status in the village rising higher and higher, she was filled with jealousy and joined in stirring up trouble.

The village head's face darkened, and he sternly rebuked Zheng the scoundrel: "You don't have to go! But from today onwards, your fields will never see a drop of water from the irrigation ditch! If you die of thirst or starvation, it's all your own fault!"

He then swept his gaze over those who echoed his sentiments, especially the Yang family members, and warned, "Anyone from the Yang family who dares not participate will be expelled from the ancestral hall, driven out of Yangqu Village, and never allowed to return!"

The village head rarely got angry, but this time he was serious, and his stern intimidation silenced everyone.

Apart from Zheng the pimp who stood there with his neck stiff, no one else dared to say another word and obediently turned around and went home to prepare tools.

Fifteen minutes later, more than 500 able-bodied men from Yangqu Village, all carrying hoes, sickles, shovels and other farm tools, gathered under the banyan tree and set off into the deep mountains, officially launching the canal-digging project.

The village head had already made arrangements for the division of labor: forty-five of the strongest men were responsible for cutting down trees, leveling the ground, and clearing obstacles in front of them.

They had to cut down the towering trees blocking the way and move the boulders that were blocking the road to make way for the subsequent dredging.

The remaining 400-plus people were divided into two groups to take turns digging ditches and canals. Each group of two people was responsible for a distance of one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters). Every hour, the two groups would switch to rest to avoid overworking everyone.

The middle-aged and young women in the village are responsible for carrying buckets to the mountains to fetch water. Each bucket of water is used sparingly and is enough for a family to use for a day.

Yang Gousheng, who was under fifteen years old, did not need to participate in digging the canal; he only needed to carry water for his family.

Yang Gousheng carried the water buckets into the mountains, encountering many women from his village along the way, who all laughed and joked with him.

Someone brought up his embarrassing childhood slovenly appearance: "Gousheng, do you remember how you used to be, all snotty-nosed and filthy? You're so much more presentable now!"

Several enthusiastic women even offered to play matchmaker for him: "Gousheng, I have a niece who is pretty and hardworking, and she's a good match for you in age. Would you like me to introduce you to her?"

"My daughter is thirteen this year, and she'll be able to get married in two years. If you don't mind, we can get engaged now!"

Some even joked, "Gousheng, what do you think of your aunt's chrysanthemum? She's honest and hardworking!"

Yang Gousheng blushed deeply, scratching his head as he repeatedly declined, "Thank you for your kindness, aunties, but I'm not considering marriage for the time being. My family isn't well-off right now; we don't even have a proper bed for my wife, and I'm afraid it would be unfair to her."

The women then remembered that his mother, Tang Susu, had a bad reputation in the village and always tormented her sister-in-law. No one wanted their daughter to suffer, so they stopped mentioning the marriage proposal.

The project was progressing smoothly, but not long after, a minor problem arose.

Several women carrying water spotted a few furtive figures in the woods. Upon closer inspection, they recognized them as people from Ma'an Village.

Their hearts sank, worried that the other party had come to inquire about the water source and wanted to steal it. They quickly sent a fast-moving young woman to report the matter to the village head.

At this moment, Li Zhengzheng and Tang Susu were squatting on the ground under the banyan tree, drawing a miniature map of the ditch and marking the surrounding area.

Tang Susu took a small stick and drew a few openings above the ditches on the thumbnail. She suggested, "Uncle Village Head, we can set up a few openings in these places. When the fields are irrigated enough, we can block the openings with stone slabs; when we need to irrigate, we can open the stone slabs. This will save water resources and make management easier."

The village head nodded, then asked curiously, "How long will this ditch last after it's dug?"

Based on her modern observations, Tang Susu earnestly suggested: "If the water in the canal is soaked for a long time, mud will easily accumulate at the bottom and on the walls, eventually rendering the canal unusable. If we want it to last longer, we can lay a layer of pebbles in the canal during the off-season to prevent surrounding soil from being washed into it and reduce siltation. However, the most important thing right now is to get the water to the fields. Maintenance can be done after the autumn harvest when the farming season is over."

The village headman repeatedly agreed, saying, "What you say makes sense, we'll do it your way!"

He looked at Tang Susu, finding her increasingly strange, and couldn't help but ask, "Gou Sheng's mother, you used to live in the village and rarely went out, how do you know so many things?"

"Cough cough..."

Tang Susu was speechless for a moment. She couldn't very well say that she had traveled from the past and had modern memories, could she?

She could only cough awkwardly twice to cover it up.