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

Tang Liqiang listened to Tang Susu explain the principles of scarcity marketing with a vague understanding, not daring to ask any questions, and obediently followed along to pack his things.

Yang Xiaobao's eyes widened as he moved closer to Tang Susu, asking curiously, "Mom, an uncle just bought eight servings of cold noodles. How did you figure out it cost twenty-four coins in one go? I couldn't even count it on my fingers and toes."

Tang Susu smiled and ruffled his hair, explaining, "This is arithmetic. My great-grandfather's family used to run a small business, and he taught me some simple arithmetic. If you want to learn, I can teach you, and I can even have Uncle Liqiang learn with you."

Upon hearing the word "arithmetic," Tang Liqiang's head spun instantly, and he quickly waved his hands, saying, "Mom, I don't want to learn! I've never met my grandparents since I was little, and I don't want to learn this brain-taxing stuff."

The three of them quickly arrived at the west side of the dock, where the flow of people was no less than on the east side. Tang Lifu and Yang Gousheng were busy greeting customers.

Tang Liqiang rolled up his sleeves, ready to go and help, but Tang Susu grabbed his collar: "Don't rush in, stand here and see how they sell them."

Yang Gousheng was in charge of greeting customers and collecting money, while Tang Lifu was in charge of serving cold noodles and washing dishes. The uncle and nephew worked together quite well.

Just then, a burly man led five or six of his men over and shouted, "Boss, nine servings of cold noodles, please!"

Yang Gousheng froze instantly.

He had only ever sold three portions at most before, and he had long memorized the rule that three times three equals nine coins, but he simply couldn't calculate nine portions.

In his haste, he blurted out, "Twenty-four copper coins! Uncle Lifu, quickly bring nine servings of cold noodles!"

A burly man waiting to buy liangfen (cold mung bean jelly) couldn't help but laugh out loud, teasing, "Kid, your math isn't very good. Nine servings of liangfen, three coins per serving, that should be twenty-seven copper coins. You shortchanged me by three coins!"

The burly man who placed the order was quite straightforward. He put down twenty-four coins and waved his hand, saying, "It's alright, it's alright. Just go with the price he quoted. If he makes a mistake, that's your problem, it has nothing to do with us."

Yang Gousheng's face flushed red instantly. He stood there, utterly defeated, his mind in turmoil: Should he ask for the three coins back? But the other person had already put the money down; would asking for it back offend them? Or... should he just cancel the sale?

Seeing this, Tang Susu quickly went over, a warm smile on her face, and said loudly to everyone, "Gentlemen, please forgive my rudeness. This is my son. He's uneducated and his math is terrible. He made a mistake himself, so how can we let you pay for it? Lifu, quickly bring this gentleman some cold noodles!"

Those around them, seeing this, all praised it:

"This proprietress is so generous and open-minded!"

"Just based on this attitude, I'll buy my cold noodles from you from now on!"

This move caused those who were initially observing to flock over, and the remaining jelly was snapped up in the blink of an eye.

After closing up shop, Yang Gousheng walked up to Tang Susu with his head hanging low, and said with a guilty conscience, "Mom, it's my fault for being stupid. I miscalculated the money and made the family earn three coins less. Please punish me; I won't eat dinner tonight."

Tang Susu smiled and squatted down to wipe the sweat from his forehead: "Silly child, you are my own flesh and blood, how could I bear to punish you? Besides, if Uncle Lifu or Uncle Liqiang had been in this situation, the losses might have been even greater. You've already done a great job by holding on until now."

She deliberately changed the subject: "After we sell all the cold noodles at Chongwentang, Mom will take you to eat something delicious. Do you want roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), roubaozi (meat buns), or noodles or wontons?"

Yang Gousheng was still a little worried and asked again, "Mother, are you really not going to blame me?"

"I'm not lying to you," Tang Susu said earnestly. "If you had learned arithmetic and still made this mistake, I would definitely punish you. But since no one taught you, it's understandable that you made a mistake. And I promise you, I will teach you arithmetic properly from now on, and I guarantee you won't make the same mistake again next time."

She patted Yang Gousheng on the shoulder: "Don't dwell on this. Hurry up and pack your things. Let's go to Chongwentang. After we sell the last batch of cold noodles, we'll go eat something delicious."

Yang Gousheng was relieved and a smile returned to his face.

The group had a clear division of labor: Tang Lifu carried the remaining bucket of cold noodles, Yang Gousheng carried the wooden planks used to set up the stall, Tang Liqiang carried the bucket of water and bowls and spoons, and Yang Xiaobao carried the snacks that Tang Susu had just given him. They followed behind Tang Susu and headed towards Chongwentang.

When we arrived at Chongwen Hall, it was lunchtime, and students dressed in blue and white long gowns were walking out of the academy.

The poem "Liangfen Relieves Summer Heat" had been widely circulated in Chongwen Hall, and within just one day and night, "Liangfen" became known to all the students in the college.

Tang Susu's stall had barely been set up, and before she could even call out to customers, it was already surrounded by a dense crowd of students.

The five immediately divided the work and worked together, using two sets of bowls and spoons, totaling twenty sets, to sell the food simultaneously. Tang Susu collected money and took orders, Tang Lifu and Tang Liqiang took turns serving the jelly, Yang Gousheng was responsible for adding sugar water and hawthorn pieces, and Yang Xiaobao helped hand over bowls and clean up empty bowls.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all the remaining jelly in the bucket was sold out.

The empty bucket was now full of copper coins earned that day, heavy with their weight.

Tang Lifu, Tang Liqiang, Yang Gousheng, and Yang Xiaobao had never seen so much money in their lives. Their eyes were wide open as they stared blankly at the copper coins in the bucket, forgetting to even move.

Tang Susu cleared her throat and reminded them, "Don't just stand there. Pack your things first, and we'll find a quiet alley to count the money."

The four children then came to their senses, nodded hurriedly, and quickly washed the dishes, arranged the wooden boards neatly, and followed Tang Susu into the alley next to them.

Yang Xiaobao had just turned around and taken two steps when he suddenly stopped and subconsciously looked back at the gate of Chongwen Hall.

A young figure in a blue robe walked by in the crowd. He looked so much like the Uncle Yu that his mother often mentioned.

He remembered that his mother used to always say that he and his younger brother were good-for-nothings, not even a fraction as good as Uncle Yu.

Most of the father's pension money was given to the Tang family by the mother.

He panicked instantly, fearing that if his mother saw Uncle Yu, she would give all the money she had earned that day to him again.

Without daring to think too much, Yang Xiaobao quickly turned around and quickened his pace to catch up with Tang Susu.

Tang Chengyu, who had just stepped out of the Chongwen Hall, frowned as he watched the five figures disappear into the distance, his mind filled with doubt: Why did those figures look so much like his eldest sister Tang Susu, Brother Lifu, Brother Liqiang, and his two cousins? What were they doing in Jiangtou Town?

As he stood there in a daze, several students from Chongwen Hall walked over, mocking him with a sarcastic tone: "Tang Chengyu, still standing here? Going to copy books to exchange for money again?"

Tang Chengyu glanced down at the newly copied books she was holding and said calmly, "I'm going to Renning Hall to deliver some books. Would you like to come along?"

The students waved their hands, their sarcasm growing stronger: "Copying books is such a cheap job, a hundred copper coins for one book. With your heavy workload, it would take you half a month to earn that much. That amount of money can't even buy a decent inkstone. If you can't afford to study, you might as well go home and farm."