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

Since the claim that the water source was deep in the mountains had not yet been verified, the village head did not mention it much. He simply put his hands behind his back, looked serious, and left.

Relying on his prestige as the village head for many years, the villagers, who had been in a panic just moments before, gradually calmed down and dispersed to go home and busy themselves with their work.

Not long after, the village head arrived with his eldest son Yang Feicheng, second son Yang Feimo, and eldest grandson Yang Zhimao.

This is the most promising child in Yangqu Village. He met up with Tang Susu and her four sons at the foot of the mountain.

Tang Liqiang had long admired Yang Zhimao for being able to write, so upon seeing this, he proactively approached him and whispered for help, "Brother Zhimao, I'll bring you some delicious food another day, could you teach me how to write my own name?"

Yang Zhimao readily agreed, picked up a stick, and carefully wrote the three characters "Tang Liqiang" on the ground. Although the strokes were straight, the handwriting was not very good.

Yang Xiaobao looked at Yang Zhimao with eyes full of admiration and asked in a clear voice, "Brother Zhimao, can you write my name?"

Yang Zhimao patted his chest and said, "Your name isn't difficult; I can definitely write it!"

He then lay down on the ground and wrote the two characters “勿小” (wù xiǎo), but he couldn’t remember how to write the character “玉” (yù) under the roof radical.

Afraid of ruining his lofty image in Yang Xiaobao's eyes, he was so anxious that cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Glancing out of the corner of his eye at a few white clouds drifting in the sky, he quickly changed the subject: "Grandpa, look how high the clouds are! Is it going to rain?"

Everyone looked up at the sky. Although there were white clouds drifting by and they were not low in the sky, Tang Susu saw no sign of rain.

With a somber expression, the village head, drawing on decades of farming experience, said confidently, "A day like this is basically a sunny day; there's absolutely no chance of it raining."

Yang Zhimao retorted seriously, "No! The book says that when the clouds become high and deep, it will rain. The book must be right. Maybe you're mistaken, sir."

He scratched his head again, looking puzzled. "But you've never been wrong about the weather before, so what's wrong?"

Tang Susu thought to herself: The book is not wrong, your grandpa is not wrong either, the mistake is that you mistook "profound" for "heavy".

Looking at the scene before her, she couldn't help but think of the current situation in Yangqu Village:

The villagers have been farmers for generations. Although there are a few daring and enterprising people who do small businesses, not a single person in the village has ever been educated.

The neighboring village of Xihe was able to produce scholars because an old scholar had opened a thatched-roof school.

But Yangqu Village didn't even have a school, let alone a literate teacher. Even if a child had the talent to read, it was difficult to discover.

If you want your children to be literate, you have to spend money to send them to school in town. But the monthly tuition fee of one tael of silver is an astronomical figure for ordinary farmers.

Tang Susu then understood why the original owner's in-laws had been so desperate to collect her valuables—supporting a scholar was truly no easy feat.

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The group walked deeper into the mountains, and after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they finally arrived at a valley with groundwater.

As soon as you get close, a cool, refreshing mist hits you, dispelling the heat and making you feel relaxed and refreshed.

Yang Feicheng strode forward and immediately spotted the spring water seeping from the rocks. He shouted excitedly, "Water! There really is water! We've been up the mountain countless times before, how come we never discovered this place? Thank God, Yangqu Village won't have to wait to die!"

The village head was trembling with emotion, his eyes slightly red, and he exclaimed, "Our village never lacked water before, and no one ever thought of coming here to look for it. If it weren't for Gou Sheng's mother, at least half of Yangqu Village would have died this time!"

Unable to contain his excitement, Yang Feimo picked up the hoe he carried and began digging into the soil beside him.

After digging less than ten centimeters, a stream of cool spring water gushed out from the soil.

Everyone present crowded around, cupping the spring water in their hands and drinking it in large gulps. The sweet, cool spring water slid down their throats, so refreshing that they couldn't help but sigh.

Yang Feicheng, his face flushed with shame, walked up to Tang Susu and bowed deeply: "Sister-in-law Yang, I'm sorry. I was confused. I misunderstood you before and thought you were deliberately making fun of my father, and I even said some bad things about you. I apologize to you, and I hope you can forgive my rudeness and not hold it against me."

"It's all for the village's sake, I don't care," Tang Susu waved her hand and said calmly. "The most important thing right now is to find a way to bring the water to the village as soon as possible. As long as the water can be brought there smoothly, we can still harvest rice this year."

The village head was also secretly calculating in his heart: based on past experience, the grains in the fields should have already entered the grain-filling and ripening stage by now.

However, due to the prolonged drought, this year's grains are still basically in the heading and flowering stage.

If a large amount of water is not diverted for irrigation as soon as possible, these grains will eventually become useless. The matter of diverting water into the fields must be expedited.

He knew that the distance from the water source to the foot of the mountain was long, and it would take about two hours to go there and back.

Even if the whole village were mobilized to carry water to irrigate the fields, it would still take half a month to irrigate all of the village's thousand or so acres of land.

The village headman grew increasingly troubled. He pulled out his pipe from his waist, lit it, took a puff, and asked Tang Susu in a low voice, "Gousheng's mother, you're quick-witted, do you have any good suggestions?"

For some reason, he just felt that Tang Susu should be able to come up with a solution.

Tang Susu smiled and turned to Yang Gousheng, saying, "Gousheng, tell Uncle Lizheng about the idea you came up with yesterday and ask him for some pointers."

Yang Gousheng immediately perked up, stepped forward, and loudly offered his suggestion: "Uncle Village Head, our Yangqu Village has at least a thousand acres of farmland. It's definitely not feasible to carry water by hand; we simply can't irrigate all the fields. I think the best solution is to dig a ditch, starting from here, and divert the water into the ditch so that it flows down to the fields at the foot of the mountain."

Before Yang Gousheng could finish speaking, Yang Feimo shook his head vigorously and retorted, "Gousheng, you make it sound so easy! Do you know how far it is from this water source to the foot of the mountain? It's at least ten miles, longer than the dike the village built before. How long will it take to dig that?"

A gentle breeze blew by, and the cool spring water brought a touch of refreshment, but the heat in everyone's hearts was hard to dispel, as if they were being scorched by the blazing sun.

Yang Feimo's rebuttal immediately silenced Yang Gousheng, who hesitated and dared not continue.

"Then tell me, besides this method, who else can come up with a better suggestion?" Tang Susu asked calmly.

The question silenced everyone. They looked at each other, unable to think of any other feasible solutions.

The village head exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at Yang Gousheng, and encouraged him, "Gousheng, keep talking, say all your ideas, maybe it really will work."

Yang Gousheng didn't sleep a wink last night, not because of his breakup, but because he was preoccupied with thinking about digging a canal to bring in water.

He knew in his heart that this matter concerned the survival of the entire Yangqu Village, and was far more important than his personal feelings.

Encouraged by the village head, he composed himself and methodically explained his plan in detail:

"Ten miles seems like a long distance, but if you measure it on foot, it can be done in less than two incense sticks' worth of time. We can divide this distance into many smaller sections, with each person responsible for digging four or five steps' worth. That way, things won't be difficult."

As he spoke, he got up and took four steps forward, pointing to the distance beneath his feet and saying, "These four steps I just took are about ten feet. Such a long distance should be dug out by one person in about two incense sticks' worth of time, which is about an hour."

"However, it's dry now, and the soil is very hard. There might be stones hidden underneath. Even if one person uses four incense sticks, it will only take two hours to dig it all out."

Yang Gousheng added, "I personally measured it yesterday. From the water source to the foot of the mountain, it's about two thousand zhang. If we were to dig it all out, it would take more than two thousand people, each working for two hours."

Thanks to Tang Susu's previous instruction, his calculation speed has improved considerably.

Li Zheng usually handles the village's fieldwork and is most skilled at mental arithmetic.

After listening to Yang Gousheng's words, he immediately calculated the result in his mind: there are about 500 able-bodied men in Yangqu Village. If each person digs for two hours, and everyone works together, it can be completed in about fourteen hours.

Even considering that everyone cannot work continuously for long periods of time, averaging seven or eight hours a day, it can be completed in about two days, or at most three days.

The village head was amazed and couldn't help but praise Yang Gousheng: "You're such a clever child! I always thought Zhimao was the smartest kid in Yangqu Village, but from today onwards, Gousheng, you're one too!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaobao immediately pouted and asked defiantly, "Grandpa Village Head, what about me? Am I not clever enough?"

The village head laughed heartily and reached out to pat his head: "If you can recognize a few words, you'll be the third smartest kid in Yangqu Village."

Yang Xiaobao's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran to Yang Zhimao's side, hugging his arm and pleading, "Brother Zhimao, please teach me to read! I'll give you some delicious chestnuts!"

Upon hearing that there were chestnuts, Yang Zhimao's mouth watered so much he almost drooled to his chest. He immediately nodded and said, "Okay! Give me a chestnut, and I'll teach you a character."

Without a second thought, Yang Xiaobao immediately agreed to the deal.

The village head went through the overall plan for digging canals and diverting water in his mind and felt that it was feasible. He immediately felt much more relieved.

He slowly climbed onto a towering rock beside him, standing steadily on it. His gaze traveled along the winding, ribbon-like mountain path, finally settling on Tang Susu, and he asked the most crucial question: "Gou Sheng's mother, where do you think we should start digging the ditch?"