Chapter 33 Zhao Ergou Learns Arithmetic
There are three wells in Dahe Village.
Two wells dried up half a month ago, leaving only this one well to sustain the entire village.
Now that the last well has dried up, a chorus of wailing cries suddenly erupted outside.
If there's no harvest, people can still survive by eating tree bark and grass roots, but without water, they're truly helpless.
Hearing the crying outside, the village head sighed deeply: "Grandma Dashan, all the hope of the village now rests on you. I really hope that every word you say is true."
“Uncle Village Head, I never make jokes like that,” Cheng Wanwan said seriously. “However, I do have a favor to ask.”
The village head straightened his body. If Da Shan Niang hadn't made any requests, he would have been a little flustered, afraid that it was all a lie, that he had been given hope only to be disappointed again. He couldn't bear that kind of pain.
Since the mountain woman made a request, it means that the claim that there is water on the mountain is most likely true.
“Last year, I separated from the Zhao family and was given thirteen mu of land. Only five mu were good land, and the other eight mu were low-quality land that could not grow good grain.”
Before Cheng Wanwan could finish speaking, the village head understood her meaning and immediately said, "Auntie Dashan, as long as what you said about the water source is true, I will allocate you the most fertile piece of land in the village. However, good land is expensive, and the market price is two taels of silver per mu..."
The most fertile land in the village belongs to the village head; how could Cheng Wanwan steal someone else's property?
She said, "I want that piece of wasteland at the foot of the mountain. The water flowing down from the mountain passes right by this land, and the wasteland will definitely become fertile fields in the future. Many experienced farmers in the village should know this principle, and they will probably come to Uncle Village Head to buy the land soon. Could I ask Uncle Village Head to reserve this land for me for about half a year, until I have the money to buy it? If I can't come up with the money within half a year, Uncle Village Head can sell it."
This request is nothing at all. Last year, during the locust plague, most people in the village had their savings depleted by high grain prices. This year, the situation is the same, and no one has the extra money to buy land.
The village head immediately agreed: "I'll give it to you based on the price of wasteland, eight cents an acre. How many acres do you want?"
Cheng Wanwan had a headache. She didn't really understand the unit of "mu" (亩). She could estimate three or four mu by eye, but she couldn't convert more than that. She smiled and said, "I'll go back and discuss it with my sons."
After she left with Zhao Ergou, Zhao Anjiang, the village head's eldest son, came in: "Dad, I just heard you talking about water. When did the water come out of the mountain?"
The village head repeated Cheng Wanwan's words.
"How could that be?!" Zhao Anjiang exclaimed in disbelief. "Sister-in-law Zhao has never done anything decent, Father, how can you believe her?"
The village head's second son, Zhao Anhe, also said, "I think Sister-in-law Zhao is just trying to cheat people out of those few acres of land."
"That's just a dozen or so acres of wasteland. What good would it do her to cheat us out of it?" the village head scolded irritably. "Last time, it was Aunt Dashan who told us about the jade bamboo shoots. You were enjoying the jade bamboo shoots, so why are you so unwilling to trust people? Besides, as long as we go up the mountain tomorrow, we'll know whether Aunt Dashan lied or not. What's the point of her lying to me for one night?"
The village head's wife agreed, "Auntie Dashan looks different. When Er Gouzi came in just now, I didn't even recognize him. He's cleaner and seems to have gained some weight..."
On the way back, we could see that wasteland.
This piece of land is at the foot of the mountain, overgrown with withered weeds. Wasteland is the most difficult to cultivate, so the villagers naturally looked down on it.
"Mother, this is about thirty mu..." Zhao Ergou muttered as he calculated the money, "One mu is eight qian of silver, two mu is sixteen qian of silver, and three mu is two liang and four qian..."
Cheng Wanwan's ears were practically calloused. She rubbed her forehead and said, "It'll be easier if you calculate it the way I say it... One mu of land costs eight qian of silver, ten mu of land costs eighty qian of silver, thirty mu of land costs three eighty-qian, eighty plus eighty, plus eighty again, what does that equal?"
Zhao Ergou was at his wit's end. He tried to count on his fingers, but it wasn't enough, so he squatted down and started writing and drawing on the ground. Since he couldn't write, he drew eight horizontal lines on the ground, then eight more, then eight more, and finally counted them carefully. He happily said, "Mom, it's two hundred and forty coins in total!"
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
If the amount gets even larger in the future, there won't be enough space under our feet.
She really wanted to teach the boy mental arithmetic, but she held back and reminded herself that the original owner of this body didn't know any characters!
She had no choice but to guide the conversation: "How much silver is 240 coins in total?"
This problem stumped Zhao Ergou.
He spent a long time writing and drawing, but still couldn't come up with an answer.
Cheng Wanwan was almost frantic. She calmly asked, "Ten coins is one tael of silver. Two hundred and forty coins is twenty-four ten-coin amounts, right? So how many taels is that in total?"
"It's twenty-four taels of silver!" Zhao Ergou's eyes lit up. "Mom, you're amazing!"
Cheng Wanwan didn't want to see his silly look, so she said, "Twenty-four taels of silver, that's no small amount."
Zhao Ergou also fell silent. His family had at most a few dozen coins, not even enough to buy an acre of land, yet he dared to covet more than thirty acres.
He began, "Actually, our family has enough land. My older brother San Niu and I farm it together, and it's just about enough to make ends meet..."
“I didn’t buy this land to farm,” Cheng Wanwan said. “I’ll talk about my plans when I have enough money to buy more land. Let’s go home.”
The mother and son crossed the field ridges and walked onto the main road, where many villagers were gathered under the big locust tree.
"The well is dry. What did the village head say?"
“What can the village head say? He can’t conjure up a well.”
"Today's over, but what if we don't have any water to drink tomorrow?"
"The nearest village is Chengjia Village, but it takes an hour to get there and back. I don't know if the people in Chengjia Village will be willing to lend us water."
"Further away is Osmanthus Village. There are five wells in Osmanthus Village, but they say only one is dry. You can go there and take a look..."
The villagers offered each other suggestions.
Although there is a place to fetch water, it is too far away. A round trip takes almost two hours and only yields two buckets of water, which is not even enough for daily use.
When Cheng Wanwan returned home, there wasn't a drop of water in the bucket. Fortunately, there was still half a pot of boiled water on the table, so she wouldn't go without water all night.
Wu Huiniang said nervously, "I accidentally used up all the water while cooking. I... I'll go borrow some water from someone else's house so that Mother can wash up..."
During this period, her mother-in-law has been particularly clean, taking a bath every day and requiring them to do the same. She is a little afraid that her mother-in-law will get angry.
Cheng Wanwan simply waved her hand: "It's okay if you don't wash for a day. You're pregnant, so get some rest."
As darkness fell, the family members gradually drifted off to sleep.
Before going to bed, Cheng Wanwan spent a few coins to buy two eggs at the mall and secretly put them in the chicken coop before lying down to sleep.
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Zhao Sidan's excited voice rang out in the yard: "Dahuang and Erhuang laid a total of four eggs, that's amazing!"
Dahuang is a slightly larger hen, and Erhuang is a slightly thinner hen. These are names that Zhao Sidan came up with after racking his brains all night.
The name was exactly what Cheng Wanwan expected. The names of the four boys were quite casual, so what kind of fancy names could a hen possibly have?
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