Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

Su Wanqing lifted her mask and laughed, "It's nothing. Look, I got a big one. We'll have honey to drink today. These black bees are quite docile."

A swarm of black bees was seen hovering around the beehive in the cloth bag, and sure enough, they didn't sting.

Xiao Liu: "..."

You're all bundled up, but I'm not wearing any protective gear at all! The buzzing sound sent chills down his spine, but he could only force himself to say, "N-nothing's wrong... Let's hurry back, or people will worry."

"OK."

The two rode back, followed by a swarm of bees. Xiao Liu remained tense the entire way, only relaxing when the camp came into view.

Just as they arrived at the camp, Zhou Yanshen rode up from another direction on horseback, his expression tense.

Xiao Liu quickly waved: "Captain Zhou, over here!"

Zhou Yanshen rode closer and saw Su Wanqing wrapped up like a dumpling. His heart finally settled down: "What happened? I saw a swarm of bees following you from afar. I thought you had offended them."

Xiao Liu dared not say that Dr. Su had taken him to remove a hornet's nest. He silently took a step back, clutching the horse's belly, carrying the duck and his clothes filled with various mountain goods.

Su Wanqing excitedly lifted her hood: "Yan Shen, look, we originally wanted to go and collect mountain goods, but we ran into Hei Feng, so I brought the whole thing back. I'll make you some honey water later; there's even a queen bee in it. We brought it back to Regiment 65, which is perfect for pollinating the lavender fields and producing lavender honey!"

Zhou Yanshen: "..."

His little wife is really too much of a troublemaker; how did she manage to stir up such a hornet's nest?

Alright, she's my wife, and she can have whatever she wants.

He reached out and took the cloth bag: "Give it to me, so you don't get stung."

Su Wanqing knew this was a "dull" bee swarm, unafraid of stinging, so she handed it over and took off her gloves and headgear: "Come on, let's eat first, then I'll harvest some honey, and I'll need you to make me a beehive."

The two walked side by side toward the camp, a sight that should have been quite eye-catching, but they were surrounded by black bees, causing everyone to scatter as they passed by, though they couldn't resist making jokes:

"Captain Zhou, you and your wife went into the grove and knocked down the beehive?"

Hearing the commotion outside, Commander Zhao, bowl in hand, slurped his food while shouting from afar, "You little rascal, you and your wife went out for some fun and knocked down a beehive from a tree? Clean it up and come eat!"

"Hahaha--"

"Captain Zhou is amazing! He swam over ten kilometers this morning and still had the energy to stir up a beehive at noon!"

Su Wanqing: "..." The higher the official's rank, the less restraint they seem in their speech?

Zhou Yanshen's face darkened, and he deliberately carried the beehive toward Commander Zhao.

Commander Zhao was terrified of these buzzing insects, and brandishing his chopsticks, he yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Zhou Yanshen said earnestly, "My wife specially collected this honey; she wants to take it back to raise bees. These bees don't sting, you see—"

Commander Zhao immediately crawled into the tent: "Alright, alright! Do whatever you want with it, just take it somewhere far away!"

Upon hearing that there was honey, Old Zhang quickly came out with a bowl and chopsticks. "Young Zhou, have your wife cut some honey and bring some over for me too. I'll trade her some good stuff."

"it is good."

Old Zhang's words are more pleasant to hear; he's willing to listen.

He turned to Su Wanqing and asked, "Wanqing, where should we put this beehive first?"

Su Wanqing pointed to a lone tree in the distance: "Hang it there, there aren't many people around. I'll take care of it after we finish eating."

Xiao Liu tied the ducks to a tree, left the mountain produce in the tent, and ran off quickly, afraid that he would miss out on meat if he was late.

After Zhou Yanshen hung up the beehive, he went to get food. Su Wanqing went back to the tent and washed up quickly. As soon as she lifted the tent flap, she smelled the domineering aroma that Zhou Yanshen brought in.

Zhou Yanshen brought in two iron lunchboxes, which contained wide soup noodles, topped with slices of smoked horse sausage with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and the soup was soaked with chopped onions—a local specialty called "Naren".

Fragrant!

"It smells so good!" Su Wanqing took it and ate a bite, meat and noodles alike. The smoked horse meat was salty and fragrant, fatty but not greasy, with a unique wild flavor, completely different from Sichuan and Chongqing sausages.

In just a few bites, the two of them finished off the two metal lunchboxes, even the broth and chopped onions were completely gone.

Zhou Yanshen said with lingering interest, "It's a pity that horse meat is in short supply; it's usually hard to get a taste for it."

Su Wanqing's eyes lit up—not enough horse meat? Not enough to eat? No way! This smoked horse sausage is perfect for her taste; she has to get some! She'll raise a whole herd of horses! Anyway, there'll be plenty of hay.

"Yan Shen, do you think... there might be wild horses in these mountains that I might 'find'?"

Zhou Yanshen thought about it seriously and nodded: "If it were you, you might really be able to."

Su Wanqing patted the talkative Zhou Yanshen with satisfaction, "Just wait, I'll arrange a chance encounter for you this afternoon."

She now knew where to use the second "tenfold return" today.

Neither of them was full, so Su Wanqing took out a few boiled eggs, steamed buns, and salted duck eggs from her bag:

"Eat up, I brought it from home."

Zhou Yanshen knew that his wife was the most considerate. From the first day he went to the countryside, she never let him go hungry and always had all kinds of delicious food on her.

After a one-hour rest period following the meal, Zhou Yanshen would then lead the team to mark the blue crystal vein. During this time, he found some wooden planks and tools and, as requested by Su Wanqing, nailed together a simple beehive.

Su Wanqing first packed up the mountain produce, putting the items that needed to be stored in her spatial storage, and then decided to raise the ducks. She promised a tenfold return tomorrow, and hoped to at least make some roast duck for dinner someday.

After finishing all that, I cut off a piece of honeycomb, made two cups of honey water, and went to the logistics department to get flour and eggs. I then used a few metal lunchboxes to bake a honey sponge cake over charcoal.

As soon as the cake came out of the oven, its sweet aroma mingled with the scent of eggs filled the entire camp. Zhou Yanshen quickly ate a few bites, then hugged Su Wanqing and kissed her: "You can eat the rest yourself. Wait for me to come back tonight, and don't go to any dangerous places." He was still worried that his little wife would cause trouble everywhere.

Zhou Yanshen only turned and left after Su Wanqing nodded in assurance.

Su Wanqing took the remaining cake and a bottle of honey to find Old Zhang.

Old Zhang and Commander Zhao were discussing the astonishing reserves of the blue crystal vein and the necessity of establishing a long-term mining mechanism, but they were disturbed by the domineering sweet fragrance in the camp.

Old Zhang paced anxiously in circles, asking, "What is this fragrance? It's so overpowering! Did Dr. Su create it?"

Commander Zhao: "I don't know. If you want to know, go ask around."

Old Zhang: "I won't ask." Does that make him seem old and unreliable?

Just then, Su Wanqing called out from outside, "Report!" and came in carrying some things: "Old Zhang, I brought you some honey, and I also made some honey cake. Please try some."

Old Zhang immediately beamed, "You're too kind, child! I love sweet things!" He had originally taken out a small diamond as a return gift, but now he felt it wasn't enough, so he took out another one, "I won't take them for nothing, you can keep these two stones and play with them."

When Su Wanqing saw it, her jaw dropped in astonishment.

Two sparkling diamonds, each weighing over 50 grams!