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

Old Shen pondered for a moment, "Anyway, let's prepare for both possibilities. If the higher-ups insist on taking it, there's nothing we can do. We'll just wait for the inspection team to come to our regiment for on-site inspection... and see what they say. If they're not in cahoots, we'll bring out the seeds with a yield of 5,000 jin per mu to prove that whichever variety it is, it was developed by our regiment. If they are in cahoots, we'll give away all the seeds with a yield of 4,000 jin per mu and keep the ones with a yield of 5,000 jin per mu."

Let everyone see: you claim to have developed it, so why do I still have 5,000 acres of it producing? Just wait to be proven wrong.

Liu Shuqing, however, was not so optimistic: "The delegation's itinerary is controlled by the province, so we may not have a chance to make contact; besides, doing this is tantamount to completely offending the provincial academy. Do we still want our research projects and funding applications approved in the future?"

Old Shen knew, of course, that this was a complete falling out with his superiors. He sighed heavily. "There's no other way right now. Let's wait for the inspection team to arrive. We can't let that girl Su Wanqing contribute all this for nothing. I'll go talk to the higher-ups again and at least give the credit to Su Wanqing."

Liu Shuqing nodded in agreement: "I'll have someone keep watch. If the inspection team arrives, we'll go and intercept them, at least to see them and have a word with them."

Fortunately, Aunt Wen had a backup plan and only reported one case; otherwise, she would be in dire straits now.

·

Meanwhile, Su Wanqing and her group went to a state-run restaurant, ordered four dishes and a soup, and ate to their hearts' content. After the meal, they packed up quite a few hearty dishes: large meat buns, fried fish pieces, braised pork, braised ribbonfish, and several classic dishes from the state-run restaurant.

There was a wide variety of food, but the portions were small. But that didn't matter—once on the train, she could secretly add extra meals at any time using the "tenfold return" method. With the various foods she bought on the black market, breakfast, lunch, and dinner were all perfectly planned.

Seeing Su Wanqing take out familiar metal lunch boxes to portion out the dishes and skillfully put them into her basket, Aunt Wang couldn't help but chuckle.

Chen Xiuer asked softly, "Mom, are you smiling through your tears because you're worried about the money?"

Aunt Wang gave her a reproachful look: "I was just remembering the last time I went back to Xinjiang from Fengcheng, I met Dr. Su and Comrade Zhou, along with Comrade Zhou's mother, on the train. Dr. Su was also carrying a lunchbox like this, and every meal was full of meat; it smelled so good it made my mouth water. I never expected that this time, when we went back together again, we would have packed so much delicious food!"

She shook her head and sighed, "Life is truly unpredictable. And what kind of hardship did I endure before? To save money, I would make twenty flatbreads before boarding the train, just with some pickled vegetables, not even daring to boil an egg, and force myself to eat nothing but that for three days! In the end, the one or two dollars I saved all went to those bastards. What was the point of saving? I should be eating a proper meal like this!"

If her husband were still alive, and her son and daughter were still around, she would still be reluctant to part with them. But now, she feels completely at ease, thinking that it would be a waste for others to benefit from her money.

Su Wanqing laughed too: "Auntie, this time you don't have to just try a little bit each time. Eat as much as you want! I bought a lot on the black market too, let's eat to our hearts' content!"

The meal, including the takeout, cost Aunt Wang quite a bit of money. But she was easygoing—thinking about the accommodations and meals she'd had over the past few days, she figured others had probably spent even more. Her own expense was really nothing.

She boldly declared, "Of course! Let's eat as much as we want this time!" She still had over a thousand dollars in her pocket, a huge sum in the countryside. It was only right to treat herself better in the future. Besides, how many more years could she live?

The group carried the food back to the guesthouse and repacked their luggage.

Although it seemed easy to leave, the amount of stuff they brought back was several times greater: the treasures they took from Uncle Ding alone filled three baskets, plus what Su Wanqing bought on the black market and what was packed from restaurants—there was quite a lot of stuff in total.

Of course, the most important thing is the seafood that Su Wanqing bought from Fengcheng. She put it in a bucket and carried it like this. The bucket is filled with spiritual spring water. At present, the seafood is alive and well. It will be able to be farmed after it arrives in Xinjiang.

All the seafood in her pond is now alive, and thanks to the tenfold speed-up, the number of crayfish larvae has increased significantly. She estimates that she'll be able to eat spicy crayfish in another month or so!

Just thinking about it makes me happy.

In the end, Su Wanqing was only assigned two water bottles. Zhou Yanshen didn't let her lift a finger with anything else—he himself carried a large backpack on his chest, a large basket on his back, and two net bags and a seafood bucket in his hands, weighing at least a hundred pounds, yet he looked completely relaxed. Uncle Ding also carried a basket on his back and a basket on his shoulder, Chen Xiuer carried her child on her back and a bundle in front of her chest, while Aunt Wang carried the clothes and valuables that she and her daughter had accumulated over the years.

Everyone lingered, carrying large and small bags, as they boarded the train.

Coincidentally, their sleeper car and berths were exactly the same as when they arrived.

Su Wanqing then said, "We only managed to buy two sleeper berths. Yan Shen and I have discussed it, and we'll let Aunt Wang and me take Nannan to sleep here. The lower berth is more spacious, and the child can sleep better. Xiu'er will go to the hard seat area, where she can stay with Uncle and Yan Shen for mutual support. She can come to the sleeper berth to rest during the day."

Aunt Wang originally thought she should get a hard seat, but Su Wanqing arranged for her to get a sleeper berth as well. She quickly waved her hand, "No way! I'm used to hard seats. Let Brother Ding rest; his legs have just recovered..."

Su Wanqing laughed: "You and Xiuer said exactly the same thing back then. But now that we have a baby girl, she's too young, and hard seats are crowded, so it might not be convenient."

Aunt Wang and Chen Xiuer both refused in unison:

"We already took advantage of the sleeper berths when we came here, we can't do that again this time."

"Yes, it'll be easier for me and Xiuer to talk and take care of the child. Let Brother Ding go for the sleeper berth."

As the group was making their way back and forth, a delighted greeting suddenly came from the other end of the carriage:

"Dr. Su? It really is you! What a coincidence, you're on our train again!"

It turned out that the train attendant and the train conductor were patrolling around and recognized Su Wanqing at a glance.

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you again on my way back," Su Wanqing replied with a smile.

The train conductor warmly shook Su Wanqing's hand: "Comrade Su, with you on the train, I feel much more at ease!"

He was genuinely happy—the last critically ill patient, after being taken to the hospital, the doctors said that if they had arrived any later, he would have died. Thanks to Su Wanqing's timely intervention in the car, not only was the patient saved, but his commendation and bonus were also preserved.

"By the way, what are you all discussing here? Why are you going back and forth like that?"

Su Wanqing was a little embarrassed: "We only managed to buy two sleeper berths, and everyone is being polite and trying to give up their berths for others so they can go to the hard seats themselves."

The train conductor laughed upon hearing this: "What's the big deal? When we came from Xinjiang, there were many people, and it was difficult to get a sleeper berth. But when we return to Xinjiang from here, there are far fewer people. Here's what we'll do: I can get you a sleeper berth here. Also, we have two empty berths in our train crew sleeping car, so we can arrange for two people to rest there."

Aunt Wang and Chen Xiuer were dumbfounded—Dr. Su's influence was just too great!