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

Su Wanqing nodded again.

If she can retain her credit, she will be both honored and rewarded, and the whole group will also benefit from it.

If the credit is truly taken away, then there will really be nothing left. At most, one will be left with a good reputation for "putting the overall situation first and making selfless contributions"—for example, sacrificing personal fame and gain to win honor for the entire city of Wucheng. In the future, when it is publicized, one might even get the phrase "the organization will not forget your contribution."

Old Shen continued his analysis: "If we choose a radical approach and confront the provincial authorities head-on, exposing their attempts to steal credit—after all, we still have the experimental field with a yield of 5,000 jin of seeds per mu, which can directly expose their lies—the downsides of doing so are also obvious." He paused, his expression grave, "Offending higher-level authorities will inevitably lead to our projects and resource allocations being deliberately ignored; the most difficult and tiring tasks may be 'assigned' to us first; and we may even face difficulties in various reviews and evaluations."

"But if we choose to settle things peacefully and give up the credit," Mr. Shen continued, "the provincial authorities have also promised that they can authorize us to grow this batch of alfalfa locally in the future, so that we can 'get a share of the profits.' However, the bulk of the breeding, promotion, and sales, as well as all the reputation and policy benefits, will go to them."

All of them turned their gazes to Su Wanqing.

After all, she was the one who initially discovered the seeds that yielded 5,000 catties per mu, and now the final decision should rightfully be made by her.

Old Shen said gently, "Whatever decision you make, we will support you. However, I personally believe that credit should be given to whoever deserves it. Blindly giving in will only encourage them to take advantage. In their view, only by having provincial-level units coordinate and promote the seeds can their value be maximized, allowing more land to be planted with high-yield alfalfa, saving more pastoral areas, and addressing the lack of promotion capacity at the grassroots level..."

They're nothing but high-sounding excuses.

He still hoped that Su Wanqing could stand up for herself and protect her own interests.

Su Wanqing scoffed, "So, all the credit for our hard work in discovering, researching, and cultivating this goes to them, and then they give away a little planting rights, and that's considered them being incredibly kind? I don't agree to back down. We have mature experimental fields with a yield of 5,000 jin per mu. When the inspection team arrives, we'll contact them directly. I believe the inspection team won't ignore our existing achievements. The reward should belong to whoever deserves it. Higher-level units can't blatantly steal the achievements of their subordinates like this."

Old Shen nodded repeatedly, his eyes showing approval: "Good! That's the kind of courage you should have. Xiao Su, I've always had high hopes for you."

Grandma Wen, however, looked worried: "Will this really work? If we offend the leaders in Wucheng, we'll be restricted everywhere in the future." She was a conservative, and her years in the cowshed had made her extremely cautious. It was already a miracle that she had survived, and she really didn't want to take any more risks. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given all the credit to Su Wanqing in the first place.

Su Wanqing smiled reassuringly at her: "Aunt Wen, I understand your concerns. But please believe that although there are a few corrupt officials in our country, the vast majority of our cadres are still upright and reasonable. Moreover—we have the confidence to not be afraid of their schemes."

As she spoke, she took out a small glass bottle that she had prepared beforehand. Inside was the third type of bacteria that she had been rewarded with by the space after treating Commander Feng on the train—the original strain of rhizobium, which was comparable to a "production-boosting artifact." In just seven or eight hours, with the space accelerating tenfold, she had already propagated some of it, and now she brought it out in a can.

Liu Shuqing leaned closer for a look, her face showing confusion: "Dr. Xiao Su, what is this...? It looks a bit..." The contents of the bottle were dark brown in color and had a slightly earthy smell; it was hardly an attractive appearance.

Before Su Wanqing could explain, the expressions of the two experts, Elder Shen and Aunt Wen, changed. Aunt Wen took the bottle, carefully opened it, sniffed it, and her eyes immediately lit up: "This, this is... rhizobium? You actually managed to get this?"

Old Shen also stepped forward, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "Is it really active rhizobium? Xiao Su, where did you get it?"

Su Wanqing smiled slightly, having already prepared her explanation: "I isolated and cultured it by chance when I was collecting samples in the wild. After trying it out, I found that it has strong activity and is easy to propagate. This small bottle contains the original strain, and under suitable conditions, it can quickly produce tens or hundreds of kilograms."

Old Shen and Aunt Wen's breathing quickened: "Are you serious? It can really propagate that many?"

"The original strain has very high activity, so theoretically there shouldn't be any problem," Su Wanqing nodded. "However, this stuff is indeed rare, and I was just lucky."

Liu Shuqing was completely confused: "What...what kind of treasure is this?"

Chen Xiuer also looked on curiously. She was with Dr. Su every day and had no idea when she had come up with this. But then she thought about it, and it was normal for Dr. Su to be so capable and have so many secrets.

Grandma Wen carefully held the glass bottle, excitedly saying, "This is a real treasure! Do you know how scarce nitrogen fertilizer and urea are in our country? This stuff—rhizobium—can partially replace chemical fertilizers! It can live in symbiosis with legumes, converting atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients that crops can absorb. Not only can it significantly reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers used, but it can also increase the yield of crops like beans and alfalfa by at least 30%!"

Old Shen nodded repeatedly, continuing, "That's right! With it, our alfalfa yield of 5,000 jin per mu might even be increased further! This is a real 'hard-core' asset. Now, let alone being afraid of offending Wucheng—even if we slapped them twice to their faces, they'd still come begging us for some of the inoculum! This stuff is that precious! How much foreign exchange can it save? And how much more grain can it produce?"

Liu Shuqing was stunned, looking at Su Wanqing as if she were a precious treasure: "Dr. Su, I knew it... you're our team's lucky star! Whenever we encounter a problem, we can always turn to you! Look, the problem that has been troubling us for so many days, as soon as you came back, not only did you have a solution, but you even prepared a backup plan! With you here, our team has truly had incredible luck!"

Su Wanqing couldn't help but smile. It was quite a coincidence; she had been sitting peacefully on the train, but just before getting off, she happened to encounter Commander Feng falling ill, saving him, and unexpectedly receiving such a wonderful gift.

The reward description only mentions that this item is related to "a person with karmic connections." What kind of interactions will she have with that Commander Feng in the future?

At this point, the atmosphere in the room had completely relaxed. Liu Shuqing cheerfully refilled everyone's water, her anxiety vanishing completely—with Dr. Su around, what did it matter if she wasn't as skilled as her master?