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

Li Yu's body was almost entirely covered in sores. At least the last guy, Er Mazi, only suffered bruises, but Li Yu's body was a gruesome sight, with old and new wounds piled on top of each other and festering.

Li Honghong quickly explained from the side, "Ahem, Dr. Su, he just fell accidentally... It's nothing serious, I'll just put some saline solution on it later. Gentian violet is expensive, so we should save money where we can."

Li Yu was on the verge of tears. "No, no, no need to wipe it anymore, no need to wipe it with any water." Waaah, he was really blind before, actually thinking that a woman like Li Honghong was easy to manipulate, that she could be his slave, and that he could be so comfortable being intimate with widows outside. But now that Li Honghong was serious, with such a strong body, he couldn't beat her at all.

He doesn't know how he got through these days. He's been tormented by Li Honghong every day. Li Honghong dislikes him because he's dirty and has contracted a disease, so she throws him into the small demolition room to torment him. When she's in a bad mood, she beats him hard with tree branches, and he has no power to fight back.

And then there's his paralyzed mother. Li Honghong used to take care of her, but she had a bad temper, was troublesome, and liked to yell at and torment people. Now Li Honghong doesn't take care of her anymore, and during the day she just locks him and his mother together.

His mother kept saying she needed to poop, pee, or was thirsty, showing no concern for him as her son. At night, Li Honghong even made him lock himself in with her mother, tormenting him so much that he couldn't sleep all night.

But even that was better than being beaten. He couldn't take it anymore, so while Li Honghong was at work, he ran to the clan hall crying and demanding a divorce. But the clan elders said:

"Li Yu, this is just you being ungrateful. You were the one who said you wouldn't get a divorce before, and now you're the one saying you will. So many people from Li Honghong's family came before, and we withstood the pressure and didn't let them get a divorce. How long has it been and you want a divorce again? No way, a divorce won't be good for the troupe's reputation. You'd better just bear with it. Who doesn't get through life by just tolerating things?"

"What? Your wife hit you? Then just hit her back! You're a grown man and you can't beat your wife? That's laughable!"

Li Yu was on the verge of tears. Now he couldn't get a divorce and was going to be tormented again. He could only coax Li Honghong with kind words every day and finally managed to get her to agree to treatment.

Li Yu thought that the only thing he could do now was to appease this woman, cure his illness, and then deal with her slowly!

Li Honghong knew in her heart that Dr. Su had said that if this disease dragged on for too long, it would be worse than death. Although she hated Li Yu to the core, she didn't want to be infected by him, nor did she want him to be easily relieved. Now, she actually found some "fun" in this life—she went to work during the day and had a punching bag when she got home at night. Seeing him groveling and begging for mercy made her feel incredibly happy.

Although Su Wanqing didn't know what the two were thinking, she could guess most of it from Li Yu's miserable state. Without asking any questions, she quickly treated Li Yu's injuries and began to see the next patient.

Today's patients are all alive, and there's nothing special about them.

After finishing work, Su Wanqing returned home. Ding Dajiu went to Erzhuzi's house to help dig a cellar. Zhou Yanshen put down his things and went out again.

She then set about dealing with the things she had bought that day: after returning four pig trotters tenfold, she simmered a pot of rich braising liquid and braised the chopped pig trotters and eggs together.

As for why the pig's trotters are chopped into pieces? Naturally, it's because adding more makes it less noticeable. The only downside is that you can't piece them together. Other vendors might add three extra chicken heads, five extra chicken feet, and no chicken wings to their chicken pieces, but with this vendor's pig's trotters, the more you piece them together, the more there seems to be...

Some of the Chinese cabbage was pickled into sauerkraut, and the rest was made into spicy cabbage, which was piled up in a shady place in the backyard; the two fish were cut into pieces and then processed with "craftsmanship".

Fish chopped into pieces like this are often processed into fried fish pieces, which are indeed fried fish chunks coated with golden breadcrumbs, crispy and fragrant.

Su Wanqing has used the "Craftsmanship" technique many times and has gained some insights into it.

So lunch consisted of: braised pig's trotters, fried fish pieces, braised eggs, and stir-fried cabbage.

Before she even reached the end of the workday, Zhou's mother rushed back. When she saw the table full of dishes, her mouth almost watered—it's so good to have her daughter-in-law back! The bland food at the educated youth settlement and the canteen couldn't compare to the rich, flavorful dishes at home!

The rich aroma of braised meat wafted from afar, and a few educated youths squatted at the doorway with their mixed grain rice, swallowing hard as they smelled it.

"Is it braised pork today?"

"It smells so good..."

"The food at Dr. Su's house is amazing. This morning I saw Comrade Zhou buy all the pig's trotters at the market, and he also bought two big fish."

When Zhou Yanshen and Uncle Ding returned, they were already used to this and sat down to eat. Zhou's mother was also unusually quiet today, but when she was almost finished eating, she suddenly picked up her half-full bowl of rice, picked up several pig's trotters and fish pieces, and mumbled, "I'll take this back to my room to eat."

After saying that, he disappeared in a flash.

Su Wanqing narrowed her eyes, feeling something was amiss, but didn't ask any further questions.

After the meal, Zhou Yanshen cleaned up the dishes, and Uncle Ding fed the chickens and collected the eggs. The days passed peacefully for a few days.

That afternoon, Su Wanqing had just lain down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to take a nap when the courtyard gate was banged on.

Chen Xiuer's voice came through: "Dr. Su, are you there?"

Su Wanqing got up and opened the door, yawning. Could it be that the inspection team had finally arrived at this hour? She had been waiting for several days.

Sure enough, Chen Xiuer said urgently, "Dr. Su, Elder Shen and Secretary Liu asked me to call you over immediately! People from above have come; it's about alfalfa seeds!"

Su Wanqing's spirits lifted: "The inspection team is here?"

Chen Xiuer stomped her foot in anger: "What?! I heard the gist of it. They said the inspection team arrived early this morning, but they were all taken to Ili Prefecture by people from Wucheng, and they're about to return to the Central Committee! They brought people over quietly in the middle of the night, and the comrades we were guarding weren't even there. They just left after they were done! We don't even know what the inspection team members look like or what their names are!"

Su Wanqing: "..."

Good heavens, after waiting for so many days, it's all for nothing? Wucheng's methods are truly ruthless.

"Don't rush, let's go to the command post and check the situation first."

When the two arrived at the command post, Elder Shen and Liu Shuqing were confronting two unfamiliar men who appeared to be cadres. One of them, holding a teacup, slowly and deliberately said:

"That's the situation. The inspection team has completed all the measurements and acceptance checks, and the data fully meets the standard of 4,000 jin per mu. The higher authorities have instructed that this seed can be immediately promoted throughout Xinjiang and even the whole country. Your regiment has really made a great contribution this time! As for the corresponding commendations and rewards..."

"For example, you'll receive the title of 'National Agricultural Science and Technology Breakthrough Contribution Collective,' special promotion funds, and priority quotas for improved seed breeding over the next five years!"

Liu Shuqing's face turned pale with anger: "How could you do this? As the research and development and trial planting unit, we also have the right to participate in the reporting! This is simply fabricating facts and completely excluding us!"