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

However, Liu Shuqing is right. The problem now is not the supplies, but how to persuade those people to prepare in advance—they are too poor and can't afford it.

Su Wanqing said, "Secretary Liu, I think Gu Zhixing makes a good point. If we can prepare in advance, we might really save a lot of people. Even if we can't convince everyone, we still need to remind those who need it. How about this—once we've stockpiled the coal and grain, we'll let the surrounding regiments know. Those who believe and have the means can prepare more, and the poor can gather more firewood. It's better than not preparing anything and being caught off guard if something happens."

She paused, then smiled and said, "Besides, Secretary Liu, your position has risen quite a bit recently, and your prestige is immense. If you speak up, everyone will definitely be willing to listen."

Hearing Su Wanqing's words, Liu Shuqing felt much better. Dr. Su really knows how to talk! He nodded, "Alright. Once we're ready, I'll let the surrounding regiments know. Whether they listen or not is their business. It's just a suggestion; otherwise, if a disaster doesn't happen, I'll be the one blaming them."

He went to tell those people that he would ultimately bear the risk. Even if a snow disaster really occurred, he might still be blamed: "Secretary Liu, if you knew there would be a natural disaster, why didn't you let us prepare more?"

Anyway, it's hard to say, he just needs to do his job well.

Gu Zhixing felt a heavy weight in his heart.

He recalled the snowstorm of his past life, after which countless people froze and starved to death throughout the Ili Prefecture. Graves lay one after another, and frozen corpses littered the fields. Cries echoed from winter until spring. But he also knew that with his current abilities, keeping his own people alive was already the limit.

"Aunt Su."

Su Wanqing was about to leave when she turned back to look at him: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Gu Zhixing stared into her eyes and suddenly asked a name: "Do you know Chen Laosan?"

This was the biggest scourge in his past life memories—during the snow disaster, Chen Laosan stole the grain that had been painstakingly obtained from outside in order to save his own life, but he was caught on the spot. Unwilling to accept this, he burned all the grain, resulting in the entire regiment not receiving any grain at all. Many people starved to death, and those who did not starve to death hated Chen Laosan so much that they beat him to death that very day.

If Su Wanqing were reborn, she would definitely know this person.

Su Wanqing looked blank: "Chen Laosan? Is he one of our group members? If you want to find out about him, you'll have to ask Secretary Liu."

Something's not right, very wrong. Gu Zhixing is not only talking a lot today, but he's also testing her? Is there something wrong with Chen Laosan? It wasn't mentioned in the original text!

What else does Gu Zhixing know?

A feeling flashed through my mind: Gu Zhixing is from another world? No, someone who transmigrated shouldn't know this much. So, he's been reborn? Because I'm different from my previous life, it aroused his suspicion?

Liu Shuqing continued writing without looking up: "Why are you asking about that bastard? He's a scoundrel with a weird temper, don't mess with him!"

The last trace of doubt in Gu Zhixing's heart dissipated.

Su Wanqing wasn't reborn; she wasn't there to curry favor with them. She helped them purely because she was kind-hearted and a good person.

He looked at Su Wanqing with more respect and said solemnly, "Aunt Su, thank you."

Liu Shuqing looked up, both amused and exasperated: "You child, I'm the one answering your question, why are you thanking Dr. Xiao Su?"

Everyone laughed.

Su Wanqing, however, was pondering that if Gu Zhixing was truly reborn, he must know the exact timing of the snow disaster. She tentatively asked, "Zhixing, according to your calculations, will this snow disaster arrive earlier than usual?"

Gu Zhixing hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Yes, at least one or two months in advance. So we need to prepare as soon as possible, the sooner the better."

Liu Shuqing muttered to himself, "It can't possibly snow heavily in October or November, can it? But since we're already making preparations, let's get started as soon as possible."

Su Wanqing felt more confident—it seemed this natural disaster had come early and would last a long time. Anyway, stocking up on supplies was always a good idea; better safe than sorry.

The next day happened to be market day.

As soon as it was light, Su Wanqing followed Zhou Yanshen and Uncle Ding to the market. The autumn morning was already a bit chilly, and most of the poplar leaves along the roadside had turned yellow, rustling down as the wind blew.

As soon as she arrived at the market, she saw Aunt Wen and Gu Zhixing.

The grandmother and grandson were secretly buying cabbage and radishes, specifically choosing the cheapest ones. They didn't have much money, and they had to be very careful with every penny they spent.

Su Wanqing sighed inwardly, not wanting to disturb them, and began a large-scale shopping spree with Zhou Yanshen and Uncle Ding. Although they already had the space, they still needed to buy these things openly so they could secretly make purchases later.

She bought two sacks of cabbage and one sack of radishes. The pumpkins from the neighboring stall were big and sweet, so she bought a sack of those too. At the pork stall, there was nothing to choose from, so she bought whatever was available and bought ten pounds of meat to make cured pork.

She also bought five or six grass carp from the fish stall; the larger ones would be smoked, and the smaller ones would be dried. She also brought some vermicelli, dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon—all the spices that keep well. She had everything in the space, so she could grab whatever she needed.

Uncle Ding clicked his tongue in amazement: "Wanqing, are you bringing the whole market home?"

Su Wanqing smiled without saying a word. Moving to the market was nothing; she was going to plan out the entire winter in detail.

After shopping, the three of them pulled a cart full of supplies back home. Uncle Ding led a few young men to carry the goods into the cellar, while Su Wanqing began to prepare the fish and meat. The fish needed to be processed while fresh: scaling, gill removal, gutting, and cleaning, then rubbing them with salt and Sichuan peppercorns to marinate. The pork also needed to be marinated, and then hung up to smoke after it had absorbed the flavor. Zhou Yanshen assisted by boiling water and handing things to them.

Busy until noon, Su Wanqing ate a quick bite before heading to the clinic for her rounds. There weren't many patients in the afternoon, so she leaned back in her chair and dozed off for a while. She'd been feeling extremely sleepy lately, and her belly was already slightly protruding; the burden of a third pregnancy was indeed much greater than that of a first.

·

After finishing work in the afternoon, Zhou Yanshen came to pick her up in his tractor.

"The road is bumpy, lie down here and sleep for a while." Zhou Yanshen tidied up the tractor bed neatly: he laid out a thick layer of dry grass, put a mattress on top of the grass, and covered the mattress with a military overcoat to block the wind.

Su Wanqing hugged his neck and kissed him: "Okay, I'll sleep for a while."

She's been incredibly sleepy lately. She went to the market this morning, and then personally prepared several fish at noon—she couldn't bear to use the "Craftsman's Style" fish, wanting to save the free upgrade for the coal mine. She also went to the clinic for her afternoon appointments, and now she's really tired.

Zhou Yanshen gave a curt "Mmm" with a straight face, but his ears were burning slightly. Even after being married for so long, he still couldn't resist his wife's charm.

The tractor chugged out of the farm, heading towards the coal mine along the dirt road. In Xinjiang in autumn, it gets dark late; it's still light past seven o'clock. On both sides of the road are vast fields of harvested crops, and occasionally you can see a few poplar trees with their golden leaves, looking especially beautiful in the setting sun.