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

More than an hour later, the tractor drove into the mining area.

The coal mine had closed for the day, and the huge piles of coal gleamed dimly in the setting sun. A faint smell of coal ash hung in the air, and the ground was covered with black coal slag.

Old Li came forward and shook hands with Zhou Yanshen: "Yanshen is here? And this is...?" He was a little nervous, after all, coal mines are not allowed to be sold privately, this time it was considered speculation, and it would be terrible if he were discovered.

Zhou Yanshen handed over a pack of cigarettes: "This is my wife. Come and take a look. She's quite curious about these things."

Old Li was introduced by Zhou Yanshen's comrade-in-arms, and hearing this, he felt relieved: "Okay, just don't go too far inside. It'll take us another hour or two to load the coal, so feel free to look around."

Su Wanqing followed behind, curiously looking around. The coal mine was much larger than she had imagined, with endless piles of coal stretching out like black hills.

Upon reaching the mine entrance, trucks were waiting to be loaded with coal. Huge coal piles stretched from the entrance into the distance, all of them raw coal freshly dug from the mine, some of the coal chunks larger than a person.

Zhou Yanshen said, "You can wander around, but don't go too far."

Su Wanqing nodded with sparkling eyes: "Okay, I'll take a look."

—Just wandering around? She wants all of this coal, it's overflowing!

Loose coal, mostly slag from the screening process, was piled up next to the pit. Zhou Yanshen and Lao Li were shoveling it onto the truck, one shovelful at a time. After almost an hour, the truck was less than half full.

Su Wanqing slowly walked deeper into the mine. The further she went, the more coal there was, the huge coal piles resembling small black mountains. When she reached a place where she couldn't see anyone, and as darkness fell, she scanned the area with her all-seeing eye—no one was within three hundred meters. Zhou Yanshen and Old Li were at the pit entrance, four hundred meters away, engrossed in loading coal.

Take a deep breath.

Collect it for me!

The coal mountains within a 200-meter radius vanished instantly! Huge coal piles, scattered coal chunks, coal in mine carts... all gone in the blink of an eye!

She dared not take too much, fearing it would cause too much noise, and only took all the coal from the deepest part. The space was densely packed with several thousand tons of coal, probably about three thousand tons—enough for the entire regiment to burn for several winters.

"Tenfold return!"

In the blink of an eye, the coal in the space turned into 30,000 tons!

She quickly took one out and put it back in its place, hoping to return it to its owner. But it was too big, and even when she placed it gently, it still made a "rumbling" sound, and the coal rolled down, raising a cloud of coal dust.

Oops!

She took off running outside.

Zhou Yanshen dropped his shovel and rushed over, his face deathly pale: "Wanqing! Are you alright?"

Old Li came running over, panting, "What happened? What happened? There was a landslide? Did anyone get hit?" His heart was pounding. He hoped nothing bad had happened!

Su Wanqing quickly shook her head, feigning shock: "It's nothing, it's nothing. I just walked over and heard a rumbling sound, and some pieces of coal rolled down. It gave me a fright..."

Old Li breathed a sigh of relief, but his face was grim: "Comrade, don't wander off. Stay in the truck. This mine is dangerous; the coal piles are unstable. What if someone gets hit?"

Su Wanqing quickly pulled out a handful of milk candies and stuffed them into his hand: "I'm sorry, big brother, I've startled you. I'll go sit in the car now and won't cause any more trouble."

Old Li was already furious—he had never wanted to sell coal privately, and if his brothers hadn't been struggling this year, who would have done this speculative business? Then his friend brought his wife to cause trouble, almost causing an accident.

But when this handful of candy was handed to him, his eyes widened.

This candy is from Shanghai, it's White Rabbit brand, and it's hard to find even at the supply and marketing cooperative. His kid has been craving it for a long time, and he always begs for it every time they go to the market! But where can you find milk candy in this remote area?

He immediately beamed, "Sister-in-law, you're too kind! Weren't you scared just now? How about I show you around? Our mine is huge, there are many places... This kind of landslide doesn't happen often, don't worry, I'll be with you, nothing will happen."

Zhou Yanshen: "..."

A pack of cigarettes didn't make him laugh like this, but a handful of candy won him over.

"No, no, I'd better go rest." Su Wanqing knew when to stop, and with a smile, she climbed back onto the tractor and lay down. Zhou Yanshen and Old Li continued loading coal.

Only then did she feel relieved enough to check her inventory: 30,000 tons of coal! Enough for the whole regiment to use for a long time!

No, this coal isn't just for the 65th Regiment. It's used by more than a dozen surrounding regiments, plus the county town, for at least tens of thousands of people. If the snowstorm really closes the mountains and roads, all these people depend on coal for their lives. This small coal mine has to be closed to transport coal to various units before the snowfall, because they can't mine coal in winter.

It needs further processing.

The spirit of craftsmanship, let's get started!

The interface displays two options: free upgrade, or pay 600 kilograms of gold for an upgrade.

Goodness, this place is huge, and the price is so high!

"Free upgrade!"

With a flash of light, nearly 30,000 tons of loose coal were transformed into honeycomb briquettes—round and smooth with twelve holes in the middle, making them more durable, producing less smoke, and having a higher calorific value, making them ten times better than loose coal!

Su Wanqing nodded in satisfaction. The four tons of loose coal they bought for the family weren't as good anymore; they'd replace them with honeycomb briquettes later.

"Tenfold return!"

Thirty thousand tons of honeycomb briquettes instantly turned into three hundred thousand tons!

Su Wanqing was completely satisfied. This winter, not a single person on this land would freeze to death. That's what Su Wanqing said!

We have enough coal, but we still need to get grain. I'll ask Director Li where the big granaries are. Grain depots, grain stations, supply and marketing cooperative warehouses… as long as we can get inside, we can replicate them tenfold.

·

More than an hour later, the truck was full. Half an hour later, the tractor was also loaded.

Su Wanqing could no longer lie down and had to sit in the passenger seat. Zhou Yanshen moved the cushions and mattress over to make her more comfortable.

Old Li led the way in his truck, with Zhou Yanshen following behind in his tractor. The two vehicles sputtered out of the mining area and headed towards the 65th Regiment along the dirt road.

It was past ten o'clock at night when they arrived home. It was already dark, but the light in the yard was on, and Uncle Ding was waiting. As for Zhou's mother? She had already gone to bed.

"You're finally back!" Uncle Ding greeted him. "Where did you unload the coal?"

Zhou Yanshen pointed to the shed next to the courtyard: "Unload over there, and pile them up neatly."

Old Li also got off the truck and helped unload the coal. It took the four of them more than half an hour to unload all the coal and pile it up neatly.

Chen Xiuer's family took some, Tian Dahua's family also came and took two cartloads, and Tian Dahua's family and Cui'er's family also took some. That's how all the coal was distributed.

After collecting money from the others, Zhou Yanshen scraped together 320 yuan to pay Lao Li. Lao Li had worked hard for most of the day, loading and unloading coal and driving around for several hours, only to earn a meager reward. He would divide the money among his brothers, keeping at most a yuan or two for himself.