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

After a while, he raised his head, looked at Old Zhang, then at Li Guodong, and finally at Su Wanqing.

They didn't want to offend either side. On one side was the veteran expert sent from above, and on the other side was a local talent—and Xiao Su was a good cook; she had saved so many people at the camp last time, so her skills were genuine.

He coughed and said with difficulty, "Then... let's choose the little Su girl."

Li Guodong's face turned ashen.

Commander Zhao quickly added, "After all... she's that... that..." He thought for a long time but couldn't come up with the right words, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "Anyway, it's her."

He mumbled incoherently, but he knew perfectly well what was going on: he had personally witnessed Little Su's medical skills and mineral prospecting abilities at the camp last time. Besides, she was a good cook; you couldn't afford to offend the cook—no, you couldn't afford to offend anyone.

Old Zhang smugly hummed, his mustache practically pointing to the sky: "See that? This is the route we finally decided on!"

Li Guodong was so angry his face turned green. He slammed his hand on the table, sending the teacup flying three inches high: "Commander Zhao, how could you act so impulsively? Do you know the consequences of making the wrong choice? Tens of thousands of yuan down the drain, a month wasted—how are we going to explain this back home? You'd rather believe this half-baked, inexperienced young man than me? I've worked in geology for twenty years, prospecting for countless mines for the country—when have I ever made a mistake?"

Commander Zhao shrank back, picked up his thermos to cover his face, and muttered under his breath, "Then why did you even ask me... If you asked me, I would have chosen Old Zhang and Little Su..."

In the end, the route was decided—the one Su Wanqing pointed out.

Actually, Old Zhang also had his doubts. He had originally favored the route chosen by Li Guodong, as the terrain and landforms matched. But he trusted Su Wanqing more. That girl was incredibly talented; she had an extraordinary gift for mineral exploration, her intuition more accurate than a machine. Wasn't that mine she discovered last time just by "casually taking a walk"?

With the route set, the rest was easy. Su Wanqing didn't participate in any of the preparations, the implementation, or the division of labor. What would require instruments, expertise, and various complex preparations for others, she only needed to open her Insightful Eye and scan the area within a few hundred meters.

The meeting lasted for several hours, and by the time it ended, it was past lunchtime. Everyone in the room was starving, their stomachs growling loudly.

Commander Zhao had a pot of porridge heated up and served with pickled vegetables: "Have something to eat first! This is the standard in the field. We'll be able to have steamed buns tonight. People need to eat, otherwise they'll get hungry!"

He was starving himself, and drank seven or eight cups of jujube water in the afternoon, but the more he drank, the hungrier he became.

Su Wanqing was already starving. She had planned to cook for herself when she got home after the meeting, but these people were still chattering away, and she couldn't leave first. So she simply asked Zhou Yanshen to bring her the basket.

"I brought some food, please feel free to share."

As he spoke, he took things out of his basket: pork jerky, braised eggs, braised green beans, pickled sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers... He laid them out one by one, the aroma filling the air.

Commander Zhao and Old Zhang were the most unceremonious, immediately surrounding them.

"Oh dear, how could I accept this? No need, no need, this is enough!" Commander Zhao declined verbally, but his hand quickly scooped a braised egg into the bowl and picked up a piece of pickled cabbage.

Old Zhang chuckled, grabbed a piece of pork jerky, and chewed it with his mouth full of oil.

Li Guodong's two students, holding bowls of thin, watery porridge, stared longingly at the pile of food, then furtively glanced at their teacher's face, their Adam's apples bobbing up and down, neither daring to move.

Li Guodong himself was swallowing hard. He glared at the student—as if the student wouldn't dare eat if he didn't, wasn't he forcing him to play the villain?

Old Zhang deliberately teased him: "Little Su, don't mind him. It's fine if he doesn't eat it; I'll just eat his portion!"

"Who said I won't eat!" Li Guodong slammed his hand on the table. "I'm going to eat! I'm going to eat!" He then grabbed a braised egg in a huff, picked up a few pieces of vegetables, and then shoved two pieces of pork jerky into the porridge. He stirred it and buried his head in his food.

The two students then shyly said "thank you" and carefully picked up some food.

Su Wanqing put her basket on the ground: "Help everyone eat as much as you like, there's more if you're not full." She poured her porridge for Zhou Yanshen—she didn't like porridge, she was full just from eating meat. Zhou Yanshen didn't pick and choose, and slurped it down with the pork jerky.

He had been busy all afternoon, settling his luggage, registering, and making arrangements, and was starving. He ate whatever his wife gave him, even the things she didn't like, and the things she did like... He subconsciously didn't touch his chopsticks, leaving everything for Su Wanqing.

Su Wanqing kept her bowl empty and focused on eating the meat: she ate five or six braised eggs, seven or eight pieces of pork jerky, and some vegetables before she was satisfied. She never worried about indigestion from eating too much meat—perhaps the spiritual spring had transformed her body, allowing her to eat whatever she wanted without ever experiencing constipation.

After the meal, everyone's relationship improved considerably.

After all, one is obligated to those who feed them.

……

We're starting work this afternoon. There's no set start and end time in field exploration; we work from dawn till dusk. Every day we're out here is a drain on our budget; we can't afford any delays.

The plan is set; we'll set off this afternoon.

A considerable number of people were mobilized this time, including soldiers and technicians from the geological team. Mineral exploration isn't just about looking at the surface; it relies half on instruments and half on experience and luck.

After Zhou Yanshen finished coordinating the work, he sent someone to scout ahead. However, before they set off, he instructed Su Wanqing: "This place looks beautiful, but it's actually very dangerous. The terrain is complex, with deep ravines and dense forests, and wild animals roam around. From now on, if I go out, you stay at the camp and don't wander off."

Su Wanqing nodded obediently: "Yan Shen, don't worry, I definitely won't come out unless you're here. I heard there are wolves around here at night, I dare not go out."

Weird.

Zhou Yanshen glanced at her but didn't say anything. If it were a few months ago, he would have believed her. Now? He had long since figured out his wife's true colors—she looked obedient, but she was bolder than anyone else.

But what can I do? I can only spoil my wife.

"Yan Shen, aren't you going out to gather information this afternoon? Take me with you." Su Wanqing blinked. "I'll help you see if there's any wild game to bring back and improve our meals. We can't stand eating porridge every day!"

She had limited food supplies and needed to find a way to increase them. Besides, with her clairvoyant eye, she could spot wild rabbits and pheasants with a single scan—wasn't she a walking, talking radar?

"Okay. Are you going with Old Zhang and the others this afternoon?" Zhou Yanshen didn't refuse. It was indeed inconvenient to bring his wife along, but that was inconvenient for him, not for his wife—that point could be completely ignored.