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

The more he talked, the more convinced he became that he had guessed the truth. He had seen plenty of young people spouting nonsense to save face.

Old Zhang hesitated. Li Guodong's words weren't without merit—if fluorite mines were so easy to find, what would be the point of those sophisticated instruments? These things are usually buried tens or even hundreds of meters underground; seeing only scattered fragments on the surface with the naked eye doesn't prove anything. But he didn't want to discourage Su Wanqing, so he carefully considered his words:

"Xiao Su, this stuff... it's really hard to say. A few pieces of fluorite on the surface could mean there's a mine underneath, or it could be transported there by a glacier from somewhere else. To really confirm a mine, you need to use instruments to scan the surrounding tens or even hundreds of square kilometers; you can't just look at it with your eyes. Unless, you know, you have some high-tech gadget from hundreds of years in the future that can scan the ground for tens of miles around—but that's just something we dream about."

Su Wanqing chuckled inwardly. Sorry, but she actually had something even more outrageous—once her Eye of Insight was activated, it could scan not only a radius of dozens of miles, but also thousands of meters underground with crystal clarity.

She finished treating the wounds of the remaining people, then looked up at the sky: "It's too late today, it'll be dark by the time we get there. Let's do it tomorrow, the machine's broken and needs fixing, we can take half a day to go check that place. It can't be wrong."

There's no mistake—if her cheat system could be wrong, she would have eaten the Eye of Insight on the spot.

Old Zhang nodded repeatedly, "Alright, alright, it's settled then, we'll go together tomorrow morning." He paused, then lowered his voice, "But Xiao Su, don't get your hopes up too high. The presence of fluorite on the surface doesn't mean there's a mine underneath, and even if there is, it might not be large enough to start mining. If we don't find anything tomorrow, don't worry about it, it's perfectly normal."

He's taking precautions in advance—in case tomorrow turns out to be a misunderstanding, he'll soften his tone today, telling everyone that this thing is hard to find, so that Su Wanqing can save face.

Su Wanqing understood Zhang Lao's good intentions, smiled, and didn't reply.

Li Guodong snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "Then I'll have to take a good look tomorrow and see what this fluorite mine looks like. Let me make this clear—if it's really as easy to find as you say, then from now on, whenever I see you, Comrade Su, I'll follow your lead without hesitation. If you say go east, I'll never go west; if you say beat a dog, I'll never chase a chicken! But if it's just a false alarm and a wasted trip, then I hope Comrade Su will be lenient and not meddle in this mining business in the future."

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves, turned around, and left.

His female student chased after him for a couple of steps, then turned back and said apologetically to Su Wanqing, "Comrade Su, please don't take it to heart. My teacher is just stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside, and has a fiery temper, but he's actually a very good person—he spends most of his salary sponsoring impoverished students, and he sends all the cotton cloth and cotton he receives in winter to families in need; even his own cotton-padded coat is patched. Today the equipment broke down, delaying the mission for two days, and he's really worried and upset..."

Su Wanqing waved her hand and smiled, "I know. But ultimately, the machine malfunction and the injuries today were caused by his team's deployment of defenses and his decisions, not by me. We'll see if there's anything tomorrow."

The male student muttered under his breath, "Still being stubborn... If finding a mine were that easy, would we be running all over the mountains?"

The female student glared at him, then smiled apologetically at Su Wanqing before pulling the male student away.

……

Su Wanqing washed her hands and said to Commander Zhao, "Commander Zhao, where's the kitchen? I brought back some game; we'll treat everyone to a nice meal tonight."

Commander Zhao's eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together as he approached, "Come on, come on, I'll take you! Oh, Xiao Su, you're a lifesaver! Our camp's cookhouse has so little, just steamed buns and porridge every day, I'm getting so bored!" He muttered as they walked, "We only have salt and a few peppercorns for seasoning, nothing else, you'll have to make do..."

Su Wanqing smiled and said, "It's alright, I brought some with me."

Commander Zhao personally led Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen to the mess hall and called over the mess sergeant who was tending the fire: "Old Ma! This is Doctor Su. She brought back some good ingredients from outside. Cooperate with her; do whatever she tells you to do!"

Old Ma had eaten Su Wanqing's cooking before, and he still couldn't forget the taste. Hearing this, his face lit up with a smile: "Alright, alright! Dr. Su, just give the order, and we'll take care of the cooking!"

Su Wanqing rolled up her sleeves and began to assign tasks: Zhou Yanshen was responsible for processing the snake and rabbit—skinning them, removing their internal organs, and chopping them into pieces; Lao Ma was responsible for washing wild vegetables and soaking mushrooms; she herself set up two large iron pots, one to boil water to blanch the meat and remove the fishy smell, and the other to heat oil to caramelize sugar.

Six fat snakes and three fat rabbits filled the table. There were over fifty people in the camp, so each person would get a good amount of meat. Su Wanqing thought that instead of making four or five dishes, she should make two large pots of braised snake stew—stir-fry the meat and snake pieces first, then stew them with mushrooms and wild vegetables, reduce the sauce until thick, and pour it over mixed grain rice—that would be the ultimate rice bowl. She would also use the snake and rabbit bones to make a soup, add a few wild mushrooms, and sprinkle some of her homemade mushroom powder—it would be so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off.

She was actually craving roasted snake, but all six snakes are here... Sigh, I'll have Zhou Yanshen take her to catch a few more snakes later, and stock up on some in my space first.

Smoke rises from the chimneys, and the aroma begins to waft through the air.

Su Wanqing pulled a bunch of bottles and jars from her basket: soy sauce, cooking wine, rock sugar, star anise, cinnamon, dried chili peppers... Old Ma's eyes widened in astonishment: "Dr. Su, did you bring your whole house here?"

An hour later, two large iron buckets of braised snake and rabbit stew were steaming hot, their rich, dark sauce and the aroma of meat mixed with mushrooms were so enticing that they could be smelled from afar.

Commander Zhao leaned closer, and Su Wanqing placed a piece of snake meat in his mouth. He chewed it a couple of times, his eyes widening in disbelief, almost swallowing his tongue: "This...this...this smells so good!"

Su Wanqing pressed her advantage: "Commander, go and call everyone to eat. Yan Shen, take the snakeskin and process it; I'll need it later. Old Ma, keep an eye on the fire for me; I'm going to make some soup."

After dismissing everyone, she quickly put the two large buckets into her spatial storage, returning tenfold the value! Instantly, twenty identical buckets of braised snake and rabbit stew appeared in her space, along with matching large iron buckets and large iron ladles.

Freebies always seem the best.

She took out the original two buckets, and then scooped out a lot of meat and snake pieces from her spatial storage to fill them to the brim.

The snake bone soup is ready. Wild mushrooms float in the milky white broth, and a sprinkle of chopped green onions adds to the aroma.

Old Ma shouted at the top of his lungs, "Dinner's ready—!"