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

Mr. Zhang added, "The report and data have been compiled. The most important thing now is to submit it as soon as possible and then wait for the mining team to come in. Mr. Li and I discussed it. One of us will go back to report and bring the team over, while the other will stay here to continue detailed exploration, mark mining points, and handle preliminary preparations."

Commander Zhao nodded: "Understood. We'll split into two groups. One will stay and continue working, the other will go back and report." He looked at the two men, "Have you decided who will stay and who will go? If one of you has to stay, I have to stay too. My task is to protect the exploration work. I'll send Zhou Yanshen to escort the one going back. Dr. Su is pregnant, so it's not good for her to stay here any longer. She can go back with you. After that, they won't have anything else to do. Just have whoever goes back bring the supply team and the mining team back."

Zhou Yanshen and Su Wanqing exchanged a glance, neither of them objecting. The mine had been found; all that remained was arduous and demanding specialized work, and it was indeed time for them to leave.

It's been half a month since we left, and heavy snow is coming soon—that would be a real natural disaster. Remembering Gu Zhixing's warning, Su Wanqing said, "Now that the mine has been discovered, why don't we all go back first to give a unified report, replenish our supplies and equipment, and then come back? If there's another earthquake or other natural disaster, it'll be troublesome if we're trapped here. I have reliable information that winter will come early this year, and there might be a huge blizzard. That would close the mountains and roads, and in case…"

She didn't know what happened to this area in the original story; perhaps they returned without finding any minerals. But she didn't want to change these people's fate and let them be buried here by the snow.

Commander Zhao laughed heartily: "Little Su, you don't understand. The coal mines don't operate in winter, but these old guys, which one of them has ever been idle in winter? They used to go into the mountains every winter, working even when it was hailing! Time is life, the sooner we dig it out, the sooner the country can use it. Don't worry about natural disasters, the geology here is stable, even if it snows for a month, it won't matter. Real mining teams come in groups of several hundred, with their families, they have to build houses and camps when they go into the mountains, and they stay for several years. They prepare at least six months to a year's worth of supplies, and there are plenty of wild animals in the forest in winter, so they won't go hungry. Even if the roads are blocked, they can still get through it."

Hearing what Commander Zhao said, Su Wanqing felt a little relieved. But the thought of those people having to mine in the deep mountains and forests in the freezing winter, where temperatures were tens of degrees below zero, still made her heart clench.

People in this era are truly suffering.

Su Wanqing added a reminder: "Even so, this year's situation is special, the temperature will be much lower than in previous years, so be sure to bring enough food and cold-weather supplies." Fuel is not a problem, there are enough branches all over the mountains to burn all winter.

However, no one took these words to heart. If the mining team really came, they would settle down here, and they would definitely bring plenty of supplies.

As for who stays behind and who goes back to deliver the message—

Li Guodong spoke first: "Old Zhang, you have to give me face this time and let me stay. I'll do the work from now on, otherwise I won't have the face to accept the credit without contributing anything."

Old Zhang waved his hand: "What are you saying? I contributed the least this time, I didn't do anything worthwhile. I should do the rest of the work. You can go back now, you can always come back later."

Going back to submit a report would be a respectable task with great merit, but neither of them wanted to go; they both wanted the other to go instead.

In the end, they had to draw lots. Old Zhang drew "Go back," and he looked reluctant, but claimed that he would bring people back as soon as possible.

The matter is settled; we'll depart early tomorrow morning. The camp is running low on food, lacks equipment, and is short of weapons. We need to hurry back to resupply and send a large force over—this is a huge mine.

……

Su Wanqing finally had some free time. Five or six days had passed since the earthquake, and the affected area was only a few dozen kilometers. She wanted to go to a more distant place to see if there were any good things, and also to get more food for the camp.

The two old men went to catch up on their sleep, while Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen led half of the patrol team on horseback deeper into the area. Everyone carried bags and tools, and as soon as Su Wanqing stopped and pointed, the group pounced on her like hungry wolves.

On the last day, let's try to save as much food as possible for the camp.

Su Wanqing herself also reaped quite a harvest. Besides four or five kinds of medicinal herbs, she also found a patch of wild strawberries. Although they were so sour they made her teeth ache, their bright red color was quite lovely. There were also thorn berries, purplish-black, hanging all over the branches. She collected them all, preparing to process them in her spatial storage.

As mentioned before, the free upgrade of the Craftsmanship Grid is fraught with uncertainty.

Raw food can sometimes be cooked.

These wild strawberries, though incredibly sour, have the potential to mature into delicious, ripe, and large strawberries. In that case, she could directly place them in the planting grid to cultivate perfect strawberries.

Of course, it's also possible that it will turn directly into strawberry jam, in which case it can no longer be grown and cultivated.

Because the pears she had grown before were probably ancient wild varieties, even with the spiritual spring, they were still small, sour, and had large cores. On a whim, she put the pears directly in, and they ended up as canned pears.

It tasted delicious, but unfortunately it couldn't be grown. She experimented several more times before it turned into a big, juicy pear, which she then replanted.

Therefore, the same applies to strawberries.

"No rush, if we fail today, we can try again tomorrow. We can get something for free every day anyway."

She picked up a sour strawberry the size of a fingernail and placed it in the Craftsman's Cube—Free Upgrade!

A flash of light, and the strawberry turned into a small blob of strawberry jam...

She knew it.

"No rush, if it doesn't work today, we can try again tomorrow. Anyway, we can get something for free every day."

Besides her own stash, the camp had a bumper harvest today. Further in, the abundant rain caused mushrooms to grow like crazy. She gestured to the soldiers, who picked over a hundred pounds of mushrooms. They also gathered over two hundred pounds of lichen—dark-colored, resembling small wood ear mushrooms—perfect for making dumplings, stews, and soups; so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off.

She immediately collected the twenty-odd jin of meat Zhou Yanshen had gathered, planning to return it tenfold to her spatial storage, then use it to make earthworm vegetable, tofu, and meat buns. She planned to upgrade the recipe tenfold again, making ten thousand of them to eat slowly. These buns were even more delicious than regular meat buns!

In the evening, the lichen and mushrooms were stewed together with wolf meat and chestnuts in a large pot, and the aroma made everyone's mouths water.

The next morning, those returning home began their journey in the dark.

When Su Wanqing opened her eyes, Zhou Yanshen had already packed her luggage. Outside the tent, Xiao Wang was already waiting, and smiled as soon as he saw her: "Captain Zhou, you help Dr. Su, I'll carry the luggage. Old Zhang's preparations are all done, let's go!"

Before the earthquake, the camp was close to the road, but now it's far away. The group walked for two or three hours, finally reaching the parking spot just as dawn was breaking. Xiao Wang drove, Su Wanqing and Old Zhang sat in the back of the truck, Zhou Yanshen sat in the passenger seat, and three young soldiers accompanied them for protection.

As soon as the vehicle started moving, Su Wanqing began feeding the soldiers. She'd reach for pork jerky, then braised eggs, then salt-baked eggs. The three young soldiers were hesitant to accept, but Old Zhang was unceremonious, taking the food and urging them, "What are you being so polite about? It's from Little Su, eat up!"