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

The snow still fell every few days, but it no longer affected traffic. People in the county town were astonished to hear that the people of the 65th Regiment had dug through the snow for more than half a month and carved out a road.

The two sides exchanged information. Director Li, who was in charge of supplies, drove over from the county town that same day.

Su Wanqing had heard Zhou Yanshen say that the road was about to be opened, but she didn't expect that Director Li would personally drive over as soon as it was opened. She was then called to the command center for a meeting.

"Oh, Xiao Su, how have you been lately?"

As soon as Director Li saw her, he grasped her hand with concern. "I was terrified for days after hearing what happened between you and Comrade Xiao Zhou on your way back to the regiment! I was relieved to hear that you returned safely."

Su Wanqing smiled and said, "I have to thank Director Li for what happened that day. If you hadn't sent three trucks to find us on three different routes, we probably would have been stuck there."

"Of course, of course. As long as you're all alright, that's all that matters." After exchanging pleasantries, Director Li pushed over several boxes behind him. "Xiao Su, this is the money for the drill bit from last time. It's all here. The roads were blocked by heavy snow these past few days, so I brought it to you as soon as they reopened. Oh, and you mentioned you wanted to exchange for another batch of gold, I brought that too."

Su Wanqing's eyes lit up—four hundred catties of gold and five hundred thousand yuan in cash were all here. There was also new gold, which would be perfect for exchanging the gold that had lost its precious power in her space. She just hoped it wouldn't end up back in her hands after going through many twists and turns.

In short, she is now rolling in money.

The space upgrade to the next level, Gold, is sufficient. Her own wheat and rice, grown at ten times the speed, have already been harvested in their first crop; seven or eight more harvests will meet the standard. Other conditions aren't difficult; the only problem is that the modern high-tech products haven't been secured yet, so she can only wait for an opportunity.

Coming to his senses, Director Li finally revealed his purpose: "Xiao Su, I heard from Shu Qing that you can still contact your friend? He said there was a lot of coal, and that it would be available once the road was completed? Is it still there? Is that true?"

He sighed, "You don't know, coal mines used to operate until December when it snowed, but this year the snowstorm came early, so the mines were shut down early, and there's no coal left around. Who hoards coal in the fall these days? This year it's been exceptionally cold, and if it weren't for the steel mills and a few other factories that had some stockpiled, the county town probably wouldn't have been able to hold on."

Su Wanqing then understood Director Li's purpose—he also wanted coal.

For the past month, food supplies in the county town have been relatively plentiful, thanks to her earlier reminder that Director Li had stockpiled some emergency supplies. But who could have imagined that while supplies were secured, coal would run out? Most of the county town consists of government-owned factories, and half of those factories are still operating, all waiting for coal in this cold weather. The shortage is alarming; in a few days, the county's coal reserves will be depleted, and they're only hanging on by the steel mills' reserves. At that point, it's likely half the factories will have to shut down.

Li Aiguo was so anxious that his mouth was covered in blisters, but just then, the road to the 65th Regiment was suddenly cleared!

Su Wanqing thought for a moment and said, "Secretary Liu is right. My friend came by a few days ago when the road was blocked and said that as long as the road is open, we can supply goods. However, the transaction will still be in the old place. We need to clear the road from the back mountain to the highway first."

The road is only a few hundred meters from the back mountain; the whole group can sweep it in less than two hours. Liu Shuqing patted his chest confidently, "A piece of cake!" He then cautiously asked, "Dr. Su, if your friend still has coal, our group would like to buy a hundred tons... I wonder what the price is?"

He was worried that with the heavy snow blocking the roads, people would take the opportunity to raise prices. Of course, a slight increase was normal, and as long as it wasn't outrageous, he would grit his teeth and accept it.

Su Wanqing smiled and said, "Still crushed coal, still the same price."

Liu Shuqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, that's good."

Upon hearing that he wanted 100 tons, Director Li coughed lightly and tentatively asked, "How many trucks would it take to haul it all... how much at most?" He was afraid that if he asked for too much, the current road conditions wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. But if Su Wanqing could provide 100 tons, it would be enough to sustain the entire county for another ten days to half a month.

Su Wanqing glanced at the hundreds of thousands of tons of coal in the space and smiled slightly: "Director Li, you can have as much as you want."

Director Li cautiously reported a number: "Two hundred tons?"

Su Wanqing nodded.

"Three hundred tons?"

Su Wanqing nodded again.

Director Li swallowed hard—what on earth did they do to have so much scrap coal? Whose coal mine did they raid? But there are only a few mines around, and their annual output is what it is; I haven't heard of any of them dumping coal…

Forget it, why think so much? He doesn't care where it came from; he won't ask or inquire. Anyway, the policy from above will be released soon, and in a few months, these transactions won't have to be done secretly anymore.

Director Li simply closed his eyes and announced a heart-pounding number: "Six hundred tons?"

Su Wanqing nodded again: "No problem. My friend said he has a lot of stock. He'll pile the coal up on the back hill all at once, and you can take as much as you need. The accounts will be clear. If you don't use it all, you can come and get it from other farms or counties once the roads are open. The price will be the same, but they'll have to transport it themselves."

She wasn't worried about being bumped into by coal haulers—she would scan the area with her Insightful Eye before putting the coal in, making sure the surrounding area was clean. To avoid trouble, she would just put in a larger quantity at once.

Director Li rubbed his hands excitedly: "Excellent! Xiao Su, we really owe you a lot this time! Don't worry, the county town alone uses a huge amount of coal, and we estimate we can handle most of it here. Roads to other places aren't open yet, but if the 66th Regiment needs any, I'll have them come and haul it. As long as we have enough supplies and coal, we're prepared to dig up roads to other areas; things aren't going well for other places either!"

He figured to himself that even if Xiao Su's friend had connections everywhere, he could only get a few hundred or a thousand tons of coal at most. How much more could he get? Any more than that would just empty the coal mine.

The two agreed on the details and arranged to start transporting coal the following evening. Director Li, satisfied, left with the gold that had lost its precious metal value, taken by Su Wanqing. The drill bit transaction was to be put on hold for now; the heavy snow blocked the roads, making it impossible anyway. Right now, survival was the most important thing.

That same day, Liu Shuqing led his men to clear the path behind the mountain.

At night, Su Wanqing went to the back mountain alone, activated her Eye of Insight to make sure no one was around, and with a thought, two thousand tons of coal fell out of thin air and piled up into a small mountain at the foot of the back mountain.

This amount of coal sounds like a lot, but it actually appears to be a lot even when placed at the foot of the mountain behind it.

The next day, she notified Liu Shuqing to collect the coal.

When Liu Shuqing arrived with his men, his jaw nearly dropped when he saw the massive, dark mountain of coal. He hadn't expected anyone to conjure such a thing out of thin air; he assumed it was due to the extraordinary abilities of Su Wanqing's friends—it must have taken at least a dozen large trucks to create such a huge pile in one night.

He immediately ordered people to pull ice sleds and transport it to the warehouse in trips. He first hauled 300 tons and stored it, and then assigned two people to guard it.

(PS: The snow disaster was mainly to accumulate more merit and good items. It will be over soon~ The next volume will start soon, and Zhou Yanshen will be returning to the city to get promoted quickly!)