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

"Yes, I have to stay a little longer. There's still one data point that hasn't been measured yet; it'll take a few more hours."

The water receded quickly, and there was no longer any danger on the embankment.

Deputy Commander Zhang stopped trying to persuade her. Instead, he had a tent brought over, along with chairs and a table, and even boiled water, which he brought to her one by one: "Please sit here and wait. We'll keep you company."

This time, he did it willingly.

Su Wanqing nodded, saying nothing more. You see, that's how it is between people; the equality of value determines how they treat each other. She's a very useful person, so wherever she goes, she's treated with respect.

Lu Mingxuan stood not far away, staring blankly at Su Wanqing, the more he looked at her, the more he felt that this woman was extraordinary. But when his gaze shifted and landed on Zhou Yanshen beside her, he felt that everything about him was irritating.

A pilot, all he does is fly a plane, right? What gives him the right to stand next to her? Does he deserve it?

"It's gone down, it's gone down again! At this rate, the water will have completely receded in a little while, and we can get out of bed and clean up tomorrow!"

"Yes, I saw the old locust tree in the next village. The houses were all flooded. Once the water recedes, we'll have to fumigate them with mugwort, sprinkle lime on them, and scrape off the mud and repave them. It'll be a huge hassle."

"It's such a pity about all those chickens, ducks, and livestock. They're all gone. The roads are all washed away and broken. It will take a month or two just to repair them. We were in such a hurry that we didn't bring anything with us. Pots, pans, bedding, clothes—we've lost everything. Sigh."

"Who says otherwise? The roof beams of our houses are probably all rotten from the water, and we'll have to replace them. In this year, it's a miracle we're even alive. Once the floodwaters recede, we'll go to the commune for relief, then clear the mud from the fields and replant a season of late corn. Maybe we can harvest another crop before winter. I just don't know if the land that was flooded will still be fertile next year."

As the men who stayed behind to observe were talking, someone suddenly cried out in alarm, "Look! Over there—wasn't that a barren mountain over there? Now the whole mountain is gone, and it's just a huge crater!"

Everyone looked up and, as the floodwaters receded, the villages and farmlands below became increasingly clear, but the familiar terrain had changed drastically.

Where there should have been a barren mountain in the distance, a section had suddenly sunken in, as if some enormous thing had scooped a hole out of the ground, leaving only a huge, dark pit.

"This is too eerie! It's really gone! Look at that shape, doesn't it look like a huge cave? Did all the water flood into it?"

"It's like something swallowed up out of thin air... My God, what on earth happened these past two days? Can a mountain really just melt into mud and be washed away?"

"It's a tragedy! Our village used to rely on that mountain for shelter from the wind! We could grow sweet potatoes and corn on the hillside, and we carried all our firewood up the mountain. Now, it's gone just like that. From now on, we'll have to travel a long way to get firewood."

"But that mountain is blocking the road and getting in the way. It takes us villagers more than half an hour to get things done. If they could build a straight road, it would be much more convenient. But forget it, we're just grateful to be alive. We don't dare to think about anything else."

Feeling a little guilty, Su Wanqing quickly collected the last of the floodwaters, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

The more Deputy Commander Zhang listened, the more bizarre the situation seemed. Before he could figure it out, several more people rushed over, the leader panting heavily, his face covered in sweat and mud.

"Commander Zhang! Commander Liu wants you to go there immediately! There's a sudden outbreak of illness at the largest resettlement site in Liulinwa! They say some people were so thirsty they couldn't stand it anymore, so they secretly scooped up some floodwater, boiled it, and drank it. But they couldn't handle it, and started vomiting and having diarrhea. A whole bunch of them collapsed!"

There are at least several thousand people infected now, delirious with fever, and bedridden with diarrhea. Commander Liu has already led a medical team and medicines there, saying they need to seal off that entire area to prevent the disease from spreading to other resettlement sites. The remaining sites, and all the follow-up matters, are all entrusted to you!

Upon hearing this, Deputy Commander Zhang's heart, which had only felt relieved for less than half an hour after the floodwaters receded, sank heavily again. He no longer cared about the bizarre events unfolding before him. He asked urgently in a hoarse voice:

"Is that the refuge in Liulinwa? The one by the riverbank, where 170,000 or 180,000 people are gathered? If an epidemic breaks out there, it'll be deadly! Who was in charge of managing the drinking water there? Why didn't they report it when only a few people got sick? Now look what's happened, a whole bunch of them are falling ill! That place is crowded, damp, and stuffy. If it really spreads, not only 170,000 or 180,000 people, but even our area will suffer!"

"You bet they are. The people in that village are really unlucky. The floodwaters receded, and they thought they could go home and clean up, but then the whole village was hit by another flood."

"I wonder how many people will die this time."

"What's even more worrying is that the resettlement site is too close to us, only about a half-hour walk away. If the infection spreads, our whole area will be in danger..."

Deputy Commander Zhang's face was ashen: "Old Liu is stationed there to keep watch on this side, and we absolutely cannot let the disease spread here."

You go back immediately and have us start disinfection and prevention here. Distribute the medicine, and notify each shed that no one should drink any tap water, no matter how muddy or rapid the flow! Not a single drop can be touched! Otherwise, Liulinwa will suffer the same fate!

He then said to another person, "Go and submit a report to your superiors, and request another batch of water transport equipment—tin buckets, wooden barrels, water carts, anything will do. There are millions of people here; for them, not having water is more deadly than not having food. Relying on our current transport capacity, something terrible is bound to happen sooner or later—"

Before he could finish speaking, Su Wanqing said, "Deputy Commander Zhang, there's no need to submit a report. Don't worry about the water."

"No, don't worry? Why? Can you conjure water out of thin air? If you can't, you'll have to rely on those buckets and boats to transport it back and forth."

"There are over a million people here all day. They have enough food, but the biggest shortage is water! Right now, they're relying on a few small boats to transport clean water from dozens of miles away, and each person only gets a tiny sip a day—not even enough to quench their thirst. Unless they're desperately thirsty, no one would secretly try to scoop up that dirty water to drink..."

While Deputy Commander Zhang was still rambling on, Su Wanqing said directly, "Although I can't conjure water out of thin air, based on my experiments, a pollution-free underground spring will soon emerge here."

"What? An underground spring? How is that possible? The floodwaters haven't receded yet, where would this spring come from?"

Deputy Commander Zhang was completely stunned. Even those around Su Wanqing were taken aback. Lu Mingxuan quietly translated for little Arend, startling him awake from his slumber.

They had been waiting there for several hours, from daytime until nightfall.

But no one dared to move until Su Wanqing said she would leave. She only said she would wait, but no one knew what she was waiting for.