The Overlord Flower's Guide to Intercepting a Woman's Wife's Death and the Male Lead&

Zhou Bingheng pushed open the door and came in, carrying two unlabeled tin cans.

Dressed in military uniform, with his top button fastened perfectly, he stood tall and straight.

Hearing the noise, Su Xingmian smiled at him.

"Has the division commander gone there?"

Zhou Bingheng placed the tin can on the stone table in the yard.

"You don't know?" Su Xingmian raised an eyebrow.

"I heard Lao Zhang mention it briefly during the afternoon meeting."

Zhou Bingheng strode closer, glanced at the mud on her apron, and reached out to pat a dried blade of grass off her shoulder.

"What did you say?"

Su Xingmian counted on her fingers for him.

"Three pilot outposts were established, the experimental fields were upgraded to be directly managed by the division headquarters, the logistics department built cold sheds for them, and they also had to go up the mountain to collect humus soil."

Zhou Bingheng stopped patting the grass.

Su Xingmian raised her face, her tone tinged with smugness.

"Brother, your report was excellent. Every question the division commander asked today had corresponding data in the report. Uncle Wei didn't even have a chance to refute it."

Zhou Bingheng didn't respond, but looked down at her.

"Has Wei Guodong given in?"

"He took half of it. He asked to do a control experiment, so I gave him the complete formula directly."

Zhou Bingheng chuckled softly, his chest trembling slightly.

He then placed his palm on the back of her head and gently ruffled her soft, black hair.

"Incorporate these comparative data points into your future marketing plans. They'll be your shield. If anyone questions you, just throw the data at them."

Su Xingmian tilted her head and thought for a moment, then chuckled.

"Brother, you're teaching me again."

"Is it bad to teach you?"

Zhou Bingheng withdrew his hand and pointed to the canned goods on the table.

"Liang Jin gave me the luncheon meat. He said thank you for taking care of Wu Qiuli, and that you've worked hard."

Su Xingmian's eyes lit up.

"Then I'll make luncheon meat stir-fried with shallots tonight!"

She turned to go into the kitchen, but Zhou Bingheng grabbed her arm.

"Wipe the mud off your face first."

Zhou Bingheng took the towel draped over the courtyard wall, soaked it in a basin of water, and wrung it out until it was half dry.

He turned around, pinched her chin with one hand, and used the other hand to hold a towel, carefully wiping the dust off her face.

His movements were very light, with a restrained care.

Su Xingmian let him fiddle with her, her voice muffled:

"Brother, Uncle Wei said we're going up the mountain to collect humus, and I'll go with the team to provide guidance."

Zhou Bingheng stopped wiping his face with the towel.

"I know."

"So you agree?"

Zhou Bingheng threw the towel back into the basin, turned around and walked to the water tank to scoop water to wash his hands.

The water flowed over his long, slender fingers, making a splashing sound.

"Be careful to keep warm; the temperature is different up the mountain from down at the foot. You can freeze in the windy spots."

"Know."

"You are not allowed to leave the group."

"it is good."

"No one is allowed to act alone, and no one is allowed to go deep into the dense forest."

Su Xingmian agreed to each of the requests one by one, her hands behind her back, her fingers subtly interlaced.

Zhou Bingheng shook the water droplets off his hands, turned around, and his tall figure blocked most of the light, creating a very imposing presence.

"There's still a batch of crucial materials to be finalized in He Yaozu's case, so I can't leave. Xiao Zhao will stay with you; he's skilled and won't leave your side."

Su Xingmian leaned closer, her nose brushing against his chin, and smelled his refreshing fragrance.

"Don't worry, brother, I'm just going up to dig some dirt."

Zhou Bingheng looked down at her, neither saying he believed her nor that he didn't.

He dried his wet hands with a towel and led her to the kitchen.

"Let's eat first."

Su Xingmian followed behind, her eyebrows and eyes curved in a smile.

The old fox was worried but there was nothing she could do; she desperately wanted to go to Helan Mountain.

……

three days later.

A strong smell of medicine wafted out of the kitchen.

Su Xingmian squatted in front of the stove, stirring ground sophora root powder in an iron pot.

The fine powder mixed with wood ash was forced to release moisture by the intense heat, and the grayish-white powder rolled twice on the bottom of the pot, turning into a light brown color.

This is the seed treatment formula prepared for pilot projects at three outposts.

The courtyard was even more lively.

A dozen or so enamel basins were lined up in a row, filled with sand onion seeds soaking in a pale yellow-green liquid, with fine ginseng root residue floating on top.

Su Xingmian had to stir it up every two hours.

To outsiders, she was just soaking seeds using a folk remedy.

In fact, with each stir, a wisp of life from the plants would seep silently into the water from her fingertips.

The bad seed, stimulated by the vitality of life, quickly surfaced and was discarded by her.

The healthy seed greedily absorbs life force, making its outer shell even tougher.

The courtyard gate wasn't closed properly.

Wu Qiuli peeked half her body through the crack in the door, carrying a jar of fermented soybeans.

"Mianmian, are you busy?"

"Come in," Su Xingmian beckoned.

Wu Qiuli stepped into the courtyard and saw enamel basins scattered all over the ground. She tiptoed in and walked around for a while before finally sitting down at the stone table.

She placed the fermented soybeans on the table and glanced around the yard.

"You're making quite a big fuss. I could smell the medicine from the alleyway entrance."

Su Xingmian poured her a glass of warm water.

"Three outposts, three control groups at each outpost, one thousand seeds per group, nine thousand seeds were soaked in the process alone."

Wu Qiuli took a sip from the cup and suddenly sighed.

"You're going up the mountain tomorrow?"

"Um."

"I've been stationed here for three months, and I haven't been up Helan Mountain yet."

Her tone carried a hint of envy, her hand resting on her lower abdomen.

"You can go after you give birth; you can't run away from the mountain."

Wu Qiuli smiled. Liang Jin was just getting nervous about her, and knowing that bringing it up was pointless, he didn't bring it up again.

The courtyard gate was pushed open again.

Zhang Cuihua plopped down on the other side of the stone table.

"Sister Wu, what's the rush? Once the baby is born next year, you can go up the mountain every day if you want."

"Sister-in-law Cuihua, I heard your family is from Alashan?" Su Xingmian asked curiously.

Zhang Cuihua stretched out her legs, adopting a bold posture as if she were sitting on her own kang (heated brick bed).

"That's right. I grew up running on the grasslands. I can ride horses and herd sheep."

Su Xingmian's eyes widened.

"You can ride horses?"

Zhang Cuihua chuckled.

"I could control the reins with one hand when I was eight years old, and I was almost selected for the equestrian team in the banner back then."

She picked up the cup on the table, took a big gulp of water, and wiped her mouth.

"Miss Wu, once you're feeling better, next year I'll take you to the pastures to the east. There are a few herders there who frequently exchange supplies with the logistics department, so we know them well."

"We'll borrow two horses and ride them across the grasslands. I guarantee you'll have a great time."

Su Xingmian and Wu Qiuli's eyes lit up at her words.

"real?"

"I'd never be able to turn over a horse if I were lying to you."

Su Xingmian listened with great interest. Besides learning to drive, she now had another thing she wanted to learn.

The smell of medicine in the kitchen gradually faded, and sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the jujube tree, casting a scattering of golden light on the surface of the water in the enamel basin.

Wu Qiuli and Zhang Cuihua chatted back and forth about their experiences on the grassland, their laughter ringing out.

As Su Xingmian listened, she used a wisp of her demonic power to examine Wu Qiuli's body.

The life force inside her was much more stable than last time, and her pulse was beating very strongly.

She withdrew her demonic power, got up and went to the kitchen to bring out the stir-fried bitter ginseng root powder and spread it out to cool.

The early winter sun wasn't strong, and it felt warm and cozy on my skin.

Good.

Life with the military is wonderful.