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

Chapter 59 Uncle Wei pulled out all his savings from the past three years.

Wei Guodong stood at the gate of the courtyard.

He gripped the strap of a canvas satchel tightly in his hand, his knuckles calloused and rough.

"Uncle Wei, come in and have a seat."

Su Xingmian tilted her head slightly, holding the winnowing basket.

Wei Guodong stepped across the threshold, sat down at the stone table with an air of authority, opened his satchel, and took out an old notebook.

The cover is made of kraft paper, with the four corners worn smooth and greasy. The sides are stitched with two thick white lines, the stitches rough and sturdy.

He pushed the notebook towards Su Xingmian's side.

"See if you can use it."

Su Xingmian put down the winnowing basket and turned it over.

The first page features a hand-drawn topographic profile of the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains.

The contour lines range from 1,500 to 3,000, with dense pencil writing next to them, some of which has already turned gray.

"Qinghai spruce, eight to twelve meters tall, with moderate density."

"The aspen forest has a thick layer of fallen leaves, with a humus layer of 20 to 30 centimeters."

Turning the page further, it's all soil records.

They examined the soil's color, texture, moisture, and even the data measured with pH test strips.

The years are marked from 1953 to 1968 without interruption.

Su Xingmian's finger stopped on the middle page.

Near the 2,300-meter contour line, a red pencil circled it heavily.

"In November 1963, I went up the mountain with my company to cut firewood. The mountain was a mix of poplar and birch, with a half-meter-thick layer of fallen leaves. The surface layer was partially decomposed, while the lower layer was completely decomposed, black in color, and could be clumped together without crumbling. It was excellent humus soil."

A line was added below, the pen tip almost tearing the paper.

"The mountain road is too steep; we can't transport it down."

Su Xingmian closed the notebook and looked up at Wei Guodong.

Wei Guodong placed his hands on his knees and rubbed them together.

"I've been keeping this notebook for thirty years. I started keeping it when I was farming in my hometown in Hebei, and I haven't stopped since I joined the army."

He paused.

"It's not anything formal, don't mind its roughness."

Su Xingmian traced the red circle from 1963 with her finger.

"Uncle Wei, can you still find the location of this circle?"

"I could find it with my eyes closed. I've walked that road four times."

Su Xingmian held the notebook and flipped back to the last few pages, where the soil sampling records within a 30-kilometer radius of the garrison were kept.

Although the labels were few, the descriptions of acidity and alkali levels and soil properties at several key locations filled in the gaps in the map in her mind.

"Uncle Wei, can I borrow this to make a copy?"

Wei Guodong tapped his knee twice with his fingers.

"Why copy? Just take it and use it."

Su Xingmian closed the notebook, clutched it in her hand, and suddenly spoke.

"Uncle Wei, after spring, I would like to ask you to come with me to conduct a comprehensive soil survey of the entire area surrounding our base."

Wei Guodong's movement to get up froze.

"Census?"

"Systematic and comprehensive. We surveyed the entire area within a 50-kilometer radius, including soil type, pH, salinity, and groundwater level."

She patted the kraft paper cover.

"Your records over the past thirty years form the foundation, and I'll fill in the framework. We'll produce a formal report, and from now on, everything from clearing land to planting vegetables will be done according to that report."

Wei Guodong pulled back the half-step he had taken out and sat down firmly again.

He picked up the rough porcelain teacup on the table, tilted his head back, and took a big gulp.

"OK."

The cup slammed heavily onto the stone table.

He got up and walked outside, but paused at the courtyard gate.

"Comrade Su, wear something warm when you go up the mountain tomorrow. The wind at altitudes above 2,000 meters is no joke."

The person is gone.

Su Xingmian leaned against the door frame, watching his retreating figure.

Thirty years of planting experience, hand-drawn topographic maps, and uninterrupted soil records from Hebei to the Helan Mountains—this stubborn veteran has laid bare all his resources.

She looked down and flipped her wrist.

A small stream of warm current flowed into the meridians.

Not many, but stable and consistent.

merit.

at night.

Zhou Bingheng took off his military jacket and hung it behind the door, his gaze sweeping to the top shelf of the cabinet.

Su Xingmian neatly arranged Wei Guodong's old notebook, wrapped in a handkerchief.

"Given to you by Wei Guodong?"

"Hmm." Su Xingmian lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), her two little legs swinging back and forth. "He memorized it for thirty years; it's more useful than any book."

Zhou Bingheng sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), cupped the back of her head with his large hand, and rubbed the back of her ear with his thumb.

"Wei Guodong is stubborn. I'm really impressed by you. My Mianmian is amazing."

Su Xingmian pressed her face against his palm and rubbed it against him.

"I'll go up the mountain tomorrow and look for the place he circled."

Zhou Bingheng casually picked up the box of face cream and applied it to her face.

"Xiao Zhao will bring people to pick you up at five o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

After applying the ointment, Su Xingmian pulled the blanket over half of her face, leaving only her curved eyes visible.

"Brother, I'll be good."

Zhou Bingheng stared at her without saying a word, then leaned over and blew out the oil lamp.

In the darkness, the corners of the blanket were tucked in tightly.

It was five in the morning, and it was completely dark.

At the east gate of the family compound, a platoon of soldiers stood in formation, carrying baskets, shovels, and ropes.

The white breath exhaled swirled in the cold wind.

Xiao Zhao stood half a step to the left of Su Xingmian.

His back was bulging with his own gear, as well as Su Xingmian's dried meat, an enamel mug, and the thick cotton-padded coat that Zhou Bingheng had forced him to wear.

Wei Guodong, leaning on a peeled wooden stick, walked at the very front.

"Set off."

The team ventured onto the gravel path on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains.

The higher you go, the stronger the wind becomes, feeling like razor blades on your face.

Su Xingmian tightened her collar and stepped onto the mountain path covered with fallen leaves.

The soles of the shoes crushed the fallen leaves.

The instant the soles of the feet touch the ground.

The demonic power spread out.

It spreads wildly along the underground root network.

Five meters, ten meters, fifty meters, two hundred meters.

The entire underground world of the mountain lit up in her mind.

The roots of the spruce tree penetrate deep into the rock layers, forming the skeleton of this network.

The shallow roots of the aspen intertwine horizontally, forming a thick layer.

The fine roots of the shrubs are crowded on top, twisting into a dense blanket.

All the roots are sending messages to her.

She is the owner of this net.

Data from the water veins flooded in.

To the northwest, an underground water vein cuts diagonally through the mountain, branching at an altitude of 1,800 meters. The eastern branch is thin and weak, while the southern branch has a larger volume of water and a gentler direction.

Near the 2,000-meter contour line, a second water vein cuts across the area, with extremely high mineral content.

Three springs.

Two are in sheltered mountain valleys, and one is at the foot of a scree slope.

Su Xingmian withdrew her demonic power, revealing nothing on her face.

She would stop every now and then, squat down next to a tree, grab a handful of soil, crush it, and bring it to her nose to smell.

"Weathered debris, with a high alkalinity."

He brushed the dirt off his hands, got up, and continued walking.

Wei Guodong turned around and glanced at her.

"You have a very sensitive nose."

"A traditional method taught by my grandmother."

Su Xingmian clapped her hands and caught up with the group.

The soldiers only saw her squat down, grab the soil, smell it, and stand up.

A girl who seriously studies soil.

No one knows that during those few seconds when she squatted down, the entire two-kilometer radius underground on the eastern slope of the mountain was affected.

She mentally reviewed the soil structure, water content, root distribution, and mineral composition.

When we reached an altitude of 2,000 meters, the tree species changed.

The spruce trees in Qinghai have become sparse, while aspen and birch have appeared in large patches.

The woods suddenly became bright, with sunlight filtering through the gaps in the tree canopy and illuminating the golden fallen leaves on the ground.

The scent of plants on Su Xingmian resonated within this forest.

It spread outwards uncontrollably.

The first bird to be startled was a grey magpie.

It flew down from the branch and landed on a dead branch two meters away from Su Xingmian's shoulder, tilting its head and staring at her.

Su Xingmian ignored it.

I walked twenty steps.

The magpie hopped over.

After walking another twenty steps, another one came along.

Xiao Zhao walked beside him, turning his neck back and forth.

"Sister-in-law, why do birds keep following you?"

"Maybe I smell like bugs."

Xiao Zhao: "..."