Chapter 173: The Bad One Isn't Clever, the Good One Is Spirit

Qiao Mai split her share into six portions, kept one for herself, sent one to Yuan Jiaqi, one to Chuan'er, one each to the two Fengyun brothers, and one to Ling'er.

She let them eat it as a New Year snack; if it was spicy they could trade bites with each other, which also gave them a bit of amusement.

While people were busy preparing for the New Year, the heavens changed their face one night.

In one night a heavy fluffy snow began falling again; in the past two months there had been several snowfalls, and Qiao Mai stood at the doorway watching the dark, gloomy sky.

The whiter the ground, the darker the sky.

"Looks like another blizzard!"

She quickly sent Yuehong to run errands and ordered all members of the Qiao Family to go into emergency mode.

Except for Wang Jiaru's Old Servant and the children, everyone else must not sleep too deeply; they rotate in pairs, checking the Poultry House and the garden behind it every hour.

Every two hours they inspected the roof and cleared the snow; she muttered a curse under her breath.

Not understanding is fine; as long as there is space, that's the Golden Finger, her cheat, and with it nothing is difficult.

She bit her lip, intending to fill that hundred‑mu deep pit and then stop—she kept her word.

Moreover, they themselves donated a thousand taels of silver.

"My goodness, had I known you could get big like this, I would have made you big long ago."

That night she went out several times, adding coal to the children's houses, adding firewood to the kitchen, moving around each courtyard.

Unexpectedly, the space, following her thoughts, actively expanded outward into a deep pit, rather than being created in place.

"With your words, I know what to do now."

Although on the 30th and the first day the entire Qiao Family ate dumplings, there was no festive atmosphere at all.

At the same time, Fucheng and the County Town also launched rescue efforts; this year, it seems everyone will have a hard time getting through.

First they cleaned their own place, then went to the Lu Family.

It was larger than the first snowfall and lasted longer, continuing until New Year's Eve; the villagers' eyes were reddened.

Is the heavens testing her patience? If it keeps up, next year's harvest will truly be worrisome.

At her pace, in one night she cleared the snow from several Small Towns north and south.

Qiao Mai has a strange habit: she never eats any of the living things she raises; she raises them to make the water of that hundred‑mu area flow.

Even the snow along both sides of the Guan Dao was drawn in by her; as it seemed about to become a snow disaster, she had the power but didn't rescue—it was something she couldn't do.

However, this time he added, "Servant girl, Yuan Family, Tian Family, Qiao Family—will these three families contribute?"

First clear the snow on the road; only when the road is passable can they send people for rescue. Qiao Mai had Yuan Jiaqi lead people to shovel snow, while she inspected the stored grain in the warehouse.

After exchanging New Year greetings, each went off to do their own tasks.

With a single thought, Qiao Mai cleared a hundred‑mu area on the ranch, creating a pit three meters deep, thinking she needed to move the excess Black Soil elsewhere.

Only then did the hundred‑mu pit get filled; back home, with another thought, the mountain of white snow piled in the pit melted into water in an instant.

She looked inside; there was nothing, only Black Soil all around, giving the three‑meter‑deep pit an abyssal feel.

She spat at the ground, "U‑ya mouth, the bad one not clever, the good spirit."

She reached out and felt the water, cold as an icy pool; without her intention it would stay at that temperature, meaning without her command it would never become room temperature.

Oh right, lotus roots; she bought some lotus seeds on the Platform and planted them with her mind.

Her eyes widened into perfect circles as the pond visibly expanded, expanding, and expanding.

That night was not in vain; she set out to aid disaster relief, and unexpectedly gained a hundred‑mu pond—killing two birds with one stone, truly a good thing.

Qiao Mai bit her lip, used her mind to survey the space; now the land spanned fifty million mu, and her cultivation was at Foundation Building Second Stage, with mental and soul power twice as strong as before.

Then she sent someone to call the Village Head, urging them to first transport food and firewood to the nearby villages.

She also sneaked into the warehouse to glance around and replenish supplies.

Now she can farm twenty‑thousand mu at a time; moving these snow piles in is also not impossible.

Many people felt as if the sun rose from the west, rare to see a corrupt official so generous.

Qiao Mai bit her molars, muttering under her breath at the heavens, "Damn it, at this pace next year could bring floods and droughts."

Qiao Mai screamed in her mind, "Whoa, whoa, I'm freaking out, it upgraded, it upgraded! I didn't expect that bringing in a hundred mu of snow would cause the space to level up—doesn't it just expand the cultivated area? I really don't get this space!"

Qiao Mai smiled; it seemed her master was still very diligent.

In other words, a hundred‑mu pit appeared in the middle of the ranch.

Even though she cleared so much snow, she still underestimated this blizzard.

At that moment, the space began to tremble again, just like the last upgrade.

The County Magistrate of Yi County did nothing, constantly calling for donations, yet the people saw no supplies and were in extreme distress.

Especially the disaster victims who had migrated from the south; they had just suffered flood disaster and now faced a snow disaster, truly left speechless with grief.

The Qiao Family donated nearly half of their grain and firewood; Qian Town Head was deeply grateful to Qiao Mai, for without her this year, who knows how many would have died.

A two‑hundred‑mu pond, where one can raise lotus roots as well as fish, shrimp, crabs, etc.; the food chain must be arranged properly, otherwise they would overflow into disaster.

At worst, if somewhere dries up, she can turn the moved‑in snow into water and move it out again, returning it here.

The next day, that damn thing started dispatching people to transport relief supplies to each village.

Late at night, she moved like a dancing sprite, leaping across the rooftops of each house, collecting snow house by house.

Each Town Head also led able‑bodied villagers from their own village to begin self‑rescue.

Honestly, if Qiao Mai hadn't killed him because of the disaster in the north, no one would be in charge; the court would have to send people, and she would have just killed him outright.

This time Town Head Qian was also anxious, immediately organizing the town's wealthy households; without caring about whether the New Year was being celebrated, they cleared the snow at once, and as soon as the road opened, began rescue operations.

The space's purification function activated instantly, the meltwater became crystal clear, allowing one to see straight to the bottom.

Jixiang Yuan isn't large, about thirty mu, and contains several small snow mountains, all of which she moved in.

"Here, everyone gets a share; though I hate them, I don't wish for their deaths."

She was pondering whether farming would automatically expand the area, and whether water storage would do the same, when she saw the entire pond trembling.

The autumn grain delivered by the tenant farmers, over ten thousand jin, plus several waves of grain she retrieved from the space, filled the whole warehouse.

After hearing about it, Qiao Mai went to the County Magistrate's residence that night.

Then, with a thought, the water gradually began to warm; at that moment her enthusiasm was high, so she quickly bought live fish, shrimp, hairy crabs, etc., online and put them into the water to raise.

She didn't buy many, letting them breed on their own.

Snow like this, the previous snow hasn't melted, and another has come; it's already enough to become a snow disaster.

Fortunately, the Prefect of Weicheng is wealthy; Madam Wang led the donations with one hundred thousand taels of silver, the city's major merchants contributed money and goods, some provided porridge, all strongly supporting Wang Zongsheng.

Since they have this idea, then they should act on it.

Qiao Mai walked in her courtyard, and the Snow Mountain she passed vanished in an instant, appearing inside the Pit of the space.

She lingered in the space only briefly, then withdrew her thought; the snow outside fell even heavier.

So many people are waiting for rescue, yet the County Magistrate wants to embezzle the relief funds and supplies donated for the disaster victims.

They really deserve death!

Later, the Old Lady told her about the County Magistrate.

"Servant girl, they are a person of a prince of the court; as long as they don't make a major mistake, Zongsheng cannot do anything to them. After all, they are only a Fourth Rank minor official; even Prime Minister Wang cannot do anything to the County Magistrate."

(End of chapter)