I Became a Sugar Mama to an Ancient General during a Famine! - Chapter 11 Part 2

By this time, they were already starving, their stomachs growling with hunger.

Following Centurion Zhao Zhong’s lead, they each cautiously picked up a small carrot and took a bite.

Instantly, their eyes widened in disbelief—it was actually sweet!

They devoured the small carrots in just a few bites, barely taking time to chew.

Seeing they had finished, Lin Dajun instructed, “Quietly now, let’s move this to the camp!”

Into each basket, they first placed a sack of rice, then pressed down a barrel of oil, a sack of flour, and several bags of salt. Finally, they topped it with cabbages and napa cabbages.

Along the sides, they carefully squeezed in eggplants, tomatoes, and carrots wherever there was space…

The enormous bamboo baskets were so overfilled that their edges visibly deformed.

But there was no time to worry about that. The distance from the General’s Mansion to the military camp was two miles, and there were flatbed carts just outside the back gate.

Each cart could hold four baskets.

They loaded four carts, relying entirely on human power to push them.

The army had horses, but they were so emaciated from hunger that some could no longer stand. Only human strength could move the carts now.

To protect this precious cargo, Chen Kui and Lin Dajun personally led the escort.

*

After Ye Mumu had transferred all the goods, night had fallen.

The enormous warehouse was now emptied.

Old Yang, the warehouse guard, had already finished his shift.

She sat resting on the office chair at the warehouse entrance, panting heavily from exhaustion.

The ancestral vase stood beside her.

Finding a blank sheet on the desk, she wrote: 「Today’s goods have been delivered. Is there anything else you need?」

Zhan Chengyin had moved all the vegetables into the courtyard and brought the vase back inside, awaiting Ye Mumu’s message.

When he saw the transferred note, a rare softness appeared in his usually stern expression. Though brief, the god’s words showed clear effort to meet his and the soldiers’ needs.

He wrote back:「 Thank you for the food and water bestowed by the god. This will suffice to feed the soldiers for a month.」

Ye Mumu received his reply and was incredulous. 「How can 200 bags of rice, 50 bags of flour, and 60 tons of vegetables possibly feed 20,000 people for a month?」

She penned this message and sent it through.

Zhan Chengyin replied: 「We’ll make porridge and add vegetables. It’s enough… Now that we have water, rice, and vegetables, I kneel on behalf of the soldiers to thank the god for this gift.」

Ye Mumu disagreed.

Her family had relatives in the military, so she understood the diet of active-duty soldiers.

Six dishes and a soup were standard, with four meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. Even the soup was meat-based.

The military provided unlimited portions—soldiers could always get more if they weren’t full.

She wrote: 「How can soldiers survive on porridge every day? How will they have strength to repel the enemy?」

「The rice should be properly steamed. Provide one meat dish and one vegetable dish daily, with soup if possible. Supply at least two full meals a day.」

「Don’t worry about running out—I’ll keep sending more supplies.」

「Last time you sent me gold items, I sold a pair of wine goblets for 600 million. This money can feed 100,000 people for two years with some left over.」

「There’s no need to be frugal. Eat and drink well. I’ll send more water tonight.」

When Zhan Chengyin received Ye Mumu’s reply stating that soldiers should get two meals daily, with one meat and one vegetable dish, plus soup, and that rice should be steamed rather than made into porridge, he was utterly shocked!

Even before the famine, military rations consisted of coarse grains mixed with gravel, or hard wheat bran cakes, with some dried vegetables.

Meat was rare—perhaps a small bowl of meat soup once every few days or half a month.

Even when they made millet porridge, it was thin gruel, far from a substantial meal.

They had never eaten steamed white rice.

It was far too luxurious!

Even among the nobility in the capital, few could afford to steam rice daily.

Suddenly, Ye Mumu thought of something.

「You don’t have large pots for cooking rice there, do you? It’s still early. I’ll go buy some right away and transfer them over!」