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

Ye Mumu told the property management she had forgotten to turn off the faucet.

After hanging up, she ordered takeout, combining breakfast and lunch.

After turning off the faucet, the water level in the vase lowered, and soon became completely empty.

It’s gone? 

All that water, gone?

When the takeout arrived, she had ordered six dishes. The restaurant owner even sent three extra boxes of rice and four pairs of chopsticks.

Her irregular eating habits had shrunk her stomach.

She only took out one box of dishes and one box of rice, staring at the water vat, thinking about how if the vase could swallow water~

Could it swallow boxed meals too?

To verify this strange idea, she took out a box of rice and threw it into the vase.

Not hearing the sound of the box hitting the bottom, she looked into the vase. The meal box had disappeared.

Wow~

Her family’s ancestral vase could eat meal boxes!

She fed the remaining boxed meals into it one by one.

A total of eight boxes of rice and dishes, all vanished into thin air.

How magical!

*

Zhan Chengyin and his soldiers thought the vase would keep producing water, but unexpectedly, at noon, the water stopped.

They were somewhat disappointed.

Every household had gotten water, the soldiers’ water bottles were all full. This water could get them through a few days.

Zhan Chengyin and ten of his commanders were discussing in the room how to resist the barbarian army next!

The northern barbarians were facing drought, with millions of their cattle and sheep dying of thirst.

If they didn’t move south, they wouldn’t survive either.

Now the imperial court couldn’t even distribute disaster relief grain, imposing heavy taxes and exactions, causing the people of Great Qi to struggle for survival.

The barbarians also wanted to survive, even if it meant eating people or beasts, they would do anything to live.

If the vase could produce water endlessly…

They could use it to buy off barbarian soldiers.

Countless poor people would enlist for water, expanding their army to guard the border and prevent enemy invasion.

They could also irrigate fields, allowing people to grow crops.

With a harvest, there would be hope!

Unfortunately, the water stopped after flowing for one night.

The soldiers all sighed in disappointment!

They placed the vase on a wooden table, with silk cloth underneath, its mouth tied with red silk, displayed like an offering.

They hoped for a miracle to happen.

Suddenly, there was a thud.

A white transparent box fell from the vase’s mouth.

Inside was something they hadn’t seen in a long time – cooked rice made from precious white grains.

The ten deputy generals were instantly excited.

“General, it’s rice, plump grains of cooked rice. Only nobles in the imperial city can eat such things.”

“No, with years of drought, even the royal family can’t eat rice now.”

Thud~

Another box fell, containing stir-fried chicken.

Chen Kui opened it, and the room was filled with the aroma of food. All the soldiers swallowed hard.

“There’s meat, General, look, it’s chicken!”

“The gods haven’t abandoned the Zhan family army. They’ve sent us rice and meat too.”

More meal boxes fell, eight in total.

The ten Deputy Generals were excited.

They were starving, not having seen grain for half a year, let alone fine white rice.

Now smelling the food, their mouths watered uncontrollably, but they tried hard to restrain themselves.

Zhan Chengyin divided half a box of rice and half a box of dishes, giving it to the Zhan family’s only servant.

“Uncle Li, cook this into porridge in the big pot. The commanders and I will eat together.”

Uncle Li took it to make porridge.

Everyone was very happy, having not smelled the scent of rice for a long time.

Some couldn’t stand the aroma, turning their heads away, afraid they might lose control and open the boxes to eat.

Seeing this, Zhan Chengyin divided the remaining seven boxes into ten portions, trying to give everyone some rice and dishes.

He handed them out to his ten subordinates.

“Take these home to eat. Your families have been starving for half a year, let them have some nourishment.”

The soldiers all knelt, tearfully refusing.

“General, your family has no food either. The gods meant this for you, you can’t give it to us.”

“Yes, General, we’re satisfied just to have a bowl of porridge.”

Outside, countless citizens were half-starved.

They were emaciated, with swollen bellies, full of Guanyin clay.

…

T/N: 觀音土 ‘Guanyin clay’

Guanyin clay was eaten by famine victims during the Great Leap Forward. It was mixed with other foods and made a person feel full. Unfortunately, once in the stomach, the soil dried out all the moisture in the colon such that people could not defecate for days. Mass deaths resulted from ingestion of Guanyin clay. The name comes from 觀音, the goddess of mercy, which in this case is ironic.