I Became a Sugar Mama to an Ancient General during a Famine! - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: A God, So Astonishing, What Kind of Divine Tool is This?

Uncle Li had taken in over thirty more children. Now, almost fifty children lived in the general’s residence, both boys and girls.

General Zhan Chengyin had left behind a tablet computer, a solar charger, and solar-powered lamps at the residence. The children attended classes daily, listening to online lessons. Wei Guang’s mute grandson also studied alongside them.

They sat on the ground in the courtyard, each holding a small wooden stick, writing characters in the sand while following the teacher’s instructions. Every day before dawn, they attended class. After sunrise, they helped prepare and serve porridge. At sunset, they continued their lessons until the solar lights automatically came on.

The children were well-behaved and understanding!

Yang’er, Wan Niang, the elderly lady, and the three-year-old girl had all stayed. Wan Niang and the old lady helped make porridge. Yang’er and the little girl worked together, attended classes, and learned to read.

During these days, Zhan Chengyin hadn’t returned to the general’s residence. When anything was needed, Tian Qin and Xu Ming would deliver it on horseback.

Today, Zhan Chengyin suddenly returned. The children stood outside the room, waiting to see the general. They had been taken in by Uncle Li, but the general hadn’t yet given his consent.

Wei Guang and his companions also worried that the general might not accept them. If that happened, the three were prepared to enlist in the army.

Moreover, Wei Guang had given away much of the general’s grain stores to resolve disputes in the area, and he wasn’t sure how to explain this.

Outside the gate, everyone heard a series of loud sounds that lasted for about half a cup of tea’s time before stopping. The general opened the courtyard gate.

Wei Guang saw the courtyard filled with stacked boxes, piled high and occupying half the space. The general wore armor, his face freshly washed yet still bearing a fierce aura. His well-defined features were both deep and handsome, with an air of lethal intensity.

The street-hardened men like Wei Guang dared not meet his gaze. Wei Guang was about to kneel, but Zhan Chengyin stopped him.

“I know you have been living in the general’s residence, maintaining it well, and resolving conflicts with the neighbors.”

Hearing this praise, Wei Guang, Little Six, and the mute Sun looked up with joy. This was the general’s recognition, and the three could finally set their worried hearts at ease.

Wei Guang smiled and said, “General, during this time, the wealthy merchants and gentry have contributed considerable wealth!”

He led Zhan Chengyin to the inner storeroom. Inside were dozens of chests filled with gold treasures, gold nuggets, and gold bars… several chests of jewelry, pearls, and agates… and over ten chests of precious artifacts, paintings, and scholarly items.

“These are all tributes to you. During the famine, they did whatever it took to survive. We criticized them and confiscated their wealth, using it to compensate the victimized families with grain. I handled this privately, as you see…”

Zhan Chengyin looked at the wealth filling half the storeroom and nodded. “You’ve done well. Is there enough grain left in the residence? If not, we can get more from the military camp.”

Wei Guang was overjoyed; the general hadn’t blamed him for distributing the grain. He smiled and said, “There’s plenty! We still have much in the storeroom!”

The general instructed, “There are many stainless steel bowls in the courtyard. Post a notice letting the people know they can exchange one ceramic bowl for a stainless steel one, as many as they have.”

Wei Guang thought this wasn’t a good deal! Ceramic bowls weren’t worth much; every household had them. Previously, those unscrupulous merchants had sold inferior ceramics to Chu, Yong, and the barbarian tribes… The bowls were of such poor quality that they couldn’t be sold elsewhere. The people of Chu and Yong weren’t fools; no one would buy them! Only the barbarian tribes were deceived, trading one sheep for ten bowls. After being cheated once, they began trading with Chu and Yong instead, and never bought Great Qi ceramics again. Now these ceramics had sat unsold in the storeroom for years.

What kind of bowls were these stainless steel ones? Wei Guang didn’t know, but they certainly wouldn’t be cheap.

He said, “General, leave this matter to me. I’ll make sure those wealthy merchants willingly trade their ceramics for a high price.”

“Good, remember, the ceramics must be intact!”

“Yes, General!”

Wei Guang, Little Six, and the mute grandson Sun left, closing the storeroom door. Zhan Chengyin looked at the vast pile of gold, silver, and jewels. Surely the goddess would love these offerings. Who wouldn’t like bright, glittering treasures?

He smiled slightly and took out paper and brush.

「goddess, there are many treasures in the mansion that I wish to offer to you.」

*

Ye Mumu was driving through the streets, looking at hardware stores. She planned to buy water pipes, faucets, and connection tools… when she saw a note flutter down. She stopped the car to read it.

Zhan Chengyin wanted to give money again, but she couldn’t receive it while in public! 「a while, I can’t receive it while I’m on the street.」

「Shall I bring it in a few days?」

「That’s fine. By the way, I’ll be buying water pipes and faucets this afternoon. If possible, you should build a large water reservoir at a high point and have it guarded. This is for residents’ daily water use – make sure no one can poison it!」

「When the pipes arrive, find someone to install them properly. You can deliver water throughout the entire city!」

Water pipes and faucets. Zhan Chengyin had never heard of such things, but he could guess they were for water distribution.

「Thank you, goddess!」

「You’re welcome!」

*

Ye Mumu saw a large hardware store that sold various types of pipes.

She got out and ordered ten rolls of thousand-meter water pipes and 100 faucets.

She bought dozens of sets of pipe connection tools: triangular joints, square joints, wrenches, steel wire, pliers… and other tools.

Ten rolls of thousand-meter pipes was a huge quantity.

She called Master Huang to help deliver them to the Xianyuan Villa warehouse at the foot of the mountain.

The warehouse keeper would receive them.

After paying and arranging for trucks, she drove to a drone flagship store.

The store had many types of drones, including large delivery drones.

There were also small basic drones.

She ordered twenty medium-sized drones.

The Chu and Yong armies hadn’t yet withdrawn; they were camped dozens of miles away, ready to return at any time.

The drones could fly over and observe their camps.

Feeling twenty wasn’t enough, she bought ten more basic models.

After buying the drones, she needed to solve the charging problem.

She purchased three sets of large solar panels and three electric power converters.

The solar panels were just transitional.

For stable power supply, they needed diesel generators.

Generators were easy to buy, but diesel would be harder to get.

She needed to figure out how to acquire a large quantity of diesel.

The store staff helped load the drones, solar panels, and power storage units into her car.

She drove to a secluded spot and wrote a note to Zhan Chengyin.

「I’m sending a tablet with instructions on operating the drones and using the solar panels and power storage units.」

Zhan Chengyin had sent Ye Mumu’s second-hand tablet computer.

Ye Mumu looked at the old tablet.

The photo album and videos had been formatted, everything was gone, yet he had kept her second-hand tablet!

Was he sentimental about such things?

Ye Mumu downloaded dozens of drone operation videos.

There were various experts flying through clouds, canyons, waterfalls, and even over the Himalayas.

The visuals were absolutely stunning!

She downloaded more than ten videos about installing solar panels and connecting power units…

After downloading everything, she sent it to Zhan Chengyin.

The drone videos were so impressive that Zhan Chengyin sent back a note in hasty handwriting!

「What is this thing that can fly in the sky and record videos?」

「It’s too shocking, goddess, how can it fly without wings?」

「So this is what a bird’s-eye view looks like, looking down at mountains, rivers, glaciers, and plateaus, even flying alongside birds.」

「What kind of divine tool is this?」

*