Chapter 48

Just then, Ronin's excited voice came from the balcony upstairs.

Sophia's small villa had three floors, and each one had a balcony facing the yard.

Ronin was leaning over the third-floor balcony, waving down to her.

"Boss, you're back?"

He'd been going crazy lately. He had to supervise the renovation of the villa, oversee the construction of the warehouse and factory, and also handle deliveries to the warehouse in town. Sometimes shipments arrived there, and he had to go accept them. He felt like he needed to be in two places at once.

But under pressure, people really do grow.

Ronin rushed downstairs. There was something he needed to tell Sophia.

Just as he reached the bottom floor and was about to speak, his dad called out from next door in a loud voice.

The man hadn't even arrived yet, but his voice came first. "Ronin! The guys to install the elevator are here. You need to come take care of this. I don't understand it."

Sophia had only seen Ronin's dad twice before. When they saw each other now, Ronin quickly explained.

"Boss, I invited my dad to help out. Sometimes I really can't handle everything, so I ask him to keep an eye on things. Don't worry, I'm paying him."

Wages in their hometown weren't high anyway. Besides, Ronin wasn't asking his dad to do any hard labor.

He paid him 3,000 yuan a month just to supervise the warehouse construction.

Honestly, his dad knew more about some of these things than he did.

He used to work in construction, but now that he's older, he doesn't go out for jobs anymore.

Sophia nodded.

Seeing that she didn't mind, both Ronin and his dad let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright, I'm going to put away my luggage."

Sophia greeted them both and headed back to the old house.

The new villa was built between the old house and the factory.

The factory was meant to be a working warehouse. As for the old house, she didn't plan to tear it down. It could be used to store household items.

Just as Sophia was about to leave through the villa's front gate, she remembered she'd brought back some local specialties.

She handed Ronin a box of temple snacks.

"And here's a scarf for Madam Xi."

She dug around and pulled it out.

Ronin and his dad smiled. "You didn't need to. That must've been heavy to carry back."

They were polite about it, but they were clearly happy to receive the gifts.

When Sophia got home, she poured freeze-dried dog food into Conan's bowl and filled another with water. The dog immediately started eating hungrily.

She hadn't been home in over two weeks. Sophia thought the place would be full of dust, but when she looked around, everything was clean.

She figured it must have been Madam Xi who cleaned up when she came over to feed the pigs.

Sophia rested for a bit and had a small snack, then headed to the warehouse in town.

She hadn't restocked for two weeks. The first and second floors were already full of supplies.

She went to the back corner of the second floor to find the pig trough, then started feeding it with items from the second-floor inventory.

The building had three floors. The first and second floors were for storing goods, and the third was for her treasures.

On the first floor, there were food items like rice, grains, oil, and flour. The second floor had clothing and other light goods.

While she was still in Hushi, Ronin had contacted her.

Some factories and malls had overstocked on mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since they're holiday items, the prices drop fast after the holiday, cheaper by the day.

Ronin came across a good deal and, after asking Sophia, bought them all at once.

Sophia had already told Ronin before that if they came across something cheap and filling, they could buy it when necessary.

Now, Sophia walked straight to the area where the mooncake gift boxes were stacked. One box contained five smaller boxes of mooncakes. Without hesitation, she picked up the whole box and shoved it into the pig trough.

At the same time, General Yves was in the study. Suddenly, large square paper boxes started dropping onto the desk in front of him.

His eyes lit up. Finally, it was here.

He had been waiting for supplies, but more importantly, waiting for Sophia to return.

Hearing the noise, the servants came in. Standing behind the desk, General Yves pointed at the paper boxes and said, "Move these to the courtyard."

Then he sat down. Based on past experiences, the supplies usually took some time to finish delivering. He started rummaging through his desk until he found the letter he had written earlier for Sophia.

About half an hour later, the flow of boxes slowed down.

At that moment, General Yves quietly recited something in his heart, and the letter in his hand disappeared.

Sophia was exhausted and sat down to rest. Just then, a letter appeared in the pig trough.

She opened it and read. The handwriting was bold and powerful, each stroke sharp and deep, showing the writer's ambition and strong emotions.

She continued reading. As expected, the letter said, "Right now, our army is relying on the food you sent. We've exchanged it for various grains from other countries. The people in the city can now barely feed themselves, and some of the food has been sent to the army as rations. The previous battles used up all our supplies. Thanks to your help, we now have enough to barely fight again if needed."

It also mentioned that the ten water tankers she had sent earlier had saved thousands of people in the capital of Zhaoguo from disaster.

If possible, he hoped Sophia could provide more water. General Yves was willing to offer gold, silver, and jewels in return.

Sophia looked up from the letter and, sure enough, another box appeared.

She appreciated how he handled things.

When asking for help, he always showed sincerity first. People like this wouldn't let you suffer for nothing. If someone has this much understanding and tact, how bad could he really be?

But Sophia thought carefully.

Four hundred tons of water was not a one-time deal. It was an ongoing commitment.

Handling it all by herself would be hard.

"Wait a minute. It's dry in the north and wet in the south. Now they have transport vehicles. All that's missing is a map."

She slapped her forehead. Since she had already given them the tools, they could handle the rest themselves.

It didn't matter where the water came from as long as it was delivered.

Sophia first ordered a world map online, then took out paper and pen from her bag to write back to General Yves.

Back at his place, after sending the letter, General Yves didn't sit idle.

He went to the courtyard to see what Sophia had sent this time.

When he opened the boxes, he found even more boxes inside.

They were beautifully designed metal tins.

General Yves opened one himself. Inside such a big tin, there were only four dark brown pastries. There was also a wrapped knife and fork included.

After dealing with Sophia for a while, he knew that things packaged so carefully usually had a long shelf life.

He searched for a bit and found the label. It said they could be stored for up to nine months.

General Yves waved over a servant and was about to ask them to invite General Ulric and other advisors.

Then he heard General Ulric's cheerful voice nearby.

"Is the commander here?"

A moment later, General Ulric stepped over the threshold and entered.

"I've just come up with a plan to break into the Wu Kingdom," he said.

Before he could even get close, General Yves called out to him.