Chapter 79

General Yves saw what happened and reached out to take one of the black and white packages. There was still mist on it.

As soon as he held it, it felt cold and refreshing. His eyebrows relaxed.

From that pile of things, a small note had also fallen out.

"The weather must still be hot over there. I'm sending you these frozen treats. You can eat them right after opening the package."

Since it was from Sophia, General Yves felt at ease.

"Take one each. Give the rest to the others outside," General Yves said.

The ministers sitting around the table swallowed nervously. They all looked confused, not knowing where these things came from.

Back in the capital, General Yves didn't want to make a big deal about being able to connect with spirits. Even if he didn't speak about it, people would still find out sooner or later. But he didn't want to spread it on purpose.

Everyone acted a bit nervous in front of him. Each person took one item.

They saw General Yves open his, so they followed his example. They unwrapped it and put it into their mouths. It was cold, creamy, and sweet.

Everyone's eyes got big. "Delicious. Really delicious."

After finishing the ice cream, they still wanted more.

General Yves felt the same way. He even regretted not keeping a few extras.

At the same time, the servants outside who had also received some ice cream started chatting happily in low voices.

The heavy and quiet atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Then a loud voice came from outside.

"What's going on in here? What are you all eating?"

General Yves looked up and saw a tall man standing at the doorway. It was his third uncle, Duke Qin.

Duke Qin, named Qin Yi, had been a famous war general in the country twenty years ago. He was known for both his brain and strength. Everyone in the court believed he would be the next king.

But during a small battle, Qin Yi fell off his horse and got trampled. His leg was broken badly.

Since then, he walked with a limp. He became quiet and stayed away from politics. After that, the throne went to General Yves' father.

"Uncle" General Yves stood up.

The others quickly stood as well and bowed to Duke Qin.

"Give His Grace a seat."

A servant quickly brought over a chair.

"Zhongbo, do we still have any ice cream left?" General Yves asked.

Zhongbo hurried out to check. Luckily, a few people had been saving theirs to take home to share with their families.

Zhongbo took all of those and brought them back. "Go get two taels of silver from Madam Feng as a reward," he told them.

Then he rushed back to hand one to General Yves.

The ice cream had melted just a little by then.

Zhongbo opened the package and gave it to Duke Qin.

Duke Qin looked at General Yves with interest. "Where did this come from?"

He still took it and tasted it. His eyes lit up and he nodded. "Not bad at all."

General Yves said, "If you like it, Uncle, I'll send some to your place later."

Duke Qin had only wanted to try it once.

Then he spoke about the real reason he came. "I heard you got some machines. They can clear land, hundreds of acres in one day? And there's one that can dig a well over a hundred meters deep in just a few days?"

That was why Duke Qin had come in person.

Since General Yves had already shown the machines, he wasn't planning to hide them.

"Do you have something in mind, Uncle? We're family. I'll do my best to help."

Duke Qin looked at General Yves. He didn't fully believe that his nephew was so easy to deal with.

But he smiled and continued speaking. "The weather has been dry. The fields need to be plowed. The wells have no water. If these machines really work, people won't have to suffer anymore."

Sophia paused for a moment after speaking. "If you're willing to pay, your uncle will give it to you for this amount."

General Yves raised five fingers.

"Five thousand taels?" General Yves asked.

His uncle had way more money than him. Back when he went to war, their country was even stronger than it was now. War really brought money quickly, and General Yves had saved up a lot of treasure. Even though it was harder for him to move around in recent years, he had clearly expanded into many businesses.

General Yves was speechless for a second. He had money, yes, but not enough to spend like this.

Seeing his reaction, General Yves said, "Alright, it doesn't have to be silver. If you have paintings, calligraphy, or jewelry at home, you can exchange those instead."

The uncle and nephew started doing business together.

After Sophia finished sending out the ice cream, another batch of goods arrived. She directed the truck to another unloading area and went off to get busy again.

When she finally had a moment to rest, it was already dark. After going home and taking a bath, she remembered the pile of stuff in the warehouse, but she didn't touch it anymore.

For the next two days, more and more trucks delivered goods. Sophia was so busy she couldn't think about anything else.

The villagers who had talked with her before about compensation finally came to find her with their receipts. They had bought back flowers, plants, and trees.

They brought the flowers and plants to Sophia's door and showed their receipts. Sophia immediately transferred sixteen thousand yuan to them.

Yes, they had spent eight thousand yuan on flowers and plants.

Uncle Zhang left smiling from ear to ear after receiving the money.

"The road doesn't need to be fixed right away. You can do it when you're not busy," he said.

After Sophia sent them off and went back inside, she saw the warehouse was full again.

She got ready to send supplies to General Yves.

According to what Mr. Qi told her, he would be back in a few days and would bring some goods with him.

Sophia sent a message to General Yves. When he received it, he was just getting ready to head south.

Before she could send supplies to him, he sent over a batch of paintings, porcelain, and jewelry. He said he wanted to exchange these for more drilling machines, farming tools, and excavators.

Sophia accepted everything. She and General Yves were now like middlemen. But this was a win-win situation, so Sophia enjoyed it.

After receiving the items, she put them to the side and sent another message to General Yves. "I'm about to send the supplies. Get ready."

Once he confirmed he was ready, Sophia started working. She placed pig troughs over the stacks of rice, flour, and cooking oil. The piles were two to three meters high. It looked like some giant beast was gobbling everything up. The supplies were gone very fast.

In just a blink, a tall pile of rice sacks was gone.

It took nearly a whole day to empty the warehouse.

Since General Yves was going south, he had to leave enough food behind before leaving. Other places were important, but the capital was more important.

When she thought everything was done, Sophia went to the first floor and realized that the things she bought from the small shop were still there.

She quickly sent another message to General Yves and told him to prepare for another delivery.

This batch was more random. It had everything.

There were school supplies like rulers, pencils, erasers, notebooks with spiral bindings, and gel pens. There were also seasonings, snacks, and all kinds of plastic and stainless steel basins.

Then there were cheap cigarettes, alcohol, toys, and a few scattered bags of flour.

"Huh, is this sugar?"

"And this is salt?"

Growing up in a big city, Sophia was used to seeing small packs of sugar and salt.

But here, they were packed in big woven bags lined with plastic. Each one was huge and must weigh over a hundred pounds.

Half of these two bags had already been sold. They were usually sold by weight.