Chapter 99

Yunzhu pointed to the various sound systems in the courtyard. "There are even more things you haven't seen yet!"

Everyone looked doubtful. "General Yves wants to give us all these things as rewards?"

"By the way, Lord Yunzhu, what are these things exactly? Are they hiding something inside? Or is there some kind of trick to them?"

"From what I hear," an older man said, "it sounds like there are instruments like the guzheng or erhu playing inside."

"We'll explain everything to you shortly," Yunzhu replied. "But first, let me ask you—do you like these things?"

Everyone looked at each other and laughed politely. "Well… we do like them."

Most of them thought it wasn't very useful. After all, many of them already had musicians at home. These gadgets just seemed unnecessary.

But since they were speaking directly to Yunzhu, they only said good things.

"Good, as long as you like them."

Yunzhu could tell what they really thought, but didn't say anything.

When everyone had arrived, Yunzhu went to invite General Yves.

General Yves soon appeared, carrying several cardboard boxes.

Inside the boxes were all kinds of sound systems and other electronic products.

As soon as General Yves came over, everyone fell silent.

When he got closer, they all kneeled and greeted him.

General Yves raised a hand, signaling them to stand.

"This drought has caused great suffering to the people," he began. "Thanks to your support, the damage in Yanyun County has been minimized. Compared to other areas, our losses were far less."

"You've all helped the nation in this difficult time. The treasury is tight as we try to help other regions too, so this is just a small token of appreciation from me."

He spoke calmly and formally as the boxes were opened to show what was inside.

There were all kinds of electronic devices.

Yunzhu and Yinok stepped forward and started introducing the items and what they could do.

At first, the sound systems everyone had found uninteresting suddenly played different tracks as Yinok demonstrated them. To avoid overwhelming anyone, he played songs without lyrics.

As the music played, people's eyes widened in surprise.

Then they demonstrated a tablet, which had many TV shows and movies downloaded on it.

Once they saw that, the crowd broke into whispers—shocked, a little scared, but clearly fascinated. Their eyes sparkled with excitement.

After everything was demonstrated, the expressions on everyone's faces had completely changed.

"Next," Yunzhu announced, "we'll be handing out these rewards based on how much each of you donated during the drought."

Naturally, those who gave more received more, and got to pick first.

"Wang Sanquan from the Wang family," Yunzhu called, "donated 88 stones of grain and 30 bolts of cloth."

He looked toward Wang Sanquan, who was seated in front, and made a welcoming gesture.

Wang Sanquan stood, cupped his hands in greeting to everyone, and walked toward Yunzhu.

"Lord Yunzhu, may I choose one of the items from this display?" he asked.

Yunzhu smiled. "Those who ranked in the top three donations may choose three items. Go ahead and pick."

Wang Sanquan's eyes lit up, and he smiled happily. "Then I'll choose now."

Yunzhu naturally chose the tablet first. Just now, when Yinok showed it to them, they had only watched it for a little while—not even enough time to finish a cup of tea. He really wanted to keep watching and see where the story was going.

The characters on the screen looked so real. He couldn't tell if they were actual people or not.

How could there be such a clever device that could record people's voices and even make pictures move?

Everyone still believed it was just a series of moving paintings.

When Yunzhu picked the tablet, he also chose a speaker and even took a thermos cup. Everyone else's eyes turned red with envy.

Yunzhu smiled and thanked General Yves politely.

"Thank you, General, for your generosity!"

After that, people took their turns picking gifts. There weren't many electronic items like tablets or speakers, so not everyone got one. But still, this act had successfully sparked everyone's interest.

Once all the gifts had been handed out, it was about time for lunch.

General Yves had someone start serving the food.

Since they had invited so many guests, they couldn't just let people go home hungry. No matter how tight things were, proper hospitality still had to be shown.

Dishes were brought out one after another.

There weren't any fancy meats or rare delicacies. Instead, it was a big table filled with everyday main dishes made from basic grains like rice and flour.

There were buns, steamed bread, white rice, and surprisingly, even stir-fried vegetables and steamed sea fish.

All the officials, local gentry, and wealthy guests thought this was just for show, since the people from the capital needed to save face.

But when General Yves picked up his chopsticks and started eating, the others followed.

As soon as they took a bite of the white rice or the steamed buns, everyone was shocked—it tasted amazing.

Could it be that, after eating too many fancy dishes, simple food like this suddenly tasted good?

"Is the taste okay?" asked Yunzhu.

Sitting next to him, Yunzhu's tablemate Yunzhu nodded. "This rice is definitely different from what we usually eat. Is there some secret to it, Yunzhu?"

He took a close look at the rice. The grains were evenly cooked and not sticky, with a soft and chewy texture, and a rich aroma—it was clearly special.

Paired with the salty steamed fish and the crisp, fresh vegetables, it felt like he could eat two bowls of rice easily.

Yunzhu smiled, "This is called Wuchang fragrant rice. There's a new shop in town, you know—the one where you can trade in old rice for fragrant rice. If you want to try it, just head over there."

With Yunzhu pointing the way, nobody asked further questions.

But after the meal, everyone kept praising the food.

In the following days, people finally started visiting the shop to exchange their rice.

For every five pounds of old rice, they could get one pound of this premium rice. Many wealthy families who had tasted it realized they couldn't go back to eating their regular rice anymore.

The same was true for the fine flour.

At the same time, people started noticing other things sold in the store.

All sorts of electronic products that people had taken home—whether it was a tablet or something as small as a thermos cup—were so well-loved, people didn't want to let them go.

Yunzhu had taken a tablet home, and when they first played a video, everyone in the house was shocked. They thought some kind of demon or spirit had gotten into the device.

After Yunzhu explained everything, everyone—from the seventy-year-old grandma to the three-year-old toddler—got hooked on it.

By dinnertime, the three-year-old grandson was still crying and shouting to keep watching the tablet.

But Yunzhu was strict. He slammed his chopsticks on the table and scolded the child.

"No talking while eating or sleeping! You little rascal, if you keep fussing and won't eat properly, then no dinner for you! Do you know how many people out there don't even have enough food to eat?"