The two people who were called quickly rushed over.
Official Yong was fine. He had already seen big situations in the capital, so when he saw what was happening in front of him now, he wasn't surprised. He was already thinking about how to start giving out the porridge.
But Officer Yang stood still again, shocked.
What was going on?
What were all these things?
Was he so scared by what happened today that he was seeing things?
He kept questioning himself and couldn't believe that what he saw in front of him was real.
Until General Yves called out to him, "Officer Yang, did you hear what I said?"
Officer Yang looked confused and had to turn to Official Yong for help.
Since they would be working together for some time, Official Yong reminded him kindly, "The General just said that we will use this food to help the people. We must not delay. We need to get started right now."
Officer Yang quickly agreed.
"So, all of this is real?"
He mumbled, "Am I dreaming?"
He slapped himself in the face.
As someone who worked as a local official, he quickly accepted the situation. Seeing the courtyard filled with food, his face showed happiness. "The people of Fucheng are saved!"
Official Yong had already walked up to General Yves. The two were discussing.
Official Yong had learned some information about Fucheng, like the number of people and how many had died.
"There are fifty-six villages under Fucheng. Thirteen of them now have no people left."
Some were dead, some had escaped.
Even the villages close to the capital were like this. It was hard to imagine how bad things were in the places farther away.
General Yves frowned right away and gave the order.
"Officer Yang, quickly gather the county officials and start the food and porridge plan tonight."
Officer Yang turned around to go, but suddenly remembered something. He stopped and looked back. "General, we have food now, but the water…"
Water was the real problem.
As he spoke, a strong stream of water suddenly splashed down on him from above.
"Ah!"
Sophia had pulled the pig trough into the yard of her villa. She turned on the water pump and began filling the trough with water, forgetting to tell General Yves first.
There was a small pond in her yard. The pond used flowing water that came from the mountain.
Back on General Yves's side, everyone was in a panic at first. When they saw the strong water flow, they were shocked.
Then they all cheered with joy. They hadn't seen rain for days. On the way from the capital, every lake and river they passed had dried up.
Everyone started bringing out all the buckets, basins, and jars they could find.
The water flow was so strong that people started banging pots and gongs to call the neighbors. "Water is here, water is here! Come get water!"
At that moment, nobody cared about status or background. They just didn't want to waste a single drop of water.
The sky was dark, but the noise caught people's attention. Very soon, a crowd came rushing over.
Luckily, the guards from the government office arrived in time to keep order.
The sky was still gloomy, but the light from the torches gave the poor and tired people a little bit of hope as they walked toward the government house.
Official Yong was busy but kept everything in order as he told the people below him what to do.
Some were keeping the peace, some were helping carry water, and others had already started setting up pots to cook porridge right at the gate of the mansion.
The people waiting in line were all very thin, like walking skeletons. But now, there was a hopeful look on their faces. At last, there was a bit of life and hope in their expressions.
Even though it was already night, people from different places kept coming steadily.
The streets, which were once quiet, were now filled with whispers, footsteps, and voices, not affected by the darkness at all.
Everyone seemed fearless of the night, walking toward the place where light and warmth came from.
As they got closer to the porridge station, the smell of rice became stronger.
"It smells so good!"
Someone smelled the aroma and suddenly started crying. "Are we really saved?"
"Let's go, let's go!" a companion called out.
The whole night, some were carrying water, and others were cooking porridge.
They kept working until the sun rose. More and more people gathered outside in the noisy crowd.
The sun was rising in the east, and though it was a bit chilly, the soft orange sunlight brought a little hope. Even the light morning dew seemed to carry a bit of life.
Now that it was morning, they stopped fetching water. People from all around, even from ten miles away, had already come to get water.
At least now they had enough water to keep cooking porridge.
The people at General Yves' mansion had worked all night and could finally rest a little.
But Local Official Cai and Official Yong still needed to go out to different counties to continue giving out porridge and supplies.
"Local Official Cai, what do you think about this plan? There are seven counties in total. You take three, and I'll take four. Also, I'll need someone who knows each county well to help me."
Local Official Cai had no problem with that. "You came all the way here and haven't had time to rest yet. You take three, I'll take four."
He hadn't forgotten that he was still under punishment.
Official Yong didn't argue and added, "One more thing. This disaster relief effort shouldn't just rely on the government. The local officials and rich families in the city must also help and share the responsibility. There are many nobles and powerful people in this region. We'll need their help to raise donations."
"There's no rush for that part yet. Right now, we still have the food gifted by the higher power, so we can get by for a while. But you know as well as I do that the real challenge comes later."
In the beginning, the central government could still help with disaster relief, but they couldn't support everything for long. Helping the people rebuild their homes was the long-term solution.
Having worked as a county governor for many years, Local Official Cai was very experienced. He quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes. Thank you for your guidance, Official Yong. I'll do my best."
If someone else was in charge of disaster relief, he wouldn't have to work this hard. But who would've thought that this powerful general who led troops at the front lines would suddenly return?
What else could he do but keep working?
Sophia had set her alarm before sleeping. As soon as she woke up, she quickly turned off the water pump.
She asked General Yves for an update. After hearing his reply and seeing that it was still early and the village was quiet, she sent him the two vehicles she had brought back from Peng City.
General Yves had planned to sleep, but then he received two cars.
The shape of these two cars was very different from the ones Sophia had sent before.
At first, he didn't understand what they were for.
Luckily, Sophia quickly sent over the instruction manuals for both vehicles.
"General Yves, I picked these two cars especially for you. Aren't you heading south for disaster relief soon? These two vehicles are suitable for the road conditions in that area. I hope everything goes smoothly for all of you."
General Yves also received a video along with the manuals.
He decided not to sleep anymore. The two cars looked a bit strange, but the way they operated was not too different from the previous ones she had sent.