Sophia didn't sleep much all night and searched a lot of information.
She didn't know that the fate of Zhao Country had quietly started to change ever since she fed General Yves from the pigsty.
The next day, Sophia woke up with big dark circles under her eyes.
But Amelia had rested early and looked energetic.
"Did you go sneaking around last night? You look more tired than me. Or did someone steal your energy?" Amelia teased.
Sophia smiled and glanced at Amelia. "Stop joking!"
Cooking at home wasn't easy, and since Amelia was there, Sophia didn't want her to just put up with things. So Sophia drove them to town for breakfast.
One was a freelancer, and the other was on vacation. They both had money and didn't want to settle for less.
"It only takes about ten minutes to drive to town. It might be easier to buy an electric scooter!" Amelia said casually.
Sophia really thought about it.
While eating wontons and steamed dumplings at a breakfast shop, they saw a store across the street selling electric scooters.
"Amelia, can you drive?" Sophia asked suddenly.
Amelia was confused for a moment, then followed Sophia's gaze.
"You're really going to buy one?"
But thinking again, Sophia was rich. An electric scooter only cost a few thousand, so it wasn't too much.
So Amelia drove the car, and Sophia rode the electric scooter, with a bone for their dog Four Eyes in the basket.
When they got back, the older women in the empty lot next door had finished their work.
Seeing Sophia riding the new scooter, they had some thoughts.
During the day, Sophia and Amelia stayed home with the air conditioner, chatting and relaxing, eating and drinking. In the evening, after Sophia fed the pigs and ate dinner, they went out to walk the dog. Life was very comfortable.
But in the last two days, they often met the village chief's wife on the road.
She first asked about Amelia's identity, then about Sophia's relationship with her adoptive parents.
"You've been back for a while. Have your parents contacted you? How about Jessica?" the village chief's wife asked.
Sophia smiled and gave vague answers, not wanting to share details.
Unexpectedly, the village chief's wife kept talking, "In my opinion, your parents must only care about their real daughter. Jessica is with her real parents, and they must be planning her marriage. Sophia, at your age, you should think about your own future, not be so careless."
Amelia was shocked hearing about Sophia's complicated background.
The village chief's wife continued, "How about Pingkang from our village? He graduated from a good university and works in the town government — a solid job. You're a single girl with no brothers. It's best to find a husband who has brothers so the family is lively."
Sophia was annoyed hearing this. "I just graduated, no rush to find someone."
She waved her hand, "We have to walk the dog. Bye!"
Amelia quickly pulled Sophia and held the dog's leash, afraid they'd be trapped by those older women.
The women looked at them like wolves eyeing meat.
After walking a bit, Sophia told Amelia about her situation.
"Sis, you don't blame me for not telling you earlier, right?"
Sophia tilted her head and looked at Amelia.
Amelia joked, "Who would go around telling everyone about their own family matters?"
"But no wonder, back in college, I heard from others that they never saw your family. Did you find out about your background a long time ago?"
Everyone in the village knew, and Sophia didn't mind telling Amelia.
Now she felt relieved. Indeed, money could solve ninety percent of problems.
"It was during the summer after I graduated high school. A girl suddenly came to our house and stayed for a few days. Then my parents disappeared with her for a while. When they came back, I became an outsider."
Then she was kicked out of the house.
Sophia felt a little bitter inside. It was really painful back then, but luckily, she was an independent person. Even before finishing school, she faced survival challenges and overcame them.
Amelia hugged Sophia with sympathy.
Amelia was about to leave but stayed two more days, seeing Sophia was really fine. Then she flew to Kyoto.
As for the Kunming dog, Four-Eyes, it stayed with Sophia for now.
Amelia agreed that no matter how stubborn the dog was, it was trained, and guarding the house was a basic skill. After spending these days together, it obeyed well.
Sophia lived in a remote place; having a dog for company was better.
If she decided to keep it later, she would take care of the paperwork then.
After Amelia left, Sophia thought a lot about the letter and decided to accept the mission.
She had over 100 million in her account now, even investing 100 million, she would still make tens of millions, not a loss!
So Sophia got back to work. The letter said there was a drought, tens of thousands of people waiting for food!
These days the wasteland needed fixing and weeding and needed a lot of water.
Sophia watered the land during the day and put water into the pig trough at night.
General Yves was asleep. As he slept, it started raining heavily.
The servants carried buckets and took out all containers in the mansion. They worked all night without stopping.
After the assassin incident a few days ago, General Ulric handled the aftermath. The city gates were closed tightly. The people who used to go out for food were trapped inside.
Even rich merchants were searched by General Ulric's soldiers, who turned their homes upside down.
The merchants were scared and gave up part of their wealth. These actions helped catch many people plotting to assassinate General Yves.
In the past two days, more than a hundred people were publicly executed.
The city was noisy. Hundreds had died from illness, hunger, and thirst.
Many people argued fiercely to exchange a little water for food.
General Ulric was busy and couldn't close his eyes all night.
Early in the morning, he came again and heard there was trouble in General Yves's mansion.
When he arrived, he saw the servants carrying water out of General Yves's room.
They finally received the divine water from the god.
For days there was no sign. People thought the offering might have angered the god, but fortunately, it hadn't.
General Ulric smiled, and his tiredness eased.
General Yves looked unhappy. He hadn't slept all night.