Sophia walked along the small mountain path.
After the start of autumn, the weather was cool and pleasant. The narrow path was surrounded by trees and bushes on both sides.
It hadn't rained lately, so even though the path was made of dirt, it was still easy to walk on.
Usually, Conan would be running around in the bushes below, peeing and pooping wherever he wanted. Today, after he peed, he wandered around but didn't find the right place to poop.
As they kept walking, they reached halfway up the mountain. Conan finally found a spot in his new territory that made him feel like going.
Out of respect, Sophia looked away.
When she turned her eyes, she happened to see her own house at the foot of the mountain. Beside it was a large empty field, covered in grass.
Even though it was autumn, the field still looked green and full of life in the southern region.
A light breeze blew, and Sophia looked at the wide area of grass. The big bridge that crossed the village didn't seem too far from there.
She thought to herself, if they could build a road from behind her house that connects straight to the bridge, it might actually work.
When she got home, she wanted to call Ronin right away, but before she could, she got a phone call.
The grain she had ordered had already arrived, but the truck was blocked at the entrance of the village.
"Miss Sophia, your village people won't let us in. What should we do?" said the delivery man.
Sophia paused for a moment and then said, "Wait for me. I'm coming to meet you right now."
The roads in the village were narrow. It was easy for a truck to accidentally crush someone's yard.
Sophia quickly grabbed her electric scooter keys and rushed out, but suddenly she remembered something and turned back to grab a few more things.
She rode her scooter quickly and arrived at the village entrance.
There, the large delivery truck and a few villagers were standing, clearly in an argument.
"Miss Sophia, you came just in time. They said my truck will damage their land if I drive in. But there's so much grain in the truck. If we move it all by hand, it'll be too much work."
Sophia listened. She was holding a bag and took out a full carton of cigarettes. She opened it and gave each of the upset villagers a pack.
"Uncles, big brothers, please have a smoke and calm down. We can talk about the details and figure things out."
She also gave a pack to the delivery man.
These cigarettes weren't hers. Ronin had received them as a gift while picking up goods earlier and gave them to her. There were about ten cartons. She gave half back to him and saved the rest for situations like this.
Now, they came in handy.
The villagers looked at each other. The cigarettes Sophia gave out were high-end ones.
She opened one of the packs and started handing out cigarettes.
Once they started smoking, things became easier to talk about.
"Uncles, big brothers, I've seen trucks like this drive in before, and it was fine. If anything really gets damaged, like someone's yard, just tell me. I'm not someone who refuses to take responsibility. If it needs to be paid for, I'll pay."
"You see the cement yard in front of my house? It's cracked," one man said angrily.
"And my flower pots. I've been growing them for years, and now they're crushed," another added.
Everyone began to speak at once.
Sophia's mind worked quickly. From the corner of her eye, she saw the small shop nearby.
The man who said his cement yard was damaged was the owner of that shop.
Sophia said, "Please wait a moment."
After everyone finished talking, Sophia walked into the small shop. She looked around and said, "I'll buy everything in this shop. Also, in the next couple of days, I'll find someone to fix the road in the village. The cement in front of your house will also be redone."
"Sophia, what do you think?"
Ronin was shocked when he heard her. "You, you little girl, are you joking with me? Why would you buy everything in my shop? You're not running a convenience store."
Sophia smiled. "I'm not joking, Ronin. Just go check how much it costs."
Ronin didn't know if he should believe her, but he went inside to count everything.
While he was busy, Sophia spoke to the others, "Uncle Changsheng, for your potted plants, you can go to the flower and bird market later and buy new ones. I'll pay you back double the price. Is that okay with you?"
The people looked at each other and rubbed their hands. After a short pause, one of them said, "Okay."
With Sophia giving her word, they didn't block the road anymore.
Ronin finished checking the items in his shop and came out smiling. He walked over and said, "It's a total of 46,756 yuan. I'll round it off for you, just give me 46,700 yuan."
Sophia asked him to show her the payment code and immediately transferred the money.
Ronin replied politely, "I'll pack everything up and deliver it to your house later."
The few people who were still blocking the road moved aside when they saw that Sophia was serious about what she said.
The big truck drove in without any trouble.
Sophia followed behind the truck, carefully watching the road.
Since they were in the countryside, the road was just dirt. The extra space taken up by the villagers actually belonged to the public, but when you live in someone else's area, it's hard to fight over these things. Sophia didn't argue.
After the goods were unloaded, Ronin used a three-wheeled cart to bring everything Sophia bought.
"I'll take it all inside for you?"
Ronin looked at Sophia's small villa and hoped to get a look inside.
But Sophia said, "Just bring it over here, Ronin."
Recently she had placed the pig trough nearby because she often needed to send things to General Yves.
Ronin licked his lips and followed her in.
When he got inside and looked around, he saw that the new factory building looked short from the outside because it was wide, but once inside, it felt big and tall.
"Just unload everything on the first floor."
After three or four trips, all the items from the shop were finally delivered.
"This bag has ice cream, popsicles, and other frozen food. You need to eat them quickly or put them in the freezer."
Sophia nodded. After everything was delivered, she quickly moved the pig trough down from the third floor.
Then she sent everything over to General Yves.
That day, General Yves had been out the whole time handling work.
The tools and equipment Sophia sent had to be used right away for training.
The journey to bring disaster relief to the south would be long. These tools were only for the capital. The supplies for other areas would be sent later by Sophia.
General Yves and his team all had dry, cracked lips. Some of them were bleeding. Their faces were dusty and tired.
After working outside, one of the team members brought water so everyone could clean up a little. They had just finished wiping their faces when suddenly
A loud sound came from the table. A pile of items dropped right in front of them.
No one dared to move except General Yves.
But everyone's eyes were on the things that suddenly appeared, waiting quietly for General Yves to say something first.