The bank manager had already prepared a plan by the time Sophia called.
"Miss Sophia, since you are a big client and already have a large deposit with us, we suggest you consider some investment options," Manager Sun said while showing her the plan.
Sophia looked through it and stopped halfway. "Is this about the Jiang land on Zhongnan Avenue?"
"Yes," Manager Sun smiled. "It is currently raising funds. Are you interested?"
The Jiang Corporation's business covered many daily life areas. Investing with Jiang meant very little risk.
But now the real estate market was going down. Even in first-tier cities, house prices were falling.
Sophia glanced at Manager Sun. He was not being completely honest.
She kept flipping and saw a biopharmaceutical project that interested her.
"I will take this booklet to look at. But please start the process for the first one."
Sophia did not decide immediately but asked Manager Sun to finish the paperwork.
Seeing she looked a bit impatient, Manager Sun stopped pushing.
Sophia quickly finished and left the bank.
Passing the factory, she checked it out. Ronin had already arranged the desks and chairs.
After two days, Sophia finally got a letter from General Yves with a long list of supplies and payment.
General Yves now had money but could not buy supplies.
War was truly profitable.
Sophia was calm now.
General Yves asked for knives, guns, and even horse feed, stirrups, and armor.
These were difficult for Sophia.
Then she had a bright idea. Weapons were hard, but horses could be replaced by off-road vehicles or dirt bikes.
Also, flashlights, pepper spray, and stun batons.
They were somewhat harmful but easier for Sophia to get.
For bulletproof vests, she thought of a replacement too.
Bulletproof vests were military gear and hard to buy for ordinary people. Maybe they could be bought abroad, but Sophia was not ready to leave the country.
Besides, modern tools could easily handle old weapons.
Sophia told Ronin to buy a batch of stab-resistant vests.
"Price is not the most important. Quality matters more," she said.
Ronin agreed. "Boss, I understand."
If the quality was bad, people could get hurt or worse. If that happened, their whole business could fail.
Ronin knew this well without more explanation.
"Boss, how many do you want?" Ronin asked.
He thought maybe two or three thousand. These were not things used up quickly.
Sophia showed four fingers. "Forty thousand."
"Forty thousand?" Ronin was shocked.
Seeing Sophia's firm eyes, he stopped asking. He would do whatever the boss said.
Ronin happily got in his car and left.
General Yves led more than ten people out. After nearly half a month, messages slowly started coming back.
They had gathered some poor scholars and were stirring trouble among the common people during the chaos.
King Chen's country already had many deep problems. Yijan only needed to fan the flames a little, and the unrest began to spread like fire.
The King of Chen was dealing with droughts in many places and had to send troops to crush rebels causing trouble.
At first, he was angry that General Yves had wiped out King Chen's forces at once and was wary of General Yves in the small Zhao state. But now, busy fighting internal chaos and seeing no further moves from General Yves, he thought it impossible for the small Zhao to threaten Chen.
So for now, they ignored General Yves.
General Yves was not idle. He collected the information and progress reports Yijan sent slowly.
At the same time, he was gathering and organizing supplies sent by Sophia.
Many of the items Sophia sent were new to them and needed study and practice during this time.
General Yves, General Ulric, and many other commanders and trusted men were testing these supplies on a wide open land.
They did not understand the medicines yet and handed those to the military doctors to study.
General Yves personally led his men. One general, the youngest and least experienced, wore the first batch of supplies Sophia sent. He had a tall ponytail and was dressed all in green, even his shoes were green canvas shoes.
Compared to usual clothes, this outfit fit his body tightly.
"Commander, why is this clothing so strange?" he asked.
Although he was wearing clothes, it felt like being naked in public.
He nervously pulled at the collar and hem.
General Ulric slapped his shoulder hard. "Stand straight!"
Ignoring his complaints, Ulric turned to General Yves and the other commanders. "Being all green like this is good. If you hide in the forest when the light is low, you could surprise the enemy and stab them quickly."
Others nodded in agreement.
"Hey! What's this? These small bags look like something a girl would carry."
Other commanders rummaged through a pile and picked up a pouch bigger than a usual sachet but still easy to carry.
They tore it open and spilled various small items.
One general who had seen this kind of packaging before immediately tore open a packet and ate it. "It's food, you old-fashioned fools!"
Seeing this, others hurried to tear open their packets and try it.
"Eat first, then give your opinion!" General Yves said, watching.
Among the officers, ranks were obvious but respect mixed with admiration, not fear.
They began to speak.
"It's sweet and filling. Much easier to carry during marches and battles than normal rations."
"Agreed!"
"But one thing, since these foods have packaging, we must order soldiers to pick up all wrappers after eating during marches."
"If the enemy notices our trail, it could be deadly."
Everyone agreed with this.
General Yves glanced at Assistant Hanra, signaling him to take notes.
The testing continued.
The stab-proof clothing, pepper spray, and stun batons were still being customized, but Sophia had ordered a small batch online and sent them over first.