Sophia looked at the to-do list saved on her phone.
Although General Yves hadn't mentioned it, with autumn and winter coming soon, the old-fashioned supplies would definitely leave people freezing cold.
She planned to contact someone to start making custom clothes, quilts, and boots.
After leaving the warehouse, Sophia stopped by a milk tea shop in town and bought dozens of cups to go, along with a bunch of snacks.
Back in the village, she invited Ronin and the others to come eat.
After helping Sophia supervise for half a month, Ronin had tanned quite a lot.
The once fair young man now looked more masculine. He was naturally tall and strong, and doing all kinds of work under Sophia's guidance made him look even more steady.
Ronin helped Sophia divide the food and drinks among everyone.
The workers smiled, clearly happy.
They took their milk tea and food and sat in the shade to eat.
"Brother Ronin, can you handle the work on the construction site alone? Is there anything you need me for?" Sophia asked, then explained her plan, "I'm planning to go to Shanghai in a few days. Can you manage by yourself?"
"I'll keep working for now. If it gets too much, I'll let you know," Ronin said after thinking for a moment. Then he remembered something and quickly added, "The foundation for the small villa is done. Building it up will be fast. Boss, before you leave, you might want to decide on the tiles and stuff."
Sophia nodded.
She also told Ronin about the plan for the military coats, boots, and quilts.
"If you're going to Shanghai, I'll try to get back quickly, but it'll probably take at least a week."
"The client wants this batch of clothes delivered before November. They ordered a lot, so we have to start placing orders now."
Sophia said this while Ronin looked thoughtful.
"Brother Ronin, if you have anything to say, just say it!"
Ronin replied, "There used to be quite a few clothing factories in our village and nearby villages. Business has been bad these last two years, and many closed. Since we have clients, why don't we start a factory ourselves? That way we don't have to let others make the profit."
He didn't know how much Sophia resold the clothes for but thought the profit margin wasn't very high at the current wholesale price.
Sophia considered it. From what she learned communicating with General Yves, the demand was huge because of constant fighting. If possible, sourcing directly from the village and sending the goods over would be much more convenient.
But Sophia said, "We can ask the small factories in the village if they can do it. If they can, we can give them the contract, but I won't open a factory myself."
She didn't have the energy to manage all that alone. If opening a factory, she preferred to stick to her specialty.
She ran a pig farm at home, currently raising only fifteen piglets, all plump and healthy.
Because she had been busy lately, she hired Madam Xi, Ronin's mother, to help feed them.
Once she had time, Sophia planned to buy some equipment on the back mountain and scale up pig farming by buying more pigs.
Hearing Sophia's words, Ronin felt a little disappointed but understood the situation. The two of them were already busy, and the company's focus was narrow if they only dealt with clothing. They couldn't handle every direction.
Thinking this, Ronin felt relieved.
"Also, if this road could be connected, it would link to the city highway."
Sophia had realized this after driving around. If the road was connected, trucks coming and going would be much easier.
But to repair the road, they needed to ask Village Chief Zhang if it was possible.
Sophia just mentioned it briefly.
Because there were many things to handle, Ronin told Sophia that he would come to the site twice every day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, to supervise the work. But he would not stay all the time because he planned to visit nearby villages to see if any factories there could take their orders directly.
Sophia saw that he could manage things on his own, so she sent the contact information to Mr. Ziwen and booked a plane ticket to Shanghai.
Before leaving, Auctioneer Zhena arranged for someone to pick up the goods.
Sophia gave them two wooden boxes she had prepared.
She had met their company's security personnel before. For valuable items, the head of security would come personally.
Sophia asked the person who came, and sure enough, there had been a big mistake. The previous head of security had been replaced.
After handing over the items to Deron's people, Sophia went straight to Shanghai the next day.
When she got off the plane, she realized she had packed too few clothes. It was already autumn, and compared to Yangcheng, Shanghai's autumn felt cooler.
Sophia only had a backpack with her, carrying just a few clothes — two short-sleeved shirts and two pairs of long pants.
She had to take a taxi to a mall to buy some clothes first.
The malls in Shanghai were more upscale. Even casual clothes in a store could cost thousands or tens of thousands.
Sophia picked two sets: a camisole dress and a windbreaker, plus a dark green silk blouse with blue jeans.
The price was high but the quality was good, and the clothes felt comfortable.
After resting at the hotel for a day, she went to the headquarters of Mr. Ziwen's company to meet the contact person, Mr. Ziwen.
Sophia waited for Mr. Ziwen in a café downstairs, arriving half an hour early.
Mr. Ziwen looked busy. When he arrived, he brought an assistant, a young man who looked like a recent college graduate.
"Sophia, right?" Mr. Ziwen said.
It was just after 10 a.m., most office workers were busy at their companies. The café was almost empty except Sophia sitting alone by the window. Mr. Ziwen immediately spotted her.
Sophia stood and shook hands with the man in his early thirties.
"Mr. Ziwen."
She nodded to him.
"This is my assistant, Assistant An," Mr. Ziwen introduced.
Sophia's eyes first fell on Assistant An when they came in.
Assistant An stood straight, was fair-skinned, wore a suit, and had a well-groomed hairstyle.
He barely moved his mouth but gave a slight smile and briefly shook Sophia's hand before letting go.
"Sophia, I've seen the photos you sent. From the pictures, the craftsmanship is indeed exquisite and detailed. At first glance, it meets our collection needs, but we still need to see the actual items," Mr. Ziwen said.
Right after he finished, Sophia lifted her backpack onto the table.
She took out the items one by one.
Of course, she only brought part of them this time.
Mr. Ziwen was surprised by her action, "You brought them all out like this? I thought you left them at the hotel."