On October 1, 1961, the twelfth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China was commemorated.
That country no longer had any real connection to Catherine, but after all, it had once been her homeland. Whenever she heard about it, she couldn't help feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
That same day, however, Catherine was at Jenny's shooting club, planning to start a security company in hopes of expanding her influence during the Vietnam War.
"Ida, does your father have any way to get in touch with veterans or something like that?" Catherine suddenly asked.
"What's going on, Kate?" Ida looked at her curiously.
"I want to start a security company," Catherine said with a smile, then paused to think. "Or maybe 'security contractor' or 'military contractor' would be more accurate. Of course, it could also be called a private military company."
The world's largest private military company, MPRI (Military Professional Resources Inc.), wouldn't be founded until 1987, and Blackwater even later, in 1997. At this point in time, this was a market she could potentially dominate.
It's important to understand that in the future, MPRI would operate in more than forty countries, with branches all over the United States and overseas. Their smallest contracts were worth four million dollars, and typical contracts ran into the tens or even hundreds of millions.
Enormous profits.
Only the military industry was truly that lucrative.
Of course, Catherine had no realistic chance of entering that industry anytime soon, but extensions of it—like private military companies—were still largely undeveloped, with no major players yet. Conflicts and profit distribution issues hadn't become prominent either. Why not take advantage of the moment and seize this market too?
"I'll try asking," Ida replied.
Next, Catherine walked over to Jenny.
"Jenny, could you give me your grandfather's phone number, or some other way to contact him?"
"Kate, actually, every time we go out, my grandfather's bodyguards secretly protect us. Do we really need a company?" Jenny asked curiously.
Thinking about the promising future, Catherine smiled. "No, Jenny, it's not that simple. We'd be operating under a mercenary-style model."
Jenny nodded, understanding.
As a mercenary-type organization, weapons were essential, and that was when Catherine thought of Old White.
Besides, he was the only arms dealer she knew—and he also happened to be Jenny's grandfather.
Even though he was just a shareholder and might not represent the company's full interests, Catherine felt it was worth trying.
Maybe it would work.
Still, after getting Old White's contact information, Catherine didn't call him impulsively.
Even though she was Jenny's friend, the other party might not take her seriously.
What Catherine needed was an initial success and a well-thought-out plan.
Most businesspeople don't act unless they see tangible results; to impress them, you need to accomplish something meaningful first. And even if she managed to persuade Old White through Jenny's connections, his company might not follow along. After all, he wasn't the president.
The plan could wait. The Vietnam War had only just begun, and Catherine still had time.
After the shooting session, Jenny gave each of them a special membership card.
But it seemed that everyone had already lost interest in shooting.
After all, once you've tried something, the novelty wears off, and their understanding of firearms clearly stopped there.
Catherine was the exception.
Even with bodyguards, she kept coming back to practice. To Catherine, self-protection was essential. She had once wanted to learn martial arts from Bruce Lee, but handgun training felt more practical and effective.
Once she got home, Catherine immediately began drafting a plan, intending to give it to Bruce and ask for his opinion.
"Forgive me for being blunt, Kate. You've stepped into so many industries already—don't you know that trying to do too much at once is counterproductive?" Bruce had spent an entire month overwhelmed with organizing the company. He had finally enjoyed a rare bit of relaxation over the past few days, only for Catherine to unexpectedly bring him another stack of documents.
"Isn't making money the most important thing? Are we just going to ignore profitable industries? This is the perfect opportunity—why wouldn't we seize it?"
"But do you really have the energy, Kate? You still have school, you still have ballet classes, and you have so many other things to handle."
Catherine shrugged.
"Maybe. But isn't that what you said? I don't need to do everything myself. I just need to organize the staff."
In fact, most private military companies are essentially shell companies. Aside from sales, finance, human resources, and senior management—who are full-time employees—the majority of contractors working in the field are not permanent staff. For example, many of MPRI's promotional materials claim that their database contains information on tens of thousands of retired U.S. military personnel, but in reality, those people aren't formal employees; they're just listed in their roster.
Because of this, such a company mainly needs to manage personnel, rather than deal with the cumbersome product development and sales tasks typical of most companies.
"Fine. Give me the plan. I'll take a look," Bruce said, sounding a bit worn out.
Catherine happily handed it over.
"Don't bite off more than you can chew, Kate," Bruce warned her again before leaving.
Even though Catherine was involved in many fields, she understood priorities. Her real strength lay in computer and electronic technology, and that was where her main focus would remain. She wouldn't jump into businesses that were potentially lucrative but outside her capabilities.
For example, Catherine knew Walmart would thrive and that its founder, Sam Walton, would become the richest man in the world—but she had no way to get involved in that industry.
First of all, she knew nothing about Walmart's operating methods. As for Blackwater and similar companies, she had at least looked them up out of curiosity—but Walmart? Who would bother searching that? Second, Walmart's growth was a long-term process, and Catherine could potentially earn far more by doing other things with that time. She simply wasn't familiar with the industry.
The Magic Chess series had temporarily reached a "complete" state, and Catherine's focus had shifted away from it.
That part would continue to evolve on its own. Now, her attention was on developing a computer that could push toward future technology.
Thanks to her communication with Seymour Cray, the father of supercomputers, he had given her many valuable suggestions. At the very least, Catherine was no longer completely ignorant about supercomputers.
Now she was considering manufacturing a CPU.
After all, that didn't exist yet.
What if she were the inventor of the CPU?
Hey—that would be really interesting.