"Speaking of which, Kate never seems to wear the clothes I make for her. She doesn't care about her body at all!"
Lisa suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Uh…"
Catherine didn't know what to say.
To be honest, the clothes Lisa made were getting better and better, and Catherine did like wearing them—but the problem was wearing them to school… that would really be inappropriate. Sure, they'd be fine for going out. But given the current security situation, Catherine didn't dare dress like that. Unless she actually had bodyguards, or knew kung fu—either of those would work.
"Woo~!"
"Splash!"
Lily suddenly jumped into the pool, sending water splashing everywhere.
"Well, let's talk about that later. Right now, it's party time~"
Ida also ran toward the pool with a smile.
Catherine was about to follow, when Lily's voice suddenly rang out.
"Lisa, this fabric… there's a problem…"
Ida was wearing a pink one-piece swimsuit, but now it looked more skin-toned.
Obviously, the fabric had turned transparent when it got wet.
And Lisa hadn't sewn in any lining or support, so it was basically see-through now…
So, very wisely, Catherine decided not to get in just yet and instead walked over to the barbecue area. There was a grilling space right next to the outdoor pool, which felt oddly surreal.
But then Lily suddenly popped out of the water, grabbed Catherine, and dragged her in.
Catherine flailed for a moment before regaining her balance.
"Hey! Lily!"
All of a sudden, Catherine's swimsuit became completely transparent.
"You don't get to be the exception, Kate~"
Lily joked.
"Even if there was a little accident, it's no big deal…" Lisa blushed shyly for a moment, then quickly composed herself. "Besides, we've already seen each other completely—what's the problem?"
Catherine shook her head, then decisively rolled her eyes.
The pool wasn't very deep, only about five feet, just enough to float without drowning.
The setting sun cast a golden glow across the surface of the water.
It was undeniably a beautiful scene.
"Are we staying here tonight?" Catherine suddenly asked.
"That's right. But only one room is ready, so we'll all sleep together. As for the other rooms, they still need to be cleaned up."
Catherine nodded.
She glanced again at her swimsuit, now semi-transparent.
For some reason, this half-concealed feeling gave her a strange sense of excitement, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what made it feel so… pleasant.
Dinner time arrived.
Everyone gathered around the grill by the pool, joking and laughing as they ate.
After that, they went to rest. But since the house wasn't very comfortable yet, there wasn't much to do for the time being.
Later on, they pooled their money and bought the villa together.
They couldn't move in right away, though—there was still a lot missing, and renovations were needed, which would take about a month.
During that month, Lisa and Jenny were busy handling various arrangements.
Meanwhile, Catherine was also busy preparing a restructuring of the company.
For that purpose, she temporarily recruited a group of college students to conduct surveys among veterans, asking whether they were interested in becoming mercenaries, and also assessing whether there were other ordinary people with the physical aptitude to join such an organization.
Catherine had decided that once the survey results came in and met her expectations, she would immediately contact Old White.
But when Catherine told Bruce about this, a problem arose…
"What? Kate, you're getting into the mercenary business?!"
Bruce was stunned.
If all of Catherine's other ventures were at least somewhat related, then this mercenary business had absolutely nothing to do with them. How had she even come up with this?
To be honest, Bruce was truly shocked by Catherine—deeply shocked.
"Kate, you've gone too far."
It was the second time Bruce had warned her.
"Is making money really not enough for you?"
"But you'll also be facing endless trouble."
"I'm not afraid of trouble."
"But you should be, Kate. A company like this—if it's too small, it has no value and no benefits. But if it gets too big, do you really think you can control it yourself?"
"Uh…"
"This kind of industry is far too dangerous, and you're smart enough to stay away from it."
"But it's insanely profitable! And no one is involved in it right now!"
"No one's involved doesn't mean you should be, Kate. Pioneers are often crushed. You don't have enough strength unless the government backs you, and that's extremely unlikely."
"But—"
"No buts, Kate. We have no background, no support. If someone wants to take over our business, what can we do?"
Catherine fell silent.
In fact, even if they succeeded, so what?
Without any backing or protection, they'd just be meat on the chopping block.
Bruce was right.
"Alright, Kate. I'll hold on to your documents for now. As for the company, I'll handle the legal paperwork, but you're not allowed to interfere."
"Hey! How can you do that?!"
Catherine protested.
"When you have enough capital, I'll consider handing it back to you. For now, I'll take temporary control. And I'm the legal representative, not you—you need to understand that."
"Feudalism! Dictatorship! Capitalism!"
"We are capitalists, Kate."
Catherine puffed out her cheeks.
"Brother Runzhi, Comrade Enlai—if you'd been born in the United States… how wonderful that would've been… Communist glory, Red Medal, Iron Fist of Death…"
But as she thought about it, Catherine felt a warmth in her heart.
There are many things in this world that don't go the way you want—but there are always people who care about you and cherish you.
After Bruce's words, Catherine calmed down.
In an industry like this, if someone wanted to steal her achievements, how could she possibly protect them?
Some things can't be taken for granted.
"Sigh… I really hope this country can experience a peaceful evolution,"
Catherine sighed again, dissatisfied.