# Chapter 2: Spending 300 Million on Supplies to Fill the Space
In her past life, Sophia had joined the rush to buy supplies.
But back then, vendors kept their goods tightly in hand, unwilling to sell.
Large supermarkets stayed open, but everyone was panic-buying. She could only get a fraction of what she wanted.
Worse, because she was a young woman living alone, she attracted the attention of people with ill intentions.
Fortunately, Sophia had been learning martial arts since childhood, and before age ten, she had trained at the Shaolin Temple as a lay student. Her skills were far beyond ordinary, and this was what kept her safe.
Thinking of this, Sophia typed two words at the top of her document—Weapons.
Weapons were essential.
Sophia considered her combat ability quite high, but fighting bare-handed versus having a proper weapon were two completely different levels.
Beyond weapons, she also needed to prepare for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.
Sophia's fingers flew across the keyboard, the document filling with more and more text.
Once she'd written enough, Sophia printed the entire document.
She would follow the list and buy things item by item, so she wouldn't miss anything.
Sophia changed into comfortable athletic wear, tied her long hair into a bun, grabbed her keys and wallet, and headed out.
Taking the elevator to the underground parking garage, Sophia pressed her key fob and followed the beep to find her car.
So many years had passed; she'd forgotten exactly where her parking spot was.
Sophia's adoptive parents had built their business from the ground up. With exceptional commercial instincts, they'd accumulated a fortune within ten years—right around the time Sophia was born.
When Sophia was kidnapped at age three and barely rescued, her parents sent her to Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts for self-defense.
To ensure her education wouldn't fall behind, they hired tutors of every subject to live with her at the temple.
Those years, Sophia worked day and night without rest—training in martial arts while studying all kinds of knowledge. Exhaustion was inevitable.
But during every single day in the apocalypse, Sophia was deeply grateful to her parents.
If they hadn't sent her to learn martial arts, in that dog-eat-dog world, a young woman living alone would have had no way to protect herself.
Sophia's parents had died in a plane crash last year.
Both her parents were only children, and their own parents had all passed away in previous years.
After the deaths of her adoptive parents, Sophia was the last of the Chen family.
After handling the funeral arrangements, Sophia sold the family business.
Sophia didn't have the business acumen her parents had.
When they were still alive, they'd discussed this with her.
If someday they were gone and she didn't want to manage the company, she should sell it.
The money would be more than enough for her to live comfortably.
Sophia sold the company for 300 million dollars.
If nothing unexpected happened, that fortune would have let her live comfortably for life.
But the apocalypse changed everything.
Sophia thought, if her parents could see her miserable life in her past life, they would be heartbroken beyond words.
But this time, she would prepare with everything she had, so she could live better and longer in the apocalypse.
Sophia was a delicate and beautiful young woman, but because she'd trained in martial arts from childhood, her personality was resolute, and her preferences differed from most girls.
She didn't like flashy sports cars. Instead, she favored off-road vehicles—what she drove now was a Hummer.
Two rows, five seats, plus an enormous trunk. Perfect for hauling cargo later.
Sophia drove first to a hair salon and cut her waist-length hair short.
Her hair was naturally wavy, never permed or dyed. The quality was excellent.
But cutting it from waist-length to chin-length—she didn't feel the slightest bit of regret.
Long hair was such a hassle to wash. In the apocalypse, it would also draw too much attention.
Cutting it short and wearing a hat, even if she washed her hair, no one would notice.
Leaving the salon, Sophia didn't go to regular supermarkets or shopping malls. Instead, she headed straight for the largest wholesale district.
Wholesale markets had every kind of product, all in one place, at low prices. Buying in bulk brought even better deals.
Even with 300 million in hand, Sophia intended to be thrifty, spending every dollar wisely.
Near the wholesale district, Sophia parked and rented a remote warehouse, signing a three-month lease.
Once the warehouse was secured and she confirmed there were no hidden cameras, Sophia locked the door and headed to the wholesale market.
She placed an order for a thousand shelving units first.
Each unit was 6.5 feet long, 10 feet tall, and 1.6 feet wide, retailing at $250 each.
Because Sophia ordered a thousand at once, the delighted owner gave her a discount—$240 each, totaling $288,000.
Sophia paid a $120,000 deposit, left her phone number and warehouse address, and told the owner to call her when delivering the next day.
Sophia planned to assemble the shelves like in a supermarket, dividing sections by category, making things easier to find when she needed them.
Leaving that shop, Sophia went to a grain store.
The store was busy. Sophia waited a while before the owner was free to attend her.
"What can I get for you, young lady?"
While waiting, Sophia had carefully surveyed the store. It was large and had an impressive variety.
Hearing the owner's question, Sophia slowly spoke.
"I'd like 1,000 bags of Jasmine rice, 1,000 bags of Basmati rice, 1,000 bags of long-grain rice.
All-purpose flour, bread flour, pastry flour, cake flour—1,000 bags of each.
Glutinous rice, Arborio rice, millet, barley, black rice, purple rice—2,000 pounds of each.
Red beans, mung beans, kidney beans, soybeans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, fava beans—2,000 pounds of each.
Cornmeal, chickpea flour, potato starch, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour—2,000 pounds of each.
How many types of starch do you carry? Give me 500 pounds of each."
Sophia rattled off the list before noticing the stunned expression on the owner's face.
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "What? Is there a problem?"
The owner finally came to his senses, looking Sophia over. "Miss, you're not... messing with me, are you?"
Sophia frowned. "Why would I mess with you? I'm opening a large supermarket. I'm here for wholesale today."
The owner's expression was complicated. He clearly didn't fully believe her.
Sophia, seeing this, simply said, "Why don't you calculate the total for everything I need? I'll pay half as a deposit. That should convince you."
Seeing how serious Sophia was, the owner reluctantly pulled out his calculator and started punching numbers.
Ten minutes later, he handed her the bill.
Sophia skipped the unit prices and went straight to the total.
All that—barely over 2 million dollars?
Still under 2 million?
Just as the owner was about to take back the bill, a fair, slender hand pressed down on it.
"Give me your account number. I'll transfer the money right now!"