the next day.
After Nan Yi looked at the financial statements of Sophie Holdings, he started chatting with Jean Bader.
"John, how do you think the Paris housing market will develop in the next few years?"
"Mr. Adam, did you know that there are many low-rent houses [low-rent housing] in France?" Jean Bard asked back.
"Yes, I know that Paris is not short of civilian housing. If you don't have high requirements for public security and location, it is not too difficult to own a house in Paris. Besides..."
Nan Yi apologized first, then said: "John, don't blame me for being too direct. France is full of lazy people. They are not keen on working, but only indulge in enjoyment. They don't know how to save money. These people will never be able to afford a house."
"You are right. There are indeed many lazy people in France. They are parasites that eat the country's welfare. Damn it, half of my income is taken away to support these lazy people. Mr. Adam, I plan to register a personal company. Can my future salary be transferred to my personal company in the form of contract money?"
"No, this method seems to be legal, but it's too lame. We at Nan's will not adopt this method. John, your salary is not much, don't care too much about the small amount of money. The dividends will go through Andorra, and every penny will go into your personal account. It's all yours."
"Okay, forget what I said." Jean Bader shrugged and turned the topic back to real estate. "It is precisely because of the existence of low-rent housing that the French don't have to worry about housing. At most, they live in the northern suburbs, which is not as good in terms of location. Also, because there are too many refugees from underdeveloped countries like North Africa, the public security is not as good."
“Well, what is the home ownership rate among the French?”
“About 55 percent.”
"Those who buy or build their own homes already have houses, and the rest don't have buying a house in their plans, right?"
"Yes."
“So I want to talk about high-end housing, not low-end housing.”
“The prospects for high-end residential properties should be very good. Not only the wealthy, but also the relatively wealthy people in other European countries like to come to Paris for vacation and also like to buy property in Paris. I believe that the prospects for high-end apartments that can be moved in right away should be good in the future.”
"Well, it may not only be Europe, but also the United States and several wealthy countries in Asia. Romantic Paris is attractive to everyone in the world. So, you can pay some attention to it, either by buying shares in real estate companies or investing directly."
"A small investment?"
"Yes, you don't have to invest too much, just diversify the types of investments that Sophie Controls makes. Also, the Viscount Castle needs to find a buyer. If you meet a wealthy customer, you will be responsible for selling it."
"clear."
"It's 7:30 in the afternoon. It's not a formal gathering, just casual."
"Okay, I'll be there on time."
After leaving Jean Bard's office, Nan Yi went to the reception room and called Sophie Marceau, who was waiting there bored, and the two went to the Grand Palais in Paris, where the auto show was held.
As soon as they arrived at the exhibition hall, Nan Yi sent Sophie Marceau to see the sports cars by herself, and he himself visited each booth carefully.
There are thousands of cars in the exhibition hall, and almost all the mainstream vehicles in the world are on display. By walking around the exhibition hall, you can basically understand the current development of the automobile industry.
Just as Nan Yi stopped in front of Peugeot's booth, Marion Wallenberg came to him.
"one person?"
"Sophie went to look at the sports car. Is that a coincidence? Or was it an appointment with Sophie?"
"I love cars and I go to almost every car show that there is one," said Marion.
“You have a lot of cars?”
"Quite a few."
"Well, do me a favor, please don't recommend your Chevrolet to Sophie. It's driving too fast and I'm worried she might have an accident." Nan Yi said to Marion sincerely.
Marion laughed and said, "Haha, I like uniqueness. I don't want my friends to have the same car I have, so don't worry, I won't recommend it to her."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, Adam. Can I ask you a question?"
"Excuse me."
"Sophie isn't your only woman, is she?"
"This is a very personal question, but I'm willing to answer it anyway. Yes, she's not the only one."
"So, you will only come to Paris to see her when you are in a mood and have time. The rest of the time, you will be with other women?" Marion said with a serious expression.
"No, most of my time is devoted to work. No matter which woman it is, I can't spend much time with her." Nan Yi slowed down and asked, "Are you interested in my private affairs?"
"No, my mother is a poor woman, and I don't want to see my friend become a poor woman as well."
"So, your surname Wallenberg is that Wallenberg?" Nan Yi asked, pointing to the north.
"I just inherited a surname. There is no other relationship between me and the Wallenberg family."
"Sophie is honored to have a friend like you who truly cares about her. You Westerners pursue romance, but we Easterners are more concerned about responsibility. I can't give Sophie 100% love, but in other aspects, I will do 120%. Don't you think that love occupies most of the meaning of life?"
"Haha." Marion smiled. "Not really. Although I never worry about food and drink, I know that for most people, bread is always more important than love. I can't be Juliet."
Nan Yi did not correct Marion that her example of Juliet was not very appropriate. The meaning was already there and he could fully understand it.
A lady from the Wallenberg family, even if she was an illegitimate daughter, had probably only seen the sufferings of the people but had never experienced them herself. How could someone who had only seen pigs run know how smelly pig manure was?
"Adam, Marion, what are you talking about?"
Marion thought it was Sophie Marceau, so she joked, "Sophie, we are negotiating the price. Your Adam has agreed to rent himself to me for a week."
"You don't have to pay, just treat it as a trial period. If you find it convenient, we can sign a long-term lease contract."
"OK."
"Very good, you two are negotiating the slave trade and you don't shy away from slaves at all."
"Ha, Adam, you have no say," laughed Sophie Marceau.
"Okay, you two take your time bargaining. I'll go over and take a look. I'll come find you later." Nan Yi pointed in a direction and said.
"Adam, wait, come with me to the Ferrari booth first. I've liked a car." Sophie Marceau stopped Nan Yi who was about to leave.
"F40?"
"Yes, come with me to test drive the car." Sophie Marceau grabbed Nan Yi's arm and said.
"All right."
Sophie Marceau walked in front, and the three of them walked towards the Ferrari booth together.
As soon as they arrived at the booth, a middle-aged salesperson came over to the three of them and said, "Hello, how can I help you?"
Buying a sports car and giving it as a gift is not a panacea marketing strategy, especially in this day and age when people don't really care about efficiency. Buying a car is just buying a car, and few people would squeeze out time to pick up a girl after buying a car.
People who buy sports cars pay more attention to the sports car itself rather than the incidental effects it brings. Since they focus on the sports car itself, they naturally need more professional people to answer some of the more sharp and tricky questions.
"F40, I want to test drive it," said Sophie Marceau.
"Okay, miss, please follow me. There is a test drive area in the back." The middle-aged salesperson made an inviting gesture.
"Adam, you come with me."
"No, you know I don't like sports cars, Marion, you go with Sophie."
"Sophie, I'll go with you."
"All right."
The two women followed the middle-aged salesperson and left. Nan Yi walked around a red F40 exhibition car on the booth, touching and knocking on the car body from time to time.
To Nan Yi, the F40 was not streamlined enough. The body looked bumpy and not smooth enough, and it looked like a large plastic toy. Except for the front windshield, the other windows were made of acrylic. He opened the door and looked inside. There was not even a door handle on the inner wall of the door, only a horizontal rope in the depression.
Walking to the front of the car, Nan Yi tried to lift the car and lifted it up easily.
"If it has four wheels and doesn't weigh five, six, seven or eight tons, can it be considered a car?"
Nan Yi estimated that the F40 weighed at most one ton. With a string tied to it, it could be flown as a kite as long as the wind was strong enough.
"Headache."
Nan Yi didn't know how to dissuade Sophie Marceau from buying this car. The driving experience of this car must be good, and it would be very difficult to stop her from buying it.
"Campus Beauty, set the route for tomorrow afternoon."
Unable to think of a way to prevent Sophie Marceau from buying a car, Nan Yi could only leave early so that Sophie Marceau would have no time to drive.
Nan Yi waited for a while, and Sophie Marceau and Marion came back. Sophie Marceau looked very happy physically and mentally. She came to Nan Yi and said lightly: "Adam, the F40 is so comfortable to drive. I decided to buy it."
"If you want to buy it, just buy it and pay for it yourself."
"Of course, wait a moment, I'll go pay." Sophie Marceau skipped towards the middle-aged salesperson who was following behind her.
"2.38 million, right?"
"Yes." The middle-aged salesperson said respectfully.
Without saying a word, Sophie Marceau took out a checkbook from her purse, spread it out, wrote a check in the air, tore it off, and handed it to the middle-aged salesperson, "Fill up the gas and change the engine oil."
"No problem, we have other gifts to give away, please rest assured."
The middle-aged salesman's face was filled with joy. Sophie Marceau's requests were all small things. He turned to another staff member and said, "The best oil, fill up the gas."
"This way please, come here to complete the formalities."
After the middle-aged salesperson gave the instructions, he led the few people to the rest area to wait. He personally served them a few cups of coffee and then went through the formalities with Sophie Marceau.
Sophie Marceau was processing some formalities, and Marion was bored, so she turned around and talked to Nan Yi.
"Adam, you guys are going to India soon?"
"Yes."
"Are you welcome to come with me?"
"Of course you're welcome. I've already booked a flight for tomorrow at noon. If you don't have time to prepare, I can call and cancel the flight."
Of course Nan Yi was not welcome. He had too many things to do in India that he didn't want others to know. But Marion was Sophie Marceau's best friend and her surname was Wallenberg, so he couldn't refuse.
The surname Wallenberg has great power. Let me put it this way. According to the South Korean saying, in South Korea, people cannot live without Wallenberg from birth to death. But in Sweden, nearly half of the people you breathe in the air have the surname Wallenberg.
The Wallenberg family not only controls Sweden's "money bag", but many of its family members are also well-known bankers, entrepreneurs, politicians , and diplomats. There is a saying that if you want to establish contact with the Swedish government, you must first communicate with the Wallenberg family.
In Sweden, if the Wallenberg family slaps you on the left cheek, you should obediently turn the right cheek.
In Stockholm, if you point your hand in any direction, most of the inanimate objects belong to the Wallenberg family, most of the living things serve the Wallenberg family, and 40% of Sweden's industrial workers serve the Wallenberg family.
The Wallenberg family has a hand in any Swedish enterprise, regardless of the field, covering almost every form of industrial development since the 19th century.
From Electrolux vacuum cleaners to ABB transformers and Scania trucks, from Ericsson to Saab fighter jets, they almost control the economic lifeline of Sweden.
This statement is not an exaggeration at all. At present, companies controlled by the Wallenberg family account for more than 40% of the Stockholm stock market. Even the Stockholm Options Exchange is a company controlled by the family.
It can be said that Sweden’s becoming one of the most developed countries in the world today is closely related to the fate of this family.
The Wallenberg family adheres to the creed of "existing but invisible" and hides their family very deeply. Although this family has great power in Sweden, the family's assets are not very large on the surface.
The reason why the Wallenberg family was able to occupy half of the Swedish economy was ultimately because they made good use of the characteristics of the Swedish stock market.
The Swedish government has implemented the AB share system in the stock market. A shares cannot be circulated, but they have the right to elect the board of directors; B shares can be circulated, but they only have "voting rights" on the circulation of cash and dividends. Therefore, although the number of B shares is far greater than that of A shares, as long as A shares are controlled, the company can be firmly controlled.
For a century, the Wallenberg family has held shares in most of Sweden's major companies and at the same time has several times more voting rights than other shareholders, making it the actual controller of these companies.
The most typical example is that at one time, the Wallenberg family only held 4% of Electrolux's shares but had 94% of the voting rights.
This dual-class share system also makes the Wallenberg family "not look that rich" because the absolute number of shares they own is not large. This is why the Wallenberg family, who is rich enough to rival a country and has great power, has never appeared on any global rich list.
But Nan Yi didn't believe it. It would be strange for a family that had prospered for more than 200 years to have only superficial wealth.
Not to mention the Nan family, whom Nan Yi wanted to dig a hole to hide in, let's just talk about Scarlett who is standing in the spotlight. If you add up all her apparent wealth and inflate it, it can probably be as much as 1 billion US dollars. If you say she has 1.5 billion US dollars, anyone who says so will feel guilty - isn't that too much of an exaggeration?
Pan American Investment Holdings has very dispersed shares on the surface; Scarlett Investment Holdings owns Scarlett Food Group, Scarlett Mining Group, Scarlett Fund, and Scarlett Petroleum, each of which looks like a giant and all bear the name of Scarlett, but Scarlett's personal shares are either in the single digit or one decimal place, so no matter how high the company's valuation is, her personal assets are not that high.
Similarly, Nan Yi knew that the Wallenberg family must be hiding one's head and showing one's tail. There was no way they didn't understand that. On the surface, the Wallenberg family could leverage two or three hundred billion US dollars, and it was hard to say whether they could come up with this amount of cash in secret.
It is too easy to hide cash as long as you have a bank.
The more Nan Yi understood this world, the more he discovered that there were many hidden forces in this world. Many people knew that Morgan and Rockefeller were big financial groups, but how big were they and how much money did they control? Who could tell for sure?
…
The next day, Nan Yi and the other two boarded the plane.
In Mumbai, Falque was concerned about the progress of the laboratory while studying the information of Ranbaxy Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceuticals.
The clinical trials of Viagra have been completed. It is impossible for Glory Peacock to just sit there and do nothing. After all, Glory Peacock is a biopharmaceutical company. How can it not produce some drugs?
Look, the laboratory is developing several drugs that are not patented in India but are patented in other countries.
Research and development is not difficult, as there are ready-made formulas and research and development information available. The difficult part is to study the technology and production costs of the production process. Drugs are produced to make money, so of course you have to find a drug that has a high demand, can be sold at a high price, and has a relatively low production cost.
Faraqua does not need to do the research and development himself. His main job is to invest in his Indian counterparts. One is to take advantage of the situation and the other is to prevent his counterparts from "copying Viagra" which has not yet been carried out but is likely to be carried out in the future.
Third, biopharmaceutical companies have spent several years and invested a lot of money to develop a drug. If someone copies it and seizes the market, is this fair? Is this legal?
But there was nothing to be done. India introduced the Patent Law in 1970, which transformed the product patent protection that had continued from the colonial period into process patent protection; it stipulated that "only pharmaceutical processes are protected, not pharmaceutical ingredients", and only process patents are granted for food, medicines, etc., not product patents.
Subsequently, the Indian government also enacted strict drug price limit laws and other laws that restricted the production and sales capabilities of foreign pharmaceutical companies in India.
Under the Process Patent Act, Indian pharmaceutical companies can freely copy and produce any drug. A drug approved by the US FDA can be seen in the Indian market in just three months.
With the protection of laws, we cannot win the lawsuit against our Indian counterparts. The only way to deal with them is to carry out preliminary defense and nip the danger in the bud before they start to imitate, or we can tie everyone together and become our own people.
Nan Yi has always been kind to others, and has always lived with the mentality of "If I don't go to hell, who will?" He would avoid doing such things if possible, and it is better to just be friends.
Look, Falque is worried about uniting all the forces that can be united.
The weather was too hot, and Faraqui could still feel his head buzzing while sitting in the air-conditioned room. He put down the documents, picked up a flat red iron box on the table, opened the lid, picked up a little butter-like solid from the box with his little finger, and rubbed it on both sides of his temples.
All of a sudden, a cool feeling went into my brain and I shuddered.
After closing the lid of the iron box, Faraqui held the iron box in his hand and muttered, "Good stuff, really good stuff. This thing will definitely sell well in India. Contact Ming and find a Chinese pharmaceutical company to cooperate with. We must organize production here in Mumbai."
Faraqui has already seen the ingredient list of the cooling oil. This thing is not difficult to make and there is no complicated manufacturing process at all. The key is that most of the raw materials in it are only available in China.
Nan Yi and his team took off from Paris at 2 pm and flew for nearly 10 hours. Due to the time difference, they landed in Mumbai at around 3:30 am the next day, Mumbai time.
As August approaches, India becomes even hotter. Even in the early morning, the temperature does not drop much and the air is still filled with stuffiness.
As soon as Sophie Marceau walked out of the airport building, her collar became wet.
"Adam, it's so hot here." Sophie Marceau pinched her collar and shook it a few times to let the cool breeze in.
"Hold on, we'll be fine once we get to the car."
Nan Yi replied and sniffed. A sour and rotten smell came into his nose. This smell drifted over from the north, gathering perfumes, spices, incense, and flowers along the way, making the simple stench become very complex.
Although it was early in the morning, Nan Yi and his team landed at the wrong time. There was a flight that landed right before and after them. Punjabis, Jats, Bengalis, Tamil Nadu people, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Shudras of all skin colors and appearances were walking side by side in the same direction as them.
After the crowd had walked halfway, Nan Yi and his group separated and walked in different directions. After walking for a while, they arrived at the parking lot.
"BOSS."
When a few people came to the front of the car, Plan, who was already waiting there, greeted Nan Yi.
"Pu Lan, thank you for asking you to come here so late at night."
“It’s not hard.”
"It's too hot. Get in the car and go back early."
Nan Yi said as he opened the car door and invited Sophie Marceau and Marion to get in first, then he got in himself, and the three of them squeezed into the back seat together.
"GOT!"
Puran responded, raised her left hand and twirled her fingers in the air. Upon seeing the gesture, the other Dalit female soldiers got into the cars one by one. After a while, the convoy started off collectively.
After driving for a distance, a bus came spewing black smoke and breathing heavily, passing through a group of porterage workers and chasing after Nan Yi and his convoy.
The road from the airport to the intersection of Peacock Villa is a wide modern highway at first. Trees and shrubs are planted on both sides of the road. It is orderly and quite beautiful. The two women looked at the scenery outside the window with great interest.
Then, the road began to narrow, the multi-lane road became a single lane, the trees on both sides disappeared, and a slum appeared in everyone's sight.
The slums were dotted with lights, illuminating their dark brown dune-like shapes, stretching one after another until they disappeared into the dirty smoke beyond the horizon.
The extremely simple shelter is made of rags, broken plastic pieces, torn cardboard boxes, broken reeds and bamboo strips. The sand dunes are close to each other, supporting each other to stay from falling down. The narrow and winding alleys pass through them. In the vast and chaotic slums, there is no sight of anything taller than a human being.
A dozen minutes ago, it was still a modern airport, full of glitz and glamour, with passengers having their own destinations. But a few kilometers away, there was a scene of despair and filth, making it difficult for people to accept this contrast.
"Adam, these outside?"
Sophie Marceau withdrew her gaze and looked at Nan Yi in surprise.
"Slums, they didn't exist when I left Mumbai." Nan Yi also looked out the window, curiously looking at the new slums that appeared so quickly.
“Are they all poor people from Bombay?”
"They are not from Mumbai, but farmers from other places. There must be a disaster somewhere."
Nan Yi guessed that a lot of farmers had recently flocked to Mumbai, and Dharavi could not absorb so many people. It seemed that a large "illegal settlement" would be born here, but the settlement here would not survive for long.
This is one of the faces of Mumbai. The Mumbai City Hall will not tolerate farmers living here for a long time. Forced demolition is a matter of time.
"They come here when disaster strikes?"
Nan Yi explained to the two women the reason for the phenomenon before their eyes, then turned to look out the window, hoping to take a closer look at the slums.
There was a woman squatting at the "doorstep", combing her black hair with her fingers; there was another woman using a copper bowl to scoop water for a child to bathe; there was a man holding a flashlight in one hand and a wooden stick in the other. He was the night watchman from India, responsible for patrolling the alleys at night, killing rats, and cleaning up dead bodies, drunkards, and sick people;
There was another man with three ropes tied to his hands, and several goats followed behind him. Each goat had a red ribbon tied to a collar under its neck...
It was past three in the morning and there were still so many people in the slum who had not yet slept.
"Are you sleepy?"
Nan Yi withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Sophie Marceau.
"I'm not sleepy. I'm very curious about this place and want to go out and take a look as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, there's plenty of time to see it. Go home, take a shower and go to bed. I'll take you two to the city in the evening and show you the wealthy side of Mumbai."
"Adam, are the north and south of Mumbai really two different worlds?" Marion asked.
"Yes, there is heaven on one side and hell on the other."
The car continued to drive, and the smooth traffic in the early morning allowed Nan Yi and his group to return to Peacock Villa quickly.
The grandeur of Peacock Villa did not shock the two women, but the bathing hot springs and the phoenix rising from the ashes in the central garden of the villa made them smile knowingly, especially Sophie Marceau, who gave Nan Yi a look that could only be understood.
After letting the two girls take a bath first, Nan Yi returned to the bedroom, checked the closet, put away Sayuri Hagiwara's clothes, and hid them in a more hidden cabinet.
The last time Nan Yi went back, Sayuri Hagiwara also went back to Tokyo with him, otherwise Nan Yi would not have thought of bringing Sophie Marceau to Mumbai.
Nan Yi naturally thought about having the blessing of having two wives. Even if he gathered all his women under one roof, he could still sort out the relationships. But he knew very well that one should not go too far in bullying others. His women were like ostriches burying their heads in the sand. If he let them meet each other king by king, that would be the last excuse they had to deceive themselves.
After cleaning the bedroom, Nan Yi took a shower in the bathroom next to the bedroom, walked to the corridor of the bedroom in slippers, and took out a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator against the wall.
The kitchen was too far away, and Nan Yi didn't want the servants to run back and forth just to drink water, so he simply installed a few refrigerators in the bedroom.
Standing in the aisle and taking a sip of water, Nan Yi waved to the left. When Pu Lan came closer, he led his men to the roof.
"Priyanka's situation." Nan Yi said after standing on the roof.
"Everything seemed normal. Nine days ago, she secretly met with Saira Sharma, who was in disguise."
"What happened after we met?"
"Priyanka's mood has obviously improved, but nothing else has changed."
"Where's that very motivated servant? His name is Sha, right?"
"Yes, he is still studying English very hard."
"Oh, at another time, in another place, I would really appreciate his progress, but it's not possible here and now. Find a suitable excuse to fire him."
"clear."
After Nan Yi and Plan finished chatting and returned to the bedroom, Sophie Marceau was already lying on the bed with her hair still wet.
"Why don't you dry your hair?"
"I can't dry it. I don't see a hair dryer." Sophie Marceau turned to lie down and said lazily: "Adam, I'm tired, help me."
"Um."
Nan Yi found the hair dryer, plugged it in, and started blowing Sophie Marceau's hair.
Sophie Marceau pushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "Adam, I'm not sleepy at all."
"I'm sleepy. As long as I don't disturb my biological clock, I can still sleep for three hours."
“Boring.”
Sophie Marceau curled her lips.
"If you really can't sleep, you can walk around the villa, ride horses, feed cattle."
"Are there horses here?"
"have."
"Okay, I want to ride." Sophie Marceau sat up excitedly.
“Can you ride?”
"Of course." Sophie Marceau pushed Nan Yi's hand away, "No need to brag, I'm going to go riding now."
"Uh-huh, go find Puran. She'll take you to the stables. Since you don't want to sleep, don't disturb me for three hours, OK?"
"OK!"
He went to bed at 5:30, and at 9 o'clock, Nan Yi was already sitting by the Peacock Lake, drinking soy milk and eating a pancake with fried dough sticks.
Before, Nan Yi thought he could stick to eating Western food for a year or so, but after eating it for a month he got a little bored. As a last resort, he took a free seat and transferred a person from southern Zhejiang who worked as breakfast cook in the state-owned canteen before going to Xiangkeng.
In the morning, I have some pancakes and fried dough sticks, and drink a bowl and a half of soy milk, and my stomach feels warm.
"BOSS."
"Ah, Farrakhi, what's the matter with you coming here so early?"
"I have an idea I want to discuss with you." Falque walked over and sat down opposite Nan Yi.
"Speaking."
Faraqui took out the cooling oil from his briefcase and put it on the table. "Boss, I hope Glorious Peacock can produce this product. It will definitely sell well in India, and it can also be exported to many tropical countries."
Nan Yi glanced at the cooling oil on the table, and the image of Lai Biao immediately popped up in his mind. He sneered and nodded affirmatively, "Faraqui, this is a good idea."
The temperature here in India is really too high, and deaths from heatstroke are not uncommon. Nan Yi blamed himself for having a rigid brain. He had been in India for so long, but he had never thought of this.