"Chen Fang."
As soon as Nan Yi walked out of the screening room, he saw Chen Fang from the Gunman Company.
When Chen Fang heard Nan Yi's call, he walked up to Nan Yi and asked, "Boss, why are you here?"
"Come over to play with Sophie, how about you?"
The script of "Joan of Arc" was originally written by Chen Fang. The script was written based on the characteristics of an unknown woman. It would be strange if Chen Fang didn't know the special relationship between Sophie Marceau and Nan Yi. That's why Nan Yi gave a direct and honest answer.
"Boss, you know that the company has signed a number of novel copyrights. Bestsellers are fine, so they won't have to worry about sales. But for some unsold books, the film and television copyrights will expire in two years, so I have to hurry up and sell them."
"Oh, did it go well?"
"It's OK. I've already discussed a few intentions." Chen Fang looked at his watch and said apologetically, "Boss, I have an appointment to discuss copyrights, and the time is almost up."
"Which novel is the copyright of?"
"Winston Groom's "Forrest Gump" has been in my hands for a long time. Finally, someone is interested in it."
"Oh, it won't bother you. Go and get busy..." Nan Yi just raised his hand when he suddenly realized what Chen Fang meant by the title of the book. "Wait, Forrest Gump?"
"Boss, is there any problem?" Chen Fang asked confusedly.
"Do you have this book with you?"
"have."
Chen Fang took out a book from his briefcase and handed it to Nan Yi.
Nan Yi took the book and turned directly to the beginning of the first chapter. "I want to say this: being an idiot doesn't taste like chocolate. Others will laugh at you, be impatient with you, and treat you badly. Well, people say that you should be kind to those who are unfortunate, but I tell you, it's not always the case...
I know something about idiots, to be honest. It's about the only thing I know about, but I've read about them - from that Dostoyevsky guy's idiot to King Lear's fool and Faulkner's idiot, Benjy, and even To Kill a Mockingbird."
Seeing this, Nan Yi was sure that the book in his hand was what he thought was "Forrest Gump". However, he did not put the book down, but called Chen Fang to a corner and continued reading. He ignored Chen Fang's repeated urgings and finished the book in one gulp.
After a long while, Nan Yi closed the book and looked at Chen Fang who was already extremely anxious. "Don't be so pretentious. Tell me, who did you meet?"
"Wendy Finderman." Chen Fang said with a sullen expression.
"Producer?"
"right."
"Which company?"
“Paramount.”
"How many times have you contacted me?"
"Third time."
"Where were the first two times?"
"Los Angeles."
"How long is the interval?"
"The first time was a year and a half ago, and the second time was seven months ago." Chen Fang thought for a moment.
“Who took the initiative?”
"The first time, it was me, the second time, it was the other person."
"What about this time?"
"We just happened to meet, and Wendy Fenderman suggested we talk again."
Nan Yi thought for a moment and said, "Don't you feel like you're being played like a fish by her?"
"Walking the fish?"
"Yes, when you fish, you play with the fish, and it will use up all your patience and strength."
Chen Fang's eyes widened. "Boss, are you saying that Paramount is actually very optimistic about this book?"
Nan Yi did not answer but asked, "Which year is next year?"
"In 1994, the 100th anniversary of the birth of film, most Hollywood companies are preparing to release good works next year."
Nan Yi patted the book in his hand and said, "First, the timing is right. The people who have experienced the events described in the book happen to be the main consumers of movie tickets. Also, as you said, it is the 100th anniversary of the birth of movies. Next year is the year of movies, and the box office performance will definitely not be bad. Second, this book can be summarized in three words - American Dream, which is politically correct.
Two things. I hope to get $20 million for the film and television rights to this book. After the contract is confirmed, I will let the author know that half of the proceeds belong to him. When the money is officially received, all screenwriters in the Writers Guild, writers across the United States and even Europe will know the righteousness and ability of our Gunman Company. "
"Boss, $20 million is too much. Paramount may not agree to it."
"It's okay. Let's talk slowly. If Paramount still doesn't agree by mid-July, there's no need to talk further. We can do this project ourselves."
"Okay." Chen Fang nodded reluctantly. "Out of courtesy, I should still go meet Wendy Fenderman, even though I'm already very late."
"Well, you can take a look at Paramount's attitude. If they are still there when you go over, I think some things will be clearer."
"OK."
After Chen Fang left, Nan Yi returned to the door of the Festival Palace, and Sophie Marceau was already waiting in a slightly remote corner.
Nan Yi walked up and said, "Flat Shoes, how was the talk?"
"It's not very good. Chen has no plans to make a new film for the time being." Sophie Marceau was a little frustrated.
"Did he not recognize you?"
"I recognized him. He didn't give me a perfunctory response."
"It's okay, don't be discouraged. You will definitely find a good film to invest in. If you are not afraid that I am a newcomer, you can invest in my film." Nan Yi comforted.
"Your film? You want to be the producer?"
“No, I want to be a director.”
"Adam, don't be ridiculous, you don't know how to be a director."
"Okay, no kidding."
Nan Yi originally thought that being a director was not difficult. As long as he was willing to spend money and find a capable director to be his assistant director, he would just sit behind the camera and act. But when he thought of Sophie Marceau's love for movies, he decided not to make a joke.
"Adam, let's go to the Majestic Bahri Hotel. I want to try my luck there."
Nan Yi was surprised by Sophie Marceau's sudden strong career ambition. The two had known each other for many years, and Sophie Marceau had been idle for many years and had never shown any career ambition. It seemed that Sophie Marceau's love for movies was not just a passion, but a sincere heart.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
The Majestic Bahri Hotel is the designated hotel by the Cannes Film Festival Organizing Committee. Almost all the participants invited to participate in the competition stay in this hotel. If 50% of the diners in the Palme d'Or restaurant at noon are people from the film and television industry, then 80% to 90% of the diners in the hotel are also from the same industry.
Sophie Marceau left Nan Yi in an open-air bar by the sea, and she went to various public places in the hotel to look for investment targets.
Nan Yi was happy to see this happening. He didn't want to see Sophie Marceau living like a canary, and didn't expect her to make a lot of money. It was better to have something to do than to wander around every day, eat a lot and think about all sorts of things.
After ordering a drink and two magazines, Nan Yi leaned back in his chair and leisurely flipped through the magazines.
On the other hand, the pretentious guy, Gu Junhao, was getting angrier and angrier as he thought about what happened in the restaurant at noon. His Gu family was a large Chinese family that had redeveloped after the change of circumstances in Laos in 1975, when wealthy Chinese businessmen fell back into poverty. The Issara Group founded by his father Gu Zhenghe was one of the most prominent commercial entities in Vientiane, Laos. Gu Junhao had always been very arrogant in Vientiane, but he did not expect to suffer a big setback when he came to France.
After venting for a while, Gu Junhao drove away the young actor introduced by the middleman, picked up the bedside phone and called Paris.
The Gu family had a good friend in Paris, the Guan family. After the change of government in Laos, the Chinese were forced to give up business and become farmers. The two currency reforms severely hit the Chinese and confiscated their assets in disguise. Many panicked Chinese who tried every means to flee abroad became refugees. At that time, many people were willing to give up their hard-earned assets as long as they could get a plane ticket to go abroad.
The war in Indochina disrupted the peaceful and prosperous life of the officials. All their business in Laos fell into a crisis of destruction overnight. "If a tree is moved, it will die; if a person is moved, he will live." It was impossible to stay and wait for an indefinite period. The difficult choice they faced was to abandon Laos, their second favorite land, and move to another place to create a new world.
It is called migration, but in fact it is a difficult self-exile. Guan Keqin, the second son of the Guan family, was born in Thailand in his early years. He went to Thailand and is now the founder and chairman of the Keqin Group. He is involved in processing, international trade, plantations, power generation, logistics and other industries, and has become a business tycoon in Thailand, especially in infrastructure construction, with a greater influence.
The third son, Guan Keji, graduated with a degree in commerce from the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 1968. In 1975, after major regime changes in the three Indochinese states, he took his parents, wife, daughter and two younger sisters to Australia to start a new life.
He successively founded food production and trading companies in France, Thailand, the United States, Australia and other places, and founded the "Guan Jiahe Trading Company" in Hong Kong in 1981, which is one of the larger food export companies in Hong Kong.
In 1971, the fourth brother Guan Kerong was sent to study in France, majoring in electrical engineering at the Lyon National Institute of Technology. In 1975, the eldest brother Guan Kejian, who had just turned 40, bid farewell to Laos and came to France with his sister, a sister, a wife and a son to meet his younger brother who was attending university.
Since then, after the four Guan brothers fled Laos, they completed a major strategic shift in their family's transnational migration, and each of them moved from refugee history to the second-generation entrepreneurial era of the family.
When they first arrived in France, the brothers Guan Kejian and Guan Kerong originally wanted to open a restaurant in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. However, due to their lack of experience and the lack of gas in the shop they rented, they failed to open the restaurant.
In 1976, the two rented a small shop of 30 square meters on a nondescript street in the 12th arrondissement of Paris to do wholesale business and founded the "French Guan Brothers Company", starting their entrepreneurial journey from small to large and from weak to strong.
Today, this company has become the largest importer, wholesaler and retailer of Chinese companies in France, and the largest Chinese company in Western Europe. The brothers Guan Kejian and Guan Kerong have also become the richest Chinese in France.
When the Guan Kejian Brothers Company opened, there were no festive firecrackers and no crowds of people congratulating them. All the hard work they had put in place in Laos had gone down the drain, so there was no working capital to support long-term operations.
To survive in a strange and difficult foreign environment, one must rely on the unremitting efforts of self-improvement, as well as the diligence and business skills of overseas Chinese. At the beginning of his business, Guan Kerong was the general manager of the company, a driver, and a porter.
In the second half of the 1970s, as Southeast Asian refugees poured into France, more and more Asians gathered in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The Guan brothers, who specialized in the import and wholesale business of Asian food, moved their company from the 12th arrondissement to the 13th arrondissement across the Seine, and the company's business area continued to expand.
At this time, the Guan brothers keenly felt that relying solely on importing and wholesale food could no longer meet market demand and changes, and that they had to set up a chain of supermarkets to sell goods directly in order to embark on a path of sustainable operation. So they made a bold and practical decision: to build a modern supermarket.
On August 15, 1981, in the Ivry district of the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the Asian food chain supermarket "Guan's Department Store", which was converted from a 3,000 square meter abandoned railway freight station, opened. It was the first Chinese-run Asian food chain supermarket in Paris' history, specializing in selling specialty foods from Thailand, China, South Korea, Japan, Lisbon and other parts of Asia.
The opening of Guan’s Department Store marked a major turning point in the Guan brothers’ family business. Since then, the business has expanded rapidly and sales have been growing steadily.
In 1987 , the turnover of the Guan Brothers Company exceeded 270 million francs, and it was listed on the list of famous French companies. It already had considerable strength in Paris. After another six years of development, the Guan family's strength in Paris has become even stronger, and they are a figure who can shake the business world with just one stomp of their feet.
Of course, you need to add a small bracket and fill in the two words "Chinese".
Guan Kejian's son is Guan Weijie, who was a childhood playmate of Gu Junhao. Gu Junhao called him. On the phone, Gu Junhao said that he was bullied in Cannes and wanted Guan Weijie to help him.
After receiving the call, Guan Weijie did not dare to neglect it and hurried to Guan Kejian's office. But when he knocked on the door and entered Guan Kejian's office, Guan Weijie found that Guan Kejian had a guest, and it was not an ordinary guest.
Paris' Chinatown is composed of Ivry Street, Choisy Street and Tolbiac Street. In Chinatown, there is a saying of "two Guans and two Xians", referring to the owners of the Guan Brothers Company which does relatively large business on Ivry Street, the Wenchang Small Commodity Store on Choisy Street, and the Wenchang Clothing Store on Tolbiac Street - Guan Kejian, Guan Kerong, Xian Hongyu and Xian Dingshan.
There is no need to talk about the Guan brothers. You can tell from the signs they put up that they are brothers. There is actually no need to say much about the two Xians. They both have the name Wenchang and they both have the surname Xian. Even if they are not brothers, they must be very close, at least they are from the same clan and the same ancestral hall.
The person in Guan Kejian's office is Erxian. The Dragon Boat Festival is just over a month away, and the three parties are going to jointly organize a promotional event during the Dragon Boat Festival. They were just negotiating the details of the cooperation.
"Weijie, what's the matter?" Guan Kejian asked after seeing Guan Weijie.
"Dad, it's just a small matter. You go and talk to the two bosses Xian first. I'll come back to report later." Guan Weijie said, smiled kindly at the two Xians, and then left the office.
"Weijie is about the same age as the two Xian bosses, but he is far inferior to them in terms of work efficiency and is still impatient." After Guan Weijie left, Guan Kejian belittled himself to the two Xian bosses.
Xian Hongyu said with a smile: "Everyone in Chinatown knows that Weijie is a young talent. If it weren't for the pressure from the two more powerful Guan bosses, he would have shined long ago. The "two Guans and two Xians" should be changed to "three Guans and two Xians."
"Hahaha, Boss Xian is too kind. Weijie still needs more experience."
After talking about the flowery sedan for a few words, the three of them brought the topic back to the point. After the three of them finalized the matter, Guan Weijie returned to Guan Kejian's office.
"Dad, how did the discussion go?"
"It went smoothly. Xian Dingshan came up with a good idea to combine the three stores. The consumption of customers in the three stores can be accumulated. If the consumption reaches 50 francs, a certain amount can be deducted. If the consumption reaches 100 francs, a certain amount can be deducted. In addition, coupons from each other can be issued. Customers who consume in our store can get coupons from the other two stores, and vice versa.
Xian Dingshan is amazing. The three of us are in different fields and there is no direct competition between us. It will be beneficial for everyone if we unite like this.”
Guan Kejian finished speaking with emotion and asked Guan Weijie, "What do you want to see me about?"
Guan Weijie was just reminiscing about the "full discount" when he was suddenly woken up by Guan Kejian. He was stunned for a moment and then said, "Dad, Junhao called and said he was bullied in Cannes. He didn't say it very clearly, but I guessed the general process - Junhao fell in love with someone else's girlfriend, and when he went up to meet her, he was taught a lesson by the other party. He called to ask for help."
Guan Kejian said unexpectedly: "Ask for help? He wants us to send someone to teach him a lesson?"
"That's probably what it means."
"This is just nonsense." Guan Kejian slammed the coffee table. "What does he think of our Guan family? We are a legitimate business family, not a member of the Green Gang. Jealousy is not a sign of integrity. How could Gu Zhenghe raise such a son?"
"Dad, calm down. We can't send someone to teach him a lesson, but we still have to protect Junhao's safety. If something really happens to him, we won't be able to explain to Uncle Gu."
"snort!"
Guan Kejian was sulking for a while, and when he calmed down, he said, "Forget it, find two people to protect him and persuade him to return to Paris as soon as possible. It would be best if we can persuade him to return to Vientiane."
"Okay, I'll arrange it now."
Sophie Marceau was busy building relationships with various people in the film and television industry, so Nan Yi seemed a bit of a hindrance for the time being. Nan Yi knew what to do and flew to the Netherlands to inspect the industry there first.
The east side of the earth, deep in the valley.
Jiang Gui finished reading a document, gently placed it on the table, and said to a person sitting opposite him, "Chairman Cao, forgive me for being blunt, but Deyao is simply garbage."
A Shennong Wealth Group has just been established under the Shennong Nanliang system. All of Shennong Nanliang’s previous financial businesses have been divested and injected into this group, which has three subsidiaries: agricultural finance, agricultural investment control, and agricultural capital.
Agricultural finance is mainly responsible for investment and speculation in agricultural-related futures markets. In the future, any financial investment by Shennong Nanliang will be initiated by it.
Agricultural investment control is mainly responsible for investment and shareholding in agriculture-related enterprises. As long as the enterprises are related to agriculture, they are within its investment scope, whether it is farming and animal husbandry, fertilizers, pesticides or agricultural machinery.
The business of agricultural capital is rather complicated. Agriculture requires a lot of supporting facilities and material supplies. Shennong Nanliang has its own fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and agricultural machinery. In addition, it also needs a series of products such as water pipes, valves, films, glass, etc.
In order to establish a stable supply channel, recover some costs, and even make a small profit, Shennong Nanliang is thinking about reaching out to the hens while eating eggs.
Deyao Glass is the main supplier of greenhouse glass for Shennong Nanliang. Recently, Deyao's capital chain has problems and its debt ratio has approached 70%. Chairman Cao Teller was anxious and couldn't sleep for nights. He prayed to gods and Buddhas everywhere for the truth. It happened that Agricultural Capital sent Deyao Glass a "Cooperation Notice", which roughly stated that Agricultural Capital was interested in investing in the supplier and those who were interested could meet.
For Cao Teller, this was like a perfect opportunity. He was worrying about having no money, and then he heard that Jiang Gui, the president of Agricultural Capital, was in Shenzhen, so he rushed over as fast as he could.
But who would have thought that Jiang Gui would actually say that his Deyao was rubbish. Cao Tele could no longer tolerate this and was about to flick the cigarette butt in his hand into the other party's face when Jiang Gui spoke again.
"Investors who like glass will invest in glass companies, and those who like real estate will invest in real estate. But a small company like yours actually makes glass, does decoration, and also operates real estate and gas stations. Chairman Cao, Deyao's scale cannot be considered a comprehensive group. Who dares to buy your stocks?"
After hearing what Jiang Gui said, Cao Te'er's anger disappeared, and his face turned blue and purple. After a long while, he finally recovered and said to Jiang Gui sincerely: "President Jiang, I sincerely ask you, what should Deyao do next?"
Jiang Gui pointed at Nan Ruoqiong who had been standing next to him. "Pasi, my temporary assistant, Chairman Cao, don't look at her young age. She is more professional than me when it comes to financial issues. Let her talk to you."
Upon hearing this, Cao Teller looked at Nan Ruoqiong again. When they first met, he had noticed this little girl and thought she was a junior whom Jiang Gui brought with him to teach by example. If Jiang Gui had not given him a heads-up in advance, he would have really thought that the other party was joking.
"Ambition is not limited by age," Cao Teler could only comfort himself in this way. He calmed down in an instant and said politely to Nan Ruoqiong, "Assistant Parsi, please give me your advice."
Nan Ruoqiong said calmly: "Chairman Cao, a company can only write a good prospectus if it is specialized. In other words, it needs highlights. Your company must have a considerable market share in a certain industry or have unique technology and cost advantages.
Given Deyao Glass's current situation, it is not suitable to enter too many fields. My suggestion is to choose one field that it is best at and keep it, and for the rest, make a bold move and reorganize them all."
Most businessmen in the country have a common problem: greed and overconfidence. They want to get involved in any industry that makes money. After years of selective propaganda and influence, "man can conquer nature" is regarded as the truth. They think that as long as they dare and are willing to work hard, they can accomplish anything.
Nan Yi also has the problem of greed, but he is relatively better. Before entering, he was prepared to take a bite if he could, and then leave if he couldn't. He was speculating and never thought about taking root. Besides, he had relatively strong capital and could afford losses. He was playing with probability. For ten teacups, he had hundreds of pot lids, so he could cover up any mistakes.
It was different for Cao Teler. Out of the ten teacups, he could only take out six lids, two of which were cracked. Once a chain crisis occurred, he would not be able to cover it at all. Otherwise, he would not have been so worried now.
Nan Ruoqiong's words gave Cao Teler an epiphany. "Yes, Deyao has done too many things, especially the Deyao Industrial Village project. I was indeed impulsive and could not withstand the temptation of the real estate boom. I was rashly encouraged. Who knew that it would be so expensive to do it? The profit from the glass business is not enough to pay the interest on the real estate loan."
After figuring out Deyao's problem and roughly figuring out what to do, Cao Teller put his shrewdness back on. He first thanked Nan Ruoqiong, and then said to Jiang Gui: "President Jiang, you are aware of Deyao's current situation. Does your company still intend to buy Deyao's shares?"
"We do have the intention, but there is a big premise: the Deyao Industrial Village project must be separated from Deyao Glass. Our company is not optimistic about this project, and we can even say that we are very pessimistic about its prospects."
Cao Teller didn't say anything. Although the real estate market was still hot, Deyao Industrial Village had become a hot potato. People familiar with this project knew it well. Earlier, he had prepared to get rid of this project, but it was not that easy.
"President Jiang, if Deyao Industrial Village is divested, how many shares will your Agricultural Capital need to buy?"
Jiang Gui said calmly: "Chairman Cao, we can't decide this for now. When Deyao reaches that stage, we will re-evaluate Deyao. Maybe it will be just a symbolic investment, maybe not, maybe we will no longer cooperate with Deyao. Everything is possible, and we have to wait and see."
Cao Tele understood the meaning of Jiang Gui's words. After exchanging a few words of greeting, he hurriedly said goodbye and left.
Nan Ruoqiong followed Jiang Gui out of his room and returned to her own room to study the information about Deyao Industrial Village. She wanted to be an intermediary and coordinate the business of Deyao Industrial Village.
Westland, Netherlands.
In the tulip orchard experimental park and fig planting area under Wangmu Fruit Industry, Nan Yi and a few other people who did not look like farmers gathered in front of a somewhat strange machine.
I saw six square drones flying next to this machine. They had cameras on their heads, a robotic arm extending from one side, and power and data cables connected to the bottom.
The drone was flying high and low, and the camera on its head was constantly scanning and identifying the unripe figs. A man with glasses was sitting in front of a computer, typing something with his fingers.
Suddenly, after one of the drones scanned a fig, the claws on the robotic arm opened, covered the fig and then closed again. The fig stem was cut off. The drone rotated, and the robotic arm aimed at the machine carrier in the middle, slowly lowering the height. When the height was just right, the robotic arm opened, and the fig fell into the carrier. The drone flew high again and continued to scan the fig.
This machine is called Carrier, version 1.02. Nan Yi prefers to call it "aircraft carrier", and the name is inspired by the Protoss in "Starcraft" and "Red Alert". Functionally, Carrier is an intelligent harvesting machine that uses artificial intelligence technology and is part of Nan's unmanned strategy (unmanned factories, unmanned agriculture).
Constrained by bottlenecks in artificial intelligence, battery, and chip technology, Carrier is still very primitive and can be considered an experimental exploratory product. It still has a long way to go before it can be commercialized.
After watching the aircraft carrier operate for a while, Nan Yi turned around and lifted a strand of Dawen's hair. "I'm a little uncomfortable seeing your hair so smooth. Your original dreadlocks look better."
Daven smiled and said, "Boss, my girlfriend likes my hairstyle better."
"Ahaha, girlfriend, which one is this?"
"I've had so many girlfriends that I can't even count them. It should be less than a thousand." Devin said in a provocative manner.
"You should thank the Virgin Mary for making you a woman, otherwise, I will definitely teach you a lesson." Nan Yi was so angry about Dewen's words.
"Aha, boss, are you sure you can beat me?" Devin laughed and challenged.
"Don't be too confident. I have been exercising regularly these years. As for you..." Nan Yi looked Daiwen up and down, especially lingering on her raised breasts for a while, "Hmm, it seems that you have changed the direction of your exercise."