National Tide 1980

Although he wears a pair of white glasses and his hair is mostly white, Saint Brice is actually less than 40 years old.

The trademark agency department he is in charge of plays an important role in Pierre Cardin's company.

Almost hundreds of contracts have to go through his hands.

Often, as long as he signs his name casually, he can earn tens of millions or millions of francs for Pierre Cardin.

Moreover, he is also the master's loyal "running dog". Since he came to Pierre Cardin, he has never moved.

It is particularly worth mentioning that this person has not studied clothing and did not understand business at the beginning, but he was able to become such a figure from an ordinary employee.

From this, it can be seen that Pierre Cardin has unique principles and methods in selecting talents.

To put it bluntly, the master is a person who attaches great importance to feelings and cares about old relationships.

As long as those who have worked for him do not make big mistakes, the master will always trust them and provide them with opportunities to develop their careers.

Until finally, he can completely rely on them and make them his right-hand man.

To be honest, for the employees of Pierre Catton.

The master's characteristic of treating employees like a patriarch, managing the company, and his habit of actively cultivating new people are actually more respectable than his unique design talent and ability to make money.

Therefore, Pierre Catton's employees are always loyal, and almost everyone respects their boss sincerely.

Even Ning Weimin is no exception. He will always remember that it was this kind and fashionable French old man who brought him into the fashion industry and gave him the opportunity to work in the "first foreign company".

He will also not forget that for so many years, thanks to the protection of Pierre Catton's golden signboard and the convenience of this brand's foreign-related attributes, he was able to complete the original accumulation as soon as possible in such a strict and closed environment in China, and finally went abroad.

For this reason, Ning Weimin has completely tucked his tail between his legs after arriving here, without any arrogant emotions, but full of gratitude.

Even though he knew that he had suggested that the master should gradually take back the franchise rights and go the self-operated road, Mr. Saint Brice, who held the franchise approval power, would probably not like him.

They might even have greater conflicts in the future direction of Pierre Caton's development due to different ideas.

But at the moment, out of love for the master and respect for the master, Ning Weimin still did enough face-saving work and tried his best to express friendly goodwill to Mr. Saint Brice.

So in a harmonious atmosphere that both sides tried their best to create, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko were taken to a quiet reception room on the second floor by Saint Brice.

At this point, they drank the coffee and snacks brought by the staff while quietly waiting for the master who was in a meeting to finish his work and meet them.

Both Ms. Takada Mei, who brought them here, and Saint Brice, who received them, left soon.

After all, although the headquarters of Pierre Caton is not large, there are many things to deal with.

Especially since Paris fashion is released in two seasons, spring and summer and autumn and winter. Now it is not far from July, and it will soon be the next season for new product releases. People here are destined to be busier than usual.

Fortunately, this room is not big, but it has a sofa and a coffee table, which is very comfortable.

There are also large windows that can see the street view outside, including the Elysee Palace, so the waiting process will not be too boring.

And in fact, they didn't wait for long, less than half an hour.

The person who summoned them from Cannes, the person who wanted to see them, opened the door of this room in person.

It's just that the old French man looked very haggard.

Although Pierre Cardin tried his best to restrain from showing any negative emotions when facing Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, his face soon became gentle, and he stretched out his arms to welcome them with an intimate attitude.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."

But as someone who is more familiar with him, Ning Weimin is different from Matsumoto Keiko, who is just excited and looking forward to meeting the master himself for the first time.

He could tell at a glance that the master was not in a good mood, as if he had encountered some difficult problems.

So he hugged the master affectionately and said with concern, "Nothing bad happened? If you need me to do anything, I'm always at your service."

After receiving this kindness, the master's mood improved significantly and he smiled with relief.

"Thank you, young man, thank you for worrying about me. There was indeed an unexpected situation. However, strictly speaking, it is not very relevant to our company. Moreover, we still have to talk about your business first. Once I find out everything about you, I will know whether I should talk to you and whether you can help."

"My business? You mean..." Ning Weimin was a little confused.

"Have you guys settled everything for Cannes? To be honest, the news that you were in Cannes really gave me a big shock. I originally thought you were going there to sell movies, and to take your newlywed wife to the beach for some fun. I never expected that you would become the biggest buyer of this year's Cannes Film Festival! And in just a few days, you completed two big deals! Five hundred million francs! When I was your age, I didn't even have five million francs! Can you tell me how you got such a large sum of money? And why did you have to buy these copies?"

When Ning Weimin heard this, he even called out the rough transaction figures. He knew that the old man was well-informed.

Even if he didn't take Takada Mei to discuss these things, his actions in Cannes still didn't escape the old man's eyes.

This means that it is very likely that his boss has other spies in Cannes, and there may even be friends of the master in those two production companies.

"This matter... I don't know how to say it. In fact, the situation is a bit complicated and involves many things. And the situation I faced at the time was also quite delicate, and I didn't have much time to think about it. So I didn't think too much and acted decisively."

Ning Weimin said a little embarrassedly at first, and then vouched for his character.

"However, please believe me. The source of this money is innocent. I made it through my personal investment in stocks and real estate in Japan. I can confirm this at any time. I have not done anything to let down Pierre Caton or betray your trust."

"Haha, young man, don't get me wrong. I don't have any doubts about you. I have discovered your uniqueness since the first day I met you. I can feel your loyalty and extraordinary excellence in everything you do for the company and every suggestion you make. Even if you do something incredible, I believe you will have a very reasonable explanation. In fact, to me, you are far more than just my employee. You are more like a friend who can inspire me. How about it? Are you willing to satisfy my curiosity? Can you tell me in detail about these seemingly magical things for me, an old antique who has been a little behind the times..."

Pierre Caton's eyes were shining, and his tone was full of self-deprecating humor.

Especially the way he said this, what he revealed was not the intention to blame, but appreciation and exploration.

More, perhaps there is a little concern similar to that between relatives or masters and apprentices.

Ning Weimin had no doubt about the master's motives. The old French man was always honest.

Besides, there was nothing to criticize about his own actions in Japan, so he was naturally not afraid.

"Okay, if you want to know, I will tell you everything. I'm just afraid that the matter is too trivial and I can't explain it clearly at the moment, which will delay your precious time."

"Haha, my friend, don't underestimate yourself. In fact, you are willing to accept my invitation and come to Paris to see me immediately. This is more important than anything else. I don't have anything more important today, and we have time to discuss it slowly. To be honest, I am a little ashamed. I was a little anxious to invite you to Paris. This is undoubtedly during your honeymoon, occupying your private time, disrupting your itinerary plan, and affecting your interest. I hope you can forgive me for this."

Speaking, Pierre Cardon turned his face to Matsumoto Keiko, kindly and modestly, and continued to ask for her forgiveness for his fault of missing the wedding.

"Especially you, we are meeting each other for the first time today, but I know that you are one of the image spokespersons of my brand in Asia, right? I have to say, you are really beautiful! Even among movie stars, you are the most charming one. Ning is indeed discerning. He not only chose an advertising image with perfect image and temperament for the company, but also chose an enviable wife for himself."

"I am really happy to receive your wedding invitation. It is my honor. But unfortunately, I was too busy some time ago and really couldn't leave. Finally, I had no choice but to cancel the plan to go to Tokyo. So to express my apology, all your travel expenses in France will be borne by me, okay? Please don't refuse, please give me a chance to make up for my mistakes."

"In addition, as long as there is something in my store, whether it is clothing or accessories, you can take it away for free as long as you like it. Dear, are you willing to go to my store? If you are interested now, I will let Takada accompany you to visit downstairs..."

Pierre Cardin's way of dealing with people is really brilliant.

The gentlemanly attitude he displayed not only cleverly expressed his importance to the following conversation, but also naturally created a more private environment for his conversation with Ning Weimin.

Moreover, he won the favor of Matsumoto Keiko with his polite conversation, generous manners, and considerate consideration.

Originally, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko did not expect the master to come to Tokyo to attend their wedding, but only issued a courtesy invitation.

But the master actually apologized for this, which naturally made Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko feel proud, at least it showed that the master valued this matter very much.

And there is no doubt that Matsumoto Keiko would not be willing to stay here to listen to their business discussions?

Compared with such boring things, out of a woman's nature, she would naturally prefer to look at clothes and appreciate the master's latest designs.

So after expressing some thanks, Matsumoto Keiko happily left with Takada Mei who was summoned by the master.

In this way, only Ning Weimin and the master were left in the reception room.

Ning Weimin, who had already found his backbone, was no longer nervous or anxious.

He only thought about it for a while, and then he slowly and frankly described to the master the personal speculative arbitrage behavior he had done since he arrived in Japan in 1985 using the "nesting doll" loan model.

He said frankly that he came to France this time just to spend money.

In order to compensate his wife, balance asset allocation and prevent risks, he used the money to buy movie copies.

However, he did not deny that he wanted to buy the film library on impulse.

But he did not admit that the transaction was completed on impulse, but he did think carefully and carefully.

In his opinion, due to the Japanese's preference for pink movies and their admiration for Western culture, in Japan, there is actually a great market demand and consumption potential for those "ethical action movies" shot in Europe that are euphemistic but not without plot.

In particular, the top five cities in Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, and Nagoya, have many independent theaters that specialize in showing niche movies in pursuit of personality and style. The source of the film is often the movie copies brought back by those enthusiasts from abroad.

In addition, Japan has a particularly strange review system, local cavalry, and foreign infantry.

As a result, many Japanese local film producers can not only play the trick of "exporting to domestic sales", secretly sell these "uncoded films" domestically, but also use this as a gimmick to raise prices, killing two birds with one stone.

So as long as you can "prescribe the right medicine", pick out those movies that meet the needs of Japanese men from the film library, and then show them in independent theaters, then make videotapes, and finally sell them to TV stations to fill the broadcast content during the midnight period.

Then through this "one-click three-link" standardized operation, the cost of purchasing the film should be recovered soon, and maybe even a big business can be developed.

Especially those movies with well-known European movie stars will not only easily pass the review of the Japanese Ethics Association, but also be destined to become the most gimmicky products, and may even be directly landed in Japan's major theaters to fill the gap of insufficient film sources.

Considering that all the film copies brought back from France were bought by Ning Weimin at a package price.

If you look at the production and distribution costs of these films from a commercial perspective, I am afraid that with the translation costs and dubbing costs, on average, each movie will not exceed 300,000 francs.

It is only 37,000 dollars if converted into US dollars, and it is equivalent to about 4.5 million yen if converted into Japanese yen.

According to the standards of movie production, this is too cheap!

In other words, in the future, Ning Weimin can only sell 500 videotapes with a movie in his hand, or accumulate 5,000 Japanese people to buy tickets to watch the movie when it is released in theaters, or sell it to ten TV stations for broadcast.

Then for the single movie he bought, the cost he paid is considered to be earned back.

After that, all other income generated is completely lost!

Then isn't this a constant source of income, almost equivalent to a business with no capital?