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As expected, when we met at the theater in the evening, Carl Icahn was in an unstable state, and it seemed that he was not here to appreciate art.

Because he was a distinguished guest, his seat was to the left of Zhou Buqi.

Taking advantage of the opportunity before the opening ceremony, Carl Icahn couldn't hold back and asked: "How is it? How are you thinking about it?"

Zhou Buqi pretended not to know, "What?"

Carl Icahn said: "My plan! Let Yahoo acquire Ziweixing International. If we can follow this idea, we can handle this matter most efficiently!"

Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "Karl, didn't I say you should think about it?"

Carl Icahn was not stupid. How could he not hear such an obvious excuse? He said without giving up: "This is a good thing. Yahoo is obviously underestimated. Taking Yahoo at this point in time will definitely have huge benefits." Potential benefits. When the time comes, the majority of shareholders in the board of directors will still be from Ziweixing International, and this is still your company. When doing business, the benefits obtained are the most real!"

Zhou Buqi laughed and said, "That makes sense."

Carl Icahn glanced at him and said, "Do you think it's okay?"

Zhou Buqi said: "I'll think about it again."

Carl Icahn nearly died.

Everyone has their own position, and from Carl Icahn's perspective, this line of thinking is certainly a good one. Give up your good reputation to Yang Zhiyuan and give up your benefits to Zhou Buqi.

Yang Zhiyuan likes this kind of nonsense.

Otherwise, Yahoo would have been sold to Microsoft that year.

Boss Zhou is the richest man in the world at a young age, so he must be a veteran in the business world.

When doing business, you should pursue maximizing profits!

This is also true.

But from Zhou Buqi's perspective, there is a problem.

It is certainly right to pursue maximizing profits.

But Carl Icahn’s approach is not about maximizing profits, but about maximizing profits!

Just like human nature is selfish, everyone is an egoist unless he can become a Buddha or a saint and achieve the state of "selflessness". It's normal to be self-interested, but if it's refined egoism, it's very problematic.

Carl Icahn is a typical Wall Street capitalist, too "refined".

Cooperation in the business field requires a balance between all aspects of the relationship, including brand, connections, channels, social relations, policy influence, public response, corporate reputation, cooperation benefits, etc.

Among so many elements, it is necessary to find an optimal balance point and pursue maximization of interests on this basis.

Instead of discarding all other elements.

Only pursue profits.

If you do this, you will become infamous.

Carl Icahn is a typical example of this kind of person. He can give up everything else and pursue the ultimate in profits, so that many serious companies changed their expressions when they heard that he was here. , hide as far away as possible, not wanting to have anything to do with him.

This is a capital villain.

Very bad reputation.

Worse than Soros, who caused the Asian financial crisis.

Carl Icahn doesn't care at all about the opinions of the outside world. Everything about reputation is fake, and real interests are real. Zhou Buqi is different. He is the richest man in the world. For him, reputation is even more important than profit.

Even second-tier Internet entrepreneurs like Yang Zhiyuan value reputation more than profits, let alone Zhou Buqi?

At this point, Carl Icahn definitely made a huge misjudgment.

I mistakenly thought that this guy Zhou Buqi had some industries on Wall Street, was quite good at investing, and had been involved in the subprime mortgage crisis and the European debt crisis, so I thought he was a similar person on Wall Street.

If they were really of the same kind, why would they come to the theater to watch a Kunqu opera performance during their busy schedule?

Going to the theater costs money!

It's not just the $120 ticket price.

The curtain opened.

Seeing that Carl Icahn was still unfinished, Zhou Buqi said with a smile: "This is not a trivial matter. I will consider it... Well, the plan you mentioned is indeed very good, but I have to go back and discuss it with my team."

Then, he started looking at it intently.

The drama begins!

"The Peony Pavilion for Youth"!

Then, an interesting scene appeared. There was a big screen behind it. On the big screen... there were subtitles, and they were in English.

Ning Lu was sitting on Zhou Buqi's right hand side, so she came over and said with a smile: "It was the same when I watched it at school, with subtitles... no one could understand what they were singing, the audience could read the subtitles To understand the meaning, and then experience the art through singing, chanting, doing and beating. From this perspective, there is essentially no difference between Chinese and foreigners listening to Kun Opera."

Zhou Buqi disapproved, "Why is there no difference? "The Peony Pavilion" is written by a great writer. Who can translate a text of this level?"

Ning Lu pursed her lips and said, "Isn't it the same with Shakespeare's plays? English in Shakespeare's time and modern English are not the same language."

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and whispered: "Watch it for a while. If it's really amazing...you and Xiaowan will go directly to the backstage to find them."

Ning Lu asked knowingly, "Why are you looking for them?"

Zhou Buqi sighed, "It's impossible to make money on this kind of tour."

"Look back."

"Um?"

Zhou Buqi looks back.

Ho!

fully!

Ning Lu was still reminding her, "Are you looking upstairs?"

"upstairs?"

Zhou Buqi was a little surprised. When he looked up, he found that there were also people there.

I was stunned immediately.

When I watched a Shakespeare play a few days ago, the seats were packed. When I left the theater, I asked the staff why they didn't open the upstairs as well.

The staff said that the upstairs had been covered with dust for many years. In the early years, someone was watching a drama upstairs and fell to his death. There were even people who set up sniper rifles upstairs to commit murder...

In addition, this theater is a hundred years old, and the stability of the upper floors is not good enough, so there is a risk of collapse.

So the upstairs was closed later.

Unexpectedly, it was opened today!

style!

So impressive!

Before the main play even started, Zhou Buqi felt a sense of excitement, a kind of pride from his genes spurting out. This was a cultural context that spanned hundreds and thousands of years beating in his blood.

These are all foreigners!

In Manhattan, New York, USA, Kunqu Opera is even more popular than Shakespearean Opera!

Of course, this is also related to the general background.

There are too many cultural exchanges between Britain and the United States. Various Shakespeare plays are performed on Broadway every day. Many audiences are used to them and have watched them many times.

But Kun Opera is different.

Famed, but never witnessed.

If you have the opportunity to watch it live, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But even so, I still feel a sense of empathy and pride when I see my traditional opera receiving such respect and love in a foreign country.

Some tears actually filled my eyes.

…

There is a small problem.

It’s just that this play is too long!

There will be a three-hour performance tonight.

Performed for 3 consecutive days.

It takes a total of 9 hours to perform the complete "Youth Version of The Peony Pavilion".

Zhou Buqi couldn't help but ask: "Wasn't it deleted? Why is it so long?"

Ning Lu was afraid of not being able to answer well, so she changed places with Li Xinwan next to her. After all, this was a professional harem girl. She smiled and said, "It's already very long. The original version of "The Peony Pavilion" is 55% off. "Youth version of The Peony Pavilion" has been cut in half, leaving a 27% discount."

Zhou Buqi sighed, "Times have changed. The pace of life in ancient times was slow, which is not the case in modern society."

Li Xinwan said softly: "Even in ancient times, it was impossible to perform the entire play at one time, so when the troupe performed, they would ask the nobles to choose one or two of them, so it was also called an excerpt. The excerpt in "Dream of Red Mansions" , they are all Kun Opera, the kind of rich people who don’t listen to Peking Opera or anything like that. They are all country tunes of street performers, or things that please the Manchu people with no culture. Kun Opera has a fixed format, and they are all dramas of literary giants. No one dares to change what the writer designed, and many of the lyrics for Peking Opera are already available..."

Zhou Buqi saw that she was not finished as soon as she started talking, so he raised his hand to interrupt her and nodded, "It's good to watch excerpts from the opera now."

Li Xinwan smiled and said, "Yes, an excerpt. In fact, the most exciting part of "The Peony Pavilion" is the middle and front parts. Once you enter the court, it becomes less interesting. It should be related to Tang Xianzu's limitations."

"What?"

Zhou Buqi was amused by her.

Li Xinwan pouted and said angrily: "It's true, it's not me who said it, it was told by many teachers. Although Tang Xianzu was very talented, he was suppressed by Zhang Juzheng, the prime minister of the dynasty. It seemed that Zhang Juzheng wanted his son to be the The No. 1 scholar asked him to be a stepping stone for his son. He didn't agree, so he was depressed all his life and never entered the court. Therefore, the first and middle parts of "The Peony Pavilion" are particularly good, but not so good in the later stages after reaching the court. Because Tang Xianzu had never experienced it, he couldn’t empathize with it, and of course he couldn’t impart that emotion to drama actors, so it wouldn’t be so exciting if it was passed down.”

Zhou Buqi accused him: "Well, it's because I'm uneducated."

Li Xinwan was embarrassed, "No way... I have lived in the circle of Kun Opera since I was a child. My elders at home and the teachers around me have been teaching these things since I was a child..."

Zhou Buqi asked: "Have you seen this play?"

Li Xinwan was a bit dumbfounded, "I am also Du Liniang, and I have trained with these teachers on the stage before... Not only have I seen it, I have also performed publicly on stage, and it was because of that performance that I won the The opportunity to star in Xue Baochai in "Dream of Red Mansions"."

Zhou Buqi said: "Since you've seen it, stop watching it and go find someone backstage!"

"Ah?" Li Xinwan was a little worried, "The staff are all foreigners, my English is not good..."

Zhou Buqi said: "You go with Ning Lu, I will give you a task and see if you can do it well."

"What are you doing backstage?"

"First stop at the front to understand the situation. After the curtain call, I will go backstage to meet them."

Li Xinwan said weakly: "Sister Shen got married many years ago..."

Zhou Buqi had a black line on his forehead.