Northwestern Tasmania.
Along the Arthur River, which runs through the primeval forest in northwest Tasmania, there are several simple wooden houses on the edge of large farms and dense forests. Simon and Janet have been living here in recent days.
Of course, it's not just the two of them, there are many other followers.
The kidnapping of the Heineken CEO that shocked the world six years ago made all rich people pay more attention to their own safety issues, especially Simon, who has always been insecure. Having been a human being for two lifetimes, he also understands that there are always too many unexpected malices in this world.
The wooden house was built when he bought the surrounding farm and surrounding woodland. Simon actually wanted to build some more exquisite masonry buildings, but such an idea was extremely inconsistent with the well-preserved original ecology around it, so he only built it. Can give up.
Many rich people always claim that money is just a series of numbers to a certain extent. This statement seems to Simon to be very hypocritical.
More money means that a person can enjoy all the resources in this society more freely. On this point, there is absolutely a world of difference between a millionaire and a billionaire.
Being supervised by Janet, they completely abandoned work. In recent days, the two of them have been enjoying everything that can only be enjoyed in many top resorts on this relatively backward island at the end of the world.
It's still the middle of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and I heard that New York just experienced a snowstorm recently. It’s midsummer here in Australia, and Tasmania, which has a temperate maritime climate, doesn’t have the heat of summer at all, making it an excellent summer resort.
The residence is less than 30 kilometers from the sea. I drifted down the Arthur River and spent a day on the Johnston family's yacht. Then I led a team along the Arthur River to find Australia's unique platypus.
I actually caught one, but unfortunately no one knew how to eat it, so I had to let it go.
On the last day of February, Simon and Janet took a helicopter to fly to a winery in the middle of the island.
Tasmania is a very good wine producing area, but because of its remote location, it has not been able to develop a wine industry as prosperous as Europe.
Janet originally wanted to buy a winery in Europe, but she couldn't find a suitable one, so she found a new way to open a small winery of about 20 hectares in Tasmania, and transplanted a batch of very high-quality wine from France. Pinot Noir vines come over.
It was the grape ripening season, and although picking would be more suitable next month, Simon and Janet personally tried most of the process from picking to brewing.
Sofia Feisi happened to come from Europe in recent days because of Simon's coma a few days ago and also for Gucci. The woman was originally stopped by Janet in Melbourne because she was going to a winery today, so she was called over to serve as a consultant.
The three of them spent the whole day in the winery. Near evening, they took the helicopter back to their destination in the northwest.
After getting off the helicopter, everyone walked to the wooden house together. Sofia was still talking about the winery: "The wine here in Tasmania is very unique. If it can be operated carefully, it will definitely create a good brand. It's a pity. , everything from the maintenance of grape plantations to the brewing technology of red wine is far from comparable to Europe. Although the quality of wine is affected by the climate, planting and brewing technology are also very critical."
"If you think it's feasible, you can give it a try," Simon said, walking between the two women: "However, there probably won't be any top winemakers willing to live in such a remote place. The entire island of Tasmania Only a few hundred thousand people.”
Just as Sophia was about to continue saying something, she was interrupted by Janet: "Sophie, I just dragged Simon out of work for a few days, don't talk about these things."
"Okay," Sophia stopped in time and asked curiously: "Speaking of which, what happened last time?"
Hearing this question, Janet suddenly blinked in embarrassment and stopped talking.
Simon smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm just too tired."
The three of them came to the door of the wooden house. The chef who came with them this time came up and asked everyone what they were eating for dinner. He also said that someone from Melbourne had just sent some seafood.
Simon didn't pay too much attention to this, he just handed it over to Janet, opened the door and walked into the wooden house.
After a long day of running around, he just wanted to take a good bath.
The wooden house is a two-story structure. It looks simple and rough on the outside, with some buds still growing on the wood, but it is very exquisite on the inside, with all furniture and equipment available.
Simon took a shower in the bathroom on the second floor, changed his clothes freshly and went downstairs again.
There was no one in the living room, but there was some noise from the kitchen. Simon came to the kitchen door and saw Sophia making coffee. After also running around all day, the woman dressed in her customary OL outfit was still meticulous, as if she had just sat in the office all day.
Janet's character is often like a little girl, while Sophia does have a very lethal aura of familiarity regardless of her age, body shape or personality.
Simon leaned against the door frame, admiring the woman's mature and graceful figure, and unknowingly felt some uncontrollable emotions.
Probably because Janet had been forced to abstain from sex in the past few days.
Janet privately felt that it was her pestering Simon for too long that night that led to the fainting incident the next day, so she has not allowed Simon to do certain things in the past few days.
Women are naturally very sensitive to men's gazes. Sophia pretended to endure it for a moment, then turned to look over with a faint blush on her face and said: "Boss, don't you think it's rude to look at a woman like this?" ?"
Although she had expressed her stance on certain things and was not opposed to something happening with Simon in her heart, in the past, Sophia knew that Simon didn't seem to be very interested in her. However, for some reason, she could clearly feel something that could be called dangerous at this time.
The little man at the door was suppressing the urge to rush over and pin her down on the kitchen counter.
Still very rough.
Simon almost didn't hear clearly what Sophia just said, and he still looked at the woman in front of him unabashedly. Janet's chuckle while talking to someone suddenly came from outside the wooden house, immediately breaking this charming confrontation that seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.
His eyes clear again, Simon raised his finger and pointed at the coffee pot, saying: "Are you ready?"
Sofia noticed that a certain aura on Simon's body was quickly fading away. She was inexplicably disappointed and even curious, but she nodded quickly: "Okay."
"Pour me a glass without sugar."
After saying this, Simon turned around and returned to the living room.
Sofia stood there stunned for a moment, then silently took a cup from the cupboard, poured coffee in, hesitated for a moment, and then added a cube of sugar in angrily. Then I felt a little regretful, poured another cup, and then picked up two cups of coffee and walked out of the kitchen.
Simon was lying lazily on the couch in the living room, leaning on the pillows and reading a book in his hand.
Sofia put a cup of coffee on the coffee table next to Simon, sat down on the single sofa on the other side, glanced at the book in the man's hand, "Walden", and vaguely remembered that this was a very famous collection of essays. , but she has not seen it.
Just when I was thinking about what to say, I heard Simon's voice: "You can go upstairs and take a shower."
Sophia shook her head subconsciously: "No, no need."
But a thought flashed through my mind, what if you broke in
"Then tell me about Gucci."
Some time ago, Sofia had successfully acquired 63% of Gucci's shares, with a total expenditure of US$170 million.
Simon actually hopes to buy the entire Gucci at once. With his current strength, it will be easy to raise another fund. However, although they have agreed to let go of absolute control of Gucci, most members of the Gucci family are obviously looking forward to continuing to hold some shares so that they can continue to earn profits after the company recovers in the future.
When Sophia heard what Simon said, she looked towards the door and said, "Jenny just said that she couldn't talk about work matters."
Simon turned the page of the book in his hand at random and said: "You have to understand that for a person who is a heavy smoker, forcing him to quit smoking is not only not good for the body, but will be counterproductive."
Sophia found this metaphor very interesting, smiled, and said without any hesitation: "Things are a bit troublesome."
"Um?"
"Gucci's problems are more serious than I thought, including financial chaos, over-licensing, brand differentiation, etc. Even people like Maurizio Gucci and Paul Gucci of the Gucci family are basically in the scandal pages of many gossip newspapers. Regulars, the heirs to this family are just terrible. They are a huge problem in themselves when trying to reinvent the Gucci brand."
"It's normal. Gucci has a foundation comparable to brands such as Dior and LV. The two major brands, Dior and LV, are currently worth more than 1 billion U.S. dollars. If Gucci's problem is not too serious, how could we only use less than 300 million U.S. dollars? "We got so many shares based on the valuation." Simon was not surprised at all. He glanced sideways at the woman and said, "You're not going to tell me that you don't know what to do now, are you?"
Sofia avoided Simon's eyes for a moment, then quickly looked over and said, "I need some money, at least 20 million US dollars."
"What's the reason?"
"The total funds that I could use originally were only more than 176 million U.S. dollars. I spent 170 million U.S. dollars to purchase Gucci shares, and now I only have more than 6 million U.S. dollars left. However, Gucci is now strong. Although I plan to streamline the product line, it will be very difficult to restore some products once they are cut, so they must continue to be maintained even if they are losing money. These all require money. Also, Maurizio Gucci, the previous head of Gucci, is a A person who lives a very luxurious life. In order to maintain his luxurious life in the past few years, he almost emptied Gucci's foundation and even left a hidden debt. Most of it can be slowly digested in future operations, but Some still have to be paid off as soon as possible.”
Simon nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "These are just small things. I just want to know, what are you going to do next?"
Sophia said: "While ensuring the normal operation of Gucci's main product lines, I plan to start with the fashion department, especially the women's clothing department. As long as the fashion department recovers, other product lines of the Gucci brand can benefit from it. I have already identified several The new creative director will interview these people when he leaves Melbourne."
Simon said: "But if you want to sign these people, you still need money, right?"
"Yes," Sofia nodded and said, "Now many famous designers are very unfavorable to Gucci. If we want to sign them, we must show enough strength."
Simon continued to ask: "Is there any more?"
"After confirming the new creative director, I will focus the next phase of operations on several major fashion weeks this fall. That will be the key to Gucci's revitalization. By then, I hope Daenerys Entertainment can give Provide some media resources to support.”
"That's no problem, I'll say hi to Amy."
"Actually, Simon, I hope that after "Batman" is completed, you can come to Italy to visit and provide some suggestions. There is also a fashion week in autumn. If possible, I hope you can shoot a commercial for Gucci in person."
Simon shook his head and said: "I don't know much about fashion, and I don't plan to waste too much energy on it. Sophie, I hope you will do the same, leave things to capable people as much as possible, you only need to do one At the helm, don’t worry about the people under you being too good. What you should do is try your best to ensure that your subordinates are better than you. As long as Gucci recovers, I will invest more money in letting you acquire other brands and sell Melisandre as soon as possible. The company has expanded into a comprehensive luxury goods group. If you are completely distracted by the Gucci brand, you can only be tied to this one brand. At that time, I can only find other people to take care of Mei. Lysandra."
"I understand, Simon, but this matter cannot be rushed. I need to use Gucci to familiarize myself with the detailed operations of the entire luxury goods industry." Sofia said, and then asked: "So, about funds and advertising films?"
Simon did not give a guarantee and said: "I can give you the money. As for the commercial, I will see if I have time when I see it. If not, you will have to find someone else."
The two were chatting when Janet opened the door and came in. She happened to hear the content of their conversation and immediately became dissatisfied. She pulled Simon up from the sofa and walked out, saying: "Dad sent the Antarctic krill. Still alive.”
Simon was helplessly pulled out by Janet.
Sofia watched the two people go out, then got up and followed them out.
Everyone stayed one night in Tasmania and rested for a whole week. The group returned to Melbourne the next day.
After all, "Batman" couldn't stop filming for too long. The next day was March 1, the beginning of a new month, and Simon restarted the filming of the film on this day.
Janet originally planned to spend her birthday with Simon and then return to North America. With the expansion of Simon's property, the woman's life was far less leisurely than before. However, after experiencing the fainting incident, Janet stayed completely and helped Simon manage Cersei Capital.