Wednesday, May 3rd.
After finishing some final work on "The Conjuring 2" in the afternoon, Simon attended his first public event since arriving in London in the evening.
A fine jewelry sale at Christie's.
In fact, it can be regarded as a compliment to one's own industry.
After buying this auction house, Simon paid much less attention to Christie's, let alone Sophia, than Janet. Perhaps women are naturally more interested in expensive antiques than men.
There were no special arrangements in advance, so when Simon appeared at the Christie's auction with Yulia Shulshkina in a full dress, it obviously caused quite a commotion.
The daily life of the auction house is far from what ordinary people imagine. It is said to be a fine jewelry auction, but it is actually just a very ordinary auction. This time there are 27 pieces of jewelry, and the estimated total auction price is only 5 million pounds, of which the most expensive A diamond necklace estimated at 500,000 pounds, which was donated by Princess Diana and planned to be used for charity, is the biggest gimmick of tonight's auction.
Because of its small scale, very few top British celebrities and dignitaries attended in person, and most of them only sent their agents to attend.
After stepping into the venue, Simon and the two sat in a seat at the back of the venue. They just briefly greeted the couple next to the seat, and the auction started quickly.
The staff brought over a beautifully bound list. Simon looked through the book roughly while watching the auction with great interest, and quickly handed it to Shulshkina next to him, and whispered: "See which one you like." One, tell me.”
Shulshkina took the book handed over by the man and opened it carefully.
The mood is still not too calm.
To be able to stay with this man tonight is probably a blessing.
Simon has been living in a villa on Kensington Garden Street these days. It happened that several little goblins from Ukraine also came to London to play. They were not arranged to stay in the villa. However, we had dinner together tonight, and afterwards the man talked about the auction. I could only take one person with me, so I probably didn't know how to choose among the three girls, so it fell on her.
When she left, she could clearly feel the hostility in the eyes of the three girls looking at her. Shulshkina didn't care. She was not completely uneasy about being able to attend the event in public with a man.
The woman knows that this is a public declaration of her identity.
She is his lover.
After carefully flipping through the booklet, Shulshkina didn't choose the jewelry she liked. These expensive things that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds were too far away from her life.
The auction went quickly.
The man turned around and asked again. Five pieces of jewelry had already been auctioned off, so he was shown an jade necklace. The starting price was 80,000 pounds. It was not the lowest in the brochure, but it was definitely not high either.
"This isn't suitable for you, so let me help you choose."
A word came to her ears, and she was a little uneasy, but she just nodded meekly.
Actually I don’t like it very much either.
After more than ten minutes, a ruby necklace appeared on the stage, with a starting price of 250,000 pounds, which was considered the most expensive one tonight.
Looking at the projection of the necklace on the big screen, I was inexplicably moved. I glanced at the man next to me without any trace, and then quickly averted my gaze.
Apparently many people were interested in this necklace, and there were frequent price calls from the audience.
However, after it exceeds 400,000 pounds, there are far fewer people competing for it. Given the specifications of this auction, it is impossible for some popular auctions to raise the price several times.
Eventually it came to £450,000.
When the auctioneer was about to drop the hammer, Shulshkina heard the man beside her gently quote a price: "500,000 pounds."
Everyone at the scene looked over.
This is the first time Simon Westeros has taken action.
Of course, everyone mainly took this opportunity to watch people, and had no feelings at all about Simon Westeros spending 500,000 pounds on a piece of jewelry. 500,000 pounds, to Westeros, is that money
The auctioneer was also excited.
The big boss always started to cheer, so he raised his voice and tried his best to enhance the atmosphere.
The audience also cooperated.
Someone raised the sign again and added 10,000 pounds.
The auctioneer took a look and saw that this was an agent. However, he knew that the man behind the number plate was the famous British tycoon Richard Branson, the boss of the Virgin Group.
Someone raised the price, and Simon also called out the price for the second time: "550,000 pounds."
Obviously determined to win.
The sign raised just now was considered to be a sign of support, but now he is in trouble with Simon Westeros. What's more, everyone knows that the guy holding the sign is the owner of this auction house.
So the transaction was successfully completed.
It directly exceeded the pre-estimated maximum price of 500,000 pounds for Princess Diana's diamond necklace.
Beside Simon, Shulshkina quietly grasped the hem of her dress, but felt that it was too expensive and a bit wasteful.
Others are also curious about whether Simon Westeros will take action against Princess Diana's diamond necklace.
The auction starts at 8pm and lasts for two hours.
Princess Diana's diamond necklace was the final highlight, with the starting price also being 250,000 pounds. Simon raised the price once at 400,000 pounds, and then stopped bidding.
The necklace was eventually sold to an anonymous buyer for £530,000.
At 10 o'clock, the auction ends.
At this time in the past, everyone dispersed, after all, it was already a bit late.
There will be a cocktail reception after the auction house's advance reminder tonight.
Before the auction started, many people didn't quite understand what was going on. Some people thought that Princess Diana might come out in person to thank her. However, if this was the case, it would definitely be publicized in advance. The auction house did not do this. Only after arriving at the scene did I understand.
It was already late at night.
When the reception started, not only did no one leave, but there were many guests who came at last minute.
Simon has never felt much about the UK, an old capitalist country, because the system is too mature and there is not much soil for capital to develop. Only conservative capital seeking stability will bet heavily here.
This does not mean that Simon has no concern for Britain. The Westeros system has layouts in the fields of entertainment, telecommunications, finance and other fields here. The scale may be nothing compared to the entire Westeros system, but a ship No matter how slightly the giant wheel moves, the wind and waves it stirs up are enough to knock over many small sampans. In addition, Simon has purchased a large number of properties across the UK and plans to allow the Leveson Group to enter the London real estate market.
London real estate has been in a downturn in recent years due to threats from the weak economy and the IRA.
However, in the next twenty years, London will definitely be one of the cities with the fastest house price growth in the world, and the investment value is great.
Fundamentally, Simon's strategy towards the UK is to 'take advantage of the other', and this strategy covers many established capitalist countries such as France, Germany and Japan.
Only when these economies continue to decline can the Westeros system gain sufficient room for development. This is actually the same as the fundamental strategy of the United States towards these countries, which is to either control or destroy them.
Of course, these countries are not immobile targets. It will take at least several decades to achieve this goal.
Of course Simon's thoughts would not be revealed at the lively cocktail party.
Because of its loose financial and tax environment, London is a city where rich people from all over the world gather to settle. Many top wealthy people from Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and other regions live in this city for most of the year. The proportion of billionaires is no less than that of New York. .
Two hours of auction time is enough for these people to react.
Therefore, it can be imagined that the guest lineup after the reception began. British rich people such as Richard Branson, the owner of the Virgin Group, were somewhat outnumbered in front of many oligarchs who control the economic lifeline of a country and region.
Simon is naturally the greatest witch among great witches.
In the lively party scene, Simon was able to entertain these uninvited celebrities and rich people with ease. During this period, he also received a lot of inspiration, which he secretly remembered in his heart. He did not leave with Shulshkina until after eleven o'clock.
After going out, I happened to bump into the couple sitting next to me at the previous auction on the roadside.
The last name is Delevingne.
We chatted a few words at the time, but didn't react at first, but later I remembered and tried a few words, and it turned out that it was the Delevingne in my memory. The couple had a daughter named Cara Delevingne.
Simon has no interest in Cara Delevingne, the supermodel, and vaguely remembers that his sister, Poppy Delevingne, is more in line with his aesthetics.
After saying hello and learning that the couple's driver was late, Simon offered to give them a ride.
The couple were somewhat flattered.
Although the Delevingne family can be considered a wealthy class in London, compared with the billionaires who just gathered at the reception, they are suddenly not worth mentioning. Being able to have more contact with Simon Westeros is simply a dream.
Simon traveled tonight as usual in two cars and one bodyguard, and one car happened to be free for the Delevingne and his wife.
The Christie's auction house is located on the east side of Green Park in the center of London. Delevingne's house is just on the other side of Green Park in Belgravia and adjacent to Hyde Park to the north. They are all prime locations in London. Everyone got in the car and arrived at the door of Delevingne's house in less than five minutes. The couple warmly invited Simon to come in and sit down. It was already very late, and Simon did not get out of the car again, but only accepted Charles Delevingne's business card.
Charles Delevingne is a real estate businessman.
This point caught Simon's attention, and he planned to have someone investigate it afterwards. He happened to be interested in London real estate, and maybe he could support a spokesperson here.
After bidding farewell to the Delevingne couple, Simon did not return to his residence on Kensington Garden Street on the west side of Hyde Park. The three goblins were staying there tonight and did not intend to join in the fun. They continued to the Hammersmith district further west, where they were comfortable. Ershkina's residence.
Shulshkina's white neck was already wearing the ruby necklace she had won at Simon's auction, which complemented it perfectly. She played the role of a vase dutifully throughout the evening. However, when I learned that Simon was going to his residence, I didn't know what came to mind, and suddenly I started to feel uneasy, but I didn't refuse after all.
Simon's car stopped in front of a three-story villa and found that the lights in the villa were still on.
Shulshkina took out the key and opened the door. As soon as she entered the living room on the first floor, a female guard came to greet her. When she saw Simon, she showed a slightly surprised expression, then quickly relaxed, greeted her respectfully, and explained: "Ms. She was already asleep, but she woke up suddenly around ten o'clock and said she was looking for her mother. We had just coaxed her and she was watching TV on the second floor."
Her daughter had always slept with her before. When she entered kindergarten last year, Shulshkina arranged a separate room for the little one, hoping that the child could develop good habits early.
Probably because there is no sense of security in his bones, after sleeping alone, the little guy will occasionally wake up in his sleep.
Concern leads to chaos. After hearing what the female guard said, Shulshkina walked quickly upstairs, followed by Simon on the stairs.
Arriving at a living room on the second floor, as soon as Shulshkina appeared, a little blond girl in light pink pajamas who looked like a doll jumped out of the arms of a waitress on the sofa, calling her mother and about to pounce on her. Mother, noticed Simon following Shulshkina, the little guy made a move, looked at him with big eyes slightly doubtfully, then immediately showed an expression of surprise and joy, walked around Shulshkinna, the little bird He also rushed towards Simon.
There was also a title shouted in his mouth.
"dad."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.
Shulshkina felt that all the strength in her body was drained out of her body, and she fell softly on the carpet. Back then, the banker hated her daughter very much and hoped that she would send the child back to Russia more than once. Now, she is worried that he will do the same to her. , not to mention, the little guy’s name.
Seeing Shulshkina collapse, Simon motioned to the waitress to help the girl up. He looked down at the little person who was hugging his calf tightly with a cheerful face. He heard the girl shouting "Daddy" again with her little face raised. Simon showed a gentle smile, bent down to pick up the little guy, and asked softly: "What's the baby's name?"
The child who was less than four years old obviously failed to notice the flaw in Simon's sentence. He was picked up by Simon and hugged his neck like a clingy spirit. He looked at Simon with bright eyes and replied coquettishly: " Nina, the baby’s name is Nina.”
"Nina, that's a nice name," Simon carried the child and walked to the sofa, sat down, put the little one on his lap, and said, "But it's not good for the baby to stay up so late."
When the little man heard what Simon said, he burst into tears immediately: "Mom won't let Nina sleep together. Nina doesn't like to sleep alone."
"Why won't Mom let me?"
The little girl sat on Simon's lap. She could not wrap her arms around Simon's neck. She still grabbed his lapel and began to complain: "Mom said, Nina is a big girl now and she must learn to be independent. Dad, Nina is not a big girl. Nina Only three years old.”
"It seems it's mom's fault."
The little girl nodded her head in agreement: "Yes."
Shulshkina, who was helped up by the maid and sat down on the sofa next to her, saw the situation in front of her and finally relaxed. She watched the interaction between the big one and the small one with some trance.
While Simon and Nina were chatting, a cat meowed in the room, and a gray tabby cat came out of that corner. This was a very energetic adult tabby, even better than Simon had seen Sophia a few days ago. The little milk cat is much bigger, probably about two or three years old.
Seeing the cat appear, Nina immediately called: "Meow, come here, this is daddy, daddy is here to see me."
The tabby cat seemed to understand Nina's words. It came over and jumped onto the sofa. It squatted next to the two of them and looked at a stranger curiously. The little girl sitting on Simon's lap leaned out and revealed a chubby cat. They grabbed the cat's neck with their little hands and pulled it down onto Simon's lap: "Dad, this is Meow Meow. It is very good at catching mice and will give the mice it catches to me."
When Simon heard the name 'Meow Meow', he raised his eyebrows slightly, and imagined the scene of a tabby cat carrying a mouse in front of a little girl, and asked with a smile: "Isn't Nina afraid of mice?"
The little girl seemed a little confused and tilted her head: "Why is Nina afraid of mice?"
Simon was also stunned.
This is really a problem.