After sorting out the thoughts in his mind, Simon looked at Victor Melisis on the sofa opposite the reception area with a careful look, and said: "Vic, um, do you mind if I call you this?"
The middle-aged man said: "Of course not, Mr. Westeros."
Simon nodded slightly and said: "Vic, I have read your resume. You graduated from the University of Lisbon. You once served in the Portuguese special forces. In the past ten years, you have been engaged in import and export trade between Portugal and Angola. You also own a store in northern Angola. Coffee plantations, those are secondary. I also know some stories about the Melicis family, as first generation immigrants, who happened to be running coffee on the land that I now own in Cuando province in southern Angola. Plantation. Then, in 1975, everyone knows what happened, because of independence and civil war, more than 500,000 white people in Angola were forced into exile. You were luckier, you were 19 years old and studying at the University of Lisbon. Unfortunately, your parents I accidentally encountered an armed conflict while escaping with a pair of siblings."
Victor Melisis listened to Simon's words and never moved his eyes away from his gaze. There was perseverance in his expression, as well as a trace of sadness that still lingered after many years.
After Simon said this, he still stared at the middle-aged man opposite: "Vic, I hired you because I found that more than one-fifth of Angola's measly 500 tons of coffee exports in the past year were produced by you in Angola. The coffee plantation in the north is produced. I know you are a very outstanding person, and I like outstanding people. However, since you mentioned what just happened, I first need to know what you want from me, revenge. ?"
Victor Merisis did not answer Simon's question directly, but said: "When I was very young, my father was my idol. He was an adventurous man like a cowboy. Our family once owned a cowboy in Cuando Province. There are 18,000 acres of coffee plantations, which can produce 5,000 tons of the highest quality Arabica coffee every year. My father spent 20 years accumulating these from scratch. My childhood memories are of coffee trees all over the mountains and plains. And then, all of this happened. Disappeared in 1975. Of course I thought about revenge. I spent two and a half years finishing college, and then chose to join the army, just because I wanted to return to Angola to avenge my family. However, when I returned to that country, it took three years Time has passed to investigate what happened that year, but there is no result. Mr. Westeros, maybe you can imagine this scene. A group of monkeys gathered in the wild jungle. They don't look much different. Who can choose an enemy from these monkeys? So I chose another path. My father told me when I was very young, if someone takes something away from you, take it back twice as much. I have been doing this all these years, but unfortunately, I still started from scratch. In more than ten years, I could only reach the current level. Until someone contacted me and said that you need to take care of your own coffee plantation. It just so happened that the coffee plantation area still contained what our family planted back then. The garden is included.”
Simon listened patiently to Melisis' story and asked, "So, you want to take back the plantation that once belonged to your family?"
Victor Melisis shook his head and said: "No, it is destined to be just the memory of my past. Even if I go back to the same place, everything will be different. Mr. Westeros, what my father told me is that if someone comes from Whatever you take away here, take it back twice as much. Therefore, I only need you to provide me with a platform. As for how much I can take back, it depends on my own ability. Of course, in this process, I guarantee that you will not gain more than I am less."
"Very good," Simon nodded and said, "But you have to understand, Vic, what I need first is a coffee plantation manager."
"Of course, Mr. Westeros, and I assure you, no one is more suitable than me. Because the person in charge of the coffee plantation you are asking for needs to take care of far more than just growing coffee, 150,000 acres of The land is much larger than our family's plantation back then, and it is simply not something that a pure farmer can afford. There are many things that need to be taken care of, including dealing with relations with the authorities, recruiting labor, and harvesting coffee. I have experience in later sales and even security work in plantations.”
"Would you mind telling me your longer-term plans?"
"Actually, you are already doing it, Mr. Westeros. Through arms transactions with the Angolan government, you have penetrated into all aspects of this country. This is exactly what I have hoped to do over the years, but my strength is too weak and I cannot contact you at all. To the top of this country. As long as you are willing to hire me, first of all, I can spend three years taking care of the coffee plantation in Kuando Province. Because of the war, the coffee plantation areas around Kuando have been completely abandoned. Now, it takes exactly three years to grow coffee from scratch to the first harvest. After three years, if Mr. Westeros is still satisfied with the results of my work, I hope to get more support from the Westeros system. , involved in some other industries in Angola.”
"Which ones are they specifically?"
"Mr. Westeros, in addition to coffee, my trading company has also been engaged in timber export business in recent years. Angola is very rich in forestry resources, which are scarce in Europe where environmental protection requirements are becoming more and more stringent. However, you must also You know, my business is not big. In addition, if I have the opportunity, I certainly hope to get involved in the more core Angolan mining industry in the future. In fact, these are the only things that African countries can do, which are their lifeblood."
Simon waited for Melisis to finish speaking, thought for a moment, and said: "In this case, this job is yours. Moreover, I don't mind if you do two things at once and continue to maintain your current import and export trade business. If this aspect After being idle for three years, it will definitely be difficult to do it again in the future. Of course, if you think you can’t take care of both, there’s no problem in focusing on the coffee plantation.”
"This is best, Mr. Westeros. I just thought you might not like multitasking."
"So, do you mind if I take a stake?"
"I only need to keep 30% of the shares."
"Smart decision, give you 5 million US dollars, I hold 70%. Of course, this is not to buy your shares, but to inject capital. This money must be spent on the company's operations and expansion. By the way, regarding timber exports, I can also introduce you to some businesses here. In Ukraine, a company I work with there happens to be trying to get into furniture manufacturing."
Even including the plantations in northern Angola, Victor Melicis's net worth is less than 1 million US dollars. Simon spent 5 million US dollars to purchase 70% of the shares of the import and export trading company under Melicis' name. The middle-aged man It's a big advantage.
Victor Merisis did not promise anything more to Simon in words. Hearing him talk about Ukraine, he even proactively reminded: "Mr. Westeros, I think Ukraine should not lack forestry resources and import wood from Africa. , not cost-effective.”
Melisis said this, and Simon added another point to the other party in his heart. If it were anyone else, he probably wouldn't remind him of this.
Smiling, Simon said: "Of course there is no shortage of ordinary wood in Ukraine, but there is no top-quality wood in the primeval forests of Africa. This is exactly what they need."
When Simon went to Ukraine at the beginning of the year, he suggested that Sergei Komorov try the furniture OEM field, because Ukraine happens to be rich in forestry resources and the cost is relatively low. Komorov implemented Simon's suggestions very well. Not only did he shut down a paper mill that was originally polluting and converted it into a furniture processing factory, he also successfully obtained an OEM order from IKEA a few months ago.
Not only that, in order to get involved in furniture manufacturing, Sergei Komorov personally led a team to Western European countries for more than a month of inspections. Inspired by it, he not only won IKEA OEM orders, but also registered an independent company. The home furnishing brand owned by Oldeker Company happened to be mentioned during a phone call. Simon developed a naming addiction and named the company Katrina himself. This is still his preferred naming strategy for women.
This name did not refer to the "Game of Thrones" in his memory. Simon first thought of the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, and planned to name the company after "Victoria's Secret". However, Yekaterina The English translation of Linna is Catherine. The name is a bit long and does not conform to the law that companies with simpler names are more likely to succeed. In the end, I chose 'Katrina', which is still not short, but easier to spell and remember than 'Catherine'.
Because it is an Eastern European company, it will definitely not be easy to open up the planned Western European market under traditional prejudice. If it is positioned at the mid- to low-end, it is more likely to be limited to Ukraine. Therefore, Simon suggested that Catalina Company start with high-end customized furniture. Build a reputation and then follow up.
Sergey Komorov specially recruited a furniture designer from England for this purpose.
The company is still in the preparatory stage and plans to launch its first batch of products by the end of the year.
For high-end customized furniture, excellent design is one thing, and genuine materials are even more important. Speaking of this, wood such as rosewood, bati, and chicken wings that have grown in the virgin forests of Africa for thousands of years are definitely the top raw materials for solid wood furniture, not to mention that Africa also has a very large stock of various types of sandalwood.
Simon and Victor Melisis talked for an hour and then sent each other off. It was already 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
Getting off work on time basically has nothing to do with Simon.
Melisis left, and Amy Pascal came to Simon's office again, and the two discussed the preparations for Universal Studios Europe.
Negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment and the Italian government to build a European Universal Studios near Rome have come to an end, and the group's agency team has begun purchasing land around Rome.
At this stage of the matter, it is difficult to keep the information absolutely confidential.
Recently, land prices in areas around Rome that may be used to build Universal Studios have soared, and some speculative capital has quietly joined in to snap up land, intending to make a fortune when the news becomes public. In order to reduce the cost of land acquisition as much as possible, Daenerys' team made two plans, located in the west and south of Rome.
Unlike Universal Studios in Los Angeles and other places, Rome is located in the Great Plains in the middle of the Italian peninsula. Large land resources are not scarce. Both the west and south of the city are suitable for building Universal Studios. Although a major hemorrhage is unavoidable, under the choice of one or the other, some people who want to cash out their land at a high position can only take the initiative to make concessions.
Of course, on the surface, it is second-tier and first-tier, and there will definitely be some trends.
Daenerys' senior management and the theme park team prefer to build the theme park in the west of Rome, between Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and the main city of Rome, so as to obtain the most convenient transportation environment and maximum passenger flow. If the western land parcel cannot be negotiated, the southern plan will be launched.
At the end of the day's work, it was already past six o'clock in the afternoon.
Simon returns to Dume Point Manor, where he has a guest, Celia Miller.
Since she didn't go to New York during this period, Celia could only fly to Los Angeles in person to report some work matters to Simon. She didn't have time to come during the day, so she simply chose to do it at night. Military matters are generally considered private matters of the Westeros family. , there is nothing wrong with discussing it at home.
As for the fact that Celia must stay at the Dume Point Manor, it is not special.
The most indispensable thing in Dumeijiao Manor now is guest rooms.
In addition to the Shell Villa, most of the cliff villas on both sides of the Dume Point Manor, which looks like a B2 bomber, have been retained after large-scale land enclosures in recent years. It is no problem to entertain hundreds of guests at one time. Of course, Simon has never been the kind of person who is too hospitable. He rarely holds parties at home, let alone invites too many guests.
Dinner was still being prepared, but they didn't get down to business right away.
When Simon arrived home, Janet and Celia were sitting together on the sofa next to the seaside glass curtain wall of Shell Villa, drinking coffee and chatting. They seemed to be more familiar with Simon than Simon, which was actually the case. Many things about Wei's private army, Janet Te is also watching, especially after the Westeros family's private intelligence team and the Wei family's private army began to merge, women had to take care of even more things.
As soon as I came to sit down by the curtain wall, my precious son ran over with two black-backed teal ducks.
Some time ago, the little guy wanted to raise ducks, so Simon found two wild duck eggs for him. They were the kind that were about to hatch. They hatched successfully a week ago. At that time, the little guy had been standing by the incubator because the birds and animals With his natural habits, he successfully recognized his mother.
Well, it should be Dad.
These days, my son is inseparable from the two little ones, and they even have names, one is Jack, and the other is Emma. Simon can’t tell which one is which, let alone whether the genders match. Anyway, they are his son’s pets.
in spite of.
When he came closer, he called out daddy and politely greeted Celia. The little guy picked up a little duck and said to Simon: "Dad, Emma has grown up a little bit more today."
Simon smiled and took the little duck, and put his son on his lap. The father and son had just said a few words when another little duck chirped next to them. Janet, who was sitting next to Simon, had already put Jack on his lap. He caught it and was playing with it with great interest. The woman had no resistance at all to the furry little thing.
Of course, Janet was impatient to raise.
Just responsible for playing.
When Melbourne saw her mother starting to ravage her little baby again, she didn't dare to snatch it away. It was obvious that she had failed before, so she could only look at her father pitifully. Simon was helpless about Janet's habit of holding the little duck's wings to listen to its cries. He stretched out his hand to rescue the little thing, and even hugged him and took the two little ducks away from his son at the sign of his eyes.
Mom is terrible.