If we talk about the world's famous casinos, none has worse basic conditions than Las Vegas, which is located in the western desert of the United States, but no casino is more successful than Las Vegas.
Since someone can open up such a commercial miracle in an arid and desolate desert area, it is not impossible to do it anywhere else in the world.
When Simon heard the answer given by Andrei Vodmirka, he immediately understood that the two people around him had clearly considered it carefully.
Rivne Oblast, located in the heart of Eastern Europe, has almost no cultural and natural landscapes to offer. If you want to develop tourism, you can only take the wrong approach.
The gambling industry happens to be the easiest path to success among those who take the wrong path.
Because of huge profits.
High gambling profits can bring sufficient funds, and then use these funds to artificially create various entertainment and leisure activities to further attract tourists, and then introduce tourists to casinos, forming an ecological cycle.
The most typical case is still Las Vegas.
To this day, although Las Vegas is still a world-famous gambling city, and the locomotive effect of casinos in the city's economic development has not changed, the proportion of the gaming industry has been decreasing, and instead it is catering and shopping. , performances and other aspects are becoming more and more prosperous.
This actually means that the economic structure of this city is becoming more and more healthy and stable.
It is a long-term way.
However, a casino is definitely not that easy to build.
Countless cities around the world have been ambitiously trying to build a second Las Vegas for decades, and few have succeeded.
The most failed case happens to be in the United States.
Atlantic City.
This city, located on the coast of New Jersey in southern New York, decided to vigorously develop the gaming industry in the 1970s, and ambitiously wanted to become the Las Vegas of the East Coast of the United States.
As a result, except for a period of excitement during the US economic recovery in the 1980s, it has been tepid since then.
Many of the capitals that originally invested heavily in Atlantic City were in trouble. After the new century, more than half of Atlantic City's casinos went bankrupt and closed, and the surrounding industrial ecology like Las Vegas has not developed.
Speaking of which, through the merger and integration of a certain golden retriever company, Simon now controls a number of casinos in Atlantic City, such as the most famous Taj Mahal Casino.
Although this is completely a useless asset.
The team from Atlantic City was involved in the planning stage of the current hot spring resort.
Inside the resort’s theater lobby.
Simon thought about it for a moment and finally said: "Andre, I appreciate your idea, but you have to know that if you want to develop the gambling industry here, and it is not a small matter now, it involves too many aspects. , such as Ukraine's industrial policy in the general direction, these cannot be achieved in a short time. In my opinion, to achieve the final goal, it is only the first stage, and it will take ten years.
When developing a casino, the first problem you need to face is money.
Lots and lots of money.
Just like Atlantic City, during the development stage in the 1980s, major capitals poured hundreds of millions into it, because only in this way could they artificially create a series of high-end entertainment venues that would attract gamblers.
Secondly, and equally important, is policy support.
At this stage, large and small gaming halls and small casinos are springing up in Ukraine, but the national level just turns a blind eye to this, just like the video halls everywhere in China, and there are no special industry regulations.
Therefore, if you want to develop a casino city, the policy level is definitely an unavoidable issue.
And it's not just this issue.
Because if Ukraine develops the gaming industry, it will inevitably focus on overseas tourists, which will inevitably involve visa policies, foreign exchange and other aspects.
None of this can be achieved overnight in the short term.
Thirdly, even if the core problems in the above two aspects are solved, the casino may not be able to be successfully developed.
Like Atlantic City.
There was no shortage of money and no shortage of policies, but it just failed because it still involved actual operations.
The gambling industry is still a business after all, and doing business always requires skills. Some people make a lot of money, while others lose money.
Finally, there is the issue of benefit distribution and the impact of Ukraine's future political environment on this industry.
If the country falls into turmoil or even civil war again after the new century, even if Rivne Oblast, located in the northwest border, will not be affected, overseas tourists who are very sensitive to the security environment will definitely reduce their visits because of their worries.
In short, all kinds of troubles.
After hearing what Simon said, Andre said seriously: "Boss, Alexander and I have been studying the development plans of casinos in various countries around the world during this time, and have considered many issues. We did not expect to succeed in the short term. Mainly I hope to get your support, boss."
Simon said: "I can only say that I have no objection for the time being. As for support and the extent of support, it depends on the results of your work. Just like the expansion of the resort, you can start planning, but I will definitely not make any additional investment in the short term. Here you go, I’ve invested a lot here, and it’s not wise to just expand.”
The two of them were disappointed at first when they heard this, and then they reacted. Alexander asked: "Boss, you said that no additional investment can be made. Does this mean that Andre and I can use the existing income for continued development?"
Simon smiled and nodded: "Yes, but I don't hold 100% control of any of the three projects, so you need to convince other shareholders first."
"Boss, during the lobbying process, can we explain your attitude to other shareholders?"
"Okay, in this way, you will draw up a detailed written plan for me recently." Simon said, and did not forget to type: "Also, remember to communicate with Celia more in the future. I don't want anything unexpected to happen. Outside things.”
Andre and Alexander quickly agreed.
While chatting like this, the stage was ready. A staff member came over to confirm, and after receiving permission, the performance officially started.
The story of "Swan Lake" tells the love story of a princess who was cursed by the devil and turned into a swan and a prince. It was created by the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky based on the German fairy tale. There have been many variant versions for more than a century. , especially the ending of the story, which has both comedy and tragedy.
The third act chosen by Simon is where the biggest conflict turns in the story. The devil's daughter, the black swan, seduces the prince into an engagement, causing the prince to abandon his agreement with the white swan.
The lights in the hall dimmed, and when the music started playing, Simon stopped talking to the two people around him.
Even though he is not too interested in his heart, Simon will not deny that this is real art, especially for a world-class ballet team like the Kiev Ballet. Every member is carefully selected and basically selected from Starting from childhood, the best years of these dancers' lives are bound to ballet.
The story begins at the palace ball where the prince chooses his bride.
Various characters appear on the stage, including the devil and his daughter, and the black swan, who looks exactly like the white swan. The most exciting part is the interaction between the prince and the black swan in the second half.
and the most famous '32 Whip Spins'.
When the principal dancer of the ballet company on the stage completed this classic movement calmly and skillfully, everyone applauded together even though there were only a few people including Simon in the audience.
After about half an hour of performance, the dancers took the stage together for a curtain call.
Andrei Vodmirka finally approached Simon again and whispered: "Boss, do you want to go up and say hello to everyone?"
Simon noticed the different meaning in the subordinate's expression when he spoke. He looked towards the stage. Most of the dancers obviously knew the identity of tonight's audience. Their movements during the curtain call were obviously hesitant and expectant. He smiled, nodded and said: "Okay. ah."
So he got up and walked to the stage.
Seeing the legendary Simon Westeros face to face, the dancers on the stage were immediately at a loss. Fortunately, Andre, who was obviously very good at things, gave a little gesture, and everyone quickly reacted and applauded. Come.
Simon patiently shook hands with everyone one by one, and did not forget to compliment in Russian. He came to the lead dancer who played the black and white swan, paused for a moment, shook hands with a slightly cool catkin and said: "You danced very well. , may I know your name?”
The girl, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, looked at Simon and nodded gracefully: "Of course, Mr. Westeros, my name is Kadja."
"Hello, Katya, thank you for your performance tonight."
Simon said this again, gracefully let go of the other person's little hand, and walked towards the next dancer.
The girl named Kajia watched Simon walk away, still with a smile on her face, but her eyes flickered. When the man was farther away, her expression became more disappointed, and she couldn't help but think of the MV she watched last year. .
I probably am not as lucky as some women.
Simon greeted the dancers and did not stay any longer. Instead, he went to the resort's casino to check out Andre's suggestion.
After walking out of the theater, Andre, who was following Simon, said seemingly unintentionally: "Boss, do you want me to invite Kajia for you and have a few drinks together later? Or maybe the boss is interested in other girls?"
Simon just shook his head.
They are all beautiful, but they are not Simon's cup of tea.
Andre didn't mention it anymore, but still quietly winked at an attendant.
Everyone came to the casino not far from the theater. This is a three-story half-Baroque and half-Roman style building located in the center of the resort.
Simon and his party entered from a side door and went directly to the second floor where they could see the corridor of the hall below.
The open hall with a total of more than 1,000 square meters is divided into several different areas, including slot machines, poker, dice and other games. Of course, it cannot be compared with those large casinos that can be seen at a glance, but it also seems bustling at this time. It's lively.
Looking around, the second floor is filled with small private rooms, mainly various standard gaming tables. According to Andre's introduction, the main difference is that the chips and consumption here are higher than below.
There are also VIP halls and some suites on the third floor.
However, it is not open for the time being.
Because at this stage, the main guests in the resort area are middle-class tourists from Western Europe and North America, and no top gamblers will appear here yet, so the third floor only entertains some occasional special guests.
Such as Simon.
Standing on the corridor and listening to Andre's detailed introduction, the middle-aged man led Simon to the third floor.
First we arrived at a special hall.
The most eye-catching thing is the equipment on the side of the hall that looks like a display cabinet in a clothing store.
Simon actually knew what it was.
When the light in the cupboard came on, six fresh and simple 'little water onions' appeared inside, wearing identical long white skirts, standing in a row obediently, roughly the same as the eight that Simon saw at the hot spring manor in the morning. similar.
Andre first looked at Simon's expression to confirm the appreciation in his boss's eyes, and then said: "Boss, Alexander and I specially prepared this for you. We have been selecting it since we trained employees here last year. However, I have only arranged some language training for them, and I guarantee that they are all very innocent girls.”
Simon smiled and nodded: "Yes, I will take you away when I leave."
Andre agreed quickly and said, "Do you want them to come out and say hello first?"
"No," Simon shook his head and said, "Take me to see other places."
Andre said no more, gave instructions to his entourage, and invited Simon to leave the hall, during which he even looked at Alexander.
This flattery is correct.
In fact, they quietly researched their boss's preferences at first, and the two originally planned to choose some women with a more mature charm, well, probably Celia Miller.
It had already been started.
Later I gave up.
Mainly because there are some things that are more difficult to explain when choosing this type of woman. If you encounter a suspicious boss again and it's self-defeating, then you really have to flatter the horse's hooves.
In the end, six young girls were selected based on the standards of girls in the Chengnan villa, all between 14 and 16 years old.
That's no problem.
As Andre just said, these are very innocent girls, and it is easy for their boss to prove it.
After seeing the casino, Simon quietly passed by other facilities in the resort. During this period, he met the Kiev Ballet principal who had just danced for him in a bar.
Simon probably guessed that this was a chance encounter deliberately arranged by Andre. The girl was obviously very enthusiastic, but Simon said nothing in particular.
It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening when we finally left the resort.
After Neil Bennett sent Celia and the two girls back, he rushed over and continued to be Simon's driver. However, when he returned, the convoy changed from three to five vehicles, two of which were filled with six small onions.
Returning to the hot spring manor, I found that it was also very lively.
Simon would not specifically tell him about his coming, but after getting the information from his father and brother, the three girls from the Chengnan villa came over, as well as the other three girls who had been arranged to study in London after being cleared by Simon. They all returned to Ukraine during the summer vacation. Because of Simon's attitude, both the three girls themselves and others continued to regard them as Simon's women as a matter of course.
In addition, the tall sisters Eve Besonoskova and Lyudmila Besonoskova also appeared here.
There are six first-generation spring onions, eight second-generation spring onions selected by Grace, plus the six wild spring onions that Simon just brought back, for a total of twenty girls.
Anyway, Lyudmila, whose eyes were widened, felt that her eyes had been opened.
Even Celia showed a little helplessness on her expression when she saw Simon brought back six more girls.
Simon didn't make any excuses, such as if he didn't want these six girls to end up in trouble, he just really liked collecting. It's considered a good thing, but I can afford it anyway.