National Tide 1980.

The welcome banquet was still held at Maxim's restaurant in Paris.

It was grand and lively, with banquets and dances.

Maxim's Restaurant did not accept outside guests that day and only served Ning Weimin, Matsumoto Keiko and their guests.

And that night, there were many important guests.

Master Pierre Cardin himself and the head of LVMH Henri Lacamier both came in spite of their busy schedules. In addition, Pierre Bergé, the general manager of Saint Laurent, also came over for a few drinks and gave Keiko Matsumoto an evening dress made by Yves Saint Laurent himself as a gift for her to attend the Cannes Film Festival. It can be said that several fashion industry bigwigs gave the couple enough face.

In addition, since the heads of many French film studios were there and were willing to support Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, this night was even more star-studded.

The number of people from the French entertainment industry who came to join in the fun was no less than the one when Henri Lacamier celebrated his retaking of LVMH.

Many well-known film directors, stars and supermodels came.

There are also many people who are not yet famous and come here temporarily just to look for opportunities.

Ning Weimin even gained a lot of unexpected benefits from this.

For example, among the unappreciated guests, he discovered the actor Jean Reno and the director Luc Besson, who were not yet famous at the time.

Needless to say, given the huge disparity in their status, he took the initiative to walk over and talk to two future big names in French film, which made the other party flattered.

As expected, after he expressed his interest in finding investable film and television projects in France, he easily obtained the contact information of the two people.

He also made an appointment with the other party to meet and discuss in detail at the Cannes Film Festival a few days later.

For example, French singer Patricia Keys, who competed with Teresa Teng in singing, also attracted Ning Weimin's attention with her singing performance at the party.

Although he knew nothing about the French music scene, he had no idea that this young girl, who currently looked like a tomboy, would soon become the top female chanson singer in France in the 1990s.

But this girl has great talent and singing skills and is capable of competing with Teresa Teng.

Moreover, the song she sang, "Venus in a Caravan", had a melody that was too familiar to Ning Weimin.

Because that is the representative work "Half Dim Sum" released by the Hong Kong band Grasshopper in the early 1990s.

It was not until this time that Ning Weimin suddenly realized that this girl was the original singer of this song.

It turns out that Grasshopper's "Half a Delight" is actually a cover song.

Well, if that’s the case, why doesn’t he just intercept it?

He remembered the Chinese lyrics clearly and could finish them in one go.

Anyway, Qingzi can't make a movie today because of her pregnancy, and she loves singing and has always regretted not having the chance to compete in the music awards. It would be better to buy it and make a Chinese-Japanese bilingual version and give it to her to help her realize her dream of becoming a singing star.

The only obstacle is that I am afraid of taking the initiative to approach and chatting with my wife, which may cause misunderstanding.

Ning Weimin suddenly had an idea and simply told Qingzi his idea, and then took his wife to talk to the girl.

Sure enough, it was successfully won.

Who are they who are rich, sweet-talkers, and have all kinds of abundant resources at their disposal?

Patricia Keys, who was not yet a big star, could not resist the temptation at this time. After all, the European market was too small and the competition was too fierce.

Seeing that the other party liked his song so much, he was willing to give him the opportunity to make a movie for the copyright of the song, and was willing to release his record in Japan and China.

I quickly nodded in agreement, exchanged phone numbers with them, and reached a consensus on cooperation intention.

This is called Zhou Yu fighting Huang Gai, one is willing to fight and the other is willing to be beaten.

She didn't feel like she was about to lose anything.

When other people saw this incident, many of them were envious.

The only person who felt a little disappointed and regretful in this matter was Teresa Teng.

For no other reason than that everyone loves good songs.

When Teresa Teng heard this song, she was fascinated by it and also wanted to cover it.

It's a pity that she was a little slow and met a wife-doting man like Ning Weimin, who was always thinking about his wife and decisively took action before her.

As a worker, how could she dare to compete with her boss?

What's more, from a human perspective, Ning Weimin has already helped her create two good songs.

As expected, this year, with the theme song "On and On" from "Crazy Rich Asians", he will win the Japan Limited Broadcasting Awards again, achieving an unprecedented four consecutive championships.

Even Japan's national treasure singer Hibari Misora ​​contacted Taurus Palace, saying that she liked the song "The Flowing River" very much and wanted to cover it and include it in her personal album.

This shows the quality of this song.

Then how could Teresa Teng have the nerve to compete with the boss’s wife again?

So no matter how much she likes him, this time, the Asian Queen of Pop has no choice but to give in.

Alas, there is nothing I can do. Who can blame her for having a good husband?

Even if she is the queen of Asian singing, she can't compete with her...

In short, it was a grand and lively event. Except for Teresa Teng who felt a little bit reluctant to get married, everyone was happy.

By the time the welcome party was coming to an end, it was almost midnight.

At this time, many guests had already said goodbye and left.

Because Matsumoto Keiko was pregnant, she was sent back to rest by Teresa Teng and Mak Ling-Chi, who also did not want to stay up late.

However, Ning Weimin still couldn't escape, he was still surrounded by many people.

This was not only because Alain Delon refused to let him go, but also because he wanted to talk to him about important matters in France.

Moreover, many people have been waiting for this time to have the opportunity to express their demands to him.

Talk to him about something that is important to them.

In fact, Ning Weimin no longer felt relaxed at this time.

Although he felt quite tired, he had to force himself to deal with some guests whom he could not refuse or entertain.

Even if we cannot discuss the issue of cooperation in depth, we must at least give these people some reassurance first.

Just like the general manager of Yingou Cannes, he was eager to know Ning Weimin’s demands for film copyright transactions during his visit to Cannes.

He wanted to introduce an Italian film company owner to Ning Weimin, and it would be best if Ning Weimin could buy the company's film library like last time. But there was no other way, because the market was too small, and the seemingly flourishing film industry in Europe had been on a downward trend.

They can no longer afford to make big-budget commercial films, and the political thrillers that the European film industry excels in have declined.

Today's European films have been completely defeated by the rising Hollywood and have no chance to fight back. Just like Japanese films that experienced the New Wave, they are becoming less and less distinctive and their production costs are continuing to shrink.

In the end, it became a matter of making money, and they could only start with ethical B-level films, relying on love and action elements to attract audiences.

However, the invention of the video recorder dealt this type of film a heavy blow.

Since you can watch more explicit movies at home, who would still be obsessed with those ethical B-level movies that skirt the line in theaters?

After all, there are too few good films that are erotic but not vulgar, and sexy but not obscene.

Everyone is focusing on making money from one type of film, and most of what is produced are tacky, sleazy assembly-line products.

Therefore, big buyers like Ning Weimin have become the most desired saviors of almost all European film companies.

If we could really sell the film library to him, it would be enough for a film company to live a good life for several years at least, and all financial problems would be solved.

"Mr. General Manager, I can't make any specific promises to you right now. But I'm willing to take time to meet with your friend. I mean, the Cannes Film Festival is about two weeks away anyway. If your friend has time recently, we can meet in Cannes and sit down together to talk about this matter."

These words really effectively reduced the general manager's anxiety, and his worried face immediately relaxed.

"Thank you, Mr. Ning, if that's the case, that would be great. Believe me, he is very sincere and will definitely give you a good price. So if it's convenient for you, I think the morning of four days later would be a suitable meeting time. Is that okay?"

"Of course, my friend. We can even have lunch together. To be honest, I brought several movies with me this time. If you still agree to continue our cooperation in the form of box office sharing, I will let you choose these movies first."

"Okay," the general manager said, "we'll talk about it then."

Having said that, there was a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Obviously, he regarded Ning Weimin's words as a supplementary condition.

Ning Weimin understood his thoughts, smiled and said, "Don't worry, this is not a mandatory requirement, you can refuse it. I know that the box office of "Li Xianglan" last time was actually very average. But that was caused by the natural gap in history and culture. But this time is different. I promise that if you make a deal with me this time, you will never lose money. The movies I brought this time have very eye-catching commercial elements. In addition to "Crazy Rich Asians", which has received several Cannes nominations, there is also "A Chinese Ghost Story" about the love between humans and ghosts, the kung fu movie "Chinese Heroes", and a movie "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" shot by Japan's Shochiku Film Company with animals as the protagonists. I promise that you will find that these movies have selling points that satisfy you. If you are worried, we can even sign a guaranteed bet agreement. If the final box office of these four movies causes you to lose money and do not make money, I will bear all the losses. But if the box office exceeds expectations, then I will share more profits. How about it?"

These words immediately put the general manager at ease, and his eyes even lit up.

Apart from anything else, the themes and genres of these films are something that are lacking in European films, and just listening to them makes them seem quite attractive.

Ning Weimin's idea allowed them to eliminate all risks.

No matter how you think about it, it's a good business, it's just a matter of how much profit you make.

If this is the case, they can save more money and buy other movies they like.

So he smiled and quickly made up for it.

"I believe you, Mr. Ning. You are a good partner, generous, sincere, courageous, and visionary. I admire your willingness to take major risks, so how could we refuse your request? No, given the good foundation for cooperation, we at Ying Oujiana are willing to be your loyal partner forever."

"Very good," Ning Weimin nodded and said, "This is what I wish for as well."

At this time, it was the turn of Alain Chevalier, the eldest son of former LVMH chairman and co-founder, Aiden Chevalier, to speak.

As the current head of Moët & Chandon and Hennessy Wineries, the things he asked about were naturally related to wine.

"Ning, didn't you just order a batch of wine not long ago? Why did you place such a large order recently? I was shocked when I saw the specific quantity of your latest order from overseas. 2,500 boxes of champagne and 1,500 boxes of cognac. It adds up to nearly 10,000 boxes. Are you sure you are not kidding? Didn't you say that the consumption level in mainland China is not high enough? Are you sure you can sell so many goods?"

Ning Weimin smiled and shook his head, "That's not what mainland China wants."

This naturally made Aiden even more puzzled. "Why? Is it for the goods you want for your hotel and restaurant in Saint-Tropez? But isn't that what Alan is in charge of?"

As he said this, he looked at Alain Delon strangely, and now even Alain Delon became curious.

After all, he is in charge of all the hotel and restaurant businesses, and he is the only one who knows how much is needed.

And now he is working on this matter. If Ning Weimin takes over his responsibility, it would be too unreasonable.

It didn't make sense that it happened so suddenly that even he didn't know about it.

"No, the new order is not for Saint-Tropez, but for the port city."

As expected, Ning Weimin smiled and shook his head again, then explained the truth, "I have a reliable friend in Gangcheng, and he assured me that he can quickly open up sales. If you have enough goods now, I hope to allocate a batch to Gangcheng by sea."

Aiden understood immediately, "What you actually mean is that you also want the agency rights of Hongcheng now. But... we already have an agent in Hongcheng. According to the agreement, we will have considerable legal risks if we do this. If we breach the contract, we will have to pay a large amount of money."

"You misunderstood. I didn't ask you to breach the contract. I just asked you to ship the goods to Hong Kong City, right? I didn't intend to sell this batch of goods right away."

Ning Weimin's words surprised Aiden again.

"I came here this time to discuss this matter with you. My friend's sales channel in Hong Kong City is entertainment venues such as karaoke bars and dance halls. He is sure that 70% of entertainment venues in Hong Kong City will purchase goods from him. He also has a certain influence on the Mandarin Hotel and the Peninsula Hotel. But other than that, he does not involve high-end hotel-related business. On the contrary, the agent selected by the company now is not doing well in Hong Kong City, right? Both Remy Martin and Martell have better sales than us. In addition, now that I have taken over Tokyo, Japan, Hong Kong City can no longer enjoy the dividends from Japan, and sales may decline. So what I mean is, can the company come forward and negotiate with the current Hong Kong City agent, and it would be best to terminate their agency contract in advance. Let me do it. If the other party is willing, I am willing to pay 5 million Hong Kong dollars as compensation. If not, it is okay to change the contract agreement, let them do the hotel business, and we do other things. If it still doesn't work, then there is nothing to talk about and we can only wait until the contract expires. It doesn't matter, at worst I can divide this batch of goods from Hong Kong into two batches and forward them to the mainland and Japan."

These words made Aiden fall into deep thought. Frankly speaking, he didn't care what the agent in Hong Kong City would think.

Although the other party was definitely his father's man, Ning Weimin, who spoke to him now, was not only his benefactor, but also one of the major shareholders of LVMH.

Only if I can establish a good relationship with him can I gain a firm foothold in LVMH in the future.

But there is a key problem, that is, the sales volume of Hong Kong City is indeed not a small number. This city, which is currently a British territory, serves as a transit station and almost covers the entire Asia.

Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, and once Japan, almost all import their goods from Hong Kong.

If he gave the agency rights to Ning Weimin, it would be fine if sales increased naturally. But if sales decreased, he would be held accountable within the company and his future would be affected.

So he responded absentmindedly.

"I can try this, but I can't guarantee anything. I hope you can understand. If it doesn't work, please don't be offended."

From the tone of voice, you can tell that the possibility is not very high.

But in the end, Ning Weimin actually smiled at him.

"I don't mind. Once you get to know me better, you will know. I never force my friends to help me, and I will never blame them for not wanting to help me. Why? Because I personally believe that if they are true friends, then anything you are willing to do for a friend, the friend will also be happy to do for you. Friendship is mutual giving, not free demand. People need to know how to be grateful, and they need to know how to give back. Otherwise, when we are in trouble, who will be willing to help us? The same is true in reverse. If one day, the wish I made to my friend is not fulfilled, I will not blame my friend, I will first examine myself. Because either my wish is too unrealistic, or there must be something that I did not do well first and offended this friend a long time ago. Isn't that the case? So at that time, I can only blame myself. I will feel sorry for you."

So after hearing what Ning Weimin said, almost everyone around laughed, except Aiden who was stunned for a moment.

Especially Alain Delon, he lowered his head and kept laughing, unable to stop.

Ah, this kind of retreat-to-advance rhetoric is exactly what Ning Weimin is good at.

Even the wisest negotiator in the movie couldn't have performed better. (End of this chapter)