Volume 8 Final Chapter Chapter 1133 The Fifth Institute
The day after playing the low-end game with Lai Biao and Chen Feng, Nan Yi went to Xinrongzhai to listen to Li Xiangrong talk about the high-end game.
In the early years, Li Xiangrong spent several years getting to know the big speculators in the antique business. The two sides slowly came into contact with each other, and gradually, they were able to play together. In 1999, an underground organization called "The Fifth Institute" was established. This organization was a group of people who came together to speculate in antiques.
The reason for this name is, firstly, because during the Qing Dynasty, there was an institution called "Antique House" which was specifically responsible for the management and storage of antique collections and was located in the fifth of the North Five Institutes; secondly, this organization was established by five people, namely Li Xiangrong, Aisin-Gioro Chang, Qiu Miaozhi, Niu Guoshi, and Fu Changhai.
It can be said that these five people all have a close connection with the antique house of that year. Aisin-Gioro Chang's grandfather was the clan relative who was appointed to stay in the capital to hide the treasures in the palace when Cixi's old helper ran away; Li Xiangrong and Qiu Miaozhi are descendants of eunuchs, and their ancestors often took things out of the palace ; Niu Guoshi and Fu Changhai are descendants of the inner palace guards, and their ancestors were responsible for defending the Fifth House.
Therefore, the name of the Fifth Institute is a way of pointing out everyone's origins, and it is not too direct like the Antique House. If people are not familiar with the history of the Qing Dynasty, most people will not be able to react to what the Fifth Institute is for.
In the antique business, there are many stories circulating about eunuchs and down-and-out Eight Banners descendants selling antiques for money in the early years of the Republic of China. They bought this fine piece for only five dollars, and that out-of-print piece for only twenty dollars. There are many stories like this. In fact, most of these stories are false, while others are true.
Take the Eight Banners descendants for example. When they are mentioned, most people think that their image is terrible. This is a very wrong perception. Fingers are of different lengths, people are good and bad, and there are cunning people in every group of people.
In the early years of the Republic of China, not only Han antique dealers were collecting fine pieces, but the smart people among the Eight Banners descendants were also doing the same.
It is said that antiques are valuable in prosperous times, and gold is valuable in troubled times. There will always be a day of peace in these troubled times. When times are troubled, if a family has extra wealth, they can collect antiques and hide them away until peace comes. This is a simple bottom-fishing behavior. As long as you survive the troubled times, the returns will be extremely generous.
However, those who picked the bottom at the time did not expect that the chaotic times would last so long and be so brutal. Most of them lost their fortunes or finished their business before peace came. This is called "dying halfway through a business". The remaining few bargain hunters finally survived the chaotic times, and when they popped their heads out to take a look, they immediately shrank back. The world is peaceful, but antiques are not.
After enduring for a long time, until the 1980s, there was finally a ray of hope. But by this time, most of the bargain hunters had passed away. Among the five people, excluding Li Xiangrong, the remaining four were the best among the descendants of the bargain hunters.
Of course, the fact that they were able to survive to the end is not unrelated to the fact that they were not fighting alone, but had a group of people supporting them behind them. They represented not only themselves, but also the interests of a group of people.
"Master Nan, according to everyone's opinion, the next two years will focus on the paintings from the Qing and Republic periods. We have also contacted the four major antique dealers, and we will work together with several auction houses."
"Qingmin, a friend of mine bought a lot of paintings and calligraphy from modern calligraphers and painters. I'll call her in a few days and ask her to send the items over. Please help with the process. His identity is quite sensitive, so he can't ship the items privately. Every step must be able to withstand scrutiny."
"This isn't a difficult matter. We can put it up at an auction house. It will definitely withstand scrutiny. But where did the item come from?"
Nan Yi smiled faintly, "I bought them all from museums and state-owned cultural relics stores. One dollar for a calligraphy piece, two dollars for a painting, and more than ten dollars for top-notch works by famous artists. I still have the receipts. The money I used to buy these things came from legitimate sources. I started by selling breakfast at university, and later sold water and second-hand bicycles. I saved every penny I earned."
Li Xiangrong smiled and said, "It was you, Master Nan, who gave the instructions, right?"
"I guess so. Maybe I worry too much. He is now facing the critical moment of retirement at 60 or 65, so he may not be in the mood to sell things. If that's the case, I'd like to trouble you to go to Fengtian to take a look and select the ones that are suitable for long-term storage."
"It's not a big deal. I have to thank Master Nan for giving me the opportunity to curry favor with the local lords."
"Not for now. He still has two big hurdles to overcome. Xiangrong, you should also worry about the monkey stamps. If you keep letting them go, you'll get worried. It's almost time to get out."
“It’s easy to ship, but the quantity is still too large and some will be destroyed.”
"You decide. They are all dead objects. I won't feel bad even if 90% of them are destroyed. Find the dealer and ask if they are willing to take them over. It will be bad for their business if they are ruined."
"Master Nan, what is your bottom line?"
"The last eight zeros, the first digits don't matter, the money is divided into 541 parts, I'll give you 10% of my share, and I won't give you the rest, please bear with me."
"Master Nan, you are embarrassing me. One percent is already a huge share."
"It's settled. Help me find a pen holder. It must be under ten thousand. It must be a masterpiece by a famous artist that can impress people. It can't be one that has been soaked in a manure vat. It's so filthy."
"That's easy. It's not hard to find high-quality pen holders on the market that are indistinguishable from the real thing."
"Yeah." Nan Yi nodded, glanced at the shelves, and said inexplicably: "Have you heard of the Golden Jade Clothes?"
"I heard about this two years ago. Some people are willing to lose face just for a little money." Li Xiangrong said disdainfully, "It's a fake thing, but they dared to estimate it at 2.4 billion."
"It's their business if they don't have any shame, but we have to have some dignity. Some local bosses have not learned anything else, but they are very good at tax evasion. They pick up some manure pits from street stalls and sell them to their own companies as if they were real, taking money from the company's account. It's extremely ugly. We must not get involved in such things, and we should not pass off inferior goods as good ones.
A company can diversify its business, and art investment can be one of its investment areas. No matter what the motivation is, as long as it is not self-selling and self-buying, as long as it is real, it cannot be said that the means are bad. Even if the company fails and liquidates, the real things can still be worth some money. "
"Master Nan, the items we have are not sold through this channel. Most of them have flowed into the hands of collectors and speculators."
"That's good. Since you didn't have it before, you don't need to have it in the future. There's no need to make yourself look bad for a few small things." Nan Yi waved his hand. "Okay, I'll go first. I won't delay your business. Call me when you find the pen holder."
"Hey, Master Nan, take care."
After leaving Xinrongzhai, Nan Yi went to Wangbei Films.
Still in Gong Xue's ridiculously large office, Nan Yi was flipping through the first draft of the script that Zhenxuan Pictures wanted, tentatively titled "Like Water Flowing Years".
Generally speaking, the screenwriting department of Wangbei Pictures has a data collection process before writing a script. When writing a script involving real estate sales, the lead screenwriter has to spend some time at a real estate sales company, get a firsthand feel for the situation on the front line, and understand the general situation of this type of company and profession. Then, he or she can talk to people in the industry and find out about events that can be adapted into conflict points.
During the script writing process, it will be given to industry insiders for review from time to time to identify common sense errors. Ultimately, the TV series that is filmed based on the script must be approved by industry insiders.
Simply put, the TV series and films shot by Wangbei Film and Television have always been pursuing the authenticity of the basic background, and then making purposeful artistic processing on the characters' emotions, lifestyles, consumption patterns, etc.
Wangbei Film and Television's TV series have several characteristics: First, love without a house basically ends in misery; second, female characters basically love to eat snacks and drink beverages; third, the refrigerator is basically full of dazzling items, and there will be multiple close-ups and lines; fourth, there will always be a coffee shop scene when the male and female characters are dating, and the high professional quality of the coffee shop employees will be highlighted as much as possible; fifth, the characters' lines will cleverly incorporate real brand names and company names, and whenever they appear, they will definitely be praises...
Wangbei Film and Television has always adhered to the core of "advertising feature films" and has been trying its best to insert advertisements into the plot without major conflicts with the plot direction. As long as the arrangements are clever, the audience will not realize that they are watching advertisements instead of the drama when watching the drama.
The key lies in the word "clever". Most of the advertisements are integrated into the plot. For example, when a character is thirsty and goes to a convenience store to buy a bottle of water, a dozen advertisements can be inserted here - the convenience store's door sign; the promotional advertisement on the glass door; when the character goes to the freezer or shelf to get water, the camera can briefly linger on certain products; during the payment process, the products on the cash register can be taken in close-up;
You can also do a close-up of certain products based on the relationship status of the characters, such as the snacks that your boyfriend/girlfriend likes to eat, the products that were the fuse of the previous conflict, or when the relationship is so strong that it is about to reach the stage of having sex, you can also do a close-up of condoms.
Nan has many products under its umbrella, and they are closely related to life. There is no worry that they cannot fill a drama, but the worry is that they are too awkward.
"Zhenxuan Films?"
"Um."
"The legal representative is a woman?"
"right."
“She’s still a shareholder?”
"That's right."
"Who is she?"
"It's on the name file. Which character do you not recognize?"
"Don't be stupid, you know what I mean."
"Congratulations, you guessed it right. She is who you think she is."
Gong Xue said resentfully, "Do you want her to replace me in the company or at home?"
Nan Yi didn't even raise his head and continued to read the script, "Have you seen 'The Year of the Dragon and the Rooster'?"
"I have seen it, what's wrong?"
“Think about that line from Judy Tang.”
Gong Xue thought for a long time before tentatively asking, "Are you just playing around?"
"Congratulations again, Ms. Gong. You got it right again. Right! Right! Right! Gong Xue has done a great job! Gong Xue has done a great job! The great chairman of Wangbei Media, she has inherited the glorious tradition of Tang Qianyan! Nan Ruoqiong, Nan Ruoyin, and Nan Yi are possessed by spirits at this moment!
Gong Xue is alone, she represents the long history and tradition of the Nan family! At this moment, she is not fighting alone! She is not alone... uh, what does the latter part say? "
Gong Xue glanced at Nan Yi and said, "He's going crazy."
"Just teasing you."
"Don't tease me, tell me what you plan to do with Jiang Xuanyan."
"What else can we do? It's not new for an actress to hook up with a big capitalist. We can just follow suit."
"What I can't stand the most are the men in the industry. What do they treat women as? Playthings. Why are you following their lead?" Gong Xue said dissatisfiedly.
"That's how men are. Some have the will but not the guts, some have the will but not the money, and some have the will, guts, and money. I'm the third type. I've had enough of being exploited by you old ladies, so I'm looking for a young girl to change my mood." Nan Yi raised his head, pointed at his face and said, "Look at my face. Doesn't it look ten years younger?"
Gong Xue shook her head helplessly, "Xiao Yi, you are still so frank."
"Wouldn't it be better to be frank?"
"No, I'd rather you coax me."
"You are so hypocritical. Half of your life has passed and the dirt has buried you up to your chest. Aunt Xingfu, you need to act like an aunt."
"Are you annoying? Why do you emphasize my age? Just call me Sister Happiness from now on."
"Okay." Nan Yi raised the manuscript in his hand, "This script must have been written by the girl. The writing is good and the creativity is good, but some things are not on point. The data collection step is not done well. Send it back for rewrite."
"Why are you, Zhenxuan Films, so difficult to deal with? I only gave you 200,000, what else do you want?"
"Hey, Mr. Gong, is this how you do business? What's wrong with small customers? Small customers are still customers. You should treat them with care. If you can't come up with a good script next time, I will sue you at the Consumer Council."
"Go to the fire department and file a complaint."
"Why go to the fire department? Ask them to stir up your hornet's nest." Nan Yi said, walked to Gong Xue and asked seriously: "Are you mentally prepared?"
Gong Xue asked blankly: "What?"
"Less than three years."
"You're talking about retirement. I'm ready for it."
Nan Yi hugged Gong Xue and whispered, "We will decide on your successor by the end of the year and arrange an internship."
"It's up to you to decide." Gong Xue leaned into Nan Yi's arms, "After retirement, I plan to live in Austria for a few years, and then return to my roots when I'm older."
"It's too early for you to talk about returning to your roots. Why don't you take a trip around the world? I can accompany you for half of the journey."
Gong Xue's eyelashes fluttered, and she looked up and said softly, "A round-the-world trip takes a long time. Are you sure you can accompany me for half of it?"
"Yes, I will definitely not change my mind this time." Nan Yi said with a smile, "Because I also want to arrange a round-the-world trip for myself, and at least half of our trips will overlap."
"I said, which year do you plan to arrange it?"
“You start as soon as you retire, and we transition seamlessly.”
"Well, how long have we known each other?"
"I've known you for twenty years, but you still don't know me. I live a very planned and scheming life. I don't overlook details that most men tend to overlook. I have memorized everything about you and our important dates. I remember them clearly."
"You think too much. I'm not testing you. I just feel that time flies by so fast. Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye."
"Yes, time flies by so fast. We are all getting old. That's why I want to hang out with young girls and absorb more of their youthful flavor."
"This is what I hate most about you. No matter what happens, you will always find a high-sounding excuse for yourself, making everything you do seem just."
"Hypocritical, isn't it?"
“It’s very hypocritical.”
"I am hypocritical, and I am proud."
"You're so annoying, just like a child." Gong Xue patted Nan Yi and said angrily.
"Don't be so annoying. My flight is in the evening. If you're hungry, hurry up and come."
"Fuck you, what do you think of me? I'm nothing."
"Alas, your deep love and promises, all drifted away with the west wind..."
"Zhang Yusheng, stop singing. Your belt can't be untied."
"How come? Let me see."
…
