Li Wei sat on the sofa and said, "Xiaoqi, if there is already a market leader in the original market, and we provide the same service as Sotheby's, it means that we have violated the law of market leaders." ”

"The Law of Market Leaders?"

He nodded to her, "Yes, many people think that the key to the market is to convince others to have a better product or be able to provide better service. That's wrong. If we have a small market share and therefore need to compete with larger companies, then our marketing strategy needs to be deeply considered and adjusted. Because doing so has violated the 'law of leadership' in the market. ”

"In that case, can't the auction house's idea be done?" Mr. You interjected.

Li Wei took a sip of coffee and said, "No, there are other ways, even if it is not the first in the market, it is not the leader, and it is a new market category." ”

He put down his coffee, "There is a famous question, a small boat and a big ship meet in the sea, there is a possibility of a battle, how can the small boat survive and defeat the other?

"Nature is different. Mr. You said.

Su Xiaoqi nodded.

He looked at the two of them and said, "I know, you will all say: you have to be different from the big ship, but the reality in the business world is that everyone is crowded into a mature field to compete. ”

"In this question, the small boat is the start-up, and the big ship is the giant in the industry. We usually like to use a kind of thinking to find a way - if someone else succeeds in doing so, I will be like him, but I work harder than him, better than him, faster and better, and this easiest path from the perspective of thinking is the most difficult from the point of view of the result. ”

She looked at Levi and said, "Then what should I do?"

"New market disruption strategies. Levi said, holding up an apple in his hand and saying, "First of all, look for the most suitable battlefield." In this market, it became the first to create a new category of markets. ”

"There are many cultural and artistic treasures in Russia, and there are many excellent works of art at the Paris Academy of Arts, and Russians are first and foremost interested in Russian art, and the works of the Russian diaspora are a blank field at the moment, so that we will not be on the same line as Subifus and Christie." ”

"Levi, what do you think of this?" she asked him.

"That's not a bad idea. ”

They just do it. Once you've made up your mind, making a plan that means going it alone in order to avoid attracting the attention of investors. Su Xiaoqi is responsible for all the work of searching and appraising artworks.

The first auction was held after March, with a total of 600 lots, but the situation was not ideal, and most of the customers who came here came to see the excitement.

Not even half of the auction was sold, with a loss of 600,000.

Mr. You knew the situation, and after he was busy with the business in hand, he came over to take a look and said, "After all, it is a new thing, and most people are not familiar with it." ”

"Xiaoqi, do you want to continue?"

She was silent for a moment and asked, "What do you think?"

Naturally, the reference is Levi.

He analyzed, "The traditional way to get in and occupy people's minds is money. One solution is the use of money by traditional companies to establish organizations for the production and provision of products and services, or to hold press conferences, participate in exhibitions, or advertise information. ”

But where are they going to get such a large sum of money?

It takes money to build such a propaganda campaign, and even if it is advertised on the Internet or through new media without using traditional methods, the operation of the company also requires expenses, and the upfront and post-stage expenses require money.

Su Xiaoqi is well aware of the current situation, Li Wei's non-local status cannot raise money in the bank here, and his credit has become a problem. Now it's time for her to step in, "If I need money, I'll borrow it." ”

She put down her cup and said, "I'm in charge of money and finding paintings." Levi, you're in charge of developing the marketing plan and gathering information. ”

Su Xiaoqi put a ring on her finger and went to visit a banker she knew on the street. Talking about borrowing money and repaying it was a strange task for her - it was usually a man's business, and she was supposed to be in charge of finding and selling paintings.

The young woman walked into the other party's office, sat down and said, "Sir, I want to borrow some money from you." ”

He sat down in his leather chair and laughed nonchalantly, "Baby, if you need a new outfit or something, I'll be happy to help......"

"I'm going to borrow 8 million. She leaned over to him.

The banker's smile disappeared and he coughed, "You're joking, aren't you?"

"No, sir. "We're planning an auction and we have a lot of valued guests who want to buy art from us, so you don't have to worry about not getting your investment back." ”

The banker frowned at her, "Miss, are you serious?"

"Genuine. ”

The banker shook his head, "You're asking me to lend you 8 million without any guarantees, it's impossible." ”

"You can have a mortgage on a property. She leaned forward, "Besides, we already have a pre-book, so you're safe." ”

The banker weighed her proposal and smiled, "You see, you are very bold, but I can't explain such a loan to my board of directors." ”

She debunked the lie with a smile, "I inquired that you don't have a board. ”

His gaze stayed on her chest, "Do you have a lover, and if you want a car, I'll be happy to help." ”

She turned the ring in her hand, "I am married, my husband graduated from the Faculty of Letters, and I am the chief writer of the Russian Morning News. ”

The banker began to get serious: "Then I'll tell you the truth, quit the auction business." ”

"What?"

"You don't have what it takes to harness it. The auction house, that's Sotheby's and Christie's' territory, not a place for women. ”

"Where should the woman go?"

"Why don't you do it a little easier?" he said, "like having your husband keep you?"

"You're saying that a woman should be pregnant, huddled in the kitchen all day, barefoot in the bedroom?"

He sat down in his chair and said, "Ma'am, your project is not a woman's game. A project of this scale is a men's game, and the women are at best able to play small games like collecting. ”

"I'm sorry sir, for the delay, goodbye!"

Su Xiaoqi left the office and went to the street to visit the bank one by one.

When she explained the idea to the manager of the first bank, he said in a cold tone: "With all due respect: this is traditionally Sotheby's and Christie's territory, and it is better to throw it away." ”

At the second bank, the manager said to her respectfully, "We will be happy to help you, miss." That idea won't work, though. ”

At the third bank, an investment manager sat on the couch in the lobby, who straightened up lazily and said to her, "Actually, Miss, I have a plan." ”

"Excuse me?"

"How much liquidity do you have now?"

"Two million. ”

"Two million can do a lot of things, if you know how to use it. He looked at his watch, "I have an appointment soon, I wonder if I can invite you to lunch and talk about it while we eat?"

"Of course you can, that's fine. ”

"How about a car pick you up later?"

"Okay. ”

He picked her up in a punctual drive and headed to a seaside restaurant.

The two sat down at the table, and Su Xiaoqi said, "Thank you very much." Frankly, what courage you gave me. ”

"No thanks," said the man as he sat in his seat, "you know, we can work together and make a lot of money." ”

"We?"

He hooked up, his expression excited, his eyes rolling, "Yes, baby, I'm glad you came to me, you can open a brothel in this city, I'm sure no one makes more money than us!"

"What did you say?"

"Look, our customers like to girls with high accents, so why don't we get together seven or eight girls and start training to provide unique ...... We'll ......."

Su Xiaoqi stood up suddenly, almost splashed him with wine, and left with his sleeves.

Walking to the street, Su Xiaoqi looked at the pedestrians, the bank she had just visited was not interested in setting up such an auction house, Mo Fei was not enough for them?

Su Xiaoqi returned to the house and asked Li Wei about the situation, and he said to her, "I guessed the situation, unless there is a reliable guarantee, no bank is willing to lend to you, and the bank wants to see an intact negotiation partner." ”

After careful consideration, she reprepared and entered a commercial bank.

A manager at the front desk in the lobby saw her, walked over to her, and said, "Hello, Miss. A gentleman told me that if a girl with black hair and black eyes came here, he would tell her that there were some fish in her shop, and they all swam around, but the light blue one was gone, and it was with another fish, but somehow it went down the water to another place, and she didn't go back. He was worried about the fish because it always came in pairs. ”

"The gentleman said that if you agree, he would bring the fish. ”

When he said this to Su Xiaoqi again, she thought she had misheard, "Can you say it again?"

The other person replied: "It's a deep-sea fish, it never stops in the bay when it swims, and I don't know much about what he says." ”

The meaning of this was probably only understood by her, and she was startled, wait, Alan followed the jewelry clues to Russia so quickly? No, he wouldn't be here. Although the jewelry flowed out, the transaction process was confidential. What's more, her identity and resume file records have disappeared cleanly in this world...... He must not have been sure where she was, perhaps he had sought her, how he had found someone who had disappeared from the world, not to mention that he was engaged to Cathert.

She then smiled at him and said, "Sir, I don't quite understand what you mean, I don't open a fish shop, you must know that there are always so many girls with black hair and black eyes, are you mistaking me with whom?"

The manager bowed and said, "I'm sorry about that." ”

"It doesn't matter. She got up and went out the door and out into the street.

She came to an alleyway, looked at the window pane, and looked at her silhouette. Then she entered a women's salon on a busy street, where she instructed the barber to cut her hair short and perm it into a curl. Just as I was doing my hair, I overheard a conversation in the box next door.

“...... Tomorrow, Miss Artha Safina will stay at the hotel. ”

"She's going to go for a walk around the city, you don't know, she likes classicism in addition to fashion. ”

...... Artha Sana She pried open her memory and searched for information about the name, Artha is the music industry sweetie in the minds of Russians, she also has a father who is the governor of the Russian Altay region, her musical talent is extremely shocking, and the song "Solo" won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) with a global audience of 260 million, and this single sold a record in Russia's history.

She's going to have a chance encounter with Arsha Sana.

Su Xiaoqi went to the fashion house and Timo Fashion Boutique and asked the fashion designer to make her clothes, then went to Joseph Shoe Shop to look for shoes, and went to a designer clothing store to buy a cape. When she came out, even if someone had seen her recently, they might not be able to recognize her all at once.

The next day, at one o'clock in the afternoon, Su Xiaoqi came to the high-end music café under the hotel, and as expected, Artha appeared in the café, drinking coffee and reading a book. In Arsha. When Sana was about to leave, Su Xiaoqi got up and walked over, holding the same book in her hand.

She came to Artsha's side, "Wn, I happened to be reading this novel, Vadim Panov is undoubtedly one of the best Russian fiction writers, his language is simple, his insights are humorous, he can transform the originally crazy fantasy into a fantasy style, breathe life into those fantastical characters and scenes, and make each character come to life. ”

Arsha looked at the woman in front of her, smiled and said, "Yes, I think so too. ”

"Miss Arsha, I love that zimniy, I have heard your "Aegean Sea", as if in an ocean, the shadow of a sail sailing, standing a woman's ......" she recalled the music record about Artha she had read last night, many of which were written by Artsha.

Arsha listened, "Yes? That piece is written about a woman in the Aegean Sea who fell into the sea. ”

"I also like to listen to your "Carati", listening to your Carati, I seem to see the sound of cars and horses in the streets of the Middle Ages......"

"I am writing about the French aristocracy who walked the streets at night in the sixteenth century. ”

During the chat, she could see that Arsha's eyes were crooked and she was in a happy mood.

Su Xiaoqi talked with her for a while, and said, "Why don't we find a place to sit?"

They went to a fancy restaurant, where they sat down to eat and chat, from music to classics, in a very nice atmosphere.

Arsha said to her during the meal, "You didn't know I had a concert in London. Due to the fog, the airport was closed and they had to take us to the airport in Amsterdam by car. The gentleman in charge of the reception explained that they had chartered a small plane for us and that we could not bring luggage with musical instruments. Arrived in London just in time for the concert to begin. The band had to wear jeans and sneakers to perform on stage. ”

Su Xiaoqi then laughed and said, "I dare say that the audience likes that." ”

Within a few days, they had become friends.

One afternoon, over tea together, Arsha asked, "Didn't you want to invite me to a party?"

Su Xiaoqi smiled at her, "So you know? It seems that I don't have to hide the invitation on my body." She took out the invitation card and handed it to Arsha, "This is a tea party, and I will wait for you to come on the weekend." ”

A week later, an art appreciation tea party was held in the Victorian house, and the invited guests, all of whom were immersed in the artistic splendor of Russia's past, and a female guest, Artsha, who was known throughout Russia. Safina.

Su Xiaoqi received her personally, and the two entered the house together, and it was obvious that Artha liked this place very much, and she had a soft spot for Russian classical art.

"I really like the fireplace and the painting ......"

"It's a great idea to put ...... in the living room of every room."

"I must tell all my friends about this ......"

There was a little bit of an episode, and at four o'clock in the afternoon two men came to the house, one tall and one short, and the big ones looked very imposing. The little man is pale-skinned.

They said to Su Xiaoqi, who stepped forward: "Miss, the competition in business is fierce nowadays, and you can benefit from it with our help." Otherwise, something unfortunate will happen to you here?"

Su Xiaoqi asked, "What, sir, do you mean something will happen to the company that Mr. Larif Safin invested?" A muscular man stepped out from behind her, he raised his chin and looked at the two of them with contempt.

"Who do you think you are? Understand that Larif Sassen has been in business for so many years, not because every time a bastard reaches out to him for money. ”

The meaning of his words is obvious - Larif Sassen is a big boss in Russia, a powerful man, and he is not at the mercy of others, not to mention that standing in front of them is a Siberian boxing champion.

Ten minutes later, Su Xiaoqi walked up the stairs to the third floor, where Artha Sana was sitting in front of a white piano.

"Are those two gone?"

"Yes. She whispered, "Arsha, thank you." ”

Arsha got up from her seat and said before leaving: "I will stay in Russia for a while, and then go to Europe, I like it here, I don't like people to make trouble, if they come back on Saturday, I will lend you Britt for a few days." ”

Yes, Arsha Sana's father was a rich and powerful man, and he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money for his daughter to help her reach the pinnacle of the entertainment industry, and her daughter Arsha's fame was once part of his grand plan for the business kingdom.

In just two weeks, they sold more than 150 paintings. After Artha Sana came, Dugardfeld set up an auction in Russia, which was even more successful than expected, although the first auction was not ideal, and then the development of Qiē was smooth, and the Russians were very interested in Russian art, and every sale was full, all the works of art were auctioned at a good price, and bank loans were quickly applied.

After reading the accounting statement, in addition to the balance to repay each installment of debts, Su Xiaoqi still had more than enough funds for the purchase of the second batch of artworks, and suddenly remembered that Dugar Fell Company was originally established to repay debts, and they are not far from this goal now.

"Levi, would you like to join me after paying off your debts?" she asked, looking at the account books.

"How about being my partner in five years?"

He finally looked up from the information in his hand and looked at her intently, "I'm in the same boat with you. ”

Su Xiaoqi looked back at him and said excitedly: "Li Wei, great! You and I will create a better future together, there are so many excellent works of art in this world that are unknown, we want to bring these masterpieces back to the world." ”

She got busy, looking through the images and catalogs of the artworks, contacting Russian expatriate artists and Parisian collectors, and after answering a phone call, she said to Levy, "I'm going to Paris tomorrow." ”

"I'll leave it to you. ”

Mr. You came to their office and was amazed at the booming sales during this time.

"Where's Xiaoqi?" Mr. You looked around, but didn't see Su Xiaoqi's shadow.

"In order to solve the problem of supply, she went to Paris to meet with the expatriate painters of the Paris School of Fine Arts and several collectors. ”

Since the boom, Su Xiaoqi has traveled to Paris and other places in search of fine artworks, and some have acquired works from art collectors and painters.

Paris, France

Su Xiaoqi went to visit a Parisian collector living in the suburbs as agreed on this day, and when she passed by a store, she saw a pair of shoes in a glass window. Maybe every woman has a dream pair of shoes in her mind, wear them and walk on a different stage. It seems that I realized that I have never owned such a beautiful pair of shoes.

Only, where is the person who admired her in these shoes?

Maybe he is by the side of another woman at the moment, Catherine is more like a real queen, when she was young, she always thought that love would definitely cross a difficult and blocking, who knew love, she had no power. At that time, she thought that she should find a romantic and decent opportunity to meet again, so as to be worthy of every moment of their fall since they fell in love.

What was it that she didn't leave in the first place? Just as she longed for something unique in her life at the moment, and didn't want to give it to anyone else.

She said to the clerk, "I'm going to see these shoes." ”

After trying it on, the clerk said, "Miss, it doesn't match your size." Sorry, you can check out the other Fendi store in Paris, which is the address. ”

But for her, it was love at first sight. She was reluctant to leave, and instead of going to another store in Paris, she bought the pair.

Suddenly it was pouring rain from the sky, and when she hurried to the agreed address, she was exhausted, exhausted, and hungry, but she was still a step too late. When she entered the door, she thought to herself, what if there were things in her life that were doomed to the end, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get results.

The Parisian collector who had made an appointment to meet him, he glanced at her and said nonchalantly: "You know, I have already promised this painting to a competitor!"

In her old temper, she should have said to him, "Then why did you let me go all the way to this remote outskirts of the city?"

But luckily, she didn't do that, but looked at him and said, "Well, since you've promised someone else, there's nothing I can do." But I bought myself these beautiful shoes, and you want me to show them to you?"

He looked at the young woman, "Please come in and sit!"

Sitting down in the house, the two talked a lot, "These paintings were left by my grandfather. ”

"Speaking of ballet, my grandmother made clothes for the Diaghilev Ballet. ”

They talked for a long, long time. "It turns out that your grandmother worked as a tailor for the Diaghilev Ballet. My maternal great-grandfather made a batch of them there, and they left a deep impression on the world with their bold designs and colors. ”

Before leaving, he gave her the painting, as well as sixteen sketches of his grandmother's costumes for the Russian season.

She suddenly realized that since then, many important meetings have only been met with people in those shoes.

Until one day, Dugardfeld could not be surpassed, and after a lot of things, she knew more firmly: it was it that helped her.

The auction in Russia had been doing well, and they were working in the Victorian house, and Levi had studied the last two quarters' reports and decided that it was time for Dugardfield to enter London, and he told Su Xiaoqi of the proposed plan.

"Xiaoqi, what do you think?" asked Levi for her opinion.

Su Xiaoqi had no objection and nodded, "I completely agree." ”

Li Wei said: "The first thing to be done now is to form a team. Get the best lawyers, and find a good management team. Then find out who people are used as managers in companies like Christie, and see if you can find a way to poach some people. We also need to find someone who is responsible for gathering market intelligence. ”

You Shi'an came to them and was shocked when he heard that they had decided to move Dugardfield to London, England, "I don't appreciate this kind of thinking. ”

He said bluntly, "Maybe you know Wall Street, but you don't know London, it's a different city, it's not ordinary, and I don't know it." London is a financial centre. Xiaoqi, you ......"

That's what people say to us. Levi flipped through a page of the English report and said, "Art is the same thing, it's the same as finance – whether you're in London, New York or Tokyo, the rules are the same." ”

He closed his laptop and said: "Xiaoqi and I have the same goal - from the day the Dugardefel auction house was founded, Dugardefel should be open to the world, we want to make the Dugardfeld name printed in the blue sky of London, New York, and Tokyo, we want to build an auction center in London, these are the things our team wants, we should move to London, England." ”

Su Xiaoqi raised her head from the text in her hand, saw his shocked expression, blinked and said, "Mr. You, I fully agree with Levi's plan, the art market in Russia is emerging, and the rise of the global network will build a new business order." ”

"We are based in London and have access to the European market and our global network to attract more professionals and appraisers from the United States, Japan, Russia...... Professionalism will be stronger. ”

London, United Kingdom

They finally managed to complete the whole voyage for dozens of hours, and by the time they arrived in London, it was very cold and drizzling. The British don't use umbrellas when it rains, and only do it when it snows, because the rain here is generally very thin, and the east, west, south and north winds blow together, but the snow can be overwhelming, and it will definitely make people ice in 5 minutes.

When Su Xiaoqi got off the plane, she was thinly dressed, only a white fluffy scarf, and she wrapped herself in a scarf, which was strange to the secretary who came to pick up the plane, because only Muslims do this in Great Britain.

Passing by St. Paul's Cathedral, they stopped by the statue of the deity and began to pay attention to English sketches, the church was covered with a huge dome, and the sculptures and frescoes were of unprecedented beauty in the seventeenth century, when the Baroque style was prevalent.

The company's business is booming, and before they came to the UK, the advance staff had already selected the address of the office space, and the personnel working in the UK continued to be in place.

The daily British breakfast includes toast, bacon pan-fried, grilled sausages, fried eggs and soybeans in ketchup. But I couldn't stand it when I got up at 6:00 a.m. every morning to eat such salty meat, so they improved it into toast slices, buttered honey and microwave-heated milk, adding some crispy corn chips, and sometimes eating bread slices and tofu with sauce as steamed buns.

In the morning, Su Xiaoqi and Li Wei came to the company, and as soon as they entered the office, they saw a room full of scenes of literature flying in the sky. The secretary came in advance and asked her what she wanted to drink during the break, tea or coffee, sugar or anything like that. Then by the time we got to that lounge, the drinks were already steaming hot.

On the wall of the company's kitchenette is a piece of paper with a list of all the staff and their drinking preferences, which reads as follows:

(2 scoops of black coffee)

amilk (tea with milk)

RteamilkSugar (tea with milk and sugar)

......

Everyone in the office is working hard, some of them have to immerse themselves in their own world to create zào value, and some of them have to take a step back to participate in the outside world. The introverted Mr. Stekin values the work and the numbers more than the people, and does not want to waste time dealing with interpersonal disputes or paying attention to the minutiae, but focuses on everything to be perfect. The outward-looking Mr. Mars values people more than numbers, and it takes a lot of time for Su Xiaoqi and Levi to find someone, and he can do it with a phone call.

The one who manages the company's finances won't be the loudest person in the room, but he's very good at researching information and numbers and making decisions after careful consideration.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, when Su Xiaoqi arrived at the company, she was sitting in her office, and a person came in and said to her, "There is a count at the door, and he says he has paintings by Goncharovsky, Serebryakova, and a three-meter-long painting by Makovsky." ”

"What? a three-meter-long painting by Makovsky?" she immediately looked up and shouted, "Chase!"

The assistant was stunned, he turned his head: "Katerina, he is wearing handmade clothes!"

Su Xiaoqi was speechless, "What are you talking about? Did you hear me? Chase the earl!"

The whole office had gone out to chase the Earl, but the Count was gone, and he had been at the door for a short time, leaving only a disk.

The company staff took it to Su Xiaoqi, who put the disk in her laptop and opened it to see Makovsky's "Murder of Pseudo-Dmitry" -- a very brilliant oil painting, from the point of view of photography, a three-meter-long oil painting.

Su Xiaoqi immediately broke into the office of the manager in charge of collecting market information, "Check the Earl's information." ”

They looked it up on the computer and said, "Earl comes from a family of collectors and connoisseurs in New York, and lives on the fifth floor of a building on Fifth Avenue......"

National Museum, UK

As a public museum, it is open to all "studious and inquisitive people" free of charge.

In the circular reading room, Su Xiaoqi picked a book from the bookshelf, flipped through it for a while, someone in front of the bookshelf on her side made a rustling sound, her eyes swept over, and she saw the man behind her, he was a polite person, wearing a pair of black glasses.

"Excuse me, is it Mr. Milton?"

The man with big black-rimmed glasses who was buried in his book heard this, then raised his head and looked at the young woman on the side of the bookshelf, "What's the matter?"

The young woman said: "There are some manuscripts, and I would like to ask Mr. Kent III to write a comment. ”

He rubbed his fingers across his brow and asked, "Well, what manuscript is it?"

Su Xiaoqi handed the young man a notebook, the man flipped through it roughly, raised his eyebrows, and said in surprise: "Novels about Russia? You also like to study Russian culture?"

He read a few pages and said, "Yes, the cultural differences between Russians and Jews can be seen in this, and even if there is any dispute, the expression is not the same......"

After reading it, I pulled out a Parker pen and wrote a few comments on it.

"Thank you for your comment, I wonder if I can invite you to the Jazz Restaurant?"

She and he went to a restaurant, not a traditional British restaurant, the British three meals a day is probably the most boring meal in the world, everyone said that the food in any country is better than the British food, young people do not necessarily like the food here, they originally came from a family in New York.

"The lunch was fantastic," he praised, "and it was all my favorite dishes, thank you very much." ”

She smiled, "I'm glad you're satisfied." ”

The man cupped his glasses with his fingers, "Actually, you don't have to bother with entertaining me so much. ”

"It doesn't bother at all," Su Xiaoqi said with a smile, "My father said that if you want to touch a man's heart, you must first touch his stomach." ”

"So, you're trying to touch my heart before we start talking?"

"Exactly. She smiled.

He lifted his glasses, "Since we're here together, let's go see the Royal Botanic Gardens!"