Princess Caroline invited everyone to her Château in Bordeaux for Christmas Eve Christmas Eve dinner. ”

After Gu Biao looked at the mobile phone, he hung up the phone and relayed it to the female friends around him.

The "brick" in his hand weighed two pounds, and it was very compact.

Americans had 1G mobile phones last year, and they began to gradually deploy the network in big cities. And the French are also relatively avant-garde and advanced in this regard, only a year behind the Americans, and began to introduce them at the beginning of this year.

Because of the small land and the rapid progress of construction, in just one year, the urban areas of the five core cities of Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux have been covered by signals.

It can be said that the French are the second echelon of the world's big countries to introduce mobile phones. In contrast, when Gu Biao was in Xiangjiang, he couldn't use his mobile phone if he wanted to, so he could only arrange servants to take care of the house in various residences, and then rely on the mobile phone in the car to ensure that he could be found by his partners at any time.

However, France was not a vassal of the Americans as Ben said, so the French retained a certain degree of autonomy while actively introducing it.

It is mainly due to the French communication giant Alcatel and Motorola to reach a certain distribution negotiation, basically "market for technology", in order to allow Motorola to rapidly expand the French market at the same time, to license certain technologies to Alcatel for common use, can be authorized by Alcatel to localize production.

There is nothing to dwell on in the specifics.

The reason why Gu Biao is so clear about the details is because when he was studying for a doctorate at Kissinger, Patrick, a fellow classmate, was the majority shareholder of Alcatel at home. It is not surprising that a well-connected guy like Gu Biao has connections everywhere and is well-informed.

(This Patrick senior doesn't have any roles, and here is just a casual mention that Gu Biao has connections in this area.) This supporting role was not deliberately designed by me, because historically, among the graduate students that Kissinger took at the Wales Diplomatic College, there were indeed people from a certain Alcatel executive/major shareholder family. ）

……

Regarding the invitation accepted by Gu Biao, the girls around him naturally had no opinion.

"You have the final say, you decide. Mina agreed indifferently, and her thoughts quickly drifted to the other women's concerns,

"But if you're going to let me dine with the royal family of Monaco, I'm not going to wear anything that has anything to do with a tattered brand like 'Hermes'! ”

When Hermes came to Mina's mouth, it became "that kind of tatters", if outsiders who don't know the truth hear it, they will definitely misunderstand what kind of tyrant sister Mina is.

However, insiders know what kind of insistence this is - Hermes is too groveling for a brand to be customized by the Monaco royal family, the previous generation has Princess Kelly's custom model, and this generation has Princess Caroline's custom model.

Many of the Hermes that Gu Biao originally sent to Ye Su and Xiao Sui were customized by the Monaco royal family.

When this kind of thing is worn outside to party with other people, it is naturally more face-saving. But when I came back to eat, drink and party with the Monegasque royal family, I made a little profit.

Gu Biao, a person who pities the fragrance and cherishes the jade, can completely figure out his thoughts, so he said generously: "It's all up to you, as long as you can report it, I will give it to you." ”

"You don't have to worry about wood! you're a big man who knows a lot about women's clothes and jewelry. Mina smiled proudly, "I'll wear my own clothes and bring some antique jewelry from the Romanov era with history, no brand." ”

Gu Wei smiled and took Mina into his arms and asked, "Where did you get the antiquities from the Romanov Dynasty?" I remember when you were at the Foreign Affairs Academy, you told me that your family's Lucian blood is not a big noble. ”

"I've been in the liquor business for the past two years, and they can't use it to pay off debts? In a place like Afghanistan, how many goods do you think can be settled in serious foreign exchange? Do the Lucia people have so much foreign exchange? They want more goods, but they can't get foreign exchange, so things that are obtained through various channels, or materials that are overconsumed on the front line and have disappeared from the accounts, will appear.

As for my family's lineage, please, the situation was not good a few years ago, who dared to tell the truth about their overseas relations? Do you dare to say what your grandfather and uncle did in Wanwan back then? Don't you dare. If you're still like that, my family will definitely say that my grandmother is a poor Lucia.

Even when the Republic of China was in the Republic of China, those white dews who came over were all 'real county lords, daughters of dukes and marquises', afraid of humiliating the lintel, and desperately saying that they were commoners. On the contrary, the daughters of those real commoners, especially those who do some things to steal their lives, in order to sell them at a good price in Shili Ocean Field or Ice City, they lie that they are the county lord and the duke's lady. I can't believe any of these things. ”

When Mina answered this question, her expression flashed with a hint of hard haggardness, but more of a pride in her ability to handle such a large field, and a slight sadness for the past. She couldn't help but light a thin lady's cigarette, as if thinking of some kind of difficult mediation,

"Sometimes I also think, in my business, unless the Lucian ban is revoked, there are really few merchants who can steal my sales—let's just say that some of the things that the Lucia people use to pay off their debts do not exist on the books, and you can change them to hold them in your hands, how can you realize them?

At this time, my sister had the advantage of being a commercial counselor in Iraq, and the Middle East had just gotten the over-consumed dew goods, and immediately had a big customer who could eat no matter how many supplies you had. You try it again, the channels on either side are not smooth enough, and the intermediate materials for repaying debts are smashed in your hands and you can't get out, and the capital chain is broken in minutes. ”

When Mina said the last sentence, she had a manly demeanor or two.

Gu Biao felt sour in his heart.

Such a soft and cute girl, so hard-working, so hard-working since the days of the Foreign Affairs Academy...... In the end, I actually had to mediate such a hard business in person.

"It's because I don't care about you enough, so don't personally maintain the relationship if you work hard in the future. We're still short of money. Gu Biao couldn't help but feel distressed and took Mina in his arms to pamper, care and caress him, purely spiritually, without any physical needs.

"Let's talk, I'll go and pack the things for the banquet first. Xiao Sui was also a little embarrassed, and at the same time felt a sense of frustration that had been crushed at the career level, and hurriedly made an excuse and walked away, not even bothering to listen to the corner.

Rao is that she and Mina are used to each other's existence, but when it comes to their respective careers, they must have a heart of comparison.

Gu Biao gave Xiao Sui an apologetic look, saw her go to the next door, and did not say anything to stay.

Mina eased her emotions, drank the Picardy champagne at hand, and quickly resumed her posture in front of people, and smiled: "The hardest time has passed, how can I stop now." I'll just complain and remember the bitterness.

Lucia's liquor business, I know best, can't last long. At most, two more years, maybe not enough to survive two winters. If Afghanistan drags on any longer, the situation will be eroded, and maybe he will admit that he will not fight. Lucia's ban on vodka brewing, sooner or later, will be relaxed.

Our road has been paved, so we will be a little busy every winter, maintain customer relationships, and change channels. I did the math, and then I gave the country another billion 800 million US dollars in foreign exchange, and let the national team earn 3 or 400 million US dollars in net profit, and I personally had a net profit of 50 or 60 million US dollars, and I will stop. ”

Mina's account has been calculated two years later, that is, in the winter of the end of '87 and early '88, and if things go well, she can still earn so much.

Of course, this winter's profits are not counted in the "fifty or sixty million dollars", and a considerable part of them have already been in her pocket, and after the New Year's Day holiday, this money can be used to buy consumer goods companies such as Kentucky fried chicken or California aromatic chicken.

Peterson's Blackstone Investment Fund has already done a good job of bargaining and finding a spare tire. Of course, Peterson will charge a 5 percent commission for the acquisition broker, or "financial services fee". That is, if Mina ends up spending $20 million on Kentucky, Peterson will get 1 million in commissions.

This is all a small business, and Peterson doesn't expect to make much money, it's completely for the sake of Gu Wei's face, half selling and half giving away multiple favors, and by the way, he proves the operation level and strength of the Blackstone Fund to Mina, a "new customer".

After all, just over a year ago, Peterson and Schwartzman also handled a more than one billion dollar Texas Instruments case for Gu Biao, and the principal was dozens of times larger than buying a Texas fried chicken.

It's a bit far. This is all something that will be faced after the year, and Gu Biao doesn't want to think about it for the time being.

So he pulled back the topic of aimless chit-chatter and stopped: "Since you have thought it all out, I will not interfere with you." I'll just say a word, I don't need you to grieve yourself for money. Of course, if you want to do something on your own, I will always support you. ”

When Mina heard this, she pecked Gu Biao's lips with tears in her eyes: "It's still my husband who loves me the most, don't talk about this, I'm going to be happy at Christmas - I decided, when I went to the banquet, I lied that I had a quarter of the noble blood of the Romanov dynasty, so I didn't drop the price in front of Princess Caroline." ”

"You little goblin who won't admit defeat!"

……

In the two days before the Christmas Eve banquet, Gu Biao was in Nantes with Mina, making some off-board social preparations, and spent it safely.

Mina cleaned herself up very decently, fully satisfying the elegance of the aristocratic ladies' party, and also helped Xiao Sui improve her taste by the way.

Early in the morning of the 24th, Gu Biao had his own extended version of the luxury car, carrying a group of people, going up the Loire River, watching the scenery all the way. Then I got on the highway again, drove for more than an hour, and arrived in Bordeaux -

Gu Biao's current status, in France and Monaco, he naturally has his own mansion and luxury car, which is needless to say. Anyway, it's similar to the Mercedes-Benz he drove in Xiangjiang, and these expenses within the millions of dollars are a waste of pen and ink when written in detail.

When I arrived in Bordeaux, it was not yet noon, and it was still a few minutes after 11 o'clock, so I was able to catch up for lunch at the castle that the Monaco people bought.

Bordeaux is the city with the most castles in the Middle Ages in France – note the castles, not the "wineries" that are often referred to in later rebirth texts.

A winery is a winery, a castle is a castle, although many estates around the castle will have a winery, but the winery is relatively easy to buy with money, and if you are qualified to count the castle, you have to trace it back to inherit or buy it from a certain earl.

An ancient nouveau riche who casually didn't have a title built a winery that looked like a castle was not qualified to be called a castle.

The castle of the Monaco royal family in Bordeaux is naturally a serious castle, although it is not the oldest, but at least it has been inherited from the marriage of the Grimaldi family as the Grand Duke of Lombardy more than 600 years ago. Located on the outskirts of the northeastern part of Bordeaux, on the banks of the River Dole, it doesn't even have a name.

At the same time, because the castle is not the base of the Monegasque royal family, it does not bear the coat of arms of the Grimaldi family. Outside the castle, there are large estates and vineyards that were once vassal domains (in modern times, of course, land ownership has been reconfirmed through sales and sales, and it can no longer rely on feudal vassals)

Looking at this posture, Xiao Sui was already a little stage frightened.

Gu Biao and Mina, with years of education in the diplomatic system, reactivated some dusty skills to ensure that they would not be rude.