Woof!

Barking!

Auguste, who was lying on the floor, seemed to feel the change in his master's emotions, and he jumped from the floor with a neat wheel.

Auguste stretched out his forepaws, his hind legs straightened, his brown back arched upwards like a drawn bow, and a fierce gurgling sound came from his throat.

The big dog is ready to attack like a true knight protecting the princess.

It was ready to pounce on the boy who had upset him on the calf at Miss Elena's command.

"Ahh Ole, Sister Anna, what's going on! ”

The actress subconsciously covered her mouth and exclaimed in a low voice.

She didn't understand why Anna suddenly recited a few lines from "Cleopatra", and the atmosphere became tense in an instant.

"It's alright, August, it's alright."

Miss Elena soothed her pet hound, and then said in a cold voice: "Mr. Ole, I have given you plenty of respect and patience today, now please let go of my hand, otherwise I will ask you to leave my house, and I am very serious." ”

"Master Kruger?"

The butler appeared like a ghost and patted Ole on the back.

After Anna told him to get the checkbook, she didn't ask him to leave. The butler, who also knew French, stood silently in the corner of the parlor, taking in everything that had just happened.

"This is a family affair between me and Anna's cousin. I grew up here, and even when my godmother was alive, she never kicked me away! ”

Ole was even more irritable.

With a wave of his hand, he wanted the man in the way to leave.

"Master Kruger?"

The butler grabbed his arm, and his white-gloved hand firmly controlled his arm like a pair of iron tongs, and then said again word by word: "Miss, please let go of your hand." ”

The hand was tightly held by the other party.

Ole's mind cleared up a little from his irritability.

He had known the butler for many years.

The butler and the master's personal servant, the maid, are the soul of the manor's servants.

Especially the former,

It is even half out of the category of servants, and in the traditional European-style family, it belongs to the position that no one who can take out a copper plate in the master's pocket will not cut them off.

This old gentleman-like man has worked on the manor for most of his life.

When Anna's aunt was still alive, the housekeeper's annual salary was already more than 500,000 euros, about the same as the independent directors of some small banks.

Even the daily medical expenses of the other party's family, the expenses of the children going abroad to go to college, and finding a desirable job are all paid and arranged by the Elena family.

What you want is a person who knows the roots.

With a generous salary comes loyalty, loyalty to the head of the Elena family.

Formerly a guardian loyal to Anna, now Miss Yelena herself.

In addition to Cousin Anna, the lord of the manor,

The duty of the butler is only to be polite and respectful to any other guests and family members, but not to obey any orders from the other party, even if he has been here a lot since childhood.

Looking at each other's serious looks,

Ole does not doubt that the butler has now finished showing the "politeness and respect" part.

He didn't let go, as long as Cousin Anna gave him a look, he didn't know that next time he wouldn't call him Young Master Kruger, but hit him with a knee on the waist.

This is the 21st century.

Times have changed.

The seven-rank official in front of the prime minister's door was replaced by more than a hundred years ago, and the personal butler of this kind of big aristocratic family was more majestic than some knights and barons in the countryside.

Not to mention asking his manservants to come and expel him from the manor, even if the master ordered him to shoot, they would not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Ole hesitated for two seconds, but finally let go of the hand that was holding Anna's wrist and sat back in his chair.

"Cousin Anna...... I'm doing it for you. ”

He raised his hands helplessly, "You are so angry that it makes no sense." ”

"Very well, then I'll act as if it didn't happen." Anna nodded, "Go back and convey greetings to Mr. Kruger for me." ”

"As for the other proposals, don't mention them in the future, I'm not interested, and neither is the Yelena family. Ole von Kruger, please listen, I have no intention of marrying you, not when I was a child, not now, not in the future. ”

There was a long, awkward silence in the air again.

Anna didn't speak, Ole didn't speak, and even the Springer Hound didn't move.

Only the dazed actress looked left and right between several people.

"Is that so?"

Ole slowly lowered his head, staring at his shiny upper.

He seemed to have completely torn off some knots in his heart, and said slowly: "This is really your style, cousin, 'I didn't have it when I was a child, I don't have it now, and I don't have it in the future' powerful and resolute, just like a judge giving a verdict, cutting off all my thoughts." Get me out of here. ”

Anna had prepared to leave the parlor with a cold attitude.

At this time I heard Ole's low and dejected voice,

She relented slightly.

Anna looked at her aunt's godson and shook her head: "Ole, I still welcome you to my home as a cousin......"

"Huh...... What a merciful statement. ”

Ole directly interrupted his cousin's words.

He shook his head and sneered, as if laughing at his own inadequacy.

"Cousin, you don't like me, in fact, you are not the only one."

"It's not that I don't look down on ......"

"Don't comfort me."

Ole waved his hand: "You know what? When I came on the plane, my father called me, and he thought I couldn't handle you. He said you were the real countess, and I was just a playboy. ”

Ole tilted his head, mimicking the mocking tone of the banker's voice: "Without money and the garb of family, Miss Elena is still a noble ladyess. And you—Ole, my son, you're just a little boy with a crying nose. ”

"How could Miss Elena's haughty horse be conquered by a weak and vain man like my son? Even with the finest fruit puree and egg white steamed concentrate in her hand, she would rather chew on the grass on the side of the road than look at you more. ”

"The proud horse...... The proud fiery horse is an extremely interesting metaphor in every way. The young man said hatefully, his tone so hard, with the annoyance of the rejection.

With Anna refusing to leave no room for manoeuvre,

Ole seems to have fallen into a state of broken jars, and he doesn't care about angering Miss Yelena beside him.

Gritted his teeth and muttered two sentences.

Then he raised his head and looked at Anna, who was looking at him with a blank face, and the corners of his mouth pulled a sneer or a mocking expression.

"Cousin, do you know what is the most interesting thing about this parable?"

Ann watched without saying a word, and this cousin gradually became more and more strange.

"My father said that there was a Prussian proverb that to make a horse go where you want. Instead of craving carrots and eggs for its mercy—"

Ole looked at his cousin.

At this time, he could no longer see the gentleness of the aristocratic boy on his face, but was a little hysterical and cold.

"—might as well be a trainer with ropes and spurs."

Anna's cheeks were still smooth and moist, but her expression was cold like a marble statue.

"Cousin Ole, the way you break down when you don't get what you want looks really ugly. Like a little boy with a crying nose, it seems that Mr. Kruger is at least half right. ”

Her tone remained calm: "I actually quite like the metaphor about horses. But if I'm really a fierce horse, you're not an animal trainer, but just a monkey jumping up and down because you can't get a banana. ”

The girl smiled absently.

"Spurs?"

"Your spurs aren't going to mean my Uncle Kara. Please, my aunt hardly had any contact with this younger brother during her lifetime. Even if you have a huge debt in your hands, you can use him to threaten me, are you making a mistake? ”

What [Yelena NFT Digital Collection Exchange], this kind of money-making thing does have a bad reputation.

However, anyone with a discerning eye knows what is going on.

Again

Anna herself also has a professional team of lawyers to deal with these issues.

There is a high probability that even if Uncle Carla really gets the money, it is extremely unlikely that this kind of "Li Ghost" exchange can really be opened.

"Oh God, don't get me wrong, how could it be Uncle Kara?"

Ole shrugged helplessly, and said in a strange tone, "Cousin." We all understand that Uncle Kara's garbage is at best used to disgust and disgust people. He didn't have to be on the stage at all, and the 100,000 euros I gave him were really just given casually, and I didn't even ask for an IOU. ”

"It's too whimsical to want to use him to blackmail you."

Anna was slightly confused, but she didn't speak.

Ole pulled out a folder from the dark brown Prada men's briefcase where he had placed Madame Lebrun's oil painting tube.

He pulled out one of the pieces of paper and handed it to Anna.

"Cousin, I wanted to tell you at a different time. After a while, we might be colleagues......"

His tone was mocking, with some arrogance, and he said in a weird manner: "Well, I hope your suspension is over by then." ”

Anna took the folded copy paper,

Unfold.

This is a copy of a letter of intent for equity transfer.

The general content is that the Austrian State Publishing Group agreed to transfer part of its shares in Oil Painting magazine to Kruger Brothers.

"You ...... Bought Oil Painting Magazine? ”

Looking at the words on it, Anna was silent for a few seconds and said softly.

"To be precise, we have acquired a 26% stake from the Austrian state publishing group, and together with the shares held by some miscellaneous minority shareholders, we should have about 30% of the shares, and the total cost of the acquisition is expected to be about 170 million euros."

Ole's tone was full of pride: "The main thing is to convince these guys to be willing to sell their shares, but in fact, it is not as expensive as the investment department imagined." In 17 years, Meletis Media Group bought Vogue magazine, and the total acquisition amount was about three billion dollars. In comparison, the Elena family's "Oil Painting" magazine is really much cheaper. ”

Anna still had no expression on her face.

But when she saw the letter of intent to acquire, her heart immediately turned upside down.

Anna's mind was racing towards the other party's purpose.

It is unbelievable that I didn't get any news in advance about such a large equity change.

But judging from Ole's smug facial expression,

She didn't feel like the other person was lying.

Serious art is certainly not as popular as fashion, and 170 million euros to buy 30% of the magazine's shares is already an astronomical amount.

It's no wonder that the Austrian National Publishing Group is willing to make a move......

Wrong

"Money shouldn't be the reason, at least not the only one." Anna thought to herself.

The sale of shares by such private magazines is more related to future development strategies.

Hundreds of years of development,

Oil Painting magazine has also merged several similar magazines, and Anna remains the largest private shareholder of the magazine, but her stake has been diluted to about 15.97%.

In addition to the Austrian State Publishing Group, the European Art Association and the three major shareholders of the Yelena family.

There are also some important members and directors of the association who also hold sporadic shares in the "Oil Painting" magazine.

This time, the Kruger Bank is like a big fish eating a small fish, and the acquisition of tens of millions of euros of shares from these directors is definitely not a small move.

And Anna, the largest private shareholder, didn't hear the news at all.

This was even more uneasy for Miss Elena than the very large purchase of shares by the Kruger Brothers.

It's like......

It seems that everyone is behind her back, secretly plotting something.

"Why didn't I get a notice from the board?"

Anna turned to ask her butler.

"Oh, I can answer this question, because at the moment we have only reached an intention to acquire, and it will take a few weeks to actually go through the legal procedures."

Ole waved his hand indifferently, with a victorious gesture that everything had already settled.

"I don't mind telling my cousin the inside scoop."

"The Austrian government's financial regulator has approved the sale of the stake in the National Publishing Group, and Sir Brown, acting as an agent of the European Fine Arts Association, will hold a board meeting in the middle of this month."

He snapped his fingers.

"Of course, Cousin Anna, you, the largest private shareholder, can choose to vote against it, but unfortunately under the EU Competitive Takeovers Act, you have no right to terminate the transaction unless you can persuade more than half of the shareholders to oppose it."

Ole smiled wickedly.

"As a friendly reminder, I don't recommend this to you, cousin. The Elena family may be good at art, but financial acquisition is our old business. If you find out in the board of directors that all the other shareholders have abandoned you, you are the only one who stubbornly says no. With your pride, this must be a very humiliating and embarrassing thing. I think you might as well abstain from attending. ”

"Hype about the Art Foundation? In the name of Oil Painting magazine? Mr. Kruger is convinced by this idea to the other shareholders and the national publishing house. ”

Anna quickly guessed what was going on.

She couldn't see Ole, her fingertips pinching the armrest of the wheelchair.

Anna had to work very hard to keep her voice calm and not let others hear her fear.

"Clever! She is worthy of the cousin I have admired since I was a child. ”

Ole snapped his fingers.

"Of course, we'd love to have this foundation in the name of Yelena, and if you're not happy, it sounds loud in the name of Oil Painting magazine.

As the most credible art appreciation and evaluation agency in the past 100 years. THIS GOLDEN SIGN IS LIKE THE "SCIENCE" OR "NATURE" OF ACADEMIA. I'm surprised that you haven't wanted to build on it for so many years and develop its financial value. It's all about raising a chicken that lays golden eggs, but just wants it to crow. ”

"Alas, it's too tyrannical." He feigned a sigh.

"Ole, I grieve for you and your father's shallowness. Have you ever wondered why Oil Painting magazine has such a strong credibility? It is because, from the moment it was founded, it was a pure and fair art evaluation magazine. ”

Anna looked up into Oller's cousin's eyes: "In the art market, you can choose to be a referee or a player. But you can't be a referee and a player at the same time. Just like "Oil Painting" magazine can't profit from the speculation of artworks while hypocritically pretending to be an objective and fair white lotus, it can evaluate the quality of each artist's level conclusively. ”

"Every golden egg it lays is stained with the tears of my ancestors." Anna said word by word: "This is the end of the fishing process." ”

"The end of the day? I prefer to call it the gateway to a new era. That's what all shareholders but you should think the same way. Sometimes cousin, your ideas are old-school and seem to have lived centuries ago. Look around, it's a new era, and maybe it's your cousin who needs to change your mindset. ”

"Don't ever think of making me promise this-"

"Then don't say yes, cousin, you're important in our plans, but the name Yelena isn't indispensable either. Since you're not interested in my proposal, you might be interested in knowing the following things, after all, you only care about art! ”

Ole smiled.

"Next month, at the International Congress of European Art in April, which will be held at the local art gallery in Gritz, would you be interested in giving a joint lecture with Sir Brown as a guest of honor?"

International European Art Annual Conference.

It is the most official large-scale art conference in Europe every year, and the magazine "Oil Painting" is naturally on the invitation list every year.

This year's annual meeting was held at the city's New Art Center.

"Oil Painting" magazine was allocated the most golden speaking slot, followed by Mr. Cao Xuan, a representative of Asian art, and Gerhard Richter, a living fossil artist.

The combined age of those two old men is not much less than the history of the founding of the United States.

Want to give your own presentation?

Anna remembers that there was no such link in the original schedule.

Chairman Brown should be the only one speaking on stage.

"A little bit of tweaking. After all, this year is a big day for Oil Painting magazine. The organizers are even willing to give you more, oh sorry, for now, to give us a few more minutes of Oil Painting magazine. Ole patted his forehead and handed the entire folder directly to Anna.

"This is Sir Brown's speech, cousin, you can prepare it beforehand."

Anna took the outline of her speech and flipped through the folders.

From Private Imprint to Public Perspective, From the Words of One Family to the Beauty of a Hundred Schools: A Review of the Century of Oil Painting Magazine

This is a short speech.

It is not known whether it was Sir Brown or his private secretary who drafted it.

The manuscript also professionally adds action notes between different paragraphs to remind the speaker how to combine it with his or her body language when speaking.

【…… The oil painting magazine was founded by the Yelena family in the seventies of the nineteenth century, and has a history of more than one hundred and fifty years. Over the past two decades, under the auspices of the European Art Association, the number of editions of the magazine "Oil Painting". In this era of shrinking paper publications, steady growth. (Action: Make a fist and show your strength!) And launched an e-journal and a web ......]

【…… This year, with the acquisition of Kruger Brothers Bank, our management has welcomed a new blood. (Pause to signal to the audience, the stage lights will illuminate the VIP seats, and the Kruger Bank representative will stand up and wave to everyone). In the future, Oil Painting magazine will analyze the trends and fashions of world art from a more diverse, neutral and objective perspective......]

【…… Looking back, the surname Elena was never absent from the management of the magazine, even if the family's words were not always true, but who told the ancestors to establish the magazine? (with a helpless smile). It's nothing, if I had this power, I would also like to pass on the position of chairman to my son, who unfortunately seems to be obsessed with becoming a sailor......]

【…… In any case, we still thank the Yelena family for their contribution to the creation of Oil Painting...... Let me introduce you to the beautiful Miss Anna Elena, who I think many of you have seen in Mr. Hyperion's video, and I personally disapprove of participating in such an unserious art selection that may mislead the public, but I would like to recognize her as really charming...... But you may not know how respectable she is (pause)......]

【…… The muscles in Miss Elena's right leg at birth...... Professionally accompanied by a team of nurses and a family doctor, she continues to exercise on her own every day, sometimes requiring a full day of physical training in a specially built recovery room on her estate...... When it comes to studying art, she was talented from an early age, and the surname Elena seems to have given her endless magic, and in less than two years she successfully graduated as an outstanding graduate of the Vienna Academy of Arts, where her great-grandfather was a trustee......

Anna bit her lip as she read it.

Anna knew that Sir Brown had always wanted to make Oil Painting magazine "Elena".

On the surface, this speech seems to be decent, but there is always a kind of yin and yang mockery of the Elena family and Anna herself.

In the speech, the contribution of the elders of the Elena family to the "Oil Painting" magazine was only briefly mentioned, and almost all the credit for the success of the magazine was taken on himself.

And the Elena family is described as an arrogant and powerful magnates.

For Anna,

Sir Brown seemed to be "kind" to praise her, but he always consciously or unconsciously described her as a delicate lady who did not eat minced meat in the big estate.

Reading it throughout, there is even more irony everywhere, as if all her success is based on taking shortcuts with the surname "Yelena", not her own efforts.

She's too young.

Sir Brown is clearly trying to bully Anna, and he has no time or opportunity to prove her vision to the public.

In the article, he also secretly poked and poked his dissatisfaction with Anna's appearance in Thomas's video as the editor of the oil painting magazine.

They didn't say it explicitly.

It's just a high-sounding tone that calls Anna's praise of the detective cat - "probably misleading to the public." ”

(End of chapter)