"If there's any bad news, let's just tell it together." Sir Brown looked at Halaifi and said slowly.

"Hmm...... Do sales statistics count? ”

Al-Khelaifi opened the title page of The Little Prince and pulled out a note: "I just called a friend in the publishing industry and got its first-week sales figures. ”

"How many copies are expected to be sold, 20,000 copies? 30,000 copies? ”

The chairman already had a bad psychological premonition and unfolded the note in his hand.

"It's hard to say because the first week isn't over yet, but I think it should be more than that."

Sir Brown stared at the data on the note, falling silent.

[Day 1: 12296 copies]

[Day 2: 7531 copies]

[Day 3: 6212 copies]

[Day 4: 6197 copies]

[Day 5: 5621 copies]

[Total: 37,857 copies]

"Nearly 40,000 copies were sold in the first five days, which should have set a new record for the best-selling fairy tale book in history. And that's just the sales in the UK. ”

Hlaifi's cheeks twitched: "Otherwise, why would I meet you in person to talk to you in person?" We may have gotten the strategy a little wrong, and we should have done cold treatment. Many readers are curious, and various online discussions are like free pre-promotion of the book before it goes on sale. ”

"There's no point in talking about that now."

From the shareholders' meeting, the moment Anna took "The Little Prince" out of her handbag, she didn't give him a chance to treat it coldly.

Sir Brown crumpled the note into a ball and threw it into the saucer on the other side.

He pondered for a moment: "We should see a more optimistic side, our propaganda is still effective, after the initial public opinion was released, and now the daily sales of "The Little Prince" have fallen by 60%. ”

"The sale is so hot, it really exceeds everyone's original expectations. However, things are still under control, at least the public opinion of the mainstream art criticism is under our control. Hleifi shareholders, you're right, we should now put out the fire and cut the fire. ”

"Cut the relationship between sales success and illustrators. Let's find a way to cut the relationship between this matter and the "Oil Painting" magazine. Don't let the trend of equating the success of this fairy tale book with the misjudgment of the magazine in the field of public opinion. ”

Good politicians can advance and retreat.

Sir Brown's mind has calmed down.

Now that the objective fact that the sales of "The Little Prince" were very successful have emerged.

The top priority now is not to continue the attack of the head iron, and the people who buy the new version of "The Little Prince" are all turtles, which will arouse the rebellious psychology of readers.

He had to find a way to deduct the detective cat from the honor of "The Little Prince" sales, and by the way, get the magazine out of this unfavorable topic battlefield.

Mainstream public opinion is still in their own hands for a day, and it is not difficult to accomplish this.

The rhetoric is ready-made.

If sales could easily be equated with artistry, then the most artistic magazine in the world would not be "Oil Painting", but "Playboy".

Wait for the limelight of this matter to pass.

He, Sir Brown, had 10,000 ways to clean up that detective cat.

"I'm afraid it's not as easy as you think. My friend, you haven't read the newspaper lately. There are already some bad voices in the mainstream media. ”

The American shareholder frowned and quietly reminded in a small voice.

"Which magazine is going against us! If you want to rely on a detective cat to sing against the dignified "Oil Painting", I'm afraid it's a little too anxious. Sir Brown was furious.

Everyone thinks that he, the "Pope of Art", is easy to bully.

Oil Painting magazine is the newspaper boss with no rival in the field of art criticism.

In terms of gold content, the other nine magazines in the top ten can be added together to kill them all.

Dare to stab yourself with a knife at such a moment, I just don't know how to write dead words.

"Not an art criticism magazine. It's a financial magazine, do you subscribe to The Economic Critic or The Economic Critic Business Review? Even CNN in the United States quoted their articles in the news session this morning. You should probably really take a look. ”

"This kind of heat is not something we can suppress."

With a gloomy face, Sir Brown picked up the landline telephone at the table and said a few words.

Immediately, a clerk walked into his office with a set of newspapers.

In order to keep up with the high-net-worth readers, the staff common room of Oil Painting magazine subscribes to various mainstream European newspapers.

It only takes a few minutes to deliver a copy of a leading financial newspaper like The Economic Commentator.

On the cover of the newspaper is a huge cartoon that occupies the entire page.

It was a golden balance with the word "oil painting" written on it.

On the tray at one end of the scale stood a large group of old white-bearded men, accompanied by a dialogue prompt that read: "Miss Elena, you are wrong! ”

On the other side of the scale, there was only a lonely little girl in a wheelchair, and the statement on the dialog box read: "Look me in the eye and tell me that the detective cat is a terrible painter." Please, you people really know art! ”

The scales were now tilting in the direction of a large group of white-bearded old men.

But the little girl in the wheelchair was beside her, and there was a weight, which looked very heavy, and it was about to fall from the sky.

The weight bears the title of "The Little Prince" and the tagline "First Week Sales: More than 40K".

The Economic Critic also gave its cover cartoon a quote - [Front page headline: The long-established oil painting magazine is about to set up its own private art fund, but before the rich people rush to call their personal financial assistants to prepare for the transfer, you might as well take a look at this interesting illustration battle.] 】

Sir Brown flipped the first page of the newspaper.

The Economic Critic is a long news commentary that occupies two pages.

It details the causes and consequences of the great overhaul of Oil Painting magazine, as well as the dispute between the two sides at the shareholders' meeting about the artistic level of the detective cat.

Judging from the theme of the whole article, the newspaper actually did not have a very sensational look at the rumored "oil painting fund" that was about to take shape.

Like all major financial analysts.

The Economics Critic is similarly cautious and positive.

It's just that the text always feels a little yin and yang weird when it reads.

How to describe it.

It's like reading an editorial in a newspaper with a green environmentalist view about Saudi Aramco's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.

Obviously, the whole article is praising you, and some strange words always come up to stab you.

As for the long-term trend of the magazine's reform, the "Economic Critic" even gave a more pessimistic negative attitude - [In June 1637, a tulip in Amsterdam called the 'Forever Purple Emperor' was sold for 30,000 Dutch gold coins. That's the equivalent of the price of a sail warship, a coastal estate, and forty horses. 】

[And the speculators who are gradually selling red eyes in the trading market do not know.] At this time, there are less than 100 days left before the famous 'Tulip Crash Night' in history. The commercial transformation of the oil painting magazine, also led by Sir Joss Brown, a Dutchman, is uncertain whether it can learn the lessons of its predecessors. Let's listen to this newspaper's exclusive interview with Anna Elena, a descendant of the founder of Oil Painting Magazine and a former member of the board of directors——]

Reporter: "Unbelievable, Ms. Elena, from the conversation just now, I can hear your pessimism about the future of the oil painting fund. This is almost the exact opposite attitude of the investment group in the market who can't wait to join this financial feast. And at this moment, you are still the largest private shareholder of the entire magazine. Outsiders are unanimously optimistic that my family members say bad things about themselves, which is really a strange thing that I have never seen in my entire interview career! ”

Ms. Yelena: "The objective truth is that I'm the one who was swept off the board because of my dissenting opinions, and I'm not shy about that. It is impossible for a magazine to publish art reviews impartially and play money games in the financial markets for investors. ”

"The simplest true/false question, if you tell the truth, can mean a loss. So how to choose? You can only choose one of the two between artistic responsibility and profit. In the matter of the detective cat, the magazine made a decision that made me feel ashamed. It's my honor to be suspended for this. ”

Reporter: "Detective cat, detective cat again." Ms. Elena, you have repeatedly mentioned the name Detective Cat in your previous conversations, and you have taken the removal of the African female painter from the magazine as a landmark event of the departure of the magazine founded by your ancestors from its artistic responsibilities. ”

"IMHO, no offense, but art does not have a systematic standard of judgment. Is there a possibility that the shareholders of Oil Painting Magazine are right and you are the wrong one when it comes to detective cats? ”

Ms. Elena: "There is no universal standard for evaluating art, but it is analogous to the familiar case law. You can pay attention to Professor Boggs's work. He is a knife painter with a three-star rating in the Oil Painting Magazine's Buyer's Guide. ”

"I don't mean to say here that Professor Boggs's work is crude, because he is an extremely good expert in knife painting, and the comparison of his works shows the excellence of the detective cat. An easier way to do this is that Professor Boggs once gave Disney a book of fairy tale illustrations. ”

"I believe that it will not take much time to distinguish the difference between the word-of-mouth of the two sets of illustrations, both in terms of reader reviews and sales. Of course, there are also those who can say that artistic attainment cannot be measured by the simple amount of money sold, right? ”

Reporter: "Oh, ma'am, you've already said what I want to say. Is there anything wrong with this view? ”

Ms. Elena: "On the contrary, there is no mistake at all. I myself am a holder of such a view. At some point, money is an outward expression of artistic value, but artistic value cannot be directly linked to money. ”

So back to the topic we had at the beginning. The fact that a magazine that believes that art has nothing to do with money leads a for-profit private equity fund, and from beginning to end, there is an incomprehensible black humor. ”

“……”

Sir Brown didn't want to read any more.

He underestimated Anna.

The chairman himself is a person who is good at playing with public opinion and controlling the media.

But his opponent is the heir of the Elena family, and Anna is not the kind of second ancestor who only cries his nose or shows a smirk in front of reporters.

She is equally good at dealing with the media.

Miss Elena avoided Sir Brown's dominant art criticism circles and chose an equally influential financial newspaper for an exclusive interview.

Long before she had the idea of wanting to cut this thing apart, Anna had already done it.

In media interviews, she turned the Detective Cat incident into a key point in the wrestling between the Elena family and the management of the painting, like the military flags fought over by the two sides of the battle.

The corners of the newspaper were pinched out by the fingers with a few small holes.

"Hey, Sir Brown, I know you must be tempted to tear up this newspaper by now. Believe me, when I read this report, I definitely didn't feel much better than you do now. ”

Hleifi sighed: "But I have to advise you to read it with your nose pinched, at least the last verse." I have to say, I'm afraid, that's the worst part of this story. ”

"40,000 copies sold in the first week. What could be worse, even if you tell me that "The Little Prince" topped the sales charts this week, it won't make me feel worse. ”

Sir Brown shrugged helplessly.

As the old gentleman spoke, his eyes swept over the paragraph at the end of the newspaper.

【…… Many readers may have been impressed by the supposedly real corporate video of the Scholastic Group's Easter Book Season on YouTube, TikTok, TV or the subway station. Many people already know that the book that makes the crying little girl smile is the new version of "The Little Prince". However, in addition to the general reader, scientists from King's College London and the ASD (Autism Medicine Acronym) Trust Research Foundation were attracted to the attention of the advertising campaign. 】

Since the concept of "art therapy" was proposed in the 30s of the last century, the early intellectual intervention combining painting and music has been one of the most commonly used treatment options in the field of autism research. 】

[Scientists have been pinning their hopes on finding a work that can enter the hearts of children with autism and become a link between autistic children and the outside world. The effect of the illustration of the detective cat in the advertisement has attracted the attention of researchers. 】

[Please note that based on the ethics of a news outlet, we cannot advocate that a new treatment works or doesn't work without being taken seriously by an authority such as the FDA.] However, according to the telephone consultation, the Scholastic Group has donated 1,500 fairy tale books to King's College for auxiliary research. 】

[May the child recover soon!] 】

"Can this guy's painting also cure autism? What the hell is that? ”

With Sir Brown's self-cultivation, he couldn't help but curse a very ugly swear word.

What is this?

God is going to be against him?

(End of chapter)