Chapter 809

Lots of finished products

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The four seasons on the Mediterranean coast are not distinct, but they are also distinct.

In the manor south of Rome, the spring sun is just right. After taking a nap, Simon is accompanying Sofia doing maternity yoga on the open lawn covered with blankets.

It's Friday, April 28th.

After an overnight stay in Rivne last night, Simon arrived in Rome this morning.

Five months into the pregnancy, as an older pregnant woman, Sophia has basically stopped working. She cares more about the two little guys in her belly than Simon. She went to Los Angeles during the last Oscars and returned again. I have been staying in this manor in the south of Rome. I eat, sleep, read, do prenatal education, and do yoga very regularly every day. I have regular pregnancy examinations, and I have a beautiful cow and cat. I recently liked flower arrangement. .

This is actually the most leisurely and carefree time for a woman to grow up so much.

"Yes, that's it, Mr. Westeros, slow down. Pregnant women tend to cramp easily. Oh, you're so gentle."

on the lawn.

Wearing a light pink tight-fitting sports suit, the hot yoga instructor instructed Simon to help Sophia perform a set of leg lifts. The exquisite and delicate body kneeling beside Simon came over intentionally or not, with a light fragrance and cool fingertips from time to time. Pressed on Simon's arm holding Sophia's calf, provocative.

After completing this set of movements, noticing that Sophia's forehead was oozing with fine sweat, Simon stopped and told the yoga instructor around him: "I'll be here today, you can go back first, Sophie and I will bask in the sun for a while."

Simon drove people directly, but the girl named Evelyn acted impeccably, stood up respectfully, and said, "I'll go and bring a glass of water to Mr. and Mrs."

When the girl was far away, Sophia sat up with a teasing smile on her lips: "I thought you wouldn't be able to bear it, and I plan to take a nap after yoga."

Simon helped Sophia move and sit next to him, feeling the warm sunshine in the spring together, and also smiled: "I'm not interested in women recently."

"Ah..." Sophia was puzzled for a moment, then suddenly, her smile became stronger: "That's enough fun, do you want to return to the family, it seems that I will be dumped by you soon, isn't it?"

"Of course not, the current state is the life I have dreamed of for two lifetimes. It's just, you know, people's minds are fickle."

Sophia thought about it sideways, and nodded quickly: "Well, I understand."

"Understand what?"

"Just like us women," Sophia laughed, "there are a few days every month."

Simon raised his right hand, which was holding the woman's other shoulder in a feigned anger, and flicked his fingers on her earlobe lightly. He laughed a few words, and then let the woman lie down, lying on her bulging belly and listening to the two little guys. The movement seemed to be a bit tired from practicing yoga with his mother, and the little guys didn't respond at all, probably because they fell asleep.

Evelyn brought water over, it was impossible to bask in the sun for too long, the two continued to stay in the warm sun for more than ten minutes, then got up and returned to the villa.

Coming to a living room on the first floor, Sophia instructed a waitress, and soon a cow cat that was just over three months old was brought over. Sophia's doting meowing was obviously not too much. The little guy who likes to be hugged put it on his lap and explained, "This is Luna, which Gemma gave me when she came to Rome last week, saying that she could accompany me on her behalf."

Saying so, there is obviously some resentment in his tone.

Simon picked up a document that Lady A had placed on the coffee table, opened it, and said, "It's very good, but why is it called Luna, this name is too big."

Luna, the ancient Roman god of the moon.

Sophia didn't care, and gently pressed the little guy who was about to run away: "Gemma named it, I think this name is good. Or, if you gave me a cat, what would it be called?"

Simon thought for a while and said, "Cat, it should be called Meow."

Sophia rolled her eyes at Simon: "A child is named like this. If a dog is to be named, will it be called Wang Wang?"

Simon nodded: "Of course."

Feeling that the little guy really didn't want to stay by her side, Sophia finally let it go and watched the little thing run out of the room, so she curiously looked at the document Simon was flipping through, knowing that she could be placed in the living room by a girl to let Simon relax. The readings were not important materials, so I asked, "What is this?"

Simon handed it directly.

Sophia took it, turned it over, and suddenly laughed again: "You bought a large piece of land in Africa, um, 150,000 acres?"

"Any questions?"

Sophia glanced at Simon like a fool, and her eyes fell back to the information in front of her: "Coffee plantations, tsk, are you sure that something like coffee can be grown in Africa now? Or, Angola, there seems to be a civil war in that place for decades. already."

Simon said: "In the 1970s, Angola was one of the most important coffee producers in the world, with an annual export volume of more than 200,000 tons of coffee beans."

"In the early 1970s, it should have been the colonial era," Sophia said, and asked, "What about now?"

Simon didn't hide it, and said, "In the past year, the figure was about 500 tons."

"..."

Years

The world's major coffee producing countries that exported 200,000 tons of coffee beans to 500 tons in 1994, this gap is a bit big.

The reason is actually very simple.

Before Angola declared independence in 1975, the country had been a Portuguese colony and domestic agricultural production was dominated by whites. After the independence, a large number of whites withdrew, and large swathes of coffee plantations in Angola were taken over by inefficient blacks, followed by two decades of civil war, the national economy completely collapsed, and the once prosperous coffee planting system also declined.

That's why, though, Simon was able to get 150,000 acres in a contract worth only $10 million.

You must know that this is a land of more than 600 square kilometers. The best coffee planting area in the past is not the virgin forest in Tasmania that basically cannot be developed by Simon and does not intend to be developed. Moreover, the $10 million weapons orders and consultant team contracts, the real cost of the Westeros system, is actually less than half, just $10 million on the book.

Although this coffee plantation area is almost in a state of abandonment, according to the recorded output of coffee plantations in Angola in the 1970s, this land can produce about 30,000 tons of coffee beans each year.

After a few years of operation, this coffee-growing area can harvest 10,000 tons of coffee beans every year, even if it only recovers one-third of its heyday.

The recent global price of coffee beans is about $1,100 per ton.

10,000 tons of coffee beans are produced every year, and the market price is 11 million US dollars. Obviously, ideally, in just one year, Simon will basically be able to recoup his investment in acquiring this land.

Of course, only the ideal state.

What is the situation in Africa, because of the many memories of the past, Simon is even clearer.

To put it bluntly, it just doesn't stick to the wall.

Coffee cultivation is very dependent on labor, because coffee beans are matured in batches, and it is difficult to pick them by machine. In coffee production around the world, labor costs basically account for more than half of the input.

Simon did not expect the coffee plantation to resume production with the support of local black labor in Angola from the beginning, even coffee bean picking, which is not too difficult for monkeys. Simon's plan is to focus on white people left over from the immigration era, and then hire a group of Ukrainian or Chinese overseas laborers, as well as a small number of local residents who are motivated to work.

What's more, Simon's fundamental purpose is not to make money by taking this land.

So, just don't let it go to waste all the time.

Sophia listened to Simon's general explanation, and realized that her doubts just now were completely superfluous. The man obviously had his own perfect ideas, and maybe there were some deep layouts that she didn't know. However, Sofia quickly added: "With the long-term turmoil in Africa, Angola exports only 500 tons of coffee a year. If you make a coffee plantation with an annual output of 10,000 tons, it will cost tens of millions of dollars a year, more than The income of many diamond mines is still rich, are you sure that they will not be taken away by those warlords?"

Simon said: "There is already a team that is sponsoring the children of some high-level government officials in Angola to study in the United States."

Sophia was puzzled: "Huh?"

Simon explained: "This is just the first step. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, African countries will basically stabilize because there is no major power game. As long as they get power, there will be no further changes for a long time in the future. My plan is to Fund these people in power to integrate with the United States, invite their children to study in the United States, invite their relatives to immigrate and settle in the United States, invite them to invest in wealth management in the United States after accumulating a certain amount of wealth, and gradually realize the bundling of interests. Imagine taking Angola For example, if the vested interests of this country, their wives and children are all in the United States, will these people dare to turn against me?"

Sophia was stunned, and then gave Simon another look: "I thought you would directly overthrow their government like in Rwanda."

"This is the most inferior way," Simon shook his head and changed into Chinese: "That's why a hundred victories in a hundred battles are not goodness of kindness. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the kindness of the good. , and then cut the Jiaotong, and then cut the troops, and then attack the city. The method of attacking the city is a last resort."

Sophia naturally didn't understand, but she listened very seriously, and finally asked, "What is this?"

Simon said, "Sun Tzu's Art of War."

"I know. I read it in college. A book full of wisdom. Which passage is this?"

Simon probably explained something.

Sophia understood, caressed her bulging belly, and said, "Read it to the babies again, they must like it very much."

Simon said, "Are you sure you're going to teach your children this now?"

"Of course, they are two Westeros, and they must be different."

Simon didn't refuse either. He simply posted it and read it from the beginning of "Sun Tzu's Art of War". Unfortunately, he didn't remember much, so it was soon converted to "Tao Te Ching".

Lao Tzu has five thousand words, and he has memorized it when he was a child, and he is very skilled.

Sophia has learned a little Chinese under the influence of Simon, and is far less thoughtful than Janet, so it is impossible to understand that her man has quietly replaced "Sun Tzu's Art of War" with "Tao Te Ching", but just smiled and listened, wondering if the twins sensed it. His father was stealing things and quickly started to make trouble. Simon had to stop and accompany the woman to appease the two restless little guys.

Also in Italy for three days.

In addition to accompanying Sophia, Simon also paid attention to another thing.

After the opening of Universal Studios Osaka, the negotiations between Daenerys Entertainment Group and the Italian government on the Universal Studios Europe project have come to an end. Although there has been no official announcement, the choice to build Universal Studios Europe near Rome is a certainty.

It is still kept secret for the time being, and a lot of smoke bombs have been released, just to avoid that after the news spreads, someone will encircle the land in advance to drive up the land price on the land where the studio may be built.

This has happened in the construction of many large theme park projects.

After the weekend, the time entered May 1995.

The beginning of this year's summer vacation should be regarded as starting from May 12. "Red Tide Storm" produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, directed by Tony Scott, and starring Denzel Washington, is similar to "The Hunt for Red October" "Submarine Warfare, produced by Disney, costing $53 million.

Simon doesn't have much memory of this film, and Disney chose to land on the beach on May 12. It can be predicted how the quality of the project will be.

The real super blockbuster this summer must be Daenerys Entertainment's "Jurassic Park 2" scheduled for June 2. Before "Jurassic Park 2", Simon paid more attention to only Daenerys Entertainment's two domestic box office films in the first half of the year that have exceeded or are expected to exceed 200 million US dollars, "This Man From Earth" and "Reverse Wisdom 3"

Because of these two dark horses at the box office, many films released in the first half of the year ended bleakly, including some other projects produced by Daenerys Entertainment.

Arrived in London on May 1, the plan is still 3 days.

The work here is mainly "The Conjuring 2".

Simon drew up the plot of "The Conjuring 2" with reference to the version in his memory, and the story still took place in London. However, he did not copy the original version. Since he was going to develop a horror film universe, Simon felt that in addition to the crossover of character images, some more continuous details should be added.

Therefore, during the preparation process of the "Conjuring 2" project, Simon wanted to let all the main creators watch the classic Hong Kong film "Mr. Zombie" in the 1980s several times.

Certainly not to add a comedic element to the Conjuring Cinematic Universe series.

In the "Conjuring" series in memory, Simon's most important perception is that it is too casual. The protagonist's process of subduing a ghost seems to be entirely based on luck, and the use of the cross and the Bible is also incoherent.

In comparison, Lin Daochang's ghost-hunting routine in "Mr. Zombie" is full of viewing pleasure.

Copper money swords, black donkey hooves, glutinous rice, yellow talismans... even influenced the ghost culture of the Chinese-speaking circle in the following decades, making many ordinary people feel that Taoism should be like this, and ghosts should be like this.

Therefore, Simon also hopes that the process of the two protagonists of hunting ghosts and catching ghosts can be as ritualistic as "Mr. Zombie", forming a set of process rules that can convince the audience, rather than shouting like a headless fly in a haunted house Yelling, holding a cross and ramming around like a chance.

In fact, before the opening of the two films last year, Simon had already had this idea.

However, since it is necessary to create a soul-conscious movie universe, it is obviously not a wise choice to do it all at once, so the opening chapter basically follows the script in memory.

In this way, a gradual growth can be maintained.

From the second part, add relevant elements.

Then, gradually mature.

Simon wants to make the Warrens step by step from rookie paranormal investigators to master ghost hunters, and form their own unique way of fighting ghosts.

Those who can make their mark in Hollywood are basically not stupid.

The main creative team has watched "Mr. Zombie" and did not need to be reminded. They quickly understood Simon's intention and began to implement it during the project preparation process. .

The first is to combine Western legends to make a clearer plan for the attributes of ghosts.

In terms of catching ghosts, traditional props such as crosses, bibles, holy water, garlic, and amulets are also more standardized, and are no longer used arbitrarily. The project team also discussed an idea that different chapters of the Bible could contain different ghosts, and it was applied in The Conjuring 2.

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