After Bill left, the butler came to Hardy with a tray in his hand with a letter on it.

"Mr. Hardy, a letter has just arrived."

Hardy was surprised that anyone would write to him.

I picked it up and took a look, and found that it was mailed by Victor from Hong Kong.

The letter was very thick, dozens of pages long. He took a look at it and thought it was more like Victor's recent performance report than a letter.

Although they could deliver messages via telegram, a lot of confidential information could not be known to outsiders, so Victor thought of using this most primitive and safest method.

In the letter, Victor gave a detailed account of his work in the past two months.

After arriving in Hong Kong, Victor first rented a storefront in the most prosperous district of Hong Kong. His explanation was that he had to establish the reputation of the Hardy Group. Hardy supported this very much, as sometimes face is very important.

Then we asked the consul at the consulate for help and invited some of Hong Kong's top political and business figures to attend the reception, which successfully opened the door for us.

Seeing this, Hardy nodded. People like Victor who have seen the world have the most flexible minds, which is also the main reason why he was sent there.

Those who can go to prison are often talented.

When he first started collecting antiques, the situation was average, with a few dozen pieces a day. Later, when penicillin arrived, Victor first sold some to Hong Kong hospitals. He used this method to tell others that he had penicillin in his hands, and in large quantities.

As expected.

Attracted two big customers.

Victor described the transactions with the two clients in detail, and Hardy had a plan in mind after reading it.

The first middle-aged man should be Lao Chang's man, who can take out gold and antiques. The second Mr. Xu should be from the north. The letter said that the Citibank cashier's check came from San Francisco. Hardy guessed that it might be related to the Zhigongtang.

Half a month later, the middle-aged man came again.

This time Victor finally let him introduce himself. He learned that the middle-aged man's surname was Kong. This time he brought more antiques, two trucks full of them.

Victor said in the letter that he deliberately asked the appraiser to give a high price to Mr. Kong's items the first time, but this time the valuation was normal or even slightly lower, but Mr. Kong still sold it and he only wanted a Bank of America check.

Mr. Kong also said that he had more antiques and could ship them in large quantities as long as Victor could eat them.

Although Hadi was not there at the time, he could still guess something. Someone was reselling cultural relics during the national crisis and continued to make money from the disaster.

According to historical records, during this period a man named Chang had already emptied the Forbidden City of artifacts on a large scale. He also took away a large amount of gold and jewelry.

It is not surprising that some people would resell antiques for personal gain during this period. It is even possible that the big bosses were doing it. After all, there are only a few people who can resell antiques on such a large scale.

Hardy felt a little resentful.

At first he bought Chinese cultural relics.

It is because we don’t want them to be stranded abroad, so we buy them and preserve them to prevent foreigners from taking them out to cheat Chinese people in the future. It can also be considered an investment.

Later, he met Han Ye-jin, and this casual thing grew bigger and bigger and became one of his hobbies.

The more Chinese antique artworks he purchased, the more sad he felt about the loss of cultural relics, and he wanted to do his best to preserve these treasures of the Chinese nation.

In the letter, Victor asked him whether he should accept these antiques.

receive,

Let the borers profit.

No,

These babies don't know what their fate will be.

Someone brought a pen and paper, and Hardy wrote a few words on it.

"We take all the money, lower the price by more than 30%, and write them a Wells Fargo check. You can only collect it after you arrive in the United States. The issuing bank will keep the check number for each transaction."

After writing it, he handed it to the bodyguard next to him.

"Take it to the telegraph office and send it to Victor."

The bodyguard took it and went out.

Hardy thought for a moment and called Mark Keane, president of the Global Times, and asked, "Has the newspaper established a branch in Hong Kong?"

"There is no boss for now. Dongfang has only built a branch in Japan." Mark Keane said.

"Establish a branch in Hong Kong as soon as possible. The Hardy Group has a company in Hong Kong, Hardy Auction Company. Go there and ask Victor for help. It will be much easier to run the newspaper."

"After the Oriental branch in Hong Kong is established, we will send reporters to China, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia and other countries to interview the situation there."

Although Mark Keane didn't know why his boss specifically instructed him to set up a branch in Hong Kong as soon as possible, he agreed immediately.

Hardy put down the phone and thought for a while, then called Wells Fargo President John Stone again, "John, Hardy Group has begun to expand its business in Hong Kong and Japan. I think it is necessary for Wells Fargo to open branches in Hong Kong and Japan."

"Hong Kong and Japan, boss, are you optimistic about the East?" John Stone asked.

"Yes, although the conditions there are not as good as those in Europe now, it may not be the case in the future. There are also fewer competitors there, unlike European countries, where each country has hundreds of banks."

"I understand, boss. I will arrange to open branches in Hong Kong and Japan," John Stone replied.

Time passed quickly and it was evening.

The housekeeper answered a phone call and came over to Hardy and reported: "Mr. Hardy, Miss Hedy Lamarr called and wanted to invite you to dinner?"

"OK."

The two had dinner at Hedy Lamarr's house. She still lived in her studio. She liked the relaxed environment here and didn't have to be as restrained as in the villa.

Hardy was a little surprised that Hedy Lamarr could cook.

You have to know that Hedy Lamarr was born into a real aristocratic family. Her father was a banker and she had been living a life of luxury since she was a child.

Hedy Lamar smiled and said, "I went to a noble girls' school and learned how to be a noble hostess. Although a hostess does not need to cook by herself, she must know how to cook."

"The box office has officially exceeded 10 million. How do you feel?" Hardy asked with a smile.

"I'm so excited. I've accomplished my greatest dream," said Hedy Lamarr.

Hardy shook his head. "It may not be the ultimate dream. The film company has already applied for awards from the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscars. Taylor's "Leon" and your "Ghost" may both be nominated and win awards."

"Really?"

“Of course, I’m looking for someone to run it.”

Mayer is the chairman of the Oscar jury and Hardy is the president of the Screen Actors Guild. With the two working together, it shouldn't be difficult to win a few awards.

Hedy Lamarr excitedly threw herself on Hardy and kissed the man all over his body.

After a long time,

The two walked out of the bathroom and lay down on the bed. Heidi remembered something and jumped over to turn on the TV.

After adjusting the table, she quickly ran back, crawled into the quilt, and snuggled in Hardy's arms.

Hedy Lamarr was originally from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her skin is extremely delicate and feels very good to the touch.

"The TV series is about to start. It's called 'Vampires and Werewolves'. It's very thrilling. I'm scared to watch it alone at night, but I can't help but want to watch it." Hedy Lamarr said.

Vampires and werewolves?

Hardy knew that ABC TV didn't have this TV series. At this time, the TV station icon appeared, and it turned out to be a program from Columbia TV.

Both ABC and Columbia Television have increased their investment and increased the length of their programs. Now their broadcasting hours are almost the same as ABC, which is also from 8 a.m. to after 11 p.m.

They have produced a lot of shows, but some of them are obviously imitations of ABC TV, such as the Tonight Show, sports shows, TV songs, etc.

They even started to imitate TV shopping, but they didn't have a direct telephone shopping link, because if they dared to do that, ABC would directly sue them. Their TV shopping is more like advertising. After getting the goods from the merchants, several hosts keep introducing the various functions, uses, benefits and so on.

Then tell customers where they can buy these products.

During this period, the two major TV stations have obviously regained a lot of ratings due to their efforts. In the latest questionnaire survey, the ratings of ABC TV station have dropped significantly. Although ABC's programs are still the top few, the audience is gradually interested in programs of other TV stations.

Now ABC's total audience rating is only around 67%, and the remaining 30% of the market is divided up by the other two major TV stations.

Maybe people are tired of watching the original programs and are looking for something new.

Hardy thinks that

It's time to start a new wave of programs.

For example, he had planned the "Super Talent Show" program a long time ago. He had already told ABC President William Fox about the show plan, but the ratings were very good before, so Hardy felt that he didn't need it for the time being.

Just as Hardy was thinking about something, he suddenly felt a tightness under his body and a pain. Then Hedy Lamarr screamed and buried her head in his arms.

At this moment on TV, the werewolf is transforming from a man into a ferocious and ugly werewolf with sharp fangs, which is really scary.

But,

You can't grab it there.

Hardy quickly came to release Heidi's hand, and then he felt a little relieved. Heidi Rama noticed something was wrong, and looked at Hardy with guilt in her eyes, "I'm sorry, I forgot when I was nervous."

"Does it hurt?"

"It hurts a bit."

"Do you want me to get you some medicine?"

"No, just blow it."

......

The next day.

Hardy came to ABC TV station and asked about the recent situation of the TV station. William Fox reported to Hardy, "NBC and Disney Film Company have cooperated to introduce their "Disneyland" and "Mickey Mouse Club", which are very popular among children."

"Columbia is working with Universal Pictures. Their recent TV series, Vampires and Werewolves, has received very high ratings. It has surpassed all other shows except when Bewitched was broadcast."

"Both TV stations have also launched baseball games, football games, fashion shows, shopping assistance, talk shows and other programs, all of which are very popular."

Hardy nodded. "It seems like it's time to pull out a trump card, William. Start the super talent show plan and focus on launching this program this year to bring the whole United States into the era of carnival."

Irina was excited when she heard this. She had seen the Super Talent Show program and said happily, "I dare say that as long as we start the Super Talent Show, all the programs on other TV stations will be eclipsed."

Hardy said:

"This time I am going to launch a 'Super Idol' audition show, which will focus on singing and select idols with good singing voices. It is not limited to men and women, between the ages of 12 and 28, and has no nationality limit. As long as they can come to Los Angeles, everyone can participate in the audition."

Talent shows like "Got Talent" are very lively, but they are not very helpful for discovering talents and expanding the talent pool in the future. If it is a singer, he can be discovered and signed with a record company, and he can continue to make money for the company if he becomes famous in the future.

Hardy then explained the competition system to the two of them. Many of the rules were copied from the later "American Idol". American Idol would not appear until decades later, and Hardy's current Super Idol was the original.

"I will find a few suitable people to be judges. I already have the candidates in my mind," said Hardy.

......