Anna used a pen to fill in the date and a long string of zeros in her personal checkbook without raising her head.
"If you want to propose marriage, bringing your current girlfriend with you would be too open-minded and unacceptable."
She also switched to French.
"Just for fun, cousin...Anna, who of us is not like this? All around us, puritanical rich boys are like zero-calorie chocolate butter cakes or peace-loving extremists. It is a completely unfounded false proposition. "
Oler didn't care at all and looked at the girlfriend next to him who didn't know who he was this year.
"Unless he is gay, no one you know is so innocent and has two female lovers. I'm just always real and don't hide myself in front of you."
"You have been calling me cousin since I was a kid, cousin Ole."
Anna smiled carelessly.
"Then what does it matter? Our age difference is only two months. We grew up together closely. Our direct blood relationship cannot be closer than the blood relationship between Princess Diana and the prince..."
Ole became more and more excited as he talked.
He wanted to look into Miss Elena's eyes and tell his heart.
Unfortunately, the other party kept his head down, processing the information on the large check unhurriedly.
Ole had no choice but to turn his head and look at the sea of clouds and large flower fields outside the window.
The sun began to slowly set in the west,
The European primrose field spreads from the classical asymmetrical manor garden to the lake in the distance. The sunset in the distance dyes the water vapor on the lake into a color between blood and rouge, which seems to be a gorgeous dress lingering over the ancient manor. Scarlet gauze.
Even though Oler has seen the same scene here countless times, every time he feels that such a scene has a beautiful and unearthly look.
Just like every time Oler sees his cousin.
How many young people of their generation covet each other's beauty.
From the moment they first understood what beauty was, Anna undoubtedly became the goddess in their hearts.
"I want to marry Miss Elena!"
"No, Countess Elena is mine!"
"Go to hell, none of you are allowed to rob..."
When they were young, little boys in several circles got into a fight with each other because of this kind of thing. This kind of stupid deeds that are so stupid when you think about it now have happened more than once in their generation's growth.
Because of the godmother.
Oler has been one of the few people of the opposite sex closest to Anna since he was a child.
To think that she might become "Mrs. So-and-so," kissing under a walnut grove with some damn guy.
It was as if smoldering coals had been stuffed into his chest.
Unless the title becomes Mrs. Kruger,
In an instant, Ole became refreshed.
"...These idiot sluts with brains less than one-third the size of breasts cannot even compare to a hair of yours, Cousin Anna, in my heart. I have really liked you since I was a child. As long as you nod, I will immediately treat them Kick it all away and become a dedicated husband.”
Words that had been brewing in my heart for many years poured out in an instant. Ole felt that he was as light as a swallow, and his whole body became relaxed.
He believed that he and the other person were a perfect match made in heaven.
Based on emotion and reason,
Cousin Anna had no reason to refuse.
Is there any man who can get into Anna's heart better than him?
"Think about it, the combination of Kruger and Irina, these two ancient and glorious surnames, will be such a grand celebration in our circle. Cousin Anna, your previous little mistake is not worth mentioning. Ti, the ancient royal families of the world will bless us.”
"You are not only my cousin, but also my wife. The Irina family has been passed down from generation to generation, and Anna is the only heir in this generation. But the Kruger family has always been prosperous. I have seven brothers and sisters myself, and I'm strong, smart, and have excellent physical abilities in all physical examinations. We should have many children. If you insist, I don't even mind giving them the last name Elena."
Ole was already immersed in fantasy, and he said in a trance.
"Our children will have blue eyes and noble black hair like Caesar. They will be as beautiful as you, like elves in the woods. Boys are engaged in finance, and girls are engaged in art. With such noble blood and excellent education, Even if the empire is gone, they are still the natural rulers of this world. You know our family’s ability in the financial industry, and we may be able to establish an art fund as large as an empire of more than 10 billion euros."
He looked away from the window, turned his head, and looked at Anna emotionally.
Oller was a little disappointed.
My cousin didn't seem to be affected by his passionate speech.
Miss Elena just calmly filled out the name and other information on the checkbook, her thin lips lightly opened, and she softly read a long poem-like text.
"I am not your slave, but your guest... A barren woman is like a dry river. It is the woman's responsibility to make the dead trees bear fruit and to make the wasteland alive, just like the Nile nourishes the earth. My breasts are good at giving birth. Love and life, the curves of the hips are clear and round. I am the Nile. The goddess Aesus told me the oracle through sacrifices, I am good at giving birth to children, and our children will rule all the lands from the Nile to the Mediterranean."
Anna slowly recited this classic line in human film history spoken by Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra", which seemed to be like a clear spring.
In the movie,
Cleopatra, wrapped in a carpet and smeared with gold powder, came to Julius Caesar's tent in Rome and spoke in a charming way.
She was obviously seeking pleasure, but she was so ambitious and charming, like a glass of poisonous wine with gold dust floating around.
Even a heroic man like Caesar could not help but drink it down, paving the way for the future collapse and division of Rome.
"Miss, did I pronounce this line correctly?"
Anna turned her head and asked the sexy girl who was confused about the short conversation between her and Ole because she didn't understand French.
"That's right... Well, it's just a little too cold, not romantic enough... uh, not charming enough. Sister, if you want to develop in the entertainment industry, it's not suitable for you to take the route of a charming fairy like Cleopatra. You are not This type. I think your acting style is more like Hepburn than Elizabeth Taylor."
The actress looked Anna up and down and gave her professional advice.
"No need, there is already a man who is so promiscuous. He can't wait to climb into my bed with gold powder on his face right away."
Anna chuckled teasingly, turned around and said, "Oler, if we go to a stage play one day. It seems that I am more suitable to play Caesar than you."
Her Excellency the Countess did not seem to be interested in continuing to discuss this topic.
"Grab your check, I'm going to rest. If you want to stay here tonight, the housekeeper will show you to your room."
Anna pressed the small bell on the side, preparing to call the caregiver to push her away.
"Cousin Anna, I'm serious!"
Ole is a little angry!
He was obviously so serious and had such an affectionate confession, but he had never expressed it to anyone except cousin Anna.
If Ole looked into the eyes of some girl in a bar and said such love words.
This level of emotional investment, he thought, was enough for him to sleep with a girl from the enhanced company.
But when faced with his confession, Anna only regarded him as a child performing a stage play, which made Oler very dissatisfied and annoyed.
He grabbed Anna's wrist.
"Herr Ole von Kluge. You have lost your composure."
Anna slowly raised her head and stared at her cousin beside her.
Even if Miss Elena can stand up, she is still a head shorter than Aole, and her wrists are slender and boneless.
But when this girl, who was only two months older than him, called him by his full name. The muscles on Ole's body still shook unconsciously.
this moment,
Ole seemed to see his godmother's soul resurrecting in his cousin, no need to shout, but majestic and self-sufficient.
And he became the little boy standing in the garden.
"You know what? In fact, when I received the oil painting today, I have been very angry. Why do you have to talk about it and embarrass each other?"
Anna's eyes were filled with mockery: "Is it your own intention to propose to me, or is it your father's intention?"
"this……"
"Am I wrong?" she said softly.
Every year on her birthday or Christmas, the girl receives a gift from Ole's father, Mr. Kruger.
Usually it will be a gold-plated pen, a dress brooch, or a bone china tea set.
Never has this year been so precious.
Senior financial bankers like Mr. Kruger are not like the flamboyant cousin Ole. His daily behavior is quite frugal and serious, and can even be called stingy.
The gifts the other party gave to his family were probably all of these things.
In Anna's memory,
Mr. Krueger even refused to repair the holes in the velvet curtains in his study.
This type of bank financiers must see returns every time they invest heavily, or at least they must be meaningful.
This time is no exception.
The moment Anna unscrewed the aluminum painting bucket, she understood what the other party wanted to express.
An 18th-century oil painting of Princess Teresa by Madame Verry Le Brun - a most ingenious metaphor about the rise and fall of the aristocracy, the honor of the family and the fate of the artist.
Madame Le Brun became famous because of the favor of Queen Mary, and was exiled because of the fall of the Bourbon dynasty.
The female painter Madame Le Brun lived in exile for the rest of her life.
During the war-torn years in Europe, she was misunderstood as a defender of the monarchy. Russia treated her as a guest of honor because of her close relationship with the Bourbon court, becoming the first woman in history since the founding of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. "Honorary Teacher".
The owner of the portrait, Princess Teresa, is another part of this metaphor.
Princess Teresa's mother was Anna's hometown, Queen Mary, who held the title of Duchess of Austria. She was known for her glitz, love of art, and ignorance of society.
As we all know,
She died by guillotine designed by her husband, and Princess Teresa, who was only eleven years old, also lost her fertility for life due to long-term rape and torture.
From a historical perspective,
The ending of Louis XVI's family was certainly not innocent. But at least the little girl's life fate seemed like a vicious joke played by God on her.
When she was born, her mother held her in her arms and cried excitedly: "You are not a son. The boy belongs to the country, but you only belong to me. You will have everything you need, peace and joy."
This prophecy is only valid for a short period of ten years.
During the existence of the Bourbon dynasty, Teresa was the eldest princess who had all the peace and joy. She had the best private teachers to teach her etiquette and art.
When the Bourbon dynasty fell, everything she owned was blown away by the rain and wind in an instant, and she fell into the abyss of hell along with the sunken ship.
"Miss Elena. You should understand that family is everything to you, and the rest is just the vines wrapped around this big tree."
With Anna’s wisdom,
The moment she saw this painting, she could almost hear the mocking voice of the staid banker with the Prussian mustache through the surface of the painting.
even,
Anna didn't even think that Ole's mention of Uncle Kara was a pure coincidence.
Uncle Carla's attempt to defraud money from the surname Irina may not necessarily be a trap and conspiracy by Mr. Kruger.
That idiot is simply a brainless person.
There were flaws all over his body, and doing such stupid things was totally Uncle Carla's style.
Mr. Kruger only added fuel to the flames at the right time, and then quietly eliminated the Irina family's reputation crisis like a savior.
People are telling you clearly.
Miss Elena - you are just a simple and brainless child, and you have no ability to take care of such a large family business.
Why don't you marry my son?
All problems were solved by marrying my son.
"Cousin... to be honest, my father expressed relevant hints to me on the way here, but my feelings for you are sincere."
Ole explained calmly.
It was indeed on his way to the manor that he received a call from his father, suggesting that he could unleash his manly charm on him.
otherwise,
He wouldn't have foolishly brought his female companion with him.
Perhaps in Mr. Kruger's eyes, it didn't matter whether his son was single-minded or romantic.
The marriage of families like theirs is mainly to demonstrate the benefits that each other can bring.
This was true centuries ago,
The same was true centuries later.
At most, after getting married, we can each play our own way.
This makes it seem less hypocritical and pretentious.
"Moreover, please think about it. Art and money have always been two sides of the same coin. How great benefits can bloom from the combination of the two. Soon, the name Irina will become as famous as Barnes and Rockefeller. .”
"No, in the field of art, she has already become as famous as Barnes and Rockefeller. In less than twenty years-"
Oller looked yearning and full of pride: "——In less than twenty years, she will become the next Medici...the Medici family of the 21st century."
The phone on the plane,
Mr. Kruger only briefly mentioned his financial idea to him, and Ole felt that his heart was racing uncontrollably.
Art funds are not as well-known as Bitcoin and the Metaverse.
However, it may be one of the most popular investment concepts that financial investment banks such as Wall Street have paid most attention to in the past ten years.
Because art transactions inherently have an operating range for tax avoidance and anonymous transactions.
It is often used as the subject of speculation by various large trust funds.
In addition, the prices in the art market have become increasingly crazy in recent years.
Before 2010, any piece of art that exceeded US$50 million at auction was big news worthy of being followed and reported by major mainstream media around the world.
In recent years, I can't wait to have one auctioned for a sky-high price of hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
He's talking about the Barnes Foundation for the Arts, the Rockefeller Family Arts Foundation, and the Guggenheim Family Foundation for the Arts.
They were all art investment foundations founded by the wealthiest families on the planet.
Not only the scale of large art funds with a century-old history is rising.
Even the open-end sovereign funds of European countries, which are truly super giants like the French National Pension Fund, have begun to consider investing in the art market.
Mr. Krueger realized the business opportunity;
More than just a business opportunity, this is a gold mine.
Speculating on art and speculating on precious metals are essentially the same.
To explain the principles in depth is enough to invite several Nobel Prize winners in economics to analyze it for three days and three nights. To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than the simple truth of the four words "hoarding and hoarding".
When going short or long on silver or gold, you must have a large enough amount of physical precious metals in your hands.
If you want to be a banker in the art industry, you must also hold a famous painting with enough weight in your hand, so that you can raise the price when you want and smash the market when you want to.
Regarding the number of collections.
Where in the world is there a richer collector than Miss Elena?
Even in terms of the size of the collection of the Rockefeller Art Foundation, it may not be much larger than the collection of the Elena family.
"Unfortunately, I don't want to."
Anna's voice was as cold as ice.
"Art fund? A financial empire with a scale of tens of billions of euros?"
She sneered.
"What's the essential difference between you and Uncle Carla? It's just that you are more ambitious and more professional. What Uncle Carla wants is just a few million euros in interest-free loans, but you want the Irina family to Everything that has been passed down for hundreds of years is like Queen Cleopatra who wanted to annex Rome to Egypt.”
Anna shook her head.
Except for aunt, everyone has interests in their eyes.
No one ever really cared about what she thought or what she really needed.
"I don't need anyone to teach me how to do things, whether it's you or Mr. Kruger. Honor and money decay faster. This is the family motto I have been taught since I was a child. The elders of the family also because of the limitations of the times, We have made irreparable mistakes in many things. The only thing is that we never make profits by hyping art. Art only shines because of its lasting artistic value."
"I am a servant of the Muses, not a profit-seeking businessman. We are patrons of artists. When our ancestors bought these paintings, they never thought of profiting from them with the whip they wielded, and neither would I."
"We don't want to teach you how to do things, but your views are too outdated." Oler was a little angry: "What's the use of putting art in a warehouse? The National Gallery also has government-funded maintenance and repair subsidies, and you don't know anything about it. Can’t get it.”
"It's no longer like this now, cousin." Oler said half helplessly, half mockingly, "Do you still want to discover the next Van Gogh? This is really too naive."
"It doesn't matter."
Anna said coldly: "Although I am not Caesar, I can also control my own destiny."
"If this set is destined to be eliminated by the world, then I am ready to go down with it."
(End of chapter)
