After confirming Ning Weimin's whereabouts through a phone call with Alain Delon, she immediately initiated contacts to inquire about the details of Ning Weimin's transactions with two French studios.
After it was truly confirmed that Ning Weimin indeed had huge funds in his hands, Catherine Deneuve quickly booked a flight ticket, packed her luggage, and flew to Paris to find Ning Weimin and plan to interview him.
Paris is the capital of France and the hometown of Catherine Devner.
Her relationships here are unparalleled anywhere.
In particular, he also knew that Ning Weimin was summoned by Pierkaton.
Therefore, it was simply too easy for her to find out Ning Weimin's whereabouts and residence.
However, after Ning Weimin came to Paris, he almost stayed with Pierre Cardin for several days in a row, either at the company headquarters or visiting Pierre Cardin's stores.
I don’t even have time to go shopping with my newlywed wife. The two of us seem to just go for a walk along the Seine River and the Champs Elysées every day.
It can be said that her life is all about the company - store - Maxim Restaurant - staying in the hotel. These points in the connected life make it always inconvenient for her to appear in front of Ning Weimin like this, or to use...
Make an appointment to meet with him on the phone.
After all, Catherine knew her own affairs well. She was worried about the money in Ning Weimin's hands.
Since he plans to let Ning Weimin spend money to invest in Saint Laurent, help save his investment.
So whether it is facing Pier Cardon or Ning Weimin's wife, it will inevitably arouse people's thoughts and make them mind.
This is not very embarrassing after all.
So she waited patiently until the third day, when the private detective who helped track her told her that Ning Weimin had taken his wife and Pierre Cardon to CLSA.
This made her suddenly realize that the funds she longed for were likely to be invested by Ning Weimin in the Paris Stock Exchange.
So she could no longer care about anything else. In order to obtain financial assistance, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and decided to visit immediately.
It was almost eight o'clock in the evening when Catherine Devner decided to leave.
She is different from Henri Lacamier or Pierre Cardin. She lives in a medium-sized manor on the outskirts of Paris all year round. It probably takes an hour to get to the city center.
So there is no excuse to have dinner together.
She made a phone call first, and despite the surprise of Ning Weimin on the other side of the phone, she told him that she was going to the hotel to see him, saying that she had something important to discuss and hoped to meet him in the lobby lounge of the hotel.
Then he hung up the phone and drove onto the road leading to central Paris.
Following the principle of wealth hierarchy, although the area of Catherine's manor is not small, its location is definitely not comparable to that of real "old money".
Although her villa is also in the western suburbs, it belongs to the northern fringe area. Not only is it close to Charles de Gaulle Airport, it will be bothered by some aircraft noise on weekdays, but also along the way into the city, you will also feel the presence of civilians.
Just like in Southey Provincial Park, because today is a weekend night, some homeless men and women are gathering together, waiting to enjoy the free dinner provided by the welfare agency.
In Paris, almost every weekend, social volunteers from social welfare organizations will bring food to parks with fresh air and place it on wooden tables and chairs for the vulnerable groups in society to enjoy.
Such scenery is certainly not pleasing to the eye.
It can even be painful to go from one originally romantic world to another cruel one.
But Catherine was not disgusted by the sight of ragged people.
Not because she has a tolerant and kind heart for a moment, but because it reminds her that a good life is hard to come by, and it is even harder to retain a happy life.
This scene usually makes people realize that even in France, even in Paris, there are still quite a few people living in another world.
These people don't have luxury cars and yachts, swimming pools and ranches.
They cannot shop in the famous stores in the Champs Elysées, and even the prices in Auchan supermarkets are too expensive. They can only go to cheap places like Carrefour or Lidl in Germany to buy daily necessities.
When she was young, Catherine and her sister also volunteered for them, but since her sister's death, she has never done so again.
Until now, it has only been a matter of writing a check to the organization that provided the food.
In her heart, people who are alive like this are actually better off dead.
But then again, even if these people are poor and hopeless, at least there are people like her to help them.
But once she gets into financial trouble, who is willing to help her?
God knows, who is in a more pitiable and dangerous situation compared to her or these people...
Catherine Deneuve finally put poverty behind her and stopped her car at a traffic light.
From here she will truly enter the urban area.
However, when thinking about the person she was about to meet, Catherine felt a little panicked for no reason.
Although that person is young, he is very independent.
Beneath his handsome and gentle appearance is actually a firm heart, which is very inconsistent with his age.
Especially now that he still has such a huge wealth inexplicably, it is simply too confusing to understand.
In fact, Catherine had sensed his mystery and difference as early as the Republic.
At that time, she was just surprised that such a closed country could produce such an interesting and knowledgeable person.
I am very lucky that my life in the Republic is taken care of by someone who understands Western culture.
It was not until she returned to France that Catherine truly realized that she had been unknowingly influenced by him.
I began to like oriental artworks, and I also liked to use Chinese porcelain to entertain guests. I also wanted to eat Chinese food occasionally, and sometimes I even thought of him unconsciously.
Catherine, who is over forty and has experienced too many men, thinks that the relationship between men and women has completely disappeared for her, and she really doesn't know how to explain all this rationally.
She was sure that she was not infatuated with this young man, but she felt that he had a strong charm that attracted her deeply.
It was as if this young man was the elf guarding King Solomon, the one in charge of all the treasures, and he could always show her rare treasures in the world, which made her want to find out.
But then again, this kind of inability to see through is not a good thing right now.
Because she really wasn't sure how to really convince him, and she didn't know how to do it.
It was shameful to even think that I had reached the point where I had to ask this young man for help.
She has been acting all her life and is known as the first lady of the European film industry.
The actress who had countless advertising endorsements, invested in Saint Laurent, and led the fashion trends of the 1960s and 1970s, actually did not earn as much as this young man in half her life.
I really don’t know why God arranged it this way. It’s so annoying.
Forget it, it doesn't matter, it's all for Yves.
Even if it fails in the end, I have to let Yves know that I have tried my best...
It was with such chaotic thoughts that Catherine Deneuve came to the lobby lounge of the George V Hotel.
She felt even more uneasy and uneasy than when Pierre Cardon had spoken to Ning Weimin a few days ago.
After all, in terms of friendship with Ning Weimin, she could not be compared with the master, not to mention that what she asked for was hundreds of millions of francs.
It can be said that she simply ran this trip with the mentality of being a living horse doctor.
It was the huge expenses of maintaining the manor, the bills and event invitations that flew into the mailbox every day like snowflakes, and the condition of Yves Saint Laurent, whose body and mind were getting worse and worse, that forced her to engage in this kind of disguised begging.
If we go by her own predictions, the success rate is less than 30%.
Of course, if she were younger, or if Ning Weimin didn't have his newlywed wife by his side, the probability might be higher.
After all, there is a rule in the film industry that everyone understands and needs to respect. No matter how short-lived the relationship between the sexes is, there should be material consequences.
However, when she walked into the lobby lounge and saw Ning Weimin and his wife sitting together, she knew that this possibility did not exist at all.
Otherwise, as long as Ning Weimin has some interest in her, he should be sitting here alone.
This situation made Catherine Deneuve feel even more uncomfortable.
Although she also knew clearly that she could not really have anything happen to this man who was more than ten years younger than herself.
But after all, she is a harvester of famous directors, and she is also Saint Laurent's muse. She does not allow any man to really turn a blind eye to her and be completely immune.
However, what made her a little bit relieved was that Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko almost waved to her together.
Moreover, she also noticed the expressions on their faces. Their behavior was not hypocritical or just trying to show off their feelings.
"I'm so sorry to disturb you at this time." Catherine sat down next to Matsumoto Keiko. She successfully controlled her nervousness with her acting skills.
However, her mental anxiety for a few days made her look unhappy. She came here in a hurry, and her thoughts, words and deeds were also a little confused. In the end, the secret of the trouble she was facing was exposed.
"You're welcome, we're glad to see you. Would you like something to drink?"
"I'd like a glass of wine, Campari."
"Are you sure? You didn't drive here by yourself, right?"
"Oh, by the way, I'm driving. Damn it. Then I want Perrier."
"Okay, relax, what kind of trouble are you in? If you have anything to say, you can speak slowly. We will all listen carefully."
Catherine tried not to distort her face, but her voice was still a little trembling, "How did you know I was in trouble? Did Alan call you? What did he say to you?"
"Alan? Do you mean Mr. Alain Delon?" Ning Weimin said, "No, I'm afraid you misunderstood. In fact, we haven't contacted him again since we left Cannes. I just saw that something was wrong with you.
Ah. Otherwise, why are you so anxious to see us?"
Catherine finally regained her composure.
She was not a stupid woman. After Ning Weimin's tone emphasized the word "we", she instantly understood what he meant.
So she took the initiative to touch Matsumoto Keiko's hand, as if she had asked to see the two of them together from the beginning.
"I'm really sorry for inviting you here. But because the things we want to talk about are very important, I still hope you can be here."
Next, Catherine spoke of her demands in a serious and emotional manner.
To put it simply, Yves Saint Laurent, which she invested in, has actually been working hard to go public, with the biggest goal of becoming the first French fashion company to go public.
However, because the founder Yves was deeply troubled by depression and exhausted physically and mentally, it seemed as if his inspiration had dried up in recent years. There were basically no new works coming out. As a result, the confidence of shareholders was greatly reduced, and many people already wanted to withdraw their capital.
At present, even Yves Saint Laurent's operation has encountered a bottleneck, and it relies entirely on the support of general manager Pierre Bergé.
According to the general manager, there is an urgent need for a successful autumn clothing show to draw everyone's attention to the Yves Saint Laurent brand again.
At the same time, a certain amount of funds are also needed to further develop the garment business so that the financial data can meet the requirements for listing as soon as possible.
But all this requires money, at least 200 million francs, preferably 500 million francs.
So Catherine's purpose is very simple, she just wants to know if Ning Weimin still has extra funds in his hand, and is he willing to become a shareholder of Yves Saint Laurent?
However, in the way of telling the story, Catherine also used scheming and added material.
Not only did she describe Yves Saint Laurent as a rare genius designer, but more importantly, she played the emotional card and tried her best to beautify her friendship with Yves and the motivation for her trip.
She said that almost all her costumes in the 1960s and 1970s were provided by Saint Laurent.
The two are not lovers, but their feelings for each other are much deeper than lovers, just like Hepburn and Givenchy.
It seemed that she came here purely to help her friends, and that her personal gains and losses were far less important than this matter.
After finishing speaking, Catherine looked at Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko eagerly, carefully observing their expressions.
But the sign was obviously not ideal, because after hearing what she said, the two people on the other side looked at each other with expressions of regret and embarrassment.
As expected, Matsumoto Keiko said, "I'm sorry, you're late. To be honest, we have basically used up all the money in our overseas accounts today and invested it all in the accounts of securities companies. If you had come a day earlier, you would have
alright."
Speaking of this, she took the initiative to look at Ning Weimin, as if she needed him to confirm again.
Ning Weimin was really rude, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. The money has already been contracted with CLSA, and we've reached an agreement with Mr. Picardon. It's hard to explain how to withdraw even a part of it now."
And there will be losses. So you need funds now, but I really don’t have them. It’s not that I won’t help, but that I can’t do anything.”
This bad news almost made Catherine shed tears, for no other reason than that it was so difficult for her.
Hurry up and hurry up, it's still a step too late.
Originally, she was still questioning whether Ning Weimin still had the money.
Well now, I'm sure people have it, but they just invest it in the stock market.
"Don't you still have cooperation with Alan? I heard that you want to do business with him? Could it be that the money..." Catherine was forced to make a last-ditch effort.
", he would not hesitate to betray his friends.
However, Ning Weimin said, "No, that's not good. You can't change what you have promised. You have to keep your word. Besides, he is our mutual friend. Just pretend I didn't hear what he said."
Since she had no idea of the price that could be exchanged for benefits, she had never felt so powerless.
Now not only did she have no energy to think anymore, she was also unwilling to say another word.
She didn't even care whether the unexpected look Matsumoto Keiko projected towards her represented contempt or disdain.
But things in the world are still so strange. Just when she thought there was no improvement, things happened to change again, and it was far better than she expected.
"I see you are really anxious. Is this good? If you can accept installment payments, maybe I can help you find a way?"
"Ah? What did you say? Installment payment?"
"Yes, you said that Yves Saint Laurent needs funds, and they should be invested in specific operations, right? Then for such things as business, who would pay the full amount at once? If I collect the money for you in installments, it should be
Is that okay? For example, if I give 50 million francs in the first month, then 100 million in the second month, and 200 million in the next month, it’s okay if I provide 500 million francs in four months. Is this okay?
?”
"Oh my god, you have five hundred million francs? That's great! You're a magician! Yes, it can be spread over time!"
As her mood plummeted and rose, Catherine Deneuve exclaimed that she had finally rounded a crucial corner.
Only then did I realize that although I was anxious for money, I didn’t have to get it all in a short time.
Then he couldn't help but hug Matsumoto Keiko beside him and laughed happily.
Matsumoto Keiko was shocked, but soon became infected and was equally happy for her.
As for Ning Weimin, he smiled at her and said, "It seems you can accept this condition. That's great. However, I still have some conditions that need to be discussed clearly with the person in charge of Saint Laurent in person and implemented in legal documents.
.For example, the proportion of shares and considerable rights and interests, you understand this, right?"
"I understand." Catherine nodded hurriedly, "I will ask them to prepare financial documents and legal documents. You will not be disappointed with Saint Laurent. As long as Saint Laurent survives this, I will repay you well.
Whatever you want..."
Unexpectedly, Ning Weimin's words refreshed her understanding of friendship.
"What you said is too harsh. We are friends, right? Friends should help each other. Besides, you just helped us in Cannes. We are not heartless people. Don't worry. As long as you say a word, this funding gap will be solved
I'll help you block it. It doesn't matter even if Saint Laurent is losing money now."
Five hundred million?
It’s just for the sake of friendship!
Who can believe it!
Catherine suddenly felt dizzy, as if the value of her life had reached another level!
But at the same time, it seems that she doesn't understand men a little bit anymore.