Chapter 208 Loss of Grace
Huo Xin would never have thought that her careful planning and careful performance was completely out of her wit.
Not only did it not escape Ning Weimin's eyes, but it was self-defeating and greatly aroused Ning Weimin's disgust and wariness.
Ning Weimin became more and more distant from her in his heart.
Of course, maybe she was wrong from the beginning, because she just didn't understand a truth.
On the emotional battlefield, men are the hunters and the ones who take the initiative. This is nature.
What will happen if a hunter is pursued by his prey and is getting closer and closer?
Then the hunter will not be happy, but will feel pressured and panicked.
So a smart woman should never chase a man, but should know how to tease him.
To tease a man, you have to chase him, you have to take the initiative to chase him.
Even if she is not a smart woman, she just needs to wait patiently.
With more daily contact, you may be able to unintentionally get to that point in a man's heart, and the effect will be far better than painstaking pursuit.
This is indeed true.
Because even Ning Weimin himself did not expect that such a thing would happen soon.
He had to chase after Huo Xin, and he was really infinitely grateful to her, almost to the point where he felt it was difficult to repay her.
What's going on?
This has to be said about tourist shops and cultural toys, calligraphy and paintings.
To be honest, the concept of tourism products has never existed in our country.
Before liberation, because we had no restrictions on the lives of foreigners.
Foreigners come to the land of China and want to buy local products and supplies. They can achieve their goals as long as they spend money.
At the same time, our merchants have always treated high-end commodities such as antiques, tea, silk, and embroidery as ordinary transactions.
So no one has ever distinguished this special market demand separately.
Even after the reform and opening up, even in 1979, the "great man" issued the Huangshan Talk, clearly calling for vigorous development of the tourism industry and the promotion of the enrichment and sales of tourism products.
However, under the long-term ingrained old thinking mode, it is difficult for the overall business mode of the tourism industry to break through the box and undergo any fundamental changes.
Relevant departments of the tourism industry still define the operation of tourism products as a "special store" model for receiving foreign guests.
What they sell in tourist shops are modern handicrafts with characteristics that they think foreign guests will like.
For example, tableware and tea sets from Jingdezhen, jades and bracelets from the jade factory, bonsai from the material factory, silk, paper fans, cloisonne, the four treasures of the study and so on.
Their so-called response to the call from above is just to open a few more such stores.
So for Ning Weimin, such stores are all the same, and the selling point of the products is just fine workmanship.
It’s really nothing to see and not worth buying.
Thinking back on when he had accompanied Lan Lan to visit Beihai and the Forbidden City several times, he had already had enough.
Although he is now based in the Zhai Palace, whether he is busy or not, he has no interest in the tourist shops in the Temple of Heaven Park.
I’ve never been there before.
It was a coincidence that just two days after Zhang Shihui went to have a drink with Ning Weimin, Song Huagui called Ning Weimin.
Said that in two days she would accompany some guests of the French Embassy to visit the Zhai Palace showroom.
Let Ning Weimin prepare for the reception.
So on the same day, after completing the reception task of receiving the Zhai Palace, Ning Weimin and Huo Xin naturally had to continue to accompany these French people to visit the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and the Echo Wall in the Temple of Heaven, and even accompany these people to go shopping. .
In this way, while helping to inquire about prices, Ning Weimin discovered that the handicraft store in the Temple of Heaven was a little different.
Because there are so few shops that actually sell real things.
Whether it is modern calligraphy and painting by famous artists, the Three Treasures of Seal Stone, or official kiln porcelain from the middle and late Qing Dynasty that was only allowed for export.
And compared to the things sold in Liulichang, the price is one to two percent cheaper.
What's going on?
After Ning Weimin inquired carefully, he almost slapped himself on the spot and regretted it to death.
The shops that sell real gadgets are just like the showrooms run by Pierre Carton's company. They are all filled with outsiders.
They were originally time-honored brands affiliated with the cultural relics store system, namely Guanfuzhai, Moyuange, Yueyatang, Yunyuzhai, and Zhenhuange.
In order to cooperate with the Cultural Relics Bureau's renovation project of Liulichang Street, they moved to the Temple of Heaven Park on February 7, 1980 and rented the house here for temporary offices.
After the reconstruction project is completed, these shops will be moved back to Liulichang.
Needless to say, relying solely on tourists from the Temple of Heaven for business cannot compare to the street in Liulichang.
Because although the number of people is about the same, the purpose is much different.
You must try your best to complete the sales tasks assigned by your superiors.
As a result, these time-honored brands whose sales have plummeted have consciously lowered their prices in order to maintain sales.
Especially for those who sell porcelain, it is no longer possible to just focus on export sales, but they must also make an opening for domestic sales. Think about it, what a big mistake this is for Ning Weimin? What a painful lesson it is?
It can only be said that there are no absolutes in the world.
Really smart people want not to miss major opportunities.
Then you can't form a stereotyped thinking about anything, and you must not have any prejudices.
In this way, Ning Weimin stopped going to Liulichang after dealing with the foreigners.
He discovered a treasure trove that no one had touched and came to take a look almost every day when he was free.
If you come and don't leave, that would be like lingering.
In order to get goods at low prices, he tried his best to trick the clerks in these stores.
Tell jokes, buy cigarettes, tea, soda and snacks.
Isn’t it easy to make friends with a person as eloquent and generous as he is?
So soon he got his wish.
After they got to know each other, they actually gave him a discount of nearly 30% off.
Good guy, Ning Weimin is so beautiful that he started the explosive buying mode.
There is no doubt that his first choice is modern calligraphy and painting by famous artists.
Because in addition to being easy to save, calligraphy and painting appreciation has the earliest start time and the largest appreciation space.
As time went by, Huo Xin also discovered Ning Weimin's hobby.
Because he had to take the calligraphy and painting back to the office after he bought it.
And it can also be hung on the wall, spread out on the table, and admired for a long time.
I can't even take care of my work, and I'm too lazy to pay attention to others.
In Huo Xin's view, this is of course intolerable, and it is also an inexplicable obsession.
For example, once, she saw Ning Weimin buying eight paintings at once, and looking at each one carefully as soon as he came back.
Finally I couldn't bear it anymore and asked him directly.
"No, why did you buy these things in the sky? Are you okay? What's so good about these calligraphy and paintings?"
As for Ning Weimin, he only admired his new collection and didn't hear what Huo Xin said.
Huo Xin was a little anxious, "Hey! Where am I talking to you? Do you hear me? I have something serious to tell you."
As soon as her temper got angry, she said Just like the time when he snatched the newspaper, he snatched the painting into his hand and rolled it up.
Isn’t Ning Weimin feeling distressed?
I felt a little anxious on the spot.
Although I didn't dare to grab it, I was scolded for the first time.
"Hey, what are you doing? You are fucking sick! Are you asking me to fall out with you? I hate your character the most! You always grab things!"
Seeing that Ning Weimin was really angry, Huo Xin, who felt that he was in the wrong, was a little scared.
So he returned the painting while muttering aggrievedly.
“Tsk, you’re so stingy! What’s there? Isn’t it just Zhang Pohua, is he worthy of being so treasured by you?”
Ning Weimin looked at the painting distressedly, still scolding him.
"What do you know? This is culture! If nothing else, I bought it with a foreign exchange coupon worth more than 100 yuan. Do you know what is the scariest thing? Ignorance is the scariest thing..."
Unexpectedly, although Huo Xin was moved, the accusation was pinned on his head.
"Huh? So expensive? Then your monthly salary almost spent on buying these paintings, right? Then you are not being taken advantage of! Ignorance is really terrible."
"No, You..."
"Don't worry, I have good intentions. I just want to tell you that the things you bought are only twenty or thirty dollars. Why are you buying them here? It's such a loss..."
Ning Wei The people were simply delighted by Huo Xin.
"This is an authentic work! Li Keran, do you understand? Twenty or thirty? You sell me fifty, I want as much as I want..."
What's even more unexpected is that Huo Xin It turned out to be even more extreme than him, and I covered my mouth in joy for a long time.
“Of course I know, what about Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, and Zhang Daqian?”
"I said twenty or thirty means twenty or thirty. If you don't believe it, I will take you to buy it. Let's go now and make sure it is authentic and satisfy you. Even if I apologize to you."
"As long as ...As long as you don't be so mean to me in the future."
Ning Weimin stared at Huo Xin for a long time and felt that she was really not joking, so he suddenly remembered the principle of not being prejudiced about people and things.
I suddenly felt embarrassed.
"This... I'm sorry, I... this... was out of style. I was indeed out of style just now..."
(End of this chapter)