Year: I had a good time when I was young

Chapter 339 The location is excellent
Norton thought that if he returned to London as soon as possible, he could start the tiger bone wine business as soon as possible.

He hurriedly said to Chu Qianqian, "I listen to your master, go back early and talk to your grandfather and parents about the business of tiger bone wine and deer glue.

Maybe I can get the support of my parents to buy my share of the 400 bottles of tiger bone wine that you gave me, master.

After I make my first money, I can spend my own money to buy more tiger bone wine from you and make more money. "

When he came this time, Chu Xiangqian gave Norton 100 bottles of tiger bone wine and 100 boxes of deer glue.

But he had to buy the remaining 400 bottles of tiger bone wine, which was 6 pounds.

Of course, before Chu Xiangqian set off, he also told Norton that he could give him a batch of tiger bone wine first, and then he would pay back the money and continue to get the wine after he sold it.

After hearing what Norton said, Chu Xiangqian secretly thought that this kid was not stupid after all. No matter how rich his parents were, they would not be at his disposal.

He gave Norton a thumbs up and secretly thought that he had to find a place to use as a warehouse.

Then I thought that when I bought the villa on Kensington Garden Street, it would definitely have a cellar and a wine cellar.

Or buying the ranch next to Margaret's manor and transporting wine and other things to the ranch can be considered a cover-up.

At noon, Norton, Ward and Bailey were invited to have lunch in the hotel. The other six bodyguards who were staying by the car downstairs were also invited to eat in the small restaurant next to the hotel lobby.

Before sending Norton away, the boy thought for a while and simply left a Rolls-Royce for Chu Qianqian.

Chu Xiangqian refused without even thinking about it.

This kind of car has a special license plate, and even a car with a noble gold badge on the body next to the window. Not only is it eye-catching when you drive it, but others will most likely think that you are the driver.

At around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, after Chu Xiangqian washed up, put on a clean suit, he called the hotel to ask the hotel to prepare the car.

I also specifically asked the suite butler to accompany me. After 20 minutes, I went downstairs and saw a 50-year-old butler in a smart suit and white gloves standing next to a Bentley.

Seeing Chu Xiangqian walking over, the butler's eyes lit up. There were many differences between the suits that Chu Xiangqian had customized in Hong Kong and the suits of this era.

The most intuitive difference is that Chu Qianqian's body is more fitted, and the trousers are also smaller.

Wearing it on people with outstanding figures will make them look better and look more energetic.

"Good afternoon, sir."

Chu smiled and nodded, "Good afternoon, Simmons."

Although this old man is the suite butler, he is actually one of the owners of this family hotel.

The current owner of the hotel is an old man in his 70s who is responsible for all aspects of the hotel, but the specific matters have long been handed over to his three sons.

A son is responsible for one floor, and the grandchildren are responsible for assisting their fathers.

Chu Qianqian checked in alone on the third floor today, and he specifically reminded him that he needed a housekeeper to accompany him. Naturally, Simmons did not hesitate to act as today's tour guide.

After getting in the car, Simmons originally proposed to go for a walk outside Buckingham Palace first, but Chu Xiangqian was not interested at all.

You can't go in. If you just look outside, you will see it on TV and videos in your past life countless times.

Moreover, when Chu Xiangqian came here this time, in addition to watching the championship Cavaliers game, he also wanted to examine the business environment in London.

"We'll go to Oxford Street first, and when we come back, we'll go shopping in Kensington Street."

Simmons was surprised after hearing this, but there was no expression on his face.

Smiling and telling the driver to drive, he secretly thought that this Asian guest not only had a very good relationship with Sir Norton.

I can afford to live in a super luxurious suite that costs 100 pounds a day. When I took him to visit the suite, I saw that he was wearing a Patek Philippe all-diamond antique watch.

Moreover, this watch is extremely well preserved, which means that this watch is most likely a gift given to him by his family.

Just such a watch is worth the hotel's total turnover for three years.

Thinking of this, Simmons immediately understood that Chu Xiangqian should have come to London for inspection.

Simmons is very proud that his country can attract wealthy people from all over the world to invest and settle down.At the same time, he was a little sad.

The economy in London has indeed not been very good in recent years. A large number of nationalizations, from an overall perspective, are indeed good for employment and tax revenue.

It can be said that the 50s were the decade with the lowest unemployment rate in England, but there are two sides to everything.

Nationalization equals a loss of competitiveness. The annual economic growth rate is 2% to 3%. Compared with West Germany, France and island countries, the growth rate is too slow.

Economic growth is too slow, which basically means that exported goods do not have a high share of the capital world market, and product competitiveness and profits are far less strong than those of West Germany.

It also means that although the unemployment rate is low, the growth rate of income is not high and cannot even keep up with the rate of inflation.

As a result, in the 70s and [-]s, England experienced several large-scale strikes and the devaluation of the pound, and then the economy became increasingly lackluster and declining.

This is tantamount to a vicious circle.

After sitting in the car and wandering around Oxford Street and other places all afternoon, to be honest, Chu Xiangqian was very disappointed.

But think about it, even a few decades later, there will only be a few truly prosperous places in London.

I wanted to find a place to rent as a warehouse, but I couldn't find a suitable store or warehouse for three or four hours. I could only wait for the tit to fly over and let it fly around while I looked for it through the sight of the tit. .

Looking at Simmons in the passenger seat, "Do you have any good restaurant recommendations?"

Simmons glanced at his watch after hearing this. It was already 5:[-] pm. This time was not the time for Londoners to have dinner, but tea time.

But considering that Chu Xiangqian is from Xiangjiang, Simmons is not surprised.

He smiled and said, "Sir, I highly recommend a French restaurant not far ahead."

Chu Qianqian laughed. It seemed that the British knew that they couldn't cook their own national food.

But this is also a good thing, otherwise London would not have so many foreign restaurants, and Chinese food would not become one of the British favorite dishes.

Although Simmons is currently serving him, Chu Xiangqian will not really regard him as a butler.

After entering the French restaurant, I invited him to sit down with me, and then ordered 13 dishes based on what I knew.

After ordering several kinds of wine, he looked at Simmons.

Seeing that Chu Qianqian was so familiar, the old man immediately smiled and said to the waiter, "Give me the same one."

The waiter nodded hurriedly, and when he took back the menu, he glanced at the watch on Chu Qianqian's left hand again, and then passed the menu with an envious look on his face.

Simmons couldn't help but look at the waiter a few more times, and then hesitated for a few seconds and reminded, "SIR, although the security in Kensington is good, there are still lawless elements occasionally at night.

And I strongly recommend that you don’t go to the East and South Side alone, even during the day.Last month, there were daytime robberies at the Tower of London. "

Chu nodded forward and raised his hand to glance at the watch on his wrist. This thing was indeed conspicuous.

But how should I put it? In the future, daily gunfights and zero-dollar purchases will be popular in the United States. But when you really live in the United States, you will find that although there are many such reports in the news, the lives of the vast majority of people have not been affected.

Although the security situation in London's East End and South End is indeed not good, it is certainly not so bad that people are openly robbing people on the street in front of pedestrians.

If this is the case, the first unlucky person will definitely be the police.

But Simmons’ suggestion was also well-intentioned. He smiled and nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t cause trouble for myself.”

Simmons felt relieved now. The two of them were chatting while eating during the meal, and French food has fewer dishes and more dishes.

After eating thirteen dishes, it was normal for an hour or two.

Fortunately, the food starts serving at 6 o'clock, which means that Chinese people go to restaurants to eat at 4 o'clock, so the speed of serving food will naturally not be slow.

At around 7 o'clock, the two of them finished eating and started chatting over drinks.Hearing that Chu Xiangqian owned a thoroughbred horse that was about to participate in the first race of the Triple Crown, Simmons' attitude immediately became more enthusiastic.

Chu Xiangqian said simply, "I will give you two tickets before the game starts."

Simmons thanked him without hesitation, and then let go of the conversation, talking about a lot of things related to horse racing.

Not long after returning to the room in the evening, Simmons knocked on the door and gave him a bottle of champagne, saying he was celebrating Chu Qianqian in advance.

Chu Qianqian took it with a smile and thanked him. He originally wanted to keep it, but after thinking about it, he decided to drink it tonight.

Holding a glass of wine, Chu Qianqian suddenly felt an unreal feeling while standing on the huge balcony of nearly 20 square meters on the third floor, looking at Buckingham Palace in the distance at night and the pedestrians and vehicles on the street.

He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thoughts in his mind.

I was about to go back to my room and take a bath, but before I could turn around, I suddenly saw a seven or eight-story building with a huge area a few hundred meters away from the corner of my eye, and my heart suddenly moved.

After looking at it for a while, I felt that that building really seemed to be the Cultural Oriental Hotel.

But looking at it now, not only did it not look like a hotel, the exterior wall of the building looked a bit shabby.

Chu Xiangqian thought for a long time before he realized that Cultural Oriental was only established in London in 63.

In other words, the possibility of buying the building occupying a triangular area at the intersection near Knightsbridge is extremely high.

I went back to the living room and took out the map to compare. I secretly realized that the location of this building was really good.

To the south are the boutiques along Sloan Street, Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

To the west is London Bridge, to the back is Hyde Park, and to the east is Buckingham Palace a few hundred meters away.

No wonder Cultural Oriental will choose to open a hotel here in a few years.

But not long after this idea appeared, Chu Xiangqian shook his head helplessly.

Opening a hotel requires management talents. If you rely solely on yourself, you will be trapped in the hotel for a lot of time in the future, or even most of the time.

Just as he was sighing, he suddenly thought of Simmons and his family, all of whom are senior practitioners in the hotel industry.

This family looks harmonious now, but if you think about it, you will know that when outsiders don't know, competition between brothers and juniors is absolutely inevitable.

Maybe one day the hotel founder, who is now a father and grandfather, dies, and the family business falls apart.

Just as he was about to call Simmons to come over for a chat, Chu Qianqian smiled again and shook his head.

To open a hotel in London, the investment will definitely be several times that in Xiangjiang.

The appreciation prospects of real estate in Xiangjiang are much higher than those in London.

If you spend millions of pounds to open a five-star hotel in London, you can build three or four similar hotels in Hong Kong.

However, even if you give up this idea and talk to Simmons, there is nothing to lose.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiangqian went back to the living room and called Simmons on the internal phone.

Soon there was a knock on the door.

After Chu opened the door forward, he invited Simmons to the balcony, holding the champagne and wine glass he had just sent.

Simmons also performed his duties as a housekeeper very well in the hotel, and was not willing to let Chu Qianqian help him pour wine.

Not even drinking.

Chu Xiangqian didn't hesitate, pointed to the building in the distance, and asked with a smile, "If I want to buy that building and open a hotel, how much capital will I need?"

Simmons was stunned for a moment, then glanced in the direction Chu was pointing forward, and couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

"SIR, are you sure you are not joking?"

Chu shrugged forward, "Just treat it as small talk. If it's suitable, I'll invest. If it's too expensive, I'll give up."

Simmons felt a little relieved, and after thinking about it, he said, "That building is now the headquarters of Kern Steel Company.

I heard that the efficiency of Kern Steel has been poor in recent years, and there is indeed a possibility of selling it.

I just really want to buy it, but I think if it’s less than 400 million pounds, there’s basically no chance of negotiation.

After all, this is the most central location in London.The house price is twice as expensive as other places. "

Chu nodded forward. There were not only several museums and commercial streets nearby, but also backed by Hyde Park. The location was indeed excellent.

"If I want to open a large luxury hotel in Xiangjiang, I would like to find a hotel manager. Do you have any good candidates to recommend?"

Simmons was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the young man in front of him might be recruiting him.

Simmons' first thought was to refuse, and then he thought that even if he refused, he could recommend his daughter or son to give it a try.

Although it is far away from home, it is much better than staying in this small hotel at home and dealing with their own trivial matters all day long.

If you don't become famous, you can still work in the family hotel when you return to London.

In the end, Simmons felt that it was best for him to discuss it with his father, "I, I need to make a call, sir."

Chu nodded forward, signaling for him to do whatever he wanted.

Simmons hurriedly walked into the living room, picked up the phone and called his father.

This lasted for half an hour, and because Chu Xiangqian had excellent hearing, he roughly heard a lot of the conversation between the two of them.

Neither Simmons nor his father objected to letting their children go out and explore.

As for the building over Knightsbridge, Simmons' father felt that apart from the 400 million he spent to buy the building.

The total cost of renovation, decoration, furniture, and various supplies would be in the millions of pounds at least.

Converted to Hong Kong dollars, it would be a full 8000 million.

The price immediately scared Chu Qianqian. It was too expensive.

As for Simmons' son, although Chu Xiangqian doesn't think that he is inexperienced just because he is only in his early 30s.

But it is definitely not as experienced as Simmons.

After thinking about it, don’t be in a hurry, just talk slowly and watch slowly.

Besides, I don't have to hire Simmons or his son.

As long as you have enough money, it is not difficult to poach existing hotel managers.

After Simmons came back from the phone call, Chu waved his hand forward and said, "I'm going to Kensington Garden Street tomorrow to look at a house. We'll talk about the building in Knightsbridge a few days in advance.

And my horse is about to compete in the Triple Crown. If you have time, you might as well go to the racecourse to watch.

If my horse really wins, I might make up my mind to buy that building. "

Simmons nodded in agreement and said, "You really can't make a decision so easily."

PS: When I checked the information before, I regarded the 'dry' tons of iron ore as 'thousand' tons. I was aware of the problem when I wrote it, but I just thought that the price of iron ore in the 60s was really that cheap.

In the subsequent plots, I will find a way to come around.

PS: Thanks to the book friends "Jie Chen's Past" and "Bodhisattva under the Moon" for their reminders. Thank you.

(End of this chapter)