Old-time musicians

After the arrival of November, the temperature in the north of Tioleen became cooler day by day.

The rain is thick, the clouds are low, and the cold wind outside is always mixed with the smell of soot, just like the depressing early winter in the city when I traveled through it last year.

But Fan Ning is in a good mood recently.

Sheeran, Capron and Olga are also in a good mood.

Because it's warm inside.

And they were counting their money.

"There are 2040 seats in the symphony hall, 120 internal tickets, 180 sponsors, available seats." In the small conference room, Olga had a pile of bills and forms in front of him. Two financial assistants next to him gathered on a brass machine. In front of the small differential engine, one person is holding the handle and the other is typing on the keyboard, causing the interlocking gears in the computing compartment to make a constant clicking sound of meshing and rotating.

"The exclusive price of the piano concerto is 36 pounds, the average price is 5 pounds, the theoretical box office is 100 pounds, the actual 100 pounds after various discounts, the total income from the three performances is 36 pounds to pay Sir Viadrin's appearance fee."

"The price for other concerto venues is 30 pounds, with an average of 16 pounds, theoretical box office pounds, actual pounds, and total revenue from seven performances."

Olga held a pen and spoke: "After deducting the fixed expenses until the end of November, calculate the results. By the way, there is also a subsidy of 7,500 pounds for the third-rate orchestra in the fourth quarter, and a pound art naming fee from Kent Automobile Company."

She felt vaguely excited in her heart. With such market response and the potential influence of the performance, after the New Year's concert is over and the fourth quarter rankings are announced in January next year, it is certain that the Old Symphony Orchestra will reach a large echelon. Wait until the 4 albums to be recorded begin to gain momentum

"Okay manager." The financial assistant responded, and it didn't take long for her to give the result. "The current liquidity on the books of Turner Art Hall is: pounds!"

Such a cash reserve, without considering other factors, can support daily operations for one year.

"Huh!" Kaplan, who was sitting upright on the other side, suddenly leaned back, "Professor Fan Ning, I must admit that until this moment, I, a permanent conductor with a weekly salary of 80 pounds, finally feel a little more at ease. "

"To be precise, it's 'assistant conductor'." Joan deliberately corrected Kaplan's wording. Although he has made rapid progress in Fan Ning's eyes recently and has achieved remarkable results in rehearsals, he has always been confused about when he will take the stage. He is able to hide his mistakes and can accurately point out a bunch of his professional flaws as arguments.

"Caron, I don't understand," Sheeran asked curiously, "why when other people face consumers, they try their best to let them know what they are selling and how good it is, but you deliberately contradict Can it still be sold like this?"

"People always like the new and hate the old." Fan Ning smiled, "When they come into contact with gameplay that they have never seen before, they always find it interesting and exciting. But as the number of times increases and more people follow suit, aesthetic fatigue will begin. produced."

"Oh." Xilan nodded thoughtfully.

Precisely because no one in this old industrial world has yet been stimulated by these subtle psychological marketing tactics.

The threshold of music fans has not yet been raised, so it is easy to be manipulated.

After these operations of Fan Ning come out, just like the last radio "trailer", they will definitely enter the market again and cause a wave of imitations, but if they have the upper hand, they will be firmly established for a long time. Firmly grasp the market advantage.

In the long run, the most important thing is still high-level content, as well as the unique and rich artistic atmosphere and service experience of the venue.

"One hundred thousand pounds." Fan Ning tapped his fingertips on the table. "During the entire bi-monthly art exhibition and opening performance season, I will spend an additional one hundred thousand pounds as promotional costs. When the tickets are sold out and there is no sale, this matter It will become easier to handle, and publicity purely to raise the voice will have a stronger effect."

"One hundred thousand, that is, the average performance cost of 10,000 per game?" Sheeran felt even more unreal. Not long ago, Fan Ning's start-up capital had not exceeded this amount. The salary expenditure next month and the next month Still unknown.

"No, in fact, the main focus is on the art exhibition." Fan Ning shook his head, "Apart from the courtesy to the sponsors, there are no excessive expenditures on the concert. I will invest most of the resources in venue decoration and exhibition services. , exquisite albums, auction-related work, and getting through to collectors and critics.”

Speaking of this, he smiled mysteriously: "You always think that the greatest potential lies in me. In the short term, this is true, but in the long term, it is not true."

"If it's not you, then who is it?" Everyone present was at a loss.

Fan Ning, however, knew very well how valuable his collection of commissioned paintings would be once Impressionism became deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Think about the prices of paintings by masters such as Monet in previous lives.

With a family fortune of more than 300,000 pounds, I have been working on it for so long, which is just a matter of one or two paintings.

Don't limit your imagination about the art auction market. When Fan Ning had this thought, he couldn't help but shake his head and smile. Music professionals in the past life always used to ridicule themselves as "music migrant workers", which is not unreasonable.

He immediately spoke loudly: "Mr. Manager Congreve, maybe you can continue to contribute some ideas to the sponsor's courtesy plan. This should also be your area of ​​expertise. To be honest, the asking price for the naming of Kent Automobile Company this time I think the ratio is still a bit low. Maybe we can upgrade the plan for the two luxury goods and wine conglomerates later to bring a better experience.”

The fat black gentleman holding hot coffee said without hesitation this time: "My experience is that you need to make the customer feel that you are targeting him."

At noon on November 8th, when the last round of ticket warehouses were emptied, the media went back to rush to report the live reports, and the music fans dispersed from the ticket offices.

[To be honest, I have been reading books recently to catch up on updates. I can switch sources and read aloud with many sounds. It can be used on both Android and Apple. 】

East Mecklon District, an inner street in a residential area only 3 kilometers away from the direct line of Turner Art Hall.

"Jingle bell"

"Vasius?"

A blond gentleman with a hooked nose was standing on a steel railing more than one meter high, pulling the doorbell of a small single-family apartment in front of him.

"Bang, bang, bang!" "Joe Vasius?" Seeing no answer, he changed the call to knock.

"This is my fourth visit when he is not at home." A lady with short hair and a gentle temperament wearing a light-colored high-collar windbreaker next to her frowned slightly and shook her folding fan. "Captain Salman, this time The situation is even more special. Do you want to go in and take a look? "

Salman's fingertips had a green halo flowing, and he raised his hand to put it on the iron door, but seemed to consider the impact and put it back again: "Call a few people from the police and security bureau to come and open the door."

After the meeting at the door of the sealing room in late August, he asked Vasius to stop his mysterious actions and investigations, and to at least go on vacation until the end of the New Year before returning to work depending on the situation. He might not be at home during the vacation, and he would not be able to contact him for ten and a half days. It's all normal, which is why they thought it was nothing at first.

However, the higher-risk seal room exposure record has been submitted to the headquarters in accordance with management regulations. I have also reminded Vasius that when returning from vacation, he must actively cooperate with the requirements of superior units. According to Vasius's steady temperament Don’t take a vacation and forget all the basic principles.

Now a letter came from the headquarters, requesting a contamination review. The time point was within the expected range, but Vasius still did not show up. Only then did the two realize that he had been out of contact for more than two months.

Ten minutes later, Salman stood in the spacious living room, frowning and lost in thought.

After working together for more than four years, this was his first visit to the deputy's home, which was normal for a relationship between colleagues.

It's bright and clean here, with no peculiar smell. It's just a little stuffy after the windows are closed. It can be seen that no one has lived there recently, but the sense of life is still there. The necessary items in the living room are also complete. The time without people is not long enough to be counted in years. It should not be It will be more than three months.

But Salman always felt something was wrong.

Is it because the living room is too empty?

He said: "Miss Anna, how do you feel?"

Anna, a short-haired lady who was thoughtful and had just been promoted to a mid-level investigator, thought for a moment: "There are some unusual intuitions that need to be verified."

In the next hour, people from the Police Security Bureau retrieved some information and conducted some interviews with nearby residents, while Salman and Anna carefully checked every corner of Wasius' residence.

Since Vasius was transferred to Ufranser as the "number two" more than four years ago, he purchased this apartment and has been living here, leaving traces of normal life activities, and the residents also have a deep understanding of it. A normal impression at the "neighbor + stranger" level.

"Captain Salman, do you think Mr. Vasius's lifestyle is too high?" Anna gently closed an unlocked safe.

Inside were neat, brand-new banknotes.

The grouped unit amount is Vasius's weekly salary as an investigator, and at a glance, the total amount shows that it has been accumulated for at least two years.

"Have you become too reclusive?" Salman took over Anna's words, "But that's okay. There are many eccentric investigators among the investigators. In our impression, he has always been a lonely, indifferent but serious and meticulous character. His colleagues can't talk about it. Like him, but almost no one is dissatisfied with him at work.”

"Being solitary does not mean that humans are like machines. It is impossible for humans to be close to both people and objects." Anna's words awakened Salman.

He began to think about the deputy's various characteristics and what he saw and heard today about his food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Joe Vasius has no spouse, no children, no romantic lovers, and no social connections, such as friends, other than colleagues in the Special Patrol Office.

He didn’t have his own private carriage or car, and he didn’t hire a servant. His house was not small, and he only had some necessary toiletries in the bathroom. The master bedroom had a bed, a wardrobe, an upright piano, and a desk filled with music literature. Most of the rooms are empty, without any existence.

It can be seen that his home life only consists of sleeping, changing clothes, washing, and studying musical fragments at the desk or in front of the piano - the latter is probably still considered work. The only exception is that there is a single sofa in the empty living room, which makes the two I feel that during the remaining time at home, Vasius has one place where he can move around, which is sitting on this single sofa.

He never cooks his own food, as is the case with many high-income single men, but he always habitually visits 2 to 3 restaurants. His eating habits are regular, and he does not waste money or overeat. , moderate consumption level and balanced nutritional mix.

There are four pairs of leather shoes of the same style in his shoe cabinet. There are three sets of suit jackets of the same style, ten shirts of the same style and more men's underwear of the same style in his wardrobe. He also owns six canes of the same style.

In short, many things are really strange that cannot be explained.

"Captain Salman, let me say something that makes my hair stand on end." Finally, Anna closed the door.

"Um?"

"I feel like Mr. Vasius seems to be less of a human being."

Salman frowned: "Pollution is a myriad of things, just like the teachings of 'Slaughter Abyss' or other witnesses. You will never know completely what your hidden knowledge comes from."

"Strictly speaking, every knowledgeable person is polluted, but those of us who are still working for the authorities have not reached the stage of 'lost' or 'distorted'. Sometimes I even think that the difference between me and the evil god members is just a random one. My pollution characteristics happen not to violate public order and morality so much."

"Perhaps the strangeness of Vassius that we think now is his polluted characteristics, which is not harmful, but the tasks he undertook in the past few times did increase his pollution risk. The reason for the loss of contact must be investigated along these events."

Anna opened the small work record book she carried with her, which listed the timeline of a series of known movements of Vassius before he lost contact.

"On July 14, the auction house burned paintings. Benjamin got lost due to contact with the "Fountain in the Painting". Joe Vasius took over the division of work including the investigation of Vincent Van Nin."

"On July 24, a preliminary investigation was conducted on the Langefni Workhouse. On the way back, an attempt was made to capture Benjamin but failed."

"On August 15, I left Uvlancel to carry out the "Lightless Gate" spiritual knowledge containment mission."

"On August 16, I arrived at Santaramburg smoothly and reported my work at the dream-linking meeting held by the leader organization."

"On August 23, I returned to Uvlancel. The daily inspection of the seal room exposed a large risk. The pollution detection of the "two friends" reached a normal high value. The work was deployed normally before the vacation. 16 backlogs of signatures, including the follow-up law enforcement affairs of the Langefni Workhouse, were cleared. The handling method was normal and compliant."

The movement ended and the connection was lost.

"Compared to the last inspection of the sealed room, Mr. Vasius's greatest risk of contamination was actually the mission to contain the 'Lightless Gate' on the train." Anna analyzed.

Salman agreed with her conclusion, but he said: "Rather than thinking that the delay of the 'Hidden Light' contamination is extremely concealed, I would rather believe in Mr. Poglieri's insight later. In fact, that high-level meeting was effective. Miss Norma Gon successfully contained the 'Disaster', and Vasius also provided a lot of valuable information at the meeting."

"Including the connection between the 'Sublimation of Paintings' and the 'Seven Lights Gate' key, including the progress of the investigation of Carloen Van Nin and the sound column fragments, our current investigation of the wreckage of the 'Fountain in the Painting' can be steadily advanced, and there are many ideas for the next step. His information can be said to have played a big role."

After sorting out, the two naturally thought that the node of the problem might not be the 'Lightless Gate' action.

After all, the leader is behind.

Salman's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Report to Mr. He Meng that Vasius has lost contact, report his abnormal behavior in the past, and then carefully verify the circumstances of his entry and exit from the sealing room that day."