Simon said, "If it's just the two of us, you'll need to call home first and have them prepare the ransom".
Janette smiled, pulled her small feet back, and said, "This is the north. The Mafia should be more active in southern Italy".
"That's only relatively speaking", Simon said. "Milan is actually the same. Take the fashion industry, for example. Models who come to Milan to develop their careers might escape the Italian government's income tax, but they can't escape the 'gang tax' they have to pay".
"In that case, let's bring Neil and the others. If something happens, we can have a gunfight. Neil and Ken are both excellent shots".
Italy does not prohibit guns, and Australia had not yet prohibited guns. Thinking about it, most Western countries at this time did not prohibit guns.
Simon had never paid much attention to the resumes of Neil Bennett and Ken Dixon, the two veteran Johnston family bodyguards who were initially assigned, but he didn't doubt Janette's statement.
It's just...
Encountering a gunfight...
Such an exciting thing, it's better not to experience it for the sake of one's heart.
Simon had not yet encountered any substantial personal threats, but he didn't want to be like the Heineken CEO kidnapping case a few years ago, where he only thought of taking his safety seriously after going through a life-or-death situation.
"Forget it, I'll call Sophia later and ask if there are any fun and safe places to go in Milan tonight".
Janette hummed in agreement, but didn't wait, and directly got up and ran to make the call.
After Janette left, Simon was about to continue flipping through the newspaper in his hand when Jennifer walked over from the villa, holding a folder.
After greeting Janette, who was passing by, and nodding to Natasha Kinski, who was lounging in a swimsuit on the other deck chair, she sat down on the edge of the deck chair Janette had just occupied and said to Simon, "The information about GSM technology, do you want to see it now?"
Simon sat up, took the folder from his female assistant, opened it, and asked, "How's the investigation into Nokia going?"
"Detailed information is still being collected, but the general situation is already clear," Jennifer said. "Nokia is a very old, diversified corporate giant in Finland, involved in various fields including papermaking, rubber, home appliances, telecommunications, and mobile phones. In recent years, due to the continuous deterioration of the economic situation in the Soviet Union, Finland's largest trading company, Nokia has also fallen into operational difficulties. Nokia's CEO, Kari Kairamo, even committed suicide by hanging himself last year because he couldn't bear the pressure of corporate operations and ongoing manic depression.
The new CEO, Simo Vuorilehto, began streamlining Nokia's business at the beginning of this year, and the telecommunications and mobile phone departments are among those for sale. It won't be difficult for us to acquire these two businesses. However, Simon, the situation in Eastern Europe is very unstable, and war may even break out. Acquiring a Finnish company that directly borders the Soviet Union is not a wise decision".
Simon lowered his head, flipping through the GSM technology data in his hand, and asked with some deliberation, "If we put aside political factors, what do you think about me buying the company's telecommunications and mobile phone divisions?"
Jennifer had obviously considered this question and said, "It's not the best, but it's a good choice. The telecommunications industry in most European countries is still controlled by state-owned enterprises. Because telecommunications equipment adopts a government-designated procurement model, it suppresses the enthusiasm for corporate R&D and largely limits the technological development in the telecommunications sector of these countries. The various telecommunications industry giants in North America are also deeply entrenched, making it very difficult to enter the market.
Even in Australia, there is currently only one state-owned telecommunications company. In contrast, Nordic countries like Sweden and Finland opened up the telecommunications sector to private enterprises very early on, adopting a market-oriented free competition mechanism, and they do not restrict the entry of overseas capital. At the same time, although the Finnish market is very small, we can use it as a base to expand into the entire European market".
Simon nodded with satisfaction and said, "In that case, send a copy of this information to your father and have him organize a team to contact Nokia as soon as possible".
Jennifer agreed and added, "Also, news from Los Angeles: Bertelsmann Music Group has taken over the operations of Arista Records. They are willing to accept our conditions for a financial audit and compensation, but they hope to resume sales of 'The Bodyguard' soundtrack first".
Simon rejected, saying, "Since we've already publicly stated that sales of the album won't resume until this matter is resolved, there's no reason to change that".
Seeing that Simon wouldn't budge, Jennifer didn't try to persuade him and got up to walk back towards the villa.
After the female assistant left, Simon continued to read the documents in his hand.
GSM is short for 'Global System for Mobile Communications'. As early as 1983, European countries had already formed technical teams to draft the technical standards for GSM, but these standards had not been implemented all these years, which was clearly due to the dragging feet of state-owned monopolies in the telecommunications industry.
As he recalled, Nokia's rise was precisely because it seized the initiative in GSM technology, being the first to launch GSM-standard digital mobile phones, and Finland was also the first country in the world to establish a GSM network.
Now, even North America is still using first-generation analogue signal communication. Simon entering the market at this time can leverage his capital and foresight to gain more first-mover advantage, in order to share more benefits in the upcoming mobile communication boom.
Unconsciously, he finished reading the dozen or so pages of documents, but Janette had not yet returned.
The sun was already setting.
A cool breeze blew from the Alps in the north.
Simon put the documents aside, stood up to stretch, and noticed Natasha Kinski still lying lazily nearby. He walked over with some concern and looked down at her.
After latching onto Simon, she enjoyed the mansion and servants without any financial pressure. This woman truly had a tendency to live like a cat.
Noticing Simon looking down at her from above, Natasha Kinski lifted her eyelids, but only gave a soft hum, as if asking if Simon needed anything, and if not, not to block her from enjoying the last ray of sunset.
Simon met the woman's gaze and smiled, "You've unconsciously heard so many business secrets. I'm suddenly thinking, should I silence you?"
Natasha Kinski rolled her eyes at Simon disdainfully and simply turned over.
Seeing that the woman ignored him, Simon bent down, reached out, and directly picked her up.
Natasha Kinski showed no panic from the sudden attack; instead, she wriggled her body, seemingly searching for a more comfortable position.
Simon carried the woman to the edge of the pool and gently dropped her into the water.
A splash echoed in the courtyard.
Then there was no movement.
Simon, who had only intended to play a joke, looked at the woman who was motionless, sinking to the bottom of the pool, still staring at him with wide-open eyes, and wore a helpless expression.
A string of bubbles emerged.
Two strings of bubbles emerged.
Three strings of bubbles emerged.
After more than a minute, the woman was clearly starting to drink water, but still stared at Simon with wide eyes from the bottom of the pool, showing no intention of getting up.
Simon had originally wanted to see how long Natasha Kinski could hold out, but then he suddenly remembered the woman's strong self-destructive tendencies deep down.
If left unchecked, she might really drown herself in this pool.
Thinking of this, Simon didn't have time to take off his clothes. He jumped into the water in his shirt and trousers, reached out, pulled the woman out, and placed her by the pool.
Pushing off the edge of the pool to get out of the water, Simon, who was truly startled to find Natasha Kinski with her eyes tightly closed and completely still, quickly leaned her over his knees and pressed on her back.
After spitting out a few mouthfuls of water, Natasha Kinski reopened her eyes. Feeling the man still pressing on her, she scratched his leg in protest.
Simon became even angrier.
You don't scare people with your life like that.
Seeing the woman recover and still have the strength to scratch him, he raised his hand and gave her a few hard smacks on her bottom.
With a few smacks, Natasha Kinski groaned and went limp, then was tossed onto the nearby deck chair.
She winced and shifted to lie on her side, noticing Simon still had a look of exasperation after being scared. The woman's eyes held a hint of triumph, and she chuckled.
Simon was still a bit scared, and sat down on the nearby deck chair, exhausted. He wiped the water from his face, took off his soaked shirt and tossed it aside, then looked at the woman laughing carelessly and said angrily, "I can't keep you anymore, you can go".
"No, I won't", Natasha Kinski shook her head, then, emboldened, suggested, "You can throw me out".
Simon imagined the scene of this woman lying stubbornly at his doorstep with wide-open eyes, and completely lost his temper. He picked up the shirt nearby and stood up, walking towards the villa.
Natasha Kinski, only wearing a swimsuit, didn't need to bother, but he, soaking wet, had to change quickly.
Entering the living room, Janette was leaning on the sofa, holding a cordless phone and talking to someone. Seeing Simon enter soaking wet, she was slightly surprised, then gave him a glare and gestured upstairs.
Simon went upstairs to the bedroom, took a quick shower, and was dressing when Janette came in, smiling and curiously asking, "What happened just now?"
"I fell in the water", Simon said dismissively, then changed the subject. "You've been chatting with Sophia for so long?"
Janette didn't press for details. She stepped forward to help Simon straighten his shirt collar and said, "David called, asking if we wanted to go to England this time".
Simon remembered it was David Johnston, Janette's fourth brother.
After finishing filming 'Batman Begins' in April, Simon happened to meet David Johnston returning home to visit family before leaving Melbourne, and he even brought a girlfriend whom Raymond Johnston didn't approve of. However, thinking of David Johnston's bookishness, it was possible he called to greet Janette, but inviting them to England to play seemed less likely.
Janette finished adjusting Simon's collar and said with a smile, "Did you guess?"
"His girlfriend?"
"Yeah, it was Leslie. The old man doesn't like her, he thinks she's too cunning. But I think she's fine, David is so dull, finding a smarter wife is just right".
"We don't have time to go to England this time".
Cersei Capital's layout in the US bond market was nearing completion. After things here were finished, they still had to return to New York.
"That's what I told him, that we couldn't go this time". Janette said, then noticed Simon hadn't put on shoes yet. She walked to the shoe cabinet, picked out a pair of leather shoes, and handed them over, saying, "Put on your shoes, I'm going to change too. We'll go eat first, Sophia will be waiting for us in the city, and we can go to some very interesting clubs tonight".