The little girl looked to be around three years old. She probably thought the woman behind her was playing a game with her, and the more the woman yelled for her to stop, the faster she ran, quickly approaching Matthew and Lily Collins.
It was only then that she realized Matthew and Lily Collins were strangers and immediately tried to stop. She braked so suddenly that she almost fell to the ground. Matthew was very close to the little girl and quickly bent down to help her up. The little girl looked up at Matthew, and seeing that he was a stranger, she opened her mouth as if to cry.
"It's okay! It's okay!" The woman ran over, took the girl from Matthew's hands, hugged her to comfort her, and then said, "Thank you…"
She took another look at Matthew, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Matthew replied politely.
This art exhibition had a certain entry threshold; most of the attendees were wealthy individuals or celebrities.
He found the tall woman very familiar, especially the mole at the corner of her mouth. He seemed to have seen her often in magazines and newspapers, but he just couldn't recall who she was.
Lily Collins then stepped forward and greeted her, "Hello, Ms. Crawford."
The tall woman's gaze immediately shifted to Lily Collins, she scrutinized her for a moment, and then said, "You are… Lily." She confirmed this point and added, "It's been years since we last met, you've grown into a young woman."
Lily Collins had completely changed her demeanor, no longer resembling the fangirl from earlier. She appeared very well-mannered, "The last time we met was three years ago. My mother still talks about you often."
The tall woman exchanged a polite remark, "Please give my regards to your mother. I'll ask her out for coffee when I have time."
By this time, coupled with Lily Collins mentioning "Ms. Crawford," Matthew had already figured out who the tall woman opposite him was.
"Matthew, let me introduce you."
Just then, Lily Collins was about to make introductions for both parties, "This is Ms. Cindy Crawford."
She then introduced Matthew, "Ms. Crawford, this is Matthew Horner, my friend."
"Hello," Cindy Crawford, holding her daughter and unable to extend a hand, nodded and smiled as she said, "Thank you very much for earlier."
Matthew politely replied, "You're too kind, it was no trouble at all."
Cindy Crawford playfully tickled the little girl she was holding and said, "Kaia, quickly say thank you."
The little girl, who had probably gotten a bit more comfortable by now, said in a childish voice, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Matthew smiled at the little girl, "is your name Kaia? You're so cute."
The little girl, however, turned her head away and ignored Matthew. Cindy Crawford, hearing Matthew praise her daughter, smiled with more sincerity and said, "Her name is Kaia Gerber, she's a little shy with strangers."
Matthew waved his hand, "It's alright."
Cindy Crawford exchanged a few more polite words with Matthew, and soon a man came looking for her. She excused herself, took her daughter, and left.
"Let's go too," Lily Collins seemed not to want to stay there, "This art exhibition is too boring, too dull. I'd rather go home and play games."
Matthew agreed, saying, "Alright then, I'll leave too."
The two walked back the way they came, and Lily Collins said again, "I'll email you often. You must reply when you have time."
"Don't worry," Matthew thought for a moment and said, "I promise to reply to you at least once every two months."
Lily Collins' face immediately fell, "Two months? Can't it be half a month? A month would be fine too."
Matthew didn't make a guarantee, saying, "I'll try my best."
Upon arriving at the gallery hall, Lily Collins made a phone call for her driver to pick her up, then said to Matthew, "I'm leaving first."
Matthew nodded, "There are reporters outside, so I won't see you off."
Lily Collins waved at him and quickly walked out of the gallery hall.
This art exhibition was different from what Matthew had imagined; it was clearly a bit aloof, and no paintings were being sold on site. These paintings would be continuously displayed, and then a public auction would be held.
As Matthew understood it, the organizers were definitely going to do enough publicity and promotion to build up sufficient fame before they could fetch high prices.
He didn't understand the intricacies of it, and since he wasn't planning to buy anything, he prepared to leave.
The person named Robert Fernandez appeared at just the right moment, approaching Matthew and saying, "Are you finished, Mr. Horner?"
Matthew casually replied, "I've had a general look."
"Would you like to rest for a bit?" Robert Fernandez pointed to an entrance on the left side of the foyer, "We have coffee prepared over there."
"No, thank you," Matthew politely declined, "I have other things to do, I should be going."
Robert Fernandez didn't try to keep him, saying, "I'll see you out then." He followed Matthew towards the main entrance, taking the opportunity to say, "Actually, the preservation rate of art investment is really good."
In the eyes of these investment advisors, Hollywood stars' money was the easiest to earn. Most Hollywood stars didn't have a high level of education, and after becoming famous, they held large sums of cash. To highlight their taste, they often bought a lot of art, and this kind of purchase was often very impulsive.
Hollywood stars were also one of the favorite client groups for auction houses and art investment companies.
That day, when he met Matthew Horner, he felt like he had found a big fish, but he didn't expect this big fish to show no interest in biting the hook at all.
Matthew didn't respond to Robert Fernandez's words, he just kept walking out.
"Artworks are almost impossible to depreciate," Robert Fernandez continued, "Mr. Horner, think about it, if you invest in real estate, the annual property tax alone is a huge expense. Buying a luxury home might result in a loss after a few years, but art won't."
He continued with this kind of deceptive rhetoric, "Art is priceless, and as human civilization becomes more developed, the value of artworks will only continue to rise."
Matthew stepped out of the gallery entrance at this point and said to Robert Fernandez, "I understand, I'll continue to pay attention when I have time."
Robert Fernandez took an invitation from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to Matthew, "This is an invitation to the auction. I hope to see you there, Mr. Horner."
Matthew accepted the invitation and politely said, "If I have time, I'll attend."
He put away the invitation, turned, and got into the BMW that the valet had brought over, started the car, and quickly drove away.
On the way back, he was still thinking about Robert Fernandez's words. The art investment advisor wasn't entirely wrong. In some states in America, property taxes are frighteningly high, and hoarding houses to wait for price increases can only lead to losses, but not all states are like that.
Art is indeed priceless, but there was a fact Robert Fernandez didn't mention: the artists who create art and the artworks themselves have value.
If it were paintings by Van Gogh, Da Vinci, or Picasso, Matthew would definitely try to buy them. Modern artists weren't even worth considering.
The famous Western painters he knew were only these few.
Matthew also had some doubts about the liquidity of artworks. He had once read in some online reports that the art market boom at that time wasn't genuine, but rather orchestrated by auction houses, domestic and international speculators, and the media working together.
He couldn't verify the truth of such matters, and given his previous standard of living, he had no access to that level.
After seeing this art exhibition, Matthew fully agreed with Helen Herman's words: art investment still requires extreme caution.
Instead of investing in an industry he completely didn't understand, and one that even Helen Herman wasn't sure about, it would be better to steadily continue buying Apple stock. The five million dollars he had previously invested, through the stockbroker's persistent acquisitions, had mostly been converted into freely circulating Apple shares on the market.
Matthew's request was simple: no matter the price of Apple stock, he wanted to buy all available loose shares. After all, the "kidney phone" (iPhone) hadn't been released yet, and he hadn't seen any news about Apple developing a smartphone in the media or other sources. Apple stock definitely had enormous potential for appreciation in the future.
Even if he was wrong and Apple stock didn't surge, with the "kidney phone" in play, preserving his invested capital would certainly not be an issue.
Matthew had also planned his income for the year. The $8 million base salary from "National Treasure" had already been received, and for the $10 million salary from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," the production team had paid $3 million, with the remainder to be fully paid within the year.
Coupled with the backend profits from "Dawn of the Dead," he would soon accumulate another large sum of money.
Over the years, Matthew had thoroughly understood that so much money lying in the bank was both a waste and subject to large tax payments, far less cost-effective than investing it.
However, he was a very cautious person and would not easily trust anyone. For example, with the stockbroker, he would not omit any necessary oversight measures.
Furthermore, the plight of Nicolas Cage, who later resorted to making bad movies across the Pacific to earn money, also served as a sufficient warning to Matthew: managers or investment advisors, for instance, must be strictly guarded against.
In this regard, let alone these people, he even had his guard up against Helen Herman.
Perhaps some might think he was overly suspicious, but Matthew always believed that being suspicious was an excellent quality for someone who was wealthy yet lacked the ability to manage funds.
Matthew had made two plans for the money he held: one was to continue buying loose Apple shares, as many as possible before the "kidney phone" was released; the other was to buy a luxury home of his own.
He was still searching for one in this regard. The luxury home the production team borrowed during the filming of "National Treasure" was bought by someone else before he even had a chance to make an offer.
Properties in Beverly Hills were always highly sought after.
Additionally, Matthew had already contacted the owner of the residence in the northern suburbs of Burbank, intending to buy this one first while he temporarily searched for a suitable property.