One day in 2000, at a huge auction in Hangzhou, a boss sat calmly in the audience, he came for a special "auction item", this auction item is the Overseas Chinese Hotel.
He was ready, he was bound to win this hotel, and he would not give up until he took it.
After waiting for a long time, it finally began. But to the boss's surprise, there are several groups like him, who also take a fancy to this "auction item", and the price is soaring, 100 million, 110 million, 120 million......
The boss gritted his teeth and shouted out the astronomical number directly, and everyone next to him was stunned, "This boss won't be crazy, right?" ”
This boss is Lou Zhongfu, a well-known Zhejiang businessman and the chairman of Guangsha Group. His business vision is far beyond ordinary people, and what he likes must have the value and meaning behind it.
So why did he have to take the Overseas Chinese Hotel? There's a reason behind that.
At that time, like Lou Zhongfu, there were not a few people who also wanted to win this hotel, and even the auction price soared to hundreds of millions, many people realized that this matter was not so simple, although some bosses did not know what Lou Zhongfu's ultimate goal was, but they knew that it would never be wrong to follow in his footsteps.
However, the final reserve price of these bosses should not exceed 150 million, because if it exceeds this price, no matter what Lou Zhongfu's purpose is, he will not follow. As everyone knows, Lou Zhongfu's budget at that time was 190 million.
Before entering the auction venue, Lou Zhongfu had a psychological preset, and also made some estimates, and finally came to the conclusion that it was 150 million, and he deliberately relaxed this number a little, and finally set a target of 190 million.
Until the bidding exceeded 150 million, Lou Zhongfu realized that he might have to increase the weight, so he continued to shout up until it exceeded 190 million, although there were few competitors. However, Lou Zhongfu knew that he had to take it, otherwise the Overseas Chinese Hotel would be someone else's.
So he gritted his teeth and shouted directly to 208 million, and in the end, no one continued to follow, and he bought this overseas Chinese hotel at a price of 200 million. In the eyes of others, this is an almost crazy action, but in Lou Zhongfu's eyes, he picked up a treasure for nothing......
For many years after that, the business community has been speculating about Lou Zhongfu's intention in spending a lot of money to buy the Overseas Chinese Hotel. It wasn't until later that someone even went directly to ask for Lou Zhongfu, and he also laughed and said his true intentions.
It all started many years ago.
After Lou Zhongfu started business, he has been to many high-end places, but the most memorable thing for him is the Overseas Chinese Hotel. Once, Lou Zhongfu walked into the Overseas Chinese Hotel and suddenly saw a painting hanging on the wall of the lobby.
When he got home, he began to consult all kinds of materials, as well as ask some friends who know how to calligraphy, painting and collecting, and finally learned that this painting is called "Early Sunshine".
In 1958, the "Overseas Chinese Hotel" located on the shore of West Lake in Hangzhou was completed, and in order to make the lobby not so empty, the hotel invited two painters, the famous painter Pan Tianshou and Wu Fuzhi, to paint the hotel, among which Pan Tianshou painted this "Early Sunshine".
The painting is lifelike and very well painted, although the subject is a pine tree, but the details are very vivid, even if the painting is magnified dozens of times, it still stands up to scrutiny.
After the hotel opened, many guests walked into the hotel, will stop in front of these two works, since the hanging of these two paintings, the business of the hotel is getting better and better, many guests come to the hotel not to eat, simply to enjoy these two paintings.
Later, this "Early Sunshine" has been regarded as the "treasure of the town" of the Overseas Chinese Hotel, although the Overseas Chinese Hotel has undergone changes and vicissitudes later, this painting has been very well preserved.
Lou Zhongfu learned about the history of this painting, so he talked about this painting all day long, and wanted to buy it at a high price several times, but it was unrealistic, and the Overseas Chinese Hotel would not sell it until 2000, when Lou Zhongfu learned that the Overseas Chinese Hotel was auctioned, and he had an idea to take down the Overseas Chinese Hotel, which was not equivalent to buying the painting?
So he estimated the price of 190 million for himself, and then went straight to the Overseas Chinese Hotel, gritted his teeth and spent 200 million to buy the hotel, he was excited, and immediately went to the hotel, the painting really hung quietly in the lobby, Lou Zhongfu was overjoyed, and said to the people around him: "I picked up a hotel for nothing." "No one around me knew what he meant.
That day, Lou Zhongfu was humming a little song, dancing a little dance, drunk slightly at night, and when he was about to go to sleep, he suddenly seemed to think of something, and patted his head: "Isn't it right?!" ”
I immediately drove to the hotel, came to the lobby and took a closer look at the painting, only to find that the color of the painting was more vivid than before, and there was no trace of time on the paper and the inscription. You know, this painting was created decades ago, how can it be so well preserved?
"It can't be a fake, right?!"
Lou Zhongfu was suddenly startled, and his mind went blank in an instant!
It's broken, it's a fake, it's over.
So, he found a lot of original hotel managers, only to learn that as early as a few years ago, because considering that the painting is not easy to keep in the lobby, because of the influence of the environment and climate, the painting may become old and fast, he asked a student of Pan Tianshou to copy the painting at the same size and exactly the same size, and hung the student's painting on it, and the original painting was carefully preserved.
"What about the original painting?" Lou Zhongfu immediately asked, and the management took Lou Zhongfu to the storeroom of the hotel, only to see that the original painting of "Early Sunshine" had been well preserved, and Lou Zhongfu breathed a sigh of relief.
Lou Zhongfu immediately confessed and asked people to keep the painting, and did not take down the copy painting on the wall, but rebuilt the hotel and continued to operate.
Although the business is not as good as before, but there is also income, coupled with Lou Zhongfu's operation, the hotel turned "losses into profits", Lou Zhongfu said that "a hotel for nothing" is not entirely correct, he not only picked up the hotel for nothing, but also made a fortune!
Until 2019, Lou Zhongfu planned to put "Early Sunshine" up for auction, and as soon as the news came out, many calligraphy and painting collectors were worried about it, and Lou Zhongfu estimated that the final transaction price of this painting should be about 200 million.
Sure enough, after the auction started, the bidding soared to 200 million, and the final transaction price was 205.85 million.
Others admired Lou Zhongfu so much, he made so much money as soon as he changed hands, but why did he put this painting up for auction in the end? There are different opinions, but no one knows the real reason.
Businessmen may think differently from ordinary people, and they value long-term profits more than immediate gains and losses.