British 1986

On the night after meeting Gustav, Gustav asked Allen to stay in the guest room of their private palace to rest.

This kind of treatment is not available to ordinary foreign guests, which is enough to show that Gustave attaches great importance to Allen.

The next day, because the reception had not been arranged, there was no welcome dinner for Allen last night, and the famous queen did not show up.

It is estimated that they will not meet until Gustav officially receives Allen in a few days.

“Where do you want to visit?”

Today, Bertil changed into a short-sleeved shirt, a thin jacket, and jeans. He was dressed like a big boy next door.

This guy is three years older than William, and is taller than the current William, reaching the height of Allen's chest. According to visual inspection, he is about 1.6 meters tall.

"Shall we go somewhere different?"

"Um?"

Allen walked in the garden with his hands behind his back and thought about it. He had planned it before coming.

When he came here this time, he first wanted to visit several internationally renowned large-scale enterprises in Sweden. It was not that he wanted to steal other people's things, but that he wanted to visit and learn from them secretly.

His first target now is the later-famous IKEA!

This company, which is world-famous for selling furniture, has now begun to make its mark. It is said that it has opened more than 100 shopping malls in Europe. Allen wants to be a large supermarket in the future. IKEA's business model is very unique. The need for additional learning.

These days, although the Internet already exists, the penetration rate of the Internet, information dissemination, etc. are still in their infancy.

It's not like a few decades later, when you can just open a search engine and type in "IKEA", you can find a lot of information about them.

Although these things are not too secret nowadays, most people don't understand them. If you want to learn other people's models, you can only use the most primitive way of visiting and inspecting.

Regardless of whether they are Chinese or foreign, this is the most common approach. If a company is well-known in the industry, everyone will make an appointment to visit and learn.

Of course, this premise requires others to agree. If others don't agree, let's talk about it separately.

Allen had no chance before, but now he has arrived in Sweden, where IKEA is headquartered. It would be a waste if he didn't go for such a good opportunity.

"You know that IKEA? The one that sells furniture. I want to visit their headquarters."

Allen didn't know if the little brat Bertil knew about this place, but the one who was responsible for receiving him now was this little brat. He couldn't find anyone else if he didn't look for him.

"IKEA? The one in Älmhult?"

"Yes, yes, this is the place!"

As soon as Allen said it, Prince Bertil thought that he was far from being as useless as Allen imagined, but when he mentioned going to Älmhult, Prince Bertil showed a hint of embarrassment on his face.

"Almhult is about five hundred kilometers away from us. Are you sure you want to go? If we take a car, it will take nearly a whole day."

"???"

Five hundred kilometers, it takes a whole day to drive?

Allen looked at this little kid with some suspicion. Is he going in a wheelchair? So troublesome?

"Then can we take a plane?"

"By plane"

Prince Bertil grinned, looked at Allen inexplicably and said: "First, there is no airport in Älmhult. Second, if so many of us go together, even if we take the nearest flight to Malmo, the air tickets... Let’s just take the car.”

"."

Allen looked at the little kid's face and seemed to be a little red unconsciously. He suddenly realized that this was because he thought it was too expensive, right?

I have always heard that the Swedish royal family does not seem to be very rich. Their palace is large, but it is all left over from their ancestors.

Looking at it now, I have to calculate the airfare to even travel hundreds of kilometers away. Life is so miserable. It is indeed a small tragedy.

"Okay, I don't have time to take a whole day's drive. Let's just take a helicopter there. I did some research before I came here. There is no airport there, but they have a flying club, and they can also make temporary landings. As for the cost, I'll do it. pay."

Allen patted Bertil on the shoulder and explained the cost clearly first, so as to save the little kid a lot of pain.

"Okay then, thank you."

Bertil didn't think much about it. He was quite happy when Alan said he wanted to pay. In this way, he could save money in his small coffers.

Älmhult is located in the Scania province in southern Sweden. The nearest big city is Malmö, and Älmhult is, uh, equivalent to a small town.

It is not even bigger than Carmarthen Town, with a total population of only six to seven thousand.

But this is not the point. The point is that this town is where the IKEA headquarters is located, and about 80% of the people in this town work at the IKEA headquarters, and the remaining 20% Most of the people’s jobs are indirectly related to IKEA.

In other words, this town is basically the headquarters of IKEA and the living area for employees.

As for Allen and his group of outsiders who first came to this town, they naturally stood out as outsiders.

After coming out of their flying club, ignoring the looks of those rustics, Allen sat in the car and looked out the window at the scenery of the town.

There was graffiti everywhere and lots of slogans posted in some places.

The slogan is written in five common European languages ​​and has an international feel.

"Welcome to Älmhult, this is IKEA. Please make an appointment in advance to visit. Reservation phone number: XXXXXX".

Slogans like this can be seen everywhere, making it look like a rural scenic spot, giving it a weird feeling.

While looking at the scenery on the roadside, the sound of the game console was heard in my ears. On the way here, it was the game console that Allen bribed Prince Bertil. This game console was the same one that Allen had bought before he came. The new model that William snatched.

As expected, only little kids understand kids best. As soon as a game console was given out, Allen and Prince Bertil were promoted from ordinary friends to good buddies.

"Betil, stop playing around now, we are here."

"Go and see by yourself, I'll wait for you in the car."

Allen and Bertil looked at each other with big eyes, one was eager to steal the teacher, and the other just got addicted to gaming and didn't want to go anywhere.

"Snapped!"

Allen snatched the game console from the kid's hand, clasped his fingers, and pressed the power-off button. Under Prince Bertil's angry gaze, he pointed at himself and said, "I gave you the game console. I need you to accompany me to do business now. If you do it well, there will be other benefits in the future. If you don't do it well, you won't even be able to play the game console, do you understand?"

Originally, Bertil, who had just become acquainted with Allen, was not very afraid of Allen, but when Allen was not smiling, he still looked very scary. After years of accumulating power, his demeanor was better than that of his father who was the king. When Alan scared him, Bertil moved his lips twice. Under the power, he wisely opened the car door and got out of the car to wait for Alan.

"snort!"

No matter how bad the Swedish royal family is, it's all relative. For private companies like IKEA, Prince Bertil's words still have some effect.

We had called in advance before coming. When Alan arrived, IKEA had arranged a reception team of ten people, including translators, product managers, headquarters heads, etc. If the chairman had not been on a business trip, even the directors would have The chief is ready to come.

They didn't all give Prince Bertil face, mainly because today's visitor had an unusual status.

This is a nobleman from Great Britain, a great nobleman, the most traditional elite among the nobles.

In their opinion, this kind of nobleman is not the same creature at all as the Swedish royal family.

Regardless of whether it is external or internal, if a noble person like him can come to visit their IKEA store, it will be very respectable even if it is said. And even as an ordinary person, who doesn't want to see the style of the famous British noble man?

Opportunities like this are rare. When I received the call, all the people in charge at the headquarters almost got into a fight in order to compete for a spot in the reception team.

Now seeing Allen, Allen was a little doubtful about life as soon as they met.

Don’t you mean that Swedes are very indifferent to outsiders?

Why are these people so enthusiastic?

"That's Prince Bertil, right? Oh, is that Your Excellency the one next to him?"

"As expected, he is a nobleman from Great Britain. He has extraordinary bearing."

"Then, didn't you see that the prince had to get out of the car and wait for him?"

"Boss, do we need to go over to greet him?"

The middle-aged man in front of the team was wearing a light gray thin suit, with his hands in front of him, standing outside the gate of IKEA headquarters, staring at the stopped motorcade with bright eyes.

The arguments from the rest of the reception group reached my ears.

It was also the first time for him to see such a battle.

In the past, when members of the Swedish royal family traveled, there was no fleet of this size. Although the cars were not very good and might have been rented nearby, the momentum could not be supported by luxury cars.

As soon as that kind of convoy stopped, dozens of big men in black came down, both on guard and for inspection.

Just looking at it makes people feel nervous and nervous.

In addition, Prince Bertil got off the bus first and waited for the distinguished guest to get off.

This strength is far beyond the cognition of these people.

It gives people a feeling that it should be like this.

They didn't feel like their Swedish prince got out of the car first, as if they had suffered some kind of humiliation.

The Swedish royal family has a very low presence in Sweden and is not very popular.

And the British aristocrats

With so many film and television works, legends, novels and other news, everyone is full of curiosity about this group of people, and the person here today has a certain reputation and many identities.

What are the identities of members of the British House of Lords, members of the European Parliament, Sweden's accession to the European Community, leader of the Human Rights Council's inspection team, personal assistant to the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom, deputy chief of the British Royal Guards, and chief of the Prince of Wales's bodyguards.

Whichever one of them is taken out, it looks countless times more glamorous than a title like Prince of Sweden.

"Stand still, they are coming, don't be embarrassed!"

The middle-aged man watched Allen get out of the car, took a deep breath, tightened his belly, and stood in the most standard posture, looking at the VIP team coming this way, like guards waiting for review.

"Are you the person in charge of receiving me?"

"Yes, Your Excellency, I am very happy to see you. Welcome to visit the IKEA headquarters. Our chairman is on his way back. I don't know."

The middle-aged man standing at the front of Allen's reception team was very satisfied with the attention they paid to him.

He first shook the middle-aged man's hand and then started asking questions.

"No need, just let him be busy if you have anything to do. I'm here today just to visit and study. I won't disturb you, right?"

"Don't disturb, don't disturb, please."

The middle-aged man was somewhat panicked. He had just told his subordinates not to be embarrassed, but when things came to pass, he was the first one to be nervous.

Even though Allen was smiling when he spoke, his attitude of smiling but being distant from others was very hurtful.

His natural attitude when shaking hands with others will make some people who have never seen much of the world feel inferior.

This is a very wonderful feeling, the kind that after seeing him in person, you will unconsciously be suppressed by his momentum, and then become inferior and inferior.

The next step is nervousness.

"Haha, little stone, pull the gift over here."

Allen shook his hand lightly and then took it back. He stood there and glanced at the IKEA reception team that was receiving him. He raised his right hand and waved lightly, signaling Xiao Shitou to start giving gifts.

He did not specify in what capacity he came this time. Whether he came as the leader of the inspection team or as a private person.

I just gave my name.

In this way, IKEA is not sure of Allen's intentions, but they welcome him no matter what identity he comes to visit.

Allen doesn't think so. He thinks that since he wants to learn something, he has to do something good, right?

Forcing people to take him on a tour has a different effect than taking him on a tour after bribing them.

Xiao Shitou called a bodyguard, who held a large tray with exquisite wooden boxes of the same size placed on it. The decorations on the boxes did not look cheap.

The items inside are all jade bracelets, the kind made of gold inlaid with jade.

The popularity of jade is not high here in Europe, and it is mostly brought by immigrants from East Asia.

But this is what Allen does. These jewelry are specially designed to meet European aesthetic standards as "export models."

Materials

It's very rubbish, it's all jade scraps.

However, after the designer's design, the gold-inlaid jade model was adopted. After the scraps were polished and carved, they were wrapped in gold and silver, and then made into an oval-shaped bracelet that could be opened and closed.

In this way, the quality of the materials used has improved, and so has the aesthetic appearance. It is also more convenient to carry than the traditional jade bracelets that are molded together.

For foreigners who don't know the ropes, as long as they don't tell you their cost, just look at the packaging and appearance, they look like high-end products.

If you add in the "little gift" given by Allen himself, basically these country bumpkins can take it back as a family heirloom.

Sure enough, these people took the jewelry box from Xiao Shitou at a loss.

No one was polite or shy. In their opinion, a small gift from an earl should be opened in person, and complimented on how beautiful the gift is. This is the greatest respect for the gift giver, not Put it away as soon as you get it, otherwise people will misunderstand that you don't like the gift.

"Ouch"

The middle-aged man took the box in a daze, and when he opened it, the luster of precious metal flashed through it.