Chapter 339: The Vanishing Balance!

As soon as Chu Chen finished speaking, the eyes of the entire audience turned in unison toward the center of the first row!

At the same time, the camera also focused on Brian Thompson!

Today, he was wearing a custom-made dark blue suit with a wine-red tie, embroidered with the logo of UnitedHealth Group—an abstract human figure composed of two arcs.

His hair was combed neater than usual, every strand lying flat against his scalp, the sheen of hair gel shimmering slightly in the ambient light of the stage.

As an insurance professional, when facing the camera, he always wore a standard, infinitely practiced CEO smile!

The corners of his mouth were raised just enough to reveal exactly eight teeth.

But that smile froze for about 0.3 seconds the moment he heard his name called.

Brian was not the type of person to show weakness.

The reason he froze was that Chu Chen had not told him about this segment in advance.

The spotlight moved away from the center of the stage, swept over the audience for two seconds, and then landed precisely on Brian.

The beam was about two meters in diameter, just enough to encase him, like a specimen placed on a microscope slide.

The two people beside him were his wife on the left and the Chief Financial Officer of UnitedHealth on the right.

Before long, applause broke out.

It spread toward the back of the auditorium like dominoes.

It rippled row by row, covering the entire theater in less than three seconds.

Immediately after, Brian stood up, straightened his suit collar, and walked out from the aisle between the seats with a steady gait and a straight back.

The spotlight followed him as he moved from the audience to the center of the stage.

Chu Chen stood in the center of the stage waiting for him, holding nothing, his hands in his trouser pockets, his posture as relaxed as if he were waiting for an old friend.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Chu Chen's voice carried through the microphone to the entire hall, warm and sincere.

"It is my honor." Brian's voice was also very steady.

Chu Chen smiled, let go of his hand, and then said, "Brian, you are the CEO of UnitedHealth, managing hundreds of billions in assets. I suspect your bank account balance should be far greater than most people here."

A low ripple of laughter broke out in the audience.

It was not mockery, but a kind of bitter agreement.

Everyone present knew UnitedHealth's business model, knew how much the company denied in claims every year, and knew Brian Thompson's net worth.

The "far greater" that Chu Chen said was not an exaggeration at all!

"I believe that not only I, but everyone is also interested in just how much your net worth is. So, I won't keep you in suspense any longer." As he spoke, Chu Chen glanced at the side of the stage: "Please bring out what I have prepared."

No sooner had he finished speaking than two staff members in black work pants pushed a massive object out from behind the curtain at the side of the stage.

It was a white cardboard board about two meters high and one point five meters wide, equipped with casters at the bottom; the surface of the board was flat and smooth, glowing with a matte sheen under the stage lights.

In the center of the board, a line of huge numbers was written in black marker—not handwritten, but sprayed on with a stencil; each digit was over twenty centimeters tall, with clean, sharp edges, as neat as printed text.

15,000,000,000!

Fifteen billion.

That number written on the white board was pitch black and shiny, so bright it was blinding!

The sound of "hiss—" echoed one after another throughout the audience!

Some people began whispering in their seats, some took out their phones to take pictures of the board, and some sat with their mouths agape, eyes fixed on that number!

The barrage in the live stream switched from "anticipation" to "shock" in that instant.

【Fifteen billion? Did I count the zeros right?】

【Holy crap! That much? And in USD?】

【How many zeros is that, damn it!】

【What was UnitedHealth's market cap again?】

【Market cap and account balance are two different things. He has over ten billion in his personal account!】

【This company's profit last year was nine billion. He has more in his personal account than the company's annual profit.】

The refresh rate of the barrage soared to the upper limit of what the platform could handle!

The next second.

Chu Chen walked to the side of the board and tapped the edge with his palm, producing a dull "thud."

He turned to face the audience, then tilted his head to look at Brian; the smile on his face remained, but his voice lowered, audible only to Brian standing beside him and the audience in the front row.

"Brian, this number is correct, right?"

Brian stood beside the board, the line of huge numbers right at his shoulder level, like an invisible burden he was carrying on his back.

In the United States, such things are considered personal privacy, and publicly announcing someone else's balance without permission is a very impolite act.

Brian had no idea what Chu Chen was up to.

But he still wore that standard smile on his face.

"Yes, that's correct." His voice was very brief.

As he finished speaking, there was another commotion in the audience.

Chu Chen nodded, walked away from the board, and returned to the center of the stage.

He looked up at the lighting console above the stage, where the lighting technician was sitting, facing a full row of faders and buttons.

"Lighting technician, please shine a beam of light on this number. Yes, that one—okay, thank you."

As Chu Chen spoke, he used gestures to guide the direction of the light.

A narrow-angle, sharp-edged white beam of light shot down from the ceiling, landing precisely on the "15,000,000,000."

Illuminating every single zero clearly.

"Now." Chu Chen turned to face the audience, his voice raised, carrying the clarity and certainty of a teacher calling roll in a classroom, "Please take out the flashlights under your seats. There is one under every seat; we placed them there in advance. They are small, white, and you can feel them if you reach down."

Two thousand eight hundred people bowed their waists at the same time.

That scene was divided into dozens of small grids on the LED screen, and in every grid was a person who was bending over, reaching out, and fumbling for something on the metal rack beneath their seat.

A few seconds later, two thousand eight hundred small white flashlights lit up simultaneously.

The points of light danced and flickered across the auditorium.

"Very good. Now, I would like you to aim your flashlights at the—bank account balance—on the back of your invitations." Chu Chen's voice sounded exceptionally gentle amidst the surrounding points of light, like someone telling a story under a starry sky. "No need to stand up, no need to leave your seats. Just shine the flashlight beam onto that line of numbers."

Two thousand eight hundred people lowered their heads and aimed the light of their flashlights at the invitations in their hands.

At this moment, Huai Te Mo Ni Ka, in the northwest corner of the auditorium, also lowered her head to look at the invitation in her hand, which was illuminated by her flashlight.

She blinked her eyes three times.

The first time was an instinctive blink, the second time was because she thought she had seen wrong, and the third time was when she finally confirmed what she was seeing—and then her eyes never blinked again!

Her pupils focused, dilated, and refocused on the back of that white slip of paper, repeatedly confirming the same line of numbers!

Her lips began to tremble; that trembling was not from cold, but a special expression of excitement and agitation!

"My God."

Her voice was not loud, but the people in that small area of the northwest corner all heard it: "My God, my God, my God. My balance has changed!"

This sentence was like a pebble thrown into a lake. The few people around her turned their heads to look at her at the same time; some lowered their heads to look at their own invitations, while others asked her directly how much it had changed.

Monica aimed her flashlight at the invitation, letting the beam of light make that line of numbers shine even brighter. The numbers were handwritten, using the black ballpoint pen that the reception staff had handed out when entering the banquet; the handwriting was somewhat scrawled, but every digit was clear.

"200,580."

She remembered that the number she had written down was 580.

Five hundred and eighty dollars—that was all that remained in her account this month after paying the rent, paying the car loan, and buying that pair of discounted sneakers for her son.

Ever since her husband passed away due to illness, life for her and her son had been very tight.

When she wrote down this number before entering the venue, she had silently calculated in her heart—if she didn't pay this month's electricity bill, this number could become over eight hundred. She had even seriously considered that option.

But now that number had changed!

200,580!

"I know, Monica, tell me, how much has it changed?" Chu Chen's voice came from the stage.

Monica raised her head and looked toward Chu Chen.

"200,000." Her voice was still trembling, but it was much steadier than before, like someone recovering from dizziness, beginning to regain their balance!

Chu Chen smiled slightly.

"So. Excluding your original 580. Your account has 200,000 more?"

"That is the case," Monica said, half-believing and half-doubting.

Chu Chen did not continue the conversation with her, but instead turned around, facing the white light shining on Brian's balance.

That line of numbers was still there, eleven zeros neatly arranged on the white cardboard.

"Everyone, next, is the moment to witness a miracle!"

After he finished speaking, he pointed his hand at that line of numbers.

And in the very next second!

The numbers on the cardboard really did change, actually going from the initial 15,000,000,000 to 14,999,800,000!

200,000 had inexplicably disappeared!