Chapter 3491

Seeing Bernard Arnault so cooperative, Ye Chen said with a satisfied expression: "As for Blackwater Company, you still need to keep giving them eye drops there. Since the President of France wants to meet you, it must be big news in Europe too. Remember, when you meet him, mention Blackwater Company more. Better yet, get the French President to step forward and protest to the U. S. government, demanding they thoroughly investigate Blackwater Company."

Bernard Arnault immediately said firmly: "Mr. Ye, rest assured, I will do everything possible to keep the White Horse Island incident hot. After a while, I still plan to go to the U. S. to put more pressure on Blackwater Company."

Ye Chen asked him: "How do you plan to put pressure on them when you go to the U. S.?"

Bernard Arnault said with an eager smile: "Mr. Ye, I'm thinking of going to the United Nations headquarters in the U. S. and donating ten to twenty million U. S. dollars to the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, so they can use this money to promote and strengthen counter-terrorism publicity and implementation. Not for anything else, just to slap Blackwater Company in the face."

Ye Chen nodded and said approvingly: "This idea is great—going to Blackwater Company's lair to slap them in the face. I really like this style of doing things."

Seeing Ye Chen like his plan, Bernard Arnault immediately said: "To receive Mr. Ye's recognition, I am deeply honored!"

Ye Chen changed the subject: "But since you're already going to the UN, don't just donate ten to twenty million U. S. dollars—it's too little. Donate more; it will attract even more attention."

Bernard Arnault felt a pang in his heart, but still gritted his teeth and said: "Fine! Since Mr. Ye said so, I'll donate one hundred million!"

Ye Chen smiled and nodded: "Yes, I may not be as good at business as you, but I think people should broaden their horizons and loosen their purse strings sometimes—it's not necessarily bad. Don't always quibble over small gains and losses."

Bernard Arnault said reluctantly: "Mr. Ye is right!"

Ye Chen smiled: "Don't worry, I won't let you lose out. Do you remember how much you spent last time buying the Rejuvenation Pill?"

Bernard Arnault didn't know why Ye Chen asked this, so he said: "Probably over a hundred billion U. S. dollars, since you had me stock up on quite a lot back then..."

Ye Chen nodded and said: "I've never let my friends lose out. Now that you're my friend, I can give you a promise: whenever you spend five hundred billion U. S. dollars with me, you won't need to participate in any auctions—I'll just give you a Rejuvenation Pill directly."

"Five hundred billion U. S. dollars for one Rejuvenation Pill?!"

Bernard Arnault's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he heard that.

Five hundred billion U. S. dollars sounds like an astronomical figure, but compared to the lifespan extension a Rejuvenation Pill can bring, for Bernard Arnault, it's an absolute bargain.

Because even in the current economic downturn, his group made a net profit of two hundred billion euros last year.

Two hundred billion euros is roughly two hundred thirty billion U. S. dollars.

Although Bernard Arnault is not the sole owner or shareholder of the group, at least half of that profit goes into his personal pocket. After various tax avoidance methods, his actual take-home profit is at least over ten billion U. S. dollars per year.

One Rejuvenation Pill would not only let Bernard Arnault live twenty more years but also let him earn over two hundred billion more U. S. dollars.

Compared to that, what's five hundred billion U. S. dollars?

So, overjoyed, he grabbed Ye Chen's hand, his eye sockets red, and asked: "Mr. Ye, you're not joking with me, are you?"

Ye Chen said calmly: "Of course not. We Chinese have an ancient saying: 'A gentleman's word is hard to take back, even with four horses.'"

"Great, great!" Bernard Arnault exclaimed, spinning excitedly on the spot, and said instinctively to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, is there anything else I need to spend money on? If not, I'll first figure out how to raise five hundred billion U. S. dollars for you! I can gather it all within a week at most!"

Ye Chen waved his hand: "If you buy it directly, it wouldn't be this price—direct purchase would start at at least one trillion U. S. dollars."

Bernard Arnault looked confused: "Then... what did you mean by five hundred billion?"

Ye Chen smiled: "In the future, I may have many things I need your help with. Each time you help, track how much you spend. We'll use that amount as the basis. Remember, it must be my request that you fulfill—only then does it count. If you spend money on your own without my permission, it doesn't count."

As he spoke, he paused slightly, seeing Bernard Arnault's eager expression, and continued: "You luxury goods people all like points and membership tiers, right? Different membership levels mean different service levels, different discount strengths, different products you can buy, and some even let you redeem gifts with points. So just think of it this way: for every U. S. dollar you spend with me, you earn one point. Accumulate five hundred billion points, and you can come to me to redeem one Rejuvenation Pill."

Bernard Arnault was overjoyed: "This... this idea is truly fantastic! Mr. Ye, when will we officially start implementing this?"

Ye Chen said with a smile: "Look, let's start calculating from this very moment. If you go donate one hundred million U. S. dollars to that UN Counter-Terrorism Office, then that one hundred million counts toward the total. Whenever you reach five hundred billion, you can redeem it."

Bernard Arnault immediately blurted out: "Then I'll just donate five hundred billion U. S. dollars directly to them! Give me some time—I'll raise the funds, and once I have enough, I'll go to the U. S. and just throw five hundred billion U. S. dollars at the UN!"

Ye Chen frowned and asked: "Are you acting like a sucker, or am I? Even if I wanted to slap Blackwater Company in the face, I couldn't use five hundred billion to do it—would they even be worth that much?"

Bernard Arnault said embarrassedly: "Mr. Ye... I... I mainly just want to reach your spending requirement as soon as possible..."

Ye Chen waved his hand: "Remember, only what I tell you to spend counts. If you spend on your own initiative, it doesn't count. If I don't say anything, even if you give five hundred billion U. S. dollars to my mother-in-law, I won't give you a single point."

Ye Chen was worried Bernard Arnault, this old fox, would randomly exploit bugs to farm experience. If he chose to farm experience on Ma Lan, it would be like using money to smash Ma Lan to death.

That might be Ma Lan's most desired way to die, but I can't let her have her wish.

Bernard Arnault understood Ye Chen's meaning and hurriedly asked: "Mr. Ye, just tell me—this time I go to the UN, what's the most I can spend there?"

Ye Chen held up two fingers: "At most two hundred million U. S. dollars."

Bernard Arnault immediately nodded: "Okay! Then I'll donate two hundred million U. S. dollars to them!"

Saying that, he said somewhat listlessly to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, you need to give me more opportunities to spend money. If it's just one or two billion each time, I don't know what year or month I'll ever accumulate five hundred billion points..."

Bernard Arnault suddenly felt he had become the protagonist of Brewster's Millions.

In the movie, Brewster had to spend thirty million U. S. dollars within a set time, or else he'd lose three hundred million U. S. dollars in inheritance.

The remake, Hello, Mr. Billionaire, has the same setup.

Bernard Arnault now isn't afraid of spending too much money—he's afraid of spending too little, too slowly.

Best case: Ye Chen lets him spend five hundred billion U. S. dollars overnight. If he keeps failing to spend enough or spends too slowly, he'll actually get anxious.

Seeing his anxious face, Ye Chen said: "Don't rush. This time going to the U. S., I can give you a double points opportunity. If you seize it, spending those two hundred million U. S. dollars will earn you four hundred million points."

Bernard Arnault hurriedly said: "Mr. Ye, please tell me!"

Ye Chen said: "When you go to the UN and donate two hundred million U. S. dollars to that Counter-Terrorism Office, you must instruct them to use this money only for counter-terrorism work in non-U. S. territories and non-U. S. -controlled areas—for example, counter-terrorism in the U. S. mainland cannot use this fund, and counter-terrorism in U. S. -controlled Middle Eastern regions also cannot use this money."

Bernard Arnault said in surprise: "Mr. Ye, you... you want me to slip in a slap at the U. S. government while I'm at it?"

"Exactly." Ye Chen nodded. "That's the point—I want to slap them in the face. Otherwise, they'll keep trying to cover up for Blackwater Company, keep racking their brains to get Blackwater Company off the hook, or make big things small and small things disappear."

Bernard Arnault pointed to his forehead and said embarrassedly: "Mr. Ye, their current president—this part of him is a bit different from normal people. If I say this, I'm afraid they'll find a reason to sanction me..."

Ye Chen asked him: "How much net profit does your group make annually in the U. S.?"

Bernard Arnault said: "North America accounts for roughly 25% of all net profits, about fifty billion euros, give or take. After subtracting Canada's market share of around 20%, the U. S. alone is roughly forty billion."

Ye Chen nodded and waved his hand generously: "Don't worry—this time, just go head-to-head with them. Do everything possible to get them to sanction you. If they make you lose four billion U. S. dollars in the U. S. market per year, although I can't compensate you for that loss, I'll still count it as money you spent for me, and I'll give you forty billion points for it!"

One second, Bernard Arnault was still afraid of being sanctioned by the U. S.; the next, he suddenly felt invincible.

He felt like he had obtained a god-tier item in a game—others' gear is for resisting or reflecting attacks, but his gear can convert the opponent's attack into his own health.

In other words, the harder others hit him, the more his health increases!

He suddenly felt an intense urge to burst his chest open—he wanted to rush to the U. S., do everything possible to court self-destruction, and drive the U. S. into a frenzy of sanctions against him!

And above all, he must not let them go easy on him!

Best case: directly shut down all his U. S. operations!