Chapter 3492

At this moment, Bernard Arnault's heart was filled with extreme excitement.

In his life of over seventy years, this was the first time he had developed such an intense aversion to money.

How to quickly spend five hundred billion on Ye Chen had become his most anticipated task at present.

How does that hot meme go again?

Shutthefuckupandtakemyfuckingmoney!

Shut the fuck up, stop the nonsense, and quickly take my money!

He thought Ye Chen was also quite ruthless—five hundred billion US dollars wasn't something he could just spend whenever he wanted; he had to follow Ye Chen's orders and wait for his instructions, which truly made him feel a bit impatient.

However, upon thinking of the losses caused by directly confronting the United States, Ye Chen would count it as experience points for himself, and in just a few short seconds, he had already thought of various approaches for this trip to the US to gain experience.

Didn't Ye Chen say so? As long as the money was lost due to sanctions from the United States, it all counts as experience.

This is actually very easy to handle—these days, making money while kneeling is hard, making money while standing is even harder, but if one wants to lose money while standing, well, damn it, even a dog given a bowl of dog food would do it!

So, he patted his chest and said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, just wait a few days and you'll see the news—I guarantee I'll make a big fuss about this in the United States!"

Ye Chen nodded and chuckled: "I have confidence in you—keep up the good work!"

Hamid, standing nearby, watched in silent astonishment—this younger brother of his, Ye Chen, was truly unparalleled; a single elixir had Bernard Arnault eating out of his palm, and if Hamid had even two-tenths of his abilities, he might even become president in Syria.

The more he felt Ye Chen's abilities were strong, the more he felt he himself was truly blessed by fate—having kidnapped a few clueless American elites, he ended up attracting Ye Chen, this true deity, who not only healed his lame leg but also helped him resist attacks from government forces and the Wanlong Temple, continually consolidating his strength in the fires of war; this time, despite a setback, it was Ye Chen who turned the tide, and he truly felt he had been saved too many times in this life.

It's a pity I'm a man with a full beard—if I were a sexy beauty, I'd first give Ye Chen eight children before talking about anything else.

Bernard Arnault was in high spirits, so he said to Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner, would you and your family be able to attend?"

Ye Chen knew he had arranged a New Year's Eve dinner event for Chinese guests, complete with the Spring Festival Gala, and he was happy to join in the fun—but thinking back to last night's events causing a global uproar, with countless people watching this tiny White Horse Island, where tourists casually streaming online could draw over 100,000 viewers, if someone were to broadcast the dinner tonight, wouldn't he be exposed worldwide?

So he instructed Bernard Arnault: "This way, later you have someone issue a notice—just say for safety reasons, starting now, until every guest leaves White Horse Island, no one is allowed to use mobile phones in public areas; if they can comply until the moment they leave the island, each person will receive that $100,000 compensation; otherwise, White Horse Island has the right to reclaim the compensation. Additionally, for tonight's New Year's Eve dinner, all attendees are prohibited from carrying mobile phones."

Bernard Arnault knew Ye Chen preferred to keep a low profile, so he immediately nodded and said: "Alright, Mr. Ye, you can rest assured—I'll handle everything!"

After the three finished chatting and said their goodbyes, Bernard Arnault returned to his villa, and the first thing he did was immediately call the person in charge for the entire United States.

Having already arranged a series of preparations, he then had his assistant contact the UN Counter-Terrorism Office to inform them of his intention to donate.

The name "United Nations" sounds cool, but in reality, it has little presence.

Its status is somewhat like that of a royal family in a constitutional monarchy—nominally powerful, the Son of Heaven, supreme and exalted—but the real power of the state lies in the hands of parliament.

When issues arise openly, the real authorities will invite it to preside over the situation, but it's merely for show; in practice, members like the United States basically give it no face.

And many of those members who do give it face, the UN itself looks down on them, because they're just a bunch of poor relatives—showing up with a basket of local specialties to visit you, when in fact their homes are collapsing, and they want you to pay for them to build two villas and marry two more wives.

Suddenly hearing that the former world's richest person was coming to donate, UN staff related to the matter were thrilled and immediately made preparations to welcome Bernard Arnault.

Thus, Bernard Arnault decided: tomorrow he would return to France to meet the president, the day after that, during the day in France, he would accept some media interviews, firmly stating his position, and then immediately board his private jet to fly to the United States to gain experience.

……

Today is New Year's Eve, originally the biggest holiday in China, and Xiao Changkun and Ma Lan, the elderly couple, were in high spirits, so they started preparing to go to the restaurant for the New Year celebration at around four o'clock.

The family left their guest room and arrived at the commercial district of White Horse Island, discovering that everywhere was decorated with lanterns and banners, with Chinese New Year-related decorations already hung up abundantly, looking very festive.

What Ye Chen's family didn't expect was that, outside the restaurant the hotel had prepared to provide New Year's Eve dinner for Chinese tourists, there was actually a professional lion dance team performing energetically.

Ye Chen couldn't help but feel curious—on White Horse Island, where all foreign supplies must be purchased from outside the island, where did they get all these Chinese New Year-related materials?

While pondering this, he saw an old man standing at the restaurant door wearing a full set of red Tang-style clothing, continuously greeting every guest entering, and even constantly pulling out red envelopes with "Happy New Year" written on them from his pocket, handing them to each guest with both hands.

Ye Chen took a closer look—and realized it was Bernard Arnault; he hadn't expected this old fellow to have dressed himself in a full set of bright red Tang attire, matching his silver-white hair, making him look like a mascot.

Ma Lan immediately recognized him and quickly said: "That luxury conglomerate's boss is actually handing out red envelopes! Hurry and see how much money this old man can give!"

Saying that, she strode ahead confidently.

Bernard Arnault also saw Ye Chen at that moment; to avoid raising suspicion from Ye Chen's family, he merely smiled and used his eyes to signal Ye Chen, then handed a red envelope to Ma Lan, who had just come up to him: "Madam Ma, HappyChineseNewYear! Wishing you prosperity!"

While speaking, he handed a red envelope to Ma Lan.

Ma Lan felt the thickness of the red envelope and felt a bit disappointed inside, muttering to herself: "This red envelope probably contains at most two banknotes—even if they're both hundred-dollar bills, that's only two hundred dollars total; this old man's vision is still too small—he should at least give a thousand dollars!"

Because the red envelope wasn't thick enough, she lost the urge to immediately check its contents, slipped it into her pocket, and said with a smile: "Oh, wishing you prosperity, Mr. Arnault! Hope your new year brings booming business and robust health!"

Bernard Arnault was also very happy, smiling and saying: "Thank you for your blessings, Madam Ma—I'll take your kind words to heart!"

Ma Lan whispered: "In our Chinese culture, if someone blesses you generously, you should return the favor with a generous red envelope—this is called reciprocity in courtesy, do you understand?"

Bernard Arnault initially seemed a bit puzzled, but his mind worked quickly, and he soon understood Ma Lan's meaning, laughing heartily: "Thank you, Madam Ma, for the reminder—I've now grasped another point about Chinese customs!"

Saying that, he quickly pulled out another red envelope and handed it to Ma Lan, smiling: "Madam Ma, I also wish you good health and smooth sailing in the new year!"

Ma Lan took the red envelope with a grin, then quickly added: "Mr. Arnault, you're a big boss—I won't return a red envelope to you, that'd be like showing off my skills before a master!"

Bernard Arnault thought: "So the idiom 'showing off one's skills before a master' can be used this way too? I've learned something new."

At this moment, Ye Chen, Xiao Churan, and Xiao Changkun also arrived before him.

Bernard Arnault hurriedly took out three more red envelopes, giving one to each person while saying a New Year's greeting.

Xiao Changkun took his red envelope, happily bowed his hands in thanks, but Xiao Churan did not accept hers, merely saying politely: "Thank you for your blessings, Mr. Arnault, and I wish you a happy New Year as well—but there's no need to spend money on the red envelope."

Ma Lan quickly said: "Oh dear, Churan, red envelopes are just for a lucky start—To Mr. Arnault, this isn't much of an expense at all; if you feel awkward, Mom will just hold onto it for you first."

Speaking, Ma Lan's hand had already reached out and taken the red envelope into her palm.

Xiao Churan expressed some dissatisfaction, pouting: "Oh Mom, can't you stop being so money-obsessed..."

Bernard Arnault quickly smoothed things over: "Madam Ye, you don't need to take this so seriously—the red envelope doesn't contain much money, just about one thousand euros, mainly for good luck."

Ma Lan's eyes lit up as she thought: "Wow, this guy—such a thin red envelope, and it actually holds one thousand euros! Euros are worth more than dollars anyway—this old guy really is generous!"

Bernard Arnault then turned to Ye Chen, handed him a red envelope, and said with a smile: "Mr. Ye, I wish you a happy New Year!"

Ye Chen smiled and nodded, took the red envelope, and casually handed it to Ma Lan, saying: "Mom, keep it as a souvenir."

Ma Lan squinted her eyes, broke into a smile full of wrinkles, and said happily: "Since my son-in-law said so, I'll keep it for you."

Ye Chen asked Bernard Arnault with interest: "Mr. Arnault, these Lunar New Year supplies, as well as this lion dance team—where did you get them from?"

Bernard Arnault laughed and said: "Resources in the Maldives are really scarce, and there aren't many Chinese people living here, so I specifically had people purchase everything from Dubai, urgently air-freighted this morning—the lion dance team was also hired from Dubai, hoping to give the Chinese guests on the island a sense of home."

Saying that, Bernard Arnault added: "By the way, Mr. Ye, I specially hired some professional Chinese chefs from Dubai to prepare tonight's New Year's Eve dinner—I hope you... and your family will enjoy it."

Ye Chen nodded, smiling and saying: "Mr. Elno, you're thoughtful."

Bernard Elno received the praise, his face breaking into a heap of wrinkles, then he lowered his voice to ask Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, to make you and your family happy, I specially arranged a lottery segment, with the first prize being one hundred million US dollars, which can be manipulated through a dark box so your family wins—what do you think?"

Ye Chen was furious, lowering his voice and snapping: "If you keep mulling over this damn idea, I'll raise the experience points required to exchange for the Rejuvenation Pill to five hundred billion!"