Chapter 3496: Heroic Triumph!

Merchants, from ancient times to the present, have basically had nothing to do with the word "hero".

Bill Gates once dominated the world's richest list for many years, spending so much money, and in his early years he merely established for himself the image of a man who changed the world through technology, but he still couldn't prevent the collapse of his image in his later years.

Actually, there is no wealth that comes out of nowhere in this world; every super-rich person is like the queen ant in an ant kingdom, and behind their massive body, there must be countless worker ants supplying them with blood.

In other words, any existence that exceeds normal scale needs to draw energy from countless normal-scale things.

Why can top-tier stars like Tavana earn billions annually? Because they have tens of millions of fans supporting them, and it's those tens of millions of fans taking money from their own pockets to support her that allows her to earn so much.

Why has Bill Gates been able to remain the world's richest for many consecutive years? Because the Windows, Office, and various other popular software developed by Microsoft have been sold in hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, and every computer user around the world is providing growth momentum for Bill Gates's bank account through various channels.

A tycoon supported by hundreds of millions of people, not being despised by them is already rare; wanting hundreds of millions to respect him, even regard him as a hero, is basically equivalent to daydreaming.

However, today, Bernard Arnault is absolutely a hero of France.

Even, a national hero!

Charles de Gaulle Airport can now be said to be resounding with gongs and drums, firecrackers bursting, and crowds surging like mountains and seas.

Countless media and platforms are broadcasting the airport's dynamics in real time, and when Bernard Arnault's private jet appeared above the runway ahead, the French people erupted.

The plane gradually descended, landed smoothly on the runway, a yellow guide vehicle flashed its conspicuous lights, guiding the plane all the way to the already-prepared parking spot.

Bernard Arnault looked at the shocking scene outside the window, feeling delighted in his heart, yet inevitably nervous, even beginning to ponder whether, when the cabin door opened later, he should step out with his left foot first or his right foot first.

The plane gradually came to a stop, and the airport staff had already laid out the red carpet beneath the plane; after the private jet's cabin door opened and the stairs unfolded, Bernard Arnault, supported by his wife, appeared at the door with difficulty concealing his excitement, and the crowd waiting below instantly burst into cheers, the camera shutters clicking faster than machine guns, click-click-click without end.

Under the gaze of countless people, Bernard Arnault limped down the steps, a faint blood color visible at his injured knee—this was Bernard Arnault deliberately having the medical team do this, in order to display his heroic spirit.

The inspiration for this came from the recent U. S. presidential election when the president was shot in the ear, and later, when he gave a speech with his ear bandaged.

There is an old Chinese saying: the crying child gets milk; if you're injured, you must constantly think about exposing your wound to the public, only then can you gain the people's support to the greatest extent.

At this moment, the French Prime Minister stepped forward with a smile, extended his hand to shake his, and praised: "Mr. Arnault, you are the pride of France, the pride of the French people; on behalf of the French government and the French people, I thank you for everything you have done on White Horse Island!"

Bernard Arnault felt wonderful inside; he knew his French compatriots all too well—earning money from the French people was no problem, but gaining their respect was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Because he had repeatedly raised prices and forcefully pushed the bundling system, he had long made the French people curse him, yet now he suddenly transformed into a national hero—this wonderful turn of events could be called perfect.

Thus, Bernard Arnault said very humbly: "Prime Minister, you overpraise me; these are merely what I should do."

The Prime Minister smiled: "The President is waiting for you at the Élysée Palace to receive you; later we'll go together to take a photo in front of the reporters, and after the photo, the reporters might give you a brief interview; if you're interested, you can simply answer a few questions from some key media outlets; if not, it's fine—you can wait until after meeting the President, then accept interviews at the Élysée Palace."

Bernard Arnault rolled his eyes a few times and asked softly: "Excuse me, Prime Minister, have the Associated Press, United Press International, and CNN, these American media, arrived?"

"They've come, they've come." The Prime Minister nodded, smiling: "Given their news sensitivity, how could they possibly not come?"

"Good, good, great!" Bernard Arnault nodded while smiling and said: "In that case, I'll accept their interview later."

"Okay!"

After the Prime Minister and Bernard Arnault shook hands warmly in front of the media cameras, the two went together to face the media reporters; the Prime Minister smiled and said to the reporters present: "Mr. Arnault still needs to go to the Élysée Palace later to receive an audience from the President, but I just communicated and confirmed with Mr. Arnault that we can leave 10 minutes for the on-site media reporters to conduct a brief interview; if anyone has questions for Mr. Arnault, please raise your hand."

All the reporters raised their hands high at this moment; being sharp news workers themselves, with such an interview opportunity, they naturally didn't want to miss it.

The AFP reporter looked at Bernard Arnault with a confident expression.

She thought: As Bernard Arnault, the new generation of French national heroes, he would definitely choose to accept an interview from his own country's media first; AFP, as France's largest and oldest media, would certainly not yield, and would take the first wave of traffic.

But what she didn't expect was that Bernard Arnault had no intention of giving her a chance at all, but instead directly turned his gaze toward the CNN reporter.

He pointed at the CNN reporter and said: "Come, let the CNN reporter ask the first question."

The French reporter looked sullen and confused; she didn't know that Bernard Arnault had already prepared himself to be an anti-American fighter, and from this moment, he was entering work mode.

The CNN reporter never expected to be the first named to ask a question, overjoyed, saying: "Respected Mr. Arnault, I'd like to ask whether you think this attack might be the work of some people with ulterior motives secretly stirring things up?"

"Stirring things up?" Bernard Arnault asked, somewhat puzzled: "What do you mean by the 'stirring things up' you're talking about?"

The CNN reporter hurriedly said: "As far as I know, the terrorists who attacked White Horse Island call themselves mercenaries of Blackwater Company, but I think Blackwater Company is a legitimate mercenary firm; they definitely wouldn't be involved in terrorist attacks, so I think this might be a deliberate attempt to stir up Sino-French relations, a setup and frame-up—what do you think?"

Bernard Arnault snorted coldly and countered: "Where were you when the incident happened?"

The other explained: "I'm a CNN correspondent stationed in Paris, and I was in Paris when the incident happened."

Bernard Arnault said disdainfully: "You were in Paris when it happened, but I was on White Horse Island at that very moment, right in front of the guns of those Blackwater Company terrorists, and now you're telling me you think this could be a setup and frame-up—how are you so capable? Are you Sherlock Holmes?"