Chapter 640: A Flower in a Mirror, a Moon in the Water

Inside the VIP ward, the smell of disinfectant was faint, replaced by an expensive orchid fragrance.
“Chairman Su, are you still feeling alright?”
“Yes, very well. Aside from being confined here like a prisoner, it couldn't be better.”
Su Hao leaned back on the excessively luxurious hospital bed, listlessly playing with his tablet.
Liang Haiyuan, standing beside the bed, suppressed a laugh, his face clearly saying, “I can't help it.”
“Haha, who in the entire Fanghuan doesn't know how much the chairman ‘cares’ for you?
He treats you like a precious gem, afraid you'll melt in his mouth or break in his hands.”
Su Hao sighed helplessly.
This was probably what they called “knock you out of bed first because I’m afraid you’ll die from overwork”—hardcore care.
Thus, Su Hao enjoyed this emperor-like treatment.
Huang Fengwen not only crammed him into this VIP ward, more luxurious than a five-star hotel, but also forcibly imposed a “one-month mandatory leave” debuff on him.
“What is this? Workplace bullying? Illegal detention?” Su Hao rolled his eyes. “I’m going to labor arbitration!”
“Ahem, well… you’d better confront the chairman yourself…”
Liang Haiyuan wiped his sweat, skillfully choosing to shift the blame.
Su Hao was just making a casual remark.
He knew that if he were in Huang Fengwen’s shoes, watching him perform his “instant death” in front of him, he would probably have done even worse.
Locking him up in an iron cage and feeding him liquid food wouldn’t be out of the question.
"Sigh, why hasn't this damn medical technology made any breakthroughs yet?" Su Hao stared listlessly at the ceiling.
"When will they develop that 'overwork-induced death immunity drug,' or maybe just modify our bodies to be like Superman's? That would save so much trouble."
"Haha, Mr. Su, are you thinking about cultivating immortality? That's technology in dreams."
"Dreams might come true, what if?" Su Hao's smile faded.
"Alright, enough joking. While I was offline, how did the server... ah, I mean the stock market do?"
Until today—the third day after Su Hao woke up—Huang Fengwen's ban was slightly relaxed, and he finally managed to secure this "right to know."
Liang Haiyuan hurriedly handed over a thick document, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
"Chairman Su, the moment you collapsed, there was an uproar outside.
But rest assured, it was others who were in chaos; our Fang Huan... remained as steady as a mountain.
After all, before you lost consciousness, all our assets had already been invested."
Su Hao flipped through the report, his gaze sweeping over the dense data, finally settling on an utterly outrageous number.
That number was so long that it seemed as if the keyboard had accidentally jammed the 0 key.
"300 trillion..."
Su Hao blinked, confirming he hadn't misread the unit.
"Yes... this is not only absurd, but even somewhat defies common sense." Liang Haiyuan swallowed hard.
"To be honest, when the finance department saw this amount, their first reaction was that the Excel spreadsheet was broken, or the system was infected with a virus."
Su Hao nodded slightly.
Actually, he had already anticipated this; he originally thought that around 100 trillion would be the limit.
This series of moves resulted in a staggering 300 trillion?
That's a figure enough to buy several countries, elevating Fanghuan Investment from a "large financial institution" to "Earth's ruler."
Fanghuan's original goal of surpassing those top investment institutions with trillions in assets now seems like child's play.
“And the timing was so perfect, it was like it was scripted,” Liang Haiyuan continued.
“The moment you collapsed, the world’s major stock markets all shut down with a ‘click,’ as if by prior arrangement.”
“Hmph, that’s what they call ‘pulling the plug,’ those foreigners must have been terrified.
They were afraid the market, which had just stabilized, would overheat again, or rather… to guard against us.”
“Guard against us?”
Su Hao sneered. “Of course. Those old foxes on Wall Street, while they didn’t know the exact amount, could feel the terrifying flow of funds, like a whale sucking water.
They worried that if the market wasn’t shut down before we liquidated our holdings, the global financial system would be ruined.”
Su Hao stroked his chin, lost in thought.
No wonder that divinely guided intuition suddenly failed him that day.
At first, he thought it was due to physical exhaustion, his CPU overheating and damaging his brain, causing his intuition to fail.
Now it seems, it was because all the “casinos” in the world closed, so his intuition naturally went offline.
“But Chairman Su, the doctor said this is extremely dangerous.
If he had been brought here any later, the prognosis would have been grim.”
Su Hao chuckled self-deprecatingly. It seemed those guys who shut down the stock market to target Fang Huan had become his saviors?
“What’s the public opinion?”
“Contrary to regulators in other countries, public opinion is ridiculously positive! The whole world is treating you like a savior.
Everyone says that although Fang Huan has reaped considerable profits this time, it’s a reasonable ‘appearance fee,’ perfectly justified!
After all, people are always forgiving of saviors.”
Liang Haiyuan said excitedly,
“Moreover, and more importantly, we haven’t cashed out a single penny yet.
All 300 trillion in assets are locked up in the stock market, as immovable as a rock.
In the public’s eyes, Fang Huan is genuinely protecting the market!”
Su Hao nodded.
If his intuition hadn't faltered, if that frenzied state had continued...
Su Hao himself wasn't sure if his intuition, in pursuit of extreme numbers, would have led him to liquidate his entire portfolio and cash out, decimating the global market.
"By the way, Chairman Su, there's some good news.
Recently, quite a few former giants have been put up for sale, and the worst off is Stella."
Liang Haiyuan handed over a stack of documents.
"We heavily invested in so many sectors, but we didn't invest a single penny in Stella or Smark's businesses.
Plus, the market crash caused by the violent fluctuations completely crippled Smark."
"Stella?" Su Hao paused, recalling his actions back then.
Indeed, during that frenzied investment feast, his "intuition" seemed to have a kind of mysophobia, avoiding Stella like the plague.
This means that Smark's grand dream of sending humans to Mars, in the face of the cold storm of capital, is as fragile as a mirage.
"Smark has filed for bankruptcy protection and is preparing to sell all his companies in a package deal. Looks like he's reached the end of his rope."
"Sell everything?"
"Everything. Nothing left."
"The competition must be fierce, right?"
"Quite the opposite, practically nonexistent. Everyone's wary of these 'dream-like' companies that burn through cash like paper."
Liang Haiyuan shrugged.
"After all, whoever buys it will be burdened with this enormous money-devouring beast. Any normal capitalist would be doomed if they touched it; nobody's stupid."