Chapter 172: Paige: Stop Pretending, Amazing Amy, You Can't Fool Chuck!
"It's you?"
Andy Walton stared at Chuck in disbelief.
"Not me."
Chuck shook his head. "It's the power of retail investors."
"...Retail investors?"
Andy Walton's face darkened, feeling insulted. In the financial markets, it's always the institutional investors that crush the hedge funds, the hedge funds that crush the day traders, the day traders that crush the retail investors, and he was supposed to be the financial titan that ate them all for breakfast.
Now Chuck was claiming he'd been outmaneuvered by retail investors—the bottom feeders of Wall Street?
This was a complete joke!
The bailiffs had already arrived.
Andy Walton, who had previously bragged, "Money can do anything," now experienced firsthand the pain of being broke. He could only reluctantly make phone calls to check on his financial losses as he was escorted back to his cell.
"Dr. Wolfe, here's my card,"
Andy Walton's defense attorney smiled and handed it over. "Call me if you ever need anything."
Chuck nodded and took it.
"Retail investors?"
JJ was thrilled, her suppressed smile tinged with disbelief.
Even without understanding finance and the stock market, everyone knew retail investors couldn't possibly compete with Wall Street giants!
"Everyone underestimates the power of retail investors,"
Chuck said calmly. "Individually, retail investors are sitting ducks. But if, due to certain circumstances, they unite and form a coordinated force, not just some billionaire, but all of Wall Street can be shaken. After all, the real power behind the entire financial market is millions of retail investors."
"Really?"
Chandler was surprised and regretful. "I even quoted your famous line, 'I'm rich!'"
"Not mine."
Chuck shook his head. "But wasn't that perfect timing?"
"Perfect!"
Chandler paused, then grinned. "Absolutely perfect. I really hope I can say that to someone else someday."
"That's easy enough,"
Chuck said. "I could say it to you, but you could say it to plenty of people less fortunate than you right now. It's not that big a deal."
As everyone laughed and chatted, the subject was dropped.
After all, in everyone's eyes, while Chuck was financially independent and comfortable, he was just a multi-millionaire at most. There was no way he could single-handedly short a billionaire over a personal grudge.
Chuck said goodbye to everyone and drove back to New Jersey.
He hadn't lied. He clearly didn't have that kind of power alone. As for his hidden wealth, Anna had helped him manage it through thousands of retail trading accounts.
Otherwise, where would the massive amounts of money needed for his secret operations come from—the construction of the bunker, the expansion of underground facilities, and all the high-tech equipment? It was all secretly funded through these dispersed accounts.
Anna's hacking skills provided invaluable real-time intelligence. Combined with Chuck's mathematical modeling and analytical abilities, they had quietly accumulated vast wealth over the years. This was why Chuck had the confidence to short Andy Walton the moment he discovered his involvement in the case.
However, he hadn't initially planned to completely destroy Andy Walton's financial empire in one move. Financial warfare was serious business, after all. He had simply wanted to capitalize on the upcoming negative publicity to inflict some financial pain on the corrupt billionaire.
Then he noticed other retail investors jumping in, creating a snowball effect. Other institutional players also seized the opportunity, turning what started as targeted punishment into a complete financial massacre.
This led to Andy Walton's shocking discovery in court that he wasn't the "money can do anything" rich guy anymore—he was flat broke.
Chuck, knowing the full picture, had told Chandler and the others that it wasn't him but retail investors, which was technically true to some extent.
Thinking about this, he adjusted his designer glasses while driving and whispered to himself, "Were those retail investors legitimate?"
The watch on Chuck's wrist vibrated once, almost imperceptibly.
One for yes, two for no!
Chuck remained silent, driving to the Hofstadter residence and ringing the doorbell.
"Who is it? Sheldon, get the door."
"I could."
"You could."
"I need to hear 'please.'"
"...Would you please open the door?"
Leonard's voice came through gritted teeth from inside.
"Okay."
Sheldon stood up at the magic word, then opened the door. The joy on his face froze when he saw the imposing figure casting a shadow. "You..."
"Who is it?"
Leonard, busy in the back room, couldn't help but call out when Sheldon went silent after opening the door.
Still no response from the doorway.
Leonard, sensing something was wrong, poked his head out, his face lighting up ear to ear. He called out to Chuck, who was staring down at a frozen Sheldon, "Hi, Chuck!"
"Hi, Leonard,"
Chuck looked up and nodded to Leonard, who came jogging over.
"Are you here to see me?"
Little Leonard pushed aside Little Sheldon, who was blocking the way, and asked hopefully.
"Yes and no."
Chuck said, "At Monica's request, I came to invite Sheldon to Paige's surprise birthday party."
"No!"
Little Sheldon stumbled when Leonard pulled him aside, and barely snapped out of his frozen state after being in Chuck's shadow. When he heard that the big scary Chuck wanted to take him to see the little scary Paige, he instinctively shook his head: "I'm not going!"
"Why not?"
Chuck looked down at Little Sheldon.
"Because, because..."
Under Chuck's calm stare, Little Sheldon, who usually ignored others and made up excuses freely, couldn't even finish the simple sentence "I don't want to go."
"Yeah, why not?"
Little Leonard was envious and jealous, mimicking Chuck's tone and looking at Little Sheldon with his head tilted slightly.
"Dr. Wolfe."
Beverly came downstairs to Sheldon's rescue. "What brings you here?"
Chuck explained.
"Oh, why didn't you give us advance notice?"
Beverly looked at Chuck with surprise.
Sheldon, who had moved behind Beverly for protection, finally found his courage and told Chuck, "Since you didn't tell me in advance, I'm not going."
"I need to give others advance notice, but not you,"
Chuck shook his head.
"Why not?"
With Beverly's protection, Sheldon lifted his chin defiantly.
"Because this is a surprise birthday party, and it's all about the surprise,"
Chuck said matter-of-factly. "If I told you in advance, the whole surprise element of this surprise birthday party would be completely meaningless, wouldn't it?"
"Are you saying I can't keep a secret?"
Sheldon protested.
"Can you keep a secret?"
Chuck asked back.
"...Do you really think I can't keep a secret?"
Sheldon paused, then repeated stubbornly.
"You want to play the repeat game again?"
Chuck met Sheldon's eyes.
"No!"
Sheldon cried out in horror.
The last game of Pete and Repeat had been his absolute nightmare. Even though Chuck had stopped when he started crying, his overactive brain had replayed the game endlessly in his dreams that night, permanently establishing Chuck as the big bad in his mind.
"Chuck's right, you really can't keep secrets."
Little Leonard was quick to pile on.
"You indeed struggle with keeping secrets."
Beverly stated matter-of-factly: "But that's not necessarily a flaw. For our family, there's really nothing that needs to be kept from others."
Little Sheldon nodded tearfully.
"So, any other objections?"
Chuck checked his watch and asked: "If not, get ready and change clothes. We should get going."
Little Sheldon looked at Beverly pleadingly, hoping she would rescue him.
"Paige is an exceptional genius, and it's worthwhile for you to attend her birthday celebration."
Beverly, however, didn't provide the help he'd hoped for. She adjusted her glasses and said calmly, "It's an unavoidable social convention."
"Fine."
Seeing even his biggest protector say that, little Sheldon didn't dare defy Chuck and complain, "I didn't even get a birthday party last month on February 26th, so why should I celebrate Paige's?" He could only trudge to the bathroom feeling sorry for himself, then head upstairs to change.
"Can I come too?"
little Leonard asked eagerly.
"Of course!"
Chuck nodded.
"Yes!"
Little Leonard jumped up and sprinted upstairs. "I'm going to get changed!"
"I notice you always treat Leonard differently."
Beverly frowned. "Why is that?"
"An experiment."
Chuck, not wanting to critique Beverly's parenting methods or get into that discussion, dismissed the topic with the simplest explanation.
"Interesting."
Beverly was surprised, then nodded and smiled with relief. "I look forward to reading your research paper!"
She admired scientific research above all else. Even if the subject was her own son, she didn't mind. In her view, Leonard's participation in an experiment conducted by a scientist of Chuck's caliber was Leonard's greatest potential contribution to science.
Chuck nodded.
A few minutes later, little Leonard, eager not to keep Chuck waiting, dragged little Sheldon—who was dragging his feet and clearly didn't want to go—downstairs.
"What about a gift?"
Little Sheldon, having regained his composure after his bathroom break, felt his psychological pressure ease considerably. He dared to voice his concern. "You should have told me earlier. You know, choosing the right gift is the hardest part. It has to represent your sincere feelings and be completely worthy compared to everyone else's gifts..."
"Did Paige give you a birthday present?"
Chuck interrupted.
"...No,"
little Sheldon said sullenly. "She just called me and said she envied me for being 12 while she was still 11."
"Haha,"
little Leonard couldn't suppress his laughter.
"Youngest super genius" had always been a title Sheldon treasured. Even Chuck, due to their age difference, couldn't really tease him about it.
But Paige, who was only half a month younger than Sheldon, absolutely could!
"That's fine then,"
Chuck said seriously. "When we get there, tell her you envy her for just turning 12 while you're already 12."
"..."
Little Sheldon, frustrated, said to the giggling Leonard, "Why does he get to come?"
"Monica asked me to invite you,"
Chuck said bluntly. "We all know Paige wouldn't care whether you showed up or not. Monica just thought Paige needed someone her own age around, so I invited you. But Leonard is the one I actually wanted to bring."
Little Leonard's eyes lit up again.
Beverly observed the entire exchange. Seeing her usually oblivious son react this way, she no longer had any doubts about Chuck's experiment and smiled approvingly at him.
Chuck drove little Sheldon and little Leonard to New York.
Monica's Apartment
The place was already decorated. When Chuck arrived, he handed little Leonard and little Sheldon over to Rachel and Phoebe.
Phoebe, using her height advantage, stood on the balcony keeping watch below. When Monica brought Paige upstairs, she immediately warned everyone to hide.
"They're coming!"
"Where's Chandler?"
"He had something to take care of. He'll be here soon."
"Shh, they're almost here."
When the door opened, everyone jumped out and shouted in unison to Paige, who Monica had positioned in the center. "Surprise!"
"Wow!"
Paige's face lit up with surprise. "Monica, you threw me a surprise birthday party?"
"Do you like it?"
Monica beamed with satisfaction at the surprise on Paige's face.
"I absolutely love it."
Paige nodded enthusiastically, her gaze shifting to little Sheldon. She smiled mischievously, "Like I told Sheldon when we first met, I love surprises."
"..."
Little Sheldon felt deflated.
"Chuck, do you have a surprise for me?"
Paige looked at Chuck expectantly.
"The painting you mentioned."
Chuck presented the gift he had prepared for Paige.
Paige took it and eagerly unwrapped it, her face instantly breaking into the brightest smile. Everyone gathered around to look. The painting showed an exquisitely beautiful Paige, her eyebrows slightly lowered as she gazed at a window in front of her, the left corner of her mouth slightly raised. A miniature Earth was faintly reflected in the glass. However, unlike the usual blue marble, the rest of the glass reflected a sky full of brilliant light, like dancing flames, making the blue of the Earth seem less distinct.
"I love this surprise!"
Paige clutched the painting protectively, not letting anyone else touch it.
"Sorry, are we late?"
Just as Monica was about to ask what the painting meant, the door opened and Chandler peeked in.
"We?"
Monica was very sensitive about guest count.
"Hi."
Chandler stepped aside dramatically, revealing Amazing Amy behind him. She waved shyly and said, "I heard from Chandler that you were celebrating a young girl's birthday today, so I took the liberty of coming. I know Dr. Wolfe doesn't like being bothered, so I took extra time to avoid the paparazzi. I'm really sorry for the intrusion. This is a gift I brought."
She handed a beautifully wrapped present to Paige.
"No bother at all, no bother at all."
Ross was starstruck seeing Amazing Amy in person and muttered under his breath.
"Please, come in."
Monica, as hostess, welcomed her warmly.
"Thank you."
Paige accepted the gift with an unchanging smile.
"Open it and see!"
Rachel and the others were very curious about Amazing Amy's gift.
Paige casually unwrapped it, revealing an elegant box. Opening the box revealed the gift inside.
"I heard from Chandler that both you and Dr. Wolfe are mathematical geniuses."
Amazing Amy smiled and said, "This is an original manuscript by Ramanujan."
"Ramanujan's manuscript?!"
Before Paige could react, little Sheldon cried out in jealous amazement.
"Who's Ramanujan?"
Ross and the others were completely lost.
"He was a brilliant mathematician from India. He never received formal education, but achieved extraordinary breakthroughs in mathematics."
Little Leonard helped explain: "Most people study math, but Ramanujan, with no formal training, basically discovered and invented math. Cambridge University hired him as their first Indian Fellow in history. Guess what his day job was back in India?"
"What?"
Phoebe was particularly interested in stories of geniuses from humble backgrounds.
"A bookkeeper!"
Little Leonard looked around at everyone, lifted his chin, and looked at Chuck with shining eyes: "Just like Chuck!"
"Wow, that's amazing!"
Phoebe and Rachel were impressed.
Soon everyone's attention was drawn to Amazing Amy, because they were all too curious and gossipy about the star of the latest hot news story.
Amazing Amy answered every question gracefully, making everyone feel charmed and entertained. Her words were full of gratitude toward Chuck, which really made Ross jealous.
Paige kept smiling, and when Amazing Amy finally took a brief pause, she walked over to her side, looked at her directly, and when Amazing Amy looked back, she smirked: "Stop pretending, you can't fool Chuck!"
(End of Chapter)
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