Super Rich: Starting the game by going back ten years to buy Bitcoin

"I can't say this over the phone. But at this level... bro, you decide for yourself."

Li Yichen paused for two seconds.

"Okay, we'll talk about it when we meet."

It's over.

He placed his phone face down on the table, picked up his chopsticks again, and put a piece of pork rib in his mouth. As for the person Gu Shounian mentioned, he would find out later. Right now, the pork rib was more important.

"Brother!" Miao mumbled, her mouth stuffed with a whole piece of sweet and sour pork rib, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's. "Today, the teacher taught us to sing!"

"What song?"

"That's it—" Miao Miao swallowed half a mouthful of meat, strained her voice and sang a couple of lines, but the tune was completely off-key.

Li Nian reached out and wiped some sauce from the corner of her mouth. "Don't talk while you eat, how many times have I told you?"

"But I have to tell my brother!"

Ji Yanran sat to Li Yichen's right, holding a lettuce leaf between her chopsticks, and interjected a sentence during a break in Miao Miao's singing.

"The brain-computer interface sales team has already transferred three people from within. On the external side, headhunters are looking for a sales director with a medical industry background, and we currently have two candidates with promising resumes. We'll arrange interviews for them tomorrow."

Li Yichen nodded. "Okay, you can oversee it."

"And then there's the distribution channel—"

Ji Yanran was speaking when Li Yichen's phone screen lit up again.

Hey.

He glanced down at the caller ID.

Xue Shanshan.

The chopsticks paused for a moment in mid-air.

This girl has never called him first. At most, she'll send a couple of texts on WeChat saying something like, "Brother Li, there's braised pork in the cafeteria today." Calling at this hour seems odd.

He answered the call, casually placed the phone on the table, and put it on speakerphone. He was still holding a bowl in his other hand.

The restaurant was silent for two seconds.

Ji Yanran, Li Nian, and Miao Miao all stopped moving almost simultaneously and stared at the phone.

The call was connected.

The voice that came out was not Xue Shanshan's.

It was an unfamiliar, young female voice, speaking very quickly and with unsteady breath.

"Excuse me, are you Brother Li?"

In the background, there's a faint, sharp siren. An ambulance. There's also a lot of talking and the clanging of metal as something is being pushed.

Li Yichen responded, "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"I...I'm Xue Shanshan's roommate, my surname is Lin, and my name is Lin Qingqing." The other person spoke so fast that there was almost no pause. "Shanshan fell on her electric scooter on her way home from get off work today. When she got home, she said her stomach hurt, but we thought it was just a bump and didn't take it too seriously—"

She took a breath.

"But half an hour ago, she suddenly turned completely pale and collapsed on the living room floor. No matter how we called her, we couldn't wake her up."

Li Yichen put down his chopsticks and leaned forward slightly.

Miao Miao across from him stopped chewing the ribs in her mouth and stared at him with her big, round eyes. Ji Yanran's chopsticks hung motionless in mid-air.

"We were terrified and immediately called 120. The ambulance arrived five minutes ago, and they had already put the person inside. I'm sitting in the ambulance now."

Lin Qingqing's voice was trembling. You could tell that the girl was extremely flustered.

"I originally wanted to contact her family, but when I went through her phone's contacts, I found 'Brother Li's' number at the very top... pinned, even before her parents'. I don't know what your relationship is, but I really don't know who to call first—"

Pinned.

They are placed before their parents.

Li Yichen was stunned for a moment.

He didn't expect it.

"Which hospital?" he asked directly.

"Pudong New Area People's Hospital! Emergency Room!"

"What's her condition now?"

"Her face was extremely pale, and she hasn't woken up yet..." Lin Qingqing's voice choked. "The doctor in the ambulance said her blood pressure was low and they were giving her an IV, but I didn't really understand the specifics..."

"Okay," Li Yichen interrupted her. "Don't panic. Just cooperate with the doctor when we get to the hospital. I'll be there soon."

It's over.

The restaurant was so quiet that you could hear Miao Miao chewing on the pork ribs.

Ji Yanran looked at Li Yichen. His entire demeanor had sombered after the call ended; his brow was furrowed, and his lips were pressed into a thin line. She didn't ask questions like "Who is she?" Xue Shanshan, a girl from the administration department, was someone she had handled regarding the aid fund matter.

Li Yichen stood up.

The chair leg scraped against the floor with a sharp sound.

He picked up his phone and car keys, took a couple of steps, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Ji Yanran.

"Approve Xue Shanshan's one-month paid sick leave, starting tomorrow. It can be extended depending on her recovery."

Ji Yanran nodded. "Okay."

It's concise and to the point, with no unnecessary words.

Miao Miao leaned halfway out of the stool, her little hand still clutching the pork rib. "Brother, are you going out?"

Li Yichen walked over and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I have something to do. You eat first, and then your sister will take you to see cartoons."

Miao Miao nodded obediently.

Li Nian didn't speak. She glanced at Li Yichen, gently placing her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl. Her gaze was complex, containing worry and something else entirely.

Li Yichen didn't linger.

He grabbed a coat and strode across the living room. Chu Feng was in the kitchen helping Zhou Dahai clear the dishes when he heard the noise and peeked out.

"Boss, going out? I'll drive—"

"No need, I'll go myself."

Li Yichen had already reached the entryway, bending down to change his shoes with a swift and decisive motion. The door opened and then closed again.

Three seconds later, the muffled sound of an engine starting came from the direction of the garage.

Looking up, I watched the U8 drive out of the Tomson Riviera gates and merge into the traffic flow of Pudong under the night sky. Streetlights swept past the car roof one after another, leaving orange streaks on the windshield.

Li Yichen held the steering wheel with one hand and rested the other on his watch.

"Ling'er, check the list of doctors on duty in the emergency department of Pudong New Area People's Hospital tonight."

"Received." Ling'er paused for a fraction of a second. "Brother, do you want me to help you navigate the fastest route? The current traffic situation shows that there is slight congestion on Century Avenue. I suggest taking Yanggao South Road as an alternative route. The estimated arrival time is fourteen minutes."

"Walk."

Li Yichen turned the steering wheel sharply to the right, merging into the fast lane. His speed increased to near the speed limit.

The night breeze blew in through the half-open car window, carrying the dampness of early summer.

He stared at the road ahead, but his mind was filled with a jumble of random images.

In that dirty alley, Xue Shanshan lowered her head and carefully picked out each sprig of cilantro from his bowl.

At the entrance of that dilapidated stairwell, she waved, her small, thin figure disappearing into the dim light.

In the cafeteria, she laughed and called out to him, "Brother Li, don't disappear for so long!" Her ponytail swayed back and forth.

Pinned.

They are placed before their parents.

Li Yichen stepped on the gas.

Looking up, the U8 silently accelerated on the elevated road, while the city lights on both sides rushed past, forming a blurry band of light.

Fourteen minutes.

Pudong New Area People's Hospital, Emergency Department.

In the distance, the red cross emblem on the top floor of the hospital building appeared in the upper right corner of the windshield. Li Yichen turned the steering wheel sharply into the hospital entrance ramp.

Two ambulances were parked in the open space in front of the emergency building. The back door of one of them was still open, and the stretcher had already been moved. He drove the car into an empty space on the side of the road, turned off the engine, removed the key, and got out.

The lights in the emergency room lobby were blindingly white.

The smell of disinfectant mixed with the stench of blood wafted out from the cracks in the automatic doors. Several mobile hospital beds were scattered haphazardly down the corridor; some patients were receiving IV drips, while others groaned softly. The nurse on duty at the nurses' station didn't even look up, her pen flying across the patient records.

Li Yichen scanned the hall but didn't see Xue Shanshan.

He went straight to the nurses' station.

"Xue Shanshan, just brought in, female, 24 years old. Which examination room?"

The nurse looked up at him. "Are you a family member?"

"friend."

"Emergency Room Number Three. But you can't go in now, the doctors are treating you."

Li Yichen didn't ask any more questions and turned to walk deeper into the corridor.

Outside the No. 3 emergency room, a girl wearing a pink pajama jacket was squatting against the wall, her hands covering her face, her shoulders trembling. Her hair was disheveled, and she was wearing a pair of slippers she hadn't had time to change out of.

Li Yichen walked over.

"Lin Qingqing?"

The girl suddenly looked up, her face streaked with tears, her eyes swollen like walnuts. She froze for a second, then quickly stood up, wiping her eyes haphazardly on her pajamas.

"Are you Brother Li?"

"Hmm. What's going on?"

Lin Qingqing sniffed and pointed towards the emergency room. "After she was taken in, the doctor told me to wait outside, saying they needed to do some tests... They asked me for a long time if she had any medical history, and I said I didn't really know, I just knew she fell off her bike—"

As she spoke, her lips began to tremble again.

"She woke up once, just for a few seconds, cried out in pain, and then passed out again. I was so scared..."

Li Yichen nodded. "Don't rush. Sit down first."

He leaned against the opposite wall, his hands in his coat pockets.

Seven minutes later.

The door was pushed open from the inside.

A male doctor in his forties came out, his blue mask pulled down to his chin, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. His name tag on his chest read "Wang Jianmin".

Lin Qingqing jumped up. "Doctor! How is she?"

Wang Jianmin glanced at her, then looked at Li Yichen beside him. "Who is the family member?"

"Her family isn't in Shanghai." Li Yichen took a step forward. "I'm her friend. Tell me if there's anything wrong."

Wang Jianmin hesitated for a moment, but still spoke.

"Initial examination revealed obvious blunt trauma to the left abdomen. Ultrasound showed a subcapsular hematoma in the spleen, currently diagnosed as delayed splenic rupture."

Lin Qingqing's face turned pale instantly. "A ruptured spleen?"

"Simply put, the membrane surrounding the spleen initially blocked the bleeding, so when she first fell, she only felt abdominal pain. But once the membrane couldn't hold, the blood leaked into the abdominal cavity." Wang Jianmin looked at Li Yichen, "Her blood loss isn't particularly large at the moment, but her blood pressure is still dropping. I recommend immediate exploratory surgery to determine whether to preserve or remove the spleen based on the intraoperative findings."

"Do I need to sign?"

"Required. An immediate family member or a person authorized by the individual."

Li Yichen took out his phone. "I have her parents' phone number. Can I contact her family over the phone to authorize their contact?"

"Yes, but we need to record the conversation and sign a written document later."

"OK."

Li Yichen pulled out the backup of the contacts that Xue Shanshan had sent him before—she had submitted emergency contact information when she applied for the assistance fund, and he had asked Ling'er to save a copy.

dial.

It rang seven or eight times before being answered. A middle-aged woman's voice came through, heavy with sleepiness.

"Whom are you feeding?"

"Hello, Auntie, I'm Xue Shanshan's colleague, my surname is Li." Li Yichen spoke calmly, without any extra emotion. "Shanshan fell off her bike and injured herself. She's in the emergency room at Pudong New Area People's Hospital. The doctor said she needs surgery, and they need a family member to sign an authorization."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Then came a sharp "What?!"