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

The keyboard clattered all night.

By the time Li Yichen finished typing the last line of parameters for the preliminary design of the cold fusion reactor, it was already dawn outside. He rubbed his sore eyes, saved the file, shut down his computer, and went upstairs to nap for four hours.

I woke up again at 1 p.m.

I went straight to the company.

The eight industrial machine tools on the 66th floor ran non-stop all night, their humming echoing throughout the thousand-square-meter cleanroom. When Li Yichen arrived at the assembly area, Ling'er had already jumped onto his shoulder.

"Brother!" The little girl's two ponytails were sticking up so high they almost touched the ceiling. "All forty sets of Heavenly Soldier Armor are off the production line! 100%合格率 (quality rate)! Ten sets for each of the four major war zones, not a single one missing!"

Li Yichen walked up to the nearest armor and patted the cool shoulder armor with his palm. The deep black matte paint job was clearly visible under the cold white light. The forty armors were arranged in four rows, and their optical eye sockets gleamed with a faint blue light.

Neat and orderly. Somber and austere.

He brushed off non-existent dust from his hands.

"Notify the four major war zones to come and pick up the goods."

Ling'er snapped her fingers: "Encrypted text message sent!"

6:12 PM.

The four escort convoys arrived almost one after the other.

At the entrance to the underground parking garage of the Future Technology Building, four command vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam. Zhang Weiguo's adjutant and Li Tiezhu's bodyguard were arguing over who could swipe their access cards first, and almost got into a fight at the entrance.

Li Yichen stood in the monitoring room watching the footage, shaking his head with amusement.

"These old men are fighting over limited-edition sneakers like it's their first time buying one."

Ling'er, peering at the monitor screen, asked, "Brother, do you think those four will come in person? Knowing their personalities—"

He hadn't finished speaking.

The elevator doors popped open with a ding.

Zhang Weiguo was the first to rush out, his military boots thumping loudly on the ground. Zhao Guangming followed closely behind, the two almost getting stuck in the elevator door frame. Li Tiezhu's bald head peeked out from the second elevator, while Sun Haotian, carrying a thermos, ran breathlessly from the fire escape—he was annoyed by the long wait for the elevator.

The four people stopped abruptly the moment they saw the four rows of dark black armor in the assembly area.

Zhao Guangming's Adam's apple bobbed twice before he finally managed to utter, "Damn, it looks even better than the last military exercise."

Zhang Weiguo rushed to the nearest table in three steps, gently handling it as if he were touching the head of a newborn baby.

"Ten sets...ten sets..." he muttered, his voice trembling. "The most profitable deal I've ever made in my life."

Li Tiezhu stroked his bald head three times, then squatted down to examine the hydraulic cylinders of the leg armor joints. He clicked his tongue twice: "The workmanship is exquisite."

Sun Haotian was even less reserved. He put the thermos aside, turned around, took a step back, and prepared to crawl into the armor.

Li Yichen stopped him.

"Commander Sun, this is the military version. Get your elite soldiers to wear it. With your build..."

His gaze shifted downwards, landing on Sun Haotian's beer belly.

"It won't fit."

Sun Haotian looked down at his stomach, silently took two steps back, and quietly retrieved the thermos.

"I'll lose weight when I get back," he muttered to himself.

The handover procedures were completed very quickly.

Four electronic receipts, four thumbprints, and Ling'er's backend system confirms them instantly.

Taking advantage of a break in their moving, Li Yichen interjected, "Gentlemen, how's the progress on the procurement list I sent out yesterday?"

Zhang Weiguo was the first to pat his chest, slapping it hard on his belly.

"Don't worry! My first convoy set off from our base early this morning and will be at your space base gate first thing tomorrow morning."

Zhao Guangming replied, "I'll arrive the day after tomorrow. It's a long way to the west, but you can rest assured about the quality of the materials; they're all the best in the warehouse."

Li Tiezhu gave a thumbs up: "The Northern Theater Command delivered everything within two days."

Sun Haotian took a sip of the goji berry water from his thermos: "The ones in the south will be here soon, in three days at most."

Li Yichen nodded in satisfaction.

While the porters were moving around, Zhao Guangming sidled up to Li Yichen. He lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming.

"Brother, what are you going to do with those 173 materials? My staff officer looked at the list and said that if you put them together, you could build a space station."

Li Yichen took a sip of the goji berry tea.

laugh.

"Commander Zhao's guess is not far off."

Zhao Guangming's pupils contracted slightly. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Something that Li Yichen personally said he "could guess it wasn't far off" must be something serious. He's lived most of his life; he has that kind of insight.

I didn't ask any further questions.

He patted Li Yichen on the shoulder and turned to check on the moving progress.

Half an hour later.

Four convoys, fully armored, filed out of the building.

Li Yichen stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows in the lobby, watching the taillights of more than a dozen heavy trucks turn out of the courtyard wall and merge into the night.

Ling'er jumped onto his shoulder.

"Brother, forty sets of armor, one billion per set, four hundred billion just rolled into the pocket like that."

She counted on her little fingers.

"Adding to the 10 billion from the Shanghai Military Region, and all sorts of miscellaneous deposits and final payments... I feel like I've pressed all the buttons on the calculator in the company's finance department until they're worn out."

My phone vibrated four times.

Li Yichen took it out and looked at it—four WeChat messages, sent almost simultaneously.

Zhang Weiguo: "Brother Li, I'm very satisfied with this deal! When can we arrange the next batch?"

Zhao Guangming: "Brother, ten sets aren't enough. Several brigade commanders under my command are about to start fighting. Can we order more?"

Sun Haotian: "Brother Li, when can the Southern Theater Command send ten more sets? Money is not a problem."

Li Tiezhu was very straightforward—he asked in just one sentence: "When is the next batch?"

Li Yichen replied with four words.

We'll talk about it after the New Year.

He put his phone back in his pocket and yawned.

It was almost 10 o'clock when I got back to Tomson Riviera.

The villa was dimly lit. Miao Miao had gone to bed early, and Li Niannian was nestled around the dining table knitting a scarf, slowly and deliberately stitching each stitch. Ji Yanran occupied the entire sofa, her laptop resting on her lap, the blue light from the screen reflecting on her profile.

She didn't even look up when she heard the door open.

"Boss, the 40 billion has arrived. The finance department just called, thinking there was a system bug."

Li Yichen kicked off his shoes and plopped down on the other side of the sofa.

"Making a fuss over nothing."

Ji Yanran paused her fingers on the keyboard for a moment, then glanced at him sideways.

"The annual meeting is in ten days. The program, guest list, and security plan are all finalized. You just need to go on stage and speak for two minutes."

"Two minutes is too long," Li Yichen said, waving his hand with his eyes closed. "One minute."

"...Okay, one minute."

Ji Yanran looked away and continued typing, a slight, almost imperceptible smile playing on her lips.

Li Niannian peeked over from the dining table.

"Brother Li, would you like me to heat up some soup? Uncle Zhou stewed some pork ribs for dinner."

"One bowl, please."

The pork rib soup was served, its thick, white broth steaming hot. He took a couple of sips, feeling a warm glow in his stomach.

My mind was racing.

The materials will begin arriving tomorrow.

The blueprints for the lunar-type Terminator have been finalized.

Nine ten-axis industrial machine tools are ready to start operation at any time.

Super fuel will be mass-produced within a week.

We should get a response in a couple of days regarding the green light for cold fusion.