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

five million.

A full five million.

Li Yichen almost dropped the steamed bun in his mouth.

The number on the screen was crystal clear, not a single zero more or less—5,000,000.00.

He took a half step back and leaned in for another look. He wasn't mistaken. Five million.

Is this guy crazy?

Five million for saving a life?

Li Yichen took the steamed bun out of his mouth and stood there stunned for a good ten seconds. He had thought it would be at most 100,000 or 200,000, maybe 500,000 at most. Five million? That Maybach was only worth three or four million, this guy was basically throwing a Maybach at him.

No, that's not right. For someone like Chen Weidong, five million might feel about the same as five hundred yuan to an ordinary person.

It was a life-saving grace.

It's worth the price.

Li Yichen canceled his card, quickly stuffed the remaining buns into his mouth, and threw the unfinished soy milk into the nearby trash can.

He needs to transfer the money away quickly.

It's unsettling to keep money in someone else's card. What if Chen Weidong changes his mind someday? Although the man didn't seem like he would back out, you can't judge a book by its cover, and five million is no small sum.

It's best to secure the money first.

Li Yichen took out his phone and searched for nearby bank branches. The nearest Bank of China branch was 800 meters away. He started walking, but slowed down after a few steps.

What's the rush?

The service center doesn't open until 9:00 AM, and it's only 8:10 AM now.

He found a bench by the roadside, sat down, and began to calculate the bill.

Five million plus the three million+ yuan from previous online loans, totaling over eight million yuan. At the current exchange rate, one yuan doesn't buy many US dollars, but if this money were poured into the Bitcoin market in 2016—

In early 2016, the price of Bitcoin was between $400 and $600, which is about 2,000 RMB per coin.

More than eight million can buy more than four thousand pieces.

More than four thousand Bitcoins, held until 2026...

Li Yichen didn't dare to continue calculating.

That's terrifying.

At 9:00 AM sharp, the business hall opened.

Li Yichen was the first customer to go in. He took a number and sat on a chair in the waiting area, his legs trembling. Not from nervousness, but from excitement.

"Number 37, please proceed to window number two."

He stood up, walked over, and pushed Chen Weidong's card and his own card through the window together.

"Transfer. Transfer all the money in this card to this card."

A female employee in her thirties was sitting behind the counter. She looked up at him.

"all?"

Yes, all of them.

The female employee took the two cards, operated them on the computer for a few moments, and then suddenly stopped.

She glanced at Li Yichen again. This time she looked at him much more carefully.

A young man wearing a wrinkled T-shirt and with messy hair had five million in his bank account.

"Sir, for large transfers, we need to verify your identity information. Please provide your ID card."

Li Yichen was already prepared and handed over his ID card.

The female employee verified the information and asked a few routine questions. After nearly half an hour of this, she finally completed the transfer.

"Transfer successful. Please check your balance."

Li Yichen glanced down at the numbers on the receipt.

The money has arrived.

Five million, not a penny less, all went into his own account. Adding to the previous three million, the balance showed—eight million three hundred and seventy-four thousand two hundred and sixteen yuan.

Li Yichen put away his ID card and bank card, stood up and walked out.

The female employee watched him leave from behind, then turned and whispered to her colleague next to her.

"That young man just now, you don't look like a rich person, do you? Five million in his account, and he transferred it all out."

My colleague leaned over and glanced at the screen.

"A resident affected by demolition compensation?"

"No, he doesn't seem that young."

The two whispered a few words to each other, and when the new customer arrived, they didn't think much of it anymore.

Li Yichen left the bank and walked quickly back to his rented apartment.

Close the door. Lock it. Draw the curtains.

He sat on the edge of the bed, took out his phone, and glanced at the balance in his bank app. Eight million three hundred and seventy thousand. In black and white.

enough.

It's time to go.

Li Yichen closed his eyes and with a thought, the system interface appeared in his mind. The transmigration card lay quietly in his inventory, its edges gleaming with a faint golden light.

He activated the time travel card.

Please select the target time to travel to.

February 1, 2016, 8:2 AM.

[Confirmed time travel?]

confirm.

White light exploded from inside the body.

It wasn't sunlight coming in from the outside; it seeped from the very cracks in my bones. I was enveloped by a force, and the feeling of weightlessness lasted for about two seconds.

When I opened my eyes again, the rented room was gone.

He stood in a narrow alley, with gray old walls on both sides, puddles on the ground, and the smell of burning coal in the air.

The taste of 2016.

Li Yichen subconsciously touched his pocket. His phone and bank card were still there. He took out his phone, the screen lit up, and the signal bars in the upper left corner were full—four bars, 4G network.

The system is really powerful.

He opened a map app and set his location. He was still in Shanghai, specifically on an old street in Minhang District. There was no one around; it was unreally quiet.

Bitcoin transactions cannot be easily performed on a mobile phone; you need a computer.

Li Yichen walked out of the alley and wandered around the street for about ten minutes before finding an internet cafe. Several lights were missing from the signboard at the entrance, and a sign on the glass door read "20% off all night".

He pushed the door open and went in.

A fat man was sitting behind the bar, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking down at his phone.

"Do you have any private rooms? With high-spec computers."

The fat man looked up and glanced at him.

"It's available on the second floor. Thirty-one hours."

"OK."

Li Yichen paid the money, took the room key, and went upstairs to the second floor. The private room wasn't big; it contained a computer, a chair, and a small table. Once the door was closed, the soundproofing was decent.

He sat down, turned on his computer, opened his browser, and used a VPN to log into an overseas Bitcoin trading platform.

The moment the page loaded, Li Yichen stared at the real-time quotes in the upper right corner of the screen—

Bitcoin, current price: $378.42.

That's equivalent to over 2,400 yuan.

More than four thousand.

If the time-travel card could be rewound five years to 2011, Bitcoin was only worth a few dollars per coin. Over eight million dollars were poured into it…

Forget it. I don't want to think about it anymore. Being able to travel back to 2016 is already a huge bargain; don't be greedy.

Li Yichen opened the system dialog box and asked himself: Can my bank card be used to make payments directly on this platform? (This is a cross-temporal question.)

Yes. The payment channel has been bridged by the system, and funds will arrive in real time, so there's no need to worry about time or location barriers.

Alright. With the system backing us up, let's do it.

Li Yichen started placing orders.

Bitcoin transactions are not done in one go; large orders can impact market prices, so he places orders in batches. He might buy fifty or one hundred coins at a time, and then place the next order only after each transaction is completed.

The numbers on the screen kept changing.

An hour passed, and more than a million had been spent.

Two hours, three million.

Four hours, six million.

His eyes were glued to the screen, his fingers mechanically clicking the mouse. Buy, confirm, wait for the transaction, buy again.

Six hours later, Li Yichen leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

Of the 8.37 million in the card, less than 2,000 yuan was left after spending it all.

And in his Bitcoin wallet, a number lay quietly—

4,176 pieces.

Li Yichen unplugged the hardware key from the computer's USB port and gripped it in his hand. This thumb-sized metal rod now contained over four thousand Bitcoins.

My stomach growled.

It's normal for him to have gone more than six hours without food or water. But he doesn't plan to stay in this time and space.

Li Yichen shut down his computer, left the internet cafe, found a deserted alley, and mentally summoned the system.

Ready to go back.

The white light exploded again.

Two seconds later, he returned to the rented room.

The curtains were still drawn, and the light was dim. The blankets on the bed were exactly as they were before I left this morning.

Li Yichen ignored everything else and went straight to the old laptop on the table. He bought it in college and used it for five or six years; the power button was so worn that it was dented from being pressed so many times.

Press the power button.

The fan whirred, and the screen remained black for a full thirty seconds before lighting up. The system loading screen appeared, and the progress bar slowly climbed forward.

five minutes.

Finally, I'm on the desktop.

Li Yichen inserted the key into the USB port and opened the wallet app.

Reading...

The progress bar got stuck halfway through, then it started moving again, then got stuck again.

His fingers tapped on the table, one tap at a time.

Loading complete.

4,176 bitcoins, intact.

Li Yichen leaned back in his chair, finally relaxing. He could finally let his guard down a little after last night.

But it only lasted for three seconds.

He sat up straight, opened his browser, and used a VPN to log into the trading platform.

The price of Bitcoin in 2026 is displayed at the top of the page.

Li Yichen's hand hovered above the mouse, staring at the number—

$97,643.00.

Four thousand one hundred and seventy-six coins, multiplied by ninety-seven thousand six hundred and forty-three US dollars.

His hands began to tremble.

The mouse cursor moved to the "Sell" button.