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

"Brother Liu, Xiaoyu, time to eat."

Li Yichen picked up disposable chopsticks, neatly arranged them on the table, and with a crisp "snap," the plastic bag was tossed aside—it landed precisely in the wastebasket at his feet. Three-pointer, swish.

A thin, transparent plastic sheet covered the wooden table in the hole-in-the-wall restaurant, its edges slightly yellowed and bearing the oil stains left by previous customers. Several steaming home-style dishes were arranged in the center, the aroma of chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns mingling in the air, wafting into the nostrils.

Li Yichen stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a piece of boiled pork slice. Red chili oil dripped slowly down the edge of the slice. With a flick of his wrist, he moved the chopsticks across half the table and placed the slice of pork steadily on the white bone plate in front of Liu Xiaoyu.

"Eat more, I remember you used to love this the most." After saying that, he put away his chopsticks and picked up a piece of spicy blood curd for himself.

Seeing this, Liu Xiaoyu's eyes curved into crescents, and she couldn't suppress her smile. She looked at Li Yichen gently, her voice as soft as freshly steamed glutinous rice cake: "Thank you, Yichen."

Then she lowered her head, happily stuffed the slices of meat into her mouth, chewed a couple of times, and the pungent taste of chili and the fresh aroma of meat exploded in her mouth—she couldn't help but steal another glance at Li Yichen.

Liu Qiang sat opposite her, holding a disposable plastic cup filled with cheap tea that cost two yuan a large pot. He watched Li Yichen pick up food with her chopsticks, and saw the "I can still be saved" smile on his sister's face. His Adam's apple bobbed violently.

The plastic cup creaked and deformed from being squeezed.

What stupid thing did I do back then?

Liu Qiang mentally slapped himself twice, but not satisfied, he added two more.

Back then, his family business was booming. He drove a BMW worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, and wherever he went, people would call him "Brother Liu." He walked with a swagger, as if he were about to ascend to heaven. He thought Li Yichen was just an ordinary kid from a poor family, whose greatest potential after graduation would be to go home and inherit those few acres of land, spending his life dealing with crops.

In an attempt to force his sister to break up with him, he deliberately blocked the intersection where Li Yichen would always pass after school, and verbally abused the boy, even pointing his finger at him and cursing him as "a toad trying to eat swan meat."

Toad.

Looking back now, I realize I was the toad, the kind that was stuck at the bottom of a well.

And then what happened? His family went bankrupt, saddled with tens of millions in debt. Those fair-weather friends who used to fawn over him avoided him like the plague. On the contrary, the poor kid he used to look down on casually threw out over nine million yuan, pulling his family back from the brink of disaster.

More than nine million, just a casual thought.

Today, he even drove his supercar, worth who knows how many small fortunes, to this greasy, hole-in-the-wall restaurant to eat with him. Li Yichen showed no condescension whatsoever, and even remembered that Xiaoyu's favorite dish was boiled pork slices.

What does this mean? It means that Xiaoyu is still on his mind.

Liu Qiang took a deep breath, placed the deformed plastic cup on the table, and a few drops of tea spilled out. He grabbed the green bottle of beer on the table, pushed the cap off with his thumb—with a "hiss," white foam gushed out, filling himself to the brim.

"Yichen".

Liu Qiang suddenly stood up, holding his wine glass in both hands, bending his back at a ninety-degree angle, his head almost hitting the boiled pork slices on the table.

"I was a bastard before." He stared directly at Li Yichen, his throat tight, his voice carrying a desperate honesty. "I looked down on people and broke you and Xiaoyu up. I was a bastard, I wasn't human. This drink is for you, it's my apology."

Tilt your head back.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.

He downed a whole glass of ice-cold beer straight into his stomach, the liquid running down his chin and into his collar without him even wiping it away, as if afraid that wiping it would make him seem insincere.

Li Yichen picked up his teacup, slowly took a sip of water, put the cup down, and said calmly, as if he were just saying that the weather was nice today: "Brother Liu, those are all things of the past, let's not bring them up again. I know that you were thinking of Xiaoyu back then. If it were me, I might have gone even further than you—like cursing a few more times when I was blocking the intersection."

Liu Qiang was stunned for a moment, and his eyes welled up with tears.

Li Yichen waved his hand: "So I don't hate you, and I don't blame you. Come, sit down and eat."

As he spoke, he picked up another piece of diced chicken with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing it with a "crunch" sound.

Liu Qiang wiped the wine stains from his chin, sat back down in his chair, and felt a warm feeling well up inside him, making his nose sting. He quickly poured himself another glass of wine, intending to offer a toast later.

The three chatted and ate. After a few drinks, the atmosphere in the private room became much more lively, and even the flies on the wall seemed more pleasing to the eye.

Li Yichen swallowed the food in his mouth, put down his chopsticks, and casually asked, "Brother Liu, what kind of work do you do now?"

Liu Qiang's chopsticks froze instantly as he picked up the food. The twice-cooked pork he was holding fell back onto the plate with a "plop," splattering a small ring of oil.

He put down his chopsticks, rubbed his hands together on his thighs, and chuckled dryly, "Working as a planner at a small, unknown company... just trying to make a living."

"Brother, you're so frustrated with your job, you might as well quit!" Liu Xiaoyu chimed in from the side, her words coming out like a machine gun. She turned to Li Yichen and said, "Yichen, you don't know, the manager in my brother's department is simply inhuman—no, he's something a carbon-based being couldn't even conceive of."

"He always pushes his side jobs onto my brother, and when there are problems, he blames everything on him. Last week, the supervisor messed up the client's copy and got a severe scolding from the boss. He turned around and pointed at my brother's nose, and in front of more than twenty people in the office, he slammed a stack of documents in my brother's face, saying something like, 'You dare to publish something with such poor formatting.'"

"My brother had to endure it all to keep his job, and he even had to publicly apologize in the group chat—the apology letter was 800 words long and more heartfelt than a graduation thesis."

"For the past few months, my brother has been working overtime until 2 or 3 a.m. every day. He's losing more hair than my cat, and his salary has been deducted several times. If this continues, he'll have to get a hair transplant, which is very expensive!"

Liu Qiang kicked Liu Xiaoyu hard under the table, then regretted it—if he kicked her too hard, he would have to pay for medicine.

"Don't talk nonsense." He turned his head, forced a "I can still handle it" smile at Li Yichen, "It's normal to suffer a little when you're working. The current economic climate is bad, short videos have had a huge impact, and traditional companies are laying off employees everywhere. If I quit this job, I'll be eating dirt next month—and I might not even be able to find any dirt, since there are quite a few people eating dirt too."

Li Yichen leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

GG Corporation.

A name flashed through his mind—Han Fei. The rich second-generation henchman he'd just taken in at the auto show a few days ago, calling him "Brother Li" like a brother. If he remembered correctly, Han Fei's family company was called Yunsheng Creative, a top-three tech giant in Shanghai, with a market value of several billion yuan—a behemoth in the industry.

Since Liu Qiang's job is in jeopardy, lending a hand wouldn't be difficult. It's just a phone call, simpler than ordering takeout.

"Brother Liu," Li Yichen said to Liu Qiang, his tone as casual as if he were asking, "Want another beer?" "Any plans to switch companies?"

Liu Qiang gave a bitter laugh, the bitterness in his smile enough to brew a whole pot of tea: "How could I not have made any plans? I've secretly sent out dozens of resumes lately, and they've all disappeared without a trace. I haven't even received a 'read but not replied' treatment—they're just marked 'unread.' What company would be willing to hire me? These days, HR professionals are like archaeologists, only looking at fossil-level resumes from top universities."

Li Yichen did not respond.

He took his phone out of his pocket, unlocked the screen, opened his contacts, found the nickname "Han Fei's Little Brother," and pressed the dial button.

The phone rang only halfway—before the "beep" was even finished—before it was connected.

"Brother Li!!!"

Han Fei's extremely excited roar came from the other end of the phone. The volume was so loud that it was as if he was not answering the phone, but shouting into the valley.

[Perspective Shift: Yunsheng Creative Company Meeting Room]

At this moment, Han Fei was sitting in a chair in the conference room, surrounded by a row of company executives. His father, Han Jiancheng, chairman of Yun Sheng Creative, sat at the head of the table. The words "Q3 Marketing Strategy" were written in large characters on the whiteboard, and the atmosphere was as serious as a United Nations general meeting.

Han Fei glanced at the caller ID.

Li Yichen.

He was jolted up from his chair as if he'd been electrocuted, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a piercing screech, startling the executives around him.

Han Jiancheng was also stunned, his brows furrowed into a deep frown, and he was about to ask, "What's wrong with you?"

Han Fei put his right index finger to his lips, making a "shut up" gesture, and said in a low but unwavering voice, "No one is allowed to speak! Not a single sound is permitted!"

The entire conference room fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear the central air conditioning whirring. A group of executives exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes screaming, "What's this kid up to?" and "Should I quit?"

Han Jiancheng opened his mouth, then closed it again. He wanted to see what kind of show his usually carefree son was putting on today.

Han Fei held his phone in both hands, his back ramrod straight, his face plastered with a fawning smile—a smile more professional than the saleswomen at the real estate office, more sincere than the waiters at Haidilao. Even though Li Yichen couldn't see him at all, he still subconsciously bowed.

He knew Li Yichen's background well. He casually bought eleven top-of-the-line supercars outright without batting an eye—while others would consider buying a car for three months, he bought them like cabbages, eleven at once. Later, he heard from Liu Bing that Li Yichen had invested 1.5 billion yuan in their pharmaceutical company. 1.5 billion yuan! That's enough to buy an entire commercial street in a third-tier city.

What does it mean for a deity of this caliber to take the initiative to call him? It means that not only is smoke rising from his Han family's ancestral graves, but fire is also spewing out of the ground.

"Brother Li, what are your orders? I'm ready to serve you anytime! I'll go through fire and water for you, it's just a matter of saying the word!"

[Shifting perspective: A small, unassuming restaurant's private room]

The phone is leaking audio.

Han Fei's booming voice calling out "Brother Li" and his boast of "going through fire and water" were exceptionally clear in the cramped private room, even making the spicy blood curd on the table seem to tremble.

Liu Qiang's hand, which was holding a chopstick, froze again.

The way you address me. The attitude. The tone of your voice.

They were even more respectful than subordinates to the boss—no, subordinates weren't even this obsequious to the boss.

Li Yichen held his phone in one hand, leaning back in his chair, his expression as calm as if he were ordering takeout: "Han Fei, I remember you told me that your family owns GG Company?"

"Yes, yes, yes!!!" Han Fei's voice rose another octave, "Yun Sheng Creative is my family's business! Brother Li, what are your instructions? Just say it! Please tell me!"

Li Yichen glanced at Liu Qiang across from him, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I have a friend who works in planning at GG Company. For some reason, he's being targeted by his supervisor, and he wants a change of scenery. Is your company hiring?"

There was no pause on the other end of the phone, not even a fraction of a second of hesitation.

"trick!!!"

Han Fei's voice exploded, as if he was afraid of being blocked if he answered too late. The volume was so loud that Liu Xiaoyu couldn't help but cover her ears.

"This is amazing! Brother Li, it's such an honor for Yun Sheng Creative that your friend is joining our company! It's an incredibly auspicious occasion! I'll burn down the HR department right now to make room for you—no, I mean I'll personally arrange it!"

Han Fei paced back and forth in the conference room, his leather shoes clicking on the floor, his mind racing faster than an engine.

Even if Li Ge's friend is just an ordinary friend, even if they can't do anything, even if all they can do is breathe, they still have to confess! Getting a big shot like Li Yichen to owe someone a favor is an opportunity that countless people would kill for.

As long as you serve this person well, why worry about not being able to get on Brother Li's good side in the future? Forget about getting on his good side, you can even get close to him by clinging to his toes!

"Brother Li!" Han Fei, fearing Li Yichen might change his mind, spoke rapidly, like a machine gun, "Have your friend report to headquarters tomorrow! The compensation—starting at a base salary of 20,000! Year-end bonuses and project commissions are separate! Social insurance and housing fund contributions will be at the maximum! Do you think this is acceptable? If not, I can increase it! 30,000? 40,000? Name your price!"

Starting salary of 20,000.

These words came clearly from the phone receiver, each one striking the table in the private room and into everyone's ears.

Liu Qiang was frozen in his chair as if someone had struck his pressure points.

He's working overtime until 2 AM every day, exhausted like a dog—no, even a dog isn't as tired as him. He only makes a meager 6,000 yuan a month, and he still has to pay off his credit card debt. The other party didn't even meet him, didn't look at his resume, and immediately offered him a base salary of 20,000 yuan.

Moreover—Yunsheng Creative.

Liu Qiang had been in the gay dating scene for so many years, how could he not have heard of this name? That was the top dog in Shanghai's gay dating industry, with a market value of billions, and his office was located in Lujiazui, a place where land is incredibly expensive.

He used to be too afraid to even submit his resume there because the requirements were too high. They only hire graduates from top-tier universities (985 universities). If he sent his resume, which was from an ordinary undergraduate, the HR would probably not even look at it and it would go straight to the trash bin.

Now, all it takes is one phone call from Li Yichen.

Li Yichen said into his phone, his tone as calm as if he were saying, "Bring an umbrella tomorrow": "Okay, I'll have him report to your company tomorrow."

"Alright, Brother Li!!!" Han Fei patted his chest on the other end, his voice almost cracking with excitement, "I'll personally pick him up in the company lobby tomorrow! I'll wear a suit and tie, I guarantee your friend will feel the warmth of home! Don't worry, Brother Li, from now on, your friend's affairs are my affairs. If anyone dares to lay a finger on him, I'll fight them to the death!"

The phone hangs up.

[Perspective shift: The conference room where Han Fei is located]

Han Fei put his phone in his pocket and let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had just completed a top-secret national mission. He straightened his suit jacket and turned around to find everyone in the conference room staring at him, as if they were looking at an alien.

Sitting in the main seat, Han Jiancheng stared intently at his son, his eyes conveying, "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation."

"Son, whose phone call was that? Why are you so nervous? You're never this serious when I'm in a meeting."

Han Fei chuckled, leaned closer, and lowered his voice: "Dad, this is an older brother I just met yesterday."

"Big brother?" Han Jiancheng raised an eyebrow. "You've found another big brother? Didn't the last one you found scammed you out of 20,000 yuan to buy some cryptocurrency?"

"That's different!" Han Fei exclaimed anxiously. "Dad, you must have heard about Liu Bing's company, right? That 1.5 billion yuan financing—it was invested by my newly recognized elder brother. Full payment, all at once, even more straightforward than paying the balance on Singles' Day."

A collective gasp filled the conference room, like a chorus of people slurping noodles. The news of Liu's Pharmaceutical Company securing 1.5 billion yuan in funding had already spread throughout the industry; it was said to be from an incredibly young and mysterious figure with astonishingly large sums of money.

Han Jiancheng's expression changed visibly, from "You kid are messing around again" to "Say it again, I didn't hear you clearly."

"Son, are you telling the truth?"

Han Fei nodded solemnly, his face unusually serious: "Dad, don't worry. Although I used to lie to you a lot—like saying I was going to tutoring in high school but actually going to play games, and saying I was getting scholarships in college but actually borrowing money from Alipay—I really didn't lie to you about this."

Han Jiancheng stared at Han Fei for a full five seconds, his gaze shifting from suspicion to scrutiny, and then to contemplation. Finally, he leaned back in his chair and slowly nodded: "Alright. Since you've already agreed to him, we'll do as you say regarding his friend's matter."

Mr. Han's thoughts were in complete agreement with his son's: to exchange a job with a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan for the favor of a big shot whose net worth was unknown—this was an incredibly good deal, even more worthwhile than the Double Eleven discounts.

[Shifting perspective: A small, unassuming restaurant's private room]

Li Yichen casually placed his phone on the table, as if he had just been scrolling through a short video. He looked at Liu Qiang, who was still in a daze, and said in a casual tone, "Brother Liu, report to Yunsheng Creative tomorrow and find someone named Han Fei. He will arrange everything for you."

Liu Qiang's mouth was slightly open, big enough to fit a tea egg. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down several times, as if he was trying to swallow back the emotions welling up inside him.

"Yichen..." Liu Qiang uttered these two words, his throat as dry as sandpaper, "Yunsheng Creative... that's a company worth billions. With my education and qualifications, wouldn't going there just be embarrassing for you?"

He knew perfectly well that Han Fei was offering such favorable terms entirely out of respect for Li Yichen. What Han Fei wanted wasn't Liu Qiang's ability, but rather Li Yichen's word of "goodness." This favor was too heavy for him to bear.

Li Yichen picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of shredded pork with garlic sauce, chewed it a couple of times, and said unhurriedly, "What's so embarrassing about it? They're hiring, it's only natural for you to do the work. It's not like they're asking you to be the CEO. Just do your job well and don't overthink it."

Liu Qiang suddenly stood up.

The chair slid back, screeching against the floor and nearly knocking Liu Xiaoyu over. He clenched his fists, pressing them tightly against his trouser seams, his back ramrod straight as a javelin.

"Yichen, don't worry!" he shouted, veins bulging on his neck, his voice filled with a do-or-die determination. "I absolutely won't let you down! I'll report for duty tomorrow and I'll do a fantastic job! If anyone dares to say I got in through connections, I'll slap them in the face with my performance results!"

Liu Qiang's mind was in turmoil, a storm raging at least three meters high. He was thinking—just how terrifying were Li Yichen's connections? With just one phone call, he had secured the job he had been dreaming of, a job he had submitted dozens of resumes to without ever getting a response.

Li Yichen not only didn't hold his past misdeeds against him, but also pulled the two siblings out of the mire.

He could never repay this kindness, even if he worked like a slave for the rest of his life. If he couldn't repay it by working like a slave, he would have to work like a slave plus sweeping and cooking.

Liu Xiaoyu sat next to him, watching her brother's excited expression, and couldn't help but smile.

For the past few months, my brother had been looking miserable every day, collapsing onto the sofa as soon as he got home, his hair falling out in clumps, and the drain getting clogged twice every time he showered. Now, all the gloom has been swept away by Li Yichen—as cleanly and decisively as the sun coming out to air out the blankets.

She turned her head and looked at Li Yichen. The dim light of the small restaurant illuminated his profile, outlining a clean and sharp look.

"Yichen, thank you," Liu Xiaoyu said softly, her voice slightly nasal. "Thank you for helping my brother."

Li Yichen turned his head to look at her, a slight smile revealing his white teeth: "No need to thank me, we don't need to say such things, it was just a small favor. If you really want to thank me, treat me to a nice meal next time, don't come to this place again—their rice is a bit hard."

Liu Xiaoyu burst out laughing, and tears almost fell down her cheeks.

"Let's eat, the food's getting cold." Li Yichen picked up another piece of boiled pork slices and put it into his bowl.

When it came time to pay, Liu Qiang rushed to scan the code, his movements as fast as a 100-meter sprint. The total came to 320 yuan, which he paid willingly, even feeling that the owner had undercharged him—this meal made him feel completely reborn.

The three of them walked out of the hole-in-the-wall restaurant. A night breeze blew by, carrying away some of the stuffiness and the last trace of alcohol from Liu Qiang.

The black Lamborghini Veneno remained parked quietly by the roadside, its low-slung body reflecting a cold, eerie light under the streetlights.

There were seven or eight other people around taking pictures with their phones, the flashes going off incessantly. One guy even tried to peer through the car window, but his companion pulled him back: "You can't afford to pay for it! Get away!"