Xu Yunzhou took a deep breath, moved the mouse at top speed, and double-clicked to open that disk icon.
The disk space was almost completely empty, with only one isolated file lying there—
bitcoin-wallet.dat
The modification date of the file prominently displayed: January 9, 2010.
Seeing this file name and date, Xu Yunzhou's pupils abruptly contracted!
He remembered!
Last night in the "game," thinking it was an easter egg planted by the developers, he had casually instructed Lin Ruoxuan in his capacity as "Daddy System," making her collect over ten thousand Bitcoins in the early stages when they were almost worthless, and store them scattered across multiple USB flash drives as the most primitive "cold wallets"...
The one before his eyes was exactly one of them!
He immediately downloaded dedicated software compatible with this ancient wallet format.
After the installation was complete, he attempted to import the wallet.A password input box popped up on the screen.
It was a four-digit password.
Xu Yunzhou remembered what Lin Ruoxuan set her password as: 0803.
That was... the day he first appeared in her life.
If this password is correct... then the Lin Ruoxuan in the "game" and the business Queen Lin Ruoxuan in reality who rang the bell on NASDAQ and then mysteriously disappeared, are one hundred percent the same existence!
This realization made his heart beat wildly. With his fingertips carrying imperceptible trembling, he typed out the numbers one by one:
0... 8... 0... 3...
Enter!
The wallet interface refreshed in response, smoothly completing the import!
[Balance: 1,000 BTC]
A concise line of numbers, yet heavy as a thousand catties, prominently displayed in the center of the screen!
"What is this thing? A bunch of numbers?"
Xu Zhongshan leaned over, looking at that string of characters on the screen with a blank face.
Xu Yunzhou fell silent.
He was afraid that directly saying "This is virtual currency worth over a hundred million dollars" would scare his parents.
He weighed it for a moment, and explained using a tone as flat as possible:
"These are ten Bitcoins. Right now... one is worth around a hundred and ten thousand dollars."
"How... how much?"
Xu Zhongshan's eyes instantly widened like brass bells, his voice changing pitch,
"A hundred and ten thousand? For one? And... and it's in US dollars? Just... just the stuff in this little USB drive? Then aren't these ten... one point one million US dollars?"
Yang Wenhui was also stunned, subsequently followed by massive confusion surging up:
"No... such a big boss, her money wasn't blown in by the wind either! Why would she casually give such a... such a scary thing to a child she only met once? This... this doesn't make sense! Could there be some... trap?"
Xu Yunzhou tried hard to make his explanation sound reasonable:
"In 2010, this thing was completely worthless, just a few cents for one, nobody wanted it even if given away for free. These one thousand... um, I mean, even if there were a thousand back then, added together they probably wouldn't even cover the cost of this USB drive."
"Back then, people doing this kind of virtual currency would give them away everywhere as a very common marketing tactic to promote the concept. Just like the founder of that 'Ethereum' later on, I heard when he came to Binzhou for a roadshow, he casually gave away several thousand to everyone who attended."
"Not many people wanted them back then, but now those are worth tens or hundreds of millions. So, under the environment back then, giving this away really wasn't strange, it was almost the same meaning as... as handing out a beautifully printed flyer."
Xu Zhongshan wasn't completely ignorant of the wealth-creating myths of Bitcoin; he had caught glimpses of it on the news occasionally, he just never thought this kind of legend would smash into his own home.
He tried hard to digest this sudden information, the shock on his face gradually replaced by ecstasy. He forcefully patted his son's back:
"Good! Good boy! It seems God is fair; since you suffered a loss in this aspect, it's made up for in another place!"
One point one million US dollars, according to the current exchange rate, was equivalent to over seven million Soft Sister Coins(RMB/Yuan).
For an ordinary family, this was a huge sum enough to change their lives, but it hadn't yet reached the realm of astronomical figures that would allow complete "financial freedom," perfectly hitting a threshold that parents could slowly digest and accept after the initial shock.
Xu Yunzhou precisely stepped on this point so his parents could accept it step by step.
After a simple dinner, Xu Yunzhou carefully put away the USB drive and picked up his computer:
"Dad, Mom, I have to go back to Binzhou, I still have to work tomorrow."
It was already late at night when he returned to the narrow rented room.
Xu Yunzhou had not the slightest bit of sleepiness. He once again opened that game named "Goddess Nurturing" and clicked into Lin Ruoxuan's save file which had already turned gray.
He dragged the timeline to the Chengzhou trip, finding the moment after Lin Ruoxuan met his young self. Watching the direction he left, her eyes carried a trace of gentleness and an unbelievable sense of fate as she murmured softly to herself:
"Tyrant, don't you think it's strange? That little boy, his brows, eyes, and demeanor, really look so much like you... if I wasn't sure you just temporarily went to 'charge UP,' I would almost think it was you reincarnated running in front of me."
She tilted her head slightly, revealing a smile carrying a bit of mischievousness and pure goodwill:
"Since we are fated... Tyrant, didn't you always mutter to me before that this little gadget called BTC might be very valuable in the future? Then I'll give him a thousand as a New Year's gift!"
"I hope it can bless this little guy who looks so much like you, so that his future life... can have fewer worries and more happiness and joy."
However, after a while, as if suddenly remembering something crucially important, Lin Ruoxuan abruptly jolted awake from that emotional sentiment, slapping her forehead in annoyance, her delicate brows furrowing:
"Aiya! Tyrant, I messed up!"
Her tone carried real anxiety,
"I realized I forgot to tell him the password! Without the password, it's just a piece of junk. Sigh..."
Xu Yunzhou listened to this passage over and over again, every word like a heavy hammer striking his soul.
What he felt toward this "game" was no longer just shock, but a kind of hair-raising awe that touched the depths of his soul—everything it recorded was actually history that truly happened!
It wasn't some game at all, but a... a mysterious window connecting the past and present in some way he couldn't comprehend!
It was just that now there was still one most crucial question left unresolved:
The Lin Ruoxuan in reality, during her years of rising, did she truly and tangibly... perceive the existence of him, this "Tyrant"?
Those earth-shattering achievements she obtained, were they ultimately the result of her own talent and hard work, or... was it really because there was a future version of himself guiding her from behind the scenes?
After all, all current evidence could only prove that the life trajectory of Lin Ruoxuan he saw in the "game" was real, but it couldn't directly prove that that kind of dimension-transcending, magical interaction ever existed between him and her.
"What a pity... Lin Ruoxuan's whereabouts are a mystery now, as if she evaporated from the world. Otherwise, I would really want to desperately find her and ask her face-to-face to understand clearly..."
He muttered to himself.
Right at this moment, he suddenly remembered the news Shen Jie mentioned during the day—
This Saturday, Queen of Pop Song Jiaru would hold a concert in Binzhou.
His gaze involuntarily cast toward the game interface, onto the preview image of the second, yet-to-be-unlocked stage right next to Lin Ruoxuan.
It clearly marked the name of the next target—Song Jiaru.
A thought instantly split open his chaotic mind like lightning and flint!
"If... if I start Song Jiaru's questline right now and intervene in her life... then, by the concert on Saturday, I might be able to find an opportunity to approach her in reality, and personally ask that Queen of Pop who is now radiant and surrounded by stars—"
"You, on your path of rising, did you also ever perceive... the existence of 'me'?"