China, Shanghai.
At seven o'clock in the morning, Jiang Feng stretched leisurely and got out of bed. Pulling open the curtains, he looked out of the window. In front of him was the road of a small suburban town, bumpy and uneven.
"Pancakes! Hot pancakes that just came out of the oven!"
The shouts of the roadside hawkers kept echoing from the loudspeakers. Jiang Feng smiled and waved at the old woman who was jogging by the roadside. Then, he turned around and left the room, rushing to wash up. His time was tight during the holidays, not to mention that Jiang Feng still had a lot of things to do today.
Jiang Feng's family lived in a small town on the outskirts of Shanghai. The ancestral home of his family was very old and had been renovated several times. Jiang Feng had lived in this courtyard square since he was young and had just graduated from university that year. Although he had majored in finance in university, his family's situation was not good. After graduation, he had made the same choice as other ordinary students. He had found a similar job and started to work to earn money to support his family.
As the member of a new generation of workers, Jiang Feng had been working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days in a row. This time, he had gone home after working for a month. Only then had he gotten the chance to take three days off! And the reason he had done this was because his family was about to move!
...
He fetched some water from the well in the courtyard to wash up. When he raised his head, he could see the huge word "demolition" written on the wall. A smile appeared on Jiang Feng's conflicted face. His family had been poor for many years, and finally, the demolition of Shanghai had arrived. According to his mother, the family would get 10 million yuan in compensation for the demolition! This was great news for Jiang Feng's family!
As Jiang Feng was washing up, there was a knock on the door of the courtyard. When he opened the door, he saw that it was the demolition office. They had come with the demolition contract so his family could sign it. The terms had already been finalized after a few rounds of nuclear negotiating, so there was no need to say anything else.
His father, Jiang Jianzhong, signed the contract, and ten million yuan was transferred into their bank account! The on-site transaction was paid, and the entire process was recorded. The demolition office was also working very quickly. After all, construction was about to begin.
After signing the contract, they requested that Jiang Feng's family move out within two days. Because the demolition had been announced six months ago, the municipal government had already prepared for the relocation. His mother, Yu Xiumin, had promised repeatedly that it would all go well. She handed him a nice cigarette and led the demolition office people out of the house. After returning, his mother kept running around happily. The whole family was also extremely excited about this!
They would be relocating to a 120-square-meter house and getting 10 million yuan for the demolition. The Jiang Family, which had always been poor and down-and-out, suddenly became a bunch of multimillionaires overnight! Jiang Feng did not waste any time and immediately arranged for everyone to move. Thanks to the moving company that Jiang Feng had called over, as well as his own help, the old house was completely empty in one morning. Everything was moved to the relocation house in the suburbs. They had finally left the small town and moved closer to Shanghai! While sitting in their new home, the family of four was extremely happy. But Jiang Feng knew that this happiness would not last long!
...
Just as Jiang Feng had expected, when they had just finished unpacking in the afternoon, while he was sitting on the sofa watching TV with his little sister, there was a knock on the door. Then, a lot of relatives entered one after the other.
They had all found Jiang Feng's new home very easily, as if they had installed a navigation system in their cars. The living room of Jiang Feng's small home was filled with relatives. There were both people he knew and people he didn't know there. To avoid embarrassing his parents, Jiang Feng politely served tea to his third, second, fourth, and fifth aunts. Meanwhile, his mother was introducing some of the relatives he didn't know to Jiang Feng.
"Little Feng, this is your third aunt. She hugged you when you were young." As soon as Yu Xiumin's voice was heard, the woman's face was immediately stretched by a big smile.
She looked at Jiang Feng and praised him. "Xiao Feng has grown so fast. He's already so tall and handsome."
"Don't tell me. He's not just handsome, but promising too. Now that he graduated from university, he's starting to earn money!"
"College students can really help their families now!"
"Being able to find a job in Shanghai is indeed impressive. This child is really capable!"
Before the third aunt could finish her words, a few relatives next to her immediately spoke up. Everyone had started praising Jiang Feng wildly! But when these words reached Jiang Feng's ears, he only felt disgusted. He had just graduated in June, and he still remembered clearly what they had all said back then.
"He's just a lousy undergraduate. He's just a piece of trash in Shanghai! He's bound to be useless!"
"What? He only earns 6,000 a month. He doesn't even earn that much. How embarrassing. Don't call me your third uncle!"
"Jiang Feng got a job? Our Wayne just got a job too. I bought him a car. Jianzhong, aren't you going to buy a car for your child?"
"Oh my, Xiumin! It's been so many years. Why don't you get your child new clothes? Look at my Lili's brand-name clothes!"
He had heard them say these words, listened to their strange voices, and seen their disdainful, mocking eyes. Jiang Feng remembered everything clearly! All these years, Jiang Feng's family had been living a tough life. During their most difficult years, when his father had been sick, he had never seen them lend a hand. Every year, when they would return to the city to visit their grandparents for the new year, they would mock and humiliate his parents.
They had never once visited their hometown and brought even two ounces of pork! But now that the house had been demolished, they'd unexpectedly come to visit with a box full of milk! Unable to cope with this, Jiang Feng found an excuse to go to his room.
As soon as he entered his room, he turned on his cell phone and saw that the number of notifications from the university group chat was surprisingly 99+. He opened the university group chat and saw that the chat was very lively.
"F*CK, F*CK, F *CK! Young Master Jiang is about to rise!"
"I heard that the minimum compensation for the demolition in Shanghai is six million yuan!"
"Jiang Feng got full marks in his professional courses when he was in school. He won't be able to take off just because of this big compensation!"
"Awesome! Jiang Feng is not only a favored son of heaven, but also a favored son of fate. This wave of luck will definitely help him take off!"
"Let's not talk about it anymore. I want to hug Brother Jiang's thigh. Bring me along when you make a fortune in the future! Hahaha!"
"..."
Many of the students in the group were talking enthusiastically. It seemed as if everyone was very familiar with Jiang Feng. However, only Jiang Feng, who was on the other end of the screen, knew that many of the people who were talking about him had never said to him more than ten sentences! Apart from the lively conversation in the group chat, he had also received hundreds of private messages.
As he looked at the messages sent by classmates and friends he had not seen in a long time, Jiang Feng's heart was also very conflicted! Among these friends, some had been close to him in the past, and some had been just ordinary classmates. Jiang Feng casually replied to a few of them, and half of them asked to borrow money from him after saying a few words. The other half asked Jiang Feng out to a meal for the first time. They even said that they wanted to help Jiang Feng change jobs. By looking at this plethora of messages, Jiang Feng couldn't tell who was a true friend and who was a fake one!
"This can't be happening!"
Turning off his phone, Jiang Feng sprawled on the bed and muttered to himself while looking at the ceiling. Countless people had suddenly started to care about his life, and everyone seemed to be very sincere. However, at the same time, everyone seemed to be extremely hypocritical. They were only doing this for his money!
Among them were his unlikable relatives, his best friend, Shen Wen, and many other good friends of his. Jiang Feng was unable to tell who was truly sincere. At that moment, a mechanical voice spoke in Jiang Feng's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations on activating the Divine-Grade Choice System.]
[Choice 1: Show off your money. Allow everyone to mooch off you and continue living as usual.]
[Reward: Title - Good Person]
[Choice 2: Invest in Bitcoin and wait to make a fortune!]
[Reward: 100 million! (One-Time Deal)]
...
Upon hearing the voice that had suddenly spoken in his mind, Jiang Feng was stunned for a moment. Then, he immediately reacted. After reading countless web novels, he could immediately understand that he had been bound to a system! As he looked at the words that had appeared in his mind, Jiang Feng's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he chose the second option without hesitation! With a single thought, the system's voice spoke again in his mind in a second.
[Ding! You have made your choice. The reward has been successfully obtained. It is a limited one-time deal, so please cherish the opportunity!]
The system's voice echoed. Jiang Feng only felt a lot of information appear in his head and knew that the reward had started to take effect!
Chapter 2
WeChat Moment: Pretending to be Bankrupt!
After accepting the reward of the system, Jiang Feng returned to the living room. His parents had been chatting with their many relatives for a long time. Jiang Feng had just heard them while he was in his room. Many people had come to borrow money, as some of their children wanted to get married and get betrothal gifts, and others needed a down payment to buy a house or the full amount to buy a car.
Also, their businesses had not been doing well recently, so they could not borrow some money and pay it back in two days. There were all kinds of excuses, and each of them used their relatives to pressure the old couple. Jiang Feng's parents also tried their best to deal with them. When they were about to run out of ideas, Jiang Feng opened the door and walked out.
Seeing Jiang Feng come out, Yu Xiumin quickly turned her head and said, "Xiao Feng, look at you. You've been busy for so long, and your relatives are all here to see you. Why don't you come here and talk to everyone?"
Yu Xiumin's reaction was very quick, and she immediately changed the topic of the previous conversation. This caused the voices of many of her relatives to instantly become quieter. Many people turned their heads and continued to say what they thought Jiang Jianzhong and the others wanted to hear.
"I told you that Jiang Feng is promising. Look at how limited his time is. The company won't leave him alone. If we need anything, we will have to look for him to ask for help!"
"Yeah, he is our family's most capable child. I always thought that this child would achieve great things since he was young!"
However, Jiang Feng didn't care for this fake flattery one bit. How could Jiang Jianzhong and Yu Xiumin not know what their relatives were really like? They just didn't want their relationship to become too awkward. After all, they were all a family brought up by the same old man. It wouldn't be good to disturb the harmony.
Jiang Feng walked to the sofa and said without hesitation, "Mom, our company has a big project coming up. It will be a success for sure. I will invest the family's money first."
After saying that, he took his bank card out of Yu Xiumin's bag and left the house with it. Even though some people behind him tried to stop him, saying that he had to be cautious about investing and discuss it with the family first, they were unable to make Jiang Feng stop.
As he left with the money, many of his relatives knew that there was no hope of borrowing money this time. After a few simple words, they also left one after another. When they left Jiang Feng's house, their originally amiable faces immediately changed, and they started cursing.
"He really ignored my good intentions. That son of a b*tch still wants to invest? What the f*ck is he doing!"
"I was about to borrow 300,000 yuan! I was so close! I'm so angry!"
"Look at Jianzhong. He's still a coward despite having so much money. He'll be like that for the rest of his life!"
"Hahaha, his legs were injured from work back in the day. Now, he can't even walk properly. If he walks with a limp, I'll laugh myself to death!"
Jiang Feng didn't know any of this. At that moment, he had already taken the money from his family and gone downstairs to a cafe by the street.
"Sir, here's the coffee you ordered. Enjoy."
Jiang Feng took the freshly-brewed coffee from the waiter and opened the Bitcoin trading center where he had just registered. Just as the call ended, a new person arrived at Jiang Feng's house. It was Jiang Feng's girlfriend, Yu Jia. After hearing the news, she had immediately flown to Shanghai with her parents overnight to go to Jiang Feng's house!
However, Jiang Feng wasn't at home at the moment. After hearing from Jiang Feng's mother that Jiang Feng had gone to work, she didn't bother him. Instead, she started coming up with her own plan to please him.
...
Meanwhile, Jiang Feng was holding his phone and looking at the current Bitcoin market. The current price of bitcoin was 65,000 dollars, but it was soon 420,000 dollars, and the information kept changing. The price of Bitcoin continued to rise, and it looked like it was going to reach a new high! But in Jiang Feng's mind, that was not the case.
The information of the system appeared in his mind at that moment. Tomorrow, Bitcoin would experience a historic mega-crash! It was unavoidable. According to the information of the system, right before the market closed today, the famous financial entrepreneur Semak would polish all of his Bitcoin holdings, which amounted to a total of 200 billion!
He would also publish this news on social media platforms ten seconds before the market closed. This news would make all Bitcoin holders panic and cause a chain reaction. When the market opened tomorrow, countless people would scramble to sell their holdings. This would cause the price of Bitcoin to plummet! As long as Jiang Feng sold all his Bitcoin before the market closed today, he would be able to earn ten times more tomorrow!
As he looked at the system's information, Jiang Feng was a little uncertain. After all, the system said it was easy, but he was holding the entire family's wealth in his hands! He looked at the time, and there was still an hour before the market would close. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Feng still chose to use his bank card. He set the payment page to 10 million and arranged to short Bitcoin by 50% the next day!
Then, he opened the home page of Semak and waited for the message that the system was talking about! If Semak really posted this message, then Jiang Feng would not hesitate to pay. Ten seconds was not enough for others to complete such a complicated operation. But for him, a man who was prepared, it was enough! After all, he knew that if such a bigshot sold his Bitcoin, then countless people would follow his lead. No one wanted to be the last lamb to be slaughtered. If Semak didn't post this message, Jiang Feng wouldn't trust the system. He would never risk the hopes of his entire family by taking such a big gamble!
After making preparations, Jiang Feng stared at his phone, waiting for the message to appear. Even though the coffee in front of him was already cold, he didn't notice it at all. Finally, an hour passed. Jiang Feng waited for the text message, his fingers moving rapidly.
The payment was completed in ten seconds! As he counted down the seconds before the market closed, Jiang Feng's eyes glinted with a trace of a smile. At that moment, his phone suddenly rang. Upon seeing the name of his good friend Shen Wen, Jiang Feng clicked to accept the call.
"Brother Feng, you are awesome! I didn't expect your family to demolish the house. I'm rich now." As soon as the call was picked up, Shen Wen's familiar voice was heard.
Before Jiang Feng could say anything, Shen Wen spoke again. "Brother Feng, come to Jiangnan Imperial Kitchen in a while to have a drink. Let's see who can drink the most! Hahaha!"
"Sure, I'll come over in a while."
When he heard his words, Jiang Feng, who had originally wanted to go home, agreed with a smile. It was a rare chance for him. He had wanted to get together with his good friend for a long time. Besides, he was free now, so he could go over and have a drink! After saying that, the two of them chatted briefly for a while before hanging up. Jiang Feng went out to get a taxi and immediately rushed to the Jiangnan Imperial Kitchen.
...
An hour later, he arrived at the restaurant. Shen Wen had already gotten a private room and was waiting there. Perhaps it was because they hadn't seen each other in a while, or perhaps it was because Jiang Feng was happy that he had money, but the two of them began to drink non stop.
They kept drinking until ten o'clock in the evening, for a full five to six hours. They drank until the sky was dark, until they drank to their hearts' content. The two of them also chatted a lot. They talked about the embarrassing things they had gone through in school, the hardships at work, and the wonderful vision of starting a business together.
Jiang Feng was drunk, but happily drunk at that. Shen Wen got a room for him at a nearby hotel, threw him on the bed, and let him sleep soundly. Then, he drove his big car back to his own home.
...
Jiang Feng, who was so drunk that he had lost consciousness, woke up at noon the next day. It was the system voice in his mind that woke him up!
[Ding! The Bitcoin mission has been completed. The system has automatically helped you sell it. Divine-Grade Choice System activated.]
[Choice 1: Flaunt your wealth in a high-profile manner. Let everyone know that you've earned 100 million!]
[Reward: A bowl of hangover soup!]
[Choice 2: Keep a low profile and hide. Post on WeChat that you've gone bankrupt and enjoy life!]
[Reward: Super-Prediction Card!]
...
Upon hearing the system's voice, Jiang Feng got out of bed. After being stunned for a long time, he finally reacted. Looking at the system's two options in front of him, Jiang Feng smiled. Although he indeed needed a bowl of hangover soup right now, compared to the hangover soup, the Super-Prediction Card was obviously more attractive!
'Choice 2!' Jiang Feng thought.
The system immediately responded.
"Ding! Congratulations on successfully choosing the second option. You have acquired the Super-Prediction Card! Please complete the mission as soon as possible and experience the cold and warm side of life!"
As the system spoke, a golden card immediately appeared in Jiang Feng's mind. A few seconds later, the card disappeared. Jiang Feng knew that it had been stored in the system space. Next, it was time to post a WeChat moment! Jiang Feng patted his head and picked up the phone resting next to his pillow!
Chapter 3
Jiang Feng, Let’s Break Up
In the hotel, Jiang Feng first checked the balance of his bank card. At the moment, there was 100 million in his card! As he looked at the money, Jiang Feng couldn't help but smile.
In one night, his 10 million had increased tenfold! From a multi-millionaire, he had instantly become a billionaire! If this had happened to anyone else, they would have already begun jumping in excitement and shouting. But in Jiang Feng's eyes, thanks to the system, this 100 million would be just the beginning!
...
Pushing away these thoughts, Jiang Feng got out of bed and began to take selfies. Then, he looked for some pictures on the internet before he picked up his phone again and started to edit them. He worked on the picture he had just found by using a nine-square grid. Then, he added two lines of text.
"Not everyone can win the Battle of Bitcoin. Success or failure often happens overnight!"
"The investment failed. I'll just start all over again!"
He typed out these simple lines, pressed OK, and posted them on his moments. He didn't set up a reminder for anyone to see. He just casually made a post. He simply wanted to complete the mission of the system and make a joke out of it.
In the photos, he had deliberately made it look like he was down and out. He also attached a screenshot of the news report on the collapse of Bitcoin, as well as the transaction record of him buying 10 million in Bitcoin.
After doing all this, Jiang Feng leisurely began to brush his teeth and wash his face. Smelling the stench of alcohol on his body, he also took a shower. After cleaning up completely, he leisurely walked out of the hotel.
...
It was already noon, and Jiang Feng's stomach was growling from hunger. Last night, he had been so engrossed in drinking that he hadn't even eaten a few peanuts. Now, he felt as hungry as a wolf! Therefore, once he left the hotel, Jiang Feng wanted to have a good meal first.
Shanghai's Dongpu District was very close to Shen Wen's company. Jiang Feng remembered that Shen Wen worked there. He was Jiang Feng's best friend, and the two of them had gone to high school and later to university together. They had been very good friends in the past few years.
When he was in school, Jiang Feng used to help him handle the things that he couldn't deal with. If anything good happened, Jiang Feng would also think of his good friend. This time, he had made a huge profit by selling Bitcoin. Jiang Feng naturally had to celebrate. Walking along the street, he took his cell phone out of his pocket. He then got ready to call Shen Wen.
At this hour, he should have gotten off work, so they could just have a meal together. But the moment he opened his phone's interface, dozens of red WeChat messages immediately attracted his attention. With a hint of interest, Jiang Feng opened his WeChat Moments. He had never expected that, in just an hour, his WeChat Moments would explode! The first message that he saw was actually someone else's post.
"This is hilarious! Hahahaha, someone actually dared to buy Bitcoin these days, and he lost 10 million. I can't take it anymore! I've been laughing so hard that my stomach's started to hurt! Ahahaha!"
After looking at this post, Jiang Feng scrolled down. The pictures he saw were all from his WeChat Moments. Upon looking at the person who had made the post, Jiang Feng was stunned. This guy was a college classmate who had wanted him to find him a job. Yesterday, he had been trying to please him, but today, he was scolding him in his moments! This made Jiang Feng feel a little confused.
Could they have taken one of his Moments too seriously? Weren't the WeChat Moments a place for everyone to share entertaining news? Jiang Feng had posted this piece of news, and the guy had believed it? Filled with doubt, Jiang Feng continued to scroll down. After a few posts, as expected, he saw that someone had posted the same thing.
"This is how you became the favored son of heaven. All your professional knowledge should be taken with a grain of salt!"
"If only you had lent me all your money yesterday, it wouldn't have been wasted. This is the end of our friendship, you piece of trash!"
Jiang Feng looked at the straightforward post and the accompanying picture below, shaking his head with a bitter smile. He hadn't expected Sun Shijie to be such a person. Jiang Feng had always treated him as a good friend. During the college exams, Jiang Feng had taken the risk to let him copy off him many times. How many times had he lent him the money that he didn't have every month? As a former roommate of his, there was no need for him to mention other big and small things. At the end of the day, he was such an ingrate!
When he had seen Jiang Feng's Moments, not only had he not wondered whether it was all true or not, but he had not cared either. Instead, he had cut off all his ties to him and even insulted him! Jiang Feng could see his true colors clearly. If this kind of thing had happened to someone else, they might have directly opened their mouth in anger. But Jiang Feng was still very calm, as he remembered what the system had said yesterday.
"Finish the mission as soon as possible and experience the cold and warm side of life!"
Now, he finally understood. The system had wanted him to see the hearts of the people around him clearly! Upon thinking of this, Jiang Feng felt much calmer! He knew that there was definitely more than one person like Sun Shijie out there.
Controlling his emotions, Jiang Feng continued to scroll down. Sure enough, there were also comments and curses posted by other people among his Moments. This allowed Jiang Feng to see quite a few people clearly. By the time he scrolled through all the moments, he had clicked on hundreds of red messages. A moment later, countless more messages flooded in. There were 70 to 80 likes for this post alone, and there were more than 100 comments below!
"Good guy! He's still learning how to play with virtual currencies despite that cowardly look of his. Don't you see what he's made of?"
"Last night, he was still a multimillionaire. Today, he has become a poor dog again. I knew long ago that this guy wouldn't remain rich!"
"Look at his eyes in the photo. They're all bloodshot. Damn you, you're a prodigal son!"
"How can you call yourself a proud son of heaven? You had so much financial knowledge, but you still let the dogs eat you. In the end, you remain a piece of trash!"
"Jiang Feng, how does it feel to be poor? You were poor when you were in school, and you're still poor now. You'll never be better than me!"
"This kind of thing could happen to me? This is too ridiculous! Delete friend. I feel unlucky just by looking at your account!"
"..."
Looking at the countless comments, Jiang Feng smiled bitterly and sighed. He had only posted a message, and they hadn't even asked him about it. They just didn't know whether it was true or not, yet they had directly hit him while he was down! Upon seeing this, Jiang Feng finally understood.
When he had been rich yesterday, each of them had been more attentive than the last, and every single person had treated him better than the last one. When his investment had failed, they had stepped on him with all their might! Many of them used to be his classmates. They were all finance majors, and everyone knew that investing was risky, so it was understandable that he would fail.
However, they had forgotten that they had said yesterday that they would help him change jobs. Instead, they swore at him and mocked him openly! It turned out that they had not really wanted to help. They would rather live on the streets in poverty and become beggars that no one wanted to deal with. And they would never reach out to help.
As the saying goes, the poor might play with ten steel hooks in the street, but they would not hurt their own relatives. On the other hand, the rich could not tell who was loyal and who was not. Sure enough, the saying was right! Yesterday, they had not cared about Jiang Feng, but for the benefits that Jiang Feng could have brought them.
Only when people were at their most down and out could they see clearly what kind of people their relatives and friends were. Who truly cared about them and who was only acting and was totally different behind the scenes! Looking at his short circle of friends, Jiang Feng could not help but sigh. His current circle was completely realistic!
'I wonder what my girlfriend, who likes to spend money recklessly, would do if she knew this?'
Upon thinking of this, Jiang Feng couldn't help but think of his girlfriend. And as Jiang Feng sighed, a call came. Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. The call was from his girlfriend, Yu Jia. Jiang Feng looked at the phone, took a deep breath, and pressed the answer button.
"Jia Jia, I..."
"Jiang Feng, let's break up."
When the call went through. Jiang Feng didn't even have the time to finish his sentence. From the other side, Yu Jia's cold voice could be heard. Before Jiang Feng could finish his sentence, he heard her angry voice.
"You useless piece of trash, I must really have been blind to be interested in a guy like you!"
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