I was born and listened to my neighbor's older sister talk about her family of origin.

Jiangcheng, July.

The cicadas' chirping grew louder and louder, and the asphalt road surface shimmered with a layer of opaque heat.

Jiang Ye, carrying a schoolbag and clutching an old-fashioned popsicle, pushed open the glass door of Chengmei Barber Shop. A blast of cold air hit him, and the barber shop's soothing music began to play.

Jiang Cheng, who was trimming a middle-aged man's sideburns with scissors, saw him and laughed out loud.

"Oh, that's rare, young master, it's rare for you to come to my little shop."

The middle-aged man giving the haircut chatted with Jiang Chengcai with a smile: "This must be your musically gifted son, right? He looks so smart and clever."

"I've heard his piano music; it's good, really beautiful."

As he spoke, a look of envy appeared in his eyes.

If only his brat could be this outstanding, it would make his parents look good.

Even Jiang Chengcai's barbershop business improved because of Jiang Ye; everyone wanted to benefit from the genius parent's fame.

Hearing his words, Jiang Chengcai looked smug, but said modestly, "Hey, what musical genius? He's just messing around. He's just a little smart, like me."

Hao Mei, who was eating sunflower seeds at the front desk, rolled her eyes at him.

"Go away, go away, your son clearly takes after me."

After saying that, her expression instantly changed, and she smiled gently at Jiang Ye: "Son, what are you doing out in this heat? Do you want some pocket money?"

Jiang Ye shook his head: "I'll play on the computer."

It was explained very bluntly.

There was a desktop computer that Jiang Cheng had bought in the back room of the barbershop. It wasn't high-spec, but it was enough for him to play games in his spare time. Occasionally, the couple could even play duo games together.

Hao Mei didn't care at all whether her son would become addicted to the internet. She waved her hand and said, "Go ahead, but don't play for too long, it'll hurt your eyes."

"Okay."

Jiang Ye took a bite of the popsicle that followed, walked straight through the store, and went into the back room.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but say, "This child is achieving some success, and you parents can't just let him run wild. Kids these days are easily addicted to the internet. They're young and can't control themselves. Have you heard the story of Zhong Yong's tragic fate...? My child..."

Hao Mei interrupted him.

"Don't worry, brother, my kid has great self-control. He's never given us any trouble with his studies."

The older brother choked and fell silent.

The barbershop's inner room was small and the furnishings were somewhat old.

On the table by the wall sits a slightly bulky desktop computer, its casing tinged with the yellowish hue of age.

Jiang Ye pulled out a chair, sat down, and pressed the power button on the main unit.

"Buzz—"

The computer case fan roared like a tractor, and a dozen seconds later, the familiar Windows XP classic blue sky and white cloud desktop appeared before my eyes.

Ten years old.

Jiang Ye looked at the time displayed in the lower right corner of the screen: July 15, 2010.

If we miss this crucial moment, it would be a disservice to the gift of a second life.

On May 22nd of this year, an American programmer named Laszlo spent 5 Bitcoins to buy two pizzas.

This marks the first time since Bitcoin's inception that it has generated purchasing power in the real world.

Currently, one Bitcoin is worth less than a few cents.

This is the most insane wealth creation myth in human financial history, bar none.

Buying Bitcoin is an absolute must for those who have been reborn; not doing it would be a disservice to the whole family.

Jiang Ye opened his schoolbag and took out a slightly rusty tin box of mooncakes.

Opening the tin box revealed neatly folded hundred-yuan bills, totaling approximately four thousand yuan.

This is all the money Jiang Ye has accumulated over the past ten years since his rebirth, including his New Year's money and the 1,000 yuan reward he received from the system.

At the current black market exchange rate, this money is worth about six hundred US dollars, enough to buy nearly ten thousand Bitcoins.

More than a decade later, this box will contain tens of billions of RMB.

The idea is clear, but the reality is quite harsh.

He was only ten years old.

Without an ID card or passport, it's impossible to register and open an account on the newly established Mt.Gox exchange.

They don't even have the most basic qualifications for cross-border wire transfers.

How can I exchange 4,000 RMB for cryptocurrency?

Jiang Ye crossed his arms and stared at the screen.

There are currently almost no formal trading platforms in China.

Most of the early miners in the geek community mined coins for fun or to exchange for electricity.

Where can we find them?

Jiang Ye moved the mouse, opened the browser, and entered a website address: Taobao.

In 2010, Taobao experienced rapid, unregulated growth, and its review mechanism was far less stringent than it would become in later years.

He typed two words into the search box: "Bitcoin" and "BTC".

Press Enter.

Page refreshed.

The selection of goods is pitifully small, with only a few scattered links.

Most of them sell some unrelated and bizarre items.

Jiang Ye's gaze swept across the area and he spotted a C-store whose name was a jumble of characters.

The product title is extremely simple and blunt: "Bitcoin, mined and sold on the spot, 1 RMB = 2 Bitcoins, don't buy if you don't understand."

Jiang Ye smiled.

This price is slightly more expensive than the exchange rate on foreign websites, but it saves him the huge hassle of cross-border transfers, so it's worth the extra cost.

Open the AliWangWang web version.

Jiang Ye sent a message: "Boss, are you there?"

After waiting for three minutes, the other end replied with a single word: "Speak."

Jiang Ye: "How much of that stuff do you have in your shop?"

Seller: "Buy as many as you want. These days, you have to use a computer to mine them. I have over ten thousand right now. What, you want to buy them to collect?"

Jiang Ye's fingers flew across the keyboard: "Seventeen thousand, all included. Can you ship them?"

The other end was clearly stunned, remaining silent for a full minute before a message popped up: "Bro, you're kidding me. This thing is just a string of code right now. Nobody recognizes it except in our circle. You're going to spend almost ten thousand dollars on this?"

Jiang Ye: "Never mind what I'm doing, are you selling or not?"

Seller: "Sell! If you dare to buy, I dare to sell! Let me make it clear first, once shipped, no refunds!"

Jiang Ye: "Okay, make a special shooting link and wait for me."

With the deal settled, the first hurdle has been overcome.

The next challenge: How to pay.

In 2010, Alipay's quick payment feature was not yet widely adopted, and large transactions mostly required inserting a USB security token to redirect to online banking.

Jiang Ye stood up, picked up the mooncake box on the table, and pushed open the door to go to the outer room.

In the barbershop, the middle-aged man's haircut was finished, and Jiang Cheng was using a hairdryer to style it, humming a song as he did so, clearly in a good mood.

On such a hot day, not many people come to the barbershop for a haircut. This guy was the last one; there weren't many customers after him.

Jiang Ye walked over and placed the mooncake box on the cashier's counter with a muffled "bang".

"Mom, Dad."

The two of them stopped moving at the same time and looked over.

"What's wrong?"

Hao Mei looked at the familiar metal box.

She knew perfectly well that it contained Jiang Ye's New Year's money.

Although she was always envious of her son's New Year's money, Jiang Ye's total New Year's money each year came only from the two of them, and he didn't receive any help from his grandparents.

If they even give their son New Year's money and then ask him to give it back, neither of them has the nerve to ask for it back.

That's why Jiang Ye has been saving up until now.

Fortunately, their son didn't squander the money at all, which made them very happy.