Chapter Two: Scoring a Steal at Peking University with the Left Hand, Maximizing Bitcoin Gains with the Right

“Ugh!!!”

In an instant, Liu Ruyu was completely stunned.

That overwhelming masculine aura...

A surge of intense, never-before-felt hormones!!!

Her mind went utterly blank!

It felt as if her breath had stopped...

That suffocating sensation!

She had only ever experienced it once before—when she nearly drowned as a child in a swimming pool.

She wanted to resist, but her entire body was limp, and all she could do was grit her teeth.

Only at this moment did she finally understand.

What exactly was the “graduation gift” that Huo Qitai had mentioned?

Meanwhile, just over ten kilometers from Jian’an No.1 High School, inside a villa nestled against the mountains…

The real Liu Rumeng was talking with her mother, Liu Chengyin, when she suddenly felt her heart race.

An indescribable sense of suffocation gripped her, forcing her lips to press tightly together.

Liu Chengyin, whose appearance bore a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to her daughter and still possessed a lingering charm, saw this and urgently shouted:

“Mengmeng! Mengmeng! What’s wrong? Don’t scare Mom! Mom already booked the tickets; tomorrow we’re going abroad for your treatment…”

…

The best time to pick a flower is always right now.

Inside the classroom of Senior Year, Class 2…

With a sudden, unexpected move, Huo Qitai kissed Liu Ruyu, instantly throwing her into complete turmoil.

Outrageous!

He was clearly just a timid boy from a small town, born into a farming family.

Liu Ruyu had never imagined Huo Qitai would be so bold.

Right there in broad daylight, in front of the entire class, he stole her first kiss.

What shocked her even more was…

Her sister, who was always so aloof and self-controlled, keeping all men at a thousand-mile distance.

How could she agree…

To give her first kiss to Huo Qitai as a graduation gift?

A whirlwind of anger and confusion swirled through Liu Ruyu’s mind.

Mixed with the fluttering thoughts of a young girl in love, stirred further by Huo Qitai’s wild surge of hormones.

My heavens!

What a chaotic state this was!

Liu Ruyu felt as if her head was about to explode!

Her heart was racing uncontrollably!

Her lips… were almost swollen from his kiss.

This Huo Qitai—how could he be so skilled at kissing?

So teasing and playful—this was certainly not his first time kissing a girl.

“Wait! My heart is pounding so fast, I feel suffocated? No… what about Mengmeng?”

Originally still somewhat lost in the chaos of her emotions, Liu Ruyu suddenly thought of her sister’s worrying condition and their unique “empathic” connection.

She bit down hard on Huo Qitai’s tongue and pushed him away with all her strength.

“Huo Qitai! You scoundrel! How dare you kiss me…”

Licking her slightly swollen lips, Liu Ruyu was filled with resentment but dared not show it.

Because to everyone else, it was clear that she had agreed to give her first kiss publicly—who could she blame?

Huo Qitai swallowed the blood with a grin, then turned and sat back down without a backward glance.

With a sardonic tone, he said, “Graduation gift received! Dear ex-girlfriend, see you at Peking University.”

“Scoundrel! Peking University? You rogue! You’ll never get into Peking University in your lifetime, let alone earn a billion in ten lifetimes!” Liu Ruyu screamed helplessly in her heart.

But her refined upbringing left her at a loss for harsher words; “scoundrel” and “rogue” were probably the worst curses in her vocabulary.

Huo Qitai didn’t care. That kiss had indeed gotten to him.

It made the fearful and confused thoughts born from his reincarnation suddenly clear and smooth.

“Liu Ruyu! I was played by you last life. This life, I’m ready to repay my debts!”

At this moment, Huo Qitai’s eyes gleamed with spirit and light, shooting a fierce glare like a raging bull.

Reborn into a new life, living freely and recklessly, doing whatever he pleased—he had completely figured it out.

To outsiders, the two seemed calm and composed as they signed their “lover’s agreement” after breaking up.

It appeared as if the “graduation kiss” marked a peaceful end to their relationship.

But the classmates in the classroom had never seen anything like this, and the place immediately erupted…

“Damn! Kissing after breaking up? How can anyone live like this?”

“Honestly, Huo Qitai isn’t losing out—he still got Liu Rumeng’s first kiss after the break-up…”

“Tch! How do you know it’s her first kiss? Maybe they kissed secretly before?”

…

The students chattered and gossiped, especially after Huo Qitai’s “See you at Peking University” remark, which stirred them even more.

“I told you, Huo Qitai won’t let go so easily.”

“What does ‘See you at Peking University’ mean? Is he really taking this lover’s agreement seriously?”

“Can he even get into Peking University after repeating a year? Is that possible?”

“I support Huo Qitai. Let him fight for it.”

“Yeah! If he really gets into Peking University next year, let Liu Rumeng and Zhang Ting see it—young ambition cannot be underestimated.”

“Come on! Even if Huo Qitai somehow gets into Peking University next year, Liu Rumeng probably already has a new boyfriend.”

“Exactly! Besides, in front of the mighty Liu family, being a Peking University student alone isn’t impressive. Unless Huo Qitai can really build a billion-dollar fortune from scratch, but that’s even less likely.”

…

Even Huo Qitai’s best friend, Xue Xiaoshan, quickly pulled him aside and whispered:

“Alright, Brother Tai, I know you just signed that lover’s agreement to save face after the breakup.

Just forget it once it’s signed! Don’t take it seriously. ‘See you at Peking University’? I’m embarrassed for you. Trust me, let this thing go.

Anyway, you’re handsome; once you enter university, you won’t have to worry about girlfriends.”

At that moment, homeroom teacher Mr. Zhu announced at the door:

“Class, it’s time for us to use the computers to fill out your college applications.

Please proceed in an orderly manner to Computer Room No. 3…”

After waiting so long!

The students, amid a bustling noise, temporarily escaped the drama of the “breakup farce” and moved to the computer room.

Everyone logged into the application system one by one.

Filling in their target universities and majors according to prior discussions with their families.

In his previous life, despite the heartbreak, Huo Qitai had followed Liu Rumeng to the capital and applied to Capital University of Commerce.

But now, reborn, staring at the application webpage,

Huo Qitai’s smile was harder to suppress than an AK-47’s recoil.

Because he knew…

This year, cautious top scorers applying for colleges caused Peking University’s economics program in their province to be overlooked by a student who only scored 578 points and planned to repeat a year.

Huo Qitai’s gaokao score was 579—just one point higher than that lucky underdog.

“Sorry, brother, you can rest easy and repeat your year. This spot at Peking University, I’ll reluctantly take it for myself.”

Knowing the outcome, Huo Qitai decisively filled “Peking University, Economics, First Choice” as his only application.

All other parallel choices were left blank.

Getting into Peking University—just that.

Easy.

For a reborn visionary like him, earning a billion-dollar fortune was even less of a challenge.

“Bitcoin was apparently created back in ’08. This year... right! This year marks the first year of trading.

The very first real Bitcoin transaction, if I remember correctly, happened on…

Huh? Seems like it was today…”

In his past life, Huo Qitai had run tutoring centers, developed apps, and created media influencer studios…

He had faced bankruptcy and failure but had eventually made a fair amount of money.

Yet what truly skyrocketed his wealth was an accidental purchase of Bitcoin.

By 2024, Bitcoin had soared to nearly $100,000 per coin.

And now, it was June 22, 2010. Using the school’s old Lenovo desktop, Huo Qitai opened a foreign Bitcoin forum.

He couldn’t help but sigh—back then, the internet was freer; many foreign websites weren’t blocked yet.

He found a post by a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz.

The post read that he was offering 10,000 bitcoins in exchange for two large pizzas.

“10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas!

That’s literally the most expensive pizza in history.

Looks like I’m lucky—the person who traded with him hasn’t shown up yet.

I better hurry…”

In his previous life, Huo Qitai had found that this pizza transaction was said to have occurred on May 22.

But upon deeper research, he discovered…

The original journalist had mistakenly typed June 22 as May 22.

This error was then perpetuated by every media outlet that cited the report afterward.

One could say this 10,000 bitcoin transaction was the easiest opportunity in history to acquire a large amount of Bitcoin.

Moreover, this transaction would be forever recorded in Bitcoin’s history.

Huo Qitai’s bold claim in the “lover’s agreement” that he’d earn a billion in four years was backed by Bitcoin.

“Max it out! Max it out! Ten thousand bitcoins.

If I can get them without selling in between,

By 2024, that’s nearly a billion dollars!

Plus, by making this transaction, I’ll be forever famous in the Bitcoin trading community.”

Actually, to profit greatly from Bitcoin, Huo Qitai could quietly buy in large batches, slowly cashing out at the peak using hundreds or thousands of cold wallets.

No one would notice, and he could quietly become a wealthy man.

But as a serial entrepreneur given a second chance, he wouldn’t settle for such cautious stealth.

Having witnessed the explosive power of fame, traffic, and hype in the future, Huo Qitai knew their importance.

If he wanted to become a business magnate rivaling or surpassing Musk, Lei Jun, Ren Zhengfei, or Liu Qiangdong, he couldn’t be low-key.

Especially abroad, Silicon Valley’s Iron Man Musk mastered the art of viral marketing to perfection.

More importantly, for someone like Huo Qitai without a foundation, exposing his wealth could be a death sentence—like a child clutching gold, attracting malicious attention.

But if he increased exposure, generated traffic, and leveraged his future knowledge to boost influence, all that flashy fame would become his shield—anyone thinking of messing with him would think twice.

Being the initiator and participant of the first physical Bitcoin transaction would become more valuable with each rise in Bitcoin’s price.

“I just have to figure out how to buy pizzas for him.

They’re not that expensive, about $40. But I only have RMB on hand.”

Huo Qitai pondered the forum post.

The internet back then was underdeveloped.

Although online banking and Alipay existed, using them in China was cumbersome.

Let alone paying a foreign pizza delivery shop.

Was his first heaven-sent opportunity since reincarnation going to slip away?

Just as Huo Qitai was contemplating how to buy the pizzas,

A pretty girl with shoulder-length short hair pulled over his best friend, Xue Xiaoshan, and whispered:

“Shanzi, what’s going on with Huo Qitai now?”

“Miss Chang, you saw it yourself in the classroom.

Since Brother Tai kissed the class monitor and said ‘See you at Peking University,’ he’s definitely determined to repeat a year and take that exam.

I even peeked at his applications—he only filled in Peking University as first choice; the rest are blank.”

Xue Xiaoshan looked troubled.

Upon hearing this, Chang Lu’s expression turned a bit desolate.

After hesitating for a moment, she said, “I’ll ask him if he plans to go abroad.

If he does, my uncle can make arrangements…”

“Go abroad?”

Huo Qitai, overhearing this, brightened immediately.

He called out to Chang Lu, “Lulu, come here.

You’re going abroad to study, right? Leaving early next month?

Your family must have arranged all the paperwork?”

“Yes! Why? Are you really thinking about going abroad too?

In my opinion, changing the environment could help you forget Liu Rumeng completely.”

Chang Lu excitedly stepped closer.

“Have you gotten a US credit card yet?” Huo Qitai asked.

“Of course! US credit cards are very convenient and practical for payments.

Most people abroad don’t carry large amounts of cash,” Chang Lu nodded.

“Did you bring it today?”

“Yes! It’s in my bag.”

“Great! Take it out quickly.”

Huo Qitai rubbed his hands, excited.

“Here! This one has the Visa logo.

It’s accepted worldwide—even major malls here.

Qitai, what do you want it for?”

Chang Lu looked puzzled.

“Nothing much.

Just borrowing your credit card to help me buy two pizzas!”

Huo Qitai took the credit card and used Skype to call a pizza delivery place in Florida, thousands of miles away in the United States.

…