Childhood Sweetheart

The warm, damp sensation quickly spread across his chest; it was the feeling of tears soaking through his T-shirt.

Chen Zhi's hand froze in midair. His fingers spread open and then clenched shut before he finally let out a resigned sigh, letting his hand fall gently onto Lin Wanwan's trembling back.

This little brat, she really had quite the grip.

"Are you feeling wronged already?"

Chen Zhi patted her frail back. His movements were a bit clumsy, but unexpectedly gentle. "You are a human, and it is a dog. What's there to compare?"

Lin Wanwan didn't look up. Her forehead remained stubbornly pressed against his breastbone, as if she wanted to push out a lifetime's worth of grievances.

"The way you looked at it just now, you practically wanted to put it on a pedestal... You've never looked at me like that."

Her voice was muffled by his clothes, sounding thick and nasal, trailing off with a slight sob.

Chen Zhi couldn't help but laugh.

"It's just a little puppy. We even had our one-month birthday celebrations together, why are you getting so mad?"

Chen Zhi tried to reason with her.

"I'm not listening!"

Lin Wanwan jerked her head up. Her usually bright, large eyes were completely red right now, making her look like a bullied little rabbit, and the tip of her nose was rubbed pink. "You just like the new and despise the old! I'm going to tell Aunt Zhang that you bullied me!"

Chen Zhi's scalp tingled.

If Zhang Guifang found out, tonight's braised pork would probably turn into a beating with a bamboo stick.

"No, no, no, my little ancestor, I was wrong, okay?"

Chen Zhi raised both hands in surrender. His brain worked in overdrive as he deployed his ultimate move. "How about this: to compensate your wounded soul, I'll do all your homework for this week."

Lin Wanwan sniffled, looking at him suspiciously. "Really? Even the long math questions?"

"Yes! Not only will I do them, but I'll also include the step-by-step solutions. I guarantee the teacher won't be able to tell someone else did it."

Chen Zhi patted his chest in assurance.

The tears in Lin Wanwan's eyes stopped instantly. She wiped her face, trying hard to suppress the corners of her mouth, but they curled up uncontrollably anyway.

"Also, I want to eat Little Pudding ice cream. Two of them."

"I'll buy them!"

"And I want to drink cola."

"You got it! A big bottle!"

Chen Zhi agreed through gritted teeth, silently calculating how much longer his precarious little secret stash of money could last.

Just then, a rustling sound came from under the bed.

The little husky that had just caused all the trouble poked half of its head out. Its blue eyes darted around slyly, and only after confirming the coast was clear did it trot out on its little short legs, wagging its tail and trying to rub against Lin Wanwan's legs.

"Xiaobai!"

Lin Wanwan smiled through her tears and bent down to pick up the puppy. Gone was the bitter and resentful look from just moments ago.

She rubbed the dog's head and made a face at Chen Zhi. "Xiaobai is innocent. It's all your fault."

Chen Zhi: ...

Is this what women are like?

Even in their juvenile form, they change their faces faster than turning the pages of a book.

"Time to eat! What are you two little brats dawdling about in the room for?"

Zhang Guifang's loud voice pierced through the door panel once again, wafting in alongside the aroma of the food.

"Coming!"

Chen Zhi called back, pushing Lin Wanwan toward the door. "Hurry up and wash your face. Wipe off that crying cat face of yours, or my mom is going to interrogate me again."

Lin Wanwan carried the dog, walking ahead triumphantly like a victorious general.

Chen Zhi followed behind. Looking at her back in that pink dress, he shook his head helplessly.

Reborn into this life, he originally thought he could be an emotionless money-making machine, but he didn't expect to fall into the hands of his childhood sweetheart anyway.

However...

The moment she crashed into his arms just now, his heart really did seem to skip a beat.

That feeling was even more panic-inducing than Bitcoin crashing.

Chen Zhi shook his head, tossing those messy thoughts out of his mind.

At the dining table, the atmosphere was a bit weird.

Zhang Guifang was holding a plate of braised pork ribs, her piercing gaze sweeping back and forth across Chen Zhi and Lin Wanwan's faces.

Lin Wanwan's eyes were still a little red and swollen. Although she had washed her face, the traces of crying couldn't be hidden.

"Wanwan, why are your eyes red?"

Zhang Guifang picked up the largest piece of rib and placed it in Lin Wanwan's bowl, her tone so gentle that it gave Chen Zhi goosebumps. "Did that brat Chen Zhi bully you? Tell Auntie, Auntie will beat him up for you."

Chen Zhi buried his head in his rice, pretending not to hear, but secretly kicked Lin Wanwan under the table.

Lin Wanwan blinked her big eyes, glanced at Chen Zhi, then looked at the rib in her bowl, and smiled sweetly. "No, Aunt Zhang. Some sand got into my eye just now, and Chen Zhi helped me blow it out."

"Sand?"

Zhang Guifang looked suspiciously at the tightly shut windows. "Where would sand come from inside the house?"

"I thought it was weird too."

Chen Zhi quickly chimed in with a righteous look on his face. "Maybe the window crack wasn't closed tight. The wind and sand are really getting worse these days. Environmental issues demand our immediate attention."

At this moment, Chen Jun was holding his wine glass and taking a sip of Erguotou liquor. Hearing this, he nodded in agreement. "Indeed, the evening news broadcast today also mentioned strengthening afforestation efforts..."

The topic was successfully derailed.

Chen Zhi let out a sigh of relief. While Zhang Guifang wasn't paying attention, he quickly transferred two pieces of lean meat from his own bowl into Lin Wanwan's.

Lin Wanwan accepted the offering with a clear conscience and even winked at him. The message was obvious: Good job, I am very pleased.

Chen Zhi smiled bitterly. This wasn't raising a childhood sweetheart; this was clearly worshipping an ancestor.

After dinner, Lin Wanwan played with the dog for a while longer. It wasn't until Lin Shuxian called to urge her back that she reluctantly carried Xiaobai back next door.

After sending off this great Buddha, Chen Zhi immediately ducked back into his room and locked the door.

The world was finally quiet.

He sat back down in front of the computer, the screen's faint glow illuminating his slightly youthful face.

In the blink of an eye, his little stash of money had hit rock bottom. He had to figure out a way to earn it back.

Chen Zhi opened the browser and skillfully typed in a URL: 5173.

This was the largest online game trading platform of that era.

In this era, online games were the spiritual opium of young people, as well as one of the most highly profitable gray areas.

Countless people threw their money around like dirt in them, and countless others grinded to strike gold.

Chen Zhi's fingers tapped on the keyboard, logging into a long-dormant account.

"Dungeon & Fighter."

Also commonly known as DNF.

The year 2008 was the golden age when this game had just entered open beta and was taking the entire internet by storm.

Countless people lost sleep and forgot to eat for this game, even saving up their breakfast money to pull all-nighters at internet cafes.

[Verifying account...]

[Login successful.]

The webpage redirected, displaying the character information under the account.

A level 60 max-level Ghost Swordsman. The ID was "Lord Arrogant".

Chen Zhi opened the vault.

[Shooting Star Meteor Blade].

A pink katana, its blade long and slender, radiating a bizarre and enchanting glow.

In the early days of the level 60 cap, this was the ultimate dream of countless Ghost Swordsmen. It had a badass appearance, an extra-long attack range, and a stat that drove countless people crazy: a chance to summon a meteor upon attacking.

He had been incredibly lucky recently, and this blade dropped while he was clearing dungeons.

Chen Zhi quickly searched the trading platform for the price of the "Shooting Star Meteor Blade".

The page refreshed.

A string of numbers popped up.

[Shandong Server 1, Shooting Star Blade, +0, Buyout Price: 1800 RMB.]

[Beijing Server 1, Shooting Star Blade, +10, Buyout Price: 2500 RMB.]

Chen Zhi's breathing instantly quickened.

These weren't weapons; they were practically gold bars!

Moreover, the current prices hadn't even reached their peak.

He remembered clearly that in another month, with the revamp of the PvP arena, the price of this blade would skyrocket to astronomical heights.

Aside from this blade, his storage also held several Wind Cloaks and Ink Bamboo Bracelets...

Like a miser counting his treasure, Chen Zhi estimated the price of every single piece of equipment in his storage.

Chen Zhi's gaze landed on a file named GSD's Ultimate Wave Blade.

It was the prototype of an auto-farming script he had written out of boredom in his previous life.

Although it wasn't particularly advanced, in this era where scripts hadn't yet flooded the market, it was definitely considered black tech.

As long as he perfected it a bit and added an anti-ban mechanism...

A wicked smile curled on Chen Zhi's lips.

Who said making money had to rely on physical labor?

Knowledge is money.

Technology is productivity.

He cracked his knuckles, the joints letting out crisp pops.

Clack, clack, clack...

The sound of keyboard tapping echoed in the room like dense raindrops.

Lines of code flowed rapidly across the screen, constructing exquisite logical loops.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

It wasn't until late at night that Chen Zhi finally stopped typing.

He looked at the small program generated on the screen named DNF Auto-Farming Assistant V1.0.exe and nodded in satisfaction.

Next up was finding a sucker... oh, wait, a buyer with a good eye for talent.

He opened a gaming forum called Duowan Caoshangfei, registered a new burner account, and named the ID Deep Blue Savior.

Then, he skillfully posted a thread.

[Title: Exclusive Black Tech! Fully Automatic Solo Farming for Zombie King difficulty, Anti-Ban, Double Efficiency! Free Trial for the First 10 People!]

Less than a minute after the thread was posted, the private message icon in the bottom right corner started flashing wildly.

Players in this era had an almost fanatical pursuit of things like hacks.

Chen Zhi clicked open the first private message.

[Bro, is this for real? If it's real, I'll buy it all!]

Chen Zhi smiled.

The fish had taken the bait.