Chapter 37 The Wandering Ghost
"Song Han, what are you daydreaming about! Let's go play games together after class. There's a new game arcade on the street. Do you want to go and have a try?"
"Hmm? Oh!"
Song Han shook his dazed head. Although he really wanted to go, for some reason, when the words came to his mouth, he subconsciously refused.
"No, I want to go home early after school."
"Are you really not going? I've already made an appointment with Cao Bin and the others. The four of us can play against each other and take turns in PK!"
"Are you really not going? I've already made an appointment with Cao Bin and the others. The four of us can play against each other! Let's see who has the best skills!"
"Hmm? Why did you say it twice? It seems a bit different this time?"
"What do you mean by twice or three times? Just tell me whether you're going or not!"
"No..."
As the words were about to come out, Song Han was obviously stunned.
"Let's go!"
In 2001, in a plain village in the inland of Anhui Province, it was peaceful and simple.
Curling smoke rose slowly from the green-tiled roofs, and deep and shallow footprints were imprinted on the muddy path.
Returning home before it got dark, ten-year-old Song Han received his first mixed doubles beating in life.
"Coming home so late and running to the game arcade! Is that a place suitable for someone your age?"
"I didn't! I went to a classmate's house to do my homework!"
"Your second aunt's son Chenghai saw you in the game arcade! As the eldest brother, you don't set a good example for your younger brother! And you still dare to lie!"
"Second son! Bring that newly bought feather duster here!"
"Second son? Aren't I the youngest?"
Ignoring the distracted Song Han, Song Han's parents, who had changed into new "equipment", were as if aided by a god. In a few simple moves, they completed a refreshing family education session.
Rubbing his red bottom and not daring to sit on the stool, Song Han gritted his teeth and did his homework. He turned his head and gave a fierce glare at the second son who was snickering behind him and the third son who was looking blankly with a runny nose.
Making a face at Song Han, the second son, Mingya, pulled the third son, Xincheng, and hopped out.
"Fourteen years old, twelve years old, ten years old. The eldest, the second, the third."
"Even numbers, symmetrical, with a cycle of two years? I'm the eldest? Why do I have such a strange feeling?"
Coming back to his senses, Song Han looked at the strange notes he had written under his pen in confusion. Finally, he picked up the eraser and started to erase them.
...
"Song Han, can you tell the teacher how you improved your grades so quickly last semester?
If possible, I hope you can share your experience to see if it can help other classmates and improve their grades as well."
In the familiar classroom, with the familiar teacher and the familiar words, Song Han stood there dumbfounded, looking at the head teacher, and didn't react for a long time.
"Song Han? Song Han?"
Coming back to his senses, Song Han was obviously taken aback. He scratched his head and said,
"I just feel that studying is quite easy. It seems like I've learned it all before."
The head teacher nodded.
"Previewing in advance is a good way to improve academic performance.
Before leaving, the head teacher said earnestly,
"Junior high school is a very important stage. Every point you improve at this time can give you a lot more choices when it comes to choosing a school in the senior high school entrance examination."
...
"Today, the activists for joining the League are participating in the League class study organized by the League school to learn about the knowledge and history of the League.
Now, everyone, read the declaration with me!"
On the weekend, in the school, the loud sound of reading filled the empty campus.
In this brightly lit classroom, Song Han felt extremely cold, as if there was really a wandering ghost lingering around him.
On the way to his rented room, Song Han subconsciously put on the hood of his coat, as if he wanted to completely hide himself in the big hood of his down jacket.
Halfway through, for some reason, the idea of changing his name suddenly lingered in Song Han's mind and couldn't be shaken off.
"Dad, I want to change my name."
"Change your name? Why?"
"The name Song Han is too ordinary. It's not cool at all. I want to change it!"
"What name do you want to change to?"
"Is Zhang Wei okay?"
"Honey! Honey! Are you all right?"
There was a commotion on the other end of the phone. Soon, the voice of Song Han's father suppressing his anger came from the other end of the phone.
"You can change your name only when I'm dead!"
Song Han's parents, who were working in the coastal area thousands of miles away, couldn't give Song Han their loving "mixed doubles" beating in time.
And Song Han, who failed to successfully apply for a name change, also hung up the phone with a sense of disappointment.
"Song Han, do you want to surf the Internet?"
"I told you not to call me Song Han! Call me Zhang Wei!"
"Did your mom remarry?"
"Your mom is the one who remarried!!"
"I've heard of people changing their names, but I've never heard of someone changing their surname! Why do you want to be called Zhang Wei? There are already several Zhang Weis in our school!"
Don't you think the name 'Zhang Wei' is cool?"
"No, I don't!"
"If it's not cool, why do so many people have this name?"
Song Han's words obviously stunned Li Hao's thinking.
"What you said makes a lot of sense!!"
"By the way, what did you say just now?"
"Did your mom remarry?"
"Not that sentence! The one before that!"
"Do you want to surf the Internet?"
"Let's go!"
"What are you looking at? Let me show you something special about the Internet café!"
Li Hao leaned over and opened the local file on Song Han's computer. Immediately, a sacred green light enveloped the two of them.
After a while, Li Hao licked his dry lips and asked,
"How is it? Exciting, right?"
Song Han gave a start.
"Too exciting!"
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, Song Han blankly opened the browser and kept jumping. In a short while, he entered a strange website.
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
"What the hell is this? Can you even understand foreign languages?"
After a while, Li Hao seemed to think of something and slapped his forehead.
"I forgot that you're the only one in our class who got a full score in English."
Song Han didn't reply. He stared blankly at the screen with his eyes, but his hands didn't stop. In a short while, a special small tool was downloaded to the local computer by him.
As the tool ran, the number behind the capital letter B on the interface began to keep jumping. Song Han also didn't make any more movements and just stared blankly at the strange characters on it.
1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa
What the hell was stuffed into his head? There was a stench of money?
"The head teacher is here!"
With a loud shout, there was a commotion in this small unlicensed Internet café.
Li Hao suddenly stood up and pulled Song Han to rush outside.
Song Han gave a start and blankly followed Li Hao and ran towards the back door.
"What's going on? Wait, I haven't logged off yet!"
"It's too late. Let's hide first and come back later!"
As he spoke, he shouted loudly at the familiar Internet café manager,
"Manager, please keep machines No. 7 and No. 8 on hold and lock the screens for us. We'll be back later. My game is still running. Don't let anyone touch it."
Li Hao's agile actions couldn't change the outcome.
At the back door of the Internet café, the dean of the First Middle School and the vice principal blocked more than a dozen students at once, including Song Han and his classmate Li Hao.
Seeing the faces of the people who came, Li Hao let out a long sigh of relief.
"Fortunately! Fortunately! They're teachers from the First Middle School!"
"Is that so?"
Song Han's head teacher somehow also emerged from the back door of the Internet café.
Li Hao covered his face and cried bitterly.
"My money is gone for nothing!"