Locke stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the bank's VIP room, his fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the property certificate. The sunlight filtered through the glass, casting mottled shadows on his face, dividing it into light and dark halves, showing hints of weariness.
"Mr. Li, are you really going to mortgage this house?" Client manager Zhao Lei confirmed for the third time, his eyes flickering with professional concern behind his lenses, "The real estate market isn't doing well right now, and this three-bedroom's valuation might be about 15% lower than last year."
Outside the window, a robin was pecking at the fruit on the plane tree. Locke vaguely remembered that when his wife left in his previous life, a bird like that was also perched on the tree outside.
"What’s the valuation?" His voice was soft yet carried an undeniable firmness.
Zhao Lei quickly typed: "According to the latest guidance price, the maximum loan can reach 1.8 million. However, we have a wealth management product..."
"I want 2 million." Locke turned around, his gaze sharp as a knife, "It needs to be in my account today."
"This..." Zhao Lei swallowed hard, "Does not comply with regulations..."
"I know you have credit loan limits." Locke suddenly laughed and pulled up a document on his phone, "A friend at Morgan Stanley told me you just completed a similar expedited transaction last month."
Zhao Lei's pupils contracted slightly. He was all too familiar with this internal document, a risk control memorandum that only branch managers could access.
Three hours later, when Locke walked out of the bank, his phone in the inner pocket of his suit vibrated. The message read: [Your account ending in 8819 has received 2,000,000.00 yuan, current balance 2,000,120.50 yuan].
The April breeze carried the fragrance of flowers across his face. At this time in his previous life, he was crying in the subway station after being laid off by the company. Now, he casually hailed a taxi: "To Jing'an Temple, Fairmont Hotel."
In the hotel suite, Locke opened the newly purchased MacBook Pro. The cold light from the screen highlighted the fine lines at the corners of his eyes. He paused for a moment in the username field while registering a Twitter account.
@CryptoPhoenix—the name struck his mind like lightning. In his previous life, the 'crypto mentor' who left him bankrupt was named 'Wolf of Wall Street CryptoPhoenix' on WeChat.
"In this life, I want you to taste what it's like to be treated like a dog." Locke sneered as he uploaded his avatar—a sharp-eyed Akita wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, as if it could see through the conspiracies behind the candlestick charts.
In the introduction section, he only wrote seven words: [Either zero or Rolls-Royce]. This was the catchphrase of that bastard in his previous life, and now it became his sharpest weapon of revenge.
The interface of Uniswap was almost cold in its simplicity. Locke's fingers trembled slightly as he typed $PEPE in the search box. It wasn't out of fear, but the thrill of a gambler when betting all their chips.
[Token not found]
This small line of text made the corners of his mouth curl up into a dangerous arc. Too familiar—like that bastard from his previous life said in a private chat: "The real wealth code is always written before the token is launched."
In the next 48 hours, Locke ghosted through various crypto communities. He pretended to be a novice in the 'Crypto Leek Mutual Aid Association' Telegram group: "Hey, big guys, are there any new coins to recommend recently? I want to make some pocket money~" along with a crying cat emoji.
The group owner immediately jumped out: "Newcomers check the group announcement first! No soliciting!"
But in a small group called 'Pepe Cultural Research', when Locke asked for the 13th time, "Are there any reliable new coins?", someone finally threw out a contract address: "Just deployed a pepe-themed coin, LP locked for a year, zero tax, do your own research."
Locke's heart began to race violently. He was too familiar with this address—the devil code that made countless people rich only to see them go to zero in his previous life. He quickly copied it to Etherscan for verification; the liquidity pool was indeed locked until April next year, and the creator had relinquished contract rights.
"This time it's my turn to be the house." He murmured, entering a purchase amount of 50ETH on Uniswap. Just before confirming the transaction, a Gas fee prompt suddenly popped up on the screen: [Estimated consumption 0.12ETH].
This number left Locke stunned. In his previous life, he suffered a significant loss due to Gas fees because he couldn't bear to spend an extra $20, which caused his transaction to be stuck in the memory pool for three hours, missing the best buying point.
"Fuck the Gas fees!" He directly slid the priority slider to the max, paying three times the usual fee. The transaction was completed within 15 seconds, and a new large address immediately appeared on the blockchain explorer.
Locke took a deep breath and posted his first tweet after rebirth: [All-in is a form of wisdom. $PEPE will either have me living under a bridge or allow me to buy an island. Retweet to draw 10 people for 1ETH]. The accompanying image was a meme of a Shiba Inu wearing a Rolex standing on the roof of a Lamborghini.
After posting, he turned off his phone, not out of fear of wavering, but to meet someone special—a 'crypto mentor' from his past life who caused him to lose everything. That person should be holding an investment seminar at a café in Lujiazui now.
When Locke pushed open the glass door of the café, the man at the podium, slicked back hair and passionately talking about the 'blockchain revolution', froze instantly. Their eyes collided in the air, and Locke waved his phone, showing the tweet he had just posted.
"Long time no see, Teacher CryptoPhoenix." He mouthed the words, watching the other person's face turn ashen instantly.
As Locke walked out of the café, his phone vibrated. It was a WeChat message from Manager Zhao at the bank: "Mr. Li, the branch manager just inquired about your loan... Would it be convenient to arrange a time for dinner?"
Locke chuckled lightly and replied: "Let's talk when $PEPE goes to the moon." Then he hailed a taxi and left, in the rearview mirror, that greasy-haired man was frantically pulling out his phone, obviously checking the tweets he posted.
In the twilight, Shanghai's lights began to shine. Locke rolled down the car window, letting the evening breeze disperse the stagnant air in his chest. The taste of revenge was sweeter than he imagined, and this was just the beginning—three days later, when $PEPE officially launched on exchanges, the entire crypto world would remember the name 'Li Locke'.