Chapter Thirty-Five: The Deal

When Li Mu and Zhao Kang boarded the train, dawn was just beginning to break.

Sitting in the train, Li Mu could see the barely concealed excitement and enthusiasm in Zhao Kang’s eyes.

Not just Zhao Kang—even Li Mu, who had lived two lives, found it hard to contain himself. Eight hundred thousand! In these times, eight hundred thousand was an astronomical sum, more than any ordinary family could ever dream of.

At that moment, Zhao Kang was still obsessed with his new phone, fiddling with it as soon as he sat down, unable to put it aside.

“How did you explain it to your parents?”

The question brought Zhao Kang to life.

“I didn't say anything, just gave them my phone number and told them to call me if there was an emergency. When they pressed me about where it came from, I didn’t answer.”

“Impressive…” Li Mu gave him a thumbs up.

Zhao Kang shook his head and gave a bitter smile. “If my parents weren’t so controlling and strict, if they respected my wishes even a little, I’d actually want to tell them everything.”

“And right now, I don’t even have the right to buy my own clothes. My mom always buys them for me, or takes me shopping with her. The clothes I like, she doesn’t, and when she buys clothes, she only cares about price and quality, never style, so she ends up dressing me like a little old man…”

He sighed, “I already warned them before that I probably wouldn’t pass the university entrance line this year. These past few days, they’ve been discussing whether I should repeat the year, never communicating with me, just talking about whether they could find someone at No. 1 High School to get me into the regular class. They say the teachers in the repeat class are too careless, but the teachers in the regular class have pressure to maintain graduation rates and are stricter…”

“What would you do, if you were me?”

“Don’t be too confrontational with them.” Li Mu understood Zhao Kang’s situation. Otherwise, in his previous life, Zhao Kang wouldn’t have suddenly run away from home during his repeat year. It had all been forced bit by bit.

Zhao Kang said, “I’ve thought it through. After we sell Stone Age Overlord, you’ll definitely tell Uncle Li and Aunt Xiao the truth. When the time comes, I’ll do the same—tell my parents that I’m making big money with you, so I have to go to Yanjing with you. If they make me repeat the year, I’ll lose the chance to earn with you.”

Li Mu nodded, “It’s good to be honest. But if your parents accept it, let’s keep it between our families—don’t spread it around.”

“Don’t worry.” Zhao Kang said immediately, “I know how to handle it.”

The train moved slowly, and both of them were a bit impatient; their hearts had already flown north to Peng City. Li Mu especially missed the high-speed rail era of the future, where such a journey would have taken little more than an hour.

At 10:15, the train arrived ten minutes late. Li Mu and Zhao Kang’s first act after leaving the station was to hail a taxi and ask to be taken to the largest branch of the Construction Bank in Peng City.

Construction Bank, Peng City Branch.

Li Mu and Zhao Kang each opened a bank card at the bank.

After leaving the bank, Li Mu bought a local SIM card at a nearby newsstand and put it in his Nokia.

Returning to the bank, Li Mu carefully pointed out the waiting lounge to Zhao Kang, saying, “Before the transaction, I need to use the computer to show them the program and code. This is the stage where problems could arise. If they grab the computer and run, we’ll have nothing. So, choosing the bank is safer. Once they confirm the program is fine, they can transfer the money right there, then take the disc and leave, and we’ll slip away quickly.”

“Alright.” Zhao Kang nodded and said, “I’ll stay outside, keep watch without revealing myself.”

“Good.” Li Mu thought this was wise. Although he didn’t expect trouble, if something did happen, he’d have a backup plan. Eight hundred thousand—better to be cautious!

Zhao Kang, full of confidence, patted his chest and said, “I’ve got stamina. If they try to run with the computer, they won’t outrun me.”

Li Mu laughed, “True enough—you run faster than a dog.”

Then he said, “I’ll go sit inside the bank now. Find a spot at the door and keep an eye out.”

“Alright.”

Li Mu called Sun Peng. Sun Peng had already arrived a few hours earlier with his partner, had breakfast somewhere, and was waiting for Li Mu’s call.

Sun Peng saw the incoming number. Phone numbers at the time were very simple: 13x, followed by the local area code and then four digits. He’d looked up some info about Peng City before coming, and recognized the number as local.

Since it was a local number, it had to be the one he'd been negotiating with.

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

The two spoke for the first time over the phone.

“Where are you?” Li Mu’s voice had matured after puberty.

“We’re at a breakfast shop on Qinglong Road.”

Li Mu replied, “Take a taxi to the Construction Bank’s main branch in Peng City. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Sun Peng was surprised—straight to the bank? He said, “That won’t do, we haven’t seen the program yet.”

Li Mu answered calmly, “Come quickly. You can check the program and code in the bank. If we settle this fast, I can still get home for lunch.”

Li Mu’s idea was simple: make the other party believe he was a local kingpin. That way, he could avoid future trouble, and if the buyers had any crooked ideas during the deal, they’d hesitate.

Sun Peng didn’t think much of it. With the local phone number, he assumed the seller was a local. He didn’t dare act rashly, either—he feared Li Mu might try to scam him as a local big shot. For Sun Peng, this transaction meant all the wealth he and his partner had, while Li Mu was only risking a few days of labor. So he was even more anxious about something going wrong.

When Sun Peng and his partner arrived at the bank, they immediately spotted Li Mu.

It was obvious—though the waiting area was busy, only Li Mu had a laptop resting on his legs.

Luckily, Li Mu had shaved and styled his hair to look sharp, so he didn’t appear too young. Eighteen-year-olds saw him as a peer, and those just past twenty did too.

“Hey, I’m Da Peng Bird, Sun Peng.”

Sun Peng sat opposite Li Mu, extending his hand.

Li Mu nodded, shook his hand, and looked at the man beside him, asking curiously, “How should I address you?”

The man extended his hand as well, “I’m Zhu Ziwen, Sun Peng’s partner.”

Li Mu shook his hand too, then handed the laptop to Sun Peng. “Take a look. The official program and source code are inside.”

The official version meant the trial period restriction had been removed; as for payment verification, they’d have to set that up themselves. For seasoned commercial cheat developers like them, this was a simple task.

Sun Peng took the laptop, silently wishing he could teleport away—after all, this was eight hundred thousand…

But it was only a fleeting thought.

Soon, Sun Peng skimmed the software and source code. Li Mu was sly, only letting him look for five minutes before asking, “How is it? Any issues?”

Though he’d barely glimpsed it, Sun Peng was experienced in coding and knew there was no trickery. Yet, code was complex, and anything beyond one’s skill is almost opaque without learning, so five minutes yielded little. Li Mu was certain that Sun Peng wouldn’t fully grasp his work for two or three years, though to Li Mu, the code was quite basic.

“No problems.” Sun Peng nodded, his hands trembling as he returned the laptop.

Even though the software and code seemed fine, he still worried that Li Mu might renege.

After all, it was a decision worth eight hundred thousand. Now that it was so close, the pressure felt immense.

Li Mu saw his anxiety and smiled gently, “Stone Age—I won’t touch that game again. But for other games, I might still develop cheats. So, I can’t promise anything else, but you can safely operate Stone Age Overlord after you buy it. If I develop cheats for other games in the future, we can consider cooperating.”

“Really?” Sun Peng’s worry eased considerably.

“Just consider. I’m good at coding, but not necessarily at sales or operations. You might do better in that area.” Li Mu didn’t want to make absolute promises, so he kept it modest.

“Great!” Sun Peng relaxed. Everyone in the cheat business might meet again in other games. He might not outdo Li Mu in coding, but if he could cooperate in the future, there could be more opportunities. Sun Peng firmly believed that the online game market was just opening a tiny window—its future would be vast beyond imagination.

The rest was simple. Li Mu took out the disc from his laptop but didn’t hand it over right away—he invited Sun Peng to fill out the transfer form together.

Sun Peng didn’t hesitate. They filled out the form, and Sun Peng only knew the young man he was dealing with was named Li Mu, from Peng City, and had his phone number. But he didn’t realize that, aside from the name, everything else was false.

Once they filled out the form, they went to the counter together. Li Mu watched every step as the bank staff processed the transfer—from Sun Peng’s card to Li Mu’s account, eighty hundred thousand.

The receipt was printed; Sun Peng signed it, showed it to Li Mu before handing it to the teller. Then the teller gave him a confirmation.

Done. The dust had settled.

Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief, though nothing showed on his face.

At over thirty years old, he had the maturity and composure required.

Sun Peng’s face was pale, as if all strength had drained away. Even though he trusted Li Mu not to cheat him, this was still everything he and his partner owned!

Li Mu, meanwhile, remained calm, his expression unruffled, his face a mask of tranquility.

“Not an ordinary person,” Sun Peng concluded about Li Mu.