1: Chapter 1: Back to 2011, A Grandmaster System Descends from the Sky

Magic City, July.

The old electric fan in the rental room was buzzing loudly, and the air it blew out carried waves of heat. The wall paint was slightly yellowed from the sun, and there were patches of mold in the corners.

Chen Mo gripped his Nokia 5230, the illuminated date on the screen stinging his eyes.

July 1, 2011.

"I've been reborn?"

He pinched his thigh; the sharp pain confirmed it wasn't a dream.

The worries of his previous life felt like they were just yesterday:

After graduation, he worked as a programmer, enduring 996 until he was nearly bald. It took three years to pay off his family's debts. After finally making it to Technical Director, he started a business that failed miserably. His girlfriend left him for someone else, and he ended up drinking himself to death.

"Damn it, this time I'm not messing around anymore!"

Chen Mo was extremely excited. He was fourteen years younger; there was still time for everything.

But he felt his pocket and found only a couple hundred in cash, with just five thousand in his bank account. Where was he going to get this first pot of gold?

He was frowning and fiddling with his old second-hand laptop when a mechanical voice suddenly boomed in his mind:

"Ding! All-Around Grandmaster System binding successful!"

Chen Mo jumped, nearly knocking the computer onto the floor: "Who?!"

"Host Chen Mo, this system allows for one lottery draw per month, guaranteed to win a Grandmaster-level skill, with no tasks or requirements."

A system?!

Chen Mo's eyes widened. The golden finger from web novels had actually landed on him!

"Hurry up, check the information!"

A semi-transparent panel immediately floated before his eyes:

Host: Chen Mo

Age: 21

Skills: None

Lottery Attempts: 1

"Draw!"

Chen Mo didn't even think about it.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for drawing the Grandmaster-level Investment Skill!"

A new line appeared in the skill column on the panel, but Chen Mo felt no change at all. He frowned and muttered:

"Are you kidding me? Not even a bit of change. Is this skill just for show?"

The system didn't reply, only leaving a final message:

"Skill has taken effect. Host may verify it yourself."

Chen Mo was half-believing, half-skeptical. He opened the stock software and casually typed in the code for Dayu Water Saving, which was popular at the time.

The next second, his mind felt like it was stuffed with a data manual, spitting out a string of clear numbers:

Dayu Water Saving (300021)

Current Price: 12.56 Yuan/share

Next 24 hours lowest price: 12.10 Yuan/share (-3.66%)

Highest price: 13.68 Yuan/share (+8.92%)

Next 30 days lowest price: 11.85 Yuan/share (-5.65%)

Highest price: 15.20 Yuan/share (+21.02%)

Next 365 days lowest price: 11.50 Yuan/share (-8.44%)

Highest price: 28.60 Yuan/share (+127.7%)!

Chen Mo swallowed hard. In his previous life, he remembered this stock later soared ridiculously riding the wave of water conservancy policies. These figures were spookily accurate!

He tried Tianqi Lithium Industry next, and the numbers in his head immediately updated:

"Tianqi Lithium Industry (002466), current 43.18 Yuan/share, 24-hour low 41.50 Yuan, high 45.80 Yuan..."

"Holy crap, I made it, I made it! Dao Ye, I've made it!"

Chen Mo slapped the desk, making the old electric fan shake slightly. He couldn't contain his excitement. This wasn't a skill; it was a walking ATM!

His eyes darted around. Stocks were T+1, slow to bring in money.

Futures allowed leverage and were T+0. Wasn't that more suitable for someone like him who had 'inside information'?

He immediately switched to the futures software and clicked on Sugar futures with one finger. The data instantly popped up:

"Sugar Futures (Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange), current 7036 Yuan/ton, next 24 hours lowest price 6890 Yuan/ton (-2.08%), highest price 7350 Yuan/ton (+4.46%); one contract is 10 tons, margin ratio 8%."

Chen Mo calculated on his fingers, muttering to himself:

"One contract is 10 tons, 7036 per ton is 70360. 8% margin is 5628.8 Yuan. I have five thousand in the card, just short. But if it drops to the low point, the price will be lower, and the margin will be less. I can just manage one contract!"

He stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the mouse. His heart pounded like a drum, with only one thought in his mind: Wait, wait until it's near the lowest price, then buy long directly!

He waited for over forty minutes. The price of Sugar futures dropped like it was on a slide.

From 7036, it kept falling: 7000, 6950, 6900, finally hovering around 6895 Yuan/ton, just 5 Yuan away from the lowest price of 6890 in his mind.

"Now is the time!"

Chen Mo acted fast, clicking to open a position, buying one contract of Sugar futures long. The moment the system prompted 'Order successful,' his back was drenched in sweat, and his palms were sticky.

For the time that followed, Chen Mo was glued to the computer, staring at the quotes without blinking, forgetting even to drink water.

Sugar futures hovered around 6890 for about ten minutes before finally starting to rebound upwards.

6900, 6950, 7000.

The numbers jumped up bit by bit, and Chen Mo's heartbeat followed them upward.

"Don't be greedy, take the profit when it's good!"

He silently repeated to himself. He could have waited for the high of 7350, but since it was his first time trading futures, it was better to be steady. He directly set a closing price of 7300 Yuan/ton.

"Losing 50 per ton, but gaining peace of mind!"

At 11:20 AM, just ten minutes before the morning futures market closed, a prompt suddenly popped up on the screen: 'Closing position successful.'

Chen Mo quickly clicked on the account details, his eyes fixed on the figures.

One contract of 10 tons, opened at 6895, closed at 7300. A net profit of 405 Yuan per ton, totaling 4050 Yuan for 10 tons!

After deducting a tiny transaction fee, the pure profit was 4020 Yuan!

His original 5000 Yuan had instantly become 9020 Yuan.

He had nearly doubled his money in one morning!

"Awesome! So awesome!"

Chen Mo excitedly stood up and paced twice in the cramped rental room, nearly bumping into the edge of the bed.

He immediately transferred 300 Yuan from his account, pocketed his wallet, and ran downstairs. After withdrawing the money from the ATM, he headed straight for the home-style restaurant at the alley entrance.

"Boss, a plate of Braised Pork, a plate of Spicy Chicken, and a bottle of ice-cold beer!"

Chen Mo sat at the small table, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shoveled rice into his mouth as he looked at the dishes served. He was delighted.

"In my last life, I couldn't even afford a decent meal. In this life, I'm going to eat well and drink heartily!"

He chugged the beer down in one go. The icy liquid felt great as it went down, making him burp. He looked up at the pedestrians on the street.

Some people carried Nokias, some had just upgraded to the Apple 4. There wasn't a single shared bicycle in sight, and delivery riders were nowhere to be seen.

2011—it was a land full of gold!

Chen Mo chewed the braised pork, calculating in his mind.

The domestic futures market was only so big. If he played in it for too long, he would definitely attract the attention of major players. Once he had more money, he needed to go for something bigger. The foreign exchange market, with trillions of US dollars traded daily, was impossible for anyone to control—that would be his true stage.

After finishing his meal, he returned to the rental room and watched the futures quotes for a while. The afternoon volatility wasn't significant, so he didn't make another move. After all, he had just made a sum; steady progress was the key.

He leaned back in his chair, looking at the numbers on the computer screen, the corners of his mouth unable to stop curving upward. With the Grandmaster Investment Skill, in this life, he was determined to live the life he wanted!

Time flew by, and a month passed. Chen Mo didn't just stick to Sugar.

Copper, Soybean Oil, Corn—he rotated through them.

Each time, he operated precisely at the high or low points, making small profits continuously, with occasional big wins.

The fan in the rental room had been replaced with an air conditioner, and his T-shirt had been replaced with a new one.

Looking at his futures account again, the number had already reached 19.2 million!

But he also noticed that when operating in smaller futures recently, the price data in his mind had started to become slightly blurry, with larger errors than before.

Chen Mo frowned:

"It seems the domestic market is still too small. With my capital increasing, even the major players can notice me. It's time to change venues."

Just as he was pondering, the system's mechanical voice sounded again:

"Ding! This month's lottery draw count has been refreshed. Does the host wish to draw immediately?"

Chen Mo's spirits lifted. He had been so focused on making money this past month that he'd forgotten about the draw:

"Draw! Draw quickly!"

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for drawing the Grandmaster-level Programming Skill!"

This time, it was different from the last. Countless programming knowledge, algorithms, and code frameworks flooded into Chen Mo's mind like a tide, ranging from C language to various obscure programming codes.

He even instantly mastered hacker techniques he hadn't even heard of in his previous life. He tapped the keyboard; his fingers were even more nimble than when he was a Technical Director in his past life.

"This skill came at the perfect time!"

Chen Mo's eyes lit up. Trading foreign exchange required an overseas account, and with this programming skill, whether it was account security or subsequent operations, he was set!

He spent ten minutes writing a simple detection program to test it out.

He could easily find various hidden information online, giving him even more confidence.

He immediately decided to go to Magic City's Financial Street the next day to open a foreign exchange account!

The next morning, Chen Mo put on a clean casual outfit and took a taxi straight to Financial Street.

The lobby of Citibank was magnificent, a stark contrast to his previous rental room.

A blonde, blue-eyed female client manager approached him with a standard smile:

"Hello, sir. What service can I assist you with?"

Chen Mo spoke calmly, his voice not loud but very clear:

"I want to open a foreign exchange account and deposit one million US dollars."

The client manager's smile instantly became more eager, her eyes shining. She quickly made a gesture inviting him in:

"Sir, please come inside. The VIP room is ready for you. This way, please!"

She started making conversation with Chen Mo as she walked.

Her Chinese was fluent, and her eyes were full of amazement. This young man was pulling out a million US dollars at such a young age, and he looked sharp too.