Time flowed like running water. In the blink of an eye, another two days passed.
Thanks to the lightning-fast delivery networks of this era, the EDEN equipment Chen Ze had anonymously purchased arrived near his home quickly. Along with it came a CPU and a camera—both ordered from top-tier manufacturers.
Of course, driven by his hacker instincts, Chen Ze didn't sign for the EDEN device himself. Since it was contraband sourced from the dark web, he arranged for an anonymous courier to sign on his behalf.
That way, even if someone managed to trace the package through the complex logistics chain to the correct city, they would never be able to find him.
As for the CPU and the camera?
Those he accepted normally, delivered straight to his home.
After all, unlike the EDEN device, they weren't illegal; there was no need to tiptoe around them.
The only thing giving him a headache now was figuring out how to convince his parents to accept his "upgrading my computer parts" plan—
Or more precisely, how to make sure this wonderfully eccentric couple didn't notice he had secretly used his lucky red-envelope money.
After all, the rise of DCEP also meant transparent billing. For someone his age, with no legal adulthood, all financial authority remained in his parents' hands.
This meant that, despite possessing advanced hacker skills, Chen Ze had no way to earn his "first pot of gold" by writing software. He could never explain where the money had come from.
In fact, aside from certain cryptocurrencies whose origins no one bothered to question, all his New Year's red-envelope money had been put by his parents into a separate DCEP account. Every transaction was automatically forwarded through the banking system to a designated terminal.
As for those cryptocurrencies?
Leaving aside whether ordinary people outside certain circles would even accept them—
Just the risk of revealing his identity as a hacker was enough for Chen Ze to reject the idea outright.
He genuinely liked his life in this world. He didn't want to disrupt that peace by exposing his hacking activity, nor did he want his parents constantly worrying about him.
Otherwise, even though cryptocurrency was hard to cash out, it wasn't impossible to launder.
At worst, he could funnel his DCEP into some shell company as an "investment," then have those crypto assets returned to him as "profits." That was one of the simplest laundering tricks.
After all, in this high-speed digital age, a so‑called "company" could be nothing more than a stack of papers on a desk, a file on a computer. As long as the paperwork met requirements, physical presence meant nothing.
"Son? Are you busy right now?"
Just as he expected, not long after the delivery arrived, Chen Ze returned home from school to find his mother sitting sternly in the center of the living room—posing like she was about to conduct a full interrogation.
"I surrender, I confess. I spent money on a CPU and a camera!"
Hands up at once, Chen Ze knew well what his mother was like in this life. Calling her a clown or a lovable menace would almost be praising her.
Only his equally clownish father could possibly tolerate her bizarre way of thinking.
"That's not what I'm asking."
Despite the multiple contingency plans Chen Ze had prepared, his mother's next sentence still made his eyes widen in disbelief.
"Are you… in an online relationship?"
"Hah?"
He stared at her, stunned, then glanced at his father—who was half hiding behind the door and clearly eavesdropping. This pair of weirdos had definitely cooked up something strange again.
"And why do you two think that?"
He emphasized the "two," because without his father's approval, his mother would never be posing like a judge at a trial.
"Your dad and I aren't against you dating early. We're not those old-fashioned geezers from the early 2000s…"
Not giving Chen Ze any chance to explain, his mother—who had already convinced herself her son was "in love online"—began lecturing nonstop.
"But online romance is something you really need to think seriously about. And especially falling in love with an intelligent program, that's absolutely not okay!"
"I know you've been smart since you were little, and I know you've liked computers since you were little…"
"But those so-called 'AIs' aren't real artificial intelligence!"
"They're just Q&A machines with prewritten responses coded in by developers! Don't you dare mistake them for actual 'people'!"
"Stop, stop, stop!"
Chen Ze cut her off just in time, his head already throbbing—where on earth did they get the idea he was dating a program?
"I just bought a CPU and a camera. Why do you think I'm in a romantic relationship with an 'AI'?"
His mother caught the implication in his tone instantly. The righteous lecturing expression froze for a moment, then her eyes darted sideways—and she decisively pushed the blame elsewhere.
"It was your father. He peeked at your computer and decided you were dating an intelligent program."
"Eh? Eh? Honey, that's not what the script said!"
Hit by the sudden betrayal, his father—still hiding near the doorway—couldn't avoid it anymore and rushed out in a panic.
"Son, I didn't mean to snoop on your computer. I was just curious why you bought a camera."
Chen Ze stared at this bizarre husband‑and‑wife duo, certain that they were about to give him a headache all over again—though truthfully, this had long become routine in this life.
"I'm not like you were, Dad—so chuuni that you kept fantasizing your phone had a world‑saving 'AI' inside."
With no hesitation, Chen Ze fired back, exposing his father's embarrassing childhood immediately.
"And Mom, just because you and Dad met through online dating doesn't mean everyone will fall in love online."
"Compared to some pixelated 'gender‑unknown' being on the other side of a screen, I prefer tall, cool big sisters!"
Saying this, he shot a deliberately disdainful look at his mother—who was short and flat in all aspects—practically writing "airplane runway" across his own face.
"Uuuu… my son has grown up and now he's looking down on his own mother!"
Watching his mother pretend to weep exaggeratedly, Chen Ze turned toward his father—only for the man to immediately raise both hands in surrender.
"I surrender, I admit defeat, I shouldn't have looked at your computer…"
And thus, Father-class and Mother-class… both utterly defeated! Completely sunk!