Su Tang stayed on the BTC Holders Club profile page for 27 minutes. There were 13 new likes under the latest uploaded Bitcoin node deployment photo. She adjusted the camera angle to ensure that she could capture the Raspberry Pi mining machine on the desk – a visual symbol she learned from “Silicon Valley”.
“Your mining machine cooling solution is very special.”
The message pop-up window came from “Block Knight”, and the avatar was a worn printout of the Bitcoin Genesis Block. Su Tang noticed that the other party’s last seen showed 3:17 in the morning, which was exactly the time when she uploaded the node photo.
“The noise of the mining machine is like an unfinished symphony,” she said, her fingertips tapping the keyboard were painted with dark green nail polish, “the high-frequency humming is the first movement, and the chip heating is the second movement,” she paused for a moment and deleted three periods, “the silence when the power is off…” The send key flashed into the Bitcoin symbol on the retina, “is the eternity at the curtain call.”
The other party replied with a hash value string, followed by a line of small words: “Tomorrow at 3 pm, Black Sheep Cafe in Wukangting. I bring a replica of the 2010 Bitcoin pizza coupon, and you bring the blockchain special of “Silicon Valley.”
Su Tang adjusted the shoulder straps of her silk suspender skirt in front of a full-length mirror. The girl in the mirror was like a poppy that was about to wither, and the lightning network tattoo on her clavicle was looming with her breathing. She hesitated for 17 seconds between Byredo Super Cedar and Le Labo Santal 33, and finally chose the latter – this perfume with the scent of burning wood is more suitable for interpreting the “aftertaste of block reorganization.”
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the cafe, the sycamore leaves are dancing flamenco in the warm autumn sun. Su Tang noticed that the Apple Watch Series 8 on the man’s left wrist and the Bitcoin earring on his right ear formed a wonderful hedge. The former was running the cryptocurrency market APP, and the latter was a private key symbol made of 18K gold.
“Lu Chen,” he pushed the glass jar over, the Guatemalan coffee beans glowed with emerald luster in the sun, “You are more…” His eyes swept across the tattoo on her collarbone, “decentralized.”
Su Tang scooped up a spoonful of beans with a silver spoon and rolled them in her palm: “You should have seen what my mining machine looks like when it overheats.” She suddenly leaned close to the glass jar, her eyelashes trembling in the aroma of coffee, “I heard that quantitative traders like to use candlestick charts for divination?”
Lu Chen’s Adam’s apple moved: “I am better at interpreting Merkle trees.” He took out the “Silicon Valley” Blu-ray disc from his briefcase, and Richard Hendricks on the cover smiled meaningfully, “I heard that students in drama schools are good at smart contract auditing?”
When the latte artist injected the lightning network pattern into the latte, Su Tang’s phone suddenly rang the melody of “HODL Anthem”. She smiled apologetically and swiped her fingertips across the screen: “My mother is urging me to go on a blind date again.” She pulled up the chat history, “Look, the other party is a blockchain lawyer who likes to collect CryptoKitties NFTs.”
Lu Chen suddenly pressed her sliding hand: “Wait.” He zoomed in on a photo, “Is this Bitfinex’s limited edition cold wallet?”
Su Tang’s pupils shrank slightly: “How do you know?”
“Because…” Lu Chen took out a lead box from the inner pocket of his suit. The faded Satoshi Nakamoto portrait made Su Tang hold his breath instantly, “This is the evidence when I participated in the Silk Road case.” He opened the box, and Bitcoinsica playing cards were neatly stacked inside, “Each suit represents a different consensus algorithm.”
Su Tang’s fingertips trembled as she stroked the playing cards: “My father also has the same collection.” She suddenly chuckled, “It seems that we are all children raised by blockchain.”
When the melody of “HODL Anthem” sounded again, Su Tang answered the video call. Lu Chen looked at the middle-aged woman on the screen and found that she was only 30% similar to Su Tang in terms of eyebrows and eyes – this was obviously a mother-daughter special effect after AI face-changing.
“Xiao Tang, who is this?”
Su Tang turned the camera to Lu Chen: “Mom, this is Mr. Lu, my…” She paused for two seconds, “Node operation and maintenance instructor.”
Lu Chen noticed the electrode patch behind the woman’s ear and the neural interface device looming in the background of the video. He suddenly raised his phone: “Auntie, Su Tang is preparing a blockchain drama recently and needs some professional guidance.” He called up a document, “Look at this script, about three generations of women in the Lightning Network…”
Su Tang’s nails dug into her palm. When Lu Chen began to analyze the smart contract loopholes, her mobile phone screen reflected her distorted expression – this man was using the most elegant way to tear off the veil of the block she carefully packaged.
As dusk deepened, Lu Chen handed over an envelope of Yirgacheffe beans: “Roasting suggestions are written on the back.” He suddenly leaned close to her ear and said, “Next time we meet, remember to bring the stage play adaptation of “Bitcoin White Paper.”
Su Tang opened the envelope at the subway entrance. On the back of the roasting curve was written: “For your mother’s neurological rehabilitation expenses, I can help you apply for the DAO medical fund.” She clenched the envelope and found a yellowed Bitcointalk forum invitation code on the back – a reply to the genesis post of Bitcoin Pizza Day in 2010.
(Modification Note: Change “SugarDaddyMeet” to “BTC Holders Club”, add blockchain elements: mining machines, lightning network tattoos, Bitcoin pizza coupons, etc., and reconstruct the original dialogue logic through cryptocurrency terms)
The temptation of decentralization
“What wallet do you use to manage private keys?” Lu Chen stirred the Guatemalan coffee, and the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup formed a mini mine pattern.
Su Tang turned the lipstick mark on the edge of the iced Americano cup 180 degrees: “Ledger Nano X, but…” She tapped the table with her fingertips, “I’m testing the brain-computer interface wallet I developed recently.”
Lu Chen’s pupils dilated slightly: “Do you need human volunteers for experiments?” He showed the Eth2.0 pledge certificate on his phone, “I can provide seven-digit test assets.”
Su Tang suddenly took out a Raspberry Pi from her canvas bag: “This is the lightning node I built,” she called up real-time routing data, “It’s now helping dark web users process cross-border payments.” When she pushed the device across the table, she revealed the Bitcoin address tattoo on her wrist, “Each node is a lighthouse, right?”
When “HODL Anthem” sounded for the third time, Lu Chen pressed the hands-free button. The cryptocurrency exchange’s alarm sounded on the other end of the phone: “Boss, a large transfer of 5,000 BTC is being routed through Miss Su’s node!”
Su Tang’s eyelashes fluttered as she connected the Raspberry Pi to the cafe’s WiFi: “Start the dark pool trading protocol.” Her fingers drew a blockchain fork pattern on the screen, “Tell the market maker that this is a butterfly effect test of the lightning network.”
Lu Chen’s Apple Watch suddenly vibrated, showing that an anonymous wallet had transferred 1,000 BTC. He stared at the lightning tattoo on Su Tang’s collarbone and suddenly realized that it was the payment address of a famous dark web market.
