Chapter 28: LEGO Competition
“Holy crap!”
Peeking at the screen, Gu Jincheng slammed the table. He wanted one too!
His eyes darted. If he remembered correctly, the more you send gifts, the more likely the system’s algorithm will detect you, right?
[‘BrilliantFuture’ sent a rocket!]
But he wasn’t the only one thinking this.
[‘Xiao Jiao Jiao’ sent a rocket!]
[‘Rich Third Gen’ sent a rocket!]
[‘Rich Third Gen’ sent a rocket!]
[‘HZ’ sent a treasure map!]
[‘HZ’ sent a treasure map!]
[‘HZ’ sent a treasure map!]
[‘HZ’ sent a treasure map!]
…
“Hmph!” Gu Jincheng withdrew his clicking finger with frustration. Sure, he was a rich second gen, but his parents kept him on a tight leash. His allowance was fixed, and he’d almost burned through this month’s.
Mu Lantu didn’t care about the subtle battles in the livestream chat.
“All right, everyone, get ready!”
Less than two seconds later, the result was announced.
The prize went to Mr. HZ.
Surprising? Yes and no.
“Congratulations to Mr. HZ!” Mu Lantu clapped symbolically. “Please DM me your shipping address. I’ll send it over as soon as I can.”
A few seconds later, a red notification dot appeared in the message tab.
The viewers who didn’t win were understandably disappointed but could only accept it. There was only one prize, and the odds of winning were less than 0.01%. Losing wasn’t exactly unexpected.
But they didn’t forget the host said there were two pieces of good news. The bullet comments flooded in, urging him for the second.
“The second piece of good news is that, as a LEGO enthusiast, I’m planning to hold a LEGO competition. The goal is to collect a variety of LEGO models—residential buildings, villas, office towers, bridges, amusement parks, and other structures. If your model gets selected, there will be a cash prize.”
Mu Lantu finally voiced the plan he’d been mulling over for a while. Relying solely on himself to develop the new planet to a point fit for human habitation was unrealistic. So he thought: why not leverage the power of the crowd? The system had told him that LEGO models made by others only had a 60% success rate for deployment—but with a large enough pool, that was still usable.
He paused deliberately, giving the viewers time to absorb the idea.
Their eyes lit up. Wait, what? Did they hear that right? Build LEGO and win money?
Mu Lantu’s stream seemed modest on the surface, but his viewers were highly loyal. Anyone who stayed for more than five minutes usually followed the stream and started gifting spontaneously—unlike other streamers who had to constantly hype things up to get engagement. Because of this, a platform admin nicknamed “Watermelon Cat” had long been keeping a close watch.
Upon hearing Mu Lantu’s announcement, Watermelon Cat felt a spark. This kind of event had never been done before. Maybe Doumao Live could get in on the action too. With that in mind, he immediately called his superior to report it.
The chat scrolled by like lightning, and Mu Lantu could barely make out the barrage of messages asking if it was true.
“It’s true.” Mu Lantu reset the camera, pointing it at the apartment building model. “Here’s my rough plan: participants will gather in one location and use the building blocks I provide to construct their LEGO models according to their own designs. Judges will evaluate based on aesthetics, structural integrity, and creativity. The top 10 scores will receive prizes—cash ranging from 100,000 down to 10,000 yuan.”
The audience was visibly thrilled—it felt like picking up free money. Who didn’t play with blocks as a kid? How hard could it be?
“This is the first time I’m organizing something like this, so I don’t have much experience,” Mu Lantu admitted. “Tell me honestly—do you think this prize money is enough to attract people?”
Viewers were practically jumping through the screen: “Of course it is!”
Some even suspected Mu Lantu must be some bored rich second gen himself, with no real grasp of money. Even the 10,000 yuan prize felt like free money—actually better than free, since you don’t even have to return it like something you picked up on the street.
Mu Lantu saw the full-screen wave of “YES” messages and smiled warmly, like a spring breeze.
“Good. I still need to iron out some details. Consider this a trial run—if it’s successful, we’ll have a second and third round…”
A bright red comment flew across the screen:
“Streamer, do participants have to be onsite? Can’t we build at home and ship the models to you?”
“Nope,” Mu Lantu replied. “Being onsite is better for management. Also, there’s the risk that the models might fall apart during shipping.”
That was only part of the truth. Mu Lantu’s real concern was that someone might use non-standard pieces that weren’t part of the warehouse set. That would render the whole model useless for his purposes. The safest bet was to have everyone in the same location.
“The competition will be held in the Capital, scheduled for a weekend. If you’re interested, make sure to follow the stream. I’ll publish the final rules within a week along with the exact time and location. The entire event will also be livestreamed. Oh, and for safety reasons, only adults can participate. That’s all for today’s stream. See you next time.”
After ending the stream, Mu Lantu stretched with an elegant yawn.
[BrilliantFuture]: Brother Mu! Brother Mu! I want a LEGO too, I’m dying with envy!
[Spicy Strips Aren’t Spicy]: [Indifferent] There’ll be more chances in the future.
No backdoor privileges. Mu Lantu was a fair and impartial host.
Then, he took several photos of his first apartment tower: half-body, full-body, close-ups of details… and submitted them for deployment!
The LEGO model projected a towering, magnificent skyscraper over the Dream Home, shimmering on the water’s surface, with fragrant flowers blooming nearby.
Mu Lantu appeared on the plaza in front of the building in a flash, looking up at it.
Although the size difference between the model and the real thing was vast, anyone who looked closely could tell how closely they resembled each other.
[Little Five, are you sure the tenants won’t associate this with the LEGO model I built?]
If Little Five hadn’t guaranteed that back then, he would never have dared to livestream the process of building his LEGO model.
Apartment buildings were different from courtyard homes—courtyard homes were for him alone, maybe also for a future partner, and he could simply keep others from seeing them. But an apartment building would house many tenants.
005 replied confidently, [Host, I’m sure. You’re the master of the new planet, and there are invisible rules protecting you. Unless you actively reveal it, no one will ever know you’re the owner of the Dream Home.]
Mu Lantu was reassured and took the elevator straight to the top floor.
There was only one unit on the top floor. In the future, the rest of the building—apartments, hospital, supermarket, etc.—would all be rented out, but the top floor was reserved for himself.
He had learned this from Xu Huazhang.
Whether it was the spacious layout, the ample lighting, or the broad view, everything suited Mu Lantu perfectly.
Back on Earth, Mu Lantu stored the apartment building in the construction warehouse and called the courier company to send out the LEGO model apartment building.
The person called HZ was likely a big shot in real life too—he had left an address in a well-known luxury villa area.
As far as Mu Lantu knew, you couldn’t buy a villa in that area with money alone; only true elites lived there.
Mu Lantu had no other thoughts, just a second of surprise—so big shots watch livestreams too? In his mind, such people only watched national news, financial reports, or international affairs.
After sending the package, Mu Lantu messaged HZ privately with the tracking number and ordered takeout.
When the doorbell rang, he assumed it was the delivery—turns out, it was a flower delivery.
“Your flowers have arrived. Please sign here.”
Fang Yuanyuan stole glances at Mu Lantu, curiosity clawing at her like a cat. This wasn’t her first time delivering flowers to him—she came every other day, and the flowers were never the same.
The handwriting on the card was bold and graceful, powerful and elegant. She believed the sender was also a man, probably as good-looking as Mr. Mu—otherwise, how could he have the confidence to pursue someone like him? Her curiosity about their relationship had led her to post serialized stories on Weibo using code names. Over two thousand people followed the updates and tipped her, all eager for the big reveal one day.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
Mu Lantu calmly closed the door, took out the wilting red roses from the vase, and replaced them with fresh white ones.
Recently, he had received lavender, sunflowers, roses, bellflowers, hyacinths, red roses, and now white roses—all symbols of love, from lavender—waiting for love, to white roses—I’m worthy of you.
Mu Lantu strongly suspected that Xu Huazhang had someone advising him behind the scenes.
His attempts to leave an impression were clearly working—every time Mu Lantu passed the living room and saw the flowers, he would think of Xu Huazhang.
Feeling oddly indignant, Mu Lantu pulled out his phone and sent Xu Huazhang an Wechat message—no text, just a picture of the white rose. It could be interpreted as: I got the flower, but that’s all, or I also think I’m worthy of you.
High-level tactics.
005 commented solemnly—but didn’t dare let the host hear it.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang again—this time, it really was the food delivery.
Mu Lantu had ordered four dishes and two servings of rice. Anything less wouldn’t be enough.
Looking back now at his earlier move to gamble on raw jade stones, it seemed especially wise—otherwise, he wouldn’t even be able to support himself.
He casually opened his iPad. Checking the news had become a new habit—mainly news related to Dream Home.
It had been almost a month since Dream Home first appeared, and it was still a hot topic. Talk shows, interviews, science programs—almost all of them mentioned it. The public’s reaction had evolved from panic to calm. Strangely, the leaders of various countries had stopped mentioning it in any official setting, as if they had collectively lost their memories.
Ironically, the entertainment and web novel industries were the quickest to ride the wave.
