Chapter 35: The Start of the Competition
Mu Lantu opened her livestream, and a flood of eager fans surged into the chatroom.
The number of online viewers rapidly climbed—eventually surpassing 60,000. Most of them weren’t even regular fans of Mu Lantu, but had come specifically for the upcoming LEGO competition. Even some popular streamers snuck in using alt accounts to get firsthand news. As for lesser-known streamers, they didn’t bother hiding—any chance to ride the hype wave was a money-making opportunity. No shame in earning money. Some openly logged in with their main accounts and even sent a virtual “rocket” as a polite greeting; others, who were either stingy or low on social skills, stayed completely silent.
Dozens of rockets fired off in a row, creating a lively spectacle that attracted even more viewers.
005 diligently recorded every username that sent a gift—useful for returning favors in the future.
Mu Lantu was known for his crisp, no-nonsense livestreams. He got straight to the point:
“Welcome, everyone, to my stream. The LEGO competition schedule has been finalized. The prize pool this time is ten million yuan—entirely funded by me.”
BOOM—
That 10 million figure dropped like a thunderclap over the entire audience. Bullet comments exploded across the screen. Virtual gifts rained down.
[System Notice: “HZ” sent streamer Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy a Treasure Map. Come grab it now!]
[‘HZ’ sent streamer Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy Treasure Map ×1!]
[‘HZ’ sent Treasure Map ×2!]
[‘HZ’ sent Treasure Map ×3!]
“….”
[‘HZ’ sent Treasure Map ×20!]
Each treasure map came with a 5-second special effect and was broadcast across the platform’s global “TV” channel—visible in every livestream room. The 20 consecutive maps completely dominated Doumao’s platform for a full 100 seconds.
Mu Lantu’s viewer count skyrocketed past 500,000.
[Big spender alert! Do you need a pendant?]
[It’s HZ again—anyone know who this guy is?]
[Name: HZ. Gender: Male. Points: 50.]
[The person above really understands nonsense literature.]
[HZ bro, our Sweetie also loves LEGO and he’s super cute. Come check him out!]
[HZ bro, over here! Cloudie is building LEGO—beautiful and adorable!]
[I’ve figured it out! HZ is Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy’s alt account. Aren’t you worried about splitting your personality?]
[Jealous much? I can smell the sour grapes from here.]
[Bumpkins never seen rich people before? Maybe he’s just a friend or relative of the streamer.]
[What’s the big deal? Clearly just another guild account.]
[Y’all keep arguing—I already grabbed 800+ gold ingots, hahahaha!]
[You chickens, can you focus? TEN MILLION! The streamer is putting up ten million for a LEGO competition!]
[LEGO’s about to blow up. Is it still too late to start a factory?]
[Ten million?! Holy sh*t. He’s definitely a rich second-gen.]
[Wait, what? I came to snatch ingots. What’s this about ten million?]
[Say no more—there’s definitely a spot for me, Zhao Ritian, in this tournament!]
[Draw your swords! That prize is mine!]
[Streamer! Is it strictly for adults? My sister is a LEGO queen—she’s eight!]
[Not gonna lie, my little brother too—he’s six!]
“……”
Mu Lantu tapped his desk twice, then spoke firmly:
“Attention: The competition will take place in the Capital this weekend. Only adults are allowed to enter—these three conditions will not change. The contest will have two stages: preliminaries and finals. To prevent trolls and bad-faith participants, the preliminary registration fee is 50 yuan. The finals are free to enter.
In the prelim group stages, the top three earn cash prizes of 300 yuan, 200 yuan, and 100 yuan respectively. In the semifinals, the top three get 2,000 yuan, 1,500 yuan, and 1,000 yuan.
The prelims and semifinals will be streamed on Doumao’s official LEGO competition channel. The finals will be streamed here, in my personal channel, where I’ll also serve as one of the judges. Feel free to follow.
There will be 100 spots in the final round, but the top ten prizes won’t be the original 100,000 to 10,000 scale.”
The attentive viewers froze. The prize structure had changed? Did it increase or decrease?
[Wait—did the prizes go down?! No way, we were gonna enter as a whole family!]
[Are you serious? Don’t tell me the streamer is chickening out now?]
[If the person above is right, then that would be boring!]
[Sitting tight, waiting to watch the drama unfold.]
[All the haters must be paid trolls, right? Which streamer sent you here to sabotage?]
[The prize must have increased! After all, the streamer did say he’s putting up ten million in total!]
[I think so too! The prize pool must’ve grown! When will registration open? Hurry up already!]
Watermelon Cat was lurking in the stream. Seeing the heated debate and the surge in viewer count it caused, he became even more impressed by Mu Lantu’s strategy.
Mu Lantu said, “The prize money for the top ten finalists will depend on how much of the ten million is left at the end. Originally, the top ten were to split a total of 550,000 yuan, ranging from 100,000 to 10,000 each. If the remaining funds are less than 550,000, we’ll still stick to that original prize structure. But if it exceeds 550,000—even by just 10,000 or by a million—the top ten prizes will be distributed in a 10:9:8:7… format. In other words, the more money left, the bigger the prize.”
The audience found this very interesting and began to think it through.
The comment section flooded again, as fast and fierce as a downpour.
[Whoa! The more you think about it, the scarier it gets!]
[What does that mean? What does that mean? Is there some kind of catch?]
[Hahaha! Got it. My little brother is great at LEGO—I’m definitely dragging him into this. I’ll take 90% of the prize, he gets 10%!]
[Hehehe! I get it too. I can’t build LEGO, neither can my family—but I’m registering all of them anyway!]
[The two comments above seem to be hinting at something… but I just can’t figure it out! Someone explain!]
[Don’t be rash, folks. The registration fee is 50 yuan per person—not cheap.]
[Heh, I think I get it now. Yeah, it’s not cheap, but I’m still going to register… and then not show up!]
[Pfft! Dude, you’re seriously wicked… but I love it!]
Some people suddenly got it. Others were still totally confused.
Mu Lantu seized the moment and said, “For more details about the LEGO competition, please check the banner on the Doumao homepage. Registration will officially open in five minutes and close at 6 p.m. this Thursday. The competition will officially begin at 8 a.m. this Saturday. I wish all of you the best of luck in advance. That’s it for today’s stream—see you next time!”
[System Notice: [Emperor] “Che Bai” has sent a Treasure Map to the streamer Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy! Everyone come and grab it!]
Che Bai held the “Emperor” title—his bullet comment appeared in dazzling gold, drawing all eyes.
[Streamer ‘Che Bai’ Just gifted a Treasure Map! Congrats to streamer Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy for officially launching the LEGO competition!]
The audience buzzed with excitement.
[Streamer, that’s Che Bai—the news anchor streamer!]
[The top guy in news streaming is here too? You’ve made it, Spicy Strip!]
Mu Lantu only realized Che Bai’s identity after seeing the comment. “Thanks for the generous gift, Che Bai.”
[Che Bai]: You’re too kind. Let’s collab on a stream sometime if there’s a chance.”
“Sounds good. See you next time, friends.”
Che Bai seized the opportunity: [If anyone’s still confused about the rules or requirements, feel free to stop by my stream—I’ll break everything down clearly.]
[Che Bai’s entry gift is no joke! Let’s go listen in.]
[I’m in! Let’s go!]
By the time Mu Lantu ended the stream, his follower count had surged past 200,000.
Spicy Strip Aren’t Spicy had exploded in popularity.
The moment the stream ended, Watermelon Cat couldn’t wait—he called immediately.
“Spicy Strip, you’ve gone viral! You’re trending! Number 38 on Weibo, and number 1 on Doumao!”
“Not bad,” Mu Lantu replied while packing his bag. He had class at 10:30.
His calm response helped Watermelon Cat steady himself too. This was just a great start—the real challenge was still ahead.
“Okay, I’ll let you go. I’ll keep you posted if anything comes up.”
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Watermelon Cat, now riding high on success, couldn’t stop grinning. “Not at all, not at all—this is what I’m here for!”
Mu Lantu drove off toward the Imperial Polytechnic University.
Outside, the rain fell like a string of broken pearls.
He just hoped it wouldn’t rain on competition day.
Since it wasn’t ideal to hang around outside in the rain, the classroom was more crowded than usual and noisy.
Zhu Feiyu and his usual gang were chatting loudly in the back of the room. But the moment Mu Lantu walked in, the room fell silent.
His gang exchanged knowing glances: Something’s about to go down.
Zhu Feiyu stiffly walked over and sat in the middle of the room.
His gang was dumbfounded. What just happened?
Zhu Feiyu looked like he’d just stepped in something vile. He’d already planned everything—once he got his hands on Mu Lantu, he’d beat him up and throw him on the bed to mess with as he pleased… But someone must’ve been protecting Mu Lantu, because Zhu’s father dragged him home and beat him half to death. He even had his allowance cut. Now he only had 3,000 yuan a month—not even enough to cover his usual meals. That wasn’t even the worst part—his so-called friends were clearly mocking him behind his back…
Mu Lantu was even more surprised than Zhu Feiyu’s gang. Last time, Zhu had looked like he was out for blood. Why was he suddenly backing off now?
A figure popped into Mu Lantu’s mind—was it him?
His heart warmed. He opened Wechat and saw his chat with Xu Huazhang still open. The last message was a transfer of 99,999 yuan—to help him buy clothes.
Two girls carefully shook the rain off their umbrellas and walked into the classroom. Their eyes lit up when they saw Mu Lantu. After so many classes together, they’d already noticed how handsome he was. They even found out from the school forum that he was a senior graduating this year, and that he drove a white Mercedes Benz—four-seater, Emperor’s Edition, worth over a million yuan.
The long-haired girl jumped in first, “Mu Lantu, the rain’s getting heavier… after class, could you give me—uh, us—a ride back to the dorm?”
The short-haired girl was a beat too late. Her sweet smile faltered slightly.
Mu Lantu offered a polite smile, “Sorry, if the rain’s that heavy, I don’t feel safe bringing passengers. Safety first.”
Both girls looked disappointed.
A phone ringtone saved them from further awkwardness. They quickly walked away.
Mu Lantu glanced at the caller ID: Gu Jincheng.
“President Gu, slacking off at work again?”
Gu Jincheng laughed loudly:
“President Mu! I’m joining the LEGO competition!”
Zhu Feiyu glared at the man on the phone, jealousy gnawing away at him.
One of his lackeys suddenly had a wicked idea.
“Yu Shao, that guy’s just auditing classes. He probably doesn’t even have an official permit. Why don’t we report him to the school and get him banned from attending?”
Zhu Feiyu was seriously tempted—but when he thought about whoever might be secretly protecting Mu Lantu, he chickened out.
“If you want to report him, go ahead. I’m not wasting my time on that crap.”
The lackey didn’t have any beef with Mu Lantu himself—no reason to make enemies for no reason. He chuckled awkwardly and let it go.
