OFR – Chapter 29 Late Night Hot.

**Late Night, Ten O’Clock**

It was ten o’clock at night, and outside, the sky was so dark that one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face. Being winter, most ordinary people were already asleep. 

However, there were still quite a few night owls online, accustomed to roaming the internet in the late hours. 

On the Dragon Fish Forum, such users were plentiful. 

From nine to eleven at night, this was almost the peak time for online activity on the Dragon Fish Forum. 

The homepage advertising space on the Dragon Fish Forum had long been occupied by some well-known fish stores from Jianghai Province. Because these well-known fish stores had been advertising for so long, most users on the forum had grown tired of them and did not pay much attention. 

Instead, it was the secondary page advertising banners that attracted more eyes because they changed frequently, drawing a few more glances. 

Of course, they were merely glanced at; once users found that the advertisement wasn’t related to dragon fish, they would continue to ignore it. 

Tonight, many users re-entered the discussion thread. 

As soon as they entered the discussion page, they noticed that the banner had changed. Some users merely scanned it out of habit. 

However, after this habitual glance, they found that the advertisement on the promotional space was different from previous ones. 

This time, the advertisement did not promote any fish store; instead, it featured several photos of dragon fish and a link to a Taobao store. 

Especially the photos of the dragon fish were very eye-catching; in the images, the dragon fish, about sixty centimeters long, displayed a proud posture with scales shining a royal golden hue, clearly indicating that these were top-quality dragon fish, perhaps even superlative ones. 

These photos intrigued some users on the Dragon Fish Forum, prompting them to click on the advertisement. 

The promotional ad had a comments section, and within about an hour of being posted, there were already around thirty to forty comments. 

“Top-quality dragon fish? Has the advertising style on the forum changed?” 

“The dragon fish in the photo looks great! I’ll go check out the Taobao store mentioned.” 

“Hmm, the dragon fish in the photo should cost at least a million.” 

“A million for a top-quality dragon fish? It should be at least one hundred fifty thousand!” 

“Zhenpin Tian Taobao store? The name sounds impressive; I’ll check out the Taobao store too.” 

“Finally, I see an advertisement related to dragon fish. I’ll go to the Taobao store and test it out.” 

“Hmm, if it’s a case of ‘hanging a sheep’s head but selling dog meat,’ please reply immediately, so I can save my data.” 

“I’m bored, I’ll check Taobao too, though it’s likely just a case of ‘hanging a sheep’s head but selling dog meat.’” 

Users on the Dragon Fish Forum attracted by the advertisement entered the Taobao store link with a mindset to pass the time. 

The webpage switched, and users arrived at the Taobao store named Zhenpin Tian. 

Upon entering, they saw the auction for the dragon fish. 

**[Auction: Four top-quality dragon fish, sixty centimeters long, absolutely genuine, fake one pays ten.]** 

Users on the Dragon Fish Forum were different from those on Taobao; they knew the prices of top-quality dragon fish very well, so when they saw the starting bid was only six hundred thousand, they didn’t feel it was high but rather thought it was suspiciously low. 

“Is this real? Four top-quality dragon fish at once? And the starting bid is only six hundred thousand?” 

Many users felt quite skeptical. 

Although they saw that the seller guaranteed face-to-face transactions and immediate refunds if dissatisfied, who knew if the seller would pull any tricks after winning the bid? 

Usually, high-value ornamental fish like dragon fish are traded in person for greater security. 

Thus, most users didn’t place bids; instead, they started private messaging the seller on Wangwang. 

**In the Basement.** 

At this moment, the phone next to the small desk lamp was constantly pinging, but because Mu Bai hadn’t slept well the previous night, he was now in a deep slumber and didn’t hear the phone ringing at all. 

The phone’s screen remained lit up due to the constant incoming messages. After being lit for over an hour, the already low-battery phone finally shut down with a buzzing sound. 

The basement returned to its usual silence. 

By eleven thirty at night, Mu Bai’s newly established Zhenpin Tian online store had reached over thirty thousand online visitors. 

This number of online visitors was astonishing for a newly established online store; even flagship stores of major brands typically only had this many visitors. 

Most of these thirty thousand visitors were users from the Dragon Fish Forum. At this moment, they were either contacting the store owner or waiting for a response. 

If it weren’t for Taobao’s rule that prohibits comments on items not purchased, the Zhenpin Tian online store would likely have been bombarded with impatient messages. 

Although commenting on Taobao was currently impossible, the advertisement page on the Dragon Fish Forum was already filled with complaints, completely overrun with messages from anxious users. 

In just under three hours, the post had accumulated a terrifying seventy thousand replies, making it the post with the highest reply count in the forum’s history within three hours. 

“Dog administrator, come out! What kind of advertiser did you hire? I just want to ask if the store is open, and it’s been almost two hours without a reply!” 

“Exactly, stupid administrator, what the hell? Hurry up and contact the advertiser.” 

“What’s the Taobao store owner doing? They paid for advertising, yet when I asked if I could do an in-person transaction, they completely ignored me?” 

“Who ignored you? Everyone’s ignored!” 

“Damn! What a cold and aloof advertiser!” 

“Damn it! I finally found a dragon fish I like, and the Taobao store owner won’t even reply.” 

“Dog manager, you hired useless advertisers.” 

“Damn, what’s going on? Why are so many people complaining about this advertisement? I think it’s pretty good!” 

“Damn, damn, damn!!! Dog manager, what kind of advertiser is this? I want to buy such good dragon fish, but after two hours, I’m getting ignored! I’m furious!” 

At this moment, the advertisement page was filled with complaints, but precisely because of these complaints, it highlighted the users’ significant interest in the four dragon fish at Zhenpin Tian. 

Four nearly perfect top-quality dragon fish were undoubtedly a temptation on par with a drug for dragon fish enthusiasts. 

Time passed quickly, and amid the users’ complaints, it became midnight. 

At this point, some users could no longer hold back, especially since they were purchasing on the Taobao platform, along with the seller’s guarantee of refunds if dissatisfied. Some users finally began to place bids! 

“Ding! First dragon fish, user 1852**** bids 610,000 yuan.” 

With the first bid placed, many anxious users followed suit. 

“Ding! First dragon fish, user 2556**** bids 650,000 yuan.” 

“Ding! First dragon fish, user…” 

It was the dead of night, the time when online activity on Taobao was at its lowest, yet a seemingly unremarkable small online store was exceptionally bustling at this quietest time on Taobao!