OFR – Chapter 44 Weird events on New Year’s Day.

“Don’t let poverty limit your imagination.”

After this phrase appeared in the QQ group, Qian Yiwen, who had been annoyed just moments before, couldn’t help but smile.

This was the first time anyone had slapped the label of “poverty” onto someone like Chang Kun, a rich second-generation heir.

However, while feeling relieved, Qian Yiwen also felt a little heartache for the tens of thousands of yuan that Xiao Mu spent on those flowers.

At this point, the group couldn’t help but react, with a few people sending laughing emojis, while others were astonished by Qian Yiwen’s boyfriend’s financial power.

“Oh my god, Xiao Mu isn’t just rich; he’s a god-level spender!”

“Yeah, poverty really limits my imagination. I could only imagine rich people, but I never could’ve imagined a god-tier spender!”

“Maybe he’s a godtier spender, but don’t you think it’s a bit silly? Don’t you feel awkward spending so much money just for a charm ranking?”

“Well, it’s inevitable. Whether it’s men or women, people tend to act irrationally when it comes to love.”

“Hey, Xiao Mu is amazing! Please, next time you’re with Goddess Yiwen, can you record a little clip for us single dogs who love her to the bone?”

“Crying… my heart is bleeding.”

“Yeah, what can I say? I feel the pain too.”

Qian Yiwen: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’m still in school, and we’re still good friends. Also, no inappropriate comments in public, please.”

…

Five minutes later.

In his bedroom, Mu Bai saw a few lines of light text appear before his eyes.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully showing off in QQ. There are still nine more tasks left to complete, with a deadline of one week.”

“Huh? That counts as completing it.”

Mu Bai didn’t expect that completing the task of showing off his relationship would be so difficult.

It took so many envious and jealous reactions in the QQ group just to count as one completion.

And when Qian Yiwen had called him “husband” in the group earlier, it didn’t even meet the task requirements.

This made him feel that this random task was quite challenging.

“Internet Coins? I hope the reward is worth the difficulty of this random task.”

The reward for this random task was Internet Coins, which were supposed to be an upgraded version of Internet Copper Coins.

As Mu Bai was contemplating the task reward, Qian Yiwen messaged him privately.

“I know you’re the cool, god-tier Mu, but please don’t waste so much money on me in the future. I’m used to their sarcastic comments; it doesn’t really bother me.”

Mu Bai was surprised that Qian Yiwen, who was a bit materialistic, actually advised him not to waste money. It was unexpected.

After chatting for a bit more, they said goodnight and both went offline to sleep.

But as Mu Bai was logging off, he looked at Qian Yiwen’s last message: “Cool Mu, goodnight! Here’s a kiss for you. ?”

He chuckled softly, sensing a subtle shift in Qian Yiwen’s attitude toward him.

Whether the change was due to her reassessing his financial power or his gesture of buying flowers in the QQ group earlier, it didn’t matter.

In any case, this shift would be advantageous for the tasks ahead.

It was almost 10 p.m., and as Mu Bai yawned, he turned off the lights, crawled into bed, and drifted off to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

…

At 8 a.m. the next day, the sun was shining.

It was the last day of 2018, with New Year’s Day just around the corner.

Countless people woke up and updated their QQ signatures or statuses to something like, “Wanna meet up for 2019? Let’s kick off the New Year with a bang!”

Though similar messages appeared on WeChat, since WeChat is mostly for close acquaintances, such suggestive posts were rare.

Mu Bai also woke up around this time, rubbed his eyes, and climbed out of bed. He went through his usual routine of getting dressed and washing up.

After finishing, he thought about the seedlings in his magical space, which should have survived by now.

He grabbed the jade pendant around his neck and entered the magical space with a single thought.

Once inside, Mu Bai first opened the host page and did his daily sign-in.

“Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully signing in. You’ve earned 130 Internet Copper Coins. Your current balance is 1,630 Internet Copper Coins.”

The more consecutive days of sign-ins, the more coins you receive.

After signing in, Mu Bai went to his private plot of land to check on the seedlings.

The seedlings were thriving. Although it was just a small patch in his magical space, the growth rate was much better than it would be outside. Plus, he had used a bottle of basic nutrient solution, so more than 95% of the seedlings had survived.

Only a few that had been too damaged at the roots had failed to survive.

The remaining seedlings were now sprouting vibrant green, indicating life.

“Alright, it’s time to start cultivating them.”

Mu Bai began harvesting some of the healthier-looking seedlings and placing them in the planting slots to cultivate them.

He checked the growth cycle and found that it was similar to the mother plants, taking about three months, which required three basic growth cards.

Mu Bai still had 91 basic growth cards left, which should be enough to cultivate all the surviving seedlings.

“Ding! Would the host like to use growth cards to speed up the growth cycle?”

“Yes!”

“Please select the grade and number of growth cards.”

“Basic, three cards.”

Mu Bai applied three basic growth cards to each seedling.

The gentle golden light emitted from the cards shimmered occasionally in the serene magical space.

After three hours, a total of 31 plants had successfully matured, and Mu Bai had exchanged two more basic growth cards during the process.

Looking at the 31 fully grown plants, Mu Bai felt pleased.

The cultivation had been highly successful.

Among the plants were 11 premium specimens, 10 super-premium ones, and 9 near-rare ones. To his surprise, one of the seedlings from the Red-Gold Queen had mutated into a Pink-Gold Queen.

The Pink-Gold Queen was even rarer and more valuable than the Red-Gold Queen.

Mu Bai picked six of the best-looking near-rare plants to use as mother plants for the next round of seedling propagation.

The ones he planned to sell included the 11 premium, 10 super-premium, and three near-rare plants.

As for the six best-looking near-rare plants and the newly cultivated Pink-Gold Queen, Mu Bai intended to keep them for his collection.

These rare and near-rare plants were in high demand, and since Mu Bai wasn’t short on money, he didn’t plan to sell them.

In his magical warehouse, Mu Bai now had a collection that included a platinum dragonfish, four rare plants, and six excellent near-rare plants.

Mu Bai started taking detailed photos of the plants he planned to sell, ensuring the surrounding environment was blurred to avoid revealing the secret of his magical space.

After finishing the photos, Mu Bai exited the magical space, logged into Taobao, and uploaded the pictures to display the products.

Since the next day was New Year’s Day, he set the sale to start at midnight, with the photos only serving as previews for now.

Mu Bai decided on a fixed-price sale, with the premium plants priced between 50,000 and 120,000 yuan, depending on the quality.

The super-premium plants were priced between 200,000 and 500,000 yuan.

As for the three near-rare plants, they were priced in the millions.

Mu Bai calculated that if everything sold, he would make over 12 million yuan.

After setting everything up, it was already past noon, and Mu Bai was getting hungry. He logged off Taobao and went out for lunch.

…

At 1 p.m.

Since New Year’s Day was tomorrow, many Taobao stores had already started their big holiday promotions.

Even the aquatic pet industry wasn’t exempt.

As a niche industry on Taobao, aquatic pets had a special place on the homepage, with 10 featured store slots for support.

Mu Bai’s store, “Treasure Heaven,” was featured thanks to its recent sale of a Platinum Dragon Fish, which had generated millions in transactions, all with five-star reviews.

So, “Treasure Heaven” secured one of the 10 featured spots.

Taobao’s service assistant diligently pushed the notification to the store’s backend, placing “Treasure Heaven” on the featured list.

However, shortly after it appeared on the featured list…

In an ordinary apartment in Shanghai, a refined-looking man in his thirties, dressed casually, was sitting at his computer, browsing the recommended stores in the aquatic pet section on Taobao’s homepage.

His name was Mo Hai, the owner of a high-end Gold Turtle shop that had also made the homepage.

Mo Hai wanted to check out the competition in the aquatic pet section to see if any other stores specialising in Gold Turtles existed.

After all, if there were competitors, he could adjust his prices. If there weren’t, he could maintain his monopoly without needing to engage in a price war.

“Hm? Treasure Heaven? What a grand name! Let’s see what aquatic pets they’re selling.”

Intrigued by the name, Mo Hai clicked into the store, but his curious expression froze as soon as it loaded.

After a long pause, he let out a laugh and said, “This is definitely one of the most bizarre things about the New Year’s Day activities. People who sell flowers and plants have come to the aquatic animal industry to play. It’s amazing! Even if Taobao‘s friends are on New Year’s Day holiday and lack manpower, they can’t do such a ridiculous thing. Such an interesting thing should be screenshotted and posted on WeChat Moments. It’s better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone!”