OFR – Chapter 47 Mutual tricks.

She was Lan Lan, also a student in the Literature Department at Nanjing University.

Yesterday, when Mu Bai had spent hundreds of thousands of yuan on virtual flowers in the QQ group, Lan Lan had taken notice of him. Mu Bai’s QQ profile showed that he was 19 years old.

Young and wealthy—wherever he went, he was sure to attract attention.

Lan Lan added Mu Bai as a friend today, partly out of curiosity about this legendary, aloof tycoon, and partly with the intent of getting closer to him. As for what kind of relationship she wanted, she believed only she knew.

Now that her friend request had been accepted, Lan Lan sent over a pre-recorded New Year’s greeting video. Then, in a soft and gentle voice message, she said, “Hi, Brother Mu, I know you’re a big shot, so I’m shamelessly asking for a New Year’s red envelope.”

She didn’t jump straight to flirting. Instead, she planned to show her best side first, drawing Mu Bai into her gentle web bit by bit.

…

“Calculating,” Mu Bai muttered, sipping his hot water while watching the video and listening to the voice message Lan Lan had sent.

Without the system’s prompt, he might not have noticed that this seemingly cheerful, lively girl was actually plotting to make him her backup option.

“A backup? A backup?! Seems like in her mind, her boyfriend must be even more impressive than me,” Mu Bai thought, furrowing his brow. The generous rewards for this random mission about a scheming girl indicated the task wouldn’t be easy, as the difficulty was proportional to the reward.

To complete the mission and earn all the rewards, Mu Bai needed to bring Lan Lan’s heartbreak level to 100. Therefore, he decided not to expose her just yet. After all, even reaching 30 heartbreak points wasn’t guaranteed if he confronted her too soon.

He recalled the saying: “If you want to destroy someone, first let them inflate their ego.”

Mu Bai felt this approach was perfect for the situation. To reach 100 heartbreak points, he needed to give Lan Lan hope, make her believe she could truly capture his heart. The bigger her hopes, the greater her eventual disappointment, and the more thoroughly her defenses would crumble.

With this in mind, Mu Bai carefully crafted a response: “You’re still as beautiful as ever in the video. How much of a red envelope do you want? Just name it, and I’ll send it.”

He slipped a compliment into his message.

If she wanted to make him her backup, he would play along.

Although Mu Bai was manipulating Lan Lan, he didn’t feel guilty. After all, she was trying to make him her backup. As a virtual tycoon, he couldn’t just let himself be used so easily!

A few seconds later, Lan Lan replied.

“Thank you for the compliment, Big Shot Mu! How about you send me something with special meaning? Like a 1314 yuan red envelope,” Lan Lan said.

“QQ red envelopes have a max limit of 200 yuan, though. I can’t send 1314,” Mu Bai replied.

“Aw, Big Shot Mu, don’t let wealth limit your imagination! You can send 13.14 yuan instead,” Lan Lan suggested.

“Heh, alright,” Mu Bai responded.

As Mu Bai continued chatting with Lan Lan, he noticed how effortlessly she charmed people. Every word seemed to make the conversation feel light and pleasant. Her line, *”Don’t let wealth limit your imagination,”* could easily make someone like her even more.

“A battle of wits? Interesting. Today, I’ll let her think her charms are working,” Mu Bai thought as he began sending her red envelopes.

“Red envelope: 13.14 yuan.”

“Red envelope: 13.14 yuan.”

“Red envelope: 13.14 yuan.”

“Red envelope: 13.14 yuan.”

“Red envelope: 13.14 yuan.”

…

On the other end, Lan Lan was stunned as red envelope after red envelope for 13.14 yuan kept coming through. She couldn’t help but cover her mouth in surprise.

Even though she knew Mu Bai was a big spender—she’d seen him spend hundreds of thousands of yuan on flowers for Qian Yiwen yesterday—it felt different now that she was the focus. She had never personally experienced the attention of a wealthy patron before.

“Fifty-six… fifty-seven… fifty-eight…” Lan Lan began counting the number of red envelopes Mu Bai was sending. She was curious just how many he would send.

After about ten minutes, when she counted the 520th red envelope, they finally stopped.

“My goodness! 13.14 yuan per envelope, 520 of them—he’s indirectly saying ‘5201314’ (which means ‘I love you for a lifetime’ in Chinese)! Could Mu Bai already like me?” Lan Lan thought, suddenly feeling like the heroine of a romance novel.

Indeed, outside of novels, it’s hard to imagine a boyfriend so thoughtful as to send such a romantic and meaningful string of red envelopes.

5201314.

The 520 red envelopes formed that special number.

Just as Lan Lan was basking in this surreal moment, a message from Mu Bai arrived.

Mu Bai: “Can you guess how many red envelopes I sent you?”

Lan Lan: “520.”

Mu Bai: “Yes, each for 13.14 yuan.”

After seeing Mu Bai repeat that meaningful number, Lan Lan felt an indescribable mix of emotions—happiness, warmth, even a twinge of guilt.

“Why did you send me such a significant number of red envelopes?” Lan Lan asked after a brief silence. Though she was deeply touched, she was also puzzled. Why would Mu Bai—a notoriously aloof big shot who didn’t even acknowledge Qian Yiwen’s posts—go to such lengths to make her happy by tapping his screen for over ten minutes to send her 520 red envelopes?

Lan Lan couldn’t shake the feeling that there must be some deeper reason.

She scrolled back through their chat, trying to find clues.

“Hmm? ‘You’re still as beautiful as ever’? Why did he use ‘still’? Did Mu Bai know me before?” Lan Lan wondered, suddenly latching onto that one word from their conversation.

Just then, another message from Mu Bai arrived.

Mu Bai: “Haha, no reason. The past is gone with the wind.”

Mu Bai’s response only deepened Lan Lan’s suspicion. She began thinking hard about her past friends but couldn’t match anyone to Mu Bai.

Unable to figure it out, and with Mu Bai’s vague response, even the usually calculating Lan Lan felt confused.

As she was about to say something more, she noticed that Mu Bai’s profile status had just been updated. His new status made her heart ache.

**”I thought I was invincible, immune to all pain. But who would have thought that your smile at the corner of the street would make me lovesick? I crossed mountains and rivers to find you, and to catch your eye, I was willing to be the clown who entertains the crowd.”**

…

After updating his status, Mu Bai knew it was time to let Lan Lan’s imagination run wild. He sent her a goodnight message and logged off QQ, ready to go to bed.