Chapter 39
[I finally waited until you arrived. Good thing I didn’t give up~~]
[Damn, damn, it’s a horror-cooling special! It’s actually a horror-cooling special! Production team, GJ!]
[They’re playing big this time. I wonder if the production team told the guests. If they didn’t, hehe, then I can dream of them being completely mentally unprepared and getting scared into screaming and flailing.]
[Is this really A Poetic Life? With this desolate look, plus a horror-cooling special, why does it feel like it has truly turned into a horror show? Falling into deep thought.]
[Eh, person above, didn’t you know this variety show’s real name is A Hellish Life? (doge)]
Standing at the entrance of the factory area overgrown with weeds, the guests dragging their suitcases had only one thought in their hearts: speechlessness.
“Didn’t you tell us the place we were coming to was a small town?” Gu Nan looked at the chief director. “Where’s the small town?”
“This is it.” The chief director was righteous and confident, and because she had spent a large sum of money on the setup, she seemed especially bold. “Everything a small town has, this place has too. Why can’t this be called a small town?”
“Then where are we staying?” Shen Zhibei did not bother arguing over whether this counted as a small town or not. They were already here anyway. Right now, it was better to care about where they were going to stay.
“We have already cleaned up rooms where everyone can stay, but you’ll need to find them yourselves.”
“Then what about food, drinking water, and the most important things—the bathroom and kitchen? Do we have those?” Shen Zhibei continued asking.
“Of course. This time, we have prepared everything for you. However, you will need to find all of those locations yourselves.” The chief director revealed a smile, finally bringing out the big move she had been holding back all this time.
“In addition, when the sun sets, this small town will begin to undergo some strange changes. Guests, please stay alert.”
Gu Nan and the others: ???
“Explain clearly!” Gu Nan immediately felt something was wrong. “What do you mean by strange changes?”
The chief director smiled without speaking. She only said, “Everyone, hurry and start looking for the places we prepared for you. Otherwise, once the sun sets, things won’t be easy.”
Gu Nan and the others directly surrounded the chief director and began interrogating her.
In the end, the chief director displayed her excellent composure. Even while surrounded, she remained like a repeater machine, smiling and repeating one sentence.
“Please search hard, everyone. Otherwise, after sunset, things won’t be easy.”
The six of them worked at it for ages but could not get a single thing out of the chief director.
Seeing that they truly could not ask anything out of her, Gu Nan and the others could only drag their suitcases and prepare to start searching for the place the chief director said the production team had cleaned up in advance.
Although they called it a “small town,” this place was actually a factory. However, because in the 1960s, this factory had once had several thousand workers, its supporting facilities had been built very completely.
Housing, a hospital, a cafeteria, a school, and even many entertainment venues—everything was available, which was why this place looked like a “small town.”
But in the 1990s, after the factory went bankrupt and the machinery and equipment were sold off as scrap metal, the entire “small town” was abandoned.
Everyone stood at the entrance, looking at the scene inside the town.
The deserted small town was overgrown with weeds. Dead branches and fallen leaves piled up everywhere, giving off a bleak air of abandonment.
Rows of old buildings had mottled walls. Windows without glass looked like gaping mouths waiting to devour people. Various slogans painted back then could still be seen on the walls.
Broken signs still hung above. When the wind blew, they creaked, making people wonder whether they might suddenly fall and hit someone on the head.
Everything made it feel as if they had crossed into a parallel world of post-apocalyptic wasteland.
In the Northeast, September was already very cool. In the morning and evening, it could even feel cold without a jacket.
But because they had arrived at noon, the temperature was still a little high, so everyone had not put on their jackets.
However, after seeing the scene inside, everyone shivered and put their jackets on one after another.
After spending three days and two nights together in the previous episode, the group had already become very familiar.
At this moment, when they were about to enter the small town, no one was being polite anymore. They directly pushed one another back and forth.
Among the six, Gu Nan, who was the boldest, was pushed to the very front like this. Then the others lined up according to the formation they had used when entering the small building in the first episode before beginning to walk inside.
[The way they look right now is like six little quails, hahahaha.]
[I never expected that in the end, you still had to rely on Gu Nan to walk in front. Pointing.]
[This atmosphere really feels like apocalypse survival. If it were night, it would be even more like it. But why didn’t the production team take away the guests’ suitcases?]
[It won’t. It mustn’t. It shouldn’t, hahahaha.]
[I feel like the production team won’t let them off. Listen to what the chief director said. She said once the sun sets, things won’t be easy. How won’t they be easy? Doesn’t that mean the production team might send something out?]
[Let me say this: it’s September in the Northeast, so if the production team arranged something for nighttime, then we’ll probably see them living through a real outdoor survival show.]
[A slow countryside variety show, hahaha. Now whenever I hear this phrase, I want to laugh, hahahahaha.]
“The production team wouldn’t do something at night, right?” Gu Nan walked at the very front. The moment the wind blew, she felt a little creepy.
The main reason was that the environment and atmosphere here were somewhat eerie. It made even someone secretly confident in her courage unable to hold steady. From time to time, she nervously looked around, always feeling as if something might appear.
“Pah, pah, pah. Stop talking. The more you talk, the less confident I feel. Our production team has no morals at all. Maybe they’ll take your suggestion. Even if they originally hadn’t planned to do it, they might really make something happen tonight.” Peng Yushu was also covered in goosebumps.
“Even if I don’t say it, I think the production team would think of it too. This environment is way too suitable for that kind of thing.” The more Gu Nan spoke, the more she felt she had glimpsed the truth.
She immediately looked suspiciously at the production team. “You’re not really planning to do that tonight, are you?”
The chief director continued smiling without speaking.
Seeing the chief director’s expression, Shen Zhibei’s throat bobbed. She said hoarsely, “I feel like you guessed right.”
“Did we really sign up for A Poetic Life, this slow countryside variety show?”
Tang Ling was truly collapsing. His fear of the dark and fear of ghosts really were not part of some persona. He was genuinely afraid.
Otherwise, among so many escape-room variety shows and adventure variety shows offering him higher prices, he would not have chosen a slow countryside variety show.
But unexpectedly, after choosing and choosing, he still ended up back at the starting point.
Tang Ling’s sudden breakdown left the production team somewhat flustered. But they could not casually abandon preparations they had spent so much money on. They could only temporarily cut the signal for a while and join the guests in calming him down.
[What’s going on? Hello, hello! Why did it suddenly start playing the pilot video?]
[We had just seen Tang Ling break down. Why is there suddenly this kind of technical issue? Did the temporary worker mess up? Dog head.]
[It should be that Gu Nan guessed right, which caused Tang Ling to break down, so they cut the signal and started renegotiating the agreement?]
[This proves the production team didn’t tell the guests this episode would be a horror-cooling special beforehand. Does that mean tonight we’ll get to see the guests’ most natural reactions?]
[Although I feel very sorry for these guests, my heart is shouting: nice!]
“Although Gu Nan guessed correctly, this time definitely won’t be as terrifying as you imagine. We’re just making a small horror-cooling special.” Although the chief director felt very guilty saying this, she still tried to sound righteous and confident.
“A horror-cooling special?! Why didn’t we know?”
Hearing the chief director tell the truth, everyone was stunned.
“But all your managers knew. Mm, of course, we did ask the managers not to tell you.”
The chief director waved, and a staff member behind her took six documents out of a bag and handed them to the guests.
Gu Nan and the others took them and saw that they were indeed supplementary notice agreements for the show. Their managers’ signatures were also at the bottom.
Seeing the guests’ unwilling but helpless expressions—because their managers had already signed, and they did not know what to do—the chief director hurriedly comforted them. “Please rest assured, everyone. We are a slow countryside variety show. Even with a horror-cooling special, we won’t go too far.”
“Looking at this atmosphere, you’re telling us you won’t go too far? Do you take us for three-year-old children?” Gu Nan mercilessly exposed the production team’s lie.
“Really, really. Please believe me, everyone.”
Everyone scoffed at the chief director’s words “believe me.”
Thinking that their own managers had indeed signed the supplementary notice agreement, and although the breach-of-contract penalty on it was not high, breaching a contract was still bad, Gu Nan and the others struggled for a while. In the end, they still pinched their noses and accepted it.
Wasn’t it just three days and two nights? It probably would not be anything much.
Seeing that although the guests were unwilling, they were still preparing to continue filming, the chief director did not say anything more. She directly retreated to her original position and had the cut signal reconnect so the livestream could continue.
Although the guests did not believe her, the chief director still trusted the guests’ professional ethics very much.
Of course, by “trusted their professional ethics,” she meant the other guests besides Gu Nan. As for Gu Nan, the chief director could only place her hope on Shen Zhibei, hoping that when Gu Nan suggested quitting, Shen Zhibei could persuade her properly.
[It’s back, it’s back! Finally, we have livestream footage to watch again.]
[Is anyone from the production team here? What exactly happened just now? Can you briefly explain it to us?]
[Why does Tang Ling look so dazed, like his whole face has the words “I accept my fate” written on it? I’m dying of laughter.]
[If the production team won’t say what happened just now, then I’ll casually guess. Did the production team directly throw a huge amount of money at the guests? Or did they say this place is new and fun and stirred up the guests’ emotions?]
[Looking at the guests’ expressions, it definitely isn’t the second one. And none of these guests lack money, so I’m guessing the production team took out the contract and earnestly persuaded them.]
Recording resumed.
This time, everyone knew this episode’s theme was a horror-cooling special, so their mood was especially heavy.
After walking along the main road for a while, Gu Nan suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Tang Ling, who had kept his eyes closed ever since they entered the town’s main road, sensed that the team had suddenly stopped without saying anything and immediately cried out in panic. “Did something happen up ahead?”
“Nothing happened.” Gu Nan turned back and saw Tang Ling shouting with his eyes closed. “But if something really did happen, and you shouted like that, the situation would get even worse.”
Gu Nan deliberately used a sinister voice and said, “Think about it. Since it’s a horror-cooling special, things like zombies or vampires should appear, right? If they hear you shout, they might follow your voice and come over. Then…”
“Awoo!”
The hand Shen Zhibei had clenched around the hem of Gu Nan’s clothes tightened more and more as Gu Nan spoke. When Gu Nan suddenly let out a loud “awoo,” Shen Zhibei was directly startled, and when she raised her hand, she accidentally jabbed Gu Nan in the ribs.
“Hiss—ah!” Gu Nan immediately let out a scream after being jabbed by Shen Zhibei.
Tang Ling seemed as if his neck had been grabbed by a pair of invisible hands. He immediately fell silent. Especially since Gu Nan had also let out a scream, it made things even scarier.
“You scared me to death.” Although Shen Zhibei complained like this, she was the one who had hit Gu Nan in the ribs. Seeing Gu Nan’s pained expression, she quickly reached out and helped rub the spot she had hit.
While helping Gu Nan ease the pain, she said to Tang Ling, “Tang Ling, open your eyes and look. There really isn’t anything. Gu Nan was just scaring you.”
“Hiss, hiss. Zhibei, be gentler.” Gu Nan felt it hurt even more from Shen Zhibei rubbing it.
“If I don’t use force, how can I promote blood circulation and dissolve bruising? Endure it.”
[Be gentler. Endure it. Mm, the positions of these two sisters seem a bit reversed.]
[What kind of terrible dialogue is this? Little face turning yellow.]
[Hearing the two sisters’ conversation gave me another wonderful idea. Let me write it down. After today’s show ends, I’ll go produce food for my CP!]
[I also want Sister to rub me. Right now, I envy Gu Nan so much that tears are about to flow from the corners of my mouth.]
Tang Ling stayed silent for quite a while before opening one eye and looking around. After confirming that there really was nothing around, he opened both eyes fully.
While letting out a long breath of relief, he could not help complaining, “Gu Nan, you almost scared me to death just now.”
“You really weren’t lying last episode. You truly are afraid of ghosts and the dark,” Peng Yushu roasted him. “Right, Gu Nan, what did you see?”
“There’s a restaurant with glass here. Should we go in and take a look?” Gu Nan looked at the old, paint-peeling sign, which read something like “Five Something Restaurant.”
Along the way, this was the only restaurant whose windows still had glass.
And when Gu Nan looked inside through the window, the interior was actually very clean. The floor was also very level, and there were complete tables and chairs. It was completely unlike the other rooms, which were overgrown with weeds and in tatters.
The others followed Gu Nan’s words and moved closer to look inside.
“The environment is really completely different from the other places,” Lu Xuehai said in delight. “Looks like this is the place left for us to eat. Should we go in and take a look first?”
Gu Nan tried pushing the door and discovered that it was not locked.
“We can go right in. Let’s go.”
The group, who had not expected to enter so easily, quickly followed behind Gu Nan and walked in. Then they began checking what was inside the restaurant.
“There really are electrical appliances. And there’s even a small generator here. This thing should work, right?” Gu Nan looked at the small generator, touching it here and there. Then she saw the instruction manual pressed underneath the generator. “I’ll read the manual first and see how this thing is supposed to be used.”
While Gu Nan studied the instructions for the small generator, the others continued looking at what was in the room.
Shen Zhibei carefully checked the entire restaurant. Seeing Gu Nan busy reading the manual, she even deliberately dragged Peng Yushu along for courage and went to the back kitchen to take a look.
The result was naturally that the production team had only done surface work. They had only cleaned up the restaurant hall.
“All the usable things were placed here by the production team. Pots, bowls, ladles, and basins are all complete. There just isn’t any food. Looks like it has been placed somewhere else.”
Peng Yushu also said, “Next, we can specifically look for houses with glass windows like this. Those should be the ones the production team prepared for us, which reduces our search burden quite a bit.”
“If the restaurant has cooking facilities and dining tables, then by that reasoning, the ingredients should be in a farmer’s market or something like that, and the place to stay should be in a dormitory building, right?” Lu Xuehai also followed.
“That should be it,” Shen Zhibei confirmed.
At this time, Gu Nan had also finished reading the manual. “I checked. The manual says this thing needs to be used in an environment with air circulation. Also, it’s not the silent version. I keep feeling there’s something mysterious about this.”
“You can just say you suspect the production team wants to make trouble with this,” Peng Yushu said, looking around. “When we cook later, could it be that once we turn on this generator, it’ll attract something over?”
Hearing this, Tang Ling shivered. His voice trembled as he said, “Teacher Peng, stop talking.”
Gu Nan put away the manual. “Then let’s first go around this nearby area, make a route map, and also look for where we’ll be staying. At least then we can put down our luggage first.”
“All right. You lead.”
The other four said this in unison, while Bai Rui made no movement. Only after hearing the others’ voices did she slowly reveal a smile.
Ever since the six of them had met again this morning, Bai Rui had seemed very quiet, completely unlike her performance in the previous episode.
When something was abnormal, there had to be something suspicious. Bai Rui’s abnormal behavior made Gu Nan and Shen Zhibei glance at her a few more times, raising their vigilance toward her to the highest level again.
[Is Bai Rui a little off today? She always seems deep in thought.]
[She hasn’t spoken much today and has been silent the whole time. It wasn’t that obvious before, but now that the others were so in sync and spoke in unison, while she was half a beat slow and slowly smiled, it suddenly stood out.]
[Maybe she’s too scared? After all, it’s a horror-cooling special, and she also said she’s very afraid of this kind of thing. This kind of behavior is pretty normal, right?]
[It’s abnormal. Tang Ling’s behavior is what fear looks like. Look, did the other guests look at Tang Ling multiple times? But all of them looked at Bai Rui several more times.]
Relying on “Bus No. 11”—their own two feet—the group walked all around the nearby area. They even made a proper-looking map with pen and paper. Then they discovered that this place had been planned quite well. The residential area, commercial area, and factory area were all clearly divided.
And in the residential area, they also found the house where they would stay for the next three days and two nights.
It was a six-story building made of red brick. The walls had not been painted, nor were there any slogans painted on them.
But because no one had lived there for so many years, and no maintenance had been done, it was extremely worn down and gave people an eerie feeling.
Standing downstairs and looking up, they could directly see that inside every room, more or less, there were still some old furniture items left behind by the original residents.
Some windows that had not completely shattered even still had tattered plastic sheets hanging from them, which had once been used to block the windows. When the wind blew, they made a “woo-woo” sound.
“What’s the difference between this and living in a haunted house? Are we really going to live here?”
Tang Ling was already gripping Peng Yushu’s arm tightly. If not for the fact that a Beta and an Omega should keep proper distance, he probably would have stuck himself directly onto Peng Yushu.
“There’s no choice. We already checked the residential area, and only this place has windows installed. Also, I looked inside just now, and it seems to have been cleaned.”
Gu Nan spread her hands, indicating that if she could choose, she would not choose to live here either. “Let’s go. Follow me. We’ll go in and take a look.”
Seeing this kind of environment, what else could everyone do except curse the production team in their hearts?
They could only step on dead branches and fallen leaves, accompanied by the creaking sounds they made, and walk into the unit.
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