My House of Horrors

After moving the trash out of the Third Sick Hall, Chen Ge went to the toilet to wash his face and threw himself back into work. At 6:30 pm, the Haunted House closed down for the day. Chen Ge had Xu Wan and Xiao Gu clean up the place while he went to look for Uncle Xu to borrow the park’s van. He wanted to use it to transport the mannequins back from the workshop. When he was done with all that, he entered the underground scenario to find Doctor Chen.

They exchanged contact details. Then Chen Ge used the black cloth to close Doctor Chen’s eyes and led him out of the Haunted House. He left the doctor in Western Jiujiang’s countryside. It did not take that long because Chen Ge returned to New Century Park at almost 7 pm. Xu Wan and Gu Feiyu had already cleaned the Haunted House by then.

“Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me.” Chen Ge accepted the broom and took out his phone to call Qian Guigen.

“Boss Qian, please prepare the materials now. I might spend a whole night at the workshop to rush the first batch of mannequins.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you at the workshop,” Boss Qian answered easily. Just as his little shop was running out of business, it was Chen Ge who gave him hope.

After hanging up, Chen Ge turned around to see Xu Wan and Xiao Gu, who were still standing there. “Is there anything else?”

“You’re the boss, but how come I feel like you have it worse than the employees? It feels like you’re always working through the night right now.” Without the dead people’s make-up, Xu Wan was cute, but compared to when she first arrived at the Haunted House, she had a maturity about her now.

“Brother Chen, is there anything the two of us can help with?” Xiao Gu also walked over. “After all, there’s nothing important waiting for me at home anyway.”

The employees volunteered to work extra time, and that was quite touching for Chen Ge. He thought about it and realized that carrying twenty mannequins alone was quite tiring, so he did not reject their help. “Okay, you two come with me then. We’ll try to finish everything by midnight.”

Closing the door, Chen Ge hopped into the park’s van and drove Xu Wan and Gu Feiyu to the workshop. Chen Ge had already done the base that morning, so he gave his employees a brief lesson and handed them work like transportation and filling, which did not require much skill. At 11 pm, the twenty mannequins were all done.

The mannequins used the best material and were human-size. However, to save time, Chen Ge did not put make-up or clothes on the mannequins yet. The group worked together to move the mannequins into the van and back to the Haunted House. “I’ll work on the rest myself. You can go home now.”

Chen Ge looked at the time. The Haunted House would welcome its third expansion at midnight, and it would upgrade to a Maze of Terror. He was afraid that the sudden change might arouse Xu Wan and Xiao Gu’s suspicion.

“Boss, there are so many mannequins here. How long will it take you to carry them yourself?” Xiao Gu looked at the mannequins lined up in the corridor, and it did look quite scary in the dark.

“I’ll need to put some make-up on them so that we can put them into use tomorrow.” Chen Ge thanked the two and closed the Haunted House’s door.

“Do you plan to do that alone?” Gu Feiyu still wanted to say something, but Chen Ge had already started working. “So hardworking. Success in this world really only comes to those who work hard for it.”

“Well, that’s a life lesson for you. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Xu Wan shrugged and left. Gu Feiyu was left alone in the park.

Compared to the rowdiness in the morning, the park at night was dark and silent. The image of the mannequins collapsing over one another appeared in his mind, and he shivered. “The boss is ultimately the boss. If it was me, I would have run out after the first night.”

Xiao Gu walked out from New Century Park. It was already 11:30 pm, and the bus had stopped running. His rental was quite far from the park.

“Should I call the cab?” Gu Feiyu reached into his pocket and felt sorry for himself. He had lived in the city for months already, but Chen Ge was the only boss who had paid him his salary. The rent and hospital had taken up quite a large amount of money. Normally, he would not even call for take-out; he had been cooking for himself to save money.

“Since I have nothing better to do, I could try walking home. I should cover as much distance as I can before I need to call the cab—that’s the best way to save money.” Gu Feiyu plugged his earphones in and started to walk down the road. The chilly night breeze crawled through his sleeves. There was no one else on the road, and the lights on the sidewalk were getting dark.

He walked for around forty minutes, and at around midnight, Gu Feiyu suddenly heard someone ask him for his destination and whether he would like to hop into his car.

He pulled his earphones out and looked around, but there was no one there.

“That’s weird. Did the sound came from the earphones?” He put the earphones back in and repeated the previous song, but he did not hear anything unusual. “That was weird.”

Gu Feiyu did not understand it. The lights by the street dimmed, and he walked ahead on his own. The buildings became smaller and the road quieter. He used this road when he returned home every day, but that day, something was different. He walked for another ten minutes when he reached a junction. One was the normal road that he used to head home, and the other looked so unfamiliar like he had not seen it before.

“Where are you going?” That voice appeared in his ears again. Gu Feiyu removed the earphones and looked to the side. He realized that a bus was stopping behind him. The bus itself looked old, and it did not even have the headlights on. There were a few passengers on it—they had their faces lowered, probably looking on their phone.

“There are still buses running at 1 am?” Gu Feiyu was weirdly worried. He walked back to the wall, and right then, his phone suddenly vibrated. Opening it, Gu Feiyu realized that it was a bonus from Chen Ge. It was attached with a voice message. “Thank you for your help earlier, Xiao Gu. This is your bonus for the overtime.”

Chen Ge’s voice was warm in the cold night. Xiao Gu was about to tell Chen Ge about the weird things that night, but before he could make the call, he turned around to look, and the bus had already driven away. It entered the road that he felt was very unfamiliar. Standing at the junction, Gu Feiyu saw the bus leave. The lights returned to normal, and he no longer felt as cold.

“That was strange.” Gu Feiyu did not dare to wander about anymore. He waited at the junction and called a passing cab.

“Where are you going?”

“The apartment next to Ming Hwa Zhuang.” Gu Feiyu was still thinking about the bus. He asked the driver with some uncertainty, “Boss, did you spot a bus when you were coming over?”

“No.” The driver glanced at Gu Feiyu through the rearview mirror and grumbled, “What is wrong with you youngsters lately? A few days ago, I picked up a passenger in Eastern Jiujiang, almost the same age as you. The first thing he asked was whether I’d seen a moving company’s truck when I was driving on the road. The road is big, can you tell whether a vehicle has passed or not for yourself?”