Chapter 0066 – Building a Paradise for Her
”Something wrong?” The man’s temperament was elegant, not like a businessman at all.
”Luo Dong, this is Xiao Chen who saw the righteousness and helped the police catch the fugitive.” Uncle Xu dragged Chen Ge to his side: “It’s the same thing I reported to you before, he wants to lease the unused underground parking lot.”
”Okay, I know, you go ahead and get busy with your business.” Director Luo signaled Uncle Xu to leave, leaving him and Chen Ge alone in the room.
”I already know about you wanting to lease the underground parking lot, can you tell me what you are planning to do by leasing the garage?” Director Luo let Chen Ge sit on the sofa as he poured two cups of tea.
”Expanding the haunted house, I’m going to convert the underground parking garage into an underground maze.”
”An underground maze, great idea, but do you have the ability and money to support you in doing so? The cost of renting the venue only accounts for a very small portion of the cost, the really hard part is how to perfect the scene.” Director Luo leaned against the back of the sofa, a hint of vicissitude and fatigue in his eyes, “I don’t object to your idea, and I can rent the venue to you, but before that I have to ask you a few questions.”
Although Director Luo agreed to rent the underground parking lot to Chen Ge, he did not say the rent, so Chen Ge was still a little apprehensive: “You ask.”
”You’re in the haunted house business, you should know better than me how big the initial investment in the haunted house is, and the haunted house is different from a restaurant or a hotel, when the restaurant closes down, the plates, tables and chairs can still be sold second-hand. If you can’t hold on, to whom will you sell those broken hands, broken feet and various props in your haunted house?”
Director Luo’s words were very sensible, none of which Chen Ge had thought about before.
”Even if your haunted house operates well, then let’s consider the repurchase rate of the merchandise, haunted houses are one-time consumption goods, after bursting into flames for a period of time, they will eventually fall silent, because the number of your potential customers is limited. Can you recoup your capital by investing heavily?”
”And one last question, where do you get the exposure from building your haunted house in an underground parking lot? Your number of visitors depends on the number of visitors in the park, but if the park closes down one day, what about your haunted house?”
Chen Ge could tell that Director Luo was blocking him with good intentions, and in fact these people who were blocking him were the ones who genuinely wanted to help him and didn’t want to see him suffer.
Director Luo’s three questions circled around in Chen Ge’s mind, the first two questions did not pose an impact on Chen Ge because of the black cell phone, what he was worried about was the last question.
If New Century Land closed down, his haunted house would not be spared.
Going somewhere else to reopen, not to mention, just a bunch of documents would be enough to keep Chen Ge busy, and with his limited funds right now, it would be almost impossible to find another venue that could accommodate the horrifying scenes in the black cell phone.
”Have you thought through these three questions?” Director Luo seemed to have anticipated Chen Ge’s answer, “Go back, there are some things that need to be well thought out before you go ahead.”
Chen Ge sat on the sofa and didn’t move, he looked up at Director Luo and suddenly asked, “Paradise really can’t support itself?”
Director Luo didn’t affirm or deny, only the fatigue in his eyes became even more intense, “If I say that the paradise is really about to shut down, would you still lease the underground parking lot?”
”Will.” Chen Ge’s answer was beyond Director Luo’s expectations, and his gaze was firm, “Director Luo, I’ve already thought of a solution to your first and second problems. As for your third problem, it’s not valid at all.”
Chen Ge’s eyes seemed to be pulsing with flames, he didn’t know how to fear or retreat at all, “My House of Horrors has never relied on anyone, and the number of visitors I have is by no means dependent on the total number of visitors to the park, as long as I’m given the time, I’ll not only attract countless tourists to visit the House of Horrors, but I’ll also revitalize the entire park along with it! Leasing an underground parking lot is just the first step, I will create an unprecedented, special paradise with a horror thriller as its theme.”
Finishing his words in one breath, it was at this time that Chen Ge remembered Uncle Xu’s explanation that it was better to say little than nothing.
He looked at Director Luo a little uneasily, and somewhat regretted how he had said everything in his heart.
After listening to Chen Ge’s words, Director Luo put down his teacup, the fatigue in his eyes had dispersed, he was silent for a moment, and suddenly laughed out loud, “Every sentence is how I am how I am, you remind me of myself when I was young.”
He stood up and pulled back the curtains, from the office window he could look down on the whole paradise.
”New Century Land is closing, and I’m the most upset and saddened out of everyone.” He opened the window and let the wind blow his black and white mixed hair, “This paradise means something different to me, if I could, I would even like it to stay in business.”
Director Luo wore a smile, only his was a complicated one, a calm one that had gotten used to all the waves, “I’ve heard about you, your parents disappeared and you quit your job to run the house of horrors they left behind on your own. We’re actually really quite similar, except you’re a lot luckier than I am.”
He picked up a picture frame on the table, the only one in the house, containing a picture of a father and daughter together.
The man was not too tall and had an elegant demeanor, the girl in his arms was cute looking, but unfortunately had deformed arms and a dull smile.
”This is my daughter, she suffers from severe dyslexia and needs to be supported by a special device to keep her back upright. God has been very hard on her, but she is strong, and she loves to smile, both to me and to any stranger.” Director Luo stared out the window in a daze, “But the world is not a place where if you are gentle with it, it will return the same gentleness to you, I once took my daughter for a walk in the park, and all the kids didn’t want to play with her, and at that time, my daughter looked at me helplessly, and she was so scared that she even thought she had done something wrong. I didn’t know how to comfort her, since then, I would only accompany her to play in less crowded places in the middle of the day, or on cloudy and rainy days, and it was also from that time that I had the idea of building a paradise for her.”
”Unfortunately, she didn’t end up waiting for the day when the paradise was fixed.” Putting down the photo frame, Director Luo’s gaze remained calm: “Many people don’t understand why I would dump my family’s money to maintain a paradise that loses money year after year, but I think this feeling is something you might understand.”
”Empathize.” Chen Ge had stood up long ago, and he hadn’t expected the Luo board to say this to him.
”Everyone is thinking of a way out for themselves, only you surprised me.” Closing the window, Director Luo took out a document from the drawer, “Actually, when they first told me about this matter, I agreed. Take it, and you can tell me if you need anything, but remember, you may only have two to three months.”