Chapter 0743 – If You Bloom
After violently opening the door to the cubicle, Chen Ge saw Qu Changlin who was paralyzed on the floor, he immediately squatted his body, “Are you alright?”
Seeing someone coming in, Qu Changlin’s first reaction was not to ask for help, but to desperately crawl back, he was so scared that he covered his head with both hands, as if the ghosts and monsters outside the door did not exist as long as he could not see them.
”What’s wrong with you? Committed a crime? Do you need my help to call the emergency number?”
There was a hint of concern in Chen Ge’s voice, and in Qu Changlin’s impression, ghosts and monsters should not ask such questions.
The fingers that blocked his face revealed a gap, and Qu Changlin saw Chen Ge through the gap.
It was an ordinary, simple face with a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
How could such a person be a bad person?
Qu Changlin waved his hand, he was about to ask Chen Ge for help when he suddenly remembered something, after he was scared out of the dark room by the inverted hanged man, someone had been knocking on the door outside the fourth compartment, there should be a second ghost present in the scene!
Suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, Qu Changlin desperately tried to calm himself down, but his voice was still trembling as he spoke, “Did you hear a strange knocking just now, he had a fixed rhythm, completely different from our usual knocking sound!”
”Knocking sound?” Chen Ge’s brows furrowed, then gradually stretched again, “I know, you heard this sound, right?”
Chen Ge took a step back and reached out to grab the dummy hanging in mid-air, gently shaking it up as the dummy’s head hit the door panel one by one.
”When I came in, I happened to see this dummy swaying back and forth, its head banging against the door of the room, what you just heard should have been this sound.”
Listening to Chen Ge’s words, Qu Changlin was puzzled, the sound coming from the door panel was indeed the sound coming from the dummy banging, but what made him a bit puzzled now was that the voice Chen Ge spoke in made him feel familiar, just now when he was threatened by the ghosts and monsters, the other party seemed to be speaking in this tone!
”Let’s come out first, this toilet smells so bad.” Chen Ge grabbed Qu Changlin’s arm and tried to help him up.
”Don’t come over!” He violently shook off Chen Ge’s hand and sat in the center of the dark room and the single room.
”No, what are you afraid of? Could this be one of the plots of your haunted house? How am I supposed to cooperate with you then?” In order not to create pressure on Qu Changlin, Chen Ge moved his body out of the way and left the exit open for him.
”Acting?” Qu Changlin slumped on the ground for almost a minute before he was able to regain his composure, he saw that Chen Ge really didn’t want to hurt himself and slowly dropped his guard, “You’re a tourist?”
”What do you think? Could it be that I am the ghost in the haunted house and you are the tourist?” Chen Ge’s tone was rather helpless, the way he looked at Qu Changlin was like he was admiring performance art.
Qu Changlin tried to stand up with his hands on the ground, but unfortunately it didn’t work, he wanted to try a second time, but on second thought, wouldn’t it be a bit less pushy to try this in front of the tourists?
In order to maintain his dignity as an employee of the haunted house, Qu Changlin coughed dryly and said in a somewhat unnatural tone, “That’s right, you’re lucky to have discovered the hidden plot in this scene! I’m the key character in the restroom, and now that I’ve been injured by an unjust spirit, you need to assist me to the dean’s office.”
”You’re the key person in the restroom? I read the diary from the haunted house’s freshman ceremony and those words written on the toilet partition, shouldn’t the protagonist of this scene be called Xiao Lin?” Chen Ge wasn’t intentionally tearing down the scene, he was just curious about everything.
”Hehe, actually, I am Xiao Lin.” Qu Changlin said stiffly.
”But the partition says that Xiao Lin is just a kid, and you look like you’re almost running into your third year, don’t you? Your hair is so thin.”
”You ……” Qu Changlin had just been scared half to death, and now he hadn’t slowed down that energy, plus his own mouth was stupid and not talkative, and at this time he was dumbfounded by Chen Ge’s question, and held his head full of sweat.
”Don’t you talk, is the dean’s office? I’ll take you there.” Chen Ge grabbed Qu Changlin’s arm, “Can you stand up?”
Qu Changlin held onto the fender, his legs were a little numb and he looked as if he had just learned to walk.
”You’re getting too into it, aren’t you?” Without saying anything, Chen Ge did an action that surprised even Qu Changlin, he carried Qu Changlin on his back, “You show me the way.”
”Good ……,” Qu Changlin’s heart was a little bit unfavorable, just a few minutes ago he had received a text message from his boss and was ready to scare the tourists in front of him properly, but as a result, after only a few minutes, he was rescued by this tourist.
The cell phone in his pocket vibrated several times in a row, Qu Changlin secretly took the phone out, the call between him and his boss had long been hung up, and on it were several messages from his own boss.
”What are you doing! Big brother! I’m asking you to scare him, not to penance him!”
”Where are the modified mannequins you usually brag about? Didn’t you say that the toilet was laid out with countless mechanisms by you, so that even someone with a heart of stone would be scared to pee if they came in?”
”How come you’re still on his back???”
Looking at a message on his cell phone, Qu Changlin’s heart became even more bitter, he was not talkative and not good at dealing with relationships, at this time he didn’t know how to answer his boss.
The boss was still sending new messages, but Qu Changlin didn’t look at it anymore, helpless, aggravated and worried, he felt like a wreck who couldn’t do anything right, and buried his head even lower.
”This haunted house of yours is really scary, just now when I entered the toilet, I was scared half to death by the doll hanging upside down in mid-air, especially the eyes of the doll, they are just like the real thing, the master who made the doll is really amazing.” Chen Ge seemed to be idly bored and said casually.
”You think that mannequin is scary?” Qu Changlin’s lowered head slowly raised.
”I’ve played so many haunted houses, this is the first time I’ve been scared by a dummy, the master who made the dummy is really a genius, he must have specialized in this area. There is also a great design for the toilet scene, the tourists know that the fourth compartment has a problem, opening the compartment will be attracted by the mirror, just when the tourists’ attention is on the mirror, the mannequins suddenly fall from the ceiling, sounding out the east and striking the west, this trick is beautifully played.” Chen Ge was admiring from the bottom of his heart.
Hearing Chen Ge’s words, Qu Changlin’s eyes took on a slight tinge of color: “It’s not bad, in fact, there are a total of seven organs laid out in the toilet, and this time, there was an accident, and it triggered one of the organs.”
”More than okay, this scene is considered scary in all the haunted house scenes I’ve played, only the background plot makes me a bit upset.” Chen Ge acted as if he was talking to a friend, his voice tone was very natural.
”Plot? I think it’s alright ……”
”I combined the diary and the words on the partition, and I probably figured out the background of the toilet weirdness, Kobayashi was a kid with a weak sense of existence, no one was friends with him, so he liked to attract attention by playing pranks, and in the end, everyone in the class joined together to play a prank on him.”
”Is there a problem with this plot?”
”It’s not whether there’s a problem or not, I just think that Xiao Lin’s tragedy could have been completely avoided.” Chen Ge appeared to be discussing Xiao Lin’s mission with Qu Changlin, but in fact, he was saying something from his heart to Qu Changlin: “A person who deliberately pursues conformity will only make himself live a very tiring life. Giving up one’s own hobbies and habits in order to cater to others is also a very sad thing.”
Qu Changlin nodded slightly without responding.
Chen Ge didn’t care at all and continued, “I’m sorry, I’m going a bit far, in fact, I see the shadow of what I used to be from Xiao Lin, the old me was also like him, afraid of being alone and wanting to have a good relationship with every single person. Until later when I confessed to the girl I liked and she politely rejected me.”
Qu Changlin felt a bit familiar listening to Chen Ge’s encounter, and it resonated in his heart without him realizing it, “It must have been hard to be rejected.”
”Of course, I was in pain for a long time, and during that time I kept encouraging myself, trying to be strong, trying to walk out, but this is something that only someone who has really experienced it would understand how hard it is to walk out!”
Chen Ge’s words simply spoke to Qu Changlin’s heart, and he heavily nodded his head.
”It’s hard to understand this thing called feelings, until one day I overheard a conversation between friends, and the girl I loved so much turned out to hate the way I deliberately catered to others. At that moment I realized that I should find myself again.” Chen Ge’s voice carried a hint of vicissitude that didn’t match his age: “I changed to a new company, where I started a new life, I no longer catered to others, I tried to live, worked hard, and tried to be the best version of myself. Now I have a double harvest of career and love, and I’m a boss myself, so I don’t need to care about fitting in even more.”
Qu Changlin was a little envious just hearing Chen Ge say that, he said sincerely, “You’re awesome.”
”It’s not that I’m awesome, as long as one is willing to change, everyone can do it, including Xiao Lin in the story.” Chen Ge purposely emphasized the word change, “Everyone is the protagonist of their own world, all we have to do is spend our time and energy on things that can strengthen us.”
Eyes became bright, Chen Ge’s words made Qu Changlin deeply moved, “Older brother, I actually have a similar experience to you, I also liked a girl, but now I’m a bit confused ……”
”Don’t be confused, just remember one sentence.” Chen Ge did not lift his head, from the small butterfly where the miscellaneous warehouse doorway walked past: “Do the best yourself, if you bloom, butterflies come.”