Chapter 1182 – When I Have All the Best (Middle)

　　The middle-aged man didn’t believe what Chen Ge said at all, and he stared at Chen Ge very vigilantly before pulling Zhang Ya to his side: “Daughter, is this person your friend or not?”

　　”En, it’s my friend.” Zhang Ya’s face was full of bitter smiles, the scene in front of her was particularly bizarre, the zombie pulling a red-clothed stern ghost, carefully guarding against an ordinary person, “Dad, Chen Ge has just been discharged from the hospital, why don’t we go inside and talk? There are no tourists coming over now anyway.”

　　”Why do we have to go inside to talk? Have you been tricked by him? He entered our haunted house as if he had returned to his own home, he knew where the location was even before I activated the mechanism, this person must have been planning this for a long time!” The middle-aged man was still nagging, Zhang Ya seemed to be feeling a bit embarrassed and forcefully pushed the middle-aged man inside the haunted house.

　　”I haven’t finished yet!”

　　”Chen Ge, come in and chat.” Zhang Ya led Chen Ge into the haunted house again, and she told Chen Ge to sit down at the place where tourists usually signed waivers, “There’s mineral water on the table, so sit here for a while, I’m going to go call my mom, and if she agrees, you’ll be able to work here from now on.”

　　”What do you mean your mom agrees and he can work here? I strongly disagree!” Zhang Ya’s father’s family status seemed to be slightly lower, as he was talking on this side, Zhang Ya had already run to the second floor amongst the Fire Official Village scene.

　　Chen Ge and the middle-aged man sat on both sides of the table, and the middle-aged man felt a hint of embarrassment permeating the air, while on the contrary, Chen Ge was very comfortable.

　　A minute or so later, Zhang Ya and a woman slightly shorter than her walked over.

　　Probably because of the severe ghost makeup, the woman looked less like Zhang Ya’s mother and more like Zhang Ya’s sister.

　　”Mom, he’s Chen Ge who came to apply for the job.” Zhang Ya and the middle-aged woman sat in the middle of the table, and the woman carefully sized up Chen Ge for a moment before slightly shaking her head.

　　”It’s not that I’m not willing to hire him, this young man has a good face and is so sunny looking, I’m afraid he won’t be able to scare anyone by pretending to be a ghost.” Zhang Ya’s mom said in a serious tone.

　　After hearing Zhang Ya’s mom’s words, Chen Ge smiled even more coyly, “Auntie, I’ve actually worked in a haunted house before. How about this, you try me out for half a month, and if I don’t bring big changes to our haunted house, I won’t ask for a salary.”

　　”I’ve long seen that you’re not drunk, working for half a month for nothing? Don’t want a paycheck? Did you come here to get close to Zhang Ya?” The middle-aged man wore a slightly bloated zombie suit and directly waved his hand, “I disagree, the haunted house actor industry is not something that just anyone can do, you have to learn a lot of things if you want to scare the tourists.”

　　He stood up from his seat, “Kid, don’t you see that our haunted house doesn’t have many tourists now, a few years ago we were the most famous haunted house in Xinhai, scaring tourists, we’re professionals.”

　　”Uncle ……”

　　”Don’t call me uncle, I get goosebumps from hearing it.”

　　”Uncle, I see it the same way as you do, the haunted house industry is not about what people simply think about scaring others, a good haunted house allows visitors to vent their negative emotions, and also brings immersive touches to the visitors, I understand what you’re saying very well.” Chen Ge acted professionally as soon as he opened his mouth, and he followed Zhang Ya’s father’s topic.

　　Just by visiting one scene, Chen Ge had stated all the problems with the haunted house at this stage, and more crucially, he had not only pointed out the problems, but also came up with solutions.

　　At first, Zhang Ya’s parents didn’t care, but then they both became mesmerized as they listened.

　　It took half an hour of talking before Chen Ge stopped, and Zhang Ya’s parents had already changed their opinion of him.

　　”I think Little Chen is still very talented, why don’t we let him work for half a month first to try?” Zhang Ya’s mom looked at Zhang Ya’s father.

　　Zhang Ya’s father, who was originally very resistant to Chen Ge, also wavered: “It’s not impossible.”

　　”Then it’s decided.” Zhang Ya’s mother looked at Chen Ge with a smile, “Regardless of whether it’s effective or not, we’ll pay the salary as it is, so don’t worry about it.”

　　”Thanks aunts and uncles, but there’s one more thing I want to make clear to you in advance.” Chen Ge opened his backpack and took out the rehabilitation certificate issued by the hospital and his own identification, “I don’t want to hide anything from you guys, Zhang Ya said before that I was just discharged from the hospital, but in fact, I had a car accident in the past, and later suffered from a more serious paranoia.”

　　Generally when companies recruited, they would not consider people with a history of mental illness, and many applicants would try to hide their past, but Chen Ge did not want to do that.

　　”Delusional disorder? That’s not good!” Zhang Ya’s father slammed the table, “A haunted house actor’s workplace is already depressing and exciting, so you don’t want to have a relapse of your old illness when the time comes! I suggest that it’s better for you to find a relatively easy job.”

　　While Zhang Ya’s father was talking, Zhang Ya’s mother was carefully flipping through Chen Ge’s recovery certificate, and she also saw Chen Ge’s unhealed leg, “It says here that you’ll suffer from paranoia because of your parents?”

　　”En, that car accident took away a lot from me.” Chen Ge’s eyes carried a hint of pain that he couldn’t hide.

　　”Starting tomorrow you’ll come to work at my place, and before your leg heals completely, let Zhang Ya take you first.” Zhang Ya’s mother directly made a decision of, she looked at Chen Ge with some heartache.

　　”Wife? You don’t think about it anymore? What if he suddenly gets sick and hurts the visitors? What if his condition worsens because of this job?” Zhang Ya’s father was more rational: “Your decision is too hasty.”

　　”Who’s child is not a child?”

　　”I don’t agree! Are you kidding me? How can a haunted house hire someone who has suffered from paranoia to be an actor?”

　　”Zhang Ya, take Chen Ge to familiarize yourself with our haunted house scene.” Zhang Ya’s mother didn’t bother with the middle-aged man.

　　”Okay.” Zhang Ya happily grabbed Chen Ge’s arm and walked toward the second floor, with the middle-aged man’s dissatisfaction and nagging behind them.

　　”My dad is rather wordy, but he’s actually very nice. He has saved children from falling into the water in the past, cooperated with the police to solve a case, and won a medal for bravery from the city.” Zhang Ya grabbed Chen Ge’s arm, and because of the narrow passageway inside the haunted house scene, the two of them leaned very close.

　　”Your father is quite powerful.” After Chen Ge heard that Zhang Ya’s father had cooperated with the police to solve a case, he instinctively developed a feeling of admiration, as if people who had done such things were worthy of his admiration and learning.

　　”He’s just a knife’s mouth and a tofu’s heart, he was the one who first discovered the white cat in the beginning, and he even sneaked over to feed the cat himself, only to get scratched in the face.” Zhang Ya said and couldn’t help but smile, “Your cat feels so smart, won’t let anyone else get close, touching it doesn’t work, but the only one who is particularly obedient to me, let it do what it does.”

　　”Maybe that cat …… remembers something that we don t remember.” Chen Ge whispered.

　　The interior of the haunted house was not large, and it took half an hour for Chen Ge to visit all the scenes.

　　Almost the instant he finished the tour, he already had a complete revised plan, “The first floor is the zombie resurrection night, the second floor is the underworld wedding scene, the third floor scene is not open because of the lack of manpower, I want to change the status quo of the haunted house, I can only start with these three scenes.”

　　Without the need for Zhang Ya’s guidance, Chen Ge went to the staff lounge, found paper and a pen, and began to write his revised plan.

　　He seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of scare point design plans in his mind, and he wrote like a god.

　　Zhang Ya, who was next to him, just silently watched Chen Ge’s focused and serious appearance, and didn’t bother him.

　　It probably only took ten minutes for Chen Ge to finish his preliminary design, “These scare points don’t need too many props, just adding some small organs will do the trick.”

　　”How did you think of all this? It’s awesome!”

　　”It’s like they were originally in my mind.” Chen Ge smiled embarrassedly, “The Zombie Resurrection Night and Fire Officer Village are still in charge of Auntie and Uncle, and I decided to name the new scene Midnight Escape, and I’ll be in charge of this scene.”

　　”You can?” Zhang Ya hugged the white cat and questioned Chen Ge’s ability, “Scaring people is a technical job, it can’t be too deliberate or boring.”

　　”Don’t worry.” Chen Ge took the design and found Zhang Ya’s parents.

　　The other party was obviously someone who knew what they were doing, and after Chen Ge only made a simple explanation, they understood it all.

　　”Iron sharpens iron, let’s rectify the haunted house first, and then we’ll figure out how to publicize it after it’s all finished.” Chen Ge found another disclaimer agreement and said after reading the various clauses, “We need to add a few more clauses additionally, if a visitor gets scared unconscious in the haunted house, it has nothing to do with our haunted house.”

　　”Scared unconscious is a little difficult, isn’t it?”

　　”Be prepared.” Chen Ge still had a smile on his face, “After the internal rectification of the haunted house, the next most important thing is publicity, we first have to do our best to attract tourists inside the amusement park, after protecting the basic plate, we can use short videos and live broadcasts to increase the heat on the internet, I have a lot of good video ideas. But this can’t be rushed, we have to do it slowly, the fans will gradually increase, and eventually the quantitative change will form a qualitative change.”

　　”Just leave the shooting to me, the scene will be chosen on the third floor of the haunted house.” Chen Ge had actually thought about it all before he said it.

　　”Will you exposing the inner structure of the haunted house by filming in the haunted house? The tourists all know what’s inside the scene, and their desire to visit will definitely decrease.” Zhang Ya’s father wasn’t too agreeable.

　　”First of all, we need to get people interested, as for the matter that will expose the inner workings of the haunted house, you don’t have to worry about it at all. I know very many horror scene designs that don’t need to be overhauled, as long as they keep adding to the original foundation, they can bring a completely different and exciting experience.” Chen Ge paused for a moment, “In other words, if tourists come in to visit according to the video I shot, they will definitely get double the pleasure.”

　　Zhang Ya’s father didn’t quite understand Chen Ge’s words, and he still wasn’t too sure about Chen Ge, “Are you sure you can be in charge of a scene alone? The injury on your leg hasn’t healed yet.”

　　”It’s okay, I just need to walk slowly through the haunted house, sometimes you don’t need to run too fast to play a homicidal maniac, as long as you let the tourists know that I’m approaching, and give them enough of a sense of oppression.” Chen Ge handed over all the plans he had written to Zhang Ya’s father, “Let’s go revise the haunted house scene now, shall we? The faster we get it done, the faster our business will get better.”

　　”You’re too competent as an employee, I always feel that your kid is scheming.” Zhang Ya’s father’s gaze began to move between Chen Ge and Zhang Ya again until he was forcefully dragged away by Zhang Ya’s mother.

　　Chen Ge was a man of action, he didn’t have any nonsense, and accompanied by Zhang Ya, he went directly to the third floor and started remodeling the haunted house scene a little bit.

　　Although Zhang Ya’s father didn’t feel like treating Chen Ge well, in reality, no matter what materials and props Chen Ge needed, he would get them at the first opportunity.

　　Immersed in his work, Chen Ge didn’t feel tired even with Zhang Ya’s company.

　　This kind of peaceful life with a running start seemed to be what he had been pursuing.

　　……

　　In three days, Chen Ge and Zhang Ya’s parents slowly mingled.

　　After the park closed, Zhang Ya and her parents would go back to their own homes to live, while Chen Ge lived in the staff lounge and was also catching up on work at night, rarely resting.

　　Every morning, Zhang Ya would bring Chen Ge an extra breakfast. At noon, Chen Ge would follow Zhang Ya’s family to eat together in the haunted house.

　　Although the time they spent together was relatively short, Zhang Ya’s mom found Chen Ge more and more pleasing to her eyes, and she found that Chen Ge had almost no shortcomings, not to mention that he was very hardworking, and his hands-on skills were extremely strong, what with sewing, installing monitors, making dolls, and even his makeup skills were a masterpiece.

　　Zhang Ya also liked to stay with Chen Ge, even if she didn’t talk, she wouldn’t feel bored just watching Chen Ge work.

　　Although Zhang Ya’s father still nagged, he also accepted Chen Ge, only occasionally complaining that his family status seemed to have gotten lower again.

　　Life was like a stream in the mountains, babbling along, calm and beautiful. The smile on Chen Ge’s face was also getting bigger and bigger, he was busy until late every day, so tired that he seldom even dreamed when he went to bed, and he loved everything that was hard-won.

　　After two more days, the interior of the haunted house was completely remodeled, Chen Ge convinced Zhang Ya’s father and the management of the park to do an activity, to be able to pass three scenes at once, and the screams do not exceed one hundred and twenty decibels of the tourists rewarded ten thousand dollars.

　　The ten thousand dollars was sponsored by Zhang Ya’s father, and the park was only responsible for repeated broadcasts.

　　With the help of this activity, Chen Ge attracted a large number of tourists, and the originally cold western half of the park instantly became lively.

　　Seeing so many people come, Zhang Ya’s father immediately regretted it.

　　However, the best part came later, the first batch of tourists who went in all “died” in the midnight escape scene.

　　Chen Ge is also forced to do nothing, 10,000 money fast for him now is a huge sum of money, in order to keep the bonus, this even the doctor can deceive the patient to use all their skills.

　　Tourists visit the haunted house and play until they pass out and cry in fear, the heat of the haunted house instantly soared, and more and more people know about this place.

　　By the time the park closed, Chen Ge, Zhang Ya, and Zhang Ya’s father were all tired and slumped on the table, as if they were three sun-dried salted fish.

　　Zhang Ya’s mother, on the other hand, stared at the computer monitor with glowing eyes, she calculated today’s ticket money and was so happy that the more she looked at Chen Ge, the more she appreciated him.

　　”All get up! Let’s go out to a restaurant together tonight!”

　　Several people changed their clothes and went outside to eat.

　　Zhang Ya’s mom tugged Zhang Ya’s father to sit on one side of the dining table, and as she looked at Zhang Ya and Chen Ge, who were sitting on the opposite side of the table, a mysterious smile would appear on her face from time to time.

　　At the end of the dinner, Zhang Ya’s mom suddenly said that she forgot to lock the door at home, and after she settled the bill, she directly dragged Zhang Ya’s father away, leaving Chen Ge and Zhang Ya at the table.

　　”Auntie and Uncle are so nice, they even invited me to dinner.” This feeling of home hadn’t been experienced by Chen Ge for a long time.

　　There were no images of eating with relatives or friends in his memory at all, and he felt that even if he hadn’t lost his memory, he guessed that the person who accompanied him the most would have been that white cat.

　　”You’ve really worked too hard these past few days, eat more.” Zhang Ya seemed to have guessed the reason for her mother’s sudden departure, she lowered her head and her voice became much more delicate as she spoke.

　　The two of them ate and chatted, always finding topics to talk about, they seemed to have a heart to heart, and it was as if they had a kind of soul resonance.