Chapter 1113: A "Warm and Harmonious" Daily Routine

The Ghost Pen Fairy stood blankly beside Chang Gu, still confused about what had just happened. Everyone had been doing screen tests, and she had simply followed Chang Gu's instructions and made a few expressions.

"I never expected the first one from my haunted house to debut would be the Ghost Pen Fairy. My diligent coaching hasn't been in vain." Chen Ge glanced at the Ghost Pen Fairy with satisfaction, then asked, "So has the male lead been decided?"

"I'm a bit torn on the male lead. In terms of acting chops, that employee of yours surnamed Zhou is truly remarkable—better than any actor I've ever worked with. The problem is he's too old. Our show is a campus youth comedy; he'd be more suitable playing the heroine's father." Chang Gu looked at Old Zhou and Bai Qiulin, who were deliberately strolling back and forth nearby, and sighed helplessly. "Honestly, the person in your haunted house best suited for the male lead is Xu Yin. His eyes seem to hold an ocean of sorrow within them—he carries a naturally melancholic air. His age is about right too. Most importantly, his looks would absolutely crush the majority of male actors his age. He was practically born to be a protagonist!"

"Then let Xu Yin play the male lead." To Chen Ge, it didn't matter who took the role. He hoped Xu Yin could use this experience to slowly step out of his own world and see the scenery outside. Among all the haunted house employees, Xu Yin was the most loyal. To protect Chen Ge, he had nearly been scattered to nothing on multiple occasions. So no matter what, Chen Ge wanted to help Xu Yin rediscover hope.

"Since you agree, you should have a good talk with him—work on his mindset. The male lead has a huge amount of dialogue, and him just repeating 'it hurts' over and over won't cut it." Chang Gu was somewhat afraid of Xu Yin and didn't dare speak too loudly around him.

"You can't force everything. Try to shorten the male lead's lines as much as possible, or find other ways to express his character."

"That's difficult. We're not like those adaptation teams out there who don't respect the source material. We owe it to the late author." On certain matters, Chang Gu still maintained strong professional standards.

"Fine. I'll go have a proper chat with him later." Chen Ge followed Chang Gu as they moved between the Psychic Ghost School and Muyang High School sets. "Have you cast the other somewhat important roles yet? I promised one of my employees I'd help her act in a film. Her name is Duan Yue, and she was an English teacher when she was alive."

"The investor forcing people into the cast? Now there's a scene I've seen before." Chang Gu had been about to refuse, but after recalling Duan Yue, he changed his mind. "I remember—that teacher has great acting skills too. How about we make her the heroine's homeroom teacher? In the original story, this teacher is always helping the heroine, and later she ends up with the heroine's father."

"Damn, if Old Zhou heard this plotline, he'd probably die laughing all over again." Chen Ge nodded. "You'd better check with Duan Yue first and see if she's willing."

"Okay, let me go over the remaining roles with you as well." Chang Gu was extremely capable. The characters he chose matched the actors' own personalities perfectly—there was hardly any need for real acting. They just had to be themselves to bring the roles to life.

Excluding the extras, there were nine important characters in total. The plot of this youth comedy wasn't actually very complicated—it mainly told the story of a girl from a single-parent family who overcomes her depression with the help of her father and school.

It was a story about youth and about growth, filled with positive energy as well as the inevitable pain that comes with maturing.

A series of absurd little incidents came together to form a clever narrative.

The story wasn't long, was highly dramatic, had clear conflicts, and was relatively low in terms of filming difficulty—all reasons why Chang Gu had chosen this work to adapt.

"Hurry up and start filming. I'm leaving everything else to you. It'd be best to have it done within a week." Chen Ge didn't know when the Cursed Hospital would come looking for him. Gaining Zhang Wenyu's trust as soon as possible could only benefit him.

"Who would've thought that after death, I could finally devote myself wholeheartedly to what I love. The irony isn't lost on me. Don't worry—I absolutely won't let you down." Chang Gu gave Chen Ge a "military pledge," promising to show him results within five days.

Chen Ge also felt that Chang Gu was quite reliable, so he didn't press further and handed everything over to him.

He was just an ordinary person. He couldn't compare to vengeful ghosts or red-robed spirits. After staying up most of the night, he was completely exhausted.

The moment Chen Ge left the underground set, and just as Chang Gu was about to start filming, a small figure secretly grabbed hold of Chang Gu's clothes.

Startled, Chang Gu turned to look and found a red-robed spirit—barely reaching his knees—staring up at him.

"Do red-robed spirits just roam freely around this place?!" Chang Gu's body went rigid. He was discovering that Chen Ge's haunted house was even more terrifying than the Psychic Ghost School.

"Director Chang, my name's Men Nan. Do you think there's any role that suits me? I've wanted to see myself on television since I was a little kid. It's kind of a dream of mine."

If it were just any kid, Chang Gu could have ignored the request. But when that kid was a red-robed spirit, it was a completely different matter.

"Sure, no problem. How about I give you the role of the heroine's younger brother? He exists in the original story too, though he doesn't have much screen time."

"It doesn't matter how much screen time there is, as long as I get to appear." Men Nan left with great satisfaction, and Chang Gu finally relaxed. He took a step forward, but then a full-body shudder hit him as he caught the thick scent of blood.

He turned to look. A headless female ghost in red stood at the corner, holding her own head, staring straight at him.

She didn't say a single word—just stared at Chang Gu with the severed head cradled in her arms.

"Hello..." Chang Gu immediately switched to a respectful tone. He forced himself to walk toward her, reasoning that it was probably safer to approach her on his own than to have her follow behind him.

The headless ghost understood what Chang Gu meant, but the accumulated resentment and hatred made it hard for her to express her thoughts.

"You'd like to act too? As it happens, I have a role that suits you perfectly. You don't need to speak—just silently offer your blessings."

Chang Gu's face had gone pale, and he spoke with extreme caution. Filming elsewhere cost money—filming here cost your life!

The headless ghost said nothing. She simply bobbed the head in her arms a few times, then turned and left.

Only after the headless ghost had gone far away did Chang Gu let out a breath of relief. "I need to get to work right now before even more red-robed spirits show up."

...

At eight in the morning, the first thing Chen Ge did upon waking was head underground. He notified Chang Gu that all filming would take place at night—the haunted house still had to operate during the day.

The vengeful ghost employees didn't need rest. After filming all night, they were still full of energy, cracking their knuckles and eagerly preparing to greet the visitors. They were nothing if not dedicated.

The employees returned to their respective posts, while Chang Gu used the daytime hours to begin editing the footage from the night's shoot. Pulling an all-nighter and still going strong—this director was something else.

At eight-fifteen, Xu Wan and the others arrived one after another. Chen Ge applied their makeup, then headed into the employee break room alone.

He had organized the suicide victims' last wishes from Zhang Wenyu's side. These victims were mostly concentrated in the northern and southern suburbs of Hanjiang, with some having died in the border area between Xinhai and Hanjiang.

"This many people?" Chen Ge printed out all the information and stuffed it into his backpack, planning to go out during the day to help Zhang Wenyu fulfill some of the suicide victims' wishes.

Most of those wishes weren't complicated, but there were a few that Zhang Wenyu, as a red-robed spirit, couldn't very well handle himself.