Uncle Xu genuinely had
"I think it's worth a shot. The park hasn't finished being built yet — there's still a chance for a comeback." Chen Ge's trump card was the Black Phone, which he naturally would never tell anyone about.
"You usually seem like a sharp kid. Why do you go stupid at the crucial moments? Can't you see which way the wind is blowing? I've been in this park for ten years — my feelings for it are no less than yours — but we still have to face reality." Uncle Xu pointed at several amusement facilities in the park that had been shut down. "Do you know why they stopped running? Not because they failed inspection, but because the moment you turn them on, they're burning money. If only one or two visitors come to ride, you'll never recoup the cost. Let me put it in more concrete terms: when New Century Amusement Park first opened, the entrance was packed solid — there weren't even enough parking spots, and visitors had to squeeze into spaces at neighboring businesses. They eventually built the underground parking garage, which helped somewhat, but starting three years ago, even during peak holiday periods, the ground-level parking spots have never been fully filled. Visitor numbers have dropped year after year, and this year hit a new low."
"Uncle Xu, wait — you said that starting three years ago, even during peak holiday periods, the ground-level spots were never full? Then the underground garage hasn't been used in three years? It's basically abandoned?" Chen Ge's eyes sharpened, making Uncle Xu somewhat uncomfortable.
"Exactly. Back when New Century Amusement Park first opened, there were cars and people everywhere. Every attraction had a one- or two-hour wait. That was our most glorious period. It's a shame the city has forgotten us now." Uncle Xu reminisced about the past and couldn't help but sigh. "Still, no point being too sentimental. At least we had our glory days, right?"
"Uncle Xu, if I wanted to rent the underground parking garage, how much would that run?"
"What?" Uncle Xu was thrown off by Chen Ge's abrupt change of topic. "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
"I want to make use of the underground garage. It's sitting in a half-abandoned state, and from the look of things, the park won't be needing it anytime soon." A plan was already forming in Chen Ge's mind — one that would make maximum use of the haunted house expansion opportunity granted by the Black Phone.
"Are you crazy? What would you even rent it for — to raise bats?" Uncle Xu had no idea how to communicate with Chen Ge anymore.
"I want to expand the haunted house. Given my current financial situation, the underground garage is the most suitable location. The rent is cheap, and the environment won't have too much of an impact on the haunted house." The park would find out what he was doing eventually anyway, so Chen Ge didn't hide this.
"You've lost your mind! Isn't a three-story haunted house enough for you to play with? Do you know how big that underground garage is? Even if I rented it to you, by the time you finished setting up, the park would have gone belly-up." Uncle Xu waved his hand dismissively. "Stop being foolish and get back to work."
"Uncle Xu, I'm serious."
"Well, do I look like I'm joking?" Uncle Xu switched the walkie-talkie back on and headed toward the crowd. After walking a few paces, he turned back and said to Chen Ge, "Five thousand yuan. I'll bring it tomorrow morning. Just do your job properly and stop having these bizarre ideas."
"Okay, got it." Chen Ge trailed behind Uncle Xu, glancing at the cluster of tourists gathered at the haunted house entrance to watch the commotion. He pursed his lips. "I don't really feel like visitor numbers are dropping year after year. My haunted house never had anyone coming to it in the first place."
He squeezed through the crowd and walked up to the medical students. "Guys, that's enough. People who don't know better would think I did something terrible to you."
"Give me a second to recover… that haunted house of yours is brutal."
"What are you looking at? I'm not scared — I just twisted my ankle while touring the inside and couldn't stand up, that's all."
"What do I do? Now I see everyone and think they're a killer…"
"Stop pretending. This haunted house really is something else." Monkey climbed up from the steps, raised his phone to show the five-star review, and stood in front of Chen Ge. "But business is business — don't think this makes us admit defeat."
"Oh? So you're coming back tomorrow?"
"If I didn't happen to have an exam tomorrow, you think I wouldn't dare come?" Monkey talked a big game, though his pale lips and still-trembling legs rather undercut the effect.
"You're welcome anytime, of course." Chen Ge had all but adopted the Jiujiang Forensic Medical College students as his mascots.
"I'm never coming back. Even if you beat me to death — I'd sooner jump off the roof than set foot in here again." Heshan looked at Chen Ge with a look of deep, wounded resentment. He had genuinely been terrified by that pair of eyes in the door crack.
"Don't jinx yourself, junior." Xiao Hui pressed down on Heshan's shoulder and stood up, shooting Chen Ge a venomous glare. "You're the first man to make me cry my makeup off. I'll remember your face."
Chen Ge couldn't bring himself to pile on when he noticed the sizable bump on the back of Xiao Hui's head. He simply smiled and said nothing.
The forensic medical students helped each other toward the park gate. After they had gone some distance, Brother Feng came running back alone. His expression was conflicted as he said to Chen Ge, "After I calmed down, I thought about your question for a long time. I still can't believe it. I think it probably has something to do with the brain's nerves and certain stress responses."
Chen Ge understood exactly what he meant. "Maybe. Oh, I never asked — what's your full name?"
"He Feng. I'm older than all of them, and I'm heading out for fieldwork training in a few days."
"Alright, hope we meet again sometime."
The two exchanged phone numbers, and Chen Ge returned to the haunted house. He pulled up the safety barrier and hung out the sign reading "Equipment Maintenance — Closed for the Day."
"Boss, there are still lots of visitors waiting outside! Why are you closing?"
"Hit a small snag. That's it for today — go explain the situation to the visitors." Chen Ge took off the Skull Crushing Doctor jacket, ducked into the tool room, cut some lengths of black cloth, and carried them into the Midnight Pursuit scene.
He covered the mirrors one by one, but there were too many rooms, and he eventually ran short of fabric. "This scene is too large. Until the surveillance cameras are installed, I can't risk letting visitors in. If something happened in a blind spot, the consequences would be unthinkable."
He locked the door to the Midnight Pursuit scene, then went back downstairs. Most of the visitors outside the haunted house had dispersed, with only one or two still lingering.
"Xiao Wan, take off your makeup and clock out. That's a wrap for today."
After passing along a few words to