"Zhang Wenyu?" Feeling the cold emanating from the man's palm,
The man in red thought Chen Ge was a decent person. He quietly withdrew his hand, suddenly at a loss for words. In life, he had never met anyone who truly understood him. He never expected to find one after death.
"Among the deceased whose wishes you carry, are there any that can be fulfilled right here in Jiujiang? Let's start with the ones that are closer. For the ones that require traveling far, I'll need to prepare in advance."
Chen Ge meant what he said — he genuinely wanted to help the man in red fulfill the suicide victims' last wishes.
The man didn't speak immediately. He wasn't sure whether he should go through with this. After all, he was the one who bore all the obsessions of the dead.
"Don't worry. I have no ulterior motive, and I won't ask you to do anything in return. Helping you is just something I'm doing on the way. You should know that with the way you are now, many of the deceased's wishes would be nearly impossible for you to fulfill. But I'm different — I'm a living person. Situations where you can't conveniently appear, just leave those to me." Chen Ge was telling the truth, and the man in red was visibly swayed. It seemed he had indeed encountered plenty of difficulties while trying to carry out those wishes.
"Fine, then I'll stop being coy about it." The man in red looked Chen Ge straight in the eye, and the crimson haze in his gaze vanished completely. "You help me fulfill the suicide victims' wishes, and in return, I can help you do things that don't go against my own principles."
"You'd help me?"
"That's right. You help me complete one suicide victim's wish, and I'll do one thing for you. Fair, isn't it?"
Chen Ge hadn't expected the man to be so straightforward. Under the man in red's insistence, he finally "reluctantly" agreed.
"The writer's wish is to make a horror film that's loved by many and earns high box office numbers. The amusement park mascot performer wants to confirm whether the landlord received the utility payments he left on his luggage. The cancer patient's wish is for someone to look after his family. Once you've fulfilled these three wishes, I'll tell you about the rest of the suicide victims' wishes. I hope we can put all their regrets to rest." The man in red finished speaking and turned away. "To contact me, just call that number."
"Mm, I've already memorized it."
Chen Ge watched the man in red leave. The dark figure walked along the railway tracks, growing smaller and smaller, until it disappeared entirely.
"Even smoother than I imagined. I'll find time to knock out these wishes first. When I run into danger in the eastern suburbs, this brother of mine probably won't just stand by and watch."
Chen Ge planned to resolve everything in the eastern suburbs before the Virtual Future Amusement Park opened. He didn't waste any time — he grabbed his backpack and headed off in the opposite direction from the man in red.
"Of the three wishes, the park employee's is the easiest to fulfill. The cancer patient's isn't too hard either. The tricky one is the writer — he wants to make a horror film with both critical acclaim and box office success. That's a tall order." Chen Ge couldn't quite figure out why a writer's final obsession would be to make a movie.
"A qualified haunted house employee would also make an excellent actor. I've got the cast covered, no problem there. The real question is: who's going to watch it? How do I make sure it's both a hit with critics and a box office draw?" Chen Ge knew absolutely nothing about filmmaking. "
Making a horror film that could truly blow up was incredibly difficult, and Chen Ge wasn't planning to attempt it anytime soon. "I've got plenty of actors, but I lack technical expertise and funding. I'll keep an eye out for talent in that area down the road. If it really does take off, it'd be great publicity for my haunted house."
He took a cab back to the Children's Amusement Park and knocked on the landlord's door once again.
"Sister, I'm here about my friend again. Did you ever find the money he left on his luggage for the utility bills?"