Amidst heated online discussions, the third episode of "Morbid" finally arrived, and the mere news of its release immediately climbed into the top ten trending topics. The sheer volume of comments on the show was staggering, forcing many viewers to disable their media filtering to properly watch it.
"I've finished reading the update, and I have mixed feelings."
"When I saw Fu Wei say 'escape,' I nodded frantically, 'Run!'"
"But they have no money, and they only have two children. Where can they go?"
"And ID cards and stuff too..."
"Take an unlicensed taxi?"
"I don't have the money to take an unlicensed taxi... Ugh, so annoying, it feels like I can't go anywhere."
"The official suggestion box is open. You only have ten minutes to submit your suggestions, so hurry up and do so."
"Don't go there, the link is so slow it took me three minutes to send out my comment."
"I just submitted my opinion; ten minutes is such a short time."
"There's no way around it, there are just too many people. If it takes too long, we won't be able to keep up with the audience, and then how will we finish the script and start filming?"
"We've already received over 60,000 comments. I think it's unlikely we can collect that much in ten minutes."
"The high-frequency word selection system is so useful at this time."
Just as netizens suspected, the production team was frantically processing the 400,000+ comments collected in just ten minutes. Keep in mind, this is actually a relatively small number. The open access time and network issues have significantly reduced their workload. After all, with Gu Yingdi's over 90 million fans, even one comment from each would be incredibly difficult. Thinking about it this way, looking at these 400,000+ comments suddenly doesn't seem like so many!
"First, we need to systematically analyze high-frequency keywords," the director said.
The screenwriter also came over to take a look, and the most frequently occurring words in the netizens' opinions were pretty much what they had guessed. Everyone disapproved of the two main characters' current situation and hoped that they could just escape like this, never come back, and start a new life.
"Don't you have any unique suggestions?" the screenwriter asked, and a staff member who was processing feedback handed him his phone: "Take a look at this one."
This opinion comes from a netizen named "Mantianguohai": Running away isn't realistic. I think you can run, but you can't go far, and you'll eventually have to come back and face it. The mark instilled in a person from childhood has such a profound impact; there's only one true way to escape it…
The screenwriter scoffed, "He only says half of what he means, and he's half as short as he used to be!"
The production team roughly considered the opinions of netizens and finally started revising the script to take into account the public's thoughts. They worked through the night, and the next day at noon, Ye Chu received the script for the fourth episode of "Morbid".
The two children had agreed to run away together, but they had nothing left. The only things they had were the money Zhao Qing had put in his pocket and forgotten about when he bought books, and the ten yuan Fu Wei had earned from washing dishes. All together, they only had twenty yuan.
"A garbage truck will come to the landfill to collect the garbage later." Zhao Qing found a twig and drew an X on the ground: "Let's go to the landfill and hitch a ride on the truck."
The garbage truck smelled awful, but they had to endure it if they wanted to get out. The two men huddled in the garbage heap, the stench permeating the air, each seeing the other's face, green with stench.
The garbage truck swayed and rocked its way along the road. Naturally, the two of them couldn't follow the truck to the garbage disposal station. Fortunately, there was a public toilet along the way, which was the only place to relieve themselves in this section. So, the two of them got off the truck while the driver went to the toilet.
Zhao Qing raised her hand to sniff her own body, then gagged.
"I smell awful," she said. Fu Wei nodded, his brows furrowed. He was very concerned about the wet patch on his shirt, and he didn't even know what kind of water it was from the trash...
"Let's go." Zhao Qing glanced at the road sign: "This small road leads to a place to stay."
"How did you know?" Fu Wei asked. Zhao Qing glanced at him and quietly replied, "She brought me here before. Someone was buying a child." The two walked slowly, keeping a respectful distance between them. Zhao Qing's voice echoed in the quiet street.
“She arrived on an unlicensed motorcycle. She didn’t sell anything, so I made a huge scene and even bit her.”
Zhao Qing wasn't lying. If you went a little deeper into the road, you would indeed see a few scattered houses. There was one house that was quite tall, with three floors, and a sign hanging at the door that said "Accommodation." I don't know which crazy city person would come to a place like this.
The accommodation was managed by an elderly woman whose eyesight was failing. She mistook them for outsiders and charged five yuan for the smallest room to stay overnight. Zhao Qing, speaking fluent Mandarin, asked the woman where to shower, where to wash clothes, and what they could do the next day.
Grandma first complimented the visitor's pleasant voice, then said that the wind was strong at night and the clothes would be dry by morning. To take a bath, one had to fetch water from the small house behind the house, boil the hot water, fill a bucket, and then use a ladle to scoop water for washing. Clothes were washed there as well and hung to dry on the small balcony of the house. The water supply to their small village had just been shut off.
To save money, the two of them squeezed into one room. Since the clothes had been washed, Zhao Qing was wrapped in a rough bath towel provided by her grandmother. Fu Wei gave her the bed and blanket and slept on the floor.
The next day, just as Grandma had said, the clothes were dried by the wind. Zhao Qing smelled them; because soap pods had been used, the unpleasant smell was gone.
The two tidied themselves up, took the half-eaten biscuit given to them by their grandmother, and continued on their way. They walked for quite a while before reaching a dilapidated train station. The station was very small, and the sign was rusty, but still legible.
"There's a bus into the city in half an hour." Fu Wei glanced at the clock on the wall of the station, thankfully they didn't know the time. The two of them went to buy tickets together, but since they didn't have ID cards, the ticket seller's gaze changed immediately.
"No ID?" The two young men in front of her didn't look like criminals. After a moment's thought, the ticket seller assumed they were a couple who had eloped.
"If you don't have an ID card, it's easy to get a small chartered car, which is quite crowded."
“Okay.” Fu Wei stuck out her tongue and licked her dry lips, took out a crumpled seven yuan from her pocket, and received two white tickets with red stamps.
The small chartered bus was really crowded. Zhao Qing was huddled in a corner of the bus, with Fu Wei next to her. As people kept squeezing in, Fu Wei could only try to block Zhao Qing with her body.
"Thank you," Zhao Qing said softly. Her impression of this person had changed considerably, and she no longer cared about his previous mockery. The car reeked of sweat, and the air was terrible. By the time they got out, their complexions, which had just improved, had turned pale and green again.
This was Zhao Qing's first time in the city. Chen Rou had never taken her out before, and most of what she knew came from what others had told her. Fu Wei was alright; his life before the age of ten was relatively good, and he had been to the city before, but he didn't remember much.
“We…” Zhao Qing looked at the place, which was completely different from the little corner they had taken before, and fearfully grabbed Fu Wei’s clothes, muttering, “Where should we go now?”
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