Chen Ge and Zhang Ya chatted until very late before leaving the restaurant. They stood under the dim street lights, looking at the city in front of them.
"Your leg hasn't healed yet, let me take you home." Without the ghost makeup, Zhang Ya now had a different kind of beauty.
"Let me take you home. It's too late. I'm worried about you going home alone." Chen Ge stopped a taxi and got in with Zhang Ya.
Both of them were sitting in the back seat, and probably because the driver was there, they didn't say anything.
One looked out the window silently, and the other looked down at his hands.
When they arrived at the gate of the residential complex where Zhang Ya lived, Chen Ge dropped her off again and watched her enter the corridor before leaving.
Looking at Zhang Ya's back, Chen Ge had an indescribable feeling in his heart. It wasn't entirely love, but there seemed to be a hint of pain in the sweetness.
"Reality is so beautiful. I haven't dreamed for a long time."
Chen Ge walked aimlessly along the sidewalk, not wanting to take a taxi.
The city before him was prosperous and beautiful, but he always felt that he did not fit in here, like a lonely forgotten person.
"I won't work tonight. I'll have a good sleep."
It was past midnight when Chen Ge returned to the haunted house. He skillfully opened the guardrail of the haunted house, lifted the blackout curtain, and entered the staff lounge of the haunted house.
The white cat was lying on the table tearing up the box of cat food. When it saw Chen Ge, it immediately jumped to the side, as if to say that it had nothing to do with the cat food on the floor.
"I seem to have done this action countless times. It seems that I have lived in this room for a long time before."
Beauty is intoxicating. At first, Chen Ge thought he could handle anything calmly, but now he realizes that he is not as strong as he thought.
He could face all kinds of perverted murderers and strange curses calmly, but he would feel nervous when riding in a car with Zhang Ya.
“What have I been pursuing all this time?”
Lying on the wooden bed, Chen Ge felt as if his body was sunk into the quilt, wrapped in warmth. The fatigue in his body gradually dissipated, and sleepiness slowly rose up.
The next morning, Chen Ge was woken up by the alarm clock. He went into the bathroom, washed his face, and then looked at himself in the mirror: "I didn't have any dreams last night."
This was the first time Chen Ge had taken a good look at himself since he woke up. Sometimes he even had a vague memory of his own appearance.
"When I was in the hospital, Dr. Gao would ask me every day if I had any dreams last night? What did I dream about? Are dreams important to me?"
Chen Ge didn't quite understand. In his opinion, dreams were just dreams. They were not part of delusion, nor did they have a deep connection with reality.
The water splashed onto the mirror while washing his face. When Chen Ge reached out to wipe the mirror, he suddenly saw from the mirror that the door of the toilet cubicle was open.
A flash of lightning seemed to flash through his mind, and he turned to look at the door of the toilet cubicle.
Chen Ge slowly pushed open the door of the compartment, and there was nothing inside.
Chen Ge heaved a sigh of relief, and his heart dropped back into his stomach: "Everything in this world is normal, and yet it feels like nothing in this world is normal."
Without closing the cubicle door, Chen Ge walked out of the bathroom, ready to start a new day of business.
The park opened at nine in the morning, but before it started business, there was already a long line of tourists outside, some of whom were young people who came specifically to play in the haunted house.
“Xiao Chen, let’s clean the haunted house together from now on. Your leg hasn’t healed yet, so don’t rush to do all the work. You won’t get tired out if you do.” Zhang Ya’s mother took good care of Chen Ge. It felt like she was treating Chen Ge as a family member.
"It's okay. The doctor also said that more exercise will help with recovery." Chen Ge brought the white cat into the third floor scene. The midnight killer he played had become the signature character of the haunted house.
Oddly enough, there are many tourists who have visited the scene on the third floor, but different tourists have different descriptions of the killer.
Some said that they saw a bloodthirsty madman on the third floor. He was hysterical and cruel, and he seemed to want to tear anyone he saw to pieces.
Some said that they met a strange tourist on the third floor, and after kindly joining the stranger, they ended up being wiped out.
Some people also said that there was no murderer on the third floor, but the third floor seemed to be haunted.
Chen Ge has mastered several different styles of killers and can switch between them at will. It is obviously the same person, but each time he gives people a different feeling. In addition, the light in the haunted house is very dim, so most tourists think that there are several actors hidden in this scene.
During the lunch break, Chen Ge walked out of the haunted house and prepared to ask Zhang Ya something.
As soon as he opened the blackout curtain, he saw several young men surrounding Zhang Ya, seemingly arguing about something.
"What happened?" Chen Ge moved closer to Zhang Ya. He glanced at the young men and felt that they looked familiar.
"We heard that your haunted house had an event where you could win 10,000 yuan if you could clear three scenes in a row, so we bought tickets and came here to play." The young man who spoke looked honest and simple. "But she said that your event had ended."
"The event has indeed ended, but if you really want to have a chance, I can pay 5,000 yuan out of my own pocket to play with you." Chen Ge smiled, like a good and sunny older brother next door: "If you can pass the level smoothly and don't scream more than 120 decibels, I will reward you with 5,000 yuan. If you fail, you can promote the haunted house to your relatives and friends."
There was a reward of 5,000 yuan for winning and no penalty for losing, so it was a guaranteed profit and all the young people agreed.
"Chen Ge, don't be impulsive." Zhang Ya quietly tugged at Chen Ge's clothes: "They are students of Xinhai Medical College. Some of them have dissected real corpses. They are very brave."
"Xinhai Medical College?" Chen Ge thought for a while, then looked at the two leading students: "Can you tell me your names?"
"My name is Heshan, and this is my senior Gao Ruxue."
Chen Ge's eyes swept across the students in front of him, finally stopping on Gao Ruxue.
The moment he saw Gao Ruxue, a strange wound on Chen Ge's back began to bleed, and waves of stinging pain spread into Chen Ge's heart, as if someone was hammering nails into the back of his hand.
"Chen Ge, your hand is bleeding!" Zhang Ya pulled Chen Ge to her side.
"I think I accidentally rubbed it in the haunted house." Chen Ge had always felt strange about the wound on the back of his hand. His fractured leg was almost healed, but this small wound on the back of his hand had not healed and now it suddenly started bleeding. This was very abnormal.
"Is Gao Ruxue related to the wound on the back of my hand?" He buried this thought deep in his mind. His expression quickly returned to normal, and he enthusiastically led several students into the scene on the third floor.
Half an hour later, Chen Ge ran out of the haunted house with a worried look on his face: "Zhang Ya, come and help me."
Seeing Chen Ge frowning, Zhang Ya felt something was wrong: "Didn't they scream?"
"Yeah." Chen Ge scratched his head: "They are all scared and fainted. I can't drag them alone. Can you help me?"
The corner of Zhang Ya's eye twitched, and she and the onlookers all took a deep breath.
It took Chen Ge and Zhang Ya twenty minutes to transport the students out of the third floor. "Put them in a cool and ventilated place. I have performed CPR on them and checked their conditions. They are fine. Don't worry."
"Why are you so skilled?" Zhang Ya's family of three came out. Chen Ge scared so many people at once that the park's management was shocked.
Fortunately, Chen Ge still had some sense, and Heshan and the others woke up not long after.
"It's the same time I calculated." Chen Ge looked like he had everything under control. When the students left, he said, "Come and play often in the future!"
The haunted house became more and more famous, and its business was booming. Zhang Ya's father, who had some opinions about Chen Ge at the beginning, now praised Chen Ge to everyone he met, and said that he had a good vision and discovered Chen Ge's talent at once.
Another week has passed, and the haunted house business has stabilized.
Chen Ge seemed to have endless good ideas in his mind, and he was always able to come up with new designs. The haunted house became one of the must-see attractions in Xinhai Amusement Park, and it also gained a certain degree of popularity on the Internet. The overall revenue increased several times compared to before.
Everything was moving in a good direction. Chen Ge made many friends. The pain in his memory was diluted by time, and light gradually appeared in his eyes.
Whenever he had free time, Chen Ge would always find Zhang Ya. He was like Zhang Ya's shadow.
The two worked together and ate together during the day.
After get off work, Zhang Ya would accompany Chen Ge for rehabilitation training. Chen Ge's leg injury would no longer have much impact on him.
After being together for a long time, Zhang Ya also found that Chen Ge seemed to be very clingy to her, but she quite liked this feeling of being inseparable.
After working continuously for a long time, on the last day of the month, Xinhai Amusement Park had to carry out equipment maintenance and inspection. It happened to rain outside that day, so the management decided to close the park for a day.
"I can finally have a good rest today." Zhang Ya took off her ghost makeup and changed into a very beautiful dress in advance. She ran to the prop room and found Chen Ge: "Chen Ge, there are no tourists today, do you have any plans?"
"The park needs to perform equipment maintenance. Someone may come to check it out this afternoon. I'll sort out these props first." Chen Ge sat with his head down among a pile of plastic "limbs" and "organs".
"It's a rare day off, so you plan to spend it in the prop room?" Zhang Ya leaned over next to Chen Ge and asked, "Do you want to go to the movies?"
"A horror movie?"
Chen Ge didn't even turn his head. The white cat next to him couldn't bear to watch anymore and licked its paw, as if considering whether to give Chen Ge a paw to help him get his mind right.
"Instead of watching a horror movie, why don't we just act it out ourselves?" Zhang Ya grabbed Chen Ge's arm and said, "Let's go. Don't stay in the room all the time. Go out and get some fresh air once in a while."
"Wait a minute, I have red paint on my body and it's stained your clothes. Hey! Wait a minute..."
Zhang Ya grabbed Chen Ge's arm, and the two of them walked out of the haunted house together, holding an umbrella.
"Tsk, tsk, it's great to be young." Zhang Ya's father stood at the window on the second floor of the haunted house, secretly watching everything. After sighing, he looked at another window next to him. Zhang Ya's mother was standing there: "Wife, it's a rare rest, how about we go to the movies too?"
"There will be a major inspection of the park this afternoon. Go and sort out the props quickly, repair what needs to be fixed, and patch what needs to be patched."
"It's a rare day off..."
“Go quickly!”
…
Chen Ge likes rainy days very much, but he doesn't know why he likes rain so much.
After the movie, the two of them walked around the mall for a long time, and Zhang Ya even picked out a set of clothes for Chen Ge.
When passing by a small DIY shop, Zhang Ya pulled Chen Ge in.
Here you can make your own puzzle keychains, cream glue mobile phone cases, and couple soft clay dolls.
As soon as they entered the store, the owner came over enthusiastically, chose a quiet spot for them, and began to introduce the things in the store.
After listening for a while, Zhang Ya decided to make a polymer clay doll with Chen Ge.
The owner took out a picture album with various cartoon characters and production instructions. However, before she finished, Chen Ge had already molded out a prototype.
"Your boyfriend is so skillful!" The shop owner was really surprised. Compared with Chen Ge, she felt like she was just an amateur.
"Which character did you sculpt?" The shop owner looked through the atlas but couldn't find the corresponding person: "Didn't you check the atlas? You just had an impression in your mind? Isn't that amazing?"
"I will never forget what she looked like, but unfortunately my skills are still not good enough. Even if I use all my skills, I can only restore one percent of her beauty." The soft clay doll in Chen Ge's hand has slowly taken shape. She is wearing a red dress and holding a love letter. This stunning woman is Zhang Ya.
The shop owner felt that there was a sweet smell in the air. She left tactfully and gave Chen Ge and Zhang Ya two drinks before leaving.
"Zhang Ya, this is for you." When Chen Ge was making the doll, his hands seemed to have awakened some kind of muscle memory. The small soft clay doll seemed to come alive, truly recreating Zhang Ya's breathtaking beauty.
"Really?" Zhang Ya looked at the doll happily and carefully placed it in front of her. However, after looking at it for a while, she became distressed again: "I want to make one for you too!"
Half an hour later, Zhang Ya picked out a Chen Ge doll that looked decent from a pile of "broken limbs and body parts".
She placed the doll next to Chen Ge sheepishly, then lowered her head and drank the drink in big gulps.
The two sat together, very close to each other, and time passed by unnoticed.
They made dolls and key chains, went out for dinner together, and did many things they wanted to do.
As night fell, the rain gradually got heavier.
There were not many people on the road. Chen Ge and Zhang Ya were holding an umbrella.
At first, Zhang Ya just held Chen Ge's arm, and slowly, she leaned against Chen Ge's side.
"Shall I take you home?"
"How about... let's go a little further."
Raindrops slid down the leaves and umbrellas. The puddles on the roadside reflected the neon lights at the intersection. Chen Ge and Zhang Ya walked on the sidewalk of the old street.
"Chen Ge..."
"What's wrong?"
"Actually, I've had dreams every night since I met you." Zhang Ya leaned against Chen Ge. "It's a very scary dream. I always dream that my parents died in a car accident, and I fell in a pool of blood. I always dream that I'm wearing a bloody shirt and wandering around a hospital. I also dream that this world is a city full of dead people, and you are the only warm ghost in the city."