Chapter 001 Project 601
Qin Mengmeng was holding a red bucket and standing in the middle of the empty road next to the construction site. She was burning with anger and wished a car would drive over from the other end of the road so that she and the car could duel in the middle of the road so that she could vent her anger.
But this place is extremely remote, 20 kilometers away from the nearest village, and the road was even built after they arrived, so it might not even be included in the map. Qin Mengmeng stood in the middle of the road for a full half hour without losing a hair.
After a long time, a tattered Wuling Hongguang drove out from the gray construction site nearby, and a head popped out from inside: "Engineer Qin! I'll take you there. You can't get a taxi here."
Qin Mengmeng glanced at the bitch who caused her to be fired with murderous intent, and wanted to say toughly: "Get lost, I don't need your fake kindness."
But there were really no taxis available here, and her luggage weighed more than 30 kilograms. She really didn't want to carry her red bucket and backpack and walk 20 kilometers to Xiaoluo Village to take a taxi.
So she sulked, opened the car door, and obediently jumped into the broken Wuling. The car was covered with dust and was dirty, but Qin Mengmeng's clothes were not clean either. She was wearing work clothes, an orange safety vest on her upper body, and a safety helmet on her head.
After getting in the car, she fastened the button of her helmet a little tighter.
The middle-aged man with scowls in the driver's seat saw her actions in the rearview mirror and smiled crookedly: "Hey, Engineer Qin, how can you be so petty? You're still wearing a helmet even when you're in the car, and you still hate me."
Qin Mengmeng turned her head to look at the scenery outside the car window and ignored him completely. She knew how powerful the mouth of this old fox was. As long as she said a word and gave him a good face, he would take advantage of the situation and ask for sworn brotherhood on the spot.
"Mr. Qin, it's really sad that you're on guard against me like this. You're a good person. I, Liu Xiaodao, can't harm you. I fell into a pit in the middle of the night and you pulled me out. I'm indebted to you. You almost saved my life."
Qin Mengmeng sneered at the car window: "You owe me a favor so you report me to get me fired? You—"
The swear words were about to come out of her mouth but she held them back. Two years ago when Qin Mengmeng just graduated, she was still a well-behaved and pretty young girl. Now, after working on the construction site for two years, she was almost assimilated into a bastard who was good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.
She took a deep breath and tried to be friendly: "I really don't understand how I have offended you. I didn't take the red envelope you gave me, but I didn't block you on purpose. I don't think you are the kind of person who wants to do something crooked and thinks I am in the way. What good will it do you to fire me?"
Liu Xiaodao stopped smiling when he heard this. He shook his head, stared into Qin Mengmeng's eyes through the rearview mirror, and said word by word: "Engineer Qin, believe me, I let you leave Project 601 just to repay you."
He didn't say a word on the way thereafter. He just drove silently and sent Qin Mengmeng to Xiaoluo Village. He then watched her get on the villagers' tractor and return to the city before driving back.
After riding the tractor, Qin Mengmeng took the bus, then the subway, then the high-speed rail. After traveling for a day and a night, she finally returned to the new city. It was just dinner time when she got back.
She opened the door and saw her father Qin Dashan, her mother Meng Meili and her brother Qin Chuan, all of whom were already waiting for her in the restaurant. On the table was her favorite crucian carp soup and her favorite fried steamed bread slices, served with some pickles. She burst into tears out of grievance.
"I'm fired!" she said aggrievedly.
After eating two bites of fried steamed buns and taking a sip of fish soup, she gritted her teeth and said, "That bastard reported me and got me fired."
Meng Meili rolled her eyes and said, "Come on, if you're fired, then you're fired. There are so many construction sites in the world, you can't find work anywhere. You can stay at home for two more days and take it as a holiday."
Qin Dashan said nothing, but just asked: "Is there enough money?"
"Enough!" Qin Mengmeng said.
Qin Chuan said, "Why don't you take this opportunity to change your career? Construction sites aren't good places anyway. Didn't you read what's said online? In ancient times, those who worked on civil engineering were called corvée labor."
Qin Mengmeng said loudly: "I don't want to change my career! I've said it so many times, although working on the construction site is hard and tiring, there are many things to do and there are dangers——"
As Qin Mengmeng spoke, she also felt that there seemed to be no benefit at all on the construction site.
“But I don’t plan to change careers anyway.”
As soon as she said this, everyone in the family fell silent. When Qin Mengmeng got a high score of over 600 and was admitted to civil engineering, they were not happy about it, but they couldn't help Qin Mengmeng's love for it.
"I'll do it even if it's corvée labor." Qin Mengmeng ate the browned steamed bread slices with pickled vegetables, drank the fish soup, threw the bowl away, and said with high morale: "I'll rest at home for a few days and then go to the next construction site."
She happily went back to her bedroom to rest, leaving Qin Dashan and Meng Meili sighing: "How could your sister be like this? How could she be a college student and become a migrant worker?"
Qin Chuan cleaned up the table and dishes, and said coldly: "She is sick, you know that."
Qin Mengmeng didn't worry about her family's worries at all. She had a good sleep and rested at home for more than a week. She turned on her mobile phone to ask if there were any new projects recruiting people.
Construction site recruitment is usually done in a group. When she was asking for information in the group, she noticed a message pop up in the group.
"Something happened to Project 601."
Her face changed, and when she was about to take a closer look, the message disappeared. Soon, even the avatar of the user who posted these eight words turned gray. When she clicked on it, she found that the user had been logged out.
Then, the group chat was disbanded.
Qin Mengmeng put down her phone and silently thought of what Liu Xiaodao said: "I asked you to leave Project 601, really to repay you."
She blinked, a little confused for a moment. She knew that the construction industry was complicated, but...
When I opened the chat list, as expected, Liu Xiaodao's account was also cancelled.
She let out a slow breath and searched the chat records, including the classmate who recommended her to Project 601, the surveyors, subcontractors, laborers, and even the cafeteria auntie and security guards she dealt with in Project 601.
All accounts have been cancelled.
The only traces that prove the existence of Project 601 are her own memories and the red bucket she brought back from the construction site.
Qin Mengmeng closed her eyes and tried her best to recall.
When she was recommended to Project 601, she checked the official website of Yongheng Group, which was responsible for Project 601, before applying for the job.
According to the information on the official website, Yongheng Group is a small company that was registered not long ago. Project 601 is their first project. Qin Mengmeng knew at a glance that this company must be a shell company set up by a big boss specifically to undertake Project 601. She didn't pay attention to it at the time. There are many such shell companies in the construction industry. This company is so shelly, which can only mean that the big boss behind it is very big.
But... now it seems that this seems to foreshadow something.
She remembered the URL that looked like a bunch of garbled characters: ://.
Qin Mengmeng entered the URL, but the page that jumped was not like what she had seen before. It was a simple and rough company introduction and project blueprint.
It turned out to be a live broadcast software.
Qin Mengmeng clicked to download the app without hesitation.
The app was quickly downloaded and installed. Qin Mengmeng was about to open it, but suddenly stopped, took out a pen and paper from the corner of the bedroom, and wrote a suicide note.
Perhaps this suicide note may not come in handy, but Qin Mengmeng keenly smelled a strange scent, and her intuition told her that there was danger.
However, she has never been afraid of danger. If she were afraid, she would not choose to wander around various construction sites after graduation, but would take the exam to become a civil servant or get some other more stable job.
It can even be said that she has been chasing danger intentionally or unintentionally.
She opened the app only after she finished writing her suicide note.
"Welcome to the live broadcast room! The Haunted Live Broadcast Room is looking forward to your joining us."
Below the welcome message in black on a white background, there are three options.
Become a streamer.
Become a spectator.
Notes:
Qin Mengmeng clicks on the precautions.
"We welcome viewers with long life span, great fortune and high cultivation to give tips to the anchor. Tips will not endanger your life safety."
"We welcome anchors with short life spans, little merit, and low cultivation to work hard to win the hearts and minds of the audience, so as to increase their life spans, merit, and cultivation."
There were only these two sentences of precautions. After Qin Mengmeng read them carefully, she closed her eyes and thought for a moment, then decisively returned to the start page and chose to become a host.
Qin Mengmeng will never forget why she came into contact with this app. Of course, it is entirely possible that this was a coincidence. The Yongheng Group had absconded with the money and abandoned the website, and this app happened to purchase that website.
This is not impossible, but Qin Mengmeng's intuition tells her that this app is definitely closely related to the 601 Project.
She must take every word in this app seriously.
The app seems to give her a choice. She can be either a viewer or a host. However, the qualifiers given to hosts and viewers in the notes are very interesting.
The audience has a long life span, great blessings and high cultivation, while the host has a short life span, little blessings and low cultivation.
Qin Mengmeng didn’t think she had any accomplishments or blessings, nor did she think that her accomplishments and blessings would automatically increase just by becoming a spectator.
She can only become an anchor if she doesn't want to have her remaining life deducted while watching the live broadcast.
The app does say that it will not endanger the lives of viewers due to tips.
But it refers to the audience with long life span. Qin Mengmeng doesn’t think she will have a long life span. If a person with a short life span watches the live broadcast, will it really not be life-threatening?
In addition, if the rewards the anchor receives are truly worth longevity, blessings, and cultivation... hey, how could anyone miss the opportunity to be an anchor and become an audience member?
It is even less likely that Qin Mengmeng would choose to give up.
It’s not that her obsession with Project 601 exceeds her emphasis on life.
But this damn app doesn't have any exit option at all.
It seems that after opening it, you can only choose to become its user.
All I can say is that Qin Mengmeng was foresighted in choosing to write a suicide note first.
She pressed the "Become a Streamer" button.
Her vision went dark and when she woke up again, she was in a dirty public restroom. The cell phone was tightly clenched in her hand. When she looked down, she saw the familiar black words on a white background.
“The live broadcast has begun.”
"Welcome the 47th skull fragment to the live broadcast room..."
"Welcome the little bear to the live broadcast room..."
"Welcome the Bloody Monk to the live broadcast room..."
“…”
The live broadcast room seemed to be very popular. In just one minute, hundreds of viewers had entered the room.
The first barrage appeared.
[Blood and Flesh Monk: This is the 77th one, right?]
Qin Mengmeng took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and asked calmly: "Excuse me, there are 76 people ahead? How are they?"
【Little Bear: They are all dead. 】
[Mr.Robot: This is New Town High School. Even if a thousand people died, it would not be enough to quell the resentment here.]
[The 47th Skull Fragment: Well, I have seen the host's ending. ]
[I'm not a gambler: How about we make a bet? ]
[Blood and Flesh Monk: What are you betting on? ]
[I am not a gambler: The anchor's survival time is five minutes, ten minutes, or half an hour. ]
【Blood and Flesh Monk: Where's the bet?】
[I am not a gambler: Hahahaha, if you win, I will give you my blood and flesh. If you win, I only want your rosary.]
Qin Mengmeng took a deep breath and said, "Hmm!"
I'm afraid there will be trouble now.
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