606 The Show
This was the first time Han Fei came to this plastic surgery hospital in the day. From the outside, this place looked like an abandoned building with nothing special about it. Director Jia and the crew had been working around the clock, installing devices and traps around the building. Perhaps due to a large number of people, the place didn’t feel as eerie as last time.
“This should be a haunted building, but now it’s not even scary anymore.” Han Fei looked dejected.
“Director Jia!” CEO Lee found Jia Jia. CEO Lee immediately piled on the smile, “I’ve brought you the two main actors. I hope you can give them more airtime.”
“I will do my best. I’ve written their scripts…” Jia Jia handed the script to Han Fei and Xia Yilan. “Even though we told the public we’re scriptless, we do have the main plot. We have designed a few main plot points, so you should get used to your identities first.”
“Is this a horror-theme escape room?” Xia Yilan leaned towards Han Fei. “I’m so afraid of these.”
“Me too.” Han Fei replied evenly, and he looked through the script.
April 4th Mystery Case Files mainly described how a group of people was dragged into strange incidents on April 4th. They would escape based on clues and reconstruction of past cases. The location of the first episode was at Xin Lu Countryside’s abandoned hospital. It was about four male and three female characters from the same university who had a complicated relationship. They found refuge at this abandoned hospital due to a sudden storm. Han Fei was the second male lead. He was unemployed and had the worst track record. He was abrasive and slightly iconoclastic. He once dated the second female lead but was dumped after graduation. Compared to other characters, Han Fei felt his script was rather boring. He had nothing going for him and didn’t contribute much in the episode.
“Han Fei, how’s your script?” Compared to Han Fei, CEO Lee cared more about this. He hoped Han Fei and Xia Yilan would have more airtime.
“It’s okay.” Han Fei nodded. He walked away from Xia Yilan to observe the hospital. When he came with Bai Xian last time, he only explored Building One. In reality, the hospital was massive. It was once a multi-purpose hospital that provided holiday amenities, entertainment, medication, and cosmetic care.
‘This is supposed to be an open set, so why are there so many hidden cameras? Do they plan to have a hidden livestream to expose the celebrities’ real personality?’ Han Fei noticed many things as he walked around. He took out his phone to check on Tang Yi. The man was very ballsy. He always came up with shows that others wouldn’t dare. He had created many legends in the industry, but his shows never lasted long.
Han Fei searched for April 4th Mystery Case Files and realized the team had promoted this show since two months ago. They planned to announce the cast that night. Many people were talking about April 4th Mystery Case Files. It didn’t feel like a cast announcement but an actual episode broadcast. ‘Is it possible that Tang Yi plans to livestream the episode instead of shooting it?’
In the brief interaction Han Fei had with Tang Yi, he knew that Tang Yi didn’t respect actors. In his eyes, actors were tools to gain money and popularity, to create new legends for his shows. ‘It’s okay if he wants to livestream this. Hopefully, he won’t capture anything he shouldn’t.’
At 4 pm, the other celebrities arrived. The atmosphere was lively, and the crew became excited. “The cast should go to the dressing room. Bring the script with you. When you leave the dressing room, we will take the script from you.” Jia Jia ordered. When he saw Han Fei, he even smiled like he had plans for Han Fei. Han Fei headed to the temporarily built dressing room. As he opened the door, he saw three make-up artists working around Bai Cha. The man was the sun wherever he went.
“Han Fei?” When Bai Cha saw Han Fei, the smile on his face froze. During the movie festival, Bai Cha competed with Han Fei. In the end, Han Fei won the best new supporting character with a landslide. Bai Cha had Deep Space Entertainment behind him, but he still lost to Han Fei, who had the support of the juries and the netizens. Many people thought Han Fei was the better actor, and this annoyed Bai Cha. “I’m surprised to see you here.” The cast was a secret, so even the cast didn’t know who was on the show before it started. Han Fei ignored Bai Cha and sat down.
Bai Cha was furious when he was ignored. There were conflicts in every industry, but for celebrities, at least they would pretend to be kind on the surface. However, Han Fei clearly didn’t want to talk to him.
“The one who isolates himself will be the first to fall off.” Bai Chu suppressed his annoyance. The other celebrities slowly arrived. Among them was a male actor Han Fei knew. He was Wu Li, a professional horror movie actor, and he was nominated many times. The other three celebrities were popular singer A-Lin, the Nation’s Boyfriend, Xiao Chen, and B-list female actor, Li Feng. In the script, the seven characters had a complicated relationship. It was the same outside the script. The competition between Bai Cha and Han Fei didn’t die down after the competition, in fact, it had gotten fiercer online. Then, as the rising horror movie actor, Han Fei threatened Wu Li’s position. Xiao Chen was said to have had dinner with Bai Cha’s supposed girlfriend. Xia Yilan and Li Feng used to work at Star Entertainment together. When Xia Yilan was still an A-list actor, she pressured the company to kick Li Feng out. Compared to the script, the story between the cast was more exciting. Tang Yi had chosen his cast carefully. Inside the awkward dressing room, only Han Fei was serene. He still needed to play games at night, so he closed his eyes to rest.
At 6 pm, the seven celebrities exited the dressing room. The crew led them to the hospital entrance. “We need to shoot a trailer. Try to look as scared as possible as if you’ve seen something impossible.” After that, Jia Jia walked over with his large belly. “We’ve installed many cameras inside the building. So you need to be in character after you enter the door. I will not intervene with your actions. Just show the cameras your real self. Just remember the main plots, and you can freestyle the other details. I believe in your capability. You can handle it easily.” Then, Jia Jia smiled. “You need to find a way to escape after the door is locked. I hope to see the best from you.” He led the crew away and left the seven celebrities there.
“There’s no direction, no vj, and just a few of us?” Li Feng rarely appeared on variety shows. She was different from Xia Yilan. She was a real actor.
“Tang Yi’s variety shows are always different. We should believe him.” Xiao Chen had a sunny smile. He looked like the perfect boyfriend. “We should work hard.” After getting everyone’s permission, Xiao Chen pressed on the door. He was about to push it open when there was thunder. The dark clouds gathered. A storm was brewing.
“This is just perfect. It looks like this show is meant to be popular.” Xiao Chen smiled as he pushed open the door of Building One. As he entered the room, the expression on his face changed. Other than A-Lin, everyone was a professional actor.
“Is someone here?” Xiao Chen walked ahead with his backpack. He followed the script naturally. Based on the script, there would be two suspicious security guards inside the hospital to guide the actors. Hearing the sound, two guards, one small and one tall, walked down the stairs. “Where did you people come from? This is private property. Leave!”
“I’m sorry, but there’s a storm outside. Please let us stay here to avoid the rain. We’ll leave once the rain stops.” Xiao Chen walked towards them and shoved them a box of cigarettes.
“It’s not that we don’t want to help you, but strange things will happen here at night.” The tall guard said. He wanted to say more but was stopped by the short guard with a sharp gaze.
“We’re just trying to avoid the rain. We won’t run anywhere.” Xia Yilan wore a very tight dress. She walked over. “Plus, we’ve been here before. It’ll be fine.” The small guard seemed to remember something scary when he saw Xia Yilan. He turned and ran. This sudden change shocked every actor. This was not part of the script!
The tall guard was surprised too, but he had to finish his job. “I’m sorry. My little brother is rather weird. You can stay here but don’t go to the third floor, don’t go dark places, don’t…” before he finished, the scream of the short guard came from deep inside the hospital. The tall guard stopped and ran to look.
“This is strange. Why aren’t they following the script?” Xiao Chen was confused.
“We need to stay in character.” Wu Li reminded politely. Among the seven actors, he was the most junior.
“It’ll be fine. They’ll edit it out in post. Just relax.” Xiao Chen glanced at Bai Cha and Han Fei. He placed his backpack on the table. “You must be hungry. I’ve brought some food.” He took out the stuff. A group picture grabbed everyone’s attention. The photo was photoshopped. It had eight university students in graduation gowns, four guys, and four girls. Seven of them were here. The last was an unknown woman with a blurry face.
“Xiao Chen, I’m surprised you still keep this. Is it because you can’t forget her?” Bai Cha glanced at the picture. Perhaps because he was annoyed, he added, “Why do you treat another person’s trash like treasure?” This sentence was fine, but in reality, there was a similar conflict between Bai Cha and Xiao Chen, so it was stinging.
The smile on Xiao Chen’s face faded. “We were all friends. It’s normal to miss one another. After all, I’m not as cold-blooded as some people.”
“This is the storm’s fault for trapping us here.” Wu Li came to mediate. He stood between Bai Cha and Xiao Chen. He pleaded with Han Fei for help with his eyes, but Han Fei ignored him and ate to his heart’s content.
“Don’t choke on them. Those are props.” Li Feng used to be from Star Entertainment, but she was forced out, so she hated people from Star Entertainment.
“Well, you’ll only have strength if you eat.” Han Fei said. “It’ll be useful when we’re in trouble.”
There was another thunder. Then, rain pattered on the glass window. What Han Fei said was like an omen.
Bang!
There was a loud crash and the actors all looked towards the middle of the building. Moments later, the tall guard returned with a bloody face. He was panicked and confused. He stammered. “Dead… There’s a dead body!”
