Chapter 81

Wei Sheng originally thought this was just a minor incident during the livestream, until the next day, when the local government’s exploration team respectfully invited Jiang Weiguo to the site.

“Master Jiang has worked in the mines for decades. He’s been to almost every coal mine around here. No one knows these underground tunnels better than him!”

Jiang Weiguo chuckled. The exploration team wasn’t asking him to work for free — they’d made a deal. He would assist the team in mapping out the underground tunnels that Wei Sheng and his group planned to renovate, and the team would pay him three hundred yuan a day.

If he went down the shaft, he’d get an extra five hundred yuan per round trip.

This was a “big contract,” worth far more than catching snakes.

With Jiang Weiguo’s help, the exploration team’s progress soared.

Not only did Jiang Weiguo know the tunnels like the back of his hand, he could even predict which areas above ground were prone to cave-ins.

The reason was simple: in order to catch snakes and sell them, Old Man Jiang had basically turned over every nook and cranny in the area — he hadn’t even spared the rat holes!

What left Wei Sheng and the others speechless was that Old Man Jiang was practically obsessed with money. When the production team asked him to help with filming, Jiang Weiguo actually demanded a daily “lost wages fee” of two hundred yuan from the director!

Jiang Weiguo righteously declared that he was saving up to buy a pair of gold bracelets for his granddaughter. Those things were expensive — how could he not earn a bit more?

Wei Sheng was speechless.

If only you’d been this good to your eldest daughter back then, would things have ended up like this?

This segment was livestreamed by the production crew.

In the provincial capital, at the Qiao family’s home, Qiao Dongliang’s mother was scrolling through videos when she suddenly exclaimed, “Hey!” She knocked on her daughter-in-law’s door with her phone in hand.

“Wanwan, come look! Isn’t that your father in this livestream?”

Jiang Wan’s mother-in-law had only met her in-laws a few times, back when her son got married. Jiang Weiguo used to be so stingy that he hated visiting his in-laws because it meant bringing gifts. He rarely went to the Qiao house at all, so Qiao’s mother couldn’t be sure if the man leading a team in the dim tunnel was really her in-law.

“That’s my dad… why is he down the shaft again?” Jiang Wan handed her daughter to her mother-in-law and picked up the phone to look closely.

In the livestream, Jiang Weiguo was walking at the front of the team, talking non-stop about his younger days mining coal.

Back then there were no machines for mining — coal miners had to go underground themselves, risking their lives to extract the coal that kept their families fed.

At that time, the Jiang family didn’t even have a proper house. The three of them squeezed into a dorm room less than twenty square meters.

Coincidentally or not, Jiang Weiguo was reminiscing about the years before his son Jiang Chen was born.

That was also the happiest time of Jiang Wan’s childhood.

Her mother was gentle and kind. No matter how poor they were, her mother always made her a bowl of steamed egg custard every day. Jiang Wan was a small child with a tiny appetite, so she never finished it. The leftover bit at the bottom would be passed back and forth between her parents until they eventually poured it over a big bowl of rice, mixed it up, and shared it.

Because of this, Jiang Wan carried the habit of mixing steamed egg custard with rice well into adulthood. Maybe watching her parents eat like that as a child made it seem extra delicious — she couldn’t help but mimic them.

Back then her younger brother hadn’t been born yet. After the miners got off work each day, the dorm area was full of kids running around, showing off the pocket money their parents gave them. Jiang Weiguo would drink his liquor and fish a few coins out of his pocket so his daughter could buy snacks with her friends at the dorm store.

“Sigh! All these years, my wife and I have wronged our daughter, made her suffer. Now that we can still move around, we just want to save up as much as we can for our retirement and lighten her burden a bit.”

“But I’m old now, and there’s not much work in town. Next time you guys need help exploring, can you call me again? I’m not bragging — in this whole Jiangdong Town, there isn’t a miner I don’t know!”

“Just point to any area you want to check out — I’ll find people to take you down.”

Underground, Jiang Weiguo kept chattering as he led the way and pitched himself for future jobs.

Director Wang Qun, watching from above, secretly nodded. This two hundred yuan a day was more than worth it!

The live broadcast from the tunnels amazed many viewers who had never been inside an abandoned coal mine. Even before the production team announced their renovation plans, seasoned fans were already flooding the comments, begging the director to develop the abandoned pit in Jiangdong Town so they could go on an adventure!

But an organized adventure was out of the question. Haven’t you read the news? How many people have gone missing in recent years trying to explore abandoned mines on their own?

Years ago, to stop people from risking their lives underground, the town spent money on bricks and cement to seal up the abandoned mines.

But with no one guarding them and locals often sneaking in to gather coal for cooking, holes were dug back open. You dig, I dig — eventually the sealed pits were open again, and the money was wasted!

Still, they couldn’t open the mine to tourists — but a haunted house adventure could be arranged.

Since they couldn’t wait around for the exploration results, Wei Sheng and his crew, after discussions with the local government, decided to split tasks.

The local government would cordon off a relatively safe area with no risk of subsidence and clear a safe path from the town outskirts to the “Ghost City.”

The production team would hurry to build a live-action set in the confirmed safe zone and finish filming the remaining scenes.

First batch of live-action testers: the four show guests.

Wei Sheng: “…” I am so done!

It wasn’t that he was afraid of haunted houses — but according to the show’s plot, they would have to personally set up this haunted house with help from a special guest.

They had to arrange the props themselves, interview actors themselves, even plan the scary moments themselves — how were they supposed to act genuinely terrified when they knew every detail?

“No problem, leave it to me.” Wang Qun’s sister-in-law, Qian Lai, who runs a murder mystery club in the provincial capital, waved her hand confidently.

In her line of work, you have to stay on top of trends and hot topics to get the most popular scripts. Ever since Wei Sheng’s show went viral, Qian Lai had wanted to launch a similar real-life poverty-relief experience show, but it takes time to write a good script.

She hadn’t even finished having one written when her brother-in-law invited her to help build the live-action set for the show!

She could make money, have fun, and work alongside her idol — what fangirl could resist that?

Without a second thought, Qian Lai handed her shop over to her best friend, packed up several large suitcases full of props, and came straight over.

Sure enough, she was a pro. Watching Qian Lai direct them, it took only a day and a half to put together the set, and all four of Wei Sheng’s crew were already creeped out.

They knew it was all fake, but when Qian Lai turned on the background music, switched on the eerie lighting, and the suona horn started wailing — good grief! Even in broad daylight, it made their hair stand on end!

Since the show would air on satellite TV, Wang Qun didn’t dare go too overboard. He asked his sister-in-law to design a not-too-gory script.

The production budget was generous. Qian Lai found a super fast writer in her circle and got them a simple script in just three days.

However, after reading this so-called “simple script,” Wei Sheng felt he was about to forget what the word “simple” even meant.

The lady had designed a script for them called Midnight Bride. It was about a young coal miner who took his wife to explore an abandoned mine shaft. Unexpectedly, an accident occurred, and his wife was swept away by an underground current.

The miner was devastated and spent his days mourning her. His deep affection moved his in-laws and touched many young unmarried women at the mine. Soon, matchmakers from the town began visiting his house frequently, urging him to remarry. Before long, under his family’s persuasion, the miner remarried.

Then, the terrifying things began.

He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he constantly felt a pair of eyes watching him at midnight. Several times he woke up startled, only to find his new wife gazing deeply at him…

Soon after, his new wife discovered that her husband, who seemed like an ordinary miner to outsiders, actually had a huge sum of money in his bank account! On top of that, he appeared to be secretly house-hunting, planning to buy a place and settle down in the county.

So, in the dead of night, the way his wife looked at him became more and more unsettling…

“Aaaahhh! I don’t want to play this script!” Chen Mengjie, who was already afraid of ghosts, nearly broke down after reading it.

Wei Sheng couldn’t help glancing around. He spotted the decorative painting where the husband hid his bank card — it showed a little boat sailing toward a golden mountain. He used to think it symbolized prosperity, but now, recalling the script’s plot, a chill ran up his spine.

To meet the demands of a large-scale outdoor immersive murder mystery game, the production team even paid real local miners and their families to serve as living scenery. They even hired actual town matchmakers.

They borrowed lots of everyday items from local farmers to use as props.

Once everything was set up, it was practically a 1:1 recreation of the mining town’s heyday.

At first glance, people thought this place was a film set for a period drama.

On the night the livestream started, viewers who hadn’t seen any spoilers crowded in. Seeing the scene full of old-time vibes, they all guessed the production team might be planning to turn Jiangdong Town into some kind of film base.

After all, this little town known for coal mining still looked frozen in the 1980s — its abandoned mines and unchanged architecture made it a perfect backdrop for period dramas.

By the second season, many fans had unconsciously become self-appointed “online poverty alleviation officers,” earnestly discussing in the live comments how Jiangdong Town could be developed into a themed film location, how profitable it could be, and how some areas could be rented out to crews while the rest could sell tickets as a tourist spot.

They even dreamed up themed shopping streets with a retro vibe, where visitors could rent old-fashioned outfits, spend the day wandering the supply co-op, and snack on street food — what a fun idea!

Way better than those boring tour groups for middle-aged shoppers, right?

Thinking like this, netizens and fans eagerly waited for Wei Sheng and the others to give them a grand tour of their future “Jiangdong Town Film Base.”

Off-camera, staring at the haunted house just a few steps away, Wei Sheng couldn’t help showing a schadenfreude grin.

Come on, let’s make it thrilling!

A few minutes later…

“Oh my god~~~”

“Holy shit holy shit holy shit!”

“Yellow River Cantata, protect me!”

Seeing what happened next, both fans and random rubberneckers collectively lost it.

Was the production team for real?

One moment it was a warm, bustling period drama backdrop; the next, they pushed open a door and BAM — the chilling opening theme from a ghost story drama hit them like a sledgehammer.

Those with weak nerves dropped their phones on the spot and scrambled under their blankets, trembling all over.

Wei Sheng, full of mischief, couldn’t stand being scared alone. Once inside the haunted house, he kept pointing the livestream camera at the creepiest corners.

On the wall, there was a wedding photo of the bride and groom, but when Wei Sheng zoomed in, you could faintly see the blurry outline of a third woman in the picture…

Under the bed covered in bright red wedding sheets, the dirty toe of a red high heel peeked out, as if hinting at the owner’s lingering resentment and rage…

Due to time constraints, they didn’t play through the whole script. Instead, they picked the creepiest, most suspenseful scenes to showcase. Even so, they gave the unsuspecting audience a good scare.

Holy shit! This was nothing like the period drama they’d imagined — it was completely out of left field!

But after catching their breath, everyone realized… hmm? A horror-suspense murder mystery against a period drama backdrop? Kinda cool, actually!

Patting their wildly pounding hearts, fans and casual viewers felt both terrified and intrigued.

So… where exactly was this amazing large-scale immersive murder mystery experience?

At that moment, Wei the veteran e-commerce king Sheng reappeared, leading his gang of clueless but eager teammates. Hearts still racing, they bolted out of the haunted house while screaming and hawking products at the same time, rushing straight for the roadside food stalls.

The moment they exited the haunted house, the vibe switched seamlessly back to warm, rustic period drama. Along the old streets, background actors hired by the production team sold local snacks, dressed in retro clothes and shouting out in clumsy dialect-accented Mandarin.

“Boss! Eight bowls of brown sugar ginger soup, add two eggs, and a serving of fried sanzi!” Wei Sheng ordered like a pro.

To recreate an authentic 1980s market street, most of the stall owners were real local vendors recruited straight from the town’s open-air markets — paid for by the production team, of course.

They didn’t even have to sell anything for real; just showing up earned them a few hundred yuan a day. The local vendors were thrilled and wished the crew would hire them every day!

Thanks to the magic of money, the props team transformed this hundred-meter street into a lively country market, to the sheer delight of Wei Sheng and his fellow cast members.

The director had announced that during filming, all props were edible — and free!

With wads of big bills from the props department, Wei Sheng wasted no time leading his livestream followers into the second half: an all-out eating stream.

Fans and onlookers fell silent.

This kind of “screaming in terror one second, drooling the next” split-personality stream — was it secretly sponsored by some psychiatric hospital in J Province?

Lure everyone in, scare them till they break down, then start promoting VIP treatment packages?

Wei Sheng, can you please act like a human being for once?!

(End of chapter)