TL: Cloe
Unedited
Word count: 1533
On May 18, spring was in full bloom. Four people from room 301 stood at the entrance of Dongzhuang Dream Valley, each of them was quiet.
“So,” Shao Wei said stiffly, “Why are you three also here?”
Lu Jin was brushing up on NGA, while Tan Xiruo was memorizing words. Only Lin Huai said kindly: “Because we are sneaky.”
“So,” Shao Wei continued, “why do I have to pay for the tickets and round-trip fares for all of us ah?”
Lin Huai continued to be kind: “For love, it doesn’t hurt to pay a little money.”
Shao Wei didn’t want to talk to Lin Huai and looked at the other two people. Tan Xiruo pushed up his glasses and said, “I think Lin Huai is very correct. Besides studying, you should have time to relax… and you should also pay for it.”
Lu Jin also said: “I also think Lin Huai’s words are very wise. Outside of games, you should also take some time to socialize with girls… and it’s you who should pay for it.”
Shao Wei looked at the source of all evil1AKA Lin Huai. Lin Huai said: “I think you said it very well. It is natural for men to help each other… and also……”
“And also I have to pay for it!” Shao Wei collapsed, “In the end you guys followed me when y’all noticed that I was the one who’s gonna pay, right? And you all took taxis instead of buses!”
He was dancing and collapsing when a voice came from behind him: “Eh Dang dang? Isn’t that Shao Wei over there?”
The moment he heard the voice, Shao Wei’s face immediately lit up. He fixed up his appearance, stepped on his limited edition aj, and looked back at the two girls: “Hi~”
Two people are coming. The one with exquisite makeup is Zhu Xiao, the president of the hip-hop club, and the one who is short and sweet is Shao Wei’s dream lover Lin Dangdang. The six of them briefly greeted each other, introduced themselves, and walked toward the haunted house together.
The Haunted House is located in the Midnight District on the west side of Dream Valley. The Midnight District is a large-scale area built by Dream Valley to cater the young people. It is composed of many horror scenes, secret rooms, and role-playing copies, and is also known as a horror paradise.
In Lin Huai’s view, people today are really wonderful creatures. They are obviously very afraid of ghosts, but they have also made many scary stories related to ghosts to scare themselves. Just like many of the game facilities in the Midnight District, they are obviously fake, but people enjoy the fake horror created by them and scare themselves.
Shao Wei bought six tickets and started to introduce the place while waiting in line: “……This haunted house is the latest work designed by Chen Shu, a well-known domestic horror scene designer. It is said that no one has been able to pass it since it opened…”
As soon as Shao Wei finished speaking, another scream came from the building in front. Not long after, the small door on the wall opened, and several girls who were frightened and crying came out accompanied by the staff.
He glanced at Lin Dangdang secretly, and Lin Dangdang said with a sigh: “What’s so scary about this? I have never been scared to tears since I was a child.”
He then turned his attention to Lin Huai. Under his expectant gaze, Lin Huai helplessly gave him an “OK” gesture.
In the class that day, besides going to the haunted house together, Shao Wei made a new deal with Lin Huai. He heard that Lin Dangdang was very courageous, so he asked Lin Huai to pretend to be a ghost in the haunted house and scare Lin Dangdang so that he could hug the beautiful girl who was in tears.
Lin Huai was quite disdainful of this, but under the temptation of the complete set of Ma Zhe’s notes, he still agreed.
The full name of the haunted house was Changming Ghost School. This ghost school was founded in 2008, its full name was Santa Maria Charity Academy, and it closed down five years later after a fire destroyed everything in the school, and no one was left alive.
Before they entered, the six of them heard the faint background music coming from the haunted house. The music was extremely shrill, like fingernails scratching on a blackboard. Shao Wei, Lu Jin, and Zhu Xiao shuddered.
After the new wave of tourists were sent out crying like ghosts and wolves, it was finally Lin Huai and others’ turn to enter. The guy who checked the tickets glanced at the six of them and said, “We accept ten people in each batch here. You can go in with the four people in front.”
The four people in front were a couple and a pair of best friends. The staff put neon number plates on Lin Huai and others while talking to each other: “I heard that the designer is here today.”
“Chen Shu? What is he doing here?”
“Maybe he wants to admire the screams from the tourists.”
“No idea. I’ve heard from others that he is very hard to get along with and that he is very aloof. Most of the time he doesn’t even respond when someone greets him.”
“He’s a god2It means he’s really successful, not that he is actually a god after all, it’s normal for him to have a temper.”
The staff distributed ten alarms to everyone and warned: “If you feel something is wrong, just press this button and our staff will help you exit the place.”
The woman in the couple nodded her head. She held the alarm and said worriedly: “Is there really a ghost in that haunted house? If a ghost comes, will you come as quickly as possible?”
The worker responded: “Maybe there is, I won’t spoil it.”
The woman immediately looked scared. The man smiled and tapped her on the head: “There are no real ghosts in this world. Don’t scare yourself.”
“Well.” The staff opened the curtain and said, “Tourists, please enter and explore Santa Maria Charity Academy.”
Midnight District, Center Building.
The central building is located in the middle of the Midnight District. There is a reception room on the tenth floor. One of the rooms has a floor-to-ceiling glass window that offers a panoramic view of the entire Midnight District. Chen Shu sat on a chair, wrapped in an ill-fitting coat, staring ahead. He was biting his fingers unconsciously, looking really anxious.
A person behind him suddenly pinched his face and pulled his fingers away: “Hey, stop biting your fingernails. Do you still lack zinc or something?”
Chen Shu snorted and ignored him. The man had a good temper. He sat on the other side and looked at him: “What’s wrong? Why are you so irritated?”
The irritated person didn’t respond. The man added, “Is it because you don’t have any inspiration to design a new haunted house anymore? Just give yourself a holiday and relax. Wouldn’t your ideas come right back?”
Chen Shu still didn’t speak. The man added: “The guy named Chu is just a halfway decent designer. It’s just luck that he could beat you this time. What does one time mean? You are still the best haunted house designer in the country.”
After saying that, he walked over and held Chen Shu in his arms. Chen Shu’s mood improved slightly as he3The man rubbed his4Chen Shu’s head, and he said gloomily: “It’s not like this… I have Zhi Zhi Zhi Mia…”
The man stared at Chen Shu and burst into laughter. Chen Shu was furious: “Why are you such a bastard?”
In the eyes of outsiders, Chen Shu is very cold and doesn’t like to talk. Despite this, he is handsome, slender, and a master of haunted house design. Therefore, many people on the forum say that he is an aloof and handsome boy.
But in fact, people close to him know that Chen Shu is not cold, but rather shy. The root of his shyness is his extremely non-standard Mandarin.
The man was still laughing, but Chen Shu was completely infuriated. He groaned and was about to stand up, but the man coaxed him and said, “Don’t be angry. Don’t you still want to look at the surveillance video in the haunted house for inspiration? Can I get you some iced drinks? What do you want to drink?”
Chen Shu stared at him for a while. The latter had a frank look on his face and had no intention of ridiculing him. He suddenly felt ashamed of his unreasonable troubles and said dullly: “Whatever.”
The man stopped there for a long time and finally went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of Coca-Cola for him.
Chen Shu was staring at the monitor with an extremely serious attitude. On the screen, five men and five women walked down the long corridor and entered the Changming Ghost School. The first place they were about to encounter was the school square and reception room.
3 thoughts on “Chapter 23 – One-day trip to the Haunted House (Middle part)”
Thank you for the translation! It’s very easy to read, I really like it.
What is non-standard Mandarin? 🤔 Is it Mandarin that not many people use?
It’s when someone speaks Mandarin with a heavy accent and some of the words they use are pronounced differently, at least that’s how I understood it as.