WS - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

As soon as the six entertainers gathered in the kitchen and Zhuang Jiachuan suggested inviting the production team to join the meal, but they couldn't find anyone anywhere, many viewers on StarNet had already switched over to the production team's own livestream.

When they disembarked earlier, Director Zhang and two assistants were the first off the spaceship, heading toward the old castle, followed by the six entertainers. The two bodyguards and the doctor, who were at the very back, glanced around after disembarking but did not follow the main group to the old castle; instead, they returned to the spaceship.

Director Zhang and the two assistants, after finishing their explanation of the rules, also returned to the spaceship while the entertainers began their tour of the castle and looked at the rooms.

Just as the entertainers had completed their round and gathered in the kitchen, loudly calling for the production team to come eat together, the crew was actually on the spaceship, moving supplies down.

Afterward, one group headed for the rooms upstairs, while another slipped directly into the basement through a side door on the ground floor. So they missed each other again.

Well, it wasn't exactly "missing each other," strictly speaking.

The entertainers had surrendered their StarNet clients, so they were naturally oblivious to the production team's movements. Director Zhang, however, had the camera central control system on hand and could be said to know the entertainers' every move like the back of his hand.

It was just that, after all, a director was only human— he couldn't keep the large screen on and watch it twenty-four hours a day. Most of the time, the livestream was left to the StarNet AI's automatic shooting.

Earlier, when Zhang Jianshi saw that the six entertainers had all gone upstairs to their rooms and figured there would likely be a lot of mosaic-masked private time coming up, he had temporarily turned off his central control screen and joined the others in carrying things into the basement.

It had to be said, even with the electricity on, this old castle still had quite the atmosphere— especially the stretch from the side door, turning into the passage that led to the basement, which kept reminding Director Zhang of the things Feng Qianqian had told the entertainers when she first introduced the castle.

Compared to the brightly lit hall above, the basement had only a single, feeble, flickering little lightbulb, casting shifting shadows that drifted unsteadily among the clutter all around.

Zhang Jianshi swept his gaze around the room. The two bodyguards and Wang Daming were squeezing covered cages into the storage area, while Feng Qianqian and Ni Jinghe were still stacking several small boxes upward.

None of them seemed the least bit affected by the dim surroundings.

Ni Jinghe was one thing— she was a doctor, after all, presumably bolder than most. But this Feng Qianqian was an unexpected surprise.

Zhang Jianshi finally granted a bit of positive regard to this assistant who had been slotted into his team partway through.

Everyone else was brave. He could only pretend that he, too, wasn't afraid at all.

Except...

"That's about enough. We should also..." Zhang Jianshi couldn't help wanting to rush things along a bit.

Before he could finish his sentence, a muffled "thump thump, thump thump thump..." sound suddenly came from overhead.

"Ah! Ah! Aaaaaaah!!!!" Among the brave ones, the one pretending to be brave screamed out reflexively.

In the basement, the remaining five people stared in shock at Director Zhang, who had begun convulsing and shouting. For a moment, no friendly hands reached out to him.

Just then, the door at the top of the steps about two meters away— the one leading to the ground level— suddenly burst open with a bang.

The space above the basement did not connect to the main hall; it was a side passage that twisted and turned several times, and the lighting was hardly any brighter than down in the basement.

Now that the door was open, the area above looked... dim and shadowed as well. And the doorway appeared empty, with no one there at all.

"Aaaah! Ghost... ghost..." Zhang Jianshi trembled and tried to grab the nearest person for support.

Ni Jinghe, beside him, discreetly shifted just enough that Zhang Jianshi's attempt to seize her arm missed.

Compared to the pitiful, helpless Director Zhang, Yu Nianbing up above was clearly receiving far better treatment.

"It's fine." Song Shiyue gently patted Yu Nianbing, who was gripping her arm tightly, and soothed in a low voice, "I'll go take a look."

Of course it was fine!

Yu Nianbing had been terrified by the agonized screams that had come from behind the tightly shut basement door, but now that the door was open, she could clearly hear it was Director Zhang's voice. A moment's thought, and she could pretty much guess how this ridiculous misunderstanding had come about.

This was a livestream...

This was a livestream...

Yu Nianbing silently repeated it twice before she managed to suppress her urge to make a snide remark to Song Shiyue. But of the two hands gripping Song Shiyue's arm, one took its time loosening, while the other still held on.

Song Shiyue, dragging this little appendage behind her, cautiously leaned her face out from beside the basement door and peered down, catching exactly five somewhat stunned faces staring right back. Oh, and she also spotted Director Zhang desperately trying to wedge himself into the clutter...

"Sorry, sorry... um... I'm not a ghost... I'm Song Shiyue..." Seeing the situation, how could Song Shiyue not realize she had caused a bit of a disaster? She naturally sounded rather meek as she spoke.

Then again... this couldn't all be blamed on her, either.

Clearly, apart from the bedrooms on the second floor, the most noise was coming from here. Wasn't it only logical to head this way if she wanted to find the production team?

And after arriving, knocking on the door— wasn't that the right thing to do?

It was just that...

It was just that when she heard someone wailing inside, she had somewhat reflexively kicked the door open... That minor action was perhaps not entirely appropriate.

If Yu Nianbing could have known what Song Shiyue was thinking right now, she would probably have been both exasperated and amused all over again.

Though Song Shiyue's self-introduction was not spoken loudly, it carried very clearly into the basement and fell upon the ears of Director Zhang, who was still in the middle of worming his way into the pile of clutter.

Instantly, Zhang Jianshi's movements froze. He whipped his head toward the basement exit, and his entire face flushed bright red in an instant.

If Zhang Jianshi had the authority, he would likely have immediately slapped a "Mosaic" on this program.

Song Shiyue felt the awkwardness— an awkwardness so immense it was probably second only to that time when she had first awoken in this world and encountered Yu Nianbing before passing out again.

"I... I'm looking for Feng Qianqian..." Feeling a not-too-gentle tug on her arm, Song Shiyue had no choice but to speak again, breaking the silence.

At this moment, everyone in the basement except Director Zhang wished they could be Feng Qianqian.

Feng Qianqian, having been directly named, darted out of the basement like a nimble rabbit.

Yu Nianbing watched Feng Qianqian appear before them practically the instant Song Shiyue's words faded, and she felt a headache coming on.

Just a moment ago, when she'd pulled on Song Shiyue, it was to get her to hurry up and leave.

But this stubborn creature... Song Shiyue really was something else...

The most Yu Nianbing could do now was to pull Song Shiyue along, steering the two of them farther away from the basement door before speaking.

"Ahem, I wanted to ask— starting tomorrow, are our accommodations probably going to stop being so nice? I mean, I'm not trying to pry for advance info or anything. I'm just asking, will there be situations where two people need to sleep together, or multiple people have to sleep together?" Song Shiyue was unwilling to bring up Yu Nianbing's fear again on livestream, so she phrased her question vaguely, hoping to get a reason— right here and now— that they could sleep together from now on.

Feng Qianqian thought for a moment. Some rules would be explained to them tomorrow anyway, and these questions fell within the scope of what she could answer. So she nodded and said, "The conditions from here on will be much harsher. You won't always even have a bed, and sharing sleeping arrangements with others is very normal." As she said this, Feng Qianqian smiled with a touch of playfulness. "Of course, we'll still maintain the principle of keeping men and women separate."

Song Shiyue turned her head to look at Yu Nianbing. "See? Right?"

Right, right, right!

Everything you say is right!

Yu Nianbing nodded earnestly and deeply regretted that she hadn't immediately agreed to Song Shiyue's suggestion back at the bedroom door.

"Oh, and by the way, that door earlier might be broken." Having settled the big issue, Song Shiyue suddenly remembered the earlier incident and said, a bit sheepishly, "I'll pay for it."

Feng Qianqian paused for a moment before recalling: when the production team had been carrying things into the basement, she had been the last one to enter. Afraid that a guest might blunder in, she had casually bolted the inner door latch. If she remembered correctly... the door was very thick, and the latch had looked quite sturdy too...

But of course, there was no question of Song Shiyue having to pay for a door latch. Still, her sincerity was overflowing, so Feng Qianqian naturally said all right.

Afterward, the two thanked Feng Qianqian. Yu Nianbing, paying no heed to Feng Qianqian's apparent desire to stay and chat a little longer, pulled Song Shiyue away.

Feng Qianqian watched with some regret as the two disappeared into the distance, then glanced at the basement— from which no one had yet emerged. In the end, she reluctantly shuffled back toward the basement.

But as she passed by the basement door, Feng Qianqian couldn't resist taking a look at the lock.

Beside the thick wooden door, the bolt was in its extended position. Yet the part of the wall that was supposed to hold the bolt in place had split open. Broken...

Had she used full force on that?

Feng Qianqian touched the wall where the bolt had torn through and suddenly felt that Director Zhang was quite pitiable, too.

As for what had happened at the basement, Yu Nianbing and the others naturally didn't know. Even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

Regarding the earlier incident, Yu Nianbing really wanted to remind Song Shiyue of a few things.

But first, there was the handicap of the livestream. And second... Watching how happy Song Shiyue looked walking beside her, Yu Nianbing truly found it hard to open her mouth.

Never mind how the whole thing had ended up like this.

Yu Nianbing knew that Song Shiyue's starting point had been entirely for the sake of that little hint of fear she had accidentally let slip.

"Where are you going?" Yu Nianbing had long since released Song Shiyue's arm. Now the two of them were walking back together side by side, only for Song Shiyue to suddenly veer off.

"To grab a couple of things." Song Shiyue looked back and saw Yu Nianbing standing at the fork, looking completely at a loss. She also glanced in the direction she was heading— the lighting did seem a bit dim and yellowish. So she reached out and took Yu Nianbing's hand. "It's nothing to worry about. It'll be quick."

Yu Nianbing looked down at where Song Shiyue's hand encircled her wrist.

She very much wanted to tell her that such an intimate gesture perhaps was not appropriate between two people who had experienced a confession event.

Yet she had also seen that the path ahead was considerably darker.

And when she thought again about how Song Shiyue had only reached out after glancing toward that path...

Yu Nianbing found that she could hardly bring herself to refuse this thoughtfulness.

Song Shiyue's destination was indeed not far. She just took a quick detour into the dining hall, picked up a few small silver bowls, and then led Yu Nianbing back up to the second floor.

"Are we sleeping in your room, or mine?" Song Shiyue still remembered how Yu Nianbing's small face had gone pale with fright earlier. She didn't give her the option of refusing.

Yu Nianbing actually wanted to say... After that trip to the basement, with Director Zhang's reaction having come first, she didn't seem quite so afraid anymore.

But...

"I haven't opened my luggage yet. Have you opened yours?" Yu Nianbing asked.

Song Shiyue nodded.

"I'll grab my case and come to your side. You go in first." As Yu Nianbing spoke, she opened the door and entered her room.

After all, from tomorrow onward they'd need to travel light, so none of them had brought much luggage this time.

Yu Nianbing had just one suitcase and one backpack, and she quickly took one in each hand.

Then she turned around and saw that Song Shiyue was still standing in the doorway, watching her with utter seriousness.

Really...

It was just these few steps. She wouldn't be scared.

And yet, Yu Nianbing felt a little happiness inside, a kind she couldn't quite name— though the moment she realized it was indeed happiness, she turned her head away and stopped looking at Song Shiyue.

Song Shiyue had no way of knowing just how much Yu Nianbing had been thinking about in the span of those few steps.

Once the two of them were inside, Song Shiyue flipped her hand and brought out the small silver bowls.

"Earlier I thought you wanted to go eat a late-night snack. So can you tell me now— what did you bring these back for?" Yu Nianbing had asked back in the dining hall, but Song Shiyue had deliberately kept her in suspense, saying she could only explain once they returned.

Song Shiyue smiled. "Since we're here now... guess?"

"Did you bring something in your suitcase that needs to be eaten from bowls?" Yu Nianbing turned her head and looked at the luggage Song Shiyue had placed against the wall.

Song Shiyue shook her head.

"Are you planning to... make something to eat in the room?" As soon as Yu Nianbing said it, she felt it was probably not very likely.

Song Shiyue, naturally, shook her head again.

Yu Nianbing hesitated a moment. She seemed a bit bashful, even a touch awkward, as she lowered her voice: "I didn't bring any food..."

Heaven help her— it was only at this moment that Yu Nianbing realized she perhaps should have brought some food. That way, she wouldn't have to see even the slightest hint of disappointment in those bright eyes.

The bright eyes held no disappointment.

Because Song Shiyue let out a puff of laughter and muttered a quiet complaint: "How come every single guess you make is about food?"

Yu Nianbing was a little annoyed.

She couldn't help but keep guessing toward food— and whose fault was that, exactly?

Seeing Yu Nianbing pressing her lips together in silence, Song Shiyue stopped keeping her in suspense and finally took action to clear up Yu Nianbing's confusion.

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