FEG | Chapter 6

Chapter 6, Orphanage

After finally seeing the landlord off, Sun Fangchi had no choice but to tell Bu Xiling about the game, half true and half false, when she badgered him for an answer.

Bu Xiling was silent for a long time. "What do you plan to do?"

Sun Fangchi was too sleepy to keep his eyes open. "No clue, I have to go back and see Grandma tomorrow, I’m going to sleep early..." Before he even finished speaking, he had already fallen asleep, leaving Bu Xiling grinding her teeth in hatred.

Yuanhou County was a small county on the edge of Bingjiang Province, and even by highway it took three hours to get there from the provincial capital, Yongan City. Early that morning, Sun Fangchi bought two tickets. The bus departed at 8:30, and they would arrive at around twelve.

Bingjiang Province was an inland province, with mountains making up a small half and plains making up the larger half. Yuanhou County was in the plain half. Its economy was underdeveloped, and the young people basically all went out to make a living. Unless it was a holiday, it was almost impossible to see any young people.

The county orphanage had been built early on, and it was right by the second ring road of the old downtown. Director Zheng Yun had devoted the second half of her life to the orphanage. While raising the children, she also planted a lot of trees. After so many years, the trees had grown tall and lush, making the two-story dormitory building look small and delicate.

In front of the small building, under the shade of the trees, on a tan wicker chair, a grandmother with a full head of silver hair was half-reclining. Her reading glasses had slid down below the bridge of her nose, and the lenses would flash white in rhythm with her snores.

Sun Fangchi walked over to her, gently took off her reading glasses, and closed the photo album on her knees. The grandmother’s leg twitched, and she murmured dazedly, "...Who is it?"

"Grandma, it’s me."

"Xiaofang..." The grandmother squinted hard before finally making out that it was Sun Fangchi. "You’re back..."

"Mm. Why were you sleeping in the yard? Where are those little troublemakers?"

"You really have a sharp tongue. The children went to school." The grandmother pretended to hit Sun Fangchi, but he dodged with a grin. "I took out the photos to look at them, and when people get old, they fall asleep without realizing it..."

The grandmother lovingly stroked the hard-covered photo album on her lap. Sun Fangchi pulled over a stool and sat down. "Let me see."

The two of them leaned together to look at the old photos, and Sun Fangchi deliberately left a place for Bu Xiling.

Most of the photos were from recent years. After smartphones became widespread, Zheng Grandma took the pictures herself and had them printed out, scenes of several children playing, eating, and so on. Going back a little further, there were very few photos from when Sun Fangchi was little, only one group photo every year.

Zheng Grandma flipped through the photos with nostalgia. "Look, the younger you were, the more angry your expression looked. I don’t know where you got such a temper..." The photos were turned back one by one, and in the group pictures Sun Fangchi’s figure gradually grew smaller. In every one, he stood beside Zheng Grandma.

"I didn’t have anyone to play with. They were all chirping and noisy," Sun Fangchi complained. Back then, there had only been one healthy boy in the orphanage, and all the others were girls.

Zheng Grandma flipped to a photo of Sun Fangchi around ten years old. The little boy was lying on her legs, and beside him was a fierce little girl with short hair, reaching to tug his ear. "If Xixi hadn’t been taken away, you would’ve had a playmate. I wonder what Xixi looks like now. She must be a pretty girl..."

Sun Fangchi glanced at the dazed Bu Xiling behind him. "Who knows, maybe she grew up ugly. And she was so fierce, she probably wouldn’t even get married... Ouch!"

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing, I got hit by someone’s resentment." Sun Fangchi rubbed the back of his head.

"You always say such scary things. No wonder the little girls never played with you." Zheng Grandma chided. "Back then, only Xixi was brave enough to talk to you."

Sun Fangchi nodded. "Exactly, she was so stupid she couldn’t understand a word I said."

Bu Xiling was so angry that she stamped her foot, but it wasn’t appropriate to teach him a lesson in front of Zheng Grandma, so she chose to block her ears and not listen, and drifted into the small building.

Zheng Grandma said with longing, "I also wonder whether Xixi’s family treated her well. They haven’t come back to see her in all these years, probably because they’ve forgotten all about what happened when she was little..."

Sun Fangchi stared at the photos without saying a word. Since they met a year ago, Bu Xiling had never mentioned her family, not even her cause of death. "Grandma, Xige definitely has reasons having to do with her family. Otherwise, how could she forget you."

"A lovely little girl being called ge by you, really..." Zheng Grandma had never quite been able to accept the way the two of them addressed each other. A girl being called ge, a boy being called Xiaofang, it was simply upside down.

"Whoever has the bigger fist is the boss, it’s not my fault." Sun Fangchi felt wronged.

"Come on, I made green pepper stir-fried pork. I’ve been waiting for you..." Zheng Grandma put away the album and walked toward the small building.

"...I don’t like green peppers."

"You have to eat it, I’m not indulging your bad habit of being picky!"

After eating, Sun Fangchi helped Zheng Grandma with the chores. Only after checking the orphanage’s electrical circuits and water pipes did he prepare to leave. Before leaving, Sun Fangchi handed over the income from the past two months to Zheng Grandma, as the orphanage’s living expenses.

When he returned to the rental in Yongan City, Sun Fangchi immediately started livestreaming.

Near the end of the livestream, Sun Fangchi’s phone rang. When he picked it up, the caller ID showed "He Baichang", the boss of Sun Fangchi’s MCN company.

A livestream agency is a company that helps streamers with livestream operations and promotion. Stronger companies hire their own streamers, just like talent agencies hire performers, giving them resources, equipment, and promotion, and handling everything on the streamer’s behalf. He Baichang’s company was the weaker type, with a cooperative relationship with streamers. It only handled promotion and took a certain commission.

"Ghost Pond, there’s a joint livestream event. Are you joining?" As soon as the call connected, He Baichang asked bluntly. Ghost Pond was Sun Fangchi’s streamer name.

"Joint livestream? What’s in it for me?" Sun Fangchi asked lazily.

"This event is jointly hosted by several companies. It’s an outdoor adventure livestream with several other well-known horror streamers. If you perform well, you can attract a huge wave of fans!"

"Outdoor? I’m not going. I don’t do outdoor livestreams." Sun Fangchi refused immediately.

"...There’s also a 50,000 yuan bonus."

"Oh... Does it involve staying overnight? Do I need to bring a toothbrush?"

He Baichang: "..."

According to He Baichang’s detailed explanation, the livestream event would be held in a village with a notorious reputation. It was said that there had once been a massacre there, and after that the village was often haunted. Gradually, the villagers all moved away, and the village became an abandoned place.

The participating streamers had to stay in the village for three days and three nights and play some ghostly games, just like a short-term reality show.

This was Grey Bear Livestream Platform’s ambitious project. It wanted to take a share from the film and television industry through livestreaming, so it was starting with the most eye-catching horror livestream format.

Originally, it wouldn’t have been the turn of a low-tier company like He Baichang’s to participate, but after all, this was an experimental new event, and it wasn’t certain whether it could be broadcast smoothly, so the big companies were still watching. He Baichang had used every bit of manpower and money he had to get this opportunity.

Who knew that the streamers in the company with the highest fan counts would all refuse to participate, leaving him no choice but to send Ghost Pond, this reckless daredevil, instead.

The event was in two days. At that time, he would come pick Sun Fangchi up.

After hanging up, Sun Fangchi made a bowl of instant noodles and forced Bu Xiling to watch a horror movie with him.

"Why are you joining? What if that village really isn’t peaceful?" Bu Xiling complained.

Sun Fangchi held up a palm. "Fifty thousand yuan, Xige. It would take us several months to earn that. It’d be such a waste not to go."

"Is 50,000 yuan worth risking your life for?"

"Even without 50,000 yuan, don’t I still have to take a risk once every ten days?" Sun Fangchi said carelessly. "With that 50,000 yuan, I’m going to buy insurance for myself, just in case."

Bu Xiling stared at the television screen. "You sound like you’re making final arrangements. Can’t you just hold on to hope and believe you absolutely won’t die?"

"Xige, your family is pretty rich, right?"

Bu Xiling frowned at him. "I’m talking to you about something serious."

"I’m guessing right, aren’t I?"

"How do you know?"

"Because poor people don’t dare believe in good luck." Sun Fangchi threw the instant noodle container into the trash can and stood up passionately. "Poor people do the most comprehensive possible preparation and wait for the worst thing to happen. Put into formal writing, that means stacking the thickest armor and taking the most vicious beating!"

"...You’re probably sick."

Two days later, before it was even light outside, He Baichang was already banging on Sun Fangchi’s door with a loud thump-thump.

Sun Fangchi, still bleary-eyed from sleep, got into his car and headed for the livestream location. The livestream site was in a place called Shijing Village, in the mountains along the western border where Nanyan Province and Bingjiang Province bordered each other. Nanyan Province had many mountains, and Shijing Village was in the mountains. It had long since been uninhabited, with only some old buildings left behind, and it was infamous online.

Adding in a stretch of mountain road, the drive took more than four hours in total. He Baichang drove, and Sun Fangchi slept so deeply that saliva dripped from his mouth.

When they were close to the destination, He Baichang woke Sun Fangchi. "I need to explain the situation to you first."

"We’ll gather at Shijing New Village in a bit. From there to the old site of Shijing Village, we still have to climb a mountain, and we won’t be going with you. The few of you streamers will climb up together. There are still houses in Shijing Village that people can live in. The staff already prepared food and bedding in advance, and you can divide them up yourselves. The food and drinks are definitely enough for three days. Today is the 5th, and only on the morning of the 8th will you count as having finished the livestream. At that point, you can go down the mountain."

"I just need to stay in the village for three days?"

"It’s not that simple. The organizers are also afraid the livestream will be boring, so every day you’ll have tasks to complete."

"What tasks?"

"The organizers said it’s confidential. The task cards will only be handed out at ten o’clock every morning. During the day, it’s your free livestreaming time. Bring your own equipment. I know you don’t have outdoor livestreaming equipment, so the company will lend it to you first. After the event is over, you’ll still have to return it to me."

"Oh?" Sun Fangchi looked at the back seat. The black travel bag containing the livestream equipment was sitting there, and beside it Bu Xiling was looking out the window at the scenery.

"At night, when you do the tasks, the organizers have installed cameras in one of the rooms, and they’ll be responsible for the livestream."

"How many people are there in total?"

"Seven. Seven is an auspicious number, right?"

Sun Fangchi had nothing to say. Damn, what an auspicious number.

"The important thing is!" He Baichang emphasized. "They’re all streamers with over a million fans, while you don’t even have a hundred thousand. When the time comes, perform well, and you’ll be able to catch a wave of fans. I put a few sets of clothes in the bag, remember to wear them then."

While they were speaking, the car had already arrived. He Baichang turned the steering wheel and drove into a flat, open concrete square. On one side of the square was a wall, and on the wall were painted red characters reading Shijing New Village Cultural Plaza.

Several cars were already parked there, including a large bus. People carrying equipment and moving things were scattered in twos and threes, and among them were several conspicuous figures who were clearly streamers.