A translucent three-dimensional map appeared in Bai Lixin’s mind.
Bai Lixin quickly noticed a problem. It would take an hour and a half to walk from his current location to the destination of the task.
He turned to look at the Finance Manager, Xia Chi.
Xia Chi looked puzzled. “Brother, why are you looking at me like I’m a savior? You’re making me feel embarrassed!”
“…” Bai Lixin: “Well, it’s just that having you around feels great.”
‘It feels good to have money.’
Xia Chi exclaimed, “Really? Have my strengths finally been noticed? Is it my excellent reasoning abilities or extraordinary physical prowess?”
Bai Lixin said, “No, it’s because you have money.”
“?”
Bai Lixin: [So, let me get this straight, Sister System, does your system only assign me work and not pay me? Or is my money being deducted?]
Escape System: [Uh, well, that’s how it is, Master Bai Lixin. Since your work is subcontracted through an agency, the agency will deduct a commission of 40% in advance, and the remaining 60% will be deposited into your bank account. I’ve already sent your bank card to your private email.]
Bai Lixin: [The agency takes a whole 40%? They profit from my work? Isn’t that too much? Normally, agencies only take 10%-20%, right?]
Escape System: [Uh, you actually know about the regular agency fee! Well… um, no, because our profession is quite unique, only those with connections can get jobs. It’s tough to find work on our own, so we need the agency.]
Bai Lixin: [Who said it’s tough to find work? Today, we did a private job. Tell me, which company is this agency from?]
Escape System: [Well, it’s the System Agency.]
Bai Lixin: […]
‘Simply shameless!’
Bai Lixin hailed a taxi, and after Xia Chi paid the fare in advance, he rushed to the tak location.
Although there was some traffic on the way, running on four legs was faster than two, and Bai Lixin arrived at the destination in less than half an hour.
By this time, it was already dark outside.
As soon as Bai Lixin got out of the car, he saw a picturesque garden-style small villa across the street.
This place was far away from the city center, considered to be in the outskirts.
A quaint cobblestone path led to the front door of the small villa.
The entrance was made of wood, painted with white paint, and the ground was covered with lush green grass.
Even before entering, Bai Lixin saw the colorful flowers blooming on both sides of the cobblestone path.
Outside the small villa, there was a courtyard with a canopy where three girls were sitting and chatting, looking very relaxed.
Escape System: [This small villa is the filming location for the love reality show. Originally, there were four men and four women participating, but due to the recent ghost incidents, one female artist got scared and fainted, so she quit the show. Now there are only four men and three women left.]
“Alright, prepare the lighting!”
“Teacher Wei, get ready!”
“Actors, get into position!”
“Focus on the camera, focus on emotions!”
“Action!”
The loudspeaker caught Bai Lixin’s attention, and when he turned around, he found a film crew not far away filming something.
Though it was a bit far from here, he easily spotted the key figures amidst the bustling crowd.
A group of actors dressed in ancient costumes, and a directing team.
After the “action” signal was given, wires were pulled, and the actors were pulled into the sky in a graceful pose, as if they were actually flying.
Bai Lixin: [There’s a film crew shooting here?]
Escape System: [This area is technically part of the film city, but it’s more like the outskirts. If you walk inside, you’ll see more film crews. So, occasionally, there are filming activities here.]
Bai Lixin: [I see. Let’s go in.]
As he turned around, he heard someone shouting “Cut” just behind him, and a man’s voice sounded irritated, “What’s going on?! Can’t you do it? You guys are so brainless and uncoordinated. You can’t even perform such a simple action correctly! Do it again, and if you mess up again, get the hell out of here!”
Bai Lixin stopped and turned his head to see a man wearing a peaked cap and a dark green vest, scolding a few actors who had just been on the wires.
The actors dared not say a word and kept their heads down obediently.
After the man with the peaked cap finished scolding, he took a deep breath and asked the young man beside him, “Have the male and female leads arrived?”
“The male lead is already here. Sister Mei said she’s on her way and will be here in ten minutes. She just finished a shoot and is rushing over.”
The man with the peaked cap changed his irritable attitude from earlier and sighed, “Alright, let her take her time on the way. I’ll go appease our esteemed actor. You guys continue shooting until the movements are tidy!”
The man with the peaked cap should be the director, and the young man beside him was the assistant director.
The assistant director nodded and watched the man with the peaked cap leave.
Seeing the assistant director directing the scene to continue shooting, Bai Lixin silently chuckled and turned to walk into the garden, stepping on the cobblestone path.
“Which of these male guests do you like?”
“I prefer Number Four, Xiao Du. How about you?”
“Oh, then we don’t need to compete. I’m interested in Number Two.”
Just as he entered the gate, Bai Lixin heard the voices of the female guests chatting while enjoying the breeze.
Hearing footsteps, the three of them stopped talking and looked towards the entrance in unison.
Originally, they just looked over after hearing the sound, but when they saw Bai Lixin’s appearance, they were instantly stunned. One of the girls with dyed blond hair even whistled, “Wow, he’s handsome.”
“Hey, handsome, who are you looking for? Did you come to the wrong place?” The girl with dyed blond hair raised her neck and asked loudly.
Bai Lixin took two more steps forward, and when he stood in front of them, he smiled politely, “I’m not lost. I came here for work.”
“Huh?” Another tall girl with a high ponytail asked in confusion, “But we need a female guest, why did a male guest come? What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Did you just debut this year?”
“It’s normal for us to not have met,” the girl with bangs retorted, “Even though the circle is said to be big, it’s not that big. We only got to know the other male artists after coming here.”
“But he’s different,” the girl with the high ponytail argued, “Look at his face. If he debuts, he’ll definitely become a sensation overnight. Let me tell you, with his face, he won’t need to put in any effort. He’ll win just by lying down.”
The girl with blond hair: “And his face is all-natural.”
The girl with bangs retorted, “What do you mean? Are you saying someone else isn’t all-natural?”
The girl with dyed blond hair: “Come on, don’t be so sensitive, I didn’t say it was you.”
“Uh, you misunderstood,” seeing that the three were about to argue, Bai Lixin quickly explained, “I’m not an artist, nor am I here to record a program. I’m a haunted house sleep tester. I came here for work because I heard that there’s been some trouble here.”
The three female artists stopped their argument and even their expressions became tense.
The girl with bangs asked, “The director’s team said they invited someone to drive away evil spirits. I thought they were joking, but it turns out they really invited someone. What exactly does a haunted house sleep tester do? Do you sleep in haunted houses?”
Bai Lixin replied, “It’s almost like that.”
“Wow, so you really just lie down and win. I guessed it right,” the girl with the high ponytail said.
“But I still don’t know the specific job for tonight. I might need to coordinate with the employer,” Bai Lixin added.
“The employer you mentioned should be the director’s team. They’re living next door. I’ll take you there,” said the girl with dyed blond hair.
“Wait, I’m coming too,” the girl with bangs quickly stood up from the rocking chair and said, “I don’t want to stay here alone. Let’s go together.”
The “next door” that the girl with dyed blond hair referred to was a row of connected bungalows next to the small villa.
The architectural style of this small villa was quite good, and with the wind, a faint floral fragrance wafted into their noses.
The ground was covered with lush grass, and only a few slender winding cobblestone paths connected the passageways.
The cobblestone path was not very wide, at most allowing two people to walk side by side.
The female artists appeared to be in their early twenties, and looked quite young. From their conversation, one could deduce that neither they nor the male artists were particularly famous in the entertainment industry.
They could be considered as eighteen-line artists, not well-known.
While walking, the girl with dyed blond hair pointed to the row of bungalows and explained, “The director’s team will stay there at night.”
Bai Lixin followed her finger to look, then turned his head to glance back at the garden they had just come from.
In the concealed areas of the garden, there were many cameras hidden among the trees.
Bai Lixin asked, “Don’t you have anyone filming the program with you?”
The girl with dyed blond hair replied, “Ah, we don’t have that much manpower and resources. You probably know that we aren’t very famous. This variety show is an online one, not the kind that airs on TV, so the funding is limited. We can only use stationary cameras in some places.”
“But there are still a few photographers following inside the building.”
The girl with the high ponytail frowned in disagreement and glanced at the girl with dyed blond hair, “Why do you say everything? Do you know how this person’s character is? They might post what you said online.”
“That’s even better. We don’t have much popularity anyway. Maybe after it’s posted, we’ll have some topics and increase viewership. We are already so transparent that no one bothers to dig into our backgrounds,” said the girl with bangs.
The girl with the high ponytail frowned again. Although she was also an eighteen-line artist, she seemed to dislike this self-deprecating way of speaking.
Chatting on the way, the group arrived in front of the row of bungalows. They skillfully led Bai Lixin to one of the rooms, and through the glass from outside, lights could be seen inside.
The girl with dyed blond hair knocked on the door, “Director, are you there?”
A few seconds later, footsteps were heard from inside the room, and not long after, the door opened.
A woman in her thirties opened the door, “What’s the matter?”
The girl with dyed blond hair pointed at Bai Lixin, “Director, he says he’s a haunted house sleep tester. Did you invite him?”
The woman looked at Bai Lixin with surprise, and in the next second, her pupils contracted, and her expression became serious, “You are a haunted house sleep tester?”
Bai Lixin kindly extended his hand, “Yes, hello. Are you the employer for this assignment?”
“Oh, hello. Yes, I’m the employer,” the director shook Bai Lixin’s hand with some excitement, “But I want to ask you, are you interested in developing in the entertainment industry?”
“…” Bai Lixin, “Um, not at the moment. Sorry.”
“Oh, what a pity,” everyone has their own aspirations, and the director didn’t insist, “Clearly, you could rely on your looks to get by, but you choose to rely on talent.”
“You should know the situation here to some extent, right?”
Bai Lixin nodded, “Yes, I heard a part of it. You hear knocks on the door at night, but when you open it, there’s nothing.”
After hearing this, the other four exchanged glances, and from their restrained expressions, it seemed that there was more to the story.
Sure enough, the director sighed, “Come into my room, and I’ll tell you the specifics.”
After everyone entered the room, the director closed the door, invited them to sit down, and then brought out a fruit platter. She said seriously, “Because it involves privacy, we didn’t tell you the specifics at the time.”
“Actually, it was only the female guests who heard the knocking.”
Bai Lixin scanned everyone’s faces and noticed a hint of shame on the three female artists, “What happened?”
A translucent three-dimensional map appeared in Bai Lixin’s mind.
Bai Lixin quickly noticed a problem. It would take an hour and a half to walk from his current location to the destination of the task.
He turned to look at the Finance Manager, Xia Chi.
Xia Chi looked puzzled. “Brother, why are you looking at me like I’m a savior? You’re making me feel embarrassed!”
“…” Bai Lixin: “Well, it’s just that having you around feels great.”
‘It feels good to have money.’
Xia Chi exclaimed, “Really? Have my strengths finally been noticed? Is it my excellent reasoning abilities or extraordinary physical prowess?”
Bai Lixin said, “No, it’s because you have money.”
“?”
Bai Lixin: [So, let me get this straight, Sister System, does your system only assign me work and not pay me? Or is my money being deducted?]
Escape System: [Uh, well, that’s how it is, Master Bai Lixin. Since your work is subcontracted through an agency, the agency will deduct a commission of 40% in advance, and the remaining 60% will be deposited into your bank account. I’ve already sent your bank card to your private email.]
Bai Lixin: [The agency takes a whole 40%? They profit from my work? Isn’t that too much? Normally, agencies only take 10%-20%, right?]
Escape System: [Uh, you actually know about the regular agency fee! Well… um, no, because our profession is quite unique, only those with connections can get jobs. It’s tough to find work on our own, so we need the agency.]
Bai Lixin: [Who said it’s tough to find work? Today, we did a private job. Tell me, which company is this agency from?]
Escape System: [Well, it’s the System Agency.]
Bai Lixin: […]
‘Simply shameless!’
Bai Lixin hailed a taxi, and after Xia Chi paid the fare in advance, he rushed to the tak location.
Although there was some traffic on the way, running on four legs was faster than two, and Bai Lixin arrived at the destination in less than half an hour.
By this time, it was already dark outside.
As soon as Bai Lixin got out of the car, he saw a picturesque garden-style small villa across the street.
This place was far away from the city center, considered to be in the outskirts.
A quaint cobblestone path led to the front door of the small villa.
The entrance was made of wood, painted with white paint, and the ground was covered with lush green grass.
Even before entering, Bai Lixin saw the colorful flowers blooming on both sides of the cobblestone path.
Outside the small villa, there was a courtyard with a canopy where three girls were sitting and chatting, looking very relaxed.
Escape System: [This small villa is the filming location for the love reality show. Originally, there were four men and four women participating, but due to the recent ghost incidents, one female artist got scared and fainted, so she quit the show. Now there are only four men and three women left.]
“Alright, prepare the lighting!”
“Teacher Wei, get ready!”
“Actors, get into position!”
“Focus on the camera, focus on emotions!”
“Action!”
The loudspeaker caught Bai Lixin’s attention, and when he turned around, he found a film crew not far away filming something.
Though it was a bit far from here, he easily spotted the key figures amidst the bustling crowd.
A group of actors dressed in ancient costumes, and a directing team.
After the “action” signal was given, wires were pulled, and the actors were pulled into the sky in a graceful pose, as if they were actually flying.
Bai Lixin: [There’s a film crew shooting here?]
Escape System: [This area is technically part of the film city, but it’s more like the outskirts. If you walk inside, you’ll see more film crews. So, occasionally, there are filming activities here.]
Bai Lixin: [I see. Let’s go in.]
As he turned around, he heard someone shouting “Cut” just behind him, and a man’s voice sounded irritated, “What’s going on?! Can’t you do it? You guys are so brainless and uncoordinated. You can’t even perform such a simple action correctly! Do it again, and if you mess up again, get the hell out of here!”
Bai Lixin stopped and turned his head to see a man wearing a peaked cap and a dark green vest, scolding a few actors who had just been on the wires.
The actors dared not say a word and kept their heads down obediently.
After the man with the peaked cap finished scolding, he took a deep breath and asked the young man beside him, “Have the male and female leads arrived?”
“The male lead is already here. Sister Mei said she’s on her way and will be here in ten minutes. She just finished a shoot and is rushing over.”
The man with the peaked cap changed his irritable attitude from earlier and sighed, “Alright, let her take her time on the way. I’ll go appease our esteemed actor. You guys continue shooting until the movements are tidy!”
The man with the peaked cap should be the director, and the young man beside him was the assistant director.
The assistant director nodded and watched the man with the peaked cap leave.
Seeing the assistant director directing the scene to continue shooting, Bai Lixin silently chuckled and turned to walk into the garden, stepping on the cobblestone path.
“Which of these male guests do you like?”
“I prefer Number Four, Xiao Du. How about you?”
“Oh, then we don’t need to compete. I’m interested in Number Two.”
Just as he entered the gate, Bai Lixin heard the voices of the female guests chatting while enjoying the breeze.
Hearing footsteps, the three of them stopped talking and looked towards the entrance in unison.
Originally, they just looked over after hearing the sound, but when they saw Bai Lixin’s appearance, they were instantly stunned. One of the girls with dyed blond hair even whistled, “Wow, he’s handsome.”
“Hey, handsome, who are you looking for? Did you come to the wrong place?” The girl with dyed blond hair raised her neck and asked loudly.
Bai Lixin took two more steps forward, and when he stood in front of them, he smiled politely, “I’m not lost. I came here for work.”
“Huh?” Another tall girl with a high ponytail asked in confusion, “But we need a female guest, why did a male guest come? What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Did you just debut this year?”
“It’s normal for us to not have met,” the girl with bangs retorted, “Even though the circle is said to be big, it’s not that big. We only got to know the other male artists after coming here.”
“But he’s different,” the girl with the high ponytail argued, “Look at his face. If he debuts, he’ll definitely become a sensation overnight. Let me tell you, with his face, he won’t need to put in any effort. He’ll win just by lying down.”
The girl with blond hair: “And his face is all-natural.”
The girl with bangs retorted, “What do you mean? Are you saying someone else isn’t all-natural?”
The girl with dyed blond hair: “Come on, don’t be so sensitive, I didn’t say it was you.”
“Uh, you misunderstood,” seeing that the three were about to argue, Bai Lixin quickly explained, “I’m not an artist, nor am I here to record a program. I’m a haunted house sleep tester. I came here for work because I heard that there’s been some trouble here.”
The three female artists stopped their argument and even their expressions became tense.
The girl with bangs asked, “The director’s team said they invited someone to drive away evil spirits. I thought they were joking, but it turns out they really invited someone. What exactly does a haunted house sleep tester do? Do you sleep in haunted houses?”
Bai Lixin replied, “It’s almost like that.”
“Wow, so you really just lie down and win. I guessed it right,” the girl with the high ponytail said.
“But I still don’t know the specific job for tonight. I might need to coordinate with the employer,” Bai Lixin added.
“The employer you mentioned should be the director’s team. They’re living next door. I’ll take you there,” said the girl with dyed blond hair.
“Wait, I’m coming too,” the girl with bangs quickly stood up from the rocking chair and said, “I don’t want to stay here alone. Let’s go together.”
The “next door” that the girl with dyed blond hair referred to was a row of connected bungalows next to the small villa.
The architectural style of this small villa was quite good, and with the wind, a faint floral fragrance wafted into their noses.
The ground was covered with lush grass, and only a few slender winding cobblestone paths connected the passageways.
The cobblestone path was not very wide, at most allowing two people to walk side by side.
The female artists appeared to be in their early twenties, and looked quite young. From their conversation, one could deduce that neither they nor the male artists were particularly famous in the entertainment industry.
They could be considered as eighteen-line artists, not well-known.
While walking, the girl with dyed blond hair pointed to the row of bungalows and explained, “The director’s team will stay there at night.”
Bai Lixin followed her finger to look, then turned his head to glance back at the garden they had just come from.
In the concealed areas of the garden, there were many cameras hidden among the trees.
Bai Lixin asked, “Don’t you have anyone filming the program with you?”
The girl with dyed blond hair replied, “Ah, we don’t have that much manpower and resources. You probably know that we aren’t very famous. This variety show is an online one, not the kind that airs on TV, so the funding is limited. We can only use stationary cameras in some places.”
“But there are still a few photographers following inside the building.”
The girl with the high ponytail frowned in disagreement and glanced at the girl with dyed blond hair, “Why do you say everything? Do you know how this person’s character is? They might post what you said online.”
“That’s even better. We don’t have much popularity anyway. Maybe after it’s posted, we’ll have some topics and increase viewership. We are already so transparent that no one bothers to dig into our backgrounds,” said the girl with bangs.
The girl with the high ponytail frowned again. Although she was also an eighteen-line artist, she seemed to dislike this self-deprecating way of speaking.
Chatting on the way, the group arrived in front of the row of bungalows. They skillfully led Bai Lixin to one of the rooms, and through the glass from outside, lights could be seen inside.
The girl with dyed blond hair knocked on the door, “Director, are you there?”
A few seconds later, footsteps were heard from inside the room, and not long after, the door opened.
A woman in her thirties opened the door, “What’s the matter?”
The girl with dyed blond hair pointed at Bai Lixin, “Director, he says he’s a haunted house sleep tester. Did you invite him?”
The woman looked at Bai Lixin with surprise, and in the next second, her pupils contracted, and her expression became serious, “You are a haunted house sleep tester?”
Bai Lixin kindly extended his hand, “Yes, hello. Are you the employer for this assignment?”
“Oh, hello. Yes, I’m the employer,” the director shook Bai Lixin’s hand with some excitement, “But I want to ask you, are you interested in developing in the entertainment industry?”
“…” Bai Lixin, “Um, not at the moment. Sorry.”
“Oh, what a pity,” everyone has their own aspirations, and the director didn’t insist, “Clearly, you could rely on your looks to get by, but you choose to rely on talent.”
“You should know the situation here to some extent, right?”
Bai Lixin nodded, “Yes, I heard a part of it. You hear knocks on the door at night, but when you open it, there’s nothing.”
After hearing this, the other four exchanged glances, and from their restrained expressions, it seemed that there was more to the story.
Sure enough, the director sighed, “Come into my room, and I’ll tell you the specifics.”
After everyone entered the room, the director closed the door, invited them to sit down, and then brought out a fruit platter. She said seriously, “Because it involves privacy, we didn’t tell you the specifics at the time.”
“Actually, it was only the female guests who heard the knocking.”
Bai Lixin scanned everyone’s faces and noticed a hint of shame on the three female artists, “What happened?”
