Chapter 62 – Trapped

“You know, we’re actors, and we recently came to the mountains to shoot scenes for our movie,” Shen Fubai explained. “The village chief had us stay at the westernmost house in the village, I thought they would have notified you… looks like we’ve disturbed you.”

Xie Chian lowered his gaze. “I’m also a guest, there’s no need to consult me.”

Wang Xiaoshu was secretly observing them. He was just as Shen Fubai had imagined him to be—skinny, with sallow skin, pitifully small and timid, nervously looking at the two strangers with his eyes wide open. In a low voice, he said, “The village chief never notifies me.”

He was too insignificant for anyone to seek his opinion.

“But I welcome you to stay here,” Wang Xiaoshu added.

Wang Xiaoshu had been living alone in this dilapidated little shack for too long, until a few days ago when a group of older brothers and sisters suddenly barged in, scaring him so much that he quickly hid under the table.

Those unfamiliar older brothers and sisters inspected the furnishings in the room with disdainful looks.

“Brother Xie, the house the village chief assigned to you is way too shabby—it’s not even as good as ours. Should we go talk to the village chief again and see if we can switch?” Liang Yifei lifted his foot, frowning, as the dust dirtied his white sneakers.

The two girls kept their distance even further. Li Jingwen sighed. “Professor Song’s assignment was for us to experience life, not the Stone Age. The other students went to rural villages for farm tourism; how did you end up finding such an out-of-the-way place, Liang Yifei?”

Chen Huihui complained quietly, “Yeah, there’s no air conditioning and no Wi-Fi here—it’s simply not fit for human habitation.”

Due to the school’s experiential task, these four classmates who were on good terms decided to find a place to play together, with Liang Yifei responsible for planning the trip. No one knew how he ended up finding this place.

“No need for trouble,” the last young man said indifferently.

Wang Xiaoshu hid under the table, peering through the gaps. He could observe the brother with the pleasant voice who had just spoken. He was dressed very neatly, looked very handsome, and it was a desecration for him to be in such a dirty house.

He stood there nonchalantly, the only one who hadn’t shown a look of disgust.

Wang Xiaoshu had never seen anyone like him before. He only knew villagers who worked facing the earth with their backs to the sky, and the most impressive person he knew was the village chief’s family. These teenagers and girls who broke into his home, coming from outside the mountains, were like another world to him.

“Okay then.” The others bid him farewell.

After the other three left, the young man turned his gaze towards the underside of the table.

Wang Xiaoshu held his breath, terrified of being discovered. He was still afraid of strangers.

Then the young man approached, crouched down, and extended a clean, slender hand to him. “Come out.”

“We’ll be staying here for the next few days,” the young man’s dark eyes slightly narrowed as he softly asked, “Is that okay?”

Wang Xiaoshu was stunned, placing his small, dark hand over it. The young man led him out and said to him, “Hello, my name is Xie Chian.”

These students from the big city experienced mountain life for the first time. They found it novel on the first day, but on the second day, they were already complaining about wanting to leave.

The families they were staying with warmly persuaded them to stay, which made the embarrassed teenagers decide to spend a few more nights. Xie Chian simply watched quietly, remaining silent as he stayed behind.

Unlike the other three students who were unaccustomed to mountain life, Xie Chian immediately cleaned Wang Xiaoshu’s house upon arrival. He knew how to draw water from the well himself, could catch fish in the river and hunt in the mountains, making delicious dishes—a level AX in survival skills. By himself, he raised Wang Xiaoshu’s living standard by several notches and even taught him to read and write.

Wang Xiaoshu liked this older brother immensely.

He grew up in the village, where the villagers treated him poorly, yet none of them were as kind as this older brother from outside the mountains.

Because of the impression Xie Chian left, in the simple Wang Xiaoshu’s eyes, those coming from outside the mountains were all good people, not to mention how good-looking they were. He immediately welcomed Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng into his home.

“Brother, I’m taking them inside,” Wang Xiaoshu said to Xie Chian.

Xie Chian nodded, lowering his head again to scribble on the paper.

Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng thanked him, then followed Wang Xiaoshu to the only empty room.

Beside the uneven walls, there was a brick bed covered with a mat.

That was it.

Completely bare.

Shen Fubai stared blankly for three seconds, took a deep breath, and turned around, walking out. “Okay, I’m sure we’re here to film ‘Extreme Makeover.'”

Wang Xiaoshu sheepishly followed behind. “This is my grandma’s room… it hasn’t been cleaned yet, I’ll go clean it now.” He didn’t live in all the rooms by himself, naturally, there were many places that had accumulated dust. Previously, Xie Chian had only cleared the room he was staying in, helping Wang Xiaoshu tidy up a bit.

Shen Fubai felt embarrassed to inconvenience someone else, especially since Wang Xiaoshu’s malnourished little body wasn’t even as tall as a broom. “No need, give me the broom, I’ll clean it myself. Oh, by the way… where’s the toilet?”

He had just checked, and there was no bathroom in the house.

“It’s at the back of the house,” Wang Xiaoshu led them out the back of the house, pointing to a wall made of bricks.

The wall enclosed a latrine, with flies buzzing everywhere and a smell that could travel for miles.

Every sight refreshed Shen Fubai’s acceptance threshold.

Shen Fubai stumbled back into the house in a daze, wanting to drink some water to calm his nerves. He wasn’t picky at this point, seeing the enamel cup filled with water on the table, he picked it up and took a sip. The sour smell and strange taste made him feel something was wrong, asking vaguely, “What is this?”

Wang Xiaoshu obediently replied, “Happy Water of the Gods.”

Shen Fubai: “…?”

This probably wasn’t what he was thinking.

Xie Chian didn’t even lift his head. “Water used to worship the gods in the mountains, mixed with incense ashes, it’s been sitting there for three days.” Shen Fubai had moved so quickly just now, Xie Chian couldn’t stop him even if he wanted to.

Shen Fubai stiffly looked at the table where the enamel cup was placed, in front of which was an abstract piece of wood. He had assumed it was a failed rolling pin.

This fucking thing was actually a god statue?

Shen Fubai ran outside to vomit.

Jiang Heng patted his back sympathetically, handing him tissues. Shen Fubai weakly wiped his mouth, feeling miserable.

How was he going to survive here?

It wasn’t that he was being fussy. Someone accustomed to life in a big city couldn’t adapt to such a lifestyle all at once. Seeing Xie Chian, who seemed unperturbed, Shen Fubai was impressed to the core.

Just then, three young men and women ran over. Liang Yifei shouted excitedly as he ran, “Brother Xie, Brother Xie! There seems to be a film crew shooting here, lots of people have come! You should go take a look. I even saw a celebrity, Yu Xiaoxiao! The one on TV… that… that…” His voice faded away, his steps stopped, and his expression became frozen.

He saw a super handsome guy supporting another beautiful youth. Hearing the sound, the youth raised his eyes, his eyes sparkling.

The screams of the two girls beside him drowned out his voice.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh Shen Fubai!!!”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh Jiang Heng!!!”

The students never expected that on a random outing, they would be sharing a roof with household celebrities, instantly becoming extremely excited. The two girls who had previously complained about Liang Yifei’s choice of location immediately praised him secretly in their hearts, even quietly asking Xie Chian if they could swap rooms—completely forgetting that they had previously despised the place.

For the sake of their idols, what was a little discomfort.

Li Jingwen and Chen Huihui were fans of Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng respectively. They were the ones who fought fiercely on the front lines during the most brutal fan battles between Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng, nearly damaging their plastic sisterhood in real life. After the “Pear Blossoms” dual poster came out, They carried the C flag without hesitation, put aside their differences, and reconciled.

Friendships between girls were just that magical.

However, facing the hopeful gazes of the two girls, Xie Chian gently but ruthlessly said, “No.”

…Well then.

Finally getting rid of the screaming and excited classmates, Xie Chian affirmed Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai’s popularity. “You are indeed very popular.”

Jiang Heng said, “We only need your welcome right now.” After all, this house belonged to Wang Xiaoshu, and Wang Xiaoshu clearly listened to Xie Chian.

They had just engaged in a brief conversation with these high school students and learned that all these students came from Shanghai and had come here to complete a summer homework assignment. When asked how they found this place, Liang Yifei sheepishly replied, “I saw a report by chance, saying that there was a most beautiful female teacher in this village, and many children who had difficulty attending school… so I came here. We are from a big city, we should see the mountains.”

This kid was seriously completing his summer homework. While other students treated the task given by their teachers as just another trip, he truly came to get close to reality, search for meaning, and explore discoveries. So naive and enthusiastic.

When Liang Yifei said this, his two female companions expressed surprise. They didn’t know Liang Yifei had such intentions, and they felt ashamed and admiring for a moment.

As for that cold and aloof youth named Xie Chian, he remained expressionless throughout. Judging from his attitude towards Wang Xiaoshu, he should have been a very gentle person. However, this gentle youth didn’t comment on his companion’s enthusiasm.

Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai could sense that this quiet and reticent youth was the backbone of the four. He looked stable and reliable.

Xie Chian replied to Jiang Heng, “There’s no need for anyone’s welcome, you’ve already won by being able to stay here.”

Too true.

Who could bear this environment? Those who lived here all the time didn’t notice, but they were different.

Xie Chian’s classmates even wanted to leave the next day, coincidentally, a bus came into the village yesterday. Due to the villagers’ strong persuasion, they stayed until the third day, and unexpectedly, a film crew arrived.

These excited students immediately decided not to leave, they would stay to watch the film crew shoot, this was a truly wondrous experience of life.

Winning was inevitable. They had to stay to shoot the film, no matter how harsh and difficult the conditions were, they had to overcome them.

“I still can’t figure out why Director Xu chose this place to shoot,” Shen Fubai was perplexed.

In “Pear Blossoms,” there was a scene that required a very backward, primitive environment, surrounded by mountains. But there were many such places, there was no need to torture themselves like this.

Choosing the location was something Director Xu had delegated to someone else, the actors didn’t participate.

“Perhaps Uncle Xu has his own reasons,” Jiang Heng wasn’t very understanding either.

The two of them went to ask Director Xu about this matter in the evening, but to their surprise, Director Xu was also lost in thought. “I don’t know why it turned out this way…”

Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng: “?”

“The filming location was arranged by phone beforehand. Someone had already scouted the location, and in theory, they should have been waiting for us at the destination, but we haven’t seen anyone yet.” Director Xu lit a cigarette in a weathered manner. “I didn’t tell everyone earlier so that the crew could stay at ease.”

Jiang Heng furrowed his brows. “Should we call them?”

Director Xu shook his phone. “There’s no signal in the mountains. We can’t contact the outside world from here. I asked the village chief, a bus comes in every seven days to deliver goods. Other than that, this mountain village is isolated, with no one coming. The last bus left yesterday, we’ll have to stay here for at least seven days.”

This was a serious problem. Shen Fubai and Jiang Heng exchanged glances, both sensing a hint of despair in each other’s eyes.

There was no signal in the mountains, and they couldn’t leave…

How were they going to spend the days without playing games?