Chapter 60 – Minivan Man

Director Xu said, “Master Wang, when the minivans arrive, can you stay behind to guide us? We can pay an extra twenty yuan.”

Master Wang was hesitant. “But I still have to report to the company and deal with the bus tire replacement…”

Director Xu: “One hundred.” He didn’t care about being overcharged; compared to the losses incurred from delaying the production schedule, one hundred yuan was nothing to him.

Master Wang quickly changed his tune. “No problem.”

Money could make ghosts grind mills and people break their promises.

There was something more foolish than waiting at the deserted platform at six in the morning; they were now waiting on an even more desolate cliffside.

Master Wang made a few phone calls and waited in the car for a bit. Soon enough, a tow truck arrived and hauled away the stranded bus.

Everyone got out of the vehicle and stood on the mountain road. The narrow path was so perilous that one misstep could lead to instant death. Many clung to the mountain wall, too afraid to look down for fear of dizziness.

It wasn’t so narrow that only one person could pass through, as it was wide enough for a bus. However, accustomed to the sprawling roads of big cities, these winding mountain paths seemed fraught with danger.

Shen Fubai kicked a pebble down the cliff, watching it roll away without a sound.

He stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down. Below was an abyss of emptiness, its bottom shrouded in darkness, devoid of hope. Yet above him, there was a world of light.

Jiang Heng pulled him back. “You’re testing the limits of danger.”

Shen Fubai: “No, I’m contemplating the essence of life.”

Jiang Heng: “Alright, watch your safety, philosopher.”

A minute later, Jiang Heng asked, “Have you figured out the meaning of life?”

“It’s the essence of life,” Shen Fubai corrected.

Although it sounded the same, Jiang Heng complied with the correction. “Then have you figured out the essence of life?”

Shen Fubai looked at the handsome man smiling gently under the sunlight and whispered two words in his ear, “I love you.”

The world could sometimes be dark, and other times bright. He had fallen to the depths and reached the heavens. Fate hadn’t been kind nor cruel to him, but he was still favored.

Meaning was just meaning, but essence was the true meaning.

Fate told him that he would dedicate his entire life to loving someone, and he would do so willingly.

If this was real.

Then he was willing—

If it weren’t for the many people around, Jiang Heng would have pinned Shen Fubai against the mountain wall and kissed him fiercely.

He couldn’t resist every soft coo, every gentle smile, and every moment of joy or frustration from the youth. Shen Fubai was too easy to sway his heart.

And Shen Fubai was so adorable.

Today was another day of mutual infatuation.

The minivans didn’t make them wait long. Not long after the tow truck left, four large minivans arrived. Each could carry up to eleven passengers, so there was no need to worry about overloading.

Some might seem like ordinary drivers, but they were very well-connected, able to call for four minivans full of people with a single phone call.

…Correction, four minivans.

Clearly, Master Wang was familiar with the minivan drivers, greeting them warmly.

They were all drivers, part of the same trade.

“Wow, big business! So many people,” one of the minivan men said. “Thank you so much, Old Wang. If it weren’t for your flat tire, we wouldn’t have gotten this job.”

Master Wang responded, “That’s not fair to say.”

“Haha, just kidding,” the minivan man laughed, then turned to the production team. “Are you going back the way you came or what? Just so you know, we only drive around town. We don’t know the roads further in.”

This road was rarely traveled, only Master Wang knew the way.

Master Wang said, “They’re going to the village. I’ll sit in the front seat and guide you. The other three vehicles will follow behind. Now that the fog has cleared, don’t lose the way.”

“Okay,” the second minivan man lit a cigarette. “With so many people, let’s charge twenty yuan per person, making it two hundred yuan per vehicle.”

Compared to the bus, the minivan prices were less reasonable. They were clearly overcharging.

Actually, the price wasn’t unreasonable. It was just an unexpected expense of eight hundred yuan.

But this was a wealthy production team. No one cared about the money. They only wanted to reach their destination sooner.

Yang Yingying pointed out, “Minivans have a passenger limit of eleven, so four vehicles can carry forty-four people. There are forty-one of us here. If we include you four drivers and Master Wang, that makes forty-five. One vehicle will be overloaded.”

She wore sunglasses and her curly hair fell loosely around her shoulders. Her tall figure was hard to ignore, and her pale face was strikingly beautiful. The minivan drivers couldn’t help but stare.

They noticed that some of the group dressed oddly, not revealing their true appearances—these were actors. Others looked ordinary—they were staff.

Those who didn’t show their faces, especially the women, couldn’t be judged by appearance, but their figures were undeniably alluring…

“It’s fine. I’ve been driving minivans for over a decade without a single accident. It’s very stable,” the minivan man spoke more softly when addressed by the beauty. “Don’t you have a child among you? Children don’t count as people.”

Ye Ziran: “…”

Mu Yao raised an eyebrow. “That’s not right. Babies count as people too.” Overloading was still overloading, and the driver’s words were ignorant of the law.

The third minivan man said, “Who’s going to check you out here? There aren’t even traffic police. And it’s just a child. Are you going to leave him in the mountains?”

…His argument was reasonable, leaving no room for rebuttal.

In the end, they still boarded the vehicles. There was no choice. In the middle of nowhere, they couldn’t really leave someone behind.

Jiang Heng asked Ye Ziran, who had been excluded from humanity, “What are your thoughts after hearing that?”

Ye Ziran: “I want to eat bread.”

“…” He lived up to his family’s reputation in the catering business.

The space inside the minivans was much tighter than the bus, and with so many people packed in, even the air felt stale.

At first, Shen Fubai played with his phone, but later felt dizzy, so he closed it and rested his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, the vehicles had reached their destination.

The commotion caused by the four minivans drew the attention of several villagers gathered at the entrance. More hid in their homes, observing discreetly.

The secluded little village rarely saw outsiders. The sudden arrival of so many people inevitably caught the villagers’ attention.

Several men with exposed bellies approached from the village entrance, the leader asking gruffly, “What are you doing here?”

He asked in dialect, which the production team didn’t understand, but they could guess the meaning from his expression.

“These are tourists,” Master Wang recognized them and stepped forward to converse in dialect.

The man scanned the scene. “Why are there so many tourists in this remote place? These rich people have nothing better to do? The students who came last time haven’t left yet. But…” He chuckled darkly. “They can’t leave even if they want to.”

To the villagers who never left the mountains, those who could travel were considered rich.

Master Wang lowered his voice. “There are many of these people, so don’t get any ideas. But there are a few who are indeed beautiful, and they seem to be from the city.”

The man scoffed. “So what if they’re from the city? Once they come here, they won’t be able to leave.”

“We did many deals before and never failed.”

“Just be careful,” Master Wang gave his final warning.

The two kept their voices low and spoke in local dialect. Most of the production team didn’t catch the conversation, and those who did were left confused.

Master Wang walked back and said to them, “The villagers here have never been outside and don’t speak Mandarin. If you want to stay overnight, ask the village chief. His son is a college student in the village and can speak Mandarin. The village chief’s house is at the head of the village, the two-story building.”

The production team thanked him, paid, and Master Wang and the four minivan men left.

The men at the village entrance stared at them, their exposed chests and bellies making the production team feel uneasy. Unable to communicate due to the language barrier, they followed Master Wang’s instructions and found the village chief’s home.

The village chief’s house was easy to find. It was the only two-story building in the village, painted white, standing out among the low, stone houses.

Even though the two-story house might be smaller than the garden of one of Jiang Heng’s properties.

The large group attracted attention as they walked. Women washing clothes paused to glance at them before retreating indoors with their wooden basins. Little girls playing jump rope at the village entrance curiously stared at them. Many people peeked out from windows, secretly sizing up the rare sight of strangers in the village.

Director Xu knocked on the door of the village chief’s house. A middle-aged woman answered, wearing a green dress with curly hair piled up and gold earrings, looking… still quite rustic.

Of course, compared to most of the village women the production team had seen on their way, she was almost impossibly stylish, leading the fashion trends of the village.

Director Xu greeted her in Mandarin, and the woman froze, then yelled a name into the house.

Soon, a young man emerged. He appeared to be in his twenties, unremarkable-looking, and not particularly spirited, yet he was completely different from the other villagers.

Seeing such a large group, the young man was startled, then asked, “Are you tourists coming here?”

Director Xu nodded at first.

“There’s nothing interesting here,” the young man lowered his head. “You shouldn’t have come.”

His words left them pondering.

But soon, the young man looked up. “My name is Xiao Hui. Come in. Welcome.”

The house suddenly became lively with so many people crowded inside. The village chief and his wife sat on the sofa, while Director Xu and the main actors sat opposite. Xiao Hui stood to one side, pouring water for them and serving as a translator.

After Director Xu explained that he was there to film a TV series and hoped for permission, Xiao Hui’s hand slipped, spilling tea. “You’re from the TV station?”

The village chief asked in the local dialect, “What are they saying?”

Xiao Hui replied, “TV station.”

Upon hearing this, the village chief became agitated. “Tell them we won’t be interviewed! We’re fine!”

Director Xu didn’t understand, but seeing the village chief’s intense reaction, he guessed that permission was denied. The older generation in the village had many taboos, and it was understandable that they wouldn’t agree.

Director Xu repeatedly assured them that they were only filming scenes and wouldn’t cause too much disturbance. They only hoped to stay overnight and would pay.

Xiao Hui, upon hearing that they were just filming a TV series, slightly relaxed. It was good that they weren’t some legal program conducting an investigation. He couldn’t help but glance at the people on the sofa; so these were all celebrities…

He explained to the village chief. Upon learning that they weren’t there for an interview, the village chief slowly calmed down but still harbored hostility towards the newcomers, appearing unwelcoming.

It seemed they were refusing to let them stay in the village.

Hearing his father’s refusal, Xiao Hui was somewhat unwilling, hesitating to convey his father’s message to the production team.

Unlike his inexperienced father, he understood the concept of star power. Celebrities filming here and the TV station broadcasting it would undoubtedly promote their remote area, likely attracting many tourists in the future. Unlike now, where they rarely saw outsiders throughout the year, even the young people from the village who went out to work were reluctant to return.

However… it was a risky move.

Some things couldn’t be exposed to the light.

These issues were beyond his father’s comprehension. In the whole village, only his family had a TV. Even the wealthiest father merely knew of the existence of TV stations and barely knew how to use a smartphone. Xiao Hui was tired of these impoverished days, and the arrival of the production team was undoubtedly a very interesting event.

But he also dared not defy his father’s authority.

At that moment, Yu Xiaoxiao, sitting on the sofa, took off her hat due to the heat and fanned herself with it.

Yang Yingying removed her sunglasses and put them in her bag.

Feeling thirsty, Shen Fubai took off his mask and drank some water.

The three people sitting on the sofa, pure, charming, and gorgeous, were all top beauties.

Especially Shen Fubai, a man, was more captivating than the other two actresses.

The village chief’s family was stunned.

Had gods descended into the village?