Stepping before the haunted house, its entrance a gaping maw adorned with terrifying decorations and skeletal figures, Su Yue already felt a prickle of fear. “Otherwise, I’ll wait for you outside,” she suggested, glancing into the abyssal darkness, a nervous swallow catching in her throat. Why did such dreadful places exist, forcing people to scare themselves? It was pure torment.
“Afraid?” Jiang Ci’s lips twitched. He recalled her fear of the dark and ghosts in the hospital. Well, he didn’t despise her shortcomings.
“I’m afraid,” Su Yue confessed.
“Pfft! It’s fun to be afraid! It’s even more interesting for people who are afraid of ghosts to go in, like me—I can’t wait to be startled!” Jin Mingyuan teased. Bold and fearless of such things, she’d heard the haunted house was thrilling and yearned to experience it. “Let’s go, let’s go in quickly! I want to hurry and play the ten-ring roller coaster!”
Jiang Ci tightened his grip on the small hand he held, a dark glint in his eyes. “Go. You have to show me the way.”
Su Yue whimpered, “Woo…”
“Don’t be afraid! Haohao will beat them when Haohao is there!” Jiang Haoyan, seeing Su Yue’s distressed frown, piped up.
“Thank you,” Su Yue said, feeling even more crestfallen.
“Let’s go.”
Jin Mingyuan, holding Xiao Haohao, took the lead, opening the way. Xu Xue walked in the middle. Jiang Ci, his hand still firmly clasped around Su Yue’s, lazily raised his eyebrows. “If you get scared later, just hold me.”
Jiang Ci’s palm felt surprisingly warm. Su Yue turned her head, looking at the scar-covered left side of his face. “Yeah,” she whispered. Perhaps the ghosts would be scared off by Jiang Ci himself.
The moment they stepped inside, darkness enveloped them, punctuated by eerie, flashing red lights. Ghostly screams echoed from both sides, and Su Yue instinctively tightened her grip on Jiang Ci’s hand, her body pressing closer to him. “Jiang Ci, it’s so dark in here. You… you have to hold me tight and don’t let go.”
“Yeah.” Jiang Ci’s lips curved. His eyesight was perfectly fine now. Through the dim light, he could clearly see Su Yue’s nervous, scared expression.
Suddenly, a figure with an upturned head, clad in a tattered hospital gown, its face smeared with fake blood, emerged from an iron fence and roared. Su Yue froze.
Feeling the sudden stiffness in her small hand, Jiang Ci cast a cold glance at the roaring ghost. “You’re noisy. Shut up!” he reprimanded.
The “ghost,” with its fake head, bloody face, and gaping mouth, paused. “…”
Jiang Ci looked at Su Yue, expecting her to jump into his arms in fear. However, after dozens of seconds, there was still no movement. “Scared stupid?” Jiang Ci squeezed the seemingly boneless hand in his palm.
“No.” Su Yue stared blankly at the ghost, now silenced by Jiang Ci’s reprimand. She suddenly said, “Jiang Ci, this ghost’s makeup skills are too bad.” She glanced at the “ghost.” Its makeup wasn’t half as terrifying as the one from the previous ghost movie the crew next door had made. She breathed a sigh of relief, a smile touching her lips. “I don’t know if the ghosts in the back are also fake. Jiang Ci, I don’t seem to be afraid anymore.”
Su Yue laughed, but Jiang Ci’s mood soured. She wasn’t afraid anymore? This wouldn’t do. He was still waiting for her to throw herself into his arms.
As they continued deeper, the screams of frightened girls echoed from ahead. Clearly, the earlier visitors were being startled. A faint blue light flickered, creating an unsettling atmosphere. A disembodied hand or foot seemed to stick out from the walls. Hearing others’ screams, Su Yue’s eased mood tightened again. She unconsciously clung to Jiang Ci.
Suddenly, a ghost with half its face melted and rotten, as if bitten, one eye bulging, the other blood-red, its clothes tattered and stained with blood, leaped out. Jiang Ci calmly allowed Su Yue to cling to him, hiding by his side, making no move to dispel the illusion or leave.
“Jiang Ci!” Su Yue’s soft voice trembled slightly as she clutched him tightly, hiding behind him. “Jiang Ci, there’s a ghost!”
“Oh, fake,” Jiang Ci’s thin lips curled.
“But his face is so scary!” Su Yue hugged Jiang Ci, aggrieved. “Let’s get out of here quickly. This isn’t fun at all.”
Jiang Ci pulled the timid woman behind him into his arms. “If you don’t lead the way, I can’t go.”
Su Yue glanced at the terrifying ghost before her, then quickly turned, burying her head in Jiang Ci’s chest, holding him tightly. His body felt warm and solid. This was the first time Su Yue had initiated such a hug. Tsk, Jiang Ci thought, the haunted house isn’t so bad after all.
“Jiang Ci, there are ghosts here.”
“Hmm.”
“Jiang Ci, I’m still a little scared.”
“You can hold me tighter.”
“Jiang Ci, I don’t want to play anymore, I want to go out.”
“It’s all about persistence. You can hold me tight…”
The dark, terrifying decor and dim lights made Su Yue want to meld into Jiang Ci’s body. Su Yue, Jin Mingyuan, and the others had split up earlier but eventually converged at an intersection.
“They didn’t say the ghosts here would grab people!” Jin Mingyuan, usually fearless, had been startled by a sudden ghost, and Xiao Haohao had nearly burst into tears. Xu Xue, too, looked pale with fright. At that moment, several more “ghosts” appeared. Among them, a female ghost in a red dress, holding a baby, made Su Yue almost cry. This kind of apparition was the most eerie, her greatest fear.
The haunted house’s scare tactics were somewhat disorienting. Jin Mingyuan, cradling a sobbing Xiao Haohao, quickly fled. Xu Xue, also frightened, could only follow Jiang Ci and the others. After what felt like countless scenes and several waves of “ghosts,” they finally emerged. When she saw the sun again, Su Yue’s legs felt weak with relief.
“Feel like crying ?” Jiang Ci lowered his head. Su Yue’s eyes were red, the corners looking as if they’d been rouged, and even the tip of her snow-white nose was flushed. Hearing him, Jin Mingyuan and Xu Xue looked at Su Yue and couldn’t help but be amused at her tear-streaked face.
Su Yue sniffed, her soft voice a little hoarse. “No, don’t talk nonsense.” He couldn’t see anyway.
“So brave? How can you look like a child?” Jiang Ci hooked his lips, gently stroking Su Yue’s hair, then touching her cheek with his warm fingertips. He rubbed the corner of her eye for a while. “It’s alright, I’ll hold you.” Her eyes were red and she was so pitiful, but he wanted to bully her and make her cry. Licking the corner of his mouth, Jiang Ci wickedly wondered if they should not throw her back into the haunted house and play again.
On the other side, Xiao Haohao, the little boy, rubbed his eyes, which were red from crying so much that “golden beans” seemed to spill out.
“Come here,” Jiang Ci said to Jiang Haoyan. Xiao Haohao ran over, hugging his father’s thigh, raising his small head, and stating in a milky voice, “Haohao is not afraid.” Looking at Su Yue in his arms and the little guy on his thigh, Jiang Ci frowned. He felt as if he was raising a daughter and a son.
Next, they rode a roller coaster. Su Yue and Jin Mingyuan went up to play, while Jiang Ci, Jiang Haoyan, and Xu Xue waited on the rest chairs below. Passing tourists occasionally glanced at Jiang Ci, disfigured yet commanding. Tall, with a cold aura and a prominent presence, he couldn’t be ignored even while simply sitting.
The atmosphere was slightly awkward. Xu Xue glanced at Jiang Ci. He leaned lazily against the back of the chair, one leg casually stretched, the other bent, a relaxed, confident air about him that others couldn’t match. Xu Xue lowered her head, her feet together, fingers elegantly placed on her legs, maintaining an orderly posture. In the haunted house, she thought she had accidentally touched Jiang Ci’s hand, and his fingers had felt slightly cold.
“Xu Xue?”
A man’s surprised voice made Xu Xue abruptly raise her head. Her pupils tightened as she recognized the familiar face. Gu Chengfeng, wearing a light blue casual top, looked handsome and gentle. He smiled at Xu Xue. “What a coincidence, you’ve also come to the amusement park?” His smile was a bit too wide, and his gaze lingered on her for a moment.
“You… why are you here?” Xu Xue’s clear face turned pale with fright.
“You can be here, why can’t I?” Gu Chengfeng’s handsome face belied his disgusting words. “Also, thank you for your money.” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy himself so much recently.
“I don’t have anything to say to you, so hurry up and leave,” Xu Xue said, biting her lip tightly. She glanced at Jiang Ci beside her, fearing Gu Chengfeng would blurt out something inappropriate.
“When you have a new love, you don’t want to see the old one?” Gu Chengfeng smirked, looking at Jiang Ci sitting next to them, his eyes narrowing. After a moment, he remembered. Wasn’t this the man of Xu Xue’s outrageously beautiful friend? At the time, he’d thought the other party was a flower stuck in dung. “Don’t talk nonsense!” Xu Xue’s clear expression was a mix of anxiety and anger.
“Isn’t this your friend’s man? You stole him behind your friend’s back?” Gu Chengfeng smiled and shook his head. “Don’t be so troublesome. I can take over your friend, after all, such a beautiful woman can’t…”
Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked to the ground by Jiang Ci. Standing up, Jiang Ci looked down at Gu Chengfeng, his eyes dark and cold. “Do you not want your mouth anymore? I can sew it up.”
Gu Chengfeng’s heart trembled, and cold sweat broke out on his back. He didn’t care about the two bottles of drinks that had fallen from his hand; he glared at Jiang Ci and instantly fled. Xu Xue was stunned. From Jiang Ci standing up and kicking Gu Chengfeng to the ground, to Gu Chengfeng running away, the entire process took only ten seconds.
“Dad is great! Dad is amazing!” Beside him, Xiao Haohao clapped his small hands, instantly transforming into a little fanboy, praising excitedly.
Xu Xue slowly came back to her senses. She looked at Jiang Ci’s tall figure, her heartbeat a little fast. Then, a relaxed smile finally bloomed on her face. She was so happy to see Gu Chengfeng in such an embarrassed state; it felt as if a ball of cotton had been removed from her heart. “Thank… Thank you,” Xu Xue whispered to Jiang Ci, this being the first time she had truly spoken to him.
Jiang Ci made no sound.
A short while later, Su Yue and Jin Mingyuan returned from the roller coaster. “Let’s go, let’s play other rides,” Su Yue said, coming to Jiang Ci’s side. Seeing his gloomy expression, she took his hand. “Are you thirsty? There’s a drink stand over there. I’ll get you something to drink, okay?”
Jiang Ci saw her pink cheeks and bright black eyes, sparkling like broken stars. He snorted but didn’t object.
“Xuexue, I’m thirsty too. Let’s go buy a drink,” Jin Mingyuan said, patting a dazed Xu Xue.
Xu Xue slowly tore her gaze away from Jiang Ci and Su Yue. She smiled and nodded. “Hmm, okay.”
They spent the entire day playing many rides. By the time they returned, Xiao Haohao was fast asleep in the car. Su Yue let his little head rest on her so he could sleep more comfortably. She took out her phone and scrolled through the selfies she had taken today.
“How did I take these? How can they look so good?” Su Yue was very satisfied with the photos, her own beauty radiating from the screen, conveniently ignoring Jiang Ci beside her.
“Send the photo to my mobile phone,” Jiang Ci said, taking out his phone and handing it to Su Yue.
“Why?” He’s blind; what does he need photos for? He can’t see them. “it’s okay if only i can have them.”
Jiang Ci raised his eyebrows and insisted, “Send it to me.”
Su Yue didn’t argue and obediently took his phone. Jiang Ci’s phone was customized, with extra buttons below the screen for a blind person to use. She figured it out quickly and soon sent the photos to his device. “I’m done. Here you go.” After speaking, she yawned and instinctively leaned on Jiang Ci’s shoulder, closing her eyes to sleep. She was tired after a day of playing.
As the sun set, its afterglow streamed into the car, falling on Su Yue’s snow-white face like a soft glow. Jiang Ci casually protected Su Yue’s head with one hand, preventing it from shaking, and used his other hand to open his phone, finding the photo Su Yue had just sent.
On the screen, Su Yue’s small face was fresh and delicate, like a graceful girl. Beside her, he was expressionless, with his scarred face and cold demeanor, looking like a brute who had robbed a girl. Girls are beautiful, bullies are ugly. Jiang Ci snorted coldly and turned off the phone.
At this moment, the internet had exploded. Someone had posted a photo from the amusement park online, captioned: “National School Flower and Beast.” In the photo, the stunningly beautiful girl with red eyes walked out of the haunted house, half-embraced by a man whose scarred left face was particularly prominent. Such a stark contrast between beauty and ugliness created a visual shock that immediately captured netizens’ attention. Many recognized the beautiful girl as the “fairy” who played the old witch from B University.
It didn’t take long for “The National School Flower and the Beast” to shoot to the number one trending search, completely overshadowing Jiang Xuan’s new announcement of becoming the spokesperson for a major brand.