Chapter 153: He Has a Unique Charm
At seven in the evening, after taking two wrong turns, Liu Dao finally drove Chen Ge to their destination.
"Get out. I'll take you to meet the others in our studio." Liu Dao parked the car and ducked into the woods beside the road.
"We're almost at the county area, aren't we?" Chen Ge checked his backpack, grabbed all his belongings, and got out of the car.
The road hadn't been maintained for years, potholed and littered with broken stones, as if someone had deliberately blocked it to prevent passage. The trees on both sides, likely planted long ago, were tall, straight, and lush.
Walking into them, the canopy blocked the moonlight, letting no light through, giving off a somewhat eerie feeling.
It was already dark. Chen Ge turned on his flashlight and followed Liu Dao, but after more than ten minutes of walking, they still hadn't left the woods.
"Bro, you're not lost, are you?" Chen Ge looked around but couldn't spot any sign of people.
"Hold on, hold on." Liu Dao made a phone call, then headed toward another part of the woods. "The terrain here is really tricky—no landmarks at all. It's easy to get lost if you're not careful. When you go into the hospital alone for the livestream, make sure to pay attention. It's best to mark the tree trunks."
After a few more minutes, Liu Dao and Chen Ge finally emerged from the woods. On a dirt slope, they spotted a large civilian tent.
"This is the only open area nearby and the spot with the best signal." Seeing Liu Dao approach, the few people busy inside the tent all came out.
"Bro Liu, why are you so late? We're already short-handed—are you trying to kill me and Sister Li?" A young man with a crew cut, his head shaped like a teapot lid, complained. He looked barely over twenty, brash and carefree.
"Obviously, you're the one with no sense of direction, and you still insisted on picking someone up." The one speaking was Sister Li. Her skin was rough, and she was stockier than most men.
To ease the awkwardness, Liu Dao quickly pulled Chen Ge over. "This is Chen Ge, the streamer who's going to take on the Third Hospital solo. There's still some time before the livestream starts. Teach him how to use the streaming equipment and some filming techniques."
"He's Chen Ge?" Sister Li pushed Liu Dao aside and sized Chen Ge up along with the crew-cut guy. When they saw Chen Ge's current getup, a flicker of surprise crossed their eyes.
Isn't this a paranormal livestream? What's with bringing a rooster?
They wanted to mock Chen Ge's outfit, but since it was their first meeting, they held back.
"I'm Zhang Ping, and this is Sister Li. We're handling the live broadcast tonight." The crew-cut guy led Chen Ge into the tent, which was packed with equipment. He explained how everything worked, then had Chen Ge open his black suitcase and taught him filming techniques and precautions hands-on.
Outside the tent, Sister Li watched the scene, feeling uneasy. "Old Liu, are you sure this kid can pull it off? We sacrificed recommendations for two streamers with a hundred thousand followers just to get him a second-tier page promotion. The platform's afraid of falling out with Qin Guang—it's obvious they don't back us."
Liu Dao lit a cigarette. The platform's recommendation resources were divided into five tiers, with first being the best and fifth the worst. The biggest push they could get for a newcomer was a second-tier page recommendation.
"He only has a second-tier recommendation. Qin Guang has three first-tier ones running simultaneously, plus a cover banner ad. They're not even in the same league." Sister Li had never been optimistic about Chen Ge, and that feeling only grew stronger after meeting him in person. To become a breakout streamer, you either needed stunning looks, a uniquely charismatic or quirky way of speaking, or some special talent. Chen Ge seemed to have none of that. He came across as very ordinary—neither flashy nor funny, calm and reserved, more like a surgeon than a streamer.
"What you see is just the surface. If you talked to him more, you'd notice he has a special charm. He has a completely different understanding of horror and terror than most people." Liu Dao recalled his first conversation with Chen Ge. During their talk, Chen Ge had led him by the nose, leaving him no control, and Liu Dao had inwardly screamed that he'd met a true "psycho."
Later, after reflecting, he realized their thought processes weren't even on the same level.
"I still don't have faith in him. This investment of ours might end up being a total loss." Sister Li sighed. "And another thing: helping him secure a recommendation channel will definitely make Qin Guang hold a grudge. Now that the platform is pushing Qin Guang toward being a top-tier streamer, once he becomes their face, the other streamers in our guild will have an even harder time."
"Can you have a little confidence in Chen Ge? To put it bluntly, Qin Guang's last two livestreams were copies. The one we brought in is the real deal." Liu Dao gestured for Sister Li to keep her voice down so no one would overhear.
"It's not that I don't believe in him. With no script, no props, no actors—what's the point of him just streaming dryly like this? Will the audience buy it?"
"I'm not going to argue with you. Just make sure nothing goes wrong tonight and do your own job." Liu Dao composed himself and entered the tent. He greeted Chen Ge, pulled out a laptop, and opened a bookmarked webpage. "Chen Ge, take a look at this."
Chen Ge initially thought it was a script, but after reading, he realized it was a few news articles.
"Designing our own script would be too easy to spot and feel stiff, so we'll just let you improvise." Liu Dao pointed at the news on the screen. "The three most discussed things about the Rehabilitation Center online: first, the missing director—no one knows if he's alive or dead; second, strange noises come from the building late at night, as if someone's still living inside; third, those blood-red words that appear out of nowhere—sometimes visible at night, but by daytime, everything's back to normal. Exploring these three angles for the livestream should work well."
Chen Ge nodded, read through all the news carefully, and got a general idea of the strange occurrences at the Rehabilitation Center.
"Let's eat first. We'll go over more details later." Sister Li took out several boxed meals from an insulated container and handed them out to everyone.
At 9:30 p.m., Liu Dao stepped out to make a few calls. When he returned, he told Chen Ge it was time to start.
Zhang Ping took out various streaming tools from the black suitcase, while Chen Ge made his final preparations. He opened his bag, and despite everyone's utterly baffled stares, he snatched his coat from under the white cat's paws and put it on.
This coat still carried the kitten's scent. Once inside the hospital building, only by wearing it would the white cat keep following him.
"Why are you all staring at me?" Chen Ge stuffed the cloth doll into his coat pocket and let the white cat out. "Bringing a rooster, a plushie, and a white cat on a paranormal livestream is totally normal, isn't it?"