New Times, New Hell

Chapter 123 - Annual Party

Wei Xiao stared, perplexed, at the little animal with a narrow face that was in front of his eyes. “Why does this fox know how to bark like a dog?”

“Because it’s a Samoyed.” While speaking, Yu Zhengdu walked over to the little fox and squatted down. Using his back to block Wei Xiao’s view, he pressed down on the fox’s head meaningfully. “Look at this face. It’s both big and round. Where does it look like a fox?”

Wei Xiao: “This face is considered round?”

Halfway through Wei Xiao’s expression of suspicion, Yu Zhengdu moved his body away. While holding up the little white animal’s chin, he gestured, “Look.”

The little white creature’s chin was fluffy. Its entire face was round and circular. Its ears didn’t seem as pointy as they had at first glance either…… Surprisingly, this was actually a Samoyed!

Wei Xiao hit himself on the forehead. “Aiyou, it looks too similar. I saw wrong.”

Yu Zhengdu smiled calmly. To seem more natural, he casually patted the Samoyed’s head. “She’s a purebred……”

At this time, Shang Que walked in. “Is Peppa here?”

Instantly, the atmosphere in the entire kids’ area became awkward. Shang Que’s expression darkened. He coldly gazed at the Samoyed whose head was being rubbed by Yu Zhengdu and nonchalantly said, “A dog with monstrous audacity.”

The Samoyed’s body tensed. She instinctively released a low “ying——”.

Wei Xiao felt lost once more. “Samoyeds know how to make that kind of noise too?”

Yu Zhengdu hurriedly moved his hand away and said, “I’m teaching her commands. Roll over, Samoyed!”

The Samoyed whimpered before rolling on the spot and directly escaping the little hall. In the blink of an eye, she had disappeared.

Shang Que scoffed in disdain.

Yu Zhengdu acted like nothing had happened and changed the topic. He asked, “Weren’t you looking for Peppa? What’s wrong?”

Only now did Shang Que remember. He pulled a toy gun and a Barbie doll out from behind his back and squatted in front of the goose. Pleased, he said, “These are the prizes I just won from the ringtoss. Just as well, there’s one for Peppa and one for George.”

Peppa turned around in a circle on the spot. Her little dress trembled. “Ga ga——”

The entertainment activities at Luofeng’s annual party were very diverse. Yu Zhengdu could faintly recall that there was a little ringtoss station next to the Ghost Market. However, no matter from which perspective one thought about it, it seemed a bit embarrassing that the Great Ghost King had gone to play ringtoss at this little station for the prizes.

While sweatdropping, Yu Zhengdu watched as Shang Que stuffed the Barbie doll into George’s hand and placed the toy gun in front of Peppa. He rubbed Peppa’s head and lectured, “Girls need to learn how to protect themselves. Here’s a gun for you!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” What kind of dad was this? How fortunate that Peppa’s little wings didn’t know how to pull the trigger!

After giving away the gifts, the adults needed to leave to continue networking. However, Wei Xiao felt a bit conflicted. He didn’t know if he ought to leave Wei Mo in the kids’ area or keep her by his side.

Luofeng had made very detailed arrangements. The kids’ hall was obviously the better choice for a child to play in. There were also employees supervising from outside; it was very safe. However, Wei Mo had just gotten to a new environment. She also didn’t know any of these kids. If Wei Xiao left her here, he would also worry about her feeling uncomfortable. Additionally, there was a frighteningly large goose in the hall too. Though he knew Peppa was a magical goose, he still didn’t want to take any chances.

Wei Xiao thought about it for a bit and ultimately decided to ask for Wei Mo’s opinion. Thus, he squatted down in front of his daughter. “Momo, do you want to stay here and play with the kids or do you want to come with Dad?”

Wei Mo scanned the little hall with her peripheral vision. She felt a bit lost. It seemed like she had been mesmerized by the toys set up all around the hall, but was also scared of being left alone.

Upon noticing this, Luofeng’s little princess, Yu Peppa, instantly took up the responsibility of being the kids’ host. She proudly and confidently walked up to Wei Mo. In addition to her neck, she was the same height as Wei Mo. This abruptly gave Wei Mo a fright.

But before Wei Mo could cry out, she saw the big goose quickly shake out her large wings and reach them over to Wei Mo. “Ga——”

Wei Mo stared at the goose, bewildered.

Yu Zhengdu explained with a smile, “Momo, Peppa wants to hold hands and be friends with you.”

“Really?” Wei Mo blinked, both shocked and curious. Then, she carefully reached out a hand and gently squeezed the tip of the goose’s wing. As expected, the goose instantly shook her wing – she was shaking hands.

Wei Mo instantly started giggling. “Peppa is so cute!”

Peppa spun in a circle on the spot in delight. Then, she wrapped one wing around Wei Mo’s shoulder and pushed her towards the other little kids. Her other wing flapped briefly too. She pointed at George before pointing at Guilong too. “Ga ga&#k2014;&#k2014;”

Wei Mo blinked. “Peppa, are you introducing your friends to me?”

Peppa excitedly stomped her goose feet. “Ga——” Yes!

Wei Mo kept laughing happily. Then, she turned around and waved at Wei Xiao. “Dad, I want to stay here and play with Peppa.”

Wei Xiao watched, bewildered, as the goose – which originally should’ve been the most uncertain factor – easily captured his daughter’s heart. He temporarily couldn’t react. In a daze, he glanced at Yu Zhengdu. “Peppa also knows to greet kids?”

Proudly, Shang Que replied, “Of course.”

Yu Zhengdu smiled and reminded, “Peppa, you guys play well together. Don’t let anyone bully Momo.”

“Ga——” Peppa nodded. Her little eyes flashed briefly. She used her goose foot to step on the toy gun Shang Que had given her.

Yu Zhengdu looked at Wei Xiao. “Boss Wei, rest at ease. Peppa said that if anyone bullies Momo, she’ll use the gun to shoot them.”

Wei Xiao: “……” Just what type of goose was this?!

The three adults exited the little hall. Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que spent some more time with Wei Xiao. Wei Xiao knew that as the hosts, they were probably extremely busy. Moreover, he wanted to get a feel for the planning situation of Luofeng’s annual party too. Thus, he didn’t talk for too long and instead headed off to have fun by himself.

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que slowly walked around the other halls to get a good look at them.

Luofeng’s annual party had combined the specialties of both the Underworld and mortal realm. There were entertaining activities commonly found in the mortal realm. The more traditional ones included ringtoss, fishing for a goldfish, and more. They also had some new high-tech games. They had borrowed a Dance Dance Revolution machine, a basketball machine, a racing machine, VR goggles, etc. from a video game company. These were placed on both sides of the aisle so that ghosts and humans could peacefully wait in line to play.

On the other side were Luofeng’s specialty programs. Because this was inside the hotel, they couldn’t make things as large-scale as during the Ghost Festival. Yet, they still set up miniature versions of the Eight Scenes of the Underworld and the Ghost Market. Fortunately, they were only entertaining their own employees this time. There weren’t too many people, so these were enough.

But Shang Que felt like the activities hadn’t been planned perfectly enough. With great regret, he noted, “They should’ve also added the walking on water balls activity.”

Yu Zhengdu: ……He actually hadn’t forgotten those balls yet??!

He couldn’t help speaking up on behalf of the planning team: “They couldn’t. The physical conditions don’t allow for it.”

Shang Que pondered: “Next time, we need to find a venue that has a pool.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” Those with pools probably won’t let you set up the water ballseither, okay?!

On both sides of the hallway, workers were randomly handing out candy and cookies. Yu Zhengdu offhandedly grabbed a piece of fruit candy. He unwrapped the candy wrapper and handed it to Shang Que. “Here?”

Shang Que turned to look at him. Only now did Yu Zhengdu discover that one of the other’s cheeks was bulging out. At some unknown time, he had already started secretly eating candy.

Yu Zhengdu burst into laughter. Just as he was about to pull his hand back, Shang Que leaned down and bit, snatching up the candy in his hand. Now, both of his cheeks were bulging.

Yu Zhengdu looked at him, exasperated. “Careful not to choke……”

Before he could finish speaking, Shang Que suddenly grabbed the back of his head and pulled him close. Then, Shang Que’s lips glued themselves to his.

Yu Zhengdu only felt a warm, wet sensation against his lips. After, his upper and lower teeth got separated. A sweet, hard piece of candy got pushed into his mouth.

A while later, Shang Que slightly retreated. Pleased, he looked at Yu Zhengdu. “I shared one with you.”

The candy was very sweet. Yu Zhengdu coughed softly. “Careful not to cause a disturbance.”

“Un,” Shang Que agreed. “They’d best be careful about not disturbing me.”

Yu Zhengdu: = =

He scanned their surroundings. As expected, the employees who were passing by had all very naturally turned their heads away to pretend to be observing their surroundings. They were very careful to not disturb the Ghost King during his date.

“Okay.” Yu Zhengdu scooted close and kissed him back. “Either way, you can’t cause a disturbance.”

After saying this, he made to continue walking forward. Suddenly, Shang Que halted in his footsteps and tugged Yu Zhengdu in a different direction. He arrogantly lifted his chin and nonchalantly said, “I’ll get a doll for you.”

This time, Luofeng had also rented several claw machines. These were placed along the aisle so everyone could play. Off to the side, workers were handing employees game tokens. Each employee could get ten free tokens.

Yu Zhengdu: ……Un, his boyfriend wanted to play with the claw machine.

He smiled slightly. Without changing his expression, he said, “What a coincidence. I was just thinking about wanting a doll.”

“I knew it.” Shang Que accepted ten tokens and looked at Yu Zhengdu. “Which one do you want?”

Yu Zhengdu: “Whichever one you can get, I guess.”

Shang Que arrogantly said, “I can get whichever one you want.”

This was his boyfriend’s competitiveness peeking through. Yu Zhengdu could only carefully observe the internal structure of the claw machine and choose the doll that looked easiest to get. “Then I want this one.”

Shang Que glanced at that ugly little turtle and looked at Yu Zhengdu, bewildered. “You truly want this one?”

Yu Zhengdu’s gaze was resolute. “Yes, I really like turtles.”

Five minutes later, Shang Que had used up all ten of his tokens. The little turtle was still sitting safely atop the mountain of dolls. The atmosphere was momentarily a bit awkward.

With a cold expression on his face, Shang Que said, “The businesses who make these claw machines lack morals.”

Yu Zhengdu also shared his passionate criticisms. “Exactly. They’re basically just scammers!”

As soon as he finished speaking, cheering could be heard from the claw machine next to theirs. “The second one!”

Yu Zhengdu’s eyelid twitched. He turned his head to look, only to see two of their subsidiary company’s employees. Each was holding a doll. One of them was even joyfully saying, “I heard the organizer say that today, they specially tightened the claws of the claw machine. Even those who suck at using their hands should be able to get one.”

The other rubbed his hands together. “Oh oh oh, let me try!”

Yu Zhengdu pretended like he hadn’t heard anything. As if nothing had happened, he held onto Shang Que’s hand. “Let’s go look over there.”

Shang Que remained motionless. His entire being radiated unhappiness.

Yu Zhengdu facepalmed. He was just in the midst of wondering how to placate the other in a way that appeared more natural when Shang Que suddenly lifted his hand and gently tapped the claw machine once. Only to see the claw machine instantly tilt to the side. The little dolls piled up inside the machine rolled into the exit and very quickly fell out of the machine.

A worker off to the side hurriedly shouted, “Boss Shang, this isn’t……”

Shang Que snatched up those dolls and gave the worker a threatening look. “Isn’t what?”

The worker quickly shrank back. “Nothing, please do as you wish.”

Shang Que stuffed those dolls into Yu Zhengdu’s arms and calmly said, “This is also a way to get dolls.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” You’re handsome, so you make the rules.

Yu Zhengdu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he held onto the dolls and continued walking along with Shang Que. A few steps later, Shang Que worried that his boyfriend would get tired, so silently took the dolls back and put them into his qiankun sleeve.

Upon noticing this, Yu Zhengdu teased, “Yi? Doraemon.”

Shang Que pretended he hadn’t heard anything. The two of them happened to be stopped by the doorway of a slightly larger hall. Just as they were about to leave again, someone suddenly darted out of the door. While waving a strange black lump around, they also wailed incessantly: “Scared me to death scared me to death——”

It was Zheng Yan. Kang Jin exited immediately after him. His balding head was uncovered; with a dark expression on, he glared at Zheng Yan. “If you’re such a chicken, why were you so adamant about going into the haunted house?”

This main hall was the entertainment activity that Luofeng’s planning team had recently developed: mini indoor haunted house.

Zheng Yan pitifully said, “I thought that our company’s ghosts wouldn’t be that scary……”

Yu Zhengdu called out to them and asked, “Is the haunted house fun?”

Upon hearing this, Kang Jin turned around. The instant he saw Shang Que, his entire ghostly being started shaking. He quickly snatched the black lump out of Zheng Yan’s hand and put it on his head in a panic. “I’m not bald! Truly!”

Pitiful Kang Jin had been dragged into the haunted house by Zheng Yan. Additionally, in the middle of the haunted house, Zheng Yan’s soul had practically left his body because of fright. In his extreme fear, he had tugged Kang Jin’s wig off.

Zheng Yan complained on the brink of tears, “The haunted house is super scary! I think that we ought to eliminate this activity.”

Kang Jin criticized, “I think that you’re much scarier than the haunted house!”

Yu Zhengdu deeply agreed and completely ignored the coward’s suggestion. Just as he was about to keep walking forward, he discovered that his boyfriend had stopped moving again.

Shang Que still looked extremely calm. Very casually, he said, “Then let’s go take a look inside the haunted house too.”

Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment. In all honesty, he really didn’t understand this. If one said that Shang Que was obsessed with the games and entertainment activities of the mortal realm, he could understand. However, why did the other also want to enter the haunted house?

You’re the Ghost King. Aren’t you the biggest ghost? There’s nothing challenging about the haunted house, okay?

Seeing the slight excitement peeking out from behind his boyfriend’s cold mask, though, Yu Zhengdu still very cooperatively smiled. “What a coincidence. I wanted to go inside the haunted house too.”

Luofeng’s haunted house activity was top-tier, detailed, and straight to the point. It wasn’t large in size, but the design was extremely intricate and horrifying. It had received many positive reviews when it had been set up at various big companies. The reason was quite simple too: the ghosts inside were real ghosts.

To Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que, though, they weren’t very effective at all. The few ghosts who occasionally jumped out would sometimes actually get scared instead upon seeing Shang Que. While bowing at the Ghost King, they would shakily return to their hiding spots.

Shang Que expressed his extreme satisfaction.

Yu Zhengdu realized that Shang Que was gradually becoming displeased. Exasperated, he asked, “Isn’t this very normal? Who can scare you?”

Unhappy, Shang Que said, “It’s no matter that they’re incapable of scaring me. How come they’re even incapable of scaring you?!”

Yu Zhengdu: “……” Fuck, so this was the plan his boyfriend had come up with just now!

Thus, when the next hangman ghost’s feet suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, Yu Zhengdu very convincingly shrieked and buried his face into Shang Que’s chest. “Isn’t this a bit too horrifying?!”

Pleased, Shang Que patted his boyfriend’s back and gently said, “Don’t be scared. They’re all fake.”

Yu Zhengdu had to remind him, “They’re real.”

Shang Que: “……”

This script wasn’t written well enough.

The author has something to say:

Shang Que: You have to feel scared!