Toy House

Liu Jinjian opened the door. His foul mood, coupled with the fright he had just received, made his tone particularly nasty. "Can you knock more quietly next time? So clumsy. What do you want?"

Fan Ping knew he was upset about embarrassing himself on the show and dared not antagonize him. He said quietly, "Here's lunch from the production team. Have something to eat, Brother Liu. You've still got filming this afternoon."

That left Liu Jinjian no excuse to lose his temper. Scowling, he said, "Set it out."

The assistant placed the food on the table.

One glance at the meal box made him even angrier. "What is all this? Is this even edible?! You tell me!"

This was the production team's standard boxed lunch, and it really wasn't bad: a box of rice, two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and a soup. The presentation was a little plain, but for a boxed lunch, it was already quite good.

Fan Ping looked miserable. Even this isn't good enough? It's already pretty good. Liu Jinjian really is hard to please.

All he could say was, "Brother Liu, this is the production team's standard meal. The other guests should be eating the same thing..."

"Can't you order delivery around here? What about a courier service? Do I look like I can't afford it?!" Liu Jinjian snapped at him.

The assistant hurriedly said, "Brother... Brother Liu, the Manor is pretty remote. There are very few delivery options nearby, and they're all quite ordinary. For anything good, we'd have to get a courier... I did try booking one..."

"But for some reason, no couriers would accept the order. Maybe they know there's filming here, so none of them will take deliveries to this place..."

Liu Jinjian shot back, "Then tell me, what are the other guests eating?"

"Think about it, Brother Liu. We're all filming here. If we can't get delivery, they certainly can't either, right?" Fan Ping said with an ingratiating smile.

Actually, he had seen Su Li's and An Hui's assistants on his way upstairs. They seemed to have just brought up food delivered by couriers. Although he had no idea why he couldn't book one himself, he had better not tell Liu Jinjian, or who knew what abuse he would get.

Only then did Liu Jinjian's expression improve a little. "Fair point. Forget it. I'll eat this. Remember to go out and buy me dinner."

"Sure, Brother Liu." Inwardly, though, Fan Ping couldn't help cursing. Seriously, so little pay and so many demands. It's at least twenty kilometers from here to somewhere that sells food, and who knows if he'll even reimburse the travel expenses.

If he hadn't been laid off and unable to find a job, he would never have become this man's lousy assistant.

"By the way, have you heard any rumors about this Manor?" Remembering what had happened earlier, Liu Jinjian asked Fan Ping.

"What rumors?"

"Like it being haunted."

After thinking for a moment, Fan Ping shook his head. "I really haven't heard anything like that. I don't believe in that stuff, either. But even if there really were ghosts, they wouldn't dare come near you, right, Brother Liu?" He wasn't even from this city. How would he know?

Liu Jinjian nodded in satisfaction, the flattery lifting his mood a little. "You're right! We scholars have literary energy protecting us. We have nothing to fear from that stuff!"

He thought perhaps the sound really had come from downstairs earlier. Those people had made him so angry that he had started imagining things.

He began thinking again about how to teach them a lesson during the afternoon livestream, occasionally discussing it with Fan Ping.

He never noticed the pair of eyes watching him from beneath a desk beside him.

At two that afternoon, the livestream began, and the guests gathered punctually in the first-floor hall again.

"Brother An, have you all tried the fruit tea? I really like that shop's drinks, so I specifically had my assistant get a courier to bring some over. How was it?" Su Li asked An Hui and the others, looking sweet and expectant.

Yes, he had bought plenty of that fruit tea and sent some to every guest except Liu Jinjian.

Song You looked very happy. "It was delicious. Thank you, Brother Su." She hadn't expected Su Li to give her one too.

Cheng Sirong nodded repeatedly. "It's good. Which shop is it from? I'll buy some when I get back. That lychee and red grape one was just my taste."

An Hui and Chen Zhuo thought Su Li was very considerate, because the fruit teas he had given them seemed to suit their individual tastes. An Hui had received a refreshing lime green tea, while Chen Zhuo had received chilled fresh orange juice.

[Wow, Li Bao is so nice!]

[Isn't this obviously sucking up?]

[Sucking up, my ass. Can't you see how close those four are? Giving your friends drinks counts as sucking up now?]

[The haters just hate mindlessly. Ignore them.]

[Su Li even gave Youyou one. That's so thoughtful.]

[Did he give Liu Jinjian one, then?]

[I wouldn't. Why give someone anything after they insulted you?]

Liu Jinjian's expression stiffened when he heard them. Weren't couriers unavailable? What was going on with their deliveries, then?

Had Fan Ping been fobbing him off? He would fire him as soon as the show ended!

His mood had settled down, but anger gradually rose again, his emotions churning.

Before long, the familiar Steward Li approached.

"Good afternoon, guests. After your performance this morning, I believe you are ready to enter the young mistress's Toy House."

"So, please follow me."

He led everyone up to the third floor and stopped before a large door covered in strange doodles, with a circular recess beside it.

They watched as the steward took a circular object assembled from three key fragments out of his pocket and placed it in the recess.

The door rattled open. The steward extended a hand toward it. "Please, everyone, come in."

They entered the room. It was an enormous Toy House, seemingly made by joining two rooms together. It was filled with dolls and stuffed toys, a small wooden rocking horse, and even a children's trampoline.

Yet the room was very dim, lit only by a few candle-shaped lamps. Many of the toys were battered and broken. Shelves lined one side, covered in dolls. In places, dolls half a person's height stood upright, while others hung from puppet strings on the walls. Some had pitch-black eyes, making them look very eerie.

There was also a chair in the middle of the room. On it sat a doll in a yellow dress speckled with red, its eyes giving off a faint blue glow.

"Why are there so many dolls here?" Looking at the eerie dolls, Song You felt a little afraid.

"It's called a Toy House. Isn't it perfectly normal to have these things?" Liu Jinjian glanced at her as though she were an idiot.

[This place is huge.]

[What kind of Toy House from hell is this?!]

[These dolls look so creepy.]

[This is why I've never liked playing with these things, even as a kid. They really do look kind of scary at night.]

[The production team really went all out this episode!]

[Liu Jinjian still has the nerve to talk?]

[When is he going to leave the show? He's such an eyesore.]

"Guests, your task this time is to play a game with the young mistress."

"Play a game? What game?" An Hui asked Steward Li.

"That depends on what the young mistress wants to play. I don't know where she's hiding, either. Perhaps she was already playing hide-and-seek with you when you came in. You'll have to find her first."

As he spoke, he handed each of them a small flashlight.

"These are for lighting your way. I wish you all an enjoyable game."

After saying this, Steward Li bowed and left the room.

The guests looked at the flashlights in their hands, puzzled. It was dim in here, but not so dark that they couldn't see. Why give them flashlights?

The Toy House was inspired by the horror game "Whispering Toy House."