Chapter 45
Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye worked together to prepare the medicinal solution and dye, but in truth, it was only a semi-finished product. It still needed to be dried and processed further.
An entire morning had already passed.
[The atmosphere is too good. I really didn’t want to interrupt it, but the moment I remember they’re doing all this to make a pigskin coat, I can’t help wanting to laugh hahahaha.]
[Laugh? When I think about the pigskin coat Big Boss Shen and Ye-god worked so hard to make, in a certain sense, how are the clay pot from before and this pigskin coat not tokens of love? But after they leave the show, they’ll be gone! Just thinking about it makes my heart hurt to death! Big Boss Shen and Ye-god will also feel empty and lost after they come out, right?]
[Wuwu, now that you say it, that really is true. This stupid show! But let’s look on the bright side. The memories will still exist. They can just make them again after they get out.]
[No, you don’t understand. The important thing isn’t making it again. The important thing is the one made at that exact time and place! It carries the feelings of that exact moment! But I can only comfort myself by saying they’ll have even more meaningful exact moments in the future QAQ.]
[Speaking of which, is no one praising Ye-god’s photographic memory? Big Boss Shen taught him yesterday, and he still remembers it all now! He’s good material for studying medicine!]
[That’s old news. Qin Ye already has a photographic memory. Besides, if he doesn’t take his wife’s words to heart, then what would become of him?]
[Pfft, I advise you all to restrain yourselves! Nothing has even started yet. Qin Ye and Big Boss Shen might not necessarily end up together!!! You CP fans, leave us solo fans a little space! The whole screen is full of CP shipping. I’m going to shatter…]
Fortunately, by noon, the others also put down what they were doing and prepared lunch together.
“I learned another new skill. As expected of me.” He Erwang ate lunch while his eyes remained fixed on the handmade soap he had made that morning.
For once, the others did not roast him.
Gu Shengsheng also sighed along with him. “Sigh, thank you, Boss. I’ve learned another new skill to support myself and my family.”
Qi Xiu glanced at him. “Gu Shengsheng, you’re getting into character that fast? You’re already thinking about how to support yourself after bankruptcy?”
The smile on Gu Shengsheng’s face vanished. Rarely, he replied with murderous intent, “Shut up.”
After saying that, he turned to ask Shen Jinfeng, “Boss, what are we doing this afternoon?”
Shen Jinfeng said, “Can we follow the same arrangement as yesterday?”
He glanced at Qin Ye without changing expression. After all, he had already promised yesterday to go alone with this secret admirer to look around the forest again.
But the others disagreed.
“Why? If we’re taking turns, then it should be our turn to go into the forest!” Qi Xiu was the first to jump out and object.
He Erwang nodded in agreement. “I also want to see what the ancestor’s tomb looks like.”
Qin Ye frowned slightly and reminded them, “It’s only a pit that was dug. You can’t see the tomb.”
Gu Shengsheng said, “Then I still want to see what the so-called tomb feng shui looks like.”
He rarely stood out to oppose Qin Ye. At this moment, he mustered his courage and found himself an excellent excuse, continuing, “When I choose a burial site for myself in the future, I’ll choose one like that too. I’ll learn from the ancestor.”
The moment he said this, everyone turned to look at him in perfect unison.
Mo Fan was full of question marks. “No, Xiao Gu, are you serious?”
[Hahahahahaha, Gu Shengsheng is really going all out just so he can go into the forest with them. I bet beachcombing left him traumatized! A beach full of seafood, everyone starting from the same line, and he still picked up the least and the least valuable stuff!]
[LMAO, choosing a burial site for yourself? Seriously? Does it have to be this ridiculous?]
[Don’t say that. I’m actually a little tempted. If, thousands of years later, some so-called tomb robbers or archaeologists work so hard to find my tomb and then discover there’s nothing inside, I wonder what expression they’ll have hahahahaha. Even after dying for thousands of years, my ashes would still get to see the light of day again. Worth it. My life wouldn’t have been in vain!]
This netizen’s brainwaves were probably in sync with Gu Shengsheng’s to some degree.
Facing everyone’s bewildered gazes, Gu Shengsheng seriously explained, “People always say that aside from life and death, nothing is a big deal. We can’t decide our own birth, so shouldn’t we at least properly prepare for death?”
Hearing him say that, everyone actually felt it seemed to make some sense.
Gu Shengsheng thought for a moment, then said somewhat embarrassedly, “After I get out, I plan to go take photos. You know, the kind that gets printed on your grave after you die. Right now, I might be at my best-looking age. If someone sweeps my grave in the future, they’ll be able to see me at my most handsome. But if I become even better-looking later, I’ll go retake them then.”
Everyone froze.
That really was a genius idea worth learning from.
But no matter how they listened, it sounded somewhat ominous.
Who normally sat around thinking about this kind of thing for no reason?
Mo Fan grabbed his hair and ruffled it into a mess. “How old are you? And you’re already thinking about this?”
Gu Shengsheng was also a little puzzled. It was just that when burial sites had been mentioned, these thoughts had naturally popped into his mind.
Shen Jinfeng calmly took over the conversation. “Ancient emperors also spent huge amounts of money preparing their own tombs while they were still alive. It was even a livelihood for many officials.”
“Gu Shengsheng, you have ideas and vision.”
Gu Shengsheng froze for a moment. “N-No, no, I wouldn’t dare compare.”
But after Shen Jinfeng said that, he suddenly felt that his idea was actually quite ordinary. People in ancient times had done this too, and even in a far more exaggerated and grand manner. His own idea did not seem particularly special at all.
Shen Jinfeng’s brows and eyes curved slightly. “Don’t be in a hurry. You’re still young, and you have many years to prepare your burial site after death. If you imitate the practices of ancient kings, dukes, generals, and ministers, you’ll have to hire a better feng shui master when the time comes, then hire specialized construction workers and buy a larger burial plot. The total cost might be a little high.”
Gu Shengsheng: “Huh?”
Qin Ye saw Shen Jinfeng’s expression and immediately understood. He also began explaining, “Burial plots are not cheap. In ordinary cemeteries in Jing City, the average price for a burial plot is around seventy to eighty thousand per square meter. Burial plots costing several hundred thousand per square meter are also common. As far as I know, higher-end burial plots can reach a million per square meter.”
“They can even be somewhat more expensive than ordinary residential housing.”
“Fuck, is that robbery? Ashes aren’t even that big, and it costs hundreds of thousands or millions?”
“And that’s still the very ordinary tier?” He Erwang, as a young master of a wealthy family with countless properties under his name, was also shocked by this.
Qin Ye nodded.
Gu Shengsheng’s expression became somewhat blank and helpless.
T-That expensive?
Shen Jinfeng could not help curling the corner of his lips.
He looked at Gu Shengsheng with sincere eyes and gently encouraged him, “Do your best. Our goal should at least be positioned at the high-end level.”
“If your family goes bankrupt after you get out, then after you buy the house you’ll live in while alive, you’ll need to start working hard for the house you’ll live in after death.”
Gu Shengsheng’s expression went blank.
He had to buy a house while alive and after death?
My goodness, how much money would that cost?
When would he ever save enough?
If he did not live a few extra years, he might not even be able to afford a burial plot after he died.
He suddenly felt a heavy responsibility fall onto his shoulders, a crushing pressure pressing down on him while he was still in his teens.
He was going to break.
He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, then stopped.
In the end, he answered somewhat dazedly and aggrievedly, “Oh. I need to work hard to earn money.”
The others could not hold back anymore and burst into laughter.
The bullet comments had been laughing too, but as they laughed, they gradually stopped being able to laugh.
[My heavens, I just went to check, and it’s actually true!]
[I casually searched burial plot prices in Hu City… Each one is less than half a square meter, and the prices are hundreds of thousands? Are you serious??? Is money from the dead that easy to earn?]
[I’m silent. At first, I thought what Big Boss Shen said made some sense too. Although I’m a firm materialist, this is something passed down by our ancestors for thousands of years. Living in a slightly bigger tomb after death does feel more dignified. But after I searched, one square meter would take me years of saving without eating or drinking? Does my money fall from the sky?]
[I just want to ask, does this really make sense? Burial plots are more expensive than residential houses?]
[Is this the life of a flower-growing person, hard-controlled by buying houses?]
[…How about just scattering my ashes instead?]
[Got it. I’ll go write a will right now. Scatter my ashes into the sea after I die. In the future, when my descendants miss me, they can go to the seaside, face the ocean, and enjoy the spring blossoms!]
Of course, Gu Shengsheng had gone off topic.
He remembered his original goal again. “So, Boss, take me with you today!”
He angrily protested, “Everyone here has been to the forest. I’m the only one who hasn’t!”
Eh, that was true.
For a moment, Shen Jinfeng did not know how to refuse.
Qin Ye’s eyes flickered, and he cut in, “We already divided into groups yesterday. Today, we can just rotate.”
“Gu Shengsheng, Qi Xiu, He Erwang, since all of you want to go to the forest, then you three can go today.”
“Mo-ge nearly had an accident yesterday, so he should stay here and rest properly today. Little Captain and I will go beachcombing.”
He arranged things as though completely selfless.
The others: “…”
He Erwang stood up and stepped aside, revealing the seafood piled up in the corner behind him like a small mountain. “Still beachcombing? We don’t even know how long this will be enough for us to eat!”
Qi Xiu said faintly, “Exactly. Stop beachcombing. What if we really are abroad, and when the foreigners’ fleet comes over and sees our seafood piled up like a mountain, they think we came here specifically to steal seafood?”
After all, those piles of seafood were worth quite a bit.
Gu Shengsheng said, “I think we don’t need to split into teams either. All of us should go into the forest together.”
“Oh, except Mo-ge. Mo-ge might still be a little afraid of that forest, so he can stay behind and guard the house.”
As soon as Mo Fan heard that everyone else was leaving and he would be the only one left to guard an empty cabin, he became unwilling too.
“I’ll still go with you. Staying alone is what would scare me.”
“As long as Boss is by my side, I won’t be afraid of that forest,” he added.
Qin Ye: “…”
With all of them saying that, what excuse could he even find?
He looked toward Shen Jinfeng, hoping for assistance.
Shen Jinfeng guiltily did not dare look at him.
“Cough, cough. Then let’s all go together.”
“All right, go take a nap first. We’ll set off after an hour’s nap.” He stood up and made the final decision.
“Yay!” Everyone cheered.
Except Qin Ye.
[LMAO, Ye-god is so pitiful hahahaha.]
[Qin Ye: Great. All of you got what you wanted. I’m the only one who didn’t. Satisfied?]
[Ye-god: I just wanted a little chance to spend time alone with Little Captain. Why is it so hard? Slams table!]
[Big Boss Shen also looks guilty. He doesn’t even dare look at Ye-god!]
[Hahahahaha, little purple-hair, you guys did great! I’m here to watch you survive on a deserted island, although I no longer know what this has deviated into, not to watch a little couple date!]
At noon, the livestream room for What Kind of Person Are You temporarily reached the lowest point of its traffic.
Because all the guests had gone to nap.
But no one had expected that the peaceful noon would still be broken.
The cause was a netizen named @TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance posting two short videos on his social account.
@TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance was a small blogger with over twenty thousand followers. He was male and currently a university student on summer break.
The first video had been posted yesterday evening.
The content of the video was roughly this:
“Oh my god, family, hasn’t the third season of Being Human been super popular recently? I really admire Big Boss Shen. Uh, yes, that’s right. Friends who follow me might know that I used to diss Big Boss Shen too. At first, I watched the livestream with the mentality of joining the fun and wanting to diss him. Mm, but family, if you look at my current profile picture, it’s Big Boss Shen, so you know I’ve eaten my words! I’ve been following the livestream these days without missing a single moment. I hereby announce: I’m now Big Boss Shen’s little fanboy. I wish I were the one stranded on the deserted island with Big Boss Shen!”
“Cough, cough. After all that nonsense, we finally get to the main point. Family, look where I am right now.”
TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance flipped his phone around so the camera was no longer facing his own face.
Instead, what appeared was a forest.
A forest where, from every direction and every corner, all one could see were trees and wild grass.
A forest that also looked perfectly ordinary.
“See it? See it, family? Don’t you think it looks familiar?” TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance’s voice suddenly became excited.
“Hidden wind and gathered qi, flourishing vegetation, layered mountain forms, dampness opening the foundation. It’s exactly like that place where Big Boss Shen discovered the so-called tomb this afternoon. Isn’t this practically identical?”
He held the phone and filmed every corner. “My home is in a small county town in Jiannan Province. I’ve come to this seaside forest many times since I was young. This afternoon, when I saw the forest in the livestream footage, I felt it looked familiar. It was only when Big Boss Shen dug the pit that I suddenly realized—Isn’t this the place near my home!”
“I hurriedly took a taxi here earlier. But Mo Fan actually fell into a swamp on the show, so now I’m a little afraid to walk forward.”
From the footage, it could be seen that the person holding the phone was moving at a turtle’s pace, his movements obviously somewhat timid.
However, the blogger was still very brave. Gambling on his many years of experience, he managed to stand, without any danger, in the same position Shen Jinfeng had stood in the livestream footage.
“Look, from this angle, it’s even more obvious. Aside from some differences in tree species and the fact that there’s no swamp here, doesn’t it look very similar? I suspect the production team came here to collect scenery and build the model!”
He flipped the camera around and aimed it at his own face, which looked both proud and frightened.
“Family, the spot where I’m standing right now feels like the spot where Big Boss Shen dug the pit. Tell me, should I copy Big Boss Shen and start digging directly?”
The first video ended there.
The video had been posted yesterday evening, and because it was related to trending searches, its views were not low.
But there were simply too many related topics. In addition, @TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance himself had a small follower base, so although it got only a bit over a hundred thousand likes, it did not go massively viral.
Most people simply swiped past and did not take it seriously.
Quite a few comments joked:
[It really looks alike! Hurry up and report it to the local archaeological institution so they can dig the tomb!]
[Fuck, bro, what does it feel like to stand on the ancestor’s tomb right now?]
[Where does it look alike? Why can’t I see anything? Why don’t you dig one first, blogger?]
There were also comments expressing concern: [So did the blogger really start digging?]
[Kind reminder: Big Boss Shen also said on the show that privately robbing tombs is illegal!]
@TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance replied to this comment: Yes. I was already itching to try, but when I thought of Big Boss Shen’s words, I trembled in fear. I was afraid I’d have to sing Tears Behind Bars, so I didn’t dare move. Completely didn’t dare move.
Mm, so he did not dig.
Originally, the feedback caused by this video should have ended there.
But unfortunately, TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance was truly unwilling to let it go. Today at noon, seeing that the livestream guests had all gone to sleep—
His heart itched unbearably, and he ran back to the forest.
Good grief, once he went, something huge happened.
That forest, which he had visited countless times over the past twenty-plus years of his life and had even visited yesterday, could no longer be entered!
Before he even reached the forest, the outside had already been sealed off.
At that instant, he felt an icy chill shoot up through the crown of his head, followed immediately by excitement that, although somewhat expected, was still unbelievably intense.
Actually, when he filmed that video yesterday, it had mostly been to ride the popularity.
Although he thought it looked similar, he had not dared to be certain.
But now, with this scene, maybe it really was exactly as he had guessed.
No way. Could this forest really be the real-world filming reference location for the show?
No way. Could the patch of earth he had stood on yesterday really be the exact same location as where Big Boss Shen had stood in the livestream?
TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance was also quite bold.
He pretended to be an out-of-town tourist and went over to greet the staff maintaining the cordon. “Why are there so many people surrounding this place? Isn’t this a scenic area? I came all the way from Hai City for vacation. The public account didn’t say this place was off-limits.”
The staff member smiled apologetically at him. “Sir, sorry about that. The public account posted a notice a little after eight this morning. This place has been temporarily borrowed, so tourists can’t enter today.”
“Huh? What happened? Why would it be temporarily borrowed? Did something happen inside? It’s not some murder case, right?” TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance gossiped, pointing toward the forest.
The staff member smiled and shook his head. “I’m not clear on the specifics, but don’t worry. It’s not a murder case. If it were that kind of criminal case, the people surrounding this place would be police officers, not me.”
“But it is a bit strange. I’ve worked here for quite a few years, and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this. They actually directly forbade people from entering. In the past, plenty of film crews came here to shoot, but at most, they only cordoned off one section.”
TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance’s eyes lit up. “Bro, do you know when this will be over? I have to go back to my hometown in a few days. When can I come again? Who are these people? So overbearing, actually sealing off the whole forest and not letting anyone in.”
The staff member still shook his head. “Keep an eye on the latest news from the public account. The scenic area’s phone number is on the public account, so you can call before you set out.”
He paused. Seeing that the young man in front of him looked truly disappointed, he added one more sentence. “Don’t worry. According to my guess, it shouldn’t take too long. This time, a group of old men and women came, and the young people accompanying them seemed to be calling them professors? Maybe some professors came to collect samples. Maybe they discovered some rare endangered plant or animal inside?”
He spoke jokingly.
Professors?
All right. The moment this word came out, it was practically a stone hammer.
TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance pretended to leave sadly, especially thanking the staff before he went.
Then he filmed a video facing the little forest and edited in the conversation he had just had with the staff.
On the way back, he posted this second video.
“Family, ask for a hammer and get a hammer. The evidence is here!”
“Known: this forest has never been sealed off before. Known: I only came to this forest yesterday. Known: the orientation and position inside this forest are almost exactly the same as the layout of the tomb pit area on Big Boss Shen’s deserted island. Known: today, the forest was suddenly sealed off. Known: the reason for the sealing is that a group of ‘professors’ came with a group of students.”
“Let me ask: is my intuition accurate or not? I bet one hundred spicy strips that the spot I stood in in my previous video is definitely Big Boss Shen’s cyber coordinates on the deserted island!”
“The forest being sealed off today is definitely because archaeology professors and experts came!”
“This is insane. I really never imagined that the shabby little island near my hometown had actually been chosen as a burial site thousands of years ago by some major ancestor of ours!”
“I’m going back right now to flip through the entire family genealogy. I really don’t know what major figures came from our area several thousand years ago. My coordinates are Tongque Town, Anxin City, Jiannan Province. Netizens who have researched history are welcome to offer suggestions and guesses!”
“God, I’m so excited right now. Super excited. I also never expected that I’d actually be the first person in real life to check in at the same location as my idol Big Boss Shen.”
With that, the second video ended.
It could be seen that the blogger @TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance was very excited.
Perhaps he had really gone home to flip through the family genealogy, because he no longer replied to the many netizens’ questions in the comment section.
But once this video was posted, on this perfectly ordinary noon, it instantly went explosively viral beyond its circle.
Netizens who temporarily had no livestream to watch were idly scrolling through trending searches, watching short videos, reviewing classic clips from Being Human, and joking around with other netizens.
After all, Being Human was already clearly a phenomenon-level variety show.
One major sign of a phenomenon-level variety show was that when you walked down the road or on the street, you could hear many people casually say a few trending memes from it, even if they had never watched the show.
Not to mention the heavily affected area of the internet.
Therefore, the sudden appearance of the second video instantly captured the hearts of countless netizens.
Fuck, no way?
Originally, everyone had only been joking. Although, because of their trust in Big Boss Shen, they had indeed believed it fifty or sixty percent.
But the speed of this confirmation was a little too fast!
The corresponding real-world coordinates had appeared so quickly?
And the archaeological team’s professors and the research institute moved so quickly that they watched yesterday’s livestream and were already on-site today?!
@TheMountainsKnowNotTheWildflower’sFragrance’s two videos stirred up wave after wave and were widely spread across various social platforms, sparking heated discussion among netizens who were idly scrolling on their phones during their lunch break.
[Good grief, I’m calling this one hell of a good grief. Isn’t this my hometown?! Once the comparison video came out, I finally realized—damn, it really is exactly the same!]
[The archaeology team went there this morning? If they have professional equipment, digging up a tomb should be fast, right? Can we get a result today?]
[Could there really be an ancestor’s tomb from thousands of years ago? What Big Boss Shen said in the livestream was before the Han dynasty! We still have too few unearthed cultural relics from before the Han dynasty. If this is real, maybe it can become another strong piece of evidence to fill a historical gap!]
[Can I say something? Coordinates: Jing University. My roommate is an archaeology major. He was hurriedly called away by his supervisor in the middle of the night yesterday. I sent him messages today, and he hasn’t replied. Could he have gone there?]
[Can I say something? Coordinates: Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Sciences. I came to work today, and several big shots really weren’t here!]
[Manually tagging @InstituteOfArchaeology, AcademyOfSocialSciences, @JingUniversityArchaeologyResearchInstitute. Did you really go to the place Big Boss Shen mentioned? Did you dig anything up?]
What no one expected was—
The official account of the Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Social Sciences, which had not moved in a long time, actually came back to life.
After netizens had discussed the matter noisily for about an hour, and the trending search was hanging high in first place—
The official account actually replied.
@InstituteOfArchaeology, AcademyOfSocialSciences: [Archaeological experts from our institute have arrived today at Tongque Town, Anxin City, Jiannan Province. An ancient tomb has been discovered in the local island forest. Preliminary estimates suggest that it is at least a tomb from two thousand years ago.]
[Please follow subsequent updates for more information.]
Netizens’ jaws dropped in shock.
[No way. You’re serious?]
