PCJ – Chapter 521 The Strange Epidemic

“Let’s listen to what he has to say first,” Zhang Jiaohua had probably already figured out what Zou Heming’s intentions were.

“Actually, I don’t mean anything bad. I just wanted to ask if you could go to the haunted house and see what’s going on there. Don’t worry, the crew will definitely give you a generous reward. This is beneficial to both parties, but they specifically told me not to say anything,” Zou Heming still went ahead and said what he wanted to say.

Chen Haibo turned away, furious. After those words were spoken, it would only make the already fragile relationship even weaker. Zhang Jiaohua was, after all, a young man, and he acted entirely on his temperament. If it were someone like Chen Cheng, at least there was some familial connection, and maybe Zhang Jiaohua wouldn’t mind a wrong word here or there. But with people who had no connection to him, even a single wrong word might make him flip out.

“Do you think I’m some country bumpkin and need money?” Zhang Jiaohua asked in return.

Zou Heming was taken aback and quickly said, “No, I know your family is very wealthy. But who doesn’t want more money, right? If you can easily handle the haunted house situation, why not take the opportunity?”

Zou Heming thought he could convince Zhang Jiaohua with his silver tongue.

Zhang Jiaohua looked at Zou Heming as if he were a fool, then stopped paying attention to him and instead looked at Chen Cheng with some reproach. “Chen Cheng, don’t bring just anyone here in the future. Otherwise, I won’t let you come here either. And don’t give out the protective charms I gave you to others casually, or people will start thinking that our charms are worthless.”

Chen Cheng was sweating with anxiety. “Jiaohua, I’m sorry, we were in a rush today. We told him not to talk nonsense when we came.”

Tang Yan, holding the phone box, didn’t know what to do, but finally said, “Jiaohua, we really didn’t know things would turn out like this. We only avoided disaster because of your phone. This phone was bought by Haibo and me. We know you gave us the protective charm for Chen Cheng’s sake, so we didn’t dare offer you any payment. But I promise that as long as we’re in the same crew as Chen Cheng, we’ll make sure to protect her and make sure no one bullies her.”

Tang Yan immediately guessed Zhang Jiaohua’s thoughts and then exchanged a look with Chen Haibo.

Chen Haibo quickly took out a box. “This is my thank-you gift. I also promise that I will use all my connections to protect Chen Cheng. Both Yan Jie and I have been in the industry for a long time, and people will show us some respect. We’ll spread the word, and in the future, Chen Cheng’s career will be smoother, with fewer obstacles. Those so-called hidden rules will also be reduced.”

Zhang Jiaohua nodded. If Chen Haibo and Tang Yan promised to take care of Chen Cheng, it would indeed save a lot of trouble, and his own troubles would be fewer.

“Alright, from now on, please take care of Chen Cheng. If you run into any problems, feel free to come to me. Maybe I can help you solve them. If ‘Haunted House Crisis’ continues filming, I’ll have Chen Cheng bring you protective charms. But if it’s about money, I don’t need it, so if some people have money, they can go somewhere else to try their luck. Beijing is full of talented people. I’m new here, and I don’t dare to take other people’s business,” Zhang Jiaohua’s words meant that he wouldn’t be giving protective charms to Zou Heming anymore.

Tang Yan and Chen Haibo exchanged a pleased glance. As for Zou Heming, they only knew him because they met while filming Great Tomb Crisis, but they didn’t have any deep connections with him. Tang Yan and Chen Haibo had been close friends for a long time, even rumored to be involved romantically. Though Chen Cheng had only met them during Great Tomb Crisis, Tang Yan and Chen Cheng had become like sisters, and Chen Haibo treated her like a younger sister as well. Zou Heming, on the other hand, was always difficult to get along with, and it wasn’t surprising that Zhang Jiaohua had excluded him. They didn’t feel any regret about it.

Zou Heming, after all, was a big celebrity, and he still had some arrogance. When he heard Zhang Jiaohua’s words, he snorted coldly and turned to leave the courtyard.

“I really didn’t expect Zou Heming to be this kind of person. I shouldn’t have brought him along,” Tang Yan said, dissatisfied.

Chen Haibo shook his head. “I’ve heard he’s hard to get along with. After Great Tomb Crisis, I had a slightly better impression of him. I didn’t expect time would reveal his true nature. I’ll never work with someone like him again.”

Tang Yan said with concern, “But we still have a long way to go with this film. I’m not sure what we’re going to do next.”

“Don’t worry, whether we’ll be able to continue filming is uncertain. What worries me is that even with the protective charms, we’re still in this situation. I wonder what will happen when Director Lin and the others come out, and they won’t have any charms,” Chen Haibo frowned.

Chen Cheng quickly asked Zhang Jiaohua, “Jiaohua, nothing bad will happen, right?”

“There shouldn’t be any major problems, but it’s not going to be completely fine either. Don’t worry, the answer will be revealed tomorrow. I think it’s a serious illness. Fortunately, it wasn’t something inside the house causing trouble, otherwise, even with the protective charms, you might not have gotten out,” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“If the film can’t be shot, it’s too dangerous,” Tang Yan said, wishing she could cancel the project immediately.

“Not so easily. If we quit now, our reputations in the industry will be ruined. Who would dare to hire actors who quit halfway through a project?” Chen Haibo shook his head.

The next day, the cast of Haunted House Crisis received a notice from the crew that filming had been temporarily halted. All actors were given a break and told to wait for further instructions from the crew.

Tang Yan and Chen Haibo soon received news that Director Lin Jianming was hospitalized, and many other staff members, including cameramen and crew, had also fallen ill. By the evening of the previous day, everyone who participated in the filming, except for the four main leads, had been hospitalized with serious illnesses.

The strangest part was that the best hospital in Beijing, Renxin Hospital, couldn’t determine the cause of the illness among the crew of Haunted House Crisis.

“The initial suspicion is that this is a new type of epidemic, otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible for so many people to fall ill,” said He Kun, the director of Renxin Hospital. He immediately ordered the isolation of all the crew members and reported the situation to the Beijing Center for Disease Control. The CDC didn’t dare to be negligent either and sealed off all information about the disease. They instructed Renxin Hospital to isolate the crew members of Haunted House Crisis who had fallen ill.