At nine o'clock in the evening, Liu Kaiwen looked at the empty water room and felt uneasy. After washing up, he wiped his hair and pushed open the slightly ajar door to put down the basin. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable. He turned around and saw a person standing behind the door, someone he knew!

"Hello, Liu fellow student!" The person behind the door, wearing sunglasses and half of his body in the shadow, smiled slightly. "I knocked on the door but no one answered. The door was not closed, so I came in to wait for you. The hallway was too dark, I was afraid of scaring others."

Liu Kaiwen looked at the dark corridor. Because there weren't many students staying overnight, the hallway lights were not turned on at night.

"Do you have something to tell me? Isn't the result coming out tomorrow?" Liu Kaiwen asked.

"The leaders are urging us. After seeing your resume, they thought it was good. They asked me to inform you and take you to the company dormitory. You guys will start training tomorrow. Time waits for no one!" The guy in sunglasses walked out from behind the door.

"Are we leaving now?" Liu Kaiwen was surprised. This arrangement came too suddenly. He had an uneasy feeling and decided to go see before making any decisions. "May I ask how to address you?"

"My surname is Mo... You don't need to prepare anything. The company will arrange it for you." The guy in sunglasses interrupted him.

Liu Kaiwen nodded. "Hello, Mr. Mo. I will ask for your guidance in the future."

Fifteen minutes later, Liu Kaiwen carried a lightweight backpack and followed the guy in sunglasses to the school gate. He saw an Iveco parked on the roadside in the distance.

Originally, Liu Kaiwen thought there would be many people, but there were only a male and a female in the car besides the driver. He sat down in the seat next to the door.

The guy in sunglasses patted the driver's shoulder and smirked, "Drive!" Then he walked to the last row of seats and sat down, crossing his hands in front of his chest.

The car was silent during the drive. Liu Kaiwen looked out the window and guessed that they were heading south, passing through the busiest commercial district in the city center.

"Comrade, hello!" Liu Kaiwen turned his head and saw the male youth sitting behind him. The male youth had moved to the row behind him and greeted him enthusiastically.

"Are you also going to be a tour guide?" Liu Kaiwen nodded.

The male youth quickly moved to sit next to him and shook hands with him. "What's your name?"

"My name is Liu Kaiwen. And you?" Liu Kaiwen shook hands with him.

"My name is Hao Youfu. I am studying at Lin City University. Hey... Comrade, are you from Jian Institute?"

Liu Kaiwen saw a hint of sadness on his face and was a bit surprised. "Yes."

"Hey! I also applied to Jian Institute, but I don't know why I was assigned to work at Engineering Institute," Hao Youfu complained, frowning. "I don't want to repeat the year, so I can only go to the Engineering Institute."

"What's your major?" Liu Kaiwen asked.

"A cold major, Ancient Architecture Research and Protection," Hao Youfu said with embarrassment.

"It's not bad. If you are assigned, you should go to research institutes and other units," Liu Kaiwen said.

"As long as it is a stable job!" Hao Youfu said excitedly. "You don't know, since I came to school, I have learned what city people are like, especially when I want to find a partner. Hey! Others first ask about your household registration. I'm curious, are they talking to me or my family?"

Liu Kaiwen listened to Hao Youfu's complaints and chatted with him. When he asked about the female youth behind him, Hao Youfu whispered to him emotionally, "She's a city person and doesn't want to talk to me."

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Liu Kaiwen shook his head and laughed, "It's not like that."

"How come? I spoke to her, but she only said five words to me and didn't even look at me," Hao Youfu said.

"What five words?" Liu Kaiwen asked curiously.

"Hello, Zhao Yihui. You count them. Aren't there five words... Ah, do I need to count the punctuation?" Hao Youfu said.

Liu Kaiwen almost burst out laughing. "How can you, a grown man, be so narrow-minded? We don't even know each other. Female comrades are more reserved. In your mouth, they become disdainful of rural people. Rural teaching conditions are worse than those in the city. We rural people work harder."

"Hey, you're also from the countryside. I said it, we rural people are honest and straightforward, without so many tricks," Hao Youfu said.

Liu Kaiwen listened to Hao Youfu's complaining and criticizing and looked back at the guy in sunglasses at the back. He suddenly remembered the boss's words, "High requirements, college students, appearance, and foreign language skills are required" and "I saw some students go to inquire." He finally realized what was wrong.

Then, he saw the guy in sunglasses open his mouth and silently say a few words. He seemed to be saying "The game...begins."

Game?

What game?

Suddenly, the car lights went out, and a hissing sound came from the air outlet. Liu Kaiwen was about to stand up when he heard someone fall to the ground next to him. A black mist appeared before his eyes, and a strong dizziness hit him. He lost consciousness.

An ordinary Iveco drove out of the bustling street, turned left and right, and disappeared into the vast night.

Liu Kaiwen smelled a damp, musty odor, and felt a cold, damp sensation on his back. He opened his eyes to dim lighting and a ceiling covered in mold.

"Where am I?"

He looked around, seeing eight people lying on the ground next to him. They were all wearing white T-shirts, black pants, and Liberation shoes. From their figures and hair, three of them were women. Hao Youfu, who was on the same car as him before, was also inside, sleeping with saliva dribbling out of his mouth.

He stood up, surveyed the ten-square-meter room with an arched roof, drainage ditch, and a red fire safety slogan on the wall. Due to its old age, the wall had some small cracks, where rainwater had seeped in, fostering moss and mold. Besides the nine people, there was nothing inside the room. The entrance was blocked by bricks, and only a light bulb hung from the ceiling, with some of the bricks in the wall being quite new.

"Who are you?"

A weak female voice came from a shoulder-length haired woman. She sat up, incredulously looking around.

Liu Kaiwen walked over and supported the woman, "My name is Liu Kaiwen. I just woke up and don't know where this is or what happened. Are you okay?"

The woman shook her head and blinked hard, "I feel dizzy."

"I'll go and see how the others are doing. You rest first." Liu Kaiwen let her go and walked over to Hao Youfu, slapping his face, "Hao Youfu, wake up!"

Hao Youfu was in the middle of a dream and impatiently waved his hand to drive Liu Kaiwen away. Liu Kaiwen grabbed Hao Youfu's left hand, pressed his thumb towards the tiger's mouth, and heard him yell in pain.

"Who is it? It hurts!" Hao Youfu opened his eyes, looking at Liu Kaiwen 's face, "Oh my god! Who are you?" He sat up with a roll.

" Liu Kaiwen! We were on the same car before." Liu Kaiwen stood up, "What car?"

Hao Youfu looked at his face, which felt familiar. He thought for a moment, and his face suddenly changed, "I remember. When the lights went out, I wanted to grab you, but then I felt nothing... where are we?"

Liu Kaiwen looked at the other people on the ground and said to Hao Youfu, "I don't know. I just woke up like you. There are other people here. Let's see if we can wake them up."

Fortunately, none of the nine of them had any major problems, only three female comrades and a boy looked a little weak.

Liu Kaiwen let everyone sit together and rest to regain their strength. He walked around the room, carefully checking it, and then sat next to Hao Youfu.

"This should be an abandoned air-raid shelter. Everyone should know the situation we're in now. Let's share our background. I'll start with myself. I'm studying at Jiangshi University and found a temporary tour guide job at a talent market. I got on this tour company's bus and then passed out. I woke up here," Liu Kaiwen pointed to Hao Youfu next to him and the young woman opposite, looking at everyone, "The three of us were on the same car. There was also a young man wearing black and sunglasses on that car, but he's not here now."

"Yes, I'm from the Engineering Institute, and I'm with Liu Kaiwen," Hao Youfu took over, "I really don't know what kind of heartless scamming company this is. When I get out of here, I'll definitely report it and bring down this scamming company!"

The young woman with two braids opposite looked at everyone, "My name is Zhao Yihui."

"Li Zisheng, I was also brought onto the bus by a tall man wearing toad glasses," the speaker had a long face with fair skin and pointed to the man and woman next to him, "I'm on the same car as them."

"This is Hu Zili, from the Light Industry Institute," the man next to him quickly said.

Two women sat close together, and the shoulder-length hair girl was a little weak, her voice soft, "My name is Jia Jing, from the Petroleum Institute."

The other girl tied her hair in a ponytail, and her hair looked messy at the moment. She clung tightly to Jia Jing's arm, her face pale, "Xue Fang."

Everyone's eyes fell on the boy behind Zhou Xuehai. He looked young and sat next to Zhou Xuehai. They thought he was his son.

Zhou Xuehai looked at the boy, who looked weak, and spoke for him, "He's Wu Wei, not very old, he passed the university entrance exam at 17 and studied automation... look at him, he must have been scared."

The boy looked up, his face turned blue, and he moved his lips.

Liu Kaiwen silently thought to himself, nine strangers, who could trust whom?