The day went smoothly and nothing happened. After returning to the office, he smoked a cigarette and was about to leave when Ren Qiang said.
"Master, I'll treat you to a meal."
“That’s not necessary.”
I turned around and left. When I returned home, it was so lonely. It was even worse than being with Old Liu.
Zhang Xiaoxue came to see me again, but I didn't let her in. I told her that everything was over for us. Zhang Xiaoxue left crying. In fact, everything was really over and there was really no meaning. Zhang Xiaoxue also realized this.
The dressing room started to work shifts, working one day and resting the next. I drove to the tower in Chixian, brought some food and drinks to Old Liu, got a bucket of wine, and then sat down to chat.
I have read Old Liu's makeup diary, and it absolutely astonished me. What was written in it completely left me stunned.
It's about the self-makeup part. After Old Liu's wife died, he didn't stop putting on makeup immediately. Instead, he put on makeup himself in front of the mirror. He thought, a living person can die if he puts on the makeup of a dead person. He wanted to see how she died.
He has to get up in the middle of the night to put on makeup every day. He is afraid of scaring the child, so he only wants to put on makeup in the middle of the night when the child is asleep.
I brought this up when we were talking about self-makeup that day.
"Alas, it seems that this dead person makeup is not a good thing. I learned so much and paid so much, but in the end, it was not used."
"No, it can be used."
“Do I paint myself before I die?”
After saying that, Old Liu burst into laughter. At this moment, when I listened to the sound, it didn’t seem so bad.
Old Liu talked about his self-makeup. He puts on makeup in front of the mirror every day, and his skills improve rapidly. Even he admires himself. At first glance, it looks like the makeup of a dead person, but when dead you look like a living person. This is what real work is.
However, something went wrong with my self-makeup. My original purpose was to make up myself, to experience how she died, or to find out if there was any way to save my wife. In fact, I had always done one thing: my wife's body was not cremated within three years. I made a freezer and placed it in a room at home. I thought I could ask my wife for help, and only I could find out the reason for her death, so I made up myself.
I was immersed in it every day, but I didn’t expect that something really would happen one day.
In the middle of the night that day, the child was picked up by his grandmother, and I started to put on makeup, feeling very at ease, with my wife's photo placed behind me.
"Honey, watch me put on makeup, see if I'm making any progress?"
I talked to myself while putting on makeup. Of course, I knew my wife would never speak again, but maybe I could save her.
That day, I didn't expect that when I was halfway through my makeup, I saw a figure in the mirror with his back to me. I was startled. It was a stranger's figure. I couldn't tell who it was. He was wearing a costume. I was stunned and sat in front of the mirror without moving, with the makeup brush half raised in my hand.
The person never turned around, so I couldn't see her face, but I suddenly heard her singing:
If my spirit does not appear after my death, how can I be so angry now? I don't want any blood to be shed, I want my blood to be sprinkled on the white silk; I want everyone to see the flagpole, and I want you to have snow all over the steps in June; this Chuzhou will have a three-year drought, and then people will know that I have been wronged!
It was a play about "The Injustice of Dou E", I know, and they drank too much.
From that day on, I couldn't help wanting to see the person in the play. That person never turned around. Every night when I didn't want to see her, she would sing "The Injustice of Dou E". No one else could hear it, but I could. I was confused. Why was it like this? I didn't understand it at all.
I can't figure out why this is happening.
I waited for her to turn around and see who this person was and why he was in the mirror, I just couldn't figure it out.
I think I'll see it sooner or later.
Old Liu took a sip of wine and started singing. It was really miserable.
Liu Yang came in suddenly.
"Dad, you're singing this again. Stop it. It's too sad."
Liu Yang stayed here for more than an hour that day and then left. Old Liu suddenly asked me.
"Do you have a partner?"
I was stunned and shook my head.
"Should it be considered as no?"
"What are you talking about?"
I talked about Zheng Jun and Zhang Xiaoxue.
"Then you two are not meant to be together. It's useless to bother with anything. I think it might work out if I introduce my daughter to you."
"I'm a makeup artist. Why would I marry a makeup artist?"
"What's wrong with a makeup artist? I'm also a refiner and a makeup artist?"
"only… "
"Don't talk nonsense, I'll ask her tomorrow."
That day I wanted to hear more about the actor in the mirror, but he stopped talking and told me to come tomorrow and tell me tomorrow.
I went back that day, and when I went to work the next day, the manager called me to his office.
"Xiaozhe, please take care of Ren Qiang. We haven't signed a master-apprentice contract, but I've added this money to your salary. He won't be learning from you for long. It's just a formality. Good or bad, learn or not, just don't get into trouble. He will be in the office in a month or two. Get you out of the office. You are a good makeup artist. It's a pity for you to sit in the office."
After Mao Xiaoli retired, I only worked in the office for seven days before I was sent back to do makeup.
"That's fine with me."
"Please bear with me. I can't help it. He's the director's son."
Fuck him, isn't this crazy? The director's son is here
"Why is he here?"
"You don't understand this. Do you know what it means to save the country by taking a roundabout way? Starting as a makeup artist at a crematorium, how solid is that?"
As soon as I heard it, I understood it. It was really a great investment.
I went into the dressing room, sat aside, and watched Ren Qiang, the kid fiddling with his cell phone.
"I told you, no cell phones in the dressing room."
The boy was obedient and took out his cell phone and came in.
"Go, push the dead person in cabinet number six in and carry him to the dressing bed."
"Master, the manager didn't say..."
"I am your master. If you don't want to be held, you can go find the director."
I wanted to give this guy a try. After a few days, he got a job as a makeup artist, then went to the office and stayed there for a while. Then he became the deputy director, and then he was transferred. He really had a lot of fun.
This guy actually ran away. I waited for more than ten minutes, but he didn't come in. I was worried that something had happened, so I went into the dressing room. Cabinet number six was open. The body on the stretcher was pulled out and thrown on the ground. He ran away. The shroud was opened and the deceased's face was flattened. I could tell at a glance that he had fallen. I've seen this kind of makeup many times, but this guy probably had never seen it before. He disappeared in a flash.
I carried the body onto the hearse and covered it with a shroud.
"I'm sorry, man. That kid was scared by you. Are you happy?"
I was pushed into the dressing room and onto the dressing bed, and then the director came in, looking very angry.
"Ke Mingzhe, what did I tell you? It would have been fine if I hadn't said it, but you got angry when I did."
"You don't have to be so angry. At most, after you die, I will do your makeup myself. It will be very good and absolutely first-class."
I was talking nonsense and the director was pointing at me, unable to speak.
The director left and I put on makeup. I was busy until noon and drove to the tower. I wanted to hear Old Liu's story about his self-makeup, the story of the actor, but I didn't know if I could hear it.
I went in and was stunned for a moment. Liu Yang was there, eating with his father. I put down the dishes and there was also a box of beer.
"You always spend money."
"I'm here to learn from you. It would be wrong if I didn't teach you a little bit, right?"
We sat down and Liu Yang looked at me in a peculiar way. I thought, this old Liu must have said something.
"Don't look down on him. He is a college student and is ambitious. He went to the crematorium because he missed his father. His father is a refiner. Such a kind and righteous person can't be wrong. I just like such people."
Liu Yang stood up and said.
"Dad, I'm leaving."
Liu Yang ran away.
"This girl is blushing."
No one mentioned Liu Yang that day, but talked about the actor.
"Speaking of this actor, the play was really good. At that time, I thought of the county drama troupe. It was very popular at that time. There was a pillar named Xiao Taohong. I have seen her play in the theater. I only saw it once. Then I thought of this. I went to the drama troupe, but I didn't find Xiao Taohong. When I asked, they kept avoiding me. I was very confused. Why didn't anyone answer me?"
Old Liu was drinking and eating, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"I listen to her singing opera every day, which is a kind of enjoyment. But I am tired of listening to the same opera all the time. One day, I was sitting in front of the mirror and putting on makeup. I said to the actor in the mirror, can you turn around? Let me see who you are? Unexpectedly, she really turned around. It was Xiao Taohong with tears. I was shocked and stood up. It was really her. I didn't expect it. Xiao Taohong was 24 years old, a young, promising and promising actor. How could she be in the mirror? My master told me that the people in the mirror are not people, but ghosts. They will tempt you, just like the ghosts in the water. If a person drowns, the water ghosts will stay in the water and catch living people to take their place, so that they can leave the cold water. The ghosts in the mirror are the same. Why do people cover all the mirrors after they die? Why stop time? That's because they are afraid that the souls of the dead will enter the mirror, which is the so-called ghost. When they enter the mirror, they will confuse people and be very scary. Once they enter the mirror, they will be in trouble."
Old Liu stood up and said he was going upstairs to bring some food to his wife.
He went up to the 22nd floor. I knew it would take more than half an hour, so I stood at the door and smoked. It was starting to get dark. Suddenly, a man stood in the distance looking over here, under the bushes. I couldn't see who he was, but he just stood there and didn't leave. I was shocked, but I didn't move. I didn't know this place, so it was best not to move. This is a tower, and although it is no longer in use, there are still many ownerless urns. These ownerless urns are evil, and they will slowly become resentful. Family members don't come to see them, or take them away, and the negative energy here will become heavier and heavier.
I know that almost no one comes to this tower. Who would like to come to such a gloomy place
Old Liu came down and the man ran away.
"I see a man in the bushes, look this way."
“That’s not a human being.”
I was so scared that I almost screamed.
"Impossible. I can still see clearly whether it is a human or not, but I can't see what it looks like."
"It's not a person, it's you here. If you weren't here, it would come in and keep me company."
I was stunned. How could this be possible? I clearly saw a person.
"What's going on?"
Old Liu hesitated for a long time before speaking.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know. Maybe you will know it later."
When I left the tower that day, I was wondering, this old Liu is really weird, what on earth is he playing
I didn't sleep well that night. As soon as I got up in the morning, Yunbai came to me and told me that she wanted something of my father's.
"I'm sorry, but you can't take any of my father's things because you want too much in this life. I hope we won't meet again. Of course, I will bury you after you die. After all, you are my mother once and I am your son once."
Yun Bai left in disappointment. She was old, what did she want to get back? In fact, I knew in my heart that she didn't want anything from her father. She hadn't had this kind of love and this kind of life for too long. She longed for it. She stayed with me every day. Thinking about it, I cried with my hands covering my eyes. When I was young, my mother took care of me, but when I knew that she treated my father like that, I couldn't get over it. (To be continued)