Everyone knows that Li Li is an old lady in the crematorium, but few people talk about her personally. Even my father Ke Zuo is mentioned from time to time, but few people mention this woman, the female alchemist. This finds me a bit strange.
We drank in the evening, and it was almost ten o'clock before Li Li stood up. What a woman! We went to the crematorium. I don't like going to the crematorium at night because it is too quiet. But there are thousands of souls here, invisible and intangible. It is such a small place, and it will cause a kind of pressure on my mind.
The gatekeeper opened the door without saying a word, then went into the house, lit a cigarette, and sat by the window. The cigarette butt was flickering, which was a bit scary. He waited for us to come out, closed the door, and then went back to sleep. I don't know if he was scared here.
We entered the first floor of the columbarium and walked to the room. Li Li took out a bunch of keys with dozens of keys. She actually shook it and laughed. It was weird, really weird.
"I can open the doors of all the rooms here."
I didn't know what she meant by saying this. She had already retired, but the fact that she had all the keys was a bit strange to me. What on earth was this woman doing with these keys
The door opened. Li Li pushed it open and reached her hand in, touching the wall next to her. With a "click", the light came on. It was not very bright, but I could see clearly inside. I screamed and jumped up. Yinyan also shuddered. It seemed that Yinyan had never been here before.
There was a coffin in the room, tall and colorful. It was beautiful, but it made me feel creepy just looking at it. I was not prepared and it was good enough that I didn't pee my pants. I leaned against the wall. Li Li walked in slowly, walked around the coffin and said.
"Come in."
Yinyan and I went in, and Yinyan held my hand. Li Li took a look at her, and her eyes seemed a little strange.
After entering, we saw that there was a spiral staircase behind the door. It was made of wood and emitted a dark red light. It was obviously a particularly good kind of wood.
"Master, whose coffin is this?"
"This is a full coffin, a place to calm the evil, there will always be a place to calm the evil, just like some places have lions and thousand-year-old turtles. There is nothing strange about it, but don't be curious and want to open this coffin. I also have this impulse, but I have never dared to do it. Okay, go upstairs."
There was dust in the room flying with footsteps. I could feel that no one had been in for a long time.
There was a sound coming from the stairs, which was so abrupt in the quiet night.
The stairs were very narrow. We went up and saw the room, which was empty. Li Li went straight into the bathroom. The faucet in the bathroom was dripping water. She glanced at me and said.
"It's nothing, the echo effect, of course, it's strange to have it here."
Li Li turned off the main faucet. Apparently the faucet was not closed tightly. After a while, it stopped dripping. I breathed a sigh of relief, as I thought something strange had happened again.
We came out and I went to Yinyan's house.
I felt that Yinyan was particularly cold, so I didn't come up.
When I went to work in the morning, I entered the urn room. As expected, there was no sound of dripping water. But when I came out, I saw a white shadow. I shuddered. The first time, I thought it was an illusion, I saw it wrong, but this time I was sure that I was not wrong. I came out and checked the surveillance camera, but there was nothing.
Someone came in holding an urn and opened the door. I told them number 18. The man said curiously that he wanted number 1. I was stunned for a moment because he knew that number 1 was empty. 1 is an unlucky number, and it is especially unlucky in a crematorium, so few people put it there. I didn't say anything and they went in.
I sat there thinking about that person's shadow. The door to the ash room is electronic, with an access control system and fingerprint verification. No one else can open it except the three staff members. Who could that person be? What was he doing in there
I think I have encountered something strange again that I can't figure out.
After the three men came out, I went in and turned around a few times, but I didn't see the shadow. The shelves for storing ashes were arranged in rows. If I had walked around them, I wouldn't have been able to find it. I passed by storage compartment No. 1, took a look, and leaned against the shelf. The shelf shook a little, and the urn on it also shook a few times.
The photo on the urn turned out to be me. It was definitely me. There was no doubt about it. I was stunned. How could this happen? What did this mean
I hurried out of the urn, sat down, and opened the information on the computer. The man was years old and a laboratory technician in a factory. The information told me that the person was not me, but the photo was mine. That's right, the one in the computer was also mine. I was sweating and took out my cell phone to call Yinyan.
Yinyan was taking a day off today. She came over, took a look at the photos on the computer, then went into the urn. When she saw the urn No. 1, she frowned, reached out to take the urn down, opened it, and it was empty.
"It seems like someone is teasing you on purpose. Have I offended anyone?"
I shook my head, unable to think of anyone I could have offended. What was the meaning of this person playing tricks on me
Yinyan put the urn back and watched the video. She didn't recognize any of the three people.
I shook my head. This was too strange. After Yinyan left, I sat there and thought about it. Suddenly, I heard the sound of dripping water. How could this be possible? The strangest thing was that no one else could hear the sound of dripping water. Li Li said it was the echo effect. She was lying to me. If it was, other people could hear it. This was absolutely impossible.
The urn number 1 appeared, with my photo on it, which told me that my death was approaching. There was no other meaning. After I died, the urn would be mine, and the number 1 position would also be mine. Thinking in this way, the sound of dripping water was definitely not what Li Li said. Although I saw the real situation, I now began to doubt it.
I plan to go to the first floor at night, maybe I can find the answer there. It seems that no matter what happens in the future, I need to do it myself and find the answers myself, otherwise I will be dragged away.
In the afternoon, the manager came in and told me that tomorrow I would go to the dressing room and learn how to put on makeup from Zhao Juan. I was stunned.
"Captain, just let me go back to the refining room."
"That's not what you said."
The manager had an unhappy look on his face. He had never treated me like this before. I knew he was doing that for the sake of my father Ke Zuo, but now it seemed that something had happened.
I went to the dressing room the next day, the first dressing room. Master Zhao Juan was sitting on a chair, watching an apprentice putting on makeup.
"Hello, Master Zhao."
I said, and looked at Zhao Juan.
"Master Ke's son Ke Mingzhe."
"Um."
"The manager told me that today you just need to watch the makeup. I will teach you slowly. You can be considered my last apprentice. I will retire after I teach you. I really can't bear to leave this place."
This old lady's makeup skills are first-rate, and no one in the crematorium can compare to her. Everyone knows this. I never thought that I would have anything to do with makeup, and this makes me feel uncomfortable.
Yinyan came in. She was very familiar with Zhao Juan. We chatted for a whole day and then she asked me to leave.
"How can you agree to this? Do you know how deep the makeup is?"
"But… "
"Okay, it's too late to say anything. You can become a well-rounded player."
Yinyan left after she finished speaking. She was very angry. I did not discuss this with her. Actually, I did not want to enter the dressing room. In the end, I am still a refiner. This will always be recorded in my file as my occupation. I will not become a makeup artist just because I have learned makeup. Maybe I can get a makeup artist certificate.
That day I was standing aside watching Zhao Juan's apprentice put on makeup. She was a female apprentice, in her twenties, and said she had just graduated from college. I didn't want to say anything more, because saying one more word would only cause more trouble, and I know I love to cause trouble.
That day, after get off work, I went home and didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t know what was going on with Yinyan. This strange woman would make me never understand her. She was like a book of the I Ching. Maybe you will never be able to understand it in your entire life, and even if you do understand it, you will only understand the basics. She made me feel scared.
I was hungry and was about to make some noodles when Zhang Xiaoxue came with some food and wine.
"You know you can't eat, and you can't take care of yourself. I'll take care of you from now on."
Zhang Xiaoxue came in as she spoke, always smiling like that. I like that kind of smile. In our family, from childhood to adulthood, we rarely see smiles. My mother doesn’t smile, and my father can’t smile either. If they don’t smile, I don’t smile either.
Zhang Xiaoxue put the dishes on the table, all of which were my favorites.
"Brother Mingzhe, you know I like you. Yinyan is not suitable for you. Grandma has also told you. In fact, grandma didn't say it clearly. Maybe you can figure it out."
I could tell there was something else behind his words, so I looked at Zhang Xiaoxue and asked.
"What do you mean?"
"This, grandma won't let me tell you, you will know it later."
I know it's useless to ask, so I just don't ask.
At around ten o'clock in the evening, I sent Zhang Xiaoxue to Master Zhou's house. She had been living there, accompanying the old lady Master Zhou.
On my way back, there was a man following me. He was not too far from me and I couldn't see him clearly. This made me a little scared. I ran a few steps and hid at the top of a building and waited. The man also chased me. When he turned a corner, he saw me, stared at me blankly, and then ran away. I recognized him. It was one of the people who delivered the urns that day, urn No. 1.
I went home and thought, I hadn’t offended anyone, so did my father offend anyone
The next day, Zhao Juan told me some things to pay attention to when putting on makeup, such as not to wear red or green, not to have spikes on shoes, and so on.
I went to my grandma's house after get off work because I was worried that something might have happened to my mother.
When I went in, my mother was making dumplings. I saw her smiling face, but as soon as she saw me, her smile disappeared. My grandmother held my hand, chatted with me, and asked me to stay for dinner, but I didn't. When I saw my mother's smile disappear, I felt like I was committing a crime. It was so rare for her to smile.
I came out and was walking on the street, and the man followed me again. I didn't know what he meant. Did he want to kill me? I didn't know.
I entered the restaurant and the man was standing on the opposite side of the street, smoking and seemingly hesitating about something. I finished my glass of wine and the man crossed the street, presumably intending to come in. However, just as he reached the middle of the street, a car rushed by and knocked the man three or four meters high. He fell and his blood was all over the ground. I thought, I didn't need to look, he must be dead.
My heart was beating fast. I had seen so many dead people, but I wasn't numb at all. I didn't know why, but it was always like this.
I drank a pound of white wine that day, went home and fell asleep, and woke up in the middle of the night. After my father left, I was like this, missing my father and asking him to hug me, but now it's too late.
I smoked and fell asleep when it was almost dawn. (To be continued)