Folk Stories About Corpse Burning

Chapter 48: The Manchu coffin in the room

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That person was hit and killed by a car. I always feel that it is my responsibility and I feel uneasy.

When I go to work, Mao Xiaoli finds me and smiles at me, "Xiaobai." Maybe she likes this Xiaobai.

"You can work now."

"No, I don't have the chance. I can't operate alone yet."

“Then you need to work hard.”

Mao Xiaoli smiled and left. I felt that my learning makeup had something to do with her. Maybe she told the manager about it. Thinking about skin cutting, I felt scared.

When I entered the dressing room, Zhao Juan told me that I would start my makeup today. I knew it had started. Zhao Juan told me that it would take half a month to finish the makeup. But it suddenly started so soon today. It must have something to do with Mao Xiaoli. It's strange that so many people are afraid of Mao Xiaoli. She seldom interacts with people, but these people really listen to her. I can't understand this.

Zhao Juan taught me seriously. She told me that I was her last apprentice and that she would teach me everything, even things that she had never taught others. In fact, I didn’t want to learn so much. I only wanted to learn those things that a refiner knew. But I didn’t learn much because my father Ke Zuo was a refiner.

I was half-hearted in my studies, but Master Zhao Juan was neither anxious nor angry. This made me feel a little strange. People who work in the crematorium all have strange tempers, but Master Zhao Juan has a gentle temper. She treats this female apprentice the same way. If she makes a mistake, she just corrects her and never gets angry.

I actually heard the sound of dripping water in the dressing room. I looked at Master Zhao Juan and her female apprentice, and they didn't react at all. I thought, maybe I was the only one who heard it.

Zhao Juan noticed my strange behavior and pulled me to the corridor to ask me.

"What's up?"

I hesitated, but still said it. I heard the sound of dripping water. Since Zhao Juan is my master now, I have to tell her that I have lost confidence in Yinyan. It seems that she is always busy with her own affairs.

After listening to this, Master Zhao Juan thought for a long time and said.

"For this matter, please wait for me in the Xilai Hotel's room at five o'clock tonight."

After Master Zhao Juan finished speaking, she went in. The old lady looked kind and peaceful. I like old ladies like her.

In the evening, I went to Xilai Hotel, which is located behind the mountain of our crematorium. It is not far away. They hold funerals and weddings there, and reserve some rooms for guests to eat. However, some people know that funerals are also held here, so not many people go there. Even weddings are gradually decreasing. If this continues, it will become a professional funeral shop.

I don't like this kind of hotel, I always feel it's a bit spooky.

I went in and told the waitress that it was room number ??. She gave me a look that was not a normal look.

I was taken to private room No. ?? and the waiter left without saying a word.

I pushed the door open and found that Master Zhao Juan had not arrived yet, but the tea had been poured. It seemed that Master Zhao Juan was quite familiar with this place.

I went in and closed the door. There was a painting on the wall. It looked messy. It was what is called an image painting. I don't understand painting, but it makes me feel uneasy when I look at it. I will never be able to understand anything from such a painting.

I sat down and was served two cups of tea. Apparently, Master Zhao Juan had arranged it in advance.

The tea was Longjing, which is my favorite tea and my father's favorite tea. After a cup of tea, Chef Zhao Juan came in and sat down for me to order. I didn't order anything, so Chef Zhao Juan closed the menu and ordered four dishes. It seemed that she was very familiar with this place.

"Mingzhe, I am very familiar with your father and have a good relationship with him. I never thought that you would become my apprentice, and the last one at that. This makes me very happy."

I have never heard my father talk about it, and he never talked about anything in the crematorium because my mother simply wouldn't listen and I was scared, so my father never mentioned a word about it at home. But my father would never have thought that I would go to work in a crematorium, and it was a longing that could not be shaken off.

I can't speak, because I don't know what to say. Master Zhao Juan drank white wine. She is so old, and she drank a glass of white wine until after nine o'clock in the evening. Old trees have many roots, and old people have many words. This is true. Zhao Juan told me a lot of things about my father that I didn't know. I am very grateful to her.

"Okay, maybe you're tired of hearing that, let's go to work."

Master Zhao Juan stood up and I followed her downstairs, into the crematorium, and went to the first floor of the columbarium.

I didn’t expect that Master Zhao Juan also had the key.

She said before opening the door.

"There's a full-flag coffin inside, don't be scared."

"I have seen it."

Zhao Juan seemed quite surprised, she glanced at me but didn't ask. We went in, Zhao Juan closed the door and whispered.

"Don't talk."

It made me very nervous, but Zhao Juan's white hair actually made me feel at ease.

Going upstairs and into the bathroom, there was no water dripping out. Master Zhao Juan searched everywhere in the room and found a small box in the living room. She sat down, raising a cloud of dust, and danced under the light.

There was a sudden sound of dripping water from the small box, which scared me so much that I jumped up.

"It's okay, it's just this thing. I think you have offended someone. What else happened?"

"When I was in the urn, I always saw a shadow, but no one was there. There was also the sound of dripping water, and then there was the urn on the urn No. ??. The photo on it was mine, and the man who followed me was dead."

Zhao Juan said.

"It all has to do with one thing. I'm afraid you won't offend anyone. You are young and have not been in the crematorium for long. Maybe it's your father."

"I don't think my father will offend anyone."

"Here, sometimes I offend people accidentally. So, there is no one who doesn't offend people, and I am no exception."

What Zhao Juan said made me believe it. The box that made the dripping sound at a fixed time and the photo on the urn on the urn No. ?? were telling me who I had offended. I think the shadow was also related to this. I will know how it was done when the time comes.

"But the man who died was definitely an accident. Of course, you are an extremely yin person. If an ordinary person wants to mess with you, there will probably be a disaster. In other words, no matter how he wants to treat you, the disaster he will bring is the same."

"So you mean to say that he wants to kill me?"

"It will slowly cause you to break down mentally, and then you will kill yourself."

I was stunned. This method of torturing someone to death is the most cruel. Why

"We need to investigate the dead man. The traffic police or the public security bureau may have the information. I'll find someone and let you know when I find him. That's all for today."

We went downstairs and when we came out, I asked about the Manqi coffin.

"Don't be curious and don't even think about opening it."

Master Zhao Juan actually said so. Every master in the crematorium told me not to be too curious here, as it would not do me any good.

It all seemed clear, someone wanted to kill me, not something weird, so what about the other things? I don't know, now I'm a little scared, is everything that happened real

Zhao Juan worked very quickly, and the man's information came out very quickly. He was the son of the landlord Qian. Qianjia Bridge was built by the landlord Qian. It was the first private bridge in the city. It stood across Henan and Hebei for decades. It was obvious that Qian was very rich. However, after liberation, the Qian family seemed to have nothing else except the compound. Of course, this is only what I saw, and what I didn't see is another story.

The dead man was the grandson of the landlord Qian, Qian Sun. His name was Qian Sun, which was a bit strange.

I know nothing about Qian Sun's affairs. My father never mentioned it. Master Zhao Juan was a good friend of my father's, so she should know a lot. In the evening, I invited Master Zhao Juan to dinner. She brought her female apprentice Zheng Jun, who was in her twenties. Zheng Jun was pretty and never talked much.

Zhao Juan told me that day that my father Ke Zuo and Qian Sun's father were very close, and my father would go to the Qian family compound to drink almost every week. I didn't know this.

So how did they become enemies? I don’t know. Master Zhao Juan told me that I need to figure it out on my own.

There is another male owner of the Qian family compound, Qian Zi, the grandson of the landlord Zhao. This man works in the Cultural Bureau and is quite educated.

I think I should understand. No matter what, I have no idea about such a great hatred. I need to know. So, no matter what, I have to know. It would be too unfair if I was killed and didn't even know how I died.

The next day, after get off work in the evening, I went to Qian's Compound. Qian's Compound is well-known in this city and everyone knows it.

I stood in front of the dark gate. There were two stone lions in front of the gate. They looked quite old.

I knocked on the door for a long time, and someone came out to open it. It was a woman in her forties.

"I want some money."

The woman hesitated for a moment and asked me to wait. I waited for more than ten minutes and then the money came out. It was the first time I saw money.

"Is it Qianzi, Teacher Qian?"

"Oh, I am, you are?"

"I am Ke Zuo's son, Ke Mingzhe."

When Qian Zi heard this, his face changed and he looked sullen. He hesitated for a long time before speaking.

"Come in!"

I think, it seems that my father and Qianzi's grandfather really have some grudge, and it's a deep one. I'm worried that it's hard to say whether this grudge can be untied.

I went in. The old-fashioned mahogany tables and chairs in the living room were glowing with a dark red light. The living room was also dark, which made me feel a little nervous. After I sat down, the tea was served. It seemed that the Qian family did not pour the tea. The tea had a dark fragrance. I knew that it must weigh at least a thousand pounds.

"I think Teacher Qian also knows what I'm here for."

"Yes, I know, but I haven't seen you. My brother Qian Sun has seen you."

When he mentioned Qian Sun, I became even more nervous. If this account was put on me, then this grudge would never be resolved.

"I want to know what happened between my father and your Qian family?"

"This is actually very simple. It's about the Manchu coffin. My family is Manchu, and we have a Manchu coffin. It was originally placed in our basement at the back. It was prepared for my grandfather, but it was later taken away by your father. My grandfather was very angry, but when he died, he told us not to ask the Ke family for it, so he gave it to the Ke family. My grandfather didn't close his eyes when he died."

I was stunned. Why did my father need a coffin? He didn't need one. Cremation had already been implemented in that era, and it was very strictly controlled. Moreover, my father was cremated when he died, so he didn't need a coffin at all. It didn't make sense.

"My father has a very good relationship with your grandfather. He would not do such a thing."

"We don't understand this. Your father always comes here and is very nice to us brothers. We never thought he would do something like this."

"Why would he do that?"

Qian Zi shook his head, obviously he didn't know either.

"We don't know, and grandpa wouldn't let us go to your house to ask for it. But there is one thing. Grandpa didn't close his eyes when he died. When he was confused, he kept talking about a full coffin. The full coffin was made of huanghuali wood. Apart from that, there seemed to be a secret compartment. There seemed to be something in it. This is what grandpa said when he was confused. We don't know if it's true or not. My brother has always been obsessed with this full coffin. Every time he mentioned that grandpa didn't close his eyes when he passed away, it was because of this full coffin, so..."

Just a full coffin made Qian Sun and I risk our lives like this. It can be seen that the matter of the full coffin is not simple. Qian Zi did not tell me the truth completely.

"I don't know where the full coffin is. My father never told me about it. If I find it, I will give it back to you."

"That would be great. Maybe your father has a diary or something. I hope you can find it."

When I came out of the Qian family, I immediately thought of the full coffin on the first floor of the ashes building. Could it be that? I was shocked. It was very likely. My father was a refiner. With this condition, the Qian family would never have thought that the full coffin was in the crematorium, and in a hidden place. (To be continued)