I held the body and gradually became numb and rarely broke out in cold sweats. I had not expected that I would be unfit for such a situation so soon. I had not anticipated this myself.
However, I still dare not be careless.
Yinyan came in.
"Mingzhe, come here."
The master did not include my last name for the first time. Maybe it was because I followed her to her second aunt’s house that we felt closer.
I came out and a girl looked at me, obviously she was new.
"This is the new person. She will take over your job and I will teach her."
The girl was very thin and pale, and I couldn't figure out why she came here.
I didn't say anything. I took her over and demonstrated to her, teaching her like a master. As soon as she saw the first corpse, she ran away, screaming and running like crazy.
The girl never came again, and I was still doing the job of carrying corpses. Now I understand that I would only stop carrying corpses if someone came to take over my job.
I still have dreams occasionally, but they are not as scary anymore.
Today, when I was holding the 21st corpse, it was a woman in her thirties, fairly pretty. When I was holding her, suddenly a breath of air sprayed on my face. The air was a little blue. I saw it. I had never encountered such a situation before. I was stunned for a moment and put the corpse on the conveyor platform. This woman was born in the Year of the Sheep.
After I was teleported over, I pushed the door open and went out. The master was operating on the operating table and glanced at me.
"What's up?"
"The woman who was just in my No. 8 furnace sprayed gas all over my face. It was blue and very light."
Yinyan's hand stopped and it took a long time before she started moving again.
"Finish the work."
The master was very cold, she was very cold here, but at her second aunt's house, she smiled a few times, and her smile was very beautiful.
After finishing work at four o'clock this afternoon and changing clothes, Yinyan said.
"Come with me to dinner later."
This is the first time I go out to eat with Yinyan.
We arrived at the restaurant, but didn't order any food. The chef didn't say anything the whole time. He was just reading a book, a novel, "Norwegian Wood".
Yinyan graduated from university, majoring in Chinese. I don’t know how she got here, and I don’t dare to ask.
After a while, a man came in, he looked to be in his sixties.
"Mingzhe, Master Lin."
I called out "Master Lin".
"Hey, this guy is quite handsome."
After Master Lin sat down, he ordered food and drank.
Yinyan said after seeing Master Lin drink a glass of white wine.
"Master Lin, my apprentice is possessed by a spirit."
Master Lin was stunned for a moment and said.
"Sure?"
The master looked at me and I said.
"A woman, in her thirties, when I picked her up, light blue breath came out of her mouth and rushed into my face."
"Oh, when people die, they will exhale their last breath, which is light blue, and some are so light that they can't be seen. This woman actually left this breath for the last time. It's rare to encounter this. That's definitely the soul in your body. There are no symptoms now, but the soul will have to wait for 749 days in your body before there will be symptoms."
Even after a person dies, something like this can still happen.
I know that when my grandfather died, there was indeed a light blue gas coming out and floating out of the window. My father also saw it at the time and looked at me, but my father never said anything about it.
"What's your last name?"
"Ke."
"Who are you, Ke Zuo?"
"My father."
"Oh, I never thought it was Lao Ke's son."
My master was also stunned. He looked at me for a long time without saying anything.
"Master Lin, what should I do about this? I have never encountered this before, and I have only been here four years."
"There is nothing I can do for now. After forty-nine days, come to me if you have any symptoms."
I started to feel uneasy, as I had never expected to encounter something like this.
That day, my master was not very talkative. He sent me home and left.
I went home, went back to my bedroom, and lay on the bed in a daze. I was possessed by a soul. I knew that people have souls after death, but this was the second time I saw it in person. The last breath of light blue gas was actually the soul leaving the body. It seems that people really have souls.
Go back to work, the master said.
"I will teach you how to operate the table today. You will go on the table here today, and I will go to your place."
"Why?"
"I… "
Yinyan's face turned red, and I understood.
"Master, no need. I'm fine. I want to treat you to dinner tonight."
"Okay then, call me if you need anything."
I still held my body, and Yinyan would teach me things on the operating table from time to time. The operating table was not just as simple as just buttons. Looking through the large glass, you could see the body in the furnace, how far it was burned, how big the fire was, how much oil to use, when to turn it over, when to pick up the bones, and how to crush the big bones. It was very particular.
I invited my master to dinner in the evening. I specifically chose a place with a good atmosphere called Ten Years. We sat down and I asked her to order the dishes. After she ordered, she looked at me, then turned her head towards the window and couldn't help laughing.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"That's awkward."
"I can still call you by your full name. It's disrespectful for an apprentice to call the master by his full name."
"Call me Swallow!"
I was stunned.
“This is outside of work.”
Yinyan explained.
"Swallow, thank you."
I feel a little uncomfortable.
Gradually I got used to it. After dinner, Yinyan went to see a movie. On the way out, she actually held my arm and held me like a little bird.
I don't think this is a good thing.
When I got home that day, my mother still looked unhappy. I didn't know the reason. Maybe my mother has been like this since I became a refiner.
I was freed from the hustle and bustle of life, and I became a refiner again. In fact, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but my mother didn't think so. She always felt that it was not good.
I also know that my father is a refiner and has a great influence on me. None of my mother's colleagues at work have ever come to our house, and my mother's family has never come either. My mother also has very few friends and I don't remember having any friends. She must have been lonely.
It was not until I entered high school that people knew that my father was a refiner. At that time, it didn't seem to matter whether I had friends or not. I studied very hard every day, so the matter faded away. After I entered college, no one knew about it anymore. So, I didn't seem to feel the impact on me. My mother felt it the most. To say that she was a victim is not an exaggeration.
However, my mother was better off than other people in terms of material wealth. My father earned more money, so my mother's clothes were always the latest. My father probably felt guilty about it, but he never said anything.
Yinyan called me and said she was downstairs at my house to pick me up.
I said as I got in the car.
"You don't have to come all the way here in the future. You're in the east of the city and I'm in the west. It's quite inconvenient."
"It's okay, just a little oil."
I know that my master likes me, and I like her too, but I am afraid that my mother will never agree to it, so I am hesitating.
The manager came today. He seldom goes into the refining room. He said to me after he came in.
"Xiao Ke, go learn how to operate from your master, and I will teach the master here."
A man in his fifties went in, and when I came out, it looked like he had done it before, and he did it very strictly without being taught.
I came out and the manager walked out. Halfway out, he stopped and said.
"Be nice to your master."
The others were laughing secretly, and I felt that there was something else behind these words, and Yinyan's face turned red.
"Come here, you're on channel eight and I'm on channel nine. I'll tell you how to operate it."
I followed the master's instructions. Everything else was not complicated. What was complicated was the experience. I kept looking at the corpse, my eyes were always on the corpse. Every time the blade cut the corpse, I felt uncomfortable as if my stomach was cut open.
That night, I had nightmares. I kept dreaming that I was cut open. The dead only had their stomachs cut open, but I had my whole body cut open. It hurt.
I had a fever and my mother took care of me.
I knew that my mother was scared because she suddenly started talking to me about my father.
"Your father never mentioned anything about the crematorium to me, not a single word. I never knew what a crematorium looked like in my life, and I never went to one. It was because your father burned people to death, and there was always a smell on him that I could never get used to. I loved him, but I slowly stopped loving him because I couldn't stand the smell on him. I really couldn't stand it. No matter what method I used, he was always as cold as ice..."
My mother was crying as she spoke. In fact, I knew that my mother seldom smiled. She would only smile in front of the mirror when she bought new clothes to make up for such things.
My father likes to drink, he always drinks silently, and never drinks too much. But I understand him, he has lived a lonely life, even my mother cannot understand him, he just accepts this fate.
I don’t know if my life will be like my father’s.
“How many years do you plan to do this?”
"Maybe like my father."
The mother started crying again.
"You can't, and you don't need to work that long. Three to five years, just three to five years. If you can't find a job, I won't let you work even if I support you."
I didn't say anything. There was no point in saying anything. It was up to me to decide whether to do it or not. My mother couldn't stop me.
I was at work and Yinyan didn't come, and she didn't call me in the past two days.
Everyone was sitting at the operating table, but the master didn't come to learn. I made a phone call and found out that she had a car accident on the road, so I called the head of the department.
"My master had a car accident. I'm going over there."
"Okay, pay attention to the money and stop the ** station."
I rushed out without even changing my clothes.
There were very few taxis at the fire scene, so I ran for a kilometer until I got to the highway, where I got a taxi and rushed to the scene of the accident.
I saw it. The master was standing aside. I went over and she hugged me and started crying.
"I'm scared. I'm scared."
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm coming."
Yinyan was rear-ended, but the collision wasn't serious. After the incident was resolved, she calmed down. But she didn't dare to drive again. I couldn't drive, so I asked a friend to drive me to the repair shop.
That day, my teacher and I took a day off together, and I spent the day with her. She asked me to learn how to drive so that I could pick her up and drop her off in the future. She signed me up, and I started learning.
In fact, I didn’t think there was anything scary about it. Maybe because she was an outsider, Yinyan was really scared that day.
I saw Yinyan's soft side. After all, she was a girl, and her strictness seemed to be only on the surface. Anyway, I met a good master who took care of me and allowed me to slowly adapt to everything. (To be continued)