"Are you asleep?"
"without."
"Didn't you ask me to sleep with you?"
"I can't sleep."
"oh."
"How long have you lived?"
"Two hundred years, but I spent most of that time lying in a coffin. In fact, if you count it up, the time I spent living a serious life outside is less than twenty years."
"What do you think of your boss?"
"Not very good, very petty."
"I think so, too."
"Did he scold you today?"
"I was wrong."
"oh."
"Actually, I've always been curious about what kind of person the boss and the one you often talk about are?"
"What kind of person?"
"Um."
"Let me put it this way. If he and your boss had switched places in what happened yesterday, he wouldn't have waited for me to take action, and he would have killed the puppet himself. He wouldn't have been afraid of exposing anything, and he wouldn't have come up to me and asked me about my business."
"Oh, I see." Bai Yingying pondered for a while and said, "People like this won't live long, right?"
Tang Shi is silent.
“In fact, my boss has many shortcomings. Sometimes he is not manly enough, and he is hesitant before doing anything. He is always brooding over things after he has done them. But generally speaking, it is okay. Everyone has a different life and naturally a different personality.
He likes to be cautious, like a squirrel, who likes to move things into his home, enjoying the feeling of accumulation and protecting this feeling, because he came from an orphanage and originally had nothing. "
"Can you understand him?"
"I can't say I understand you, but honestly, I don't want to become like you now. I like to play with my phone, play games, watch movies, enjoy my current life every day, and make up for the regret of lying in a coffin for two hundred years. The boss can still indulge and satisfy me in this regard."
"Is life interesting without pursuits and excitement?"
“Not everyone yearns for excitement and passion, and everyone should have their own lifestyle, as long as they like it.
To be honest, sometimes I can see that the boss himself is also enduring, and I am also worried that the boss can't help it and becomes the same person as you and the person you are talking about. "
"Are you scared?"
"I am afraid."
"He's already died once, what else is there to be afraid of? He's not my type. He looks peaceful and gentle, but deep down he's still full of selfish, little-man mentality. He only thinks about himself. To put it bluntly, he's selfish."
"Is the boss okay?"
"You don't agree?"
"I don't agree. I know my wife must have said she would get rid of me when she handed me over to the boss after she completed her merits and went to hell, but the boss never did it.
Also, I know that because I am in the store, there will be fewer ghosts coming to the store, and the boss didn’t drive me away.”
"That's because he uses you as a pillow and he wants to sleep well at night."
“Isn’t it good for someone to be willing to give up performance for the sake of sleep quality?”
Hearing this,
Tang Shi was stunned for a moment.
I don't know why.
The figure who liked to sit in front of the underworld shop on a chair and bask in the sun came to mind.
The sun shines on him.
Just like an old grandfather.
… … …
No matter what, the problem of the faceless woman has been solved at least temporarily. Now we just have to wait for the final result from Rongcheng.
Of course, this matter can wait, but the matter of moving cannot wait. Xu Qinglang has found a new address, which is near South Street in the center of Tongcheng City. It is considered the commercial center in the hearts of the old Tongcheng people and has a high flow of people.
Zhou Ze received an invitation yesterday to attend Miss Liu's memorial service. Zhou Ze didn't know why he was invited and had no intention of going. But after seeing the signature, Xu Qinglang strongly requested that Zhou Ze must go because the shop he had his eyes on was owned by Miss Liu's family.
It seemed a little wrong to discuss business with someone's family at their funeral, but in line with the principle of saving money wherever possible, Zhou Ze agreed.
Taking a car to the address on the invitation, Zhou Ze discovered that they were not going to a funeral home, but a location in the countryside, to a villa built among the fields.
At this time, it is the season when rape flowers are in full bloom. This villa is hidden in the sea of flowers, giving people a very cool feeling.
There were not many people coming, and there were only four or five cars parked at the door.
When Zhou Ze got off the car and walked in, he saw Cui Yilang and several other members of the Horror Story Lovers Association standing in the courtyard. They were standing together and chatting in low voices.
No one greeted Zhou Ze, and no one came to collect gifts. There were only a few scattered groups of people there, as if they were on a picnic.
From the outside, this house looks no different from the three-story houses built by people in rural areas near Tongcheng, but when you walk in, you will find that the interior is decorated in a completely Western European style.
From the beams to the coffee table and teacups, it makes people feel as if they have walked into the background of a British TV series.
The music that sounded at this time was not the common "funeral music", but Chopin's "Farewell Waltz". Although it was about separation, the melody was much lighter than the funeral music in China.
Several women in black veils came down from upstairs. They were the hosts of the house.
A man who looked like a priest walked to the center holding a Bible.
Everyone gathered together to share the sorrow.
Zhou Ze poured a cup of coffee at the self-service counter next to him and drank it in small sips.
Domestic funeral customs have undergone several reforms, or even subversions, in modern times, and burials have long been banned in most areas.
In rural areas, funerals are held in a tent in front of the family's yard, while in cities, some people hold funerals in their own neighborhoods or simply rent a venue at a funeral home.
This kind of Western-style funeral was the first time Zhou Ze had seen it.
Zhou Ze remembered hearing someone say before that in some Western countries, many families have "funeral workshops". The first floor of their own house is used for normal life and is also rented out for mourning meetings. It also provides services such as corpse collection and corpse art.
Looking at it here now, it seems to be in the same style, but in China, most people still cannot accept it.
When it comes to the stage of viewing the remains, everyone lines up and goes over one by one. If you have a better relationship, you can hold the coffin lid and talk. If you have a weaker relationship, you can just walk over and sigh and pretend.
When it was Zhou Ze's turn, he took a look into the coffin and found Miss Liu lying inside, neatly dressed in a black dress, as if she was really asleep.
What surprised Zhou Ze was that Miss Liu fell from the building in front of him. No matter how you use words to describe it, you can't hide the fact that she died in a very tragic way. However, Miss Liu's remains looked very delicate and the degree of restoration was very good.
This reminded Zhou Ze of the time when he died, when the makeup artist was working on his makeup with an eyebrow pencil and an impatient look. He had never enjoyed such treatment.
It’s really unfair that the dead can’t give bad reviews.
After the viewing of the body, everyone went to the side hall to have a meal. It was a buffet, but there was not much to eat. Just some cakes and sausages, which only served as afternoon tea to fill your stomach. It was impossible for you to have a big meal and drink here.
Zhou Ze poured himself a glass of wine, drank some, and then walked out of the side hall. He planned to find Miss Liu's former family to discuss the renting of the shop.
Xu Qinglang said that he would rent the place for a year first, and then Zhou Ze would pay him rent on a monthly basis. This was also because Zhou Ze couldn't come up with so much money at once, so Zhou Ze had to return the favor and help negotiate the price if he could.
After searching around, Zhou Ze did not find the family member wearing black veil who appeared earlier, but he saw the priest standing at the stairs smoking.
When Zhou Ze walked over, the priest also handed him a cigarette.
Two men stood together, smoking.
The priest was not a foreigner, but a Chinese, about thirty years old, and looked a bit young.
There was no further communication. After finishing his cigarette, the priest walked away. Zhou Ze put out the cigarette butt and happened to see that there seemed to be another staircase leading downstairs.
It should be the basement.
Ordinary Chinese families are not used to building basements. Out of curiosity, Zhou Ze walked downstairs and saw the elevator inside. Next to the elevator, there was a metal door.
The door was open. I pushed it open and walked in, and suddenly I felt the temperature dropped a lot.
In front of Zhou Ze, there were two steel beds and a freezer, similar to the style of a hospital morgue, but with some other equipment.
It feels like a slaughterhouse.
Walking to the steel bed, Zhou Ze reached out and touched it. This was where a dead person should have been lying. Miss Liu should have also been lying here and received the last beauty treatment of her life.
This is the beauty salon for the dead.
"Sir, this place is not open to the public."
A young man in a gray suit stood at the door and spoke.
Zhou Ze nodded apologetically. He was too abrupt.
"Have we met somewhere before?" Zhou Ze asked, because he felt that the man looked familiar.
"Perhaps. This is my business card. Of course, we don't want you to have the opportunity to use the phone number on it."
The young man handed Zhou Ze a business card.
The name "Chen Zesheng" was written on the business card, and the note was the director of Tongcheng Western-style Funeral Home.
"Is business good?" Zhou Ze asked.
For a long time, other people had been asking Zhou Ze "how is business?" Now Zhou Ze finally found an opportunity to ask others.
Of course, Zhou Ze also knew that when others asked him "Is business good?", what they were actually thinking was:
This idiot actually opened a crappy bookstore in this crappy place and it would be a miracle if his business was good!
"It's a bit deserted. After all, not many people in the country accept this kind of funeral custom." Chen Zesheng said with a wry smile.
"Um."
After Zhou Ze finished asking questions, he felt better.
"By the way, the deceased's family is on the second floor." Chen Zesheng reminded.
"Okay, thank you."
Zhou Ze left the basement.
However, when Zhou Ze just walked up the stairs, the hand holding the business card suddenly trembled, and he lowered his head to look at the name on the business card again:
Chen Zesheng.
like,
The one who accompanied Miss Liu to commit suicide the next day,
Also surname Chen
… …
The metal door closed.
The young man in a suit and leather shoes lay on the steel bed.
He reached out and gently rubbed the right side of his face. The skin was already wrinkled and cracked, with green shaping potion leaking out.
He shook his head.
Sighed:
"As soon as I died, the two undertakers in my family started to slack off.
If this continues, what will happen to the business?"