Quite unexpectedly, Ford came. Yes, it is the Ford Funeral Home in the North District, the Ford who gave the Grande statue and stones at the beginning of the story.
"The decoration is good." Ford curled his lips and looked around at the Grand showroom casually. He touched the coffin, the work of old Hank, with a nostalgic expression. "Did you know that Ford Funeral once asked Hank to customize a coffin? , every time a customer chooses a coffin, I will rely on that to increase the price, and then the actual coffin used is an ordinary coffin." He actually regretted, "Now I can't even do these little tricks."
Zach hopes that Louise will be here so that he can see how the 'normal' funeral industry operates, but Louise went to the North District today, and the accounting information compiled yesterday will be submitted to the city government for review today, remember? .
"I've learned a lesson." Zach could only say, "Mr. Ford, come on..."
"Uh, sugar." Ford curled his lips and went around to the reception desk where Louise usually stayed, and fiddled with the fudge in the glass bowl on the counter. "Who did you learn this from? And you prepare this kind of thing."
Zach touched his chin, "A psychiatrist. Sweet things can soothe people's emotions, which is very suitable for the clients here."
Ford raised his eyebrows, "That's right, I'll have to get some after I go there." His eyes looked at other things in the window under the reception desk - some small items, not souvenirs, but sacrifices, food baskets, Cigarettes, wine, flower shop display brochures, etc. "This is very convenient." He glanced at Zach and said, "If someone comes to visit the grave and realizes that he forgot to bring a sacrifice, huh." It's a mockery.
"To be fair." Zach tilted his head, "There really are people like this. Do you want to see Grande's account books? They are engaged in retail business, which now accounts for a large proportion of Grande."
Do you understand what Zach said? Do you want to see Grande's account books? Yes, Zach already feels a little weird, what is this Ford doing? Inspection? From the moment I came in, I kept looking at everything about Grande.
"There is no need for accounting books. Only you, Grande, can do this business." Ford was not self-conscious at all, and seemed to have discovered something interesting. He tilted his head and looked at a machine with many buttons under the counter, "This is What?"
"Alarm." Zach curled his lips and answered.
"Oh, I heard that the Grand Cemetery is protected by a security company." Ford said crookedly and looked at the overall situation again, "I heard that your office has been moved to the second floor. Sure enough, it is a lot more spacious here. ." He thought that with these words, he was going to the office. No, Ford turned around, walked out the door, and stood on the back porch, "The back is no different from my impression. Oh, there is an extra warehouse." He frowned frown.
Zach sighed in his heart and could only explain, "Yes, there is an extra warehouse. What happened at the beginning of the year, after the Grand in the West District was closed, the things there were transferred and we need a place to put them."
Otherwise, what else could happen? Another of Barton's colleagues, Allen, has already obtained a restraining order against Zach. If Zach appears within 100 meters of Allen, Allen can call the police directly, no joke at all. Now, does Zach still want to offend a colleague
Ford didn't understand Zach's helpless tone of explanation at all, "I thought you would at least build a staff dormitory."
"I've thought about it." Zach gave up and just followed the guy and treated it as a friendly exchange, "But it's really not necessary. Grande has enough manpower, and the employees in the tomb area happened to be employees of the Hermann factory. , they all have their own place to live, and they don’t need to stay in Grande all the time.”
"Hmph, those guys are really desperate." Ford's tone actually became ridiculing. That's right. Who would have thought that the backbone of Barton's local business would suddenly explode. "The funeral industry used to be the lowest job, and those people still Come quickly."
Zach raised his eyebrows and glanced at Ford, "What? Did your Ford hire some people from factories far away?"
Ford twitched his lips and nodded, "Recruiting a few. If the city government hadn't allocated some money for training, I wouldn't be bothered."
Zach was quite satisfied to be able to change the topic, "I heard that the city government opened a vocational night school in Back Bay to provide job training for these unemployed people." Kyle's classmates who gave up the scholarship also Do you remember
"I've heard about it too, but it's not suitable for everyone. It's said that they might go to sea and it's a job that only young people can do." Ford waved his hand and brought back the topic he just started, "I'll give you a piece of advice. I'm a fellow traveler." Good intentions. You Grande had better prepare to recruit new employees. Those people, huh, will not stay in the funeral industry forever, they are just making a transition."
Zach looked at Ford, "What do you say?"
"Haven't you heard?" Ford glanced at Zach, "A new port is being built in Allen's original cemetery. It is said that it will open up trade with foreign countries in the future. My original land (cemetery) in the North District is also a residence. It's that large supermarket called Quest again. In the future, huh, there will be more job opportunities. The funeral industry is undergoing reform now, and there are a lot of problems. No one knows whether it will be better or worse in the future. How can we really retain people in the future? It's us old guys who want to join this industry." His face darkened, "Humph, it has to be! After a lifetime, I finally don't have to work for the city government. Funeral is my own business, I don't know how to do it. Just watch other people come and divide my industry!"
Zach raised an eyebrow. Ford’s reason for supporting funeral privatization is a bit special.
"So, I'll give you a piece of advice. If you want to keep your Grand business, you must start cultivating loyal employees now. You know, you can pass it on from generation to generation!"
Zach nodded and understood, "Well, the easiest way to cultivate loyalty is to live here and live here."
Seeing how Zach was able to figure it out, Ford nodded with satisfaction, glanced at Grande's backyard again, saw Maya, and raised an eyebrow, "Alice? Why does she look like I don't recognize her at all?"
"This is not Alice, this is Maya, um, a friend's child, here to play." Zach curled his lips.
"Oh." Ford responded, then raised his eyebrows inexplicably, and murmured to himself, "Why do I feel like Indians are everywhere lately?" Who told Ford Funeral Home to be close to Paisying? Not surprised, he tilted his head and looked at Zach, "I heard that Grande hired a foreigner as a chef. Is it true?"
This Ford gossip is surprisingly well-informed.
"You must be talking about Mo." Zach was speechless in his heart, "She went out to walk the dog, otherwise you can meet her."
Waving his hand, "Uh, no need." Turning around, he looked towards the stairwell, "Let's go to your office. Can you go up here?"
"Yes." Finally, Zac said, "We have an elevator behind the reception room. Do you want to see it?"
Ford glared at Zach, "Of course! Where?"
Zach stretched out his hand, "This way."
"Not bad." When passing by the reception room, Ford glanced at the books on the bookshelf, "Give me a copy of your book list later."
Do you still remember Zach’s suggestion during the renovation? Put some psychological comfort books in the living room to help people face the departure of relatives and friends.
In the elevator, Ford was still looking at it, "Okay, people come up here, isolated from the bottom, and have a sense of security. Not bad, um, not bad. It's getting more and more like a real service industry."
Zach said nothing, led the way, and opened the office door.
"Well, nothing has changed here." It just flipped the direction, and Ford sat at the desk very familiarly, "After reading it again, hum, Allen should be convinced, Grande should be the best management. "
They were already in the office, so Zach took it for granted that it was time to talk about business, "So, is Mr. Ford's purpose of coming here this time, Allen?" Some words are better said in the front, "I want to say first, I I don’t have anything to say about Allen. It’s a fact that the funeral industry has problems, and I hope they can be solved. As you said, the funeral industry is now our own business, and we all hope it will be good.”
"Humph." There is no harm in it. "You don't need to tell me this. I know what Allen is up to, and I also know that you are mad at him. Hehe, now you have a restraining order on you. I really can't see that you are still like this. Raise people.”
Zach curled his lips, "That was a misunderstanding." If he had known this, he would have ignored Allen's commission... No, he still had to go, because starting from that commission, the subsequent series of things were pretty good - the Mirror Man became Angel said, "You should know that Allen was squeezing out the mill, and later I obviously helped save his son, but his attitude was, forget it. After that, he definitely stated that he would raise the purchase price, but I was still in the industry. He made a moral decision to complete the acquisition, but in the end he suddenly changed his mind. I was very angry."
"Haha, I can understand it. If it were me, I might not be able to endure it for so long." Ford smiled, "When he starts to deliberately raise the purchase price, I will beat him up. Of course." He meant a lot. He glanced at Zach and said, "In terms of industry ethics, I will support what he is doing now. Personally, I don't think our relationship needs to be so rigid."
Zach shrugged understandably, "I also support it, and I am now fully cooperating with the city government's review."
Ford smiled and nodded, and then said, "I'm not here because of Allen. I have, um, personal business matters to talk to you about."
Zach didn't understand what the other person was saying at all, so he made a please gesture.
"You should have heard that I am adding the original traditional funeral rituals to cremation, including memorial ceremonies, farewell ceremonies, and even wake ceremonies."
"I know." Zach nodded, "I think this is good. There is no conflict, and it can also buffer the emotions of relatives when they witness the cremation of their loved ones." The only conflict between cremation and traditional funerals is the burial ceremony.
Let's put it this way, during the burial ceremony, relatives and friends can symbolically sprinkle the first handful of soil as a final symbolic farewell, and then watch the person they once loved deeply buried in the soil. How to do cremation? Do you want your relatives and friends to get a shovel in person and shovel the person you love deeply into the incinerator? !
Ford smiled again, "Yes, but the most important thing is to collect money."
Zach laughed, agreeing.
"Here's the thing." Ford stopped smiling, "I now have a client who requests a farewell ceremony at the Holy Child Church in the South District."
Zak Tiao raised his eyebrows, a little confused, "Can't the church in the North District arrange a time?"
"Customer request." Ford emphasized, but also felt helpless. "The customer insisted that the Church of the Holy Child has special significance."
Zach frowned, beginning to understand Ford's strange statement—Ford wanted to conduct his own business on Grand territory.
It’s not good to say this, but it is a tacit fact. Before the advent of privatization, Barton’s funerals were evenly distributed. There were West Grand and two churches in the West District, and Ford and two churches in the North District. (Including Mary Church), there are few people in the South District, and the marginalized Holy Child Church is not needed. The Evangelical Church in the east can meet Allen's needs. We also know that Southern District Grande had basically no business at all.
So by default, wherever the funeral home is, the church will be booked. After privatization, it was almost the same. Grande was tied to the Holy Child Church nearby. Even during the busy period of tomb removal, it did not bother the Gospel Church that was once tied to Allen. Although after privatization, Allen Haven't used it either. Nor would I go to the church in the North and West Districts.
"Personally." Zach glanced at Ford, "I don't mind, but the default rules still feel a bit strange."
"I know." Ford was helpless, "I even recommended them to come to Grande." He waved his hand, "But they insist on cremation, and I don't want to find out the reason. Anyway, that's it, they want the ceremony, I want to be cremated again. I actually want to transfer this client. Even if you agree, Holy Child Church has no objection. I don’t want to move my Ford business to the South District. After all, Allen is still watching from the side. ." Emphasized, "In terms of industry ethics, I should maintain the same position as him, right? I don't want him to think that I have any private business dealings with Grande."
Zach nodded, "What do you mean?"
"I hope your mill can expand its business and add traditional ceremonies before cremation like me. Then I can directly recommend customers to your mill."
Zach frowned, "Even so, if Allen wants to slander us, he can still do it. You have helped Grande expand its business again in disguise."
"Then there's nothing I can do about it. It's better than extending my business to the Southern District in the name of Ford." Ford stared at Zach, making sure that Zach understood.
Zach understood. It meant that Grande and Allen were in competition with each other in the South District. They were, are, and will be in the future. There was nothing they could do about it. Ford would rather maintain this situation than come to the South Side because of a customer's inexplicable insistence.
"Why don't you let Allen expand his business." Zach pursed his lips, "If he wants to use the Holy Child Church and the requirements of customers as a reason, of course."
Ford curled his lips and said, "I'm going, he doesn't have time to do this now."
Zach was puzzled.
"While he was dealing with unfair issues in the funeral industry, he was being investigated by the police. One of his former employees, you should have seen it, the accountant who compiled the sales reports, disappeared. He said that he had just worked for two years at Grand Mill. He disappeared during the day shift, and then the police investigated along the way and found that the accountant had done a lot of tricks on Allen's finances." Ford frowned, "What's worse is that the police found that Allen knew about these tricks, so he Fire this accountant. Now, Allen is a suspect."
Ford waved his hand and chuckled with no meaning, "Our former North District police chief did things differently." (.)