Chapter 14: The Strange Row of Morgues on the South Side
I went there a little early in the morning, entered the morgue, opened cabinet number one, and took a look. There was an old man inside, the old man the director asked me to take care of.
After I changed my clothes, Bai Jie ran in.
"Master, drink soy milk. My mother grinds it."
I like to drink the soy milk ground by Bai Jie’s mother. I feel it has the taste of my mother.
After I finished drinking, Bai Jie and I went into the crematorium. I didn't like the dim lighting, which was all yellow. I told the master about it once, but he glared at me without any explanation. I never mentioned it again since then.
I sat in the chair and Bai Jie lit the stove.
"Master, I just don't understand why you don't allow me to carry the body?"
"If I don't allow you to hold it, then don't hold it. Why are you holding that thing?"
I don’t know either. There are too many questions at the crematorium and I can’t explain them.
I got a friend who knew the director to come out and put him into the furnace. I watched and told him to be careful and to break the bones as finely as possible.
I finished the work at noon and came out. The manager came over with a sullen face, which made me feel strange.
"Come with me to the office."
Bai Jie glanced at me and I didn't say anything.
I went into the director's office.
"What did you do?"
I was stunned.
"What's the meaning?"
"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're Yun Zheng's apprentice."
I was stupid. I didn't do it randomly, and I didn't dare to.
"Where is the ring on the deceased's finger?"
I was disappointed and looked at the director. I really didn't see it.
"I didn't see it."
"Okay, you, I'll find your master."
I was getting angry, but I didn't dare to show it.
My master came and pulled me outside to ask me. I said I didn’t see anything, really not, and I wouldn’t dare to do such a thing.
"Ke Zuo, Master believes in you."
The master went into the director's office, and I went back to the office. Bai Jie asked me.
"Master, are you okay?"
"fine."
I drank some water and waited for the master to come. When the master came, his face looked strange.
"master……"
"Needless to say, I believe you."
That day, I asked Bai Jie to go home and have a drink with the master, but the master didn't say anything. He didn't say how he handled it or what the explanation was.
At work, the manager didn't look for me, but I was unhappy.
After finishing the work at around 2:00 p.m., I went into the director's office and saw Master Liu from the columbarium.
Master Liu saw me come in and went out.
"What do you want?"
The director is still angry, and it seems that he still thinks so about this matter.
"I didn't do that."
"Okay, no more talking, your master has already settled the matter."
"I don't."
The manager waved at me impatiently and asked me to go out.
I went out and returned to the office. I changed my clothes and Bai Jie saw that something was wrong with my face.
"master……"
"It's okay, go home."
I went to my master's house, and he was there, so I told him about this.
"The director is saying that you took it."
"I really didn't, and I didn't see it."
"I trust you."
“But I really didn’t take it…”
I'm thinking of a way to deal with this matter. I will give you a fair answer.
I am irritated and angry.
But I have no choice.
The next day at work, I was not very happy. This matter made me very angry. It was a frame-up, a complete frame-up.
I must get to the bottom of this matter, otherwise I won't be able to explain it to my father. My father hates things like this the most. When I was a child, I took a small thing from my neighbor's house, and my father beat me for three days and made me kneel for three days. Since then, I have never dared to do it again.
Of course, he won’t hit me this time, but he will be sad, and I don’t want to make him sad.
After get off work, I went to find the manager, and he looked at me with disgust.
"I didn't do that. I want you to investigate."
"Shall I ask the dead?"
The director’s words were too harsh, but I had just arrived and it was not convenient for me to argue with him, so I went to find my master.
"Master, I didn't take it."
The master looked at me and spoke for a long time.
"I believe you. Do I really have to understand ?"
"Of course, I want to find out. I care about my innocence."
"Okay, I'll give you a clean slate."
The master seemed very unhappy. I was walking on the street when Bai Jie called me.
"Master, I know about that. I believe you."
"oh."
"Where are you? Wait for me."
"The cinema at the Erjian Club."
Bai Jie came and actually bought a ticket to go in and watch a movie. It was an old movie that she had seen several times. These were basically the only movies shown in China at that time, but the theater was still crowded and the Chinese had nothing to entertain themselves with at the moment.
We left halfway through the show and looked for a place to eat. The restaurant was state-owned and we went in and served our own food. The waiters were like the mayor.
After drinking a lot of wine, Bai Jie went home with me and my father was at home.
He asked, looking at my expression.
"What's wrong?"
Bai Jie told her what happened, and her father stood up immediately and glared at me.
"Uncle, my master wouldn't do this."
My father sat down again and talked for a long time.
"I trust you."
I shook my head. When I sent Bai Jie home that day, my father didn't mention that incident, but mentioned Bai Jie's matter.
"If it works, then we'll have the wedding."
"What?"
I was not prepared at all.
"Look at this house. Without a woman, can it be called a home?"
"Didn't I advise you to marry one?"
"How can I marry you if your business is not smooth?"
My father always said that.
"If I marry you, will you marry me too? Aren't you and Aunt Zhao from the alley pretty good together ?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Actually, I know about this. Aunt Zhao from the alley, her husband died in a car accident many years ago, and her father has always had a good relationship with her. It's just that she has two sons, 6 and 10 years old, who are like two little bastards and fight every day.
I sat in front of the stove and Bai Jie lit the fire.
"You should stop working here and become a makeup artist."
"No."
If I married Bai Jie, I would feel like a mom-and-pop shop. I even laugh when I think about it.
"Master, what are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, nothing."
I was holding the chisel when the director came in.
"Ke Zuo, come out for a moment."
I gave the chisel to Bai Jie and went out.
"Ke Zuo, don't be too serious about some things."
"I want to be clear-minded. I value my innocence more than my life."
The director was stunned for a moment and spoke after a long time.
"You are too axle, like the axle of a wheel."
The director left, and I looked at him and shook my head.
When I went back, Bai Jie was actually carrying the corpse and putting it into the stove. I was stunned at that time and looked at Bai Jie until she put it in. Then she looked at me and said with a smile.
"Master, do you think I can do it? You won't have to carry corpses by yourself anymore."
"What the hell?"
Bai Jie was stunned at that time.
"Okay, okay, it's okay, just sit aside and watch."
I don't know what the consequences will be if Bai Jie holds the body, but my master said that it's absolutely forbidden. But now that I've held it, what will happen? I need to go find Master Yunzheng and ask him for clarification.
Bai Jie was always nervous.
"It's okay, don't be nervous."
After get off work, I went to Master Yunzheng’s house, and he saw that I was there again.
"I'm investigating that."
"That's not it, it's something else."
"Okay, sit down and have a drink with me."
I sat down and drank with the master.
"Bai Jie is holding the body."
My master slammed the cup onto the table and stared at me.
"What do you do as a master?"
The master yelled at me, I was so scared that I broke out in a sweat, and I wanted to explain.
"Okay, stop explaining."
I didn't know what it was, but I felt it was serious.
Master, I haven’t spoken for a long time and I’m sweating all over.
"Okay, after nine o'clock, call Bai Jie out."
It was already dark and I was feeling a little dazed.
"Master, can you..."
"You talk too much, you're a problem."
I stopped talking, stood up, and went out to Bai Jie's house.
I knocked on Bai Jie's door and her father opened it. When he saw it was me, he was stunned for a moment and immediately let me in.
"Uncle, I'm not going in. I have something to talk to Bai Jie about."
Bai Jie came out.
"master……"
Bai Jie was particularly excited.
"Bai Jie, tell your family to go out and not come back at a certain time tonight. Go to my master's place."
Bai Jie was stunned for a moment, then nodded. After a while, Bai Jie came out and followed me to where the master was.
When Bai Jie saw my master, she called him "Master". My master was stunned, and then burst into laughter. I'm sure that my master is a little abnormal. He laughed so hard that my hair stood on end.
"This girl is much more sensible than you."
I thought to myself, I would be so happy just by calling him "Master".
The master took a look at the watch and I knew it belonged to a dead person. I also have one. If I think so, the director will know that I definitely cannot afford a watch. The look in the director's eyes when he looked at me may be right.
"Let's go!"
After the master finished speaking, he put on his clothes and went out, walking in front with his hands behind his back.
Bai Jie and I followed.
"master……"
"Shut up."
The master told me to shut up. I wanted to kick him in the ass. Even as a master, you can't shut people up, right? Weird old man.
The master took us to the crematorium. When the guard saw the master, he immediately opened the door, called out "Master Yun", and let us in.
There is a row of bungalows on the south side, where the morgue is kept. We all know that when the body is to be cremated, after dark, it will be pushed to the room next to the crematorium. These are all prepared by the corpse pusher at night.
Master Yunzheng had told me not to go into any of the houses in this row, let alone one, and I had told Bai Jie as well. There were thirteen doors in total. The master stood there for a moment , then pulled out a key from his pocket. I was surprised to learn how the master had the key to this place.
I didn't dare ask, because if I did I would get scolded, which would be pointless.
The master opened the door, pushed it open, and went in. We followed him in. The master turned on the light, which was always a dim yellow light.
There were ten morgue beds in the room, placed in the middle with white cloth spread on them, but they were all empty, the master looked at us and said.
"This morgue has never been used, meaning no bodies have been stored there because the other rooms are sufficient, and in the summer, it would be too smelly to store bodies here."
I don't know what the master is doing here. He sits on a bed and lights a cigarette.
"Take the incident with Bai Jie carrying the corpse. I told you, but it still happened. It's a serious matter."
Bai Jie and I both shivered.
"Is the corpse you are holding a man or a woman?"
"A man."
The master had no expression, but looking at the master in the dim light, it was so weird.
"We used to have a female refiner here. You're the second one, probably the second refiner in China. Of course, you're also one of the first female refiners in China. Our first female refiner came in with me. Cremation in China was just starting, so we had no experience at all. When we first arrived here, we had nightmares every day, but we got used to it and it got better. However, many strange things happened, so we had to cross the river by feeling the stones. That female refiner disappeared after carrying the body, and finally died here, on the third bed. When they found her, it was already the tenth day. No one expected her to be here. What happened? The police came, but they couldn't find out the cause of death."
Bai Jie's face turned pale, and I became extremely nervous.
"It was also on the tenth day after the death of the refiner that I heard some movement inside. Of course, I was scared too. Who wouldn't be scared at that time? Suddenly, someone died perfectly fine. I went in anyway. It turned out that this place wasn't locked, just hung. There was a door hanger hanging somewhere. I saw the body on the third bed, and I was stunned. Because, during the cremation, I pushed it into the furnace myself. How could there be a body there? I checked the list, and sure enough, it was the refiner lying there. I screamed wildly and leaned against the wall. If I hadn't been leaning against the wall, I don't think I would have been able to stand at that time."
When the master said this, Bai Jie and I were already leaning against the wall.
