Chapter 29: Human Leather Face Painting
Yinyan and I watched and decided not to say anything at this moment.
"You don't have to be so nervous. Today I'm going to discuss a deal, or something else. I'll help Xiao Ke sort out the issues he's dealing with, and even talk about future matters. Xiao Ke is a completely Yin person. I knew the day he came that there would be constant trouble in the future because I know that Xiao Ke's father was also a refiner, and a lot of things happened to him back then."
It seems that Mao Xiaoli knows a lot of things. Of course, it is normal for her to know these things. My father is one of the earliest refiners in China, so there are records in the archives of the crematorium. Of course, they will not record some weird things.
"These things in the bottle are leather."
I looked closely and realized that it was a piece of skin, one piece inside a box.
"These leathers are absolutely perfect, absolutely perfect."
I watched as Yinyan stood aside.
"Of course, what I want to talk about today is these skins. I want to make 300 paintings, and I have completed 287 so far. There are only 13 left, but I haven't started yet. I don't have enough skins. Although there are more than 20 skins here, there are only 7 or 8 that can be selected. My life is to complete the last 13 face paintings. The others are not important. I will destroy these completed face paintings. Of course, you can keep the one I gave you. The first 287 face paintings were just practice. I have reached that level, the highest level."
"So what?"
Yinyan asked.
"Of course, you'll know when the time comes. I'll tell you when I'm done."
"What kind of skin is this?"
I asked a question out of curiosity.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. This is human skin."
Mao Xiaoli finished speaking and looked at us. I was stunned. Yinyan stood there without saying a word, probably also frightened. Human skin? Pieces of it were soaking in that transparent bottle. My legs felt a little weak.
"Where did you get it?"
Yinyan asked coldly.
"Of course, you guys understand even if I don't say it."
I understand, and Yinyan understands too.
"I'm sorry, we can't do that."
"No problem, I'll consider it. Okay, that's all for today."
Yinyan and I left Mao Xiaoli's house without saying a word.
The weather after the snow was so cold that it felt like your bones were frozen.
I went into the office, changed my clothes, and went into the morgue. Because it was snowing, I had to drive slowly and was a little late.
After I pushed the deceased into the farewell hall, I lit a cigarette.
I was terrified when I thought about the human skin Mao Xiaoli was talking about. What on earth was she doing? How did she create that weird face painting? I had no idea.
That day, I finished my work in a daze, and at least there were no mistakes.
I get off work and wait for Yinyan. She arrives half an hour later than me.
The director called me and I went into his office.
"Are you used to it?"
"It's a good habit. I like quietness."
"Xiao Ke, logically speaking, considering your father's face, you shouldn't be asked to do this job, but..."
"Director, you don't need to explain. I won't blame you."
I was chatting with the manager when Yinyan came in.
"Let's go!"
Yinyan and I went to Master Zhou's house, and Yinyan said yes.
When we went there, Zhang Xiaoxue was there. She is always here, taking care of Master Zhou.
Zhang Xiaoxue was unhappy when she saw Yinyan.
"Swallow, what's up?"
"It's okay, come and see grandma."
While eating, Master Zhou looked at me and said.
"Be careful and don't be too curious about anything."
Master Zhou has told me this several times.
I knew Yinyan came here to talk about Mao Xiaoli, but when she arrived, she changed her mind. I will never know what Yinyan was thinking or what she meant.
Yinyan went home, and I went back to my own home. The face painting was on the wall, without any expression. I couldn't understand how Mao Xiaoli did it. She could make the face painting cry, laugh, and even make sounds. It was something I couldn't figure out.
I was bored watching TV. It was almost midnight, and when I was about to go to bed, the face painting started to peel off. The skin on my face broke off bit by bit, falling down and cracking. I stared blankly at it. Finally, it all fell off, and there was nothing left on the painting, just a piece of white paper.
I slowly leaned over and picked up the thing that had fallen. It was actually human skin. It really was, it really was, but it was all powdery and broke into pieces when I pinched it.
After I cleaned up, I threw it into the toilet and flushed it. I didn't touch the empty painting. I didn't know what would happen next. I thought, maybe I can get rid of it. If so, I don't have to negotiate any conditions with Mao Xiaoli.
I slept restlessly that night and woke up many times, but when I heard no sound, I continued to sleep.
I don’t want to stay at home on my days off because it’s cold. I went to see my grandma and my mother told me not to come here unless necessary. I couldn’t stand the smell and it made me feel sad.
After I left my grandma's house, I went to find a place to drink. I liked drinking during this period of time. When I was drunk, I forgot everything.
I had just finished drinking when a classmate called me. I was quite surprised. How could they not know that I was burned to death? It was actually a female classmate. She asked me where I was. I told her, and she said she would come over in a while.
A female classmate came over. We had a pretty good relationship when we were in school.
She came in and sat down, ordered two more dishes, and poured herself a glass of white wine. Women nowadays are so fierce.
"I'll toast you."
I was a little confused. What kind of trick was this? This female classmate did it in one go, but I couldn't.
"Drink slowly, you'll get drunk."
"Ke Zuo, we used to be desk mates, and I liked you, but we graduated and separated..."
Drunken talk, absolutely drunken talk. I basically didn't talk when I was in school because I had a father who burned someone to death. Although I didn't know much, I felt pressured. That's just my personality. Every day after class, I liked to sit alone on the platform in the playground and watch them play.
"Ke Zuo, my father passed away. Yesterday, I begged you to make him a good urn and refine the first furnace so that he could pass away peacefully."
I was stunned. His father was dead and he was still drinking here. He had a really big heart and lungs.
"He's not my biological father, but he's been nice to me. It's just that he's a little bit... but he didn't do anything to me. After all, he raised me for eighteen years. I'm sending him away."
Now I understood. It surprised me to hear this. She knew I was the one who burned someone to death, so she came to me and begged me to come. She ran away with them last time.
I don’t care about these things. Maybe if it were me, I would run away too.
"Of course, that's no problem. Come to me tomorrow. My team will help me find a similar urn."
"No, the best, the best."
"That's a bit expensive, about 20,000 or 30,000."
"It doesn't matter. He left me a million when he died."
I was dumbfounded, a million.
"He was in the seafood business and was very rich, but for some reason he married my mother. My mother took me with her. She told me that he liked her back then, but she had no money. She was beautiful, and after she got married, he worked hard to make money. When he made millions, he sent my father away and gave your father 500,000 yuan. He then took the money and ran off. After he married my mother, he always beat her and she would cry after beating him. She was sick."
I know, this is a perverted mentality.
"Don't worry about this, I will arrange it."
After my female classmate left, I stopped drinking and went to Huiyuan to find a box of Master Ji's wine.
I went over and knocked on the door, but Master Ji took a long time to come out and seemed to be sleeping.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Master Ji."
"Xiao Ke, what's the matter?"
He didn't even open the door for me.
"I want to buy an urn, my classmate's..."
“Not for sale.”
"Why?"
"That's a work of art, you know? Not just anyone can use it."
"My classmate, I have already promised you. I didn't know anything about this. Please do it for my father's sake..."
Master Ji glared at me and turned to go into the house. I thought, I'm afraid this matter is doomed. Master Ji Yihe is a weirdo, everyone knows it. Even if the mayor comes, he may not give you this face.
When I was about to leave, Master Ji came out holding an urn wrapped in black cloth.
"for you."
"How much?"
"never mind."
"That won't do."
"Because of my friendship with your father, I won't say a word if you take all the urns away. I won't let you in. The yin energy here is too strong and it's not good for you."
"But, I bought this for someone else, and it's not good."
"Then give me a token amount."
"I took out 30,000 yuan, and Master Ji took out 10,000 yuan, and then we went into the house."
I know without even looking that Master Ji's urn has never been sold for more than ten thousand yuan. I know this very well; it's a work of art.
My classmate came into my office.
"How about it?"
"Everything is arranged. I'll be pushing your father to the farewell hall, operating table number eight, in a moment. You can come and see him then. This is the urn. It costs ten thousand."
My classmate took the extra money back, opened the black cloth and took a look, and was stunned for a moment.
"So beautiful?"
"You go ahead, I'm busy."
I entered the morgue and found my classmate's father in a single room. When I went in and carried the body, I saw the door opposite. This door appeared again, but I pretended not to see it. I pushed the body out very quickly. I started sweating. If the ghost appeared, things would be troublesome today . At least we were in a single room today.
I was taken to the farewell hall and talked to the staff about my classmate's father.
Work was done by noon.
I saw Mao Xiaoli and went over to her.
"Sister Mao, the facial painting is broken."
"Normal. I didn't tell you how to protect yourself. How have you thought about that?"
"I'm sorry, my master said it's impossible."
"It's okay, take your time to think about it. I'm not in a hurry. I've been waiting for so many years."
Mao Xiaoli turned around to leave, and I asked a question.
"Sister Mao, why do the three and five have to wear mourning white? It doesn't look good."
Mao Xiaoli paused for a moment, without even turning her head, and left.
That day, I felt uneasy, so I went home and Yinyan had already prepared dinner.
"Did everything go well today?"
"I saw the door again, but there was no temptation."
Yinyan glanced at me and said nothing. This kind of thing really made me helpless and at a loss for words. Maybe Yinyan had a solution, but she never said it, or maybe she had no solution.
"Today Mao Xiaoli asked me what I thought about it."
"No, don't think about it. By the way, why did the face painting become an empty painting?"
I said it, Yinyan said.
"It seems Mao Xiaoli has other tricks up her sleeve. She said she never gave her paintings away to anyone, and even if she gave it to you, she wouldn't keep it for too long. She'd destroy all of them, leaving only thirteen."
"But there's one strange thing. This face painting you gave me looks like a person to me."
Yinyan looked at me, and I frowned. Suddenly, I stood up. I remembered who that person was. I sweated and dripped like water.
