Chapter 3 Beautiful Young Female Master
My name is Ke Mingzhe, and I am the son of Ke Zuo. The above was written by my father in 1967. He was the first generation of refiners in China. Unexpectedly, more than 20 years later, I also became a refiner. This was something I never expected. I became a refiner in 2000. When I became a refiner, my father had passed away. As for why I wanted to be a refiner, I will tell you slowly below.
The first day I arrived at the crematorium, I was led in by the director. The reason I came to the crematorium was because my father died at the age of 60. When I came, it was the second year after my father's death. I love my father, and coming here, I felt closer to my father. I was 22 years old at that time.
On the first day, I was taken to the office. There was a girl in her twenties sitting there. I was stunned. What was such a young and beautiful girl doing here? Whose daughter was she?
The curator looked at me and said.
"Your master is Yinyan. From now on, you will follow her and ask her if you don't understand anything."
The director left. I just couldn't believe it no matter what. This girl was the refiner and my master. She looked younger than me. I was so shocked at that time that I thought this girl was my master.
"Handsome guy, what's the matter? Don't you believe I burned people to death? I've been here for four years."
After Yin Yan finished speaking, she looked at me. I never thought that such a beautiful girl would be a refiner. It was totally beyond my imagination. If she was not sitting here or walking on the street, I would never have imagined it, nor would I have believed that she was a refiner.
I called out "Master" in a low voice.
"Today is not my shift. We work in three shifts, one day on, two days off. Since you're here today, I want to welcome you. I'll show you where we work today, and then we'll go home and start work tomorrow."
Yinyan stood up, Miaotao.
I followed the master into the crematorium. There were twelve furnaces shining brightly. They were made of stainless steel and were tall. There were twelve furnaces. The floor was tiled and also bright. There was an operating table behind the glass, spotless. It was completely different from what I had imagined. I had never expected it to be like this.
"Our job is to operate these buttons here and send the deceased into the furnace. Of course, it involves a lot of technology."
This place is not as scary as I thought. I breathed a sigh of relief. I struggled for more than three months before deciding to come here.
The master and I will come out, Yinyan said.
"Are you driving?"
I thought to myself, I just graduated, where can I get a bike? I do have a bike, but I haven't ridden it in years.
I shook my head.
"I'll give it to you. Don't think too much. I'm your master, and this is what I have to do."
I got into Yinyan's car, a little red sports car, which was very cool.
Yinyan sent me to the gate of the community and said.
"Don't tell anyone else that I'm your girlfriend."
He said it very seriously, then drove away. I was stunned. What he said was really interesting.
Yin Yan's words made me think too much. Did she mean, "I'm your girlfriend?" Or maybe I should just say she was her girlfriend. If Yin Yan were my girlfriend, it would be quite impressive, but I don't think it's possible. She's my master, and I can't possibly marry another refiner. Putting two people together like that would burn people to death, then...
I can't imagine what that would be like.
When I woke up in the morning, it was raining heavily. I had to go because it was my first day at work and what I faced was not something terrible.
I took a taxi to the crematorium and when I entered the office, Master Yinyan had already changed her clothes.
"You're late. From now on you must arrive before four in the morning."
"Yes, Master."
I don't want to explain. I played computer games until one in the middle of the night yesterday. Actually, I couldn't sleep. It wasn't because I was nervous, but because I was excited.
I'll change into my work clothes, Yinyan said.
"Once you're in the refining room, don't waste time talking nonsense. There are eight of us in this class, and everyone has a different temper. Just follow me and listen to me."
Yinyan took me in. These people were all here, busy, said a man.
“Master Yin, your apprentice is the real master. It seems that the director arranged it on purpose.”
"I'm just a child, don't talk nonsense."
Did she treat me like a child? She was only four years older than me. Only four years old, and you gave birth to a son at four? I didn't dare to say anything. This place still made me nervous. I felt a solemnity I had never felt before.
"Workbench number eight is yours, but you won't be able to use it today, and maybe for a while."
I was taken to the back of the studio, and as soon as I opened the door, I felt very cold, even in the summer.
"Just sit here. The staff from the farewell hall will bring the cart in. Then you'll carry the body onto the transport platform. I'll show you, just once. If you get it wrong, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Yinyan's face was gloomy at the moment, and I was a little scared.
"Master, this is my first time..."
"This is the first time you call me Master. Shut up."
Yinyan is so powerful that she scared me.
It's very clean here, the ground is shiny and spotless.
The hearse was pushed in, and the master looked at me. I understood, and I moved closer.
The master glanced at the sign. "Rabbit," he said. "Rabbit 4, key 4. Do you know the twelve zodiac animals by heart? Do you know the order?" I was stunned. This was such a simple thing, but I really couldn't remember it. I didn't know the order. I shook my head.
Yinyan stopped, looked at me and sighed.
After she lifted the body up, she gently pulled the white sheet down. I was so shocked that I almost screamed. It must have been a car accident. The driver pressed the 4 button and the body was sent in.
"This is your job. Remember, don't press the wrong button because it's not marked here. This is a folk custom. It's in a room over there where the family members can see. It's behind the big glass over there. We can't see them, but they can see us operating. If you send the wrong person, just lie down on the transport platform and send yourself in."
I was terrified and sweating.
"I mean seriously, don't actually lie down on it."
The master walked out of that door. I was stunned. I tried my best to think about it. I knew the twelve zodiac animals, but I just couldn't figure out the order.
The master pushed the door open again and handed me a piece of paper.
"It's very simple. Just be careful and attentive. Hold them like you would hold your loved ones."
I feel uncomfortable just listening to it.
It was another surprise that the master's handwriting was so elegant and beautiful.
I was extremely nervous that day, but I still finished it without making any mistakes.
My master still made me carry corpses to the transport platform every day. I could never get used to it. I had nightmares all the time. I dreamed that they woke up, came back to life, stared at me, bit me...
I wanted to ask the master to let me go to the operating table, but I didn't dare. Yinyan is very capable, although she is only four years older than me.
There are all kinds of corpses, men, women, old, young, beautiful, ugly, especially those from car accidents and drowning, which make me feel terrified. At the moment when the white shroud is lifted, you never know what is underneath, and every time it makes you terrified.
I want to get used to it, but I can't. Every day I break out in cold sweats. It's as if my master has forgotten me. I work one day and rest for three days. This makes me feel very comfortable with this job.
However, when I was with my friends and classmates, I never dared to say that I was the one who burned someone to death, because then I would have no friends. Before I came here, I had heard that these people had almost no friends and no one wanted to eat, drink, or chat with someone who had burned someone to death.
When I get home, my mother never asks about this. I have to take off my clothes at the door, and then my mother washes them for me. Even though I always change clothes and take a shower, that doesn't work.
I always feel uncomfortable about things like this, but I can't tell my mother.
I rarely go out and feel lonely. I am afraid that someone will know that I am a refiner.
Yinyan called me during her break.
"Come out."
The tone of command did not allow me to resist at all.
I went downstairs and Yinyan was waiting for me downstairs in the car. I got in.
"Master, what's the matter?"
"It's okay, come with me to the countryside to play."
I was stunned. What does Yinyan mean?
She is dressed beautifully today.
I don't speak.
"You might say anything."
"I don't want to hold a dead body."
"Don't talk about work."
It seems that Yinyan doesn't like to talk about these things either.
I told her about my school life and she just listened without saying anything.
The car drove for more than an hour and entered the village.
"My second aunt's house."
The car stopped at the door of a big house. When I entered the house, Yinyan's second aunt and second uncle were very lively. They held Yinyan's hand and looked at me.
That look was a little strange.
The food is very rich. I don’t drink much, but I have to drink.
Yinyan's second aunt suddenly asked.
"Do your parents agree?"
"What?"
I was stunned for a moment.
Yinyan said.
"He is my apprentice, what is he talking about?"
I immediately understood that my master's second aunt treated me as her boyfriend.
I blushed. Actually, Yinyan is quite pretty, but a little too strong.
We had a lot of fun that day and didn’t go back until it was dark. Yinyan sent me home and drove away.
I went into the house and my mother asked me what I had been doing.
"I went to her second aunt's home in the countryside with my master."
"I'm telling you, when you're looking for a partner, you can't choose someone who burns people to death."
My mother looked very unhappy. I knew that when my father was alive, she didn't like the smell of him, saying that he always smelled like a dead person. So, my father didn't seem happy when he was alive. I could see this. After my father died, my mother seemed to have gotten rid of it. She never expected that I would enter the crematorium and become a refiner like my father, and it seemed that I had returned to my original state.
When I decided to go to the crematorium, my mother did not try to dissuade me from going, but instead cried.
I have seen my mother cry many times. When my father was alive, she always cried secretly. She didn't dare cry in front of my father. In fact, even if she cried, my father would not say anything. He loved my mother. My mother had no idea how many injustices she had suffered in her life. Sometimes can't understand it.
