Chapter 5: Corpse Explosion
The weather was very hot, so Yinyan didn't drive because she said she was scared.
My master and I were sitting at the operating table. I felt something was wrong, and my master also noticed it and asked me in a low voice.
"What’s wrong with you?"
"I felt someone on my back."
The master shuddered.
"Don't scare me."
I stopped talking. I wondered if the master had experienced this before. I saw that the master was very nervous. Today, the training ended at 12 noon.
I took a shower, changed my clothes and waited outside for the master, and then the director came over. I should have called him the curator, but it was a habit.
"How are you these days?"
"It's pretty good. The master is very nice to me. He has relieved a lot of pressure for me and I adapted quickly."
"Your master is a good master. He is four years older than you and knows how to care for others. He is very good."
The director left after he finished speaking. I understood what he meant. He wanted me to date the master. Now, am I considered to be dating the master? The master is very obvious. I also think Yinyan is very good, but my mother has said that I can't make her unhappy anymore.
Yinyan came out, we had dinner, and then she followed me to practice driving.
The coach asked me.
"Your partner?"
"oh."
I don't want to explain.
"It's very nice of you. I even wipe your sweat."
"oh."
The coach also saw that I didn't want to pay attention to him, so he stopped asking.
At around four o'clock, we went to the city and the master bought me a piece of clothing.
"Master, this isn't a good idea, is it?"
Yinyan just stared at me without saying a word.
"swallow."
Yinyan was happy.
We didn't get home until after ten o'clock that day. My mother was sitting on the sofa watching TV, but she was distracted. When I walked in, she stood up.
"I'm telling you, stay away from that Silver Swallow."
I was so surprised that my mother knew Yinyan.
"How do you know?"
I'm a little unhappy, anyway, it's disrespectful to me.
"Don't forget, your father was one of the earliest refiners at the crematorium. He's considered a hero."
I know that there might be people coming to the field, so they come to check from time to time, and they do a good job of this.
"There's nothing between her and me. She's just my master."
Mother didn't say anything else and sighed. I knew I was falling in love with Yinyan, little by little, but to stop her from crying, I wanted to stay away from her.
During the three days of rest, I turned off my phone, otherwise Yinyan would call me and I couldn't refuse. I couldn't refuse and didn't have the courage.
When I got to work, Yinyan had already changed into her work clothes and was waiting for me.
"Why did you turn off your phone?"
"It's my own phone, I can do whatever I want with it."
This is quite hurtful, but I can only say this. My mother shed tears all her life. She never said anything to my father. She just shed tears secretly. I saw it countless times.
I was sitting at the console, distracted, and didn't press the knife button. Yinyan was also distracted, but she didn't have any problems in this regard, while I didn't.
When they discovered it, Yinyan was horrified and immediately pulled me onto her platform. I nearly fell. She pressed the knife button, but it was too late. It exploded. Everyone looked at platform eight and immediately dealt with it. The family members saw it. Actually, this wouldn't be considered an accident with the original furnace. I've read my father's diary. In the early days, there was no experience, and no one had cremated the dead. Cremation was introduced in 1967, and there were no skilled technicians. The first batch of people accumulated experience on their own. But now it's different. It's a major accident.
The family members started making a fuss and the director came in.
"Master Yin, how could such a story happen to you? You are a veteran, with more than four years of experience..."
"Master, I did it. I created this story."
"I only see you and your master sitting here."
The director didn't know what it meant.
"You two follow me to the office."
Channels 8 and 9 will stop broadcasting after other people have handled the ashes.
My master and I entered the office, and the director closed the door and said.
"Sit down!"
I didn't expect that he didn't get furious, but was very gentle.
"Yinyan, I'll handle this matter this way. The accident is yours. I'll deduct half a year's bonus from you, but you don't have to worry about the family members."
"Master, I did this."
"You haven't become an apprentice yet, so no matter how big the accident is, it's your master's fault."
"Director, how could you do this?"
"Stop talking, you can go home from get off work today."
The family members came, crying and shouting...
My master and I returned to the office. I sat there in a daze when my master suddenly asked me.
"You said you felt like there was someone behind you?"
I was stunned for a moment. She only brought up this matter now.
"Yes, that day, I felt someone lying on my back, but it was only for a moment. Maybe I felt something was wrong."
"Okay, it's okay, let's go eat."
I didn't go and went home.
My mother didn't ask me why I came back so early. I went into the room and fell asleep until it got dark, when my mother called me to eat.
"Mom, I want to ask you, why can't Yinyan be your daughter-in-law?"
My mother didn't say anything and remained silent. Because I knew the reason, it was unnecessary to ask. My mother didn't even cry, perhaps because she had no tears left.
The weather is getting hotter and hotter, but it hasn't rained yet.
In this accident, the site waived the cremation fee and provided everything free of charge, thus resolving the problem.
My master and I were sitting at the control panel, and I felt it again. There was someone lying on my back. I looked at Yinyan, and she looked at me.
"It's okay, don't be afraid."
I was stunned for a moment. Did she know what happened to me just by looking at me?
That day, the master kept staring at my hands while I was working, fearing that another accident would happen. Sometimes he would inadvertently remind me in advance.
The director is here.
"Swallow, do you want to go for a drink tonight?"
"go."
Yinyan is very straightforward.
"Don't worry about it. Who doesn't have accidents here?"
I didn't say anything and the director left.
In the evening, all fourteen people in the class went, and I had no reason not to go. Even if I had a reason, I would have gone.
There are fourteen people in this class, only three of them are men, one works at the conveyor station, another is a technician, and I am the only one working at the operating table. There are seven or eight unmarried people, all girls. It seems that finding a partner is indeed a problem. The strangest thing is that these girls are all very beautiful.
I didn't say anything and no one joked with me. It seemed that I was the only one who owned Yinyan and no one dared to tease me. It seemed that my master still had a lot of prestige here.
They mentioned that in the first year after my master came, there was an accident with the furnace and the master crawled into the furnace to take out the half-burned body. My scalp went numb because I didn't have the courage.
That day, after drinking, we went out to sing. I was very quiet the whole time. Yinyan, a little drunk, kissed me, and everyone started to cheer. No one had ever kissed me in my entire life, and I'd never been in a relationship. It turned out that my father was a refiner, and there was a shadow in my heart. My mother always said that my father smelled like a dead person, but I'd never smelled it. However, I always felt that I had that smell too, but I didn't know if it was true or not.
At that time, I intentionally or unintentionally avoided my father . The day before he died, he asked me to hug him. Only then did I realize that he hadn't hugged me since I was seven years old. Because, when my father hugged me that day, I shouted at him that he smelled like a dead person. Since then, my father never hugged me again. He just looked at me from afar. At that moment, I realized the pain in his heart.
That day I hugged my father and cried, and he actually cried uncontrollably.
"Dad, you can hug me every day from now on."
Thinking of this, tears started to flow. Yinyan was stunned, stopped singing, and pulled me out.
"I'm sorry, I'm drunk."
"It has nothing to do with you."
I walked, walking on the streets of this ancient city. I thought how great it would be if my father were still alive. He could hold me in his arms, and I would no longer be so lonely and so scared.
There are many kinds of loneliness: the loneliness of being without a lover, the loneliness of being without a father, the loneliness of being without a home... They are all different and cannot be compensated for by each other. At this moment, I am not lonely because I don't have a father.
I walked until dawn before returning home, and my mother was still sitting on the sofa.
"sorry."
"It's okay, just eat and sleep!"
My mother is always like this, which makes me feel uncomfortable.
I woke up in the afternoon and my mother was watching TV. She was always distracted while watching TV.
"Mom, I want to talk to you."
The mother was stunned and nodded.
"Your father died, and I always felt that he was at the crematorium. I went there and really felt it. It was as if my father was there. This made me feel at ease. And as for Yinyan's matter, I felt that I had fallen in love with her."
My mother stared at me in a daze. She didn't say anything, slowly stood up and went back to her room.
I don’t know what my mother is thinking at this moment. Maybe she has endured the smell of death all her life and doesn’t want to endure it anymore.
In the evening, my mother came out carrying a bag.
"I'm going to stay at my mother's house for a few days."
My mother's first escape left me stunned.
My grandma is over eighty years old and in very good health.
"She has caught a cold these days, so I'll go back and take care of her."
Obviously this was an excuse. The mother couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to run away.
"I'll take you there."
"Need not."
My mother ran away, I think, and this was also my mother's protest.
I had to consider whether to leave the crematorium. It was a difficult choice, just as it was difficult for me to go to the crematorium.
When I go to work again, sitting at operating table No. 8, my mind just can't calm down.
Yinyan looked at me from time to time to remind me.
"Master, I can operate it myself."
Yinyan snapped and stood up, which scared me .
"Director, I need to pee."
Everyone in the room laughed, and the director sat down and whispered.
"Your master is unhappy. How did you offend her?"
"I didn't mess with her."
I know why my master is unhappy.
"It's best that you didn't offend your master. She has a hot temper, but she's become much gentler since you came here."
"Director, do you think we smell?"
The director was stunned and didn't answer me. I thought that it must be there, but I just couldn't smell it.
My master came back, didn't talk to me, and left on his own after get off work.
It was the first time I saw my master truly angry. I think she's even prettier when she's angry. I guess there's something amiss in my mind. When I decided to come to the crematorium, I felt like there was something wrong with me. Was it because I owed my father too many hugs? I don't know.
