Volume 1 Chapter 66: Thunder Strikes the Tomb
“Mix flour and water to make Sanhe mud, apply it to the skull to mold the skin and flesh, carve out the facial features, and then use rouge to paint the face.”
The woman didn't say anything for a long time . After a while, she stretched out her hand. The muscular man ran over to help her, but she stopped him.
"From now on, you will be the one to help me." The woman pointed at me.
I was stunned for a moment and didn't react. But Yan Zi pushed me from behind and whispered, "Go quickly, this means that my second sister has agreed to take you in!"
When I heard this, I suddenly came to my senses. Although I was somewhat disgusted by the woman's behavior, at least I had found a job, so I leaned forward to support the woman and helped her lie down on the rattan chair.
"Let's stop here for today. I'm tired. You all should go out first." The woman closed her eyes.
The muscular man and the others responded, and Boss Ma waved at me and led everyone out of the room. When they returned to the outside, several people immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and they all seemed to stand up straighter. It seemed that the woman in this room had a great deterrent effect on them.
"Let's talk about the salary now." Boss Ma led me out and said as we walked, "Six thousand a month, including food and accommodation, what do you think?"
Before I came here, I saw the job posting that said "good pay", and based on the market price of a corpse makeup artist, I thought it should be around 4,000. Later, I saw how poor the funeral home was, and I thought it probably wouldn't get any business on weekdays, so I automatically lowered my expectations to 2,000.
When I heard the words "six thousand per month", I was shocked. This was definitely much higher than I expected!
"I think it's great. Can we start work tomorrow?" I said happily.
Ma Laoda smiled and said, "If there is nothing else, you can come tomorrow."
I followed a few people to the door. Yan Zi winked at me and said with a smile, "Little brother, I will protect you from now on!" The muscular man smiled at me innocently. Heimao stood there with his head erect and didn't say anything. The skinny bamboo pole was dumbfounded all the time, with no expression.
I said goodbye and left Ronghua Funeral Home. I was excited to finally find a job with a high salary of 6,000 yuan a month. This was also my first formal job. Although the process was tortuous, the result was still very good.
As I thought about it, I couldn't help but hum a song and skipped to the station. After walking a few miles, the excitement wore off and I realized something was wrong. The Ronghua Funeral Home was doing very little business. Although I saw a few bodies , they were all from a few days ago. Judging from their appearance, they probably don't have many customers in a month.
How did this funeral home survive under such bleak business conditions? And how could it offer such a high salary of 6,000 yuan per month?
There seems to be something not quite right about this.
I pondered over it, but I still didn't understand the reason until I got on the bus. But as I was in a hurry to find a job, I didn't care too much. Anyway, I would start working tomorrow, so I would go and take a look first.
After all this trouble, it was already afternoon when I got back here. I happened to pass by Old Man Qian's shop, and since it was still early, I went in to chat with him for a while and get some cakes to eat.
"You went to Ronghua Funeral Home?" When Old Man Qian heard this, he took off his glasses and looked at me blankly.
I nodded and said yes while eating the mung bean cake.
"Did you really apply for a job there?"
I said yes, it was still a high salary of 6,000 yuan a month, and I glanced at his shop and said, "It's much higher than the salary I get as a clerk in your shop."
"You little kid, you have such a big heart!" Old man Qian slammed the table, looking anxious and angry.
I said, what's the big deal? It's just a funeral home. Why are there so many taboos? You will have to go there after you die. What's the big deal?
Old Man Qian slammed the table and said, "This is not a question of whether it's a funeral home or not. You little kid, do you know how that glory came about?"
I ate a few pieces of mung bean cakes and felt a little thirsty. I picked up the tea bowl and gulped down a big gulp. Then I put it down and said, "What's going on? This Ronghua Funeral Home looks quite old. Is there anything special about it?"
Old man Qian glared at me several times and said, "How dare you go there without knowing anything?" He must have been thirsty from talking so much that he picked up the tea bowl and took a big sip, then put it on the table and said, "The land of Ronghua Funeral Home is very evil. Long before liberation, this was a secret execution ground. I don't know how many patriotic heroes were executed here. Later, this place became a charity cemetery, and then developed into a cemetery. In the early years, cremation became popular, so it was converted into a funeral home."
"A cemetery?" I recalled the environment around Ronghua Funeral Home. "It doesn't look like it. It's just a wasteland over there. Where would there be a grave?"
Old Man Qian glared at me and said, "Of course you can't see it now! About thirty years ago, there was a thunderstorm night. There was thunder and lightning late at night. Many people saw a huge lightning bolt hit the ground. The next day, we found out that it was the cemetery that was struck by lightning. The graves were in a mess."
"Later, some people said that this piece of land was evil, so the tomb was struck by lightning, and the bodies in the tomb were quickly moved out."
"Since this land is evil, why build a funeral home on it?" I was a little confused.
Old Man Qian shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about that. I don't know whose idea it was. In the end, they used the old buildings there to build a funeral home, which is today's Ronghua. But after the funeral home was built, it has always been uneasy. There would be trouble from time to time, so the business was getting worse and worse, and finally no one came."
It turns out that this Ronghua has this history, which is quite legendary. No wonder the Yin energy there is so strong, it turned out to be a secret execution ground before, and it probably accumulated a lot of Yin and evil energy. Places with heavy Yin energy are prone to accidents, which is normal. It's just that the thunderbolt that struck the grave sounds a bit mysterious, maybe it's just a coincidence.
"You little brat, if you still want to live in peace, just go home and stay there, don't go to that place!"
I rolled my eyes at him and said, "If you're willing to let me work in your store, I definitely won't go."
When Old Man Qian heard this, he immediately became a little embarrassed and said, "Our store is a legitimate business. We can't do anything illegal, right?"
I was too lazy to pay attention to him and said, "I already live in this haunted house, what else do I need to live in Ronghua? Maybe I will be safer in Ronghua than at home."
Old Man Qian was stunned for a moment and said, "Oh, I was distracted just now. I forgot that you still live in a haunted building. I heard that this job includes food and accommodation? You should move into the funeral home right away. It is safer than living in a haunted house anyway!"
This old guy is really quick to react. I am thinking about moving out, but I need the approval of my family.
After chatting for a while and drinking a lot of tea, I went out to the market to buy some vegetables when I got home. When I got home, Qingzi was in the study on the second floor. She didn't say anything when she heard me come in. Later, she saw me going up and down the stairs and asked, "When are we going to eat?"
I said it would be done soon. I washed my face and went into the kitchen. About half an hour later, I called Qingzi downstairs to eat.
"What's going on today?" Qingzi sat down and asked when he saw the table full of dishes.
In order to save money, I usually have two dishes and one soup for dinner. Most of the time, it is vegetarian, and occasionally a small meat dish. Fortunately, Qingzi is not too picky in this regard. As long as the ingredients are fresh and delicious , she won't say anything even if it's just vegetables and tofu. It's been a long time since we had fish and meat like tonight.
I had been waiting for her to say this, so I moved a chair and sat down, proudly announcing that I had found a job and would officially start working tomorrow.
Qingzi picked up a piece of eggplant and ate it. She didn't react much, just said "hmm". Seeing her cold reaction, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and said, "This salary is not low, 6,000 yuan per month. As long as we spend it frugally, it's enough for our daily expenses, and maybe we can even save some money."
Qingzi picked up some food with her chopsticks from time to time. It seemed that the eggplant today was quite to her liking. However, she didn't respond to what I said enthusiastically, and I didn't know if she listened or not.
"It's just that I can't stay at home all the time when I go to work. You just need to take care of the meals..."
Before I finished speaking, Qingzi said, "Wash your clothes and make breakfast before you go out, and you must be back before dinner."
