“Are you asleep?”

“No.”

“Weren’t you the one who called me over to sleep with you?”

“Can’t sleep.”

“Oh.”

“How long have you been alive?”

“Two hundred years, but I spent most of that time lying in a coffin. If you really count it, I’ve only actually lived outside for less than twenty years.”

“What do you think of your boss?”

“Not much. He’s too small-minded.”

“I think so too.”

“Did he scold you today?”

“It was my fault.”

“Oh.”

“Actually, I’ve always been curious. What kind of person is the one that you and the boss often talk about?”

“What kind of person?”

“Mm.”

“Let’s put it this way, if he and your boss switched places in yesterday’s events, he wouldn’t have waited for me to take action. He would have killed that puppet himself, and he wouldn’t have been afraid of exposing anything. He wouldn’t have come up and asked me why I was meddling.”

“Oh, I see.” Bai Yingying pondered for a moment and said, “A person like that probably wouldn’t live long, right?”

Tang Shi was silent.

“Actually, the boss has many shortcomings. Sometimes he’s not man enough, and he’s always hesitant when he does things. After he does something, he keeps calculating it in his mind, but all in all, he’s actually alright. Everyone has their own different lives, and naturally, everyone has their own different personalities.

He likes to be cautious, like a squirrel that likes to move things back to its home, enjoying the feeling of accumulation and protecting that feeling, because he came from an orphanage. He originally had nothing.”

“You can understand him?”

“It’s not about understanding, but honestly, I don’t want to turn myself into what you are now. I like to play on my phone every day, play games, watch movies, and enjoy my current life, making up for the regret of lying in a coffin for two hundred years. The boss can still indulge and satisfy me in this regard.”

“Isn’t a life without any pursuits or waves boring?”

“Not everyone yearns for waves and passion. Everyone should have their own way of life, as long as they like it.

To be honest, sometimes I can see the boss is also holding back, and I’m very worried that he won’t be able to hold back and will turn into someone like you and the one you mentioned.”

“Afraid?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid.”

“You’ve already died once. What’s there to be afraid of? What else is there to fear? He doesn’t suit my taste. He looks very peaceful and refined, but deep down he’s still filled with the selfish thoughts of a petty man, only thinking about himself. To put it bluntly, he’s just selfish.”

“The boss is alright.”

“You disagree?”

“I disagree. I know that when my Mistress achieved enlightenment and went to hell, she must have told the boss to get rid of me, but the boss hasn’t done that.

Moreover, I also know that because I’m in the store, fewer ghosts will come. The boss hasn’t chased me away.”

“That’s because he’s using you as a pillow. He wants to sleep soundly at night.”

“Isn’t someone who’s willing to give up performance for the sake of sleep quality a good person?”

Hearing this,

Tang Shi was stunned for a moment,

For some reason,

The figure of the man who liked to sit at the entrance of the spirit shop in a chair, basking in the sun, appeared in his mind.

The sunlight shone on him,

Like an old grandfather.

………………

No matter what the problem with the faceless woman was, at least it had been resolved temporarily. Now all that was left to do was wait, wait for the final result from Rong City.

Of course, this matter could wait, but the move couldn’t. Xu Qinglang had found a new address, near South Street in the center of Tong City, which was considered the commercial center in the hearts of the old Tong City residents, with a high flow of people.

Zhou Ze received an invitation yesterday to attend Miss Liu’s memorial service. Zhou Ze didn’t know why he was invited as well and didn’t plan to go, but after Xu Qinglang saw the signature, he strongly urged Zhou Ze to go because the shop he had his eye on was Miss Liu’s family’s property.

It seemed a little inappropriate to discuss business with her family at someone’s funeral, but in line with the principle of saving money wherever possible, Zhou Ze agreed.

Taking a car to the address on the invitation, Zhou Ze found that he wasn’t going to the funeral parlor, but instead was driving into a rural area. It was a villa built in the middle of a field.

It was the season when rapeseed flowers were in full bloom, and the villa was hidden in the sea of flowers, giving it a very cold feeling.

There weren’t many people who came. There were only four or five cars parked at the entrance.

After Zhou Ze got out of the car and walked in, he saw Cui Yilang and several other members of the Horror Story Lovers Association standing in the courtyard, chatting in low voices.

No one greeted Zhou Ze, and no one came to collect gift money. There were scattered groups of people there, as if they were on a spring outing.

The exterior of the house looked no different from the three-story houses built by rural families near Tong City, but after walking inside, he found that the interior was completely decorated in a Western European style.

From the roof beams to the coffee tables and teacups, it was as if one had walked into the backdrop of a British drama.

Music started playing at this time, not the usual “funeral music,” but Chopin’s “Farewell Waltz.” Although it was about farewell, the melody was much more lively than domestic funeral music.

Several women wearing black veils came down from upstairs. These were the members of the host family.

A man dressed as a priest, holding a Bible, walked to the center.

Everyone gathered around to share the sorrow.

Zhou Ze poured himself a cup of coffee at the nearby buffet counter and sipped it.

Domestic funeral customs have undergone several reforms in modern times, and can even be said to have been subverted several times. Most areas have long banned burials.

In the countryside, funerals are held in a shed in front of the family courtyard, while in the city, some are held in their own communities or simply rent a venue in a funeral parlor.

This was the first time Zhou Ze had encountered this kind of Western-style funeral.

Zhou Ze remembered hearing someone say that in some Western countries, many families have “funeral workshops.” The first floor of their house is used for normal living, and is also rented out as a memorial service venue, while also providing services such as collecting corpses and corpse makeup.

Looking at this place now, it seemed to be following that style, but in China, most people still couldn’t accept it.

It was time to pay respects to the deceased’s remains. Everyone lined up and went over one by one. If you had a good relationship, you could hold the coffin lid and say a few words. If you had a bad relationship, you could walk over, sigh, and pretend.

When it was Zhou Ze’s turn, Zhou Ze looked into the coffin and found Miss Liu lying neatly inside, wearing a black dress, looking as if she was asleep.

What surprised Zhou Ze a little was that Miss Liu had fallen down from the stairs in front of him. No matter how you used words to embellish it, you couldn’t hide the fact that her death was extremely tragic, but Miss Liu’s remains looked very delicate, with a very good restoration.

This couldn’t help but make Zhou Ze think of the mortician who had held a brow pencil and impatiently applied makeup to him when he died. He had never enjoyed such treatment.

The dead can’t give bad reviews. It’s really unfair.

After paying respects to the remains, everyone went to the side hall for a meal. It was a buffet, but there wasn’t much to eat, just some pastries and grilled sausages, just to serve as an afternoon tea to pad the stomach. It wasn’t possible to have a feast here.

Zhou Ze poured himself a glass of wine, drank some, and then walked out of the side hall. He planned to find Miss Liu’s family members to talk about renting the shop.

Xu Qinglang said that he would rent it for a year first, and then Zhou Ze would pay him rent monthly. This was because Zhou Ze couldn’t come up with that much money all at once, and Zhou Ze had to return the favor. He would try to negotiate a price if he could.

After searching around, Zhou Ze couldn’t find the family members who had been wearing black veils earlier, but he saw the priest standing at the staircase, smoking a cigarette.

When Zhou Ze walked over, the priest also offered Zhou Ze a cigarette.

The two men stood together, smoking.

The priest wasn’t a foreigner, but also Chinese. He was probably around thirty years old and looked a little young.

Without any conversation, the priest walked away after finishing his cigarette. Zhou Ze put out his cigarette and happened to see that there seemed to be a staircase leading down below the stairs.

It should be the basement.

Ordinary Chinese families generally don’t have the habit of building basements. Out of curiosity, Zhou Ze still walked down and saw the elevator inside. Next to the elevator, there was also a metal door.

The door was open. He pushed the door open and walked in, and immediately felt the temperature drop a lot.

In front of Zhou Ze, there were two steel beds and a freezer, similar to the style of a hospital morgue, but with some other equipment.

It gave the feeling that this was a slaughterhouse.

Walking to the side of the steel bed, Zhou Ze reached out and touched it. People should lie here when they die. Miss Liu should have lain here before to receive the last beauty treatment of her life.

This was the mortuary's beauty parlor.

“Sir, this area is not open to the public.”

A young man in a gray suit stood at the door and said.

Zhou Ze nodded apologetically. He had been abrupt.

“Have we met somewhere before?” Zhou Ze asked, because he felt the man looked familiar.

“Perhaps. This is my business card. Of course, we don’t want you to have the opportunity to use the phone number on it.”

The young man handed Zhou Ze a business card.

The name “Chen Zesheng” was written on the business card, with the note: Curator of Tongcheng Western-Style Funeral Parlor.

“Is business good?” Zhou Ze asked.

For a long time, people had been asking Zhou Ze “Is business good?” Now Zhou Ze finally had the opportunity to ask someone else.

Of course, Zhou Ze also knew that when others asked him “Is business good?” they were actually thinking:

This idiot actually opened a broken bookstore in this broken place. It would be a miracle if business was good!

“It’s a bit deserted. After all, there aren’t many people in the country who accept this kind of funeral custom,” Chen Zesheng said with a wry smile.

“Mm.”

Zhou Ze asked, and felt comfortable.

“By the way, the deceased’s family members are on the second floor,” Chen Zesheng reminded.

“Okay, thank you.”

Zhou Ze left the basement.

However, just as Zhou Ze walked up the stairs, the hand holding the business card suddenly trembled. He looked down again at the name on the business card:

Chen Zesheng.

It seemed,

That the one who committed suicide with Miss Liu the next day,

Also surnamed Chen?

…………

Closing the metal door,

The young man in a suit lay on the steel bed,

He reached out and gently rubbed his right cheek. The skin was already wrinkled and cracked, and there was still green shaping liquid flowing out.

He shook his head,

And sighed:

“As soon as I die, the two morticians at home start to slack off.

How can we do business like this?”