Madness of the Heart

For a family of average economic level, buying a cemetery for the deceased relative is not a small expense. In the past ten years or so, the real estate industry in Dongye City has developed rapidly, and the funeral industry has not fallen behind. When people are alive, they are fighting desperately for a temporary shelter. If death comes suddenly, they may not be able to enter the land immediately.

"Xiyue" funeral home is not the best funeral home in Dongye City, but it is the one with the most traffic, because no funeral home in the city has a better ashes preservation business than it.

Under normal circumstances, funeral homes will provide guests with a fee-based storage service for ashes. Those who have not had time to buy a cemetery for their deceased relatives, or those who do not have so much money to buy a cemetery, will store their ashes in the funeral home.

With changes in policies and economic conditions, all walks of life may fall into a cold winter, only funeral homes will not. There are so many people dying in the city every day. As long as there are people, the business of the funeral home will be prosperous.

Other funeral homes in the city cannot be built as much as the "Fu Shou Tang" where the ashes are stored because of the poor geographical conditions. Therefore, they have formulated a rule requiring guests to take the ashes within half a year at most. If they are not taken away for a long time, the funeral home will The ashes are disposed of.

The "West Moon" funeral home is different. Although it is remotely located, it happens to be close to a mountain. Just develop a small piece of the mountain and it is enough to store countless urns, so it sets the time limit for the storage of ashes for guests. Longer, there is no problem if you save it for a year or two.

Many people who really can’t afford to buy a cemetery send the remains of their relatives to the "Xiyue" funeral home for burning. The ashes can be stored for one more day and then one more day for two years. They can always save enough money for the last cemetery.

However, many people finally gave up taking the ashes of their loved ones. It seems that two years have passed, and their misses have faded.

Where did these forgotten ashes finally go? The relatives who left them are reluctant to ask.

Today is Meng Shan’s second visit to the "Xiyue" funeral home. It is more crowded than before. The hall for handling procedures and collecting urns is overcrowded and full of voices. If someone enters by mistake, I don’t know if this is a funeral home. This is a tertiary hospital. Meng Shan was sitting in the car for transporting her remains in line at 2 o'clock. After waiting for half an hour, she finally received the cheapest urn.

Five years ago, at this point in time, she and his father bought the cheapest urn for her deceased mother. Now, her father's body is being thrown in the processing room to prepare for cremation.

She lowered her head, looked at the plain urn, and laughed at herself: "I'm good enough to you, you two are dead, and you can still sleep in the'couple box'."

There is a long distance from the formalities hall to the cremation hall. Those rich people throw white paper money all the way. People walking on this road will inevitably be stained with paper money.

They are all mourners, no one cares about these, but Meng Shan suddenly feels scared.

She tore a piece of paper money from her hair, squeezed it into a ball, and threw it to the ground.

It was still early in the morning, and there was still a long time before dawn. The winter wind was gusty, and it was next to the mountain. The wind blowing from the mountain was always gloomy, like a shadow with ghosts and dead bodies gas.

Meng Shan thought of her mother, and then thought of the ashes that had been scattered somewhere.

When the ashes were stored, Meng Shan paid half a year's money, thinking that she could buy a cemetery for her mother in half a year. But during the six months she worked hard and grudges, her father secretly used the money she saved to drink and play cards, and lost all of it.

She cried and cursed her father, but he said nothing, but bowed his head to admit his mistake. What's the use of admitting mistakes? The money lost will not come back on its own.

No way, she can only save the ashes.

But until the ashes had to be taken away, neither she nor the father were willing to spend that sum of money for the mother.

Living people's lives are so hard, why bother to think about a bunch of inanimate ashes?

When a person is dead, he is dead. Where are the ashes left?

The money to buy the cemetery is enough for the family to live a good life for a long time.

Over the past five years, Meng Shan occasionally thinks of her mother's ashes. Although she has guilt, this guilt is too light to forget about the landlord.

But now, Meng Shan felt scared.

The boundless paper money in front of her, the long road leading to the cremation hall, and the overwhelming wind made her feel that her mother was complaining about her unfilial piety.

The prerequisite for filial piety is to have money.

She is poor.

Sitting in the lounge of the cremation hall, Meng Shan felt the pain of being poor again.

She has received her number, and if she waits two more numbers, it will be her father's turn to enter the incinerator. But just now, someone jumped in for the so-called "auspicious hour", and she had to wait for one more number.

People always say that "only death is equal", but when you go to the funeral home, you will find that even death is not equal.

The rich can jump in the queue at will by paying more. This is different from the jump in the queue in ordinary life. The latter will face everyone's contempt, but the former is decent.

Meng Shan heard the people who were in the lounge say: "The family gave us an extra 30,000 yuan. It's really rich."

Meng Shan held the empty urn and closed her eyes wearily.

The old man who had been wretched all his life finally died. He died at home. The street police station issued a certificate before he could be cremated.

In the early days, funerals were held in old residential areas all day long. People of the older generation cared about this, which households and households were able to sing songs for three days and three nights, because she was beautiful and her voice was okay. When she was a teenager, she was drawn into a funeral group and sang funeral songs for more than ten years. After the city reform, these noisy and disturbing activities were forbidden, and the funeral team was disbanded. She knew nothing and was cut off from her income. Source, life fell into embarrassment for a while...

When her father passed away, she didn't even take the mourning hall. Anyway, this old man was never lovable, and no one would come to give gifts. The body was kept at home for two days and was transported to the funeral home just after 2 o'clock in the morning today.

There was crying in the lounge from time to time, and Meng Shan's mind was very confused, she wanted to burn people away quickly, but waited and waited, the day was bright, but she still didn't wait for her turn.

Too many rich people jumped in the queue.

Not only will they jump in the queue, they will also spend tens of thousands of dollars on paper fireworks before sending the remains into the incinerator, so that the remains will slowly slide into the incinerator amid the deafening sound of the fireworks.

Meng Shan heard her number at nine o'clock in the morning.

She wiped her face and stood blankly in front of the door of the incinerator.

The father's body has been placed on the drive belt, and the ceremony at this time is "the final farewell."

Meng Shan looked at that old face, only to feel bored, and even bowed very perfunctorily.

The cremator waiting by the side probably also felt strange. The "last farewell" ceremony is usually a large group of people crying and calling, and some are too emotional to be pulled aside to prevent tears from falling on the remains.

In the custom of Dongye City, if the body is wet with tears, the soul will linger for a long time.

And Meng Shan was only one person, and she didn't leave a single tear.

The cremator asked if he wanted to buy paper fireworks.

Meng Shan was impatient for a long time, and said in a bad tone: "Do you think I can afford things that cost tens of thousands of dollars? Do business also have to be insightful, I..."

Halfway through, Meng Shan stopped suddenly.

Because this cremator was far from the cremator she had imagined, he turned out to be a young, tall and handsome man.

"I..." Meng Shan looked away, embarrassed: "Hurry up and burn it."

"Paper fireworks are also cheaper." The cremator said, "The most common twelve rounds cost 90 yuan. Many people will buy it. This is the last trip. Don't you want your father to go more lively?"

90 yuan is not expensive, Meng Shan can afford it, but she suddenly felt angry and shouted at the cremator: "A lot of people will buy it, so should I buy it? You are really going to make money!"

The cremator frowned, and Meng Shan realized that she had lost her temper, and she lowered her head and said, "Sorry, I don't need it."

The cremator nodded, "Then please go back to the rest room and wait. After the cremation is completed, the door will open automatically."

Meng Shan returned to the rest room blankly, watching the grief and miss of others, feeling like a cold-blooded animal with no emotions.

An hour later, Meng Shan received the cinerary casket that was full of caskets—it was given to her by the cremator just now.

She lowered her head and whispered, "Thank you."

The cremator only gave an "um", then turned around and asked his assistant to put the other body on the conveyor belt.

A new round of howling began.

Meng Shan hurriedly left. After that, it took more than an hour to check the ashes. When she was able to leave the "West Moon" funeral home, it was already noon.

She looked at the receipt in her hand, which stated that the ashes would be taken within six months. She squeezed the bills into a ball, just like squeezing paper money before dawn.

Take the urn?

Take it for burial?

It's impossible.

She shook her head with a wry smile, walked to a trash can, and threw the documents in.

"Old man, goodbye." She whispered: "It's not that I am not filial, but that I really can't spend so much money to buy you a cemetery. What kind of life I live, you know best. Don't blame me like my mother, Keep your company together. If you have a good baby in your next life, you should consider having a baby. Otherwise, even if you are born, you won’t be able to raise it well—just like me. If I don’t live well, I can’t afford a cemetery. You can't do it for security. Isn't this a vicious circle? I'm leaving, don't come to me."

There is a long row of cars parked outside the funeral parlor. There are millions of luxury cars and scooters worth tens of thousands of dollars. Meng Shan came in a car that transported the body. She can only take it by herself. The bus goes back.

Fortunately, her residence was not far from here, and the bus arrived at four stops.

Guangdan Road is an old street with many wreaths on the road. Because it is close to the funeral home, many people living in Guangdan Road are doing funeral business. Some have made a fortune and bought several million houses in a good location in the city center, but they still live here. Paper money.

Meng Shan used to think that this street was like a shady street, and it was better in spring and autumn. When it came to autumn and winter, the white lanterns were set off at the entrance of the street, and it looked like the underworld.

Her home is in the innermost unit.

"Xiao Meng is back?" A woman in her fifties leaned out half of her body, "Is things done?"

Meng Shan smiled perfunctorily, "Okay, thank you."

"It's all neighbors, thank you." The woman wiped her hands on her apron. "That what..."

Before the woman finished speaking, Meng Shan had already taken out her mobile phone, "A total of 1,130 yuan, I will pass it to you."

The woman smiled and wrinkled her face, "Well, you turn."

Although there was no mourning hall for the Meng family’s funeral this time, some expenses were still unavoidable. Meng Shan was annoyed and handed it over to the neighbor’s “one-stop funeral”. The price was 1,130 yuan, which was already the lowest price.

After paying the money, Meng Shan really felt that she had become a lonely family and had nothing to do with her parents anymore.

She stood on the road for a while, feeling hungry, only to realize that she hadn't eaten for more than ten hours.

There are small restaurants on the roadside. The type of house remodeled, meat and vegetables are the worst. The oil is all waste oil. A box lunch and fried noodles cost about ten yuan. The target customers are people who work nearby. These people don't pay attention to food. They have two standards for food, one is more oil, and the other is cheaper.

Meng Shan's father often buys this kind of box lunch. Meng Shan feels sick, and every time he sees him eating, he can't help but quarrel with him. Now that the person is gone, Meng Shan feels sick in her stomach as soon as she smells the familiar smell from the small restaurant.

Let's go to the vegetable market to buy vegetables and cook for yourself.

Meng Shan thought so, turned and walked in the opposite direction.

In fact, there are small-scale vegetable and fruit shops in this street, but Meng Shan always goes to the vegetable market one kilometer away to buy vegetables, because she feels that even the vegetables on this street are stained with yin, and people eat too much. Vegetables that are sullen may suffer from strange diseases.

It was mid-afternoon at this time, but the temperature dropped for several days, and the sky was gray, like a dead man's face.

Meng Shan walked quickly towards the vegetable market, which is the most popular place in this area.

"Red Dust and Jianghu" is a real fire, and even the vegetable market is playing the theme song in the play. Meng Shan hasn't watched it yet. Before taking funeral leave, I heard female colleagues talk about the characters in it, and knew that there is a male star named "Hu Ying" who is particularly popular now.

After buying enough vegetables and meat for one person, Meng Shan thought, anyway, there are still a few days on the bereavement leave and there is no other place to go. It's better to chase the drama at home.

On the first night of his father's cremation, Meng Shan chased after the drama until midnight. When she got up to the toilet, she suddenly felt flustered.

The feeling was creepy, like having a pair of eyes looking at her gloomily somewhere she couldn't see.

She quickly turned around and looked around in fear.

The house is very old. It was the wedding room where her parents were married in the past. The walls have not been painted for many years, and they are yellow and black. The prints only look dirty during the day. At night, they are like something hidden behind the wall. The more they move away from the wall. The closer you come, it seems that you are about to rush out of the wall!

Meng Shan shivered and walked to the door again to check if the door lock was locked. After returning home, she had repeated this action no less than three times.

As she passed the living room, her heart tightened without warning.

Where she was standing, the body of her father was still placed a day ago.

The room is very quiet, but this quiet seems to have a body, like a ghost that is constantly approaching. She looked at the curtain that was constantly being blown open by the wind, and when the curtain was lifted to its fullest extent, she saw a torn smiling face.

"Ah!" She screamed, her legs weakened and fell to the ground.

The wind stopped and the curtains fell.

She trembled violently in a cold sweat, and she stood up tremblingly after an unknown period of time, and walked slowly towards the window.

This is the sixth floor, and there can be no people outside.

Trembling fingers held the curtains and opened them with a "swish". There was only the silent night and the unlit building on the opposite side.

Meng Shan's fierce beating heart finally eased. She sat on the bedside and wanted to continue chasing the drama, but fear followed her, no matter how attractive the plot was, she could no longer attract her.

·

People in the funeral business are not taking national holidays, and working day and night, wherever there are dead people, they will be there.

Winter is the best time for funeral business in the four seasons of the year.

It’s easy to get sick when changing seasons. Although the term "freezing to death" has long disappeared in big cities, in fact, many elderly people die in winter because of a series of illnesses caused by the cold.

As a result, there is a saying among the people that if the elderly survive the winter, it is equivalent to living an extra year.

Wang Hongying yawned while driving. In this evening, she had already sent eight trips to the "Xiyue" funeral home. This work was supposed to be done by her son. A while ago, the neighbor Meng’s family died and was also the body of her son Yun. The Meng’s girl finally gave her more than one thousand yuan. If she hadn’t lived in one place for so many years, She didn't bother to take over the business that totaled only more than one thousand yuan.

Money is hard to make, and **** is unpalatable, Wang Hongying cursed in her heart, but she still had to go to the next house to pull her body.

Her son went to the hospital for a cecal operation the day before yesterday, and more than a month later, she had to transport the remains of her mother most of the night.

Having dealt with the dead for half a lifetime, Wang Hongying was not afraid of the remains at all. Her car was modified for transporting corpses, and the back was empty, specially loaded with corpses.

Now there is a corpse in the back, another old man—all the old people were transported today.

Originally, the co-pilot should be sitting with the old man's son, so he could call the soul.

But the children and grandchildren of this family are all unscrupulous things. They feel that it is unlucky to take the car that transports the body. Let her take the body to the funeral home alone, and they drive in their own car.

Wang Hongying looked down on these people, glanced in the rearview mirror, and slammed on the brakes in fright.

When the car stopped, she looked back in a panic, and there was nothing but a body behind.

But just now in the rearview mirror, she saw a stranger sitting.

"Dizzy again..." Wang Hongying rubbed her face vigorously and took a mouthful of hot tea.

It is common for people doing business like this to see someone behind in the rearview mirror. It is not a supernatural event, but an illusion caused by long-term fatigue and vigilance.

Wang Hongying had similar situations before.

Before starting the car again, she looked at the notepad, and after sending it off, there were three more to pick it up. But she was frightened this time, knowing that if she continued to drive, she might have trouble, so she had to call someone in the same business to pick her up. I plan to finish this order and go home to sleep.

It was dark, and Wang Hongying drove away from the funeral home in an empty car. There is actually a small road from the funeral home to Guangdan Road outside the four stations, which only people who live nearby know.

Wang Hongying turned and drove into the side road, her mind getting heavier and heavier, and suddenly she saw a wild dog rushing out from the side, still holding something in her mouth.

Because of exhaustion, Wang Hongying's reaction was already very slow, and she was even more unprepared now, slamming the steering wheel towards the trash can diagonally forward.

"boom--"

The litter bins were all knocked down, and water was spilled everywhere.

The trash can in the back street was terribly dirty, and Wang Hongying looked at the trash on the windshield, directly dumbfounded. What surprised her even more was that there seemed to be a person in the farthest trash can!

How come there are people in the trash can?

The trash can fell sideways, and the man's legs were exposed, seeming to be struggling to crawl out.

Wang Hongying suddenly thought that he might be a tramp looking for food in the trash can. Didn't the dog that ran past just hold the food in his mouth?

"I'm not going to kill someone, am I?" Wang Hongying was anxious and frightened. Seeing that there was no one around, she wanted to drive the car away, but then she thought that the scene was chaotic like this, and the police must have been able to spot the collision. It's her car, and then she will become a hit-and-run escape, adding to the crime!

"What a bad luck!" Wang Hongying sat in the car thinking for a long time. Seeing that her legs were motionless, she became more afraid in her heart. Finally, her heart buckled and walked over cautiously.

"You, are you okay?" Wang Hongying squatted by the trash can and tugged at the other's calf.

The people in the trash can did not respond at all.

"It's over, it's really dead!" Wang Hongying cried for a long time and picked up the phone to call the police.

"Hey, police? I...I killed someone...but I didn't mean it, you guys come and see?"

Criminal Investigation Bureau, Crime Squad.

"The Beicheng Branch has just received a case. Someone found a female body in a trash can in Fengshui Alley." Yi Fei put a tablet in front of Ming Shu, "Look at it."

Dead bodies appear in the trash can. Almost all such common cases are resolved by the sub-bureaus themselves, but it is the end of the year. At the end of each year, the police are under great pressure. The current requirement is that all homicide cases in the sub-bureau must be aggregated to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and the crime team has the power and obligation to participate in the investigation.

"Female corpse?" Ming Shu clicked on the picture.

"The scene has been investigated. The caller was a middle-aged man in a funeral business. She claimed that a dog rushed out at the time and caused her to run into the trash can. When she found someone in the trash can, she thought she had killed someone. "Yi Fei said: "At present, the identity of the deceased has not been determined. A preliminary forensic examination revealed that her back of the head was beaten by a blunt instrument. This was probably the cause of death. The dog that the police saw at the time was in her mouth. What was dangling was not food, but the meat on the corpse. The stray dogs gnawed on the corpse and caused many injuries on the corpse that affected the judgment."

Mingshu quickly browses the pictures.

The pictures from the sub-bureau were very detailed. The corpse was wearing dark blue jeans, the shoes had fallen off, and the goose-yellow sweater was wearing a thin sweater with blood stains on it.

Because there was no cover by clothing, the corpse's feet, hands, neck, and face were severely bitten, and it was completely impossible to identify the identity by the face.

Ming Shu maximized the details of the face, "Are you sure these were all chewed out by wild dogs?"

Yi Fei shook his head, "The sub-bureau has not completed the autopsy yet, do you think it may be caused by man?"

Ming Shu stood up, "I haven't seen the corpse yet, so I can't make a judgment. Go, go to the scene to see it."