13 Mingke Street

Chapter 10 Black Notes

When driving there, there were two VIPs sitting in the car;When driving back, there were two urns of VIPs in the car.Although the funeral was simple, even sloppy, when the cremation returned, the sky gave face and started to rain, which could be considered as helping Jeff and Mr. Mosang set the atmosphere for their farewell to this world.Karen looked at the urn in front of her, and sure enough, those jars in the basement couldn't be used to pickle vegetables!The freshly cremated ashes are hot;So sometimes, in order to save time, we bring the jars from the basement to fill them, and then change them into the cremation box with the company label when we come back.

Jeff's urn needs to go through the final procedure to be placed in the welfare cemetery area, but none of Mr. Mosan's children are willing to take on his urn;In a normal cemetery, even if it is not a burial, the price is not low, so they would rather spend extra money to ask the Inmores family for help to smooth things over and let their father "leech" off the welfare.So,Essentially,Jeff leeches off Mr. Mosan's funeral and lies down for a while;And Mr. Mosan,Will also leech off Jeff's welfare;If everything goes as planned, the two urns will be placed in adjacent spaces in the welfare cemetery.It's not bad,If they get lonely,

You can use your own skull to smash the "wall" together.Karen was still thinking about what Old Darcy said about the cost of the urn, and curiously asked Uncle Mason, who was driving:"Uncle, how much profit does our family's coffin make?""Ordinary coffins have about twice the profit, specially made or specially designed ones can have two to three times the profit;Some respectable people, especially those who work for the government, will choose a solemn and restrained coffin;Those with noble titles and a wealthy family background will have a custom-made luxurious coffin that represents their noble status, and their family crest will be engraved on it.For the nouveau riche, it's much simpler, they love grandeur and opulence.Oh, by the way, we have a special coffin selection catalog at home, with over two hundred options. If you're interested, you can take a look when you go back.Oh, the prices listed there are basically five times the cost price. When we sell to customers, we will give them a "discount"."Several times the profit,

Karen was calculating in her mind,That's good, it's not as exaggerated as the urn from the Shius Crematorium, they sell it for 1000 when the cost is less than 50, a profit of twenty times!Coincidentally,Uncle Mason also opened up and used a previous example:"Don't look at our profits not being as exaggerated as the urn from the Shius Crematorium, but how much can they sell one urn for even if they increase the price by that much?Our basic coffin is worth 10,000 lira.In addition, our customer base is different from theirs. Here, the ones who are finally cremated are... well, they are all inferior customers, but they are also their main customer base.They burn corpses there every day, for a month, and we only need to do three normal transactions to equal their profits.Of course, Mr. Mosan is not a normal customer.""Has Uncle thought about expanding the scale?" Karen asked.

Mason shook his head and said, "I failed in my investment. I used leverage. By the way, do you know what leverage is?""I know.""Well, that's good. Anyway, I'm sorry to tell you, my poor nephew, that your grandfather's money, which is the part of inheritance you can receive in the future, has shrunk a lot because of your incompetent uncle."After a pause, Mason added, "Don't be mad at your uncle."According to the tradition of the Kingdom of Rulan, the eldest son is usually responsible for inheriting the family business, while the younger son goes out to make a name for himself.So, from the customs point of view, as the eldest grandson of the main branch, Karen should be the future head of the funeral society, while Mason, at most, can get some money or shares, but has no say in the matter."I don't blame you, uncle."In the memory of the previous "Karen", there has always been a good impression of this uncle.

Through this half month of contact, Karen also found that although Mason is "lazy" and "flirtatious" and greedy, he has many flaws, but these flaws are actually common among ordinary people;But the most important thing is that Mason's attitude towards life, family and money is very upright.The one who is most eager to make a comeback and earn money is him. He used to work in financial investment in a big city, but now he can only drive a hearse to pick up clients, which is obviously not something he can accept.When Karen asked if he wanted to deposit the "consultation fee" of nearly 20,000 lucre into the public account, he decisively refused, and it can be seen that he is not the kind of person who would take money from his nephew.In the family, only he, his aunt, his grandfather, and his aunt Winnie can enjoy the dividend. After depositing the 20,000 lucre into the public account, he and his aunt can take half of it next month.After all, making this money doesn't really cost anything in terms of operating costs... If it wasn't for Karen giving Old Darcy 1000 lucre, the only cost would be a little spit."By the way, Karen, next time, when there is business, you can try to communicate with the clients and we'll see the results. If the results are good, you can join the company as a family member and enjoy the dividends.""Okay, Uncle."Working for Inmoleis,No,

Working for Dis is my honor."Also, what you just said about expanding, I don't think it's necessary right now. Even if we can get a loan from the bank, we can't compete with those chain stores in terms of scale.So my feeling is, we need to improve our service quality and find new sources of profit, just like what you're doing.""Actually, can't Grandpa take on this job?" Karen asked.Grandpa is a priest.Mason shrugged, "Hey, who would tell the truth to God anyway?"At that moment, the car hit a puddle and there was a big bump. The car was fine, but the two urns collided and made a loud "bang" sound, luckily without any damage.

Mason turned around and said, "If I die in the future, I have no intention of having a funeral. Not to mention a coffin, I don't even want Minna and Lunt to prepare an urn for me.""Hmm? Uncle, are you that open-minded?""After experiencing certain things, I feel that they are not that meaningful. When I am old, as long as Minna and Lunt can be filial to me, I have no complaints even if they use a black plastic bag from the market to hold my ashes.""How will the ashes be arranged?" Karen asked."That's easy. Just find a bigger flower pot and put me in it, then add some soil and plant something on top. It can be placed in the garden. When you are at home, you can water it for me. When you are not at home, I can help watch over the house."At this time, Ron, who had fallen asleep on the way back, was just woken up by the bumps. He overheard their conversation and asked curiously, "What about the ashes?"

"Mason, Master Karen, are you discussing such a heavy topic?""What about you, Ron? How do you plan for your funeral?"Mason grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and lit a cigarette with the other, casually asking."Hehe, I must plan to spend my last 1 coin before I die.""What about your family?" Karen asked."After work tomorrow, I will go and make an appointment with the nurse at the nursing home. If she doesn't end up with me, I probably won't have a family or children in the future.""What about your funeral arrangements?""Funeral arrangements?" Ron patted his stomach. "It's simple. I heard that the Luo Jia Medical College accepts body donations from the public, and they even call the donated bodies... what do they call them, teachers?"Karen said, "Cadaver teachers.""Yes, yes, Master Karen knows a lot. Hehe, before I die, I will sign an agreement to donate myself and become a cadaver teacher."

Mason shook off the cigarette ash and smiled, "I didn't expect it, Ron, your image in my eyes instantly became taller.""Well, um..." Ron scratched his head, "I was never good at studying since I was young, I couldn't absorb the knowledge from books, so I dropped out of school early and found something to do. But I know, those who can get into the Luo Jia Medical College are all excellent students with good grades. I just feel that in the future, as a stupid and poor student, lying there and having those outstanding students standing next to me, bowing and calling me teacher, how pleasant and enjoyable it would be.""Hahaha." Mason burst into laughter.Karen couldn't help but laugh too, but she still reminded him, "Ron, you have to lose weight.""Lose weight?" Ron was a little surprised, "Do you need to have a good figure as a physical education teacher?""Not necessarily, but you know, after your stomach is cut open, your fat will pile up there. Then those students will probably cut through your fat while holding back their disgust and whispering to you, 'Oh my god, why is my physical education teacher a dead fatso!'"Ron straightened his back and said, "Is it that scary?"Immediately,

Ron fell into deep contemplation about his own future.Mason asked curiously, "Karen, how did you know all this?""Aunt Mary told me. You know, sometimes she has to deal with really gruesome corpses, so she can't help but curse at the dinner table."Mason nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, her temper has been getting worse."Then, Mason sighed, flicked his cigarette ash, and said, "It's all my fault."

When I got home, it was already 9 o'clock in the evening. After putting the urn in the basement, today's work was considered complete.There was leftover dinner for supper, mashed potatoes, smoked meat, and vegetable salad.Karen washed her hands and came over. Seeing this dinner, to be honest, she was a little disappointed, especially since she was even more hungry than usual after going out and coming back late today. She was looking forward to a delicious and rich dinner.But...Next time, I'll do it myself."Dear, I opened a can of sardines for you."Upon hearing "sardines," Uncle Mason immediately opened his arms, smiled, and kissed Aunt Mary several times in front of Karen:"This is a happy dinner. I love it, and I love you for preparing it for me, dear."The day before yesterday, Uncle Mason had told Aunt Mary in the car that her homemade pies were the only two foods he loved; As for the other food he loved to go to the bathroom for, it referred to "sardines."

Karen blinked her eyes and suddenly had a sense of foreboding."Snap!"The can was pressurized, and when it was opened, it made a muffled sound.Immediately after,A putrid smell of decaying flesh spread out.Karen's stomach spasmed and rose up to her throat, but she managed to suppress it.Compared to this smell, stinky tofu was like a fragrant and cute little thing with its own scent!Uncle Mason picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, chewing with an expression of enjoyment.Without even asking Karen,

Directly fork a piece and put it on the mashed potatoes in front of Karen:"Go ahead, Karen. In this house, you and I have always been the most loyal fans, no, believers of canned sardines!"Karen held her breath and looked at Mason, who forked another piece and shouted:"Come on, let's indulge in our faith!"After saying that,He once again put it into his mouth and enjoyed chewing.Karen looked hesitant,But,Who asked the previous "Karen" to like this kind of food.In addition,

For Karen, who loved eating stinky tofu in her past life, she vaguely guessed that this thing should be similar to stinky tofu, smelling bad but tasting good?Summoning up her courage,Karen picked it up with her fork,and put it in her mouth.In an instant,Wow~Karen's eyes widened,she couldn't even swallow it and immediately grabbed a napkin and spit it all out, then quickly got up and went to the restroom to vomit.At the table,Mason and Mary, who were sitting and standing, were slightly surprised.

"What's wrong with him?" Aunt Mary asked in confusion.Uncle Mason guessed, "Maybe he caught a cold on the way back, with the wind and rain leaking into the car.""Then I'll go prepare some medicine for him."...After throwing up,Karen gasped for air helplessly.She turned her head and saw Pu'er standing at the door of the bathroom, staring at her. And from the curve of its mouth, Karen had a feeling that it was laughing at her."Are you laughing at me?"Pu'er's expression remained unchanged, but its tail wagged.At that moment, Aunt Mary's voice came from outside, "Karen, did you catch a cold? I'll bring you some medicine."

"Okay, Auntie, I'll come out to eat later.""What about your supper..."No,That damn supper,Karen didn't want to go back to that dining table anymore, he didn't even want to go back to the second floor now!The whole second floor should be filled with the smell of canned sardines at this time."Lunte has a lot of snacks, I'll just eat some, my stomach doesn't feel well, so I shouldn't eat too much.""Then... okay, take care of yourself. If you still don't feel well tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the clinic.""Thank you, Auntie."Auntie Mary turned and left.

Vaguely, Karen heard her aunt scolding her cousin Lunt:"Lunt, your teeth are so bad, yet you dare to hide snacks. Since you don't want your teeth, I will tear your mouth apart now!"In the bathroom, Karen felt sorry for her cousin and was filled with guilt towards him. Then he took a comfortable shower.After showering, Karen walked back to his bedroom while drying his hair with a towel.On the desk in the bedroom, there were milk, bread, a water cup, and pills.Lunt was sitting on the floor, organizing the box that was originally under the spring bed. When he heard Karen enter the room, he turned around and looked at Karen with a pitiful expression:"Brother, mom took away all the candy and chocolate I hid."There was no resentment on his cousin's face, nor did he blame Karen. He just felt helpless."If I had known, I wouldn't have been so frugal. I should have eaten as much as I wanted instead of just one piece every night."

"Haha."Karen laughed and took out 1000 Lu coins from her pocket. After hesitating for a moment, she only took out three and handed them to Lunt."Go buy some candy, and if you run out, come ask me for more."Lunt didn't reach out to take the money, but shook his head and said, "I can't spend my brother's money.""Isn't it right for little brother to spend his big brother's money?""No, Mom said we have to take care of our big brother because he doesn't have..." Lunt quickly changed his words, "Actually, I have my own pocket money too!"Including Karen, there were four children in the family.In theory, all four children should receive the same amount of pocket money each month, and this expense should be included in the household budget.But because their cousins have parents to take care of them, their pocket money is managed by their aunt and aunt, so they don't receive much.On the other hand, Karen, who has no parents, also feels embarrassed to have her pocket money managed by her elders, so she receives the full amount every month. This is also the reason why Karen was able to save up 6000 Lu coins.

"Brush your teeth seriously every day, pay attention to controlling sugar intake, it's no big deal."Karen still put the 300 lira on Rent's bed, and at the same time found many books and notebooks on Rent's bed, which should have been found when Auntie "searched" earlier, because these should have been placed under the bed.Among them was a notebook with a white rose on the cover, but it was deliberately drawn in red with a red pen.Karen opened it casually,On the first page there was a drawing of three people, two adults and one child. Although the drawing was abstract, it was clear that the person on the left was the father, the person on the right was the mother, and the person in the middle was the child.The child in the middle could be seen as a boy, because he didn't have long hair drawn like the mother on the right to indicate female characteristics."You draw pretty well," Karen said to Rent."Brother, this is not my notebook.""Not yours?"In this room, if it's not Rent's, then it can only be... "Karen's".

Karen thought for a moment, but he couldn't recall this notebook from his memory.But this is normal, judging from the quality of the paper, it should have been around for a while;Although he inherited Karen's memories, if Karen himself had already forgotten about certain things, he naturally wouldn't be able to remember them."Lunt, it's time for you to brush your teeth and get ready for bed!"Aunt's voice came from the staircase.Thankfully, the Inmores family lived in a detached villa. If they lived in an apartment, with Aunt's loud voice, they would definitely receive complaints from the neighbors."Coming, Mom."Lunt ran out of the room.Karen sat on Lunt's spring bed, continuing to flip through this notebook.The drawing on the second page was no different from the first page, still a couple with a child in the middle.

The third page, it's the same.Karen lost interest, but when he turned to the fourth page, he frowned slightly.The image on the fourth page was completely covered in black, with only a blank circle left in the middle.From a professional and child-oriented perspective, this painting signifies a severe lack of security in the child who created it;Black is also a protective color.This composition conveys a feeling similar to being afraid of the dark as a child, wrapping oneself tightly in a blanket but leaving a gap to peek out or breathe fresh air.Of course, the feeling conveyed by this painting is even more serious.Karen continued to flip through the pages, and the next few were all similar images, but the position of the blank circle would change, sometimes appearing at the bottom, sometimes at the top, or to the left or right.By the time he turned to the next page,

Karen's hand was frozen there.Because in this painting,a man and a woman were painted horizontally, according to the previous style, they should be "father" and "mother".The horizontal painting represents lying down.Because there is a person painted vertically in the painting, he is standing.In the picture, the "lying down" "father" and "mother" have a black mass extending from their abdomen, and there is also a black smear around them.Karen couldn't help but swallow her saliva,This is a wound... and the fresh blood flowing on the ground.And the person standing,is an adult figure that has not appeared before, and in his hand, he is holding something.

Karen brought the notebook closer to her eyes, carefully examining the thing drawn by the child. Sometimes, one can only try to understand and guess what children draw. "Is that a sword in your hand? Even if it is, it seems too short." Suddenly, Karen remembered the day when she was coming back from the hospital and saw the handle of a sword placed in a black box while helping her grandfather clean his burnt arm. "Diss!" "Yes."