13 Mingke Street

Chapter 2: The Deceased Care Company

"Splash..." Zhou Xun scooped up a handful of water and splashed it onto his face. After a while, he lifted his wet face and looked into the mirror.

The reflection in the mirror is the face of a 15-year-old young person.It has been two weeks,But Zhou Xun still hasn't gotten used to his new face. Every time he looks in the mirror, he subconsciously pauses to prepare himself mentally.He reaches out,Pinches his cheeks,Pulls them outwards,And then lets go,Leaving two red marks on his face.If he could just tear off this layer of skin, everything in front of him, everything around him, everything in the past two weeks, would shatter like glass. It would be like waking up from a long dream, and that would be so much better.Of course, Zhou Xun knows that this is impossible.

"Pa!"Zhou Xun slapped himself in the face.Even though this face looked a lot like a young Leonardo,when Zhou Xun slapped it, he showed no mercy, and even seemed to take some pleasure in it?This slap was not to wake himself up from a dream, but to sober himself up and continue this dream properly.Since it has come, let it be.Zhou Xun could only comfort himself in this way."Knock knock..."The bathroom door was knocked, and at the same time, Mina called out with concern:"Kareng gege, Kareng gege, are you okay?"

Mina is my cousin, the daughter of my uncle Mason.And the body that Zhou Xun is in now also has a name - Karen."I'm fine," Zhou Xun responded."Okay." Mina outside the door took a deep breath and asked again, "I'll bring breakfast to your room later, brother.""No need, Mina, I'll go down and eat later."Mina outside the door was a little surprised, but immediately said:"Okay, brother."Zhou Xun continued to stare at himself in the mirror, picked up a cold towel, and covered his reddened face.He used to be a private psychologist with his own clinic in Jinling City, and also worked as a psychological consultant for the police station.In a hostage k********g case, he went to negotiate with the kidnappers as a negotiation expert, but there was an accident in the middle. The kidnappers planned to push the little girl who was being held hostage off the rooftop. He quickly stepped forward and pulled the girl back, but he fell down and lost consciousness.

It seems like I've been having strange dreams for a long time. When I slowly woke up and opened my eyes, Zhou Xun was shocked to find that he was not lying in the ICU ward of the hospital, surrounded by doctors, but by a group of... "foreign friends". The eldest was his grandfather - Dis. Inmerleis. He was his eldest grandson, and when he saw him wake up, there was a sense of relief in his eyes... but also an indescribable meaning. A forty-year-old uncle - Mason, he was happy. Aunt Mary, Mason's wife, smiled first, then her face darkened, and after it darkened, she smiled again. The other older woman was his aunt Winnie, who was crying with joy. There were also three children, the children of Uncle and Aunt, his cousins, fourteen-year-old Mina and thirteen-year-old Lunt, and another was Winnie's daughter, thirteen-year-old Chris. And Zhou Xun... no, it was Karen himself, his parents passed away a few years ago. This is the situation of this family.

Zhou Xun changed the hot towel again and covered it on his face. After a while, he threw the towel aside.In the past half month since he woke up, he spent most of his time lying in bed. On one hand, his body was indeed very weak, and on the other hand, he needed to digest the memories of this "Karen".Digesting memories is a strange thing. It didn't cause any conflict or confusion between his own memories and the original owner's memories. The original owner's memories were more like files stored in a bookshelf or computer document for Zhou Xun. He was still Zhou Xun, but when needed, he could think carefully and "search" for the memories of "Karen" and retrieve them quickly.In any case,since it's already like this,he must bravely face life.Zhou Xun has already prepared himself mentally and is ready to face his second life with a positive attitude.Pushing open the door of the bathroom, a black cat named "Po Er" that was raised in the house was lazily lying on the windowsill, basking in the sun. When it saw Karen, it naturally turned its head towards the window, showing the arrogance of a cat master.Zhou Xun paused for a moment,

Taking a deep breath,Muttering:"From today on, I am Karen."...Karen walked down the stairs and came to the second floor where her room was located.The Inmoleis family lived at 13 Mingke Street, West District, Luo Jia City. It was a detached villa with a large garden.If we were to look at it from the perspective of her past life, even though Mingke Street was not in the core area of Luo Jia City, it was still within the second ring road.Just imagine, in the future, owning a detached villa in a second-tier city that was not in the suburbs...In her past life, Karen could only dream of living in a townhouse, let alone a detached villa.This was also something she was grateful for now, to have transmigrated to a family with better living conditions, making her life much more comfortable.

If I were to travel back in time and become a little boy selling matches,Oh my, that would truly be a miserable fate.The kitchen and dining room of the Inmerleis family are on the second floor, while the first floor is the work area.Yes, this is a "company", or a "family workshop". This villa is not only a place for the family to live, but also one of the means of production.This family runs a "funeral" business, with the sign hanging outside reading "Inmerleis Funeral Care Company".Grandpa is the boss, and he is the one who makes all the decisions in both the family and the "company". He also works part-time as a priest at the small church at the end of Mingke Street.Uncle Mason used to work at the stock exchange, and Aunt Mary was originally a somewhat famous makeup artist in the circle, specializing in doing makeup for celebrities. She also had a few small roles in movies.Their life was supposed to be at a lower middle-class level, and they had already moved out to live on their own.But due to Uncle Mason's failed investments, they not only lost their savings, but also their property. It seems they also owe debts, and in the end, Uncle Mason could only bring his wife and two children back home to take care of his father...and be filial.Grandpa didn't say anything about it.

However, he quickly found a reason to fire the original driver and mortician. In my grandfather's words, the Inmores family does not keep idle people. Uncle Mason is now in charge of driving, well, driving the family's hearse, with assistants Paul and Ron responsible for picking up and dropping off "VIPs". Aunt Mary continues to specialize in makeup, and no longer has to worry about dealing with temperamental celebrities or receiving complaints. Their children, Mina and Lunt, are in high school. Aunt Winnie used to be an accountant at a clothing factory, but after divorcing her husband, she returned to the family with her daughter Chris. Fortunately, the Inmores family has a large house, so even if the basement is occupied by "VIPs" and the first floor is the "mourning hall", there are enough rooms on the second and third floors for all the family members to live in.

Karen and her cousin Lunt used to share a room together. But since Karen got sick, Lunt has been sleeping in the grandfather's room on the third floor. There is also a study room on the third floor that belongs to the grandfather.The second floor has three rooms as well. One is occupied by the uncle and aunt, another by Aunt Winnie, and the third by two cousins.The atmosphere at home is actually quite good because of the grandfather's strict authority. No one dares to cause any conflicts in front of him.As Karen comes down to the dining table on the second floor, Mina is helping her mother set the plates. Aunt Mary sees Karen and intentionally makes a sarcastic remark, "Our young master can finally come down and have breakfast by himself. You don't need your loyal servant aunt to bring it up for you anymore."Aunt Mary is a person like this, with a sharp tongue and a tendency to mock others. At home, besides the grandfather, she doesn't dare to offend anyone, including her husband, children, younger sister-in-law, and Karen. They are all targets of her sharp words.Karen smiles warmly in response.

Sincerely:"Thank you so much Auntie for taking care of me these days, that's why I was able to recover so quickly."In Karen's memory, although this aunt was a bit sharp-tongued, she always treated her like her own children, with a bit of a tough exterior but a soft heart."Um..."Unexpectedly, her usually quiet and introverted eldest nephew could speak such fluent polite words. Aunt Mary didn't know how to respond, so she just pursed her lips and said, "Let's eat.""Okay."Karen sat down at the dining table.Breakfast was sandwiches, fried eggs, milk, and some mini sausages.She took a bite of the sandwich,

Slowly chewing,Although only half a month has passed since she arrived here,Karen has already started to miss the duck blood vermicelli soup with three spoonfuls of spicy sauce.At this moment,The sound of a car horn came from outside the house."Your father is back."Aunt Mary first went to wash her hands by the sink, then took off her apron,"You continue eating, I'll go see if your father has brought me any 'surprises'."Other husbands who come back from work may bring a luxurious ring or designer bag as a small surprise for their wives;But Uncle Mason brings back a "corpse" for his wife.

For Aunt Mary, a normal death from illness was already considered a "pleasant surprise". She hated dealing with deaths that were not from natural causes, as they were more troublesome. Karen put down his fork, subconsciously thinking of himself as an adult. When there were matters at home, he couldn't just sit at the table and continue eating like the children, so he followed Aunt Mary downstairs. The first floor was spacious, with a small platform of three steps in the southeast corner, used as a "corpse stop". At this moment, the two servants, Paul and Ron, pushed in a stretcher covered with white cloth. Uncle Mason didn't come down, as he was somewhat proud. Although he had to work under his father's authority, he only drove and rarely came into contact with the bodies. In Karen's impression, although Uncle Mason was unreliable in terms of investment and was a spendthrift, he was a very humorous and kind person to his family. Aunt Mary stepped forward and uncovered the white cloth to take a look, then let out a sigh of relief. The body was that of a young person, with no frightening appearance. However, even though the body was lying flat, the face was turned ninety degrees to the right. "Frozen to death?" Aunt Mary asked again, "Welfare form?"

Although it is just the beginning of winter and not yet the coldest time, there have been incidents of drunkards or wanderers freezing to death on the roadside.As for the welfare list... it is a special fund office established by the city government, church, charity organizations, etc., specifically for giving a decent funeral to those who have no relatives or friends to pay for it.The welfare list needs to be actively pursued by multiple funeral homes, usually divided by districts, and the profits that actually end up in the hands of the funeral homes are so thin that they can almost be ignored. But it can ensure the operation of the funeral homes, after all, even if they don't work, they still have to pay their employees, right?Correspondingly, dealing with the welfare list is also easier, because there are rarely any relatives or friends to supervise and nitpick;The body is simply processed, put in a coffin, and the grandfather in priest's robes stands by the body. The person sent by the relevant government department takes a few photos for registration and the funding can be received by the end of the month."Yes, madam, I know him. His name is Jeff, a poor guy who always loses at cards. Sigh, I'm even more unlucky, I'm never there when he goes to the tavern to play." Ron said."Madam, there is another case, we have to go to the Flower Bay Sanatorium." Paul said.Aunt Mary immediately reminded loudly, "Let the caregivers at the sanatorium give the person a bath first, otherwise don't bring them back. Last time we brought someone back from there, their feces had already crusted on their body.""Yes, understood." Paul immediately promised.After saying that, he and Ron changed to an empty cart and returned to the hearse.

"Beep beep..." Uncle Mason, sitting in the car with a cigarette in his hand, honked the horn twice. He first shouted to Karen, "My little Karen, it seems like you have recovered well." "Yes, Uncle," Karen responded. "Haha, that's great." Then, he looked at his wife and shouted, "Darling, I want to eat the meat pies you make for lunch. They are the only two delicious things I love in this lifetime!" "Go eat in the bathroom, I'm busy!" Uncle Mason shrugged and shamelessly continued, "Oh, that's my other favorite!"

Aunt Mary's face couldn't hold it anymore, she turned her head and her mouth trembled."Go, my dear!"Mason started the car and left.Aunt Mary took a deep breath and reached out to push the cart.Karen naturally came over to help;Aunt Mary glanced at Karen and didn't move;Karen looked at her with some confusion."Karen, you seem different from before.""Maybe."Karen was too lazy to hide the fact that she had "transmigrated". In fact, as a "transmigrator", the last thing you need to worry about is this. Who around you would think that your soul has been replaced?

"Are you crazy?"Go to the basement.""Okay, Aunt."The aunt and nephew pushed the stretcher with the body lying on it, passing through the corner of the first floor lobby and then down.The path to the basement was a slope with a flat transition in the middle.When pushing down, they had to control the speed to prevent the body from slipping."If only there was an elevator." Karen said when they reached the basement, gripping the stretcher with some effort."The kind in the department store?" Aunt Mary mocked, "Are you crazy? That would be expensive!"The basement only had one floor, divided into three rooms, or functional areas.A storage room...well, it couldn't really be called a storage room, as it contained many items needed by the funeral home, neatly stacked.

One is the morgue, there is no body inside, Karen also didn't see a freezer.Karen didn't ask why they didn't buy a freezer, because she believed that if she asked, Aunt Mary would answer, "Are you crazy? That's too expensive!"But this also shows that the business of the Inmores family is not very big, they don't need to "stock up".But from another perspective, it can also be seen that no matter what era or cultural background, the business of the dead... is really profitable.The last room is Aunt Mary's workspace, where she needs to do "makeup" for the bodies.Even if a person was very good-looking during their lifetime, they will become very... ordinary after death.Not to mention there are many who did not die a natural death, which means even more work.For a regular welfare case, only the face needs to be taken care of, and if there are no relatives, they won't care about anything else. But for big cases, the relatives are willing to spend more money to make everything more exquisite, including cleaning the whole body, trimming the nails, and even arranging the coffin, clothes, priest's prayers, and the layout of the funeral scene, etc. All of these can be categorized into different levels.Karen helped Aunt Mary push the stretcher into the workspace.Aunt Mary pulled over a chair and sat down, then placed an ashtray on the stretcher, almost facing Jeff's face.

"Pa..." Aunt Mary lit a cigarette, took a puff, and slowly exhaled. Aside from her "sharp and sarcastic" flaw, Aunt Mary was indeed quite attractive. Even though she was getting older, she still had a certain charm. Of course, no matter how much of a lady a woman may be, if she is tricked by her own uncle into doing this kind of work, it's hard to maintain a dignified and graceful demeanor. Karen stared at the cigarette in Aunt Mary's hand. Aunt Mary noticed and gave a slight smile, pushing the cigarette box towards Karen. Karen reached out, took one, and lit it with a lighter.

Took a sip."Cough...cough...cough...vomit..."A strong feeling of nausea rose up, and Karen covered her chest and started coughing violently."Hehehe, hahaha..."Aunt Mary laughed until tears came out.This scene was not intentionally acted out by Karen. In his previous life, he was a heavy smoker, but this body had not been poisoned by nicotine. Both his body and brain were now strongly rejecting the toxin.Aunt Mary put out her cigarette,First, she checked Jeff's body and confirmed that there were no other injuries. Then, she tried to straighten Jeff's face.Just a simple touch-up and this job would be done. After the guys came back, they could put clothes on Jeff and take him up. With this weather, they could even skip the preservation process."Hmm?"

Aunt Mary let go of her hand and said to Karen, "You try, I can't do it." "Oh, okay." Karen put out her cigarette, reached out her hand, one hand pressed Jeff's neck, and the other hand dragged Jeff's right cheek. Exerting force, exerting force, exerting force... Jeff's face slowly began to return to normal. But what surprised Karen was that, to be precise, Aunt Mary standing next to her couldn't tell that when she was exerting force to straighten Jeff's face, she could clearly feel that Jeff's body was exerting force to the right... It didn't seem like she was straightening the face of a dead person, but more like wrestling with a living person!

This discovery made Karen's heart sink slightly. However, just as he was about to let go, he suddenly noticed that the force he was struggling against had disappeared. No...it was after he let go that Jeff's head,"Squeak squeak squeak..."He returned to his normal position!Jeff's eyes suddenly opened wide and stared at Karen. His mouth began to move frantically, making a sound similar to a group of mice gnawing on wood.Karen instinctively took two steps back and leaned against the wall. Then, with a loud crash,

It felt like someone had hit the back of his head with a shovel.Karen curled up his body,His vision also became blurry,But he resisted losing control of his surroundings in this situation,He immediately endured the intense pain in the back of his head and lifted his head,In his field of vision,There was a sea of red,Karen stumbled backwards,As he retreated, his vision continued to rise,He saw that the red he was seeing was a high-heeled shoe, above the shoe was a very tall leg, a white leg, and on the other side, there was a similar giant high-heeled shoe and leg on top...

Myself,Like a little mouse, standing next to a person's feet."Thump..."Karen lost her balance and fell to the ground.He didn't know if this was a dream or if he was having a hallucination due to his mental illness...Until,"Drip..."A thick liquid fell on him, completely soaking his upper body.Karen slowly lifted his head,He saw,

Above oneself,Between these huge legs,There is a woman's face,Looking at oneself with curiosity and a smile,At the same time,From her slightly parted lips, droplets of saliva occasionally fall."Hiss...hiss...hiss..."Mixed with the sound of electric current, it is unclear where it is coming from,A deep and magnetic middle-aged male voice sounds:"Don't be afraid, beautiful and charming lady...just craving your body."