13 Mingke Street

Chapter 4 Identity Crisis

"13 Mingke Street, Chapter Four of the Main Text: Identity Crisis. "Hey, what are you thinking about?" Mina, who had just helped Karen with her nose, saw her cousin staring out the window and asked curiously. In the past, her cousin may have been a bit reclusive due to the loss of his parents. After finishing junior high, he didn't go to high school and stayed at home, rarely interacting with others."

Recently, after this serious illness, although my brother seemed a bit "lost" at first, he has become more cheerful than before and is willing to talk to him."Oh, I'm thinking about whether to continue going to school."Karen gently rubbed her nose, the pain was not as strong as before, and there was a cotton ball stuffed in her nose, which should be able to be removed soon.Before, he was actually thinking about what happened in the basement and the scenes in his dream. Was it just a coincidence related to his "body" and "spirit", or did he really encounter a "supernatural event"?After all, for the latter, the basement had already contained most of the triggering conditions.But, in the end, it was just a dream. No matter how terrifying the nightmare was, the feeling of palpitations would dissipate immediately after waking up.Afterwards, Karen spent more time thinking about his future path.He didn't think that as a "transmigrator", he could easily make a fortune and have a successful life;But as someone who started from scratch in his previous life, he had enough confidence to make a decent living in this "new world" with his abilities and qualities.

After all, no matter what, the identity of "Karen" has brought to oneself, whether it is helpful or not, and regardless of any burden, it is nothing at all.That's enough."My brother used to hate going to school the most." Mina said with a smile.The previous Karen was somewhat inclined towards autism patients, so naturally he wouldn't like crowded places like school."Going to school is very important, especially when you're young." Karen said seriously, "The vast majority of people, when they grow up and become adults, will regret why they didn't work harder and endure more hardships when they were young.""The tone of my brother's words is just like mom's.""Hehe." Karen shrugged, "Mina, can you pour me a glass of water?""Sure, brother."The younger sister obediently went to help pour water.Karen then opened the windows in the room, letting in the fresh air. He took a deep breath, then closed the windows again. The wind is so cold.

Turning back, Karen saw the black cat Poer had appeared at her bedside at some point, crawling there with its cat eyes staring at her and occasionally turning its neck to look up and down."Poer, tsk tsk tsk..."Karen tried to play with the black cat using the universal language for cats and dogs.Poer tilted its head, not taking the bait.Karen walked closer and the black cat wasn't afraid, after all, Karen was also a member of the family. Karen reached out and petted the cat's head."Meow..."Poer turned its head, seemingly not enjoying this kind of affection."Why did grandpa give you such a difficult name." Karen muttered to herself, "Poer...Poer, huh, it would be better to call you Puer, it sounds much fresher."The black cat shifted its body, clearly not happy with this new name that sounded similar to its original one.Mina brought a glass of water and said,

"Mom is on the phone looking for Dad.""Hmm?"In this era, cell phones haven't been invented yet, so using a landline to call someone is actually very inefficient.Furthermore, if nothing unexpected happens, Uncle Mason should be driving his hearse and drifting on some street.After Minna finished delivering water to Karen, she casually picked up a cloth to wipe the windowsill. Originally, the Inmerleis family had two maids, one responsible for cleaning and housework, and the other specialized in cooking. But after Uncle Mason's family and Aunt Winnie and her daughter returned, the two maids were also fired by Grandpa.On weekdays, Minna, her brother Lunt, and Aunt's daughter Chris do the housework together, while the three meals are alternately cooked by Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie.Everyone in the family has their own "job", so Karen is actually the one with the most free time.This also shows that Grandpa Dis, who has always been strict, is indeed different from others when it comes to treating this eldest grandson.At this time, Grandpa walked upstairs.Minna immediately stood up straight, and Karen, who was holding a glass of water, also stood up straight.

Many times, whether there are rules in the family or not does not depend on the so-called "family education" and "tradition", but on whether there is someone in the family who makes you respect and fear.Di's gaze swept over his grandchildren, lingering a little longer on his grandson, and didn't say anything. He pushed open his room door and walked in.The tense atmosphere in the air only returned to "circulation" after the sound of the door closing.Karen breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Mina, who was also doing the same thing."Grandpa, it seems like you're busy every day." Karen asked."Yes, there's a lot to do in the church, and grandpa often goes on business trips." Mina replied.As they were talking, the door to grandpa's room was pushed open from the inside, and grandpa, now dressed in a "priest" outfit, came out again, carrying a black box in his hand."I won't be back for lunch." Di said."Oh, okay, grandpa." Mina responded immediately.Di walked down the stairs.

Not long after, Karen saw her grandfather walking into the courtyard downstairs through the window. The outfit on Dias clearly had religious connotations, but it seemed a bit different, giving her a strong sense of specificity. Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, Dias being a "priest" would help expand the family business, after all, his identity would easily gain the trust of church followers, and then...bring in more orders for the family. But Karen didn't think things were that simple. It wasn't until her grandfather pushed open the courtyard door and walked out that Karen suddenly realized the source of that "meaning". "Our grandfather is a bit like Uncle Nine." "Brother, who is Uncle Nine?" "A priest who specializes in catching vampires." "Oh, I see. Like in the dramas?" "Yes, exactly. Mina, do we have to search through everything here?" "Yes, and also the stairs."

"I'll help you.""But what about your health, brother?""It's not a problem."Karen started to help Mina mop the floor, and after finishing, she went to mop the stairs. When she went to change the bucket, Karen went to the yard where there was a big faucet, which made it easier to get water.At that moment, Uncle Mason came back in his modified "Nutshell" car. Ron and Paul pushed a stretcher down, with an old man lying on it. Karen saw the white hair covered by a white cloth.Uncle Mason was the first to run into the yard, not noticing Karen in the corner getting water, and went straight to Aunt Mary."Father is looking for you," Aunt Mary said."Where is father?" Uncle Mason's gaze was a bit unfocused.This was like a guilty conscience, afraid of being scolded by elders. Due to his professional habits from his past life, Karen paid attention to these details."Father just went out," Aunt Mary said.

"This..." Uncle Mason seemed to let out a sigh of relief, then said, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll go out and look for my father, maybe he's at the church.""Okay, you go then."Uncle Mason immediately ran outside and didn't even bother to drive the car.Aunt Mary didn't notice anything strange about her husband, as her attention was focused on the old man who had just been brought from the sanatorium. Soon, she heard Aunt Mary's scream:"Oh my God, why is there still feces on him!"...Paul and Ron, who failed to complete their task, were asked by Aunt Mary to take care of cleaning the body. Faced with her anger, they didn't dare to resist.

Paul first took the stretcher to the basement, while Ron walked up to Karen:"Master Karen, I need to borrow a bucket and mop.""I'll help you take it down.""No need, no need." Ron twisted his neck. He was tall and a little fat. Although he was not very old, his beer belly was already obvious. "We'll take care of it."Karen smiled and asked, "So why didn't you let the caregiver clean the body?"This should have been the job of the nursing home caregiver, to clean the body of the deceased client, otherwise it would not look good for the family to see their loved one's body dirty."I apologize for any inconvenience, Master." Ron scratched his head awkwardly. "I made an appointment with the caregiver who is responsible for Mr. Mosang to go see a movie in a few days."So that's why...Ron's face turned slightly red and he continued, "She said she likes watching movies and eating popcorn. When we watch the movie, she can feed me popcorn by hand, so... I don't want the hand that feeds me popcorn to have just wiped the body."

"Do you know, young master, it's really sweet when couples feed each other popcorn while watching a movie. In the dim light, when she puts the popcorn in your mouth, you can even use your tongue to lick her fingers. Oh my, it's so wonderful!""Are you dreaming?"Paul's voice came, he had already taken Mr. Mosang to the basement and now came up to get plastic gloves and laundry detergent."Paul, I know, you're just jealous of me!""Jealous of you? Come on, Ron, besides Mrs. Hughes, the owner of Hughes Crematorium, I doubt any other woman would be interested in you.""You're talking nonsense!"Ron pointed his finger at Paul in anger."Mrs. Hughes?" Karen asked curiously.It sounds like the owner of the crematorium is a wealthy woman, so why is Ron so worked up about her?

"Haha." Paul laughed and then explained, "Master Karen, you may not know this, but before cremating a body, we need to spray gasoline on it to help it burn. Thin people usually need more gasoline, otherwise the bones won't burn. But for fat people, the oil on their bodies can help with the burning.So, Mrs. Hughes from the crematorium loves people with Ron's body type the most, because he saves on gasoline.""I see.""Damn it, Paul, how dare you arrange this in front of Master Karen!""Let's go, let's go, let's go down and do our work, or Mrs. Mary will get angry again."Ron and Paul bickered as they carried things and went to the basement.In the hall, Aunt Mary lit a cigarette and her mood improved.Because Paul told her some good news, that this old man named Mosang has children and they will come later.If it's not a welfare case, it means there's money to be made, even if it's just the lowest level package, there's still profit to be made.And Aunt Mary's "salary" also depends on the "performance" of the family, after deducting expenses and leaving some profit, it will be given as a subsidy to the family.

The account is managed by Aunt Winnie.This is also the reason why the family is afraid of Grandpa but no one speaks ill of him behind his back. He is serious, but not a stingy and greedy old man.Karen returned to the second floor to help her cousin Mina wipe the furniture.When they were almost done, they heard Ron and Paul coming up from the basement. They had already cleaned up the body and now it was Aunt Mary's turn.Because the family members may come in the afternoon to arrange the funeral, it is necessary to handle the old man well at this time.However, it seems that there are guests in the house. Karen heard Aunt Mary calling her downstairs:"Karen, come down and entertain Mr. Hofen."Karen put down the cloth and searched in her mind for "Mr. Hofen":He is an old man, a retired philosophy professor, with a decent pension and a decent life. He is a good friend of Grandpa and often comes to have tea and chat with him.In addition, he is very interested in divination and once gave Karen a delicate deck of playing cards, not tarot cards... the kind that can be used to play Landlord.

Karen went to the kitchen on the second floor and made a cup of tea, then prepared some simple snacks and carried them to the living room on the first floor.Mr. Hofen was tall but thin;Thin people tend to have more three-dimensional features and more direct emotional expressions.When Karen saw him,She noticed that Mr. Hofen's gaze was locked directly on her.Even the pet golden retriever lying next to Mr. Hofen seemed to sense his owner's emotional fluctuations and slowly stood up, but it seemed a bit confused and didn't know what was wrong.It wasn't until it saw the Puer tea crawling at the stairs that it instinctively found something interesting and wanted to get up and go over.But Puer tea just glanced at it and the golden retriever immediately wilted and lay back down."I'm sorry, Mr. Hofen, my grandfather is out, but I think he will be back soon. My uncle has gone to find him."Karen put down the tea and said a polite phrase.

Who knew,Just at this moment,Mr. Hofen suddenly reached out and grabbed Karen's wrist, his whole face instantly pressed against hers, his breathing becoming extremely rapid,He spoke in a restrained but uncontrollable tone of excitement,Asking:"You're not Karen...who are you?"In an instant, a sense of danger rushed into Karen's mind. This danger came from the fact that the other person had torn apart her identity with just one glance, leaving Karen, who had already mentally prepared herself for half a month, feeling a bit at a loss.Karen instinctively took two steps back, trying to create some distance between her and Mr. Hofen,Unfortunately, Mr. Hofen, who was holding onto Karen's wrist, lost his balance and stumbled. He reached out to grab the table, but unfortunately, it was empty. His body fell forward and his forehead hit the edge of the table."Bang!"

A muffled sound rang out,Immediately after,Mr. Hofen fell backwards and his head hit the ceramic tiles with a heavy and unobstructed thud;"c***k!"Karen was shocked by the scene in front of her,The old man who had just directly pointed out her "identity issue" was now letting out more air than he was taking in;And,A large pool of blood began to seep out onto the living room tiles beneath his head.At that moment, Mina, who was still busy on the second floor, seemed to have heard the noise and shouted from the staircase:"Brother, what's happening downstairs?"

Karen licked her lips,Slowly straightened her body,And replied:"Mr. Houghfin had a stroke and fell."