Chapter 4 The night shift begins
Get up, wash up, it’s another beautiful day. Liu Jun simply packed up his things, ran to the gate of the community and bought a drawer of steamed buns and a cup of soy milk. This is his daily breakfast. There was no way, given the living conditions, if he wanted to eat well, his brother named Qian would not let him.
Took out his mobile phone and checked the time. It was exactly seven o'clock. Liu Jun walked to the bus stop and continued to wait for the bus. While the bus didn't come, I ate the steamed buns with big mouthfuls.
At this time, a girl with a ponytail and jeans walked by. Liu Jun had an impression of this girl. She always waited for the bus at seven o'clock on time and got off at the District Hospital stop. During this time, he came out We often meet on the bus.
Bus 301 not far away is slowly approaching. Bus 301 is the only bus from Liu Jun to Zhiyang Road. There is no need to reverse the bus.
Liu Jun finished the remaining steamed buns in two mouthfuls, got on the bus in a hurry, and happened to stand next to the girl. A faint fragrance came, and the girl looked at him without saying a word.
Oh, under the gaze of the beautiful woman, Liu Jun immediately puffed out his chest and tightened his abdomen. He had no choice but to lie fat in the hospital. He was so unattractive with a beer belly, and he almost choked himself along the way.
However, Liu Jun did not dare to talk to the girl. He was neither a pervert nor a love expert, so he just stood next to the girl until the girl got off at the station.
"Good morning, Aunt Wang. Are you cleaning the door again?"
As he walked into the door of the store, Liu Jun said hello to Aunt Wang from another funeral shop next to him. Although we are friends in the same business, we still have a good relationship on this street. If someone is out of stock, if we are in a hurry, we can go to the nearby store to get goods at cost price. Moreover, the neighbors are quite in awe of the old man, although I don’t know why. .
"Xiao Liu is here, have you eaten? If you don't mind not eating, there are some eggs I boiled in the house. I can bring them to you to eat?" As she spoke, Aunt Wang walked into the house.
Aunt Wang is very familiar with Liu Jun. When they first came here, they were not familiar with each other and they didn't talk much.
Later, a big rat came into Aunt Wang’s shop, which frightened her so much that he howled. Liu Jun heard the shouting in the shop next to him, and immediately rushed over and had a fierce fight with the big rat. , although they did not achieve a decisive victory and caught the big mouse, they were able to expel it and drive it out of the store.
Since then, Aunt Wang has become more familiar with Liu Jun. She often says hello to him and asks if he has eaten when they meet him in the morning.
"No, no, no need, Aunt Wang, I had breakfast when I came here. Seriously, I'm not fooling you, I'm really not trying to be polite to you." Liu Jun opened the door and saw Aunt Wang about to enter. He went to get something out of the house and said quickly, fearing that Aunt Wang would really take out eggs for him.
"Okay, just tell me if you haven't eaten yet. You don't need to be polite to your Aunt Wang." Aunt Wang said.
"Okay, okay, Aunt Wang." Liu Jun said to Aunt Wang as he opened the store door and walked inside.
Liu Jun walked into the store, picked up a broom and swept the floor, wiped the table, and moved some wreaths, burning paper coins, etc. to the door to make it easier for customers to buy.
He saw other stores putting paper on the door, so he moved it once. Then, after he moved out, the old man asked him to move it back again.
Liu Jun didn’t understand what was going on here. He had never been exposed to this thing before, not even to the entire funeral industry.
I just heard from the old man that there are certain things to do when tying people with paper. You can't pierce them casually, buy them casually, let alone burn them casually. It's easy to violate taboos.
Most people may think that it's just paper pricking people. Liu Jun thought so before, but then he checked it out when he had nothing to do, and then he realized that this thing is also a kind of folk art. You don't Misunderstanding, it is a kind of folk art, just like paper-cutting, clay sculpture, painting, etc., it is a traditional folk art.
To put it bluntly, they are craftsmen who eat dead people. This industry has existed since ancient times, and there are many strict rules and taboos. If the old man hadn't told Liu Jun, he really wouldn't understand these things. After all, a socialist young man with three good qualities, why should he care about these things. For example, I don’t know if you have carefully observed the paper figures you have seen. These paper figures don’t have eyes painted on them. Why don’t they have eyes painted on them? Because of folklore, paper figures with painted eyes will come to life.
In fact, the paper man is not alive, but has painted eyes. This paper man is equivalent to a person without an owner, and can easily be taken advantage of by lonely ghosts.
For example, the color of the paper figures is also very particular. Paper figures are usually boys and girls. The so-called boys and girls, boys must use red, and virgins must use green. These cannot be mixed, because if they are mixed, they will be useless.
Many people want to ask, what colors are used in the paper sports cars made by many paper shops? What color are used in the paper buildings? Haha, this is embarrassing for Liu Jun. He doesn't know. After all, his ancestors didn't think of so many tricks when they passed down this craft.
Some people with better conditions will also burn paper cows and horses. This is also very particular. There is a saying called taking office, everyone has probably heard of it, that is, the living people think that the dead man has gone to take office somewhere else, so what is burned is a paper horse. As for why the woman burned the paper cow? There are two rumors. First, because women do a lot of housework, washing, boiling water for cooking, etc., and waste a lot of water. They are afraid of going to the underworld and being punished by water, so they burn paper cows and go there to help drink water, so as to reduce the punishment. The second is that she is afraid that the woman will be tired there, so she has a good understanding of human nature and can go and help.
Whether you believe it or not, these are the rules passed down from the older generation. They are strict and make some sense, and this industry will not change easily.
Don’t touch or destroy the paper placed at the door of the store to tie people up, because the ones placed at the door are basically ordered by others. If they are destroyed, it will easily cause trouble. , at least you caused trouble for the paper shop.
Liu Jun was making paper figurines in the shop when the old man staggered in. At first glance, he looked like he was hungover and unconscious after drinking too much. There are still some people who think this bad old man is a master of Taoism. Have you ever seen a master of Taoism who is faltering?
"Little bastard, you didn't go back from get off work yesterday. Have you seen Mo Li? From now on, you will work with Mo Li at night, learn something from her, and usually sleep in the store." The old man said drunkenly.
"Why, I can't stand it without a vacation, and you still want me to work 24 hours a day? Stop calling me Qingfengzi, just call me Li Papi. I'll do it to whomever I want, but I won't do it anyway!" Liu Jun was immediately angry,
Liu Jun had heard the old man say before that his surname was Li, his Taoist name was Qingfengzi, Qingfengzi, Qinglunzi was almost the same, and he was crazy every day.
“The salary will be increased by one thousand,” the old man said calmly.
"Don't do it" is a joke. Is this a matter of money? In life, you have to balance work and rest. When can you make money?" Liu Jun replied firmly.
"I tell you, money is important to you. It doesn't matter to me. In ancient times, Tao Yuanming didn't bend down for five buckets of rice. Today, I, Liu, don't work the night shift for one thousand yuan. It's wonderful. "Liu Jun looked like a gentleman.
"Salary plus three thousand! "
"Impossible, this is not about money. "
"Salary plus four thousand! This is 10,000 yuan a month, oh, 10,000 yuan," the old man said, squinting his eyes.
"I think it is not convenient for Mo Li, a beautiful girl, to look after the store by herself at night. If there are so many people with evil intentions, it would be too dangerous for her as a girl. I have decided that I will also help in the future. Night shift. What are you looking at, old man? I'm not doing this for money, I'm doing this for Mo Li's safety. As a man, I should be tired and suffer. Alas, in today's society, people like me always think about other people. There are not many promising young people left." Liu Jun said that he even admired himself.
"Haha" the old man said speechlessly. This little bastard is so shameless. I can't fool him without adding money. Why is it so difficult for me to recruit a disciple? This kid has no moral foundation and bad bones. His character is even more worrying. If he wants to If it weren't for the inheritance left by his ancestor that chose him, he wouldn't even think of accepting such a thing as his apprentice even if he were beaten to death.
(End of this chapter)