[Act 1: The old house ushered in a thorny rose]

Interior: Lao Lin's house.

The lacquered surfaces of mahogany furniture have been mottled and the yellowed surface of TVs and air conditioners can even be traced back to the last century. It's more like a furnishing than a functional appliance. The living room of the whole old living room house is old and dim, but it is well kept and spotlessly clean.

At home at night, he wears a suit, which is decent, but definitely out of place.

His face was blank and gloomy, his eyes were lowered, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

But the whole room, including the old man, seemed to freeze.

Depressed, lonely.

"Is anyone at home? Is Lin Damu at home? I am from the community, and the comrades from the civil administration have come to look for you!"

The silence was chilling, and the knock on the door exploded like thunder.

This woke up Lin Damu, who was already outside the wandering object, he got up a little dazedly, looked at the suit on his body and hesitated, but still went over and opened the door.

Interior: Outside the door.

The aunt of the community and two women with work badges stood there.

"Excuse me, it's Lin Wan's father, right?"

Faced with the staff's inquiry, Lao Lin: "She's dead?"

The staff was stunned and shook their heads: "No, but I entered a drug rehabilitation center." ”

Talking about his daughter, the old man hesitated for a moment and said, "She has been away from home for more than ten years, and she hasn't contacted me for nearly ten years. I don't know the situation either. ”

"Old comrade, you misunderstood. We are not from the police station, but we came this time because Lin Wan was forced to undergo drug rehabilitation, and her daughter had no one to take care of. Lin Wan explained before entering the drug rehabilitation center and asked us to send her daughter to you. ”

In Lao Lin's surprised and complicated gaze, the two civil affairs officers dodged away, and a pale-faced girl stood behind them.

She kept her head down, her long hair covering half of her cheeks. But there was stubbornness in those dark eyes. Different from the thin coat worn by the two civil affairs officers and the community aunt, there is also a thick, not very clean cotton coat on the body.

The moment the light from the door shone on her, the girl glanced at her quickly, perhaps nervously, her hands picking at her nails.

"Old comrade, this child's situation is quite special. I just got dropped out of school because of stealing and fighting, so you'll have to take care of it. Don't let her get into any more trouble, or she will end up in a juvenile detention center. ”

In Lin Damu's silence, the civil affairs officer explained a few words, took a document and stuffed it into Lin Damu's hand, and then left.

With the departure of the civil affairs officer and the community aunt, only two characters remained, one old and one young.

The gate with the word Fu attached to it divides the picture into two.

An old man in a decent black suit stood in a room with yellow lights. A little sloppy little girl, standing in the dark corridor.

The light in the room seemed to be a drawbridge, and it was set up in front of the girl through the door.

In the eyes of the old and the young, who are both resistant and scrutinizing, three white minimalist art words slowly emerge in the picture - "The Undertaker"

Interior: Lao Lin's house.

In silence, Lin Damu opened the door of a room and silently laid the vacant single bed neatly.

"This used to be Lin Wan's house. ”

Laying out a clean futon, the old man wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said coldly: "I'll contact you to borrow school tomorrow, and when Lin Yun comes out of the drug rehabilitation center, you leave quickly." ”

Faced with the old man's indifference, the girl frowned.

"Do you think I'm willing to stay with you? You don't know how comfortable I was before I came here!"

Facing the stubborn girl, the old man turned away coldly.

"Quieter at night, poor soundproofing of the house. ”

Looking at the back of the old man going out, the girl wrinkled her nose fiercely. However, as the door was closed, looking at the neat room in front of her, the girl slowly took off her schoolbag and cotton clothes.

There was only a half-sleeve inside the cotton suit, and the two arms that were exposed were bruised.

Obviously, she hadn't had a lot of experience before.

Interior: Lao Lin's house

It's been a few days.

The girl's half sleeves have been washed, and the bruises on her body have faded a lot.

In the living room, the old man received a phone call. After solemnly thanking the other end, he told the girl the news that the borrowing was completed.

Hearing the school, the girl's pupils narrowed.

While the old man was dressing, the girl biting her lip sneaked into the kitchen and chose a small kitchen knife and stuffed it into the compartment of the schoolbag.

She didn't notice her movements, and was already seen by the old man in front of the dressing mirror at the door through the mirror.

So, when the girl went back to the house to get her clothes, the old man silently replaced the kitchen knife with a bear toy on the TV......

When a person treats others with kindness, there is a high probability that they will receive kindness.

When a person resists life, life is likely to turn her away.

Interior: School class.

The girl, who had armed herself with indifference from the inside to the outside, was in trouble on her first day of school, just as she had expected.

In the face of the provocation of the female classmates in the class, and the sentence "there are things that are born by mothers and not raised by mothers", the angry girl took out the "murder weapon bear" in her schoolbag and swung it at her classmates.

On her first day of study, the girl became the laughing stock of the class and was suspended for 10 days for fighting with her classmates.

Interior view: Lao Lin's living room.

The girl blamed it all on the nosy old man.

"Who gave you the right to turn over the bag and move my things?"

The face of the girl is not so imposing, as if to hide the anger of the weak heart. The old man just casually turned on his TV, leaned back on his sofa, and announced who was the owner of the room.

"What are you going to do with a knife, don't you think about the consequences before you do something? ”

Faced with the angry girl, the old man looked at the soap opera on TV and asked.

"The consequences of! Lao Tzu only knows that if you are not fierce, others will press you in the mud and bully you! Your precious daughter, since Lao Tzu can remember, has been a foreigner everywhere I have been a transfer student for so many years! There has never been a shortage of people to bully.

Do you think I don't want to be good? I tried to make friends with them, but what? They were happy to play with me for a while, and when they were unhappy, they bullied me.

Why? Because I'm a transfer student, a transfer student without a father!

Later, I learned to be smart, I don't look at other people's faces. Whoever bullied me, I picked up the sharpest and hardest stone and tile on the ground, and I stared at him. Stare for a day, for a month, while she is not paying attention. Poof~~ I'll go over! They should look at my face from now on. Give them a good face if I want to give them a good face, and give them a bad face if I want to give them a bad face. ”

Facing his granddaughter with an angry face, the old man frowned: "You didn't think that it would be a dead person?"

"What about the dead? I'm not eighteen years old. ”

The granddaughter's words shocked the old man.

Looking at that immature, senseless, and disrespectful face for life, he was stunned for more than ten seconds.

His gaze ranged from surprise, suspicion, to regret, and amazement.

Finally, it was calm.

"From tomorrow onwards, you and I will go to work together. ”

The TV was turned off, and the old man returned to his room.

The next day, the girl followed the old man out.

Interior: A moving bus.

On the bus, looking at the old man dressed in formal clothes, the girl couldn't help but wonder: "You haven't retired yet?"

"Nope. ”

"What kind of work?"

"You'll find out in a moment. ”

Exterior view: Outside the funeral home.

An old man and a young man appeared in front of the funeral home.

"Y-What did you bring me here for?"

"Didn't you say last night, what about the dead?"

Facing the horror on his granddaughter's face, the old man smiled faintly.

Just then, a hearse pulled up beside the two. Several funeral home workers lifted a stretcher covered with a white cloth from the back compartment.

"Master Li, I'm about to look for you. There's a customer who has been in a car accident, and you have to take action yourself. ”

In the girl's round eyes, the old man nodded to several staff members, deliberately let the girl see, and lifted the white cloth on the stretcher.

Brush!

As the white cloth was lifted, a shaqima-like body with its head torn apart, flesh and blood blurred, and a foot was stepped on, appeared in front of the girl!

[Act II: It turns out that rotten mud can also grow flowers]

Exterior: At night, on the street outside the old house.

Seeing the dim corridor in front of him, Si Yuan, who was as fierce as a little tiger before, stopped. Looking at the old man in front of him who had just been in the funeral parlor, calmly mending the sewing of a corpse with a large seam, Si Yuan trembled.

Hearing that there were no footsteps behind him, Lao Lin turned around and took a step back: "What's wrong?"

Seeing him approaching, the girl jumped away like a startled cat: "Don't come here, don't come near me, I don't want to go back, I ...... Wow!"

Wow, the girl who was frightened by the scene in the funeral home just now sat on the ground and cried.

"I want to go home! I, I'm scared. ”

The first time he faced the impact of a dead corpse, it finally broke out at this moment.

The girl was crazy, rubbing her hands and slapping her body—as if she felt that the clothes that Lao Lin had washed her were stained with blood and brains.

Seeing the girl's collapse, Lao Lin's eyes darkened, and he seemed to feel a little guilty.

"Follow me. ”

He turned and walked out of the alley, leading the girl to a nearby bath.

Interior: In front of the bath counter.

Seeing Lao Lin enter the door, the proprietress greeted her familiarly. Seeing Si Yuan following behind him, he was stunned: "Lao Lin, what is this?"

"I ...... A relative's child, who lives here for a few days. Went with me to the unit...... You... Give her a good wash and wash herself. ”

In the face of Lao Lin's request, the proprietress of the bathhouse smiled slightly, revealing a clear expression.

But at this moment, a girl in a school uniform entered the hall of the bathhouse. Seeing Si Yuan, he was stunned: "Yo, isn't this the eldest sister who cuts off people's heads with a little bear?"

It's none other than the classmate who had a conflict with Si Yuan at school before - Xiao Yun, the daughter of the bathhouse proprietress.

While talking, the female classmate saw Lao Lin again.

Seeing him and Si Yuan standing together, he showed a clear expression: "No wonder, I'll just say where you turned around." Dare to love you as a family. A freak who eats dead people's food, and a freak who cuts people with teddy bears, is quite compatible. ”

"Xiao Yun, how do you speak?"

In the face of her daughter's rudeness, the proprietress smiled awkwardly at Lao Lin and Si Yuan, blasted her daughter upstairs, and pulled Si Yuan into the ladies bath area.

Interior: Women's bathroom.

The proprietress scrubbed the girl's whole body, and in the heat, the girl finally stopped shivering.

"Ah, Auntie. Can you stay here? I want to stay here tonight. ”

Feeling the girl's fear, the proprietress smiled while rubbing her back: "We don't accept accommodation here, but if you are really afraid, you will live in a room with my daughter Xiaoyun at night." ”

"......" despair appeared in the girl's eyes.

Feeling her body tremble again, the proprietress smiled slightly: "Lao Lin's work is a little scary, but the person is very good." Don't look at him with a straight face all day long, and he doesn't speak when he sees anyone. In fact, that's their rule, knowing that what they are doing is for nothing, I'm afraid that they will be too enthusiastic and taboo......"

While wiping the girl's body, the proprietress said interesting things about Lao Lin. Neighbors for more than ten years are sometimes more like relatives than relatives.

Listening to these minutiae of life, the trembling on the girl's body slowly stopped.

An old man who lives in trivialities is far more likely to make people psychologically close than an undertaker who calmly disposes of the body in a funeral home.

Interior: Bath hall.

"Lao Lin, why are you taking her to the unit? Look at the child. ”

In the hall of the bath, while the girl was dressing, the proprietress blamed Lao Lin.

"Alas," Lao Lin shook his head, but he didn't say anything about the kitchen knife and the bear. Just took out the money from his pocket and handed it to the proprietress "Thank you." ”

"Old acquaintance, what's polite?"

The proprietress pursed her lips and smiled, pushing the money back.

Interior view: At night, Lao Lin's house, Xiao Yuan's bedroom.

When the girl got home, she locked herself in the hut.

Silently sat on the bed with her knees in her hands for a long, long time, until late at night, the girl still couldn't sleep.

As if to keep herself from being reminded of the horrific scene in the funeral parlor, she rummaged through the cupboard next to her bed and found a large rattan box inside.

When she opened the rattan box, she was stunned to see the objects that were clearly the little girl and the photos of her mother when she was a child.

Fiddling with those trivial, useless little things one by one, she seemed to see the soul of her mother, who was always moving, always returning drunk at night.

However, just as the girl was thinking about the pile of objects, thinking of her mother's life when she was a child, her door was pushed open by Lao Lin.

Seeing the box on the girl's bed, Lao Lin looked at it for a while before his face was gloomy, and he collected the small bits and pieces one by one and threw them into the closet.

Lao Lin: "I just received a call that I want to go to the unit." You're at home by yourself, are you okay?"

Facing Lao Lin's cold inquiry, the girl's eyes widened.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Lao Lin turned around and left, got dressed and went out.

In the house, only the girl herself was left.

Listening to the ticking of the clock on the wall, she shivered.

The dim light casts a shadow behind everything in the room. The shadows of various shapes glowed ghostly distorted in the cramped room.

With her teeth shivering, the girl stiffened and jumped out of bed.

"Wait, wait for me! I don't want to be home alone!"

People are more afraid of the unknown and loneliness than the certainty of death.

Although he had a very strong resistance to the funeral home, Si Yuan, who was afraid that he was alone at home, still followed Lao Lin to the funeral home.

Interior: Funeral home

When the young colleague saw Lao Lin, he complained with a bitter face: "Master Lin, I'm sorry to toss you over at night." But I can't really do this job. ”

Facing the bitter face of his colleague, Lao Lin patted Si Yuan, who unconsciously grabbed his sleeve, and asked, "Where is the body?"

The colleague looked at the girl who was holding Lao Lin's sleeve and widened his eyes: "Inside." Yo, Lao Lin, what is this?"

"I'm a ......" In the face of a colleague's inquiry, Lao Lin wanted to sacrifice the words of "relative's daughter", but looking at the girl who was leaning against him and swinging all over, it seemed that it was a little difficult to spit out the coping words.

"Granddaughter. ”

Colleague: "Why haven't I heard you talk about it before?"

Facing his colleagues' chatter and praise for Si Yuan's politeness, Lao Lin squirmed his lips and said, "She...... I've never been to this kind of place before, so you can take her to ...... Avoid it. ”

"I don't. ”

Lao Lin is kind-hearted and doesn't want the little girl to face the body with him again. But he forgot that this bullied girl was unusually wary of strangers.

Faced with his granddaughter's stubbornness, Lao Lin smiled helplessly.

Put on the protective suit, put on disposable gloves, and walked to the disposal room.

When the door was pushed open, Lao Lin and his colleagues wrinkled their noses at the same time. And Si Yuan, who insisted on following her grandfather on the side, collapsed again - she bowed down directly.

"Gross!"

Looking at his granddaughter who was holding the trash can and vomiting, Lao Lin walked to the disposal table with a wrinkled nose and slowly lifted the white cloth covering the corpse.

It was a swollen body with purple flesh that had begun to decompose.

Lao Lin frowned when he saw such a body.

On the side, the colleague pinched his nose and said: "The old lady doesn't know how many days she has been gone, and it took a few days for the neighbor to smell the smell and couldn't stand it, so she called the police to find out." Hey, a few children were contacted by the police before they learned that their mother was gone. Tsk, when I sent it over, I said that the old man liked to be clean when he was alive, so let's tidy up the remains. Guess what, Master Lin, put the body here, and the person will go home! Hey, it's like his own mother is dead!"

Looking at the body fixedly, Lao Lin nodded: "Got it, leave it to me." ”

Pushing his colleagues away, Lao Lin picked up the alcohol cotton.

[Close-up of Lao Lin, long shot]

Lao Lin bowed solemnly to the body, picked up the alcohol swab, and gently and carefully wiped the body. As if treating a lover, he sorted out the remains of the deceased.

The process was long and sacred, as if he were not dealing with a corpse, but with an unfinished landscape painting being carved into a jade......

[Close-up of Ohara]

Looking at Lao Lin's treatment of the corpse, the fear in Xiao Yuan's eyes slowly dissipated.

[Act III: Don't Cry, It's Not Really the End]

After seeing Lao Lin bury the body of the old man who died alone at home for a few days and gave dignity to the deceased, Si Yuan's work and attitude towards Lao Lin quietly changed.

During the ten days that she was ordered to suspend her studies by the school, the little girl and Lao Lin went to work and got off work together. Seeing more bodies, the fear in the girl's heart slowly lessened.

Although the funeral home is still cold and gloomy, here, through those who have passed away, she feels something different;

The old man, who was ugly before his death and wanted to use his appearance to surprise and comfort his wife, let the girl see her husband's love and care for his wife.

The young man who died of martyrdom did not wait for the goodbye of the object of his admiration at the funeral. Let the girl think about what kind of form love should be.

The wife who died in a car accident died suddenly at work......

The girl is like a cat hiding in the cracks of the furniture, with Lao Lin entering the funeral one by one, as an observing character, she experiences the cold and warmth, light and darkness of this world in death.

During this time, she and Lao Lin didn't have much communication. I just often go to the bathhouse to take a bath and talk to the proprietress about some things about Lao Lin.

The girl inquired several times about the relationship between Lao Lin and her mother, but unfortunately, before the bathhouse proprietress moved here, Lao Lin had already fallen out with her daughter.

In a flash, the days of suspension were over, and the girl went back to school.

I don't know how the relationship between her and Lao Lin has spread in the school, a small town, a special person like Lao Lin, it is impossible not to be known.

As a relative of the mortuary who earns money from the dead, and the previous conflict, the girl was naturally isolated.

She still receives unprovoked provocations at school from time to time.

But compared to the violence when she first arrived in the town, after really seeing death and ignorant understanding the meaning of death, the girl chose to treat these provocations and discrimination coldly.

She still has no friends, but the "thorns" and indifference that she deliberately put on her body to protect herself when she first came to the town have unconsciously dissipated.

It didn't take long for the girl to finally get her first real friend in the town.

But this friendship is born of a death.

Just two months after the girl arrived in town, the bathhouse proprietress accidentally slipped while cleaning the bath and died.

As an old friend and neighbor, the funeral of the bathhouse proprietress was handled by Lao Lin.

At the funeral, Lao Lin seemed to be a little sentimental, and when someone who really experienced the death of a familiar person, Si Yuan could no longer put himself in the perspective of a bystander to treat this funeral.

Looking at the bloodless boss lady, Si Yuan remembered the situation when he chatted with the boss lady in the past some time;

This woman's biggest problem is that she stays in the bathhouse every day, and the stuffy and humid environment makes her usually only wear those loose and comfortable home clothes and bathrobes, and she can't wear makeup like those ladies on the street.

When chatting with Si Yuan, she would occasionally show Si Yuan those beautiful clothes and gray lipstick in her makeup bag.

Every time I talked to Si Yuan about these things before I was alive, the proprietress complained with a face.

So, when her classmate, the boss lady's daughter Orange Orange was sad and devastated, Si Yuan ran back to the bathhouse and pried open the boss lady's room.

In her wardrobe, she found the gorgeous cheongsam that the proprietress had shown her and a lot of cosmetics that she hadn't used much, and returned to the funeral home to give them to Lao Lin.

With the joint efforts of Lao Lin and Si Yuan, the remains of the proprietress were painted into the appearance she hoped for before her death.

The gorgeous cheongsam highlights the delicate grace of the body hidden under the bathrobe all the year round, and the flaming red lips make her last look look charming and moving.

Seeing his mother's last appearance, rebellious, and always prejudiced against Lao Lin and disgusted with Si Yuan's orange orange, he cried and turned his back on his anger.

The woman who restricts her every day and nagged her is gone. Those ways that belong only to mothers will never be again.

As an old friend, Lao Lin personally sent the proprietress to the crematorium and sent her body to the crematorium.

Looking at the old man who was about to be cremated, Lao Lin's face was a little sad, looking at the sad daughter of the old man beside him, he seemed to be talking to himself, and as if he was comforting;

"Death is a door, it doesn't mean the end of life. Rather, it goes through it and into another phase. It's really a great honor for me to be able to send her through this door as a gatekeeper and say that there will be a good journey in the future. ”

Orange Orange and Si Yuan, who were in grief, were at a loss in the face of Lao Lin's words, and they still couldn't understand what Lao Lin meant by this.

Seeing the girls sobbing uncontrollably, Lao Lin smiled;

"Man dies three times in this life. Your heart stops beating, your breath disappears, and you're biologically declared dead. The second time, when you are buried, people come to the funeral dressed in black to announce your death, and you cease to exist in this society.

And the third time is when the last person in this world remembers you forgets you. At that point, you are truly dead. The whole universe will no longer be about you.

So...... Don't cry, it's not really the end. ”

In the thoughtfulness and sobbing of the two girls, Lao Lin pressed the button of the crematorium.

As Lao Lin's button was pressed, the lid of the incinerator seemed to slowly close as if it were a door to another world.

Observing the mouth, orange-red flames rise.

Dissolving shots, as the raging flames devour the glamorous body of the proprietress and a flock of swans appear dimly in the picture.

As those beautiful elves spread their wings and flew into the sky, the life of the proprietress seemed to return to heaven and earth......

[Act IV: The beginning and end are beautiful, no matter how bad the process is?]

After the bathhouse proprietress died and Lao Lin saw her off, Si Yuan returned to school.

Compared to her previous loneliness, she now has a friend - the daughter of the proprietress who has just lost her mother, classmate Orange.

One is because of my mother's forced drug rehabilitation and stepped into a new living environment, and the other is because my mother's death has suffered a great change in my life.

The camaraderie may not be pure, it's more about needing each other than appreciating each other – but one way or another, it was born.

Two girls who are also full of confusion about life and the future have been inseparable since then.

They went to school together, in a daze in class at all knowledge they didn't understand, slipped to the stone bridge outside the town after school, thought about their own thoughts to the willow buds and reeds by the river, and waited by the way to pass by the old forest here after work from the funeral home.

When they couldn't say whether they were waiting for Lao Lin or just trying to find a reason for themselves to get out of their loneliness, they would occasionally talk about their parents;

"Xiao Yuan, what are your parents like? Why have I never heard Lao Lin or you mention it?"

"What is there to say? I haven't seen my dad for as long as I can remember. My mom said he died after I was born, I don't know if it's true or not. Anyway, I've never seen it, and I've never seen a picture or anything.

As for my mom, a woman who made a mess of her life. When I was a child, I remember that she would be late for almost every school day, and then retching and apologizing to the teacher.

She never took me seriously, and I remember when I was in elementary school, the school asked students to visit the zoo and write about their reflections. She took me to a dirty and noisy place and watched the chickens, ducks, geese and dogs.

Two years later, I realized that the place was not called a zoo, but a vegetable market.

When I grow up, it will be even more excessive if I don't have to worry about her, either drunk or on the way to get drunk. Every time I drink too much, I come home crying. Not only did she cry herself, but she had to hug me and cry, God knows why she had so many tears. With her, I was so depressed every day. ”

"Well, that's better for my mom. Although nagging, at least he is still like a normal person. ”

"yes, that's why sometimes I envy you so much, having a good mother. ”

"No, I'm so envious of you right now. ”

"Envy me? You don't have a sick brain, I hate her to death, since you don't know how to raise children, why did you give birth to me? Come to this world, it seems that I suffered with her. It's a miracle that I'm still alive, okay?"

"But not only are you still alive, you also have your mother. ”

“......”

Speaking of this, the two girls had red eyes and stopped talking, just looked at the waves in the river and continued to be in a daze.

Occasionally, two girls who can't even memorize ancient texts and have to be punished by the teacher for writing will also face this river to discuss philosophical issues;

"Orange Orange, do you think these butterflies know that they will die in a few months?"

"I guess they know...... Otherwise, I wouldn't have been in such a hurry, and I felt like I was in a hurry all the time......"

"Then you say, does their life have a meaning? What are they for? Just to lay eggs in the soil, and then wait for autumn to come and then freeze to death and starve to death?"

The questions are so profound that neither the person who asks the question nor the person who asks it knows the answer.

"Maybe it's because the flowers are so beautiful. ”

I don't know when, Lao Lin was already standing behind them.

Looking at the butterflies fluttering in front of him, Lao Lin, who was carrying a thermos cup behind him, smiled and gave his understanding.

The two children seemed to understand whether they understood or not, and followed behind Lao Lin and walked along the path that was already surrounded by green shoots and small wildflowers to the bus stop.

Such a confused and comfortable life did not last long.

First of all, the departure of Xiao Cheng's classmates, the death of the bathhouse proprietor, and Xiao Cheng has to live with her grandparents - in another city.

As soon as he said goodbye to his only friend, another thing followed.

The civil affairs officer who had sent him here came to the door again on a calm afternoon and brought news about Si Yuan's mother, who had died of a heart attack during a withdrawal reaction and needed her family to deal with a series of things.

After the civil affairs officer sent the notice and left, the old and simple room fell into a deathly silence.

"I don't want to go. ”

I don't know how long it took for Xiao Yuan to wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes, and stubbornly don't overdo it: "She has always fulfilled the responsibility of a mother, and she knows that she will cause me trouble, since she was a child." For so many years, she hadn't even cooked me a decent meal, and from the time I was able to get to the stove, she cooked the noodles herself. Do your laundry and tidy up the house. She has troubled me for more than ten years, and now she wants me to clean up the mess for her when she is dead!"

Lao Lin, who had his back to her, did not speak.

There was another dead silence.

It wasn't until the sun outside the window was already setting in the west that Xiao Yuan finally moved his lips and hugged his knees, "Lao Lin, you don't want to go either, right?"

Lao Lin still didn't answer.

"She hasn't been in touch with you in years, and you hate her too, right?"

Still no answer.

"Why did she fall out with you in the first place?"

This time, Lao Lin replied.

"She was eighteen pregnant with you that year, and I asked her to get rid of the fetus, but she didn't follow. She said she was going to marry that stinky boy and give birth to you. Two children, do you know what love is, what marriage is? I beat her up with that stinky boy, and she said she hated me. I said get out of here and never come back. ”

His voice was extremely hoarse, as if he had suddenly aged ten years.

Hearing the past he never knew, Ohara's eyes widened.

Immediately, two lines of tears slid down her cheeks: "Then she...... What do you say?"

Turning his back to this Xiaoyuan, Lao Lin raised his head and sighed: "She left, and when she went out, she told me that even if she died outside, she would not step into this house again." ”

As he spoke, Lao Lin turned around and wiped away the old tears on his face: "Later, I heard that the stinky boy left her and ran away, and I asked people many times to find her. But every time it came to naught. ”

Looking at Xiao Yuan, who was already in tears while holding the death notice, Lao Lin smiled: "She's so stubborn, she really did it." ”

In another city's drug rehab center.

The instructor of the drug rehabilitation center took Lao Lin and Xiao Yuan, an old man and a young man, and slowly walked to the room where Xiao Yuan's mother, Lin Yun, was before her death.

The long corridor is not filled with the howls and pleadings of drug addicts.

Listening to those sounds that seemed to come from hell, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but hold Lao Lin's hand tightly.

Lin Wan ...... It's a pity. For this drug rehabilitation, she is generally very cooperative. When you're in a good state, you often tell us what you want to do in the future. Detoxification is not afraid of heavy drug addiction, but afraid of hopelessness. If she can break off this time, change to a better living environment, and no longer contact with those who are not in contact, I think there is a great hope of complete abstinence. It's just that...... Alas. ”

The female guide shook her head and stood still in front of a room.

"Here, this is the room Lin Wan was in before. You sort out her personal belongings, and I'll take you to claim the body. ”

"Thanks, thanks. ”

Mu Ne thanked the instructor, and Xiao Yuan let go of the old forest standing at the door and slowly walked into the house.

The room is small and the furnishings are simple.

The curtainless windows had an iron fence inside, as if to prevent those inside from jumping out.

The only furniture in the room was a table upholstered at the corners and a single bed with restraint straps.

The walls next to the bed were crisscrossed with ravines, and blood could be faintly seen—it seemed to have been scratched by the fingernails of the beast.

Ohara's gaze only touched the terrifying wall for a moment, and then quickly moved away. In the gloomy weather, such an environment made her chill from the bottom of her heart and felt terrible.

Lin Wan's personal belongings are all in the drawer of the table.

Slowly open the drawer and see it full of bits and pieces. Watches, necklaces, a set of clothes. Other than that, there is nothing else.

Holding the thing in his arms, Ohara nodded to the instructor.

When Xiao Yuan, who was holding the relics tightly, and Lao Lin, who had lost his soul, came out of the room, the guide took a deep look at the room, sighed and gently closed the door.

In the morgue of the hospital.

The guide standing at the door pointed, "Right there, the third bed is Lin Wan." ”

Following her fingers, Xiao Yuan and Lao Lin saw a figure covered in a white cloth - she was so thin compared to the other corpses.

An old man and a young man slowly approached and glanced at each other.

At this moment, Lin Yun, who was lying there, finally proved the blood relationship between Lao Lin and Xiao Yuan-in their eyes, with the same complexity and the same sadness.

After a moment of silence, Lao Lin raised his hand and lifted the white cloth covering the body.

Brush.

A thin woman with pale eyes open and a face that seemed to be reluctant lay there quietly. She was wearing the fat uniform of the drug rehabilitation center, her whole body was tense, slightly curled up, and her palms were tightly clenched into fists.

Seeing an old and a small cheek twitching, the instructor stepped forward, "She walked in a hurry, it took only a few minutes from the onset of her illness to her death, and the ambulance had stopped beating before she arrived at the hospital." When I left, I shouldn't have been in much pain......"

Facing the guide's comfort, Lao Lin closed his eyes deeply. Silently, he opened the bag he was carrying, and took out the towel kettle and brush wax paste in turn.

Gently stroking Lin Wan's stiff face, Lao Lin picked up the hot towel. At this moment, his face was full of pity and love, and time seemed to return to when Lin Yun was born, and he gently wiped Lin Yun's cheeks and body with extremely gentle movements......

Seeing Lao Lin's eyes flashing with tears, Xiao Yuan turned his head away.

She remembered the night when the bathhouse proprietress died, and she couldn't stand it anymore.

Smack.

However, just when Lao Lin wiped Lin Yun's arm and spread out the tightly clenched fist palm massage. A small ball of paper smashed on the ground.

Like a ping-pong ball, it playfully bounced a few times on the ground and rolled down to Ohara's feet.

Sucking in the tears that flowed down to his nose, Ohara squatted down and gently picked up the paper ball.

The paper ball has been soaked with sweat and is gray all over. It took a lot of effort for Ohara to unfold what seemed to be a leaflet.

The moment the paper ball unfolded, Ohara was stunned as if he had been struck by lightning.

At this time, the guide came to her side, saw the content on the paper ball, and blinked: "Lin Wan found this leaflet when she was reading a magazine before, and she kept it all the time." Every time she became addicted, she clutched it tightly in her hands, and she kept saying that this was what kept her going. I think there's something on this flyer that she really likes. ”

Hearing the instructor's words, Ohara couldn't hold back any longer.

She got up and threw herself on her mother, hugged the stiff corpse tightly, and cried out.

A few pictures could be vaguely seen on the crumpled leaflet in her hand, which had been polished for the most part;

There are giraffes, there are tigers, there are elephants and peacocks......

“... On the 3rd of the month, the Wonderful Zoo opened! Take your children and feel the loveliness and fun of nature~"

At the top of the flyer is a promotional slogan and a cute cartoon lion running playfully towards the sun overhead.

On the crumpled flyer, that round of cartoon sun is gorgeous.

It was so gorgeous that the cold morgue seemed to be illuminated a little.

On the side, watching Xiao Yuan bury a little face full of snot and tears in Lin Yun's chest, whimpering and crying to his heart's content, Lao Lin gently closed the eyes of the body with tears and a smile.

[Act V: The Only Way to Honor Death Is to Live Well]

Lin Wan's funeral.

In the hazy light rain, Lao Lin and Xiao Yuan were dressed in black, silently looking at the new monument in front of them.

On the tombstone, there is a photo of Lin Wan when she was a child - she has not experienced what she looked like before the wind and frost.

She smiled so innocently, and her eyebrows and eyes looked like Xiao Yuan standing in front of the tombstone.

Gently brushing away a fallen leaf in front of the tombstone, Xiao Yuan stood up from the ground and looked at Lao Lin, who was holding an umbrella for her, smiling and crying at the photo on the tombstone.

"Grandpa?"

This is the first time Ohara has called out this title in a long time.

"I'm sorry. ”

Hearing Xiao Yuan's apology, Lao Lin turned his gaze over: "Why do you want to apologize?"

"It's for Mom, she's ...... In the end, I didn't go home, and I didn't say sorry to you. But when I was younger, when she was drunk and hugged me and cried, she always kept saying sorry. I think...... She should be speaking to you. ”

In Lao Lin's silence, Xiao Yuan sniffed, and his eyes turned red again: "I think she must want to tell you in person, but she has been too bad over the years." Now that I think about it, she always moves, maybe she doesn't feel like she has the face to see you, and she doesn't want you to see her bad looks......"

Listening to Xiao Yuan's memories and speculations, Lao Lin's mouth trembled slightly. Then he smiled, "Don't talk about this, her beginning and end are beautiful, what process is bad for you?"

Xiao Yuan covered his mouth and choked up: "But she still hasn't come back, and she hasn't been able to say sorry to you in person, or to hear you say sorry." ”

She said. ”

On Lao Lin's cheek, a tear slid down.

"When did she say it? Did she really say it?" Xiao Yuan looked at Lao Lin in surprise.

"Well, I knew it the moment I saw you. In her most difficult moments, she sent you who were most at ease to me...... She said more than sorry. ”

patted Xiao Yuan's brain, and Lao Lin squatted down.

smiled at the photo of Lin Wan on the stele, hugged the tombstone and kissed it gently.

Then he staggered to his feet, took Xiao Yuan's hand, and took the big black umbrella.

"Alright, let her be quiet. We...... Go home. ”

......

After the departure of his mother Lin Yun, Xiao Yuan seems to have grown a lot.

Perhaps because of Lao Lin's previous deep understanding of the meaning of the existence of butterflies, she no longer armed herself with thorns.

When a person lets go of indifference and treats others with sincerity, she will naturally be able to reap the kindness from this world - more or less.

Gradually, there were more friends in Xiaoyuan at school.

Outside of school, Ohara still goes to the stone bridge outside the town every day to wait for Lao Lin to get off work.

She is not herself, and every day she uses her mobile phone to chat with Orange Orange in another city. In terms of circumstances, the two of them are the same now.

They have all lost their mothers, but Orange Orange has not yet come out of the shadow of the death of the boss lady. And Ohara was lucky that she met Lao Lin, and during this time, she already had a new understanding of death.

This went on for a while.

One weekend morning, Ohara was woken up by a violent cough.

She got up and came to the living room, and saw Lao Lin sitting on the sofa, looking at the leather bag full of burial tools in front of her in a daze.

"Ohara, I'll teach you how to be buried. ”

"Huh?"

Hearing Lao Lin's sudden decision, Xiao Yuan blinked.

Over the past period of time, she has become quite familiar with and accustomed to Lao Lin's work. She is no longer afraid of corpses, and even when she occasionally goes to the funeral home to wait for Lao Lin who works overtime, she can already help Lao Lin, who is coughing more and more.

But in the face of Lao Lin's decision, Xiao Yuan was still a little afraid.

It is not the work that is feared, but the sacredness of the work.

"I'm fussful, if I can't do it...... It will grieve the bodies and their families. Still don't want it......"

Seeing his granddaughter's apprehensive appearance, Lao Lin smiled faintly, "It's not that serious, just do it with awe." There is nothing bad in this world. ”

Seeing that Xiao Yuan's face was still in fear, Lao Lin patted his thigh and simply lay down on the sofa.

looked up at the puzzled Xiao Yuan, and smiled: "Well, you will treat me as a dead person, and use me to practice your hands." ”

Looking at Lao Lin lying on the sofa on his back, Xiao Yuan blinked, "Then don't move, if you move, I don't know what to do." ”

"Don't move, come on. ”

Seeing his grandfather's serious hands on his chest, lying really like a corpse, Xiao Yuan grinned. Like a housekeeper, he picked up the brush in his leather bag and came to Lao Lin.

"Don't be so light, wax evenly so that the face looks natural. ”

"Oh, don't move!"

"Good, good, don't move. You can draw it, and I'll correct it for you when I'm done. ”

......

Lao Lin's words and deeds have made Ohara's makeup skills improve rapidly.

In the following days, Lao Lin took Xiao Yuan to the funeral home every weekend and let her actually bury the body.

Whenever he saw Xiao Yuan's awe and respect for the deceased, and the meticulousness and gentleness in the burial process, Lao Lin smiled with great satisfaction.

After a long time like this, Ohara became famous in the funeral home. The staff of the funeral home all knew that Lao Lin's mantle had been inherited. For this little girl who is not afraid of the corpse and is a deep old Lin Zhenchuan, everyone likes it tightly.

One weekend afternoon.

After finishing a burial, Lao Lin and Ohara strolled along the path that led to the bus stop.

Thinking back to the funeral that had just ended, Ohara was very excited - the deceased had fallen from the building by accident, and the image of the body was terrible. But the entire process of stitching and burial was done by Ohara independently.

The family was very satisfied with the final appearance of the body and specially expressed their gratitude to Ohara.

This made Ohara very proud.

On the path, looking at the butterflies flying all over the sky, Xiao Yuan raised his face: "Grandpa, I have always forgotten to ask you, how did you get into this industry in the first place?"

"Me?" Lao Lin stopped, looked at the burning clouds in the sky and smiled slightly, "I used to shoot in a photo studio. I usually put on makeup for guests. I really got into this business because of your grandmother. ”

"My grandmother?"

Facing Xiao Yuan's puzzled gaze, Lao Lin nodded.

"Your mother died when she was seventeen. At the funeral home, the men put on a very stiff makeup for her. I was so angry that I lost my temper and wiped it all out and reincarnated it.

It wasn't until then that I realized that after living with her for so many years, I had never seen her well and attentively...... Go to work, earn money, and support your family. I'm busy every day, but I always forget what I do those things for. ”

Speaking of this, Lao Lin smiled: "When I was tidying up your grandmother's appearance, I felt unprecedented peace. Later, your mother also left this home, and I quit my original job in the photo studio in order to find her, and then returned to the town and did this business in a daze. ”

Looking at the smile on Lao Lin's face, Xiao Yuan grinned: "When you first started, weren't you afraid?"

"I'm scared, too. Lao Lin patted Xiao Yuan's head and smiled: "But think about it, in fact, these people who have completed their lives will make people feel very peaceful." You will have a different understanding and respect for death. ”

"That's why it's because of respect for death that you treat every body so carefully?"

Facing his granddaughter, who had a lot of problems today, Lao Lin shook his head with a smile, thought about it, and replied: "The way to truly respect death is not to take the body seriously. ”

"What's that?" Ohara, who was a curious baby, threw out a question again.

Looking at the burning clouds in the sky, Lao Lin was distracted.

"It's about living well. ”

After a while, he answered.

In Xiao Yuan's knowing gaze, Lao Lin patted her head. Said meaningfully: "I didn't do this well, I hope you can do it." ”

"Oh. ”

Ohara nodded solemnly.

Lao Lin coughed violently for a while, and waved his hand with a smile in Xiao Yuan's worriedness.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to die. ”

In Xiao Yuan's surprise as if he had been struck by lightning, Lao Lin blinked childishly: "Do you remember the first day you came home?"

In shock, Xiao Yuan remembered what Lao Lin looked like that day - at night, he was wearing a decent suit, his hair was meticulously combed, and his complexion looked ruddy and healthy.

Tears welled up in Xiao Yuan's round eyes.

She didn't know it before, but now that she thinks about it, it was clearly a shroud.

......

Lao Lin is gone.

In the funeral home, colleagues who have been with each other for many years are gathered in a small disposal room.

Originally, the figure who was always seriously busy working around the disposal table is now lying peacefully on the disposal table.

Originally, where he was, there was a girl dressed in black.

Her gaze at the corpse was gentle and serene, and her hand holding the brush gently swaying over the corpse was soft and rhythmic.

When the last stroke of the remains was finished, looking at Lao Lin on the disposal table, Xiao Yuan leaned over to look at the peaceful and peaceful remains, and pursed his mouth.

She gently picked up a teddy bear next to the body and stuffed it into Lao Lin's hand that he held on his chest.

In the cold funeral home, looking at the cute teddy bear that Lao Lin was holding in his hand, everyone laughed.

With that heartfelt smile, the picture gradually brightened.

Until it turned a holy white, a line of small words appeared in the picture.

"The Undertaker", end.