Very, very unexpectedly, Ford came. That's right, it's the Ford Funeral Home in the North End, the beginning of the story, the Ford who sent the Grande statue and stone.

"Nice décor. Ford pouted, casually looked in the Grande showroom, and by the way, stroked the coffin of Old Hank's work with a nostalgic expression, "Do you know, Ford Funeral once asked Hank to customize a coffin, and every time a customer chooses a coffin, I will rely on that thing to raise the price, and then what I really use is still an ordinary coffin." He actually regretted it, "Now I can't do these little actions if I want to." ”

Zack would like Louise to be here and see how the 'normal' funeral business works, but Louise went to the North District today, and the accounting information compiled yesterday will be submitted to the city government for review today, remember?

"Taught. All Zuch could say was, "Mr. Ford, you're ......."

"Uh, sugar. Ford pouted, already behind the reception desk where Louise frequented, fiddling with the gummies in the glass bowl on the countertop, "Who did you learn from? ”

Zach touched his chin, "A psychiatrist, sweet things can soothe people's emotions, and they are very suitable for customers who come here." ”

Ford raised an eyebrow, "Well, then I'll have to get some after I go." "I looked at the other things in the window under the reception desk—small items, not souvenirs, offerings, food baskets, cigarettes, wine, florist brochures, etc.," Glancing at Zack, "If someone comes to sweep the grave and finds that they forgot to bring an offering, huh." "It's a mockery.

"To be fair. Zach tilted his head, "There really is such a person, do you want to see Grande's account books, in the retail business, it still accounts for a large proportion of Grande." ”

Do you hear Zack's words—do you want to see Grande's books? Yes, Zach already feels a little weird, what is this Ford here for? Inspect, he has been looking at Grande since he came in.

"The books are gone. Only you Grande can do this. Unaware of this, Ford tilted his head to look at a machine with many buttons under the counter, "What is this?"

"Alarms. Zach pouted and replied.

"Oh, I've heard, the Grande cemetery is protected by a security company. Ford crooked his mouth and looked at the whole world again, "I heard that your office has moved to the second floor, and sure enough, it is a lot more spacious here." Thinking that was all he was going to the office, Ford turned around, walked out the door, and stood on the back porch, "The back is no different from what I remember." Oh, there's an extra warehouse. He frowned.

Zach sighed in his heart, and could only follow up and explain, "Yes, there is an extra warehouse, the matter at the beginning of the year, after the Grand of the West Side was taken away, the things there were transferred and needed a place to put them." ”

Otherwise, Patton's other colleague - Alan has already made a restraining order against Zack, if Zack appears within a radius of 100 meters from Allen, Alan can directly call the police, no joke at all. Now, is Zach going to offend a fellow worker?

Ford didn't notice the helplessness of Zach's explanation, "I thought you would at least build a staff dormitory." ”

"Considered. Zach gave up, and with the guys, it was a friendly exchange, "but sure enough, it still wasn't needed." Grande has enough people, and the employees of the cemetery happen to be former employees of the Hermann factory, and they all have their own accommodation, and they don't need to stay in Grande all the time. ”

"Hmph, those guys are really desperate. Ford's tone was actually ridiculous, yes, who would have thought that the pillar of Barton's local business would suddenly explode, "The funeral industry used to be the lowest job, and that group of people still rushed to come." ”

Zach raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ford, "What? ”

Ford tugged at the corners of his mouth and nodded, "Recruit a few." If it weren't for the city government allocating some money for training, I wouldn't have bothered to care. ”

Zach was quite satisfied to be able to get away from the topic, "I heard that the city government has opened a vocational night school, which is dedicated to job training for these unemployed people in Back Bay. "Kyle's classmates who gave up their scholarships, remember?

"I've heard about it, but it's not for everyone, and it's said that there may be a job that goes to sea, and young people can do it. Ford waved his hand and pulled back the topic he had just opened, "I'll give you a piece of advice, it's a kindness to your peers." You'd better be prepared to recruit new employees, those people, well, won't stay in the funeral industry forever, just for a transition. ”

Zach looked at Ford, "What do you say?"

"Haven't you heard? Ford glanced at Zack, "Allen's original cemetery is building a new port, and it is said that there will be trade with foreign countries in the future." I used to be in the North District (cemetery), and it was a residence, and it was a supermarket in what Quest, and later, hum, there were many job opportunities. The funeral industry is now in the process of reform, a bunch of problems, whether it will be better or worse in the future, no one knows, will really be able to leave this industry in the future, or we old guys. His face was gloomy, "Hmph, it doesn't have to be! It's been a lifetime, and finally Lao Tzu doesn't have to work for the city government, and the funeral is Lao Tzu's own business, so Lao Tzu won't watch others share Lao Tzu's industry!"

Zach raised an eyebrow, Ford's reasons for supporting the privatization of funerals are a bit peculiar.

"So, a word of advice to you, if you want to keep your Grande business, you have to start cultivating loyal employees now, you know, and pass it on from generation to generation!"

Zach nodded, understood, "Well, the easiest way to cultivate loyalty is to live here and live here. ”

Seeing Zach so easy to understand, Ford nodded with satisfaction, glanced at Grande's backyard again, saw Maya, and raised an eyebrow, "Alice? ”

"It's not Alice, it's Maya, Eun, a friend's child, who came to play. Zach pouted.

"Oh. Ford answered, then raised his eyebrows inexplicably, and muttered to himself, "How do you feel that the Indians are everywhere lately." Who let the Ford Funeral Home get close to Paising, feeling not strange, tilted his head to look at Zack, "I heard that you Grande also hired a foreigner to be a chef, is it true?" ”

This Ford's gossip is unexpectedly well-informed.

"You must be talking about ink. Zach was speechless, "She's out to walk the dog, or you can meet her." ”

Waving his hand, "Uh, no. Turning around, he looked down the stairwell, "Go to your office, is this the way up." ”

"Yes. Finally, Zach pouted, "We have an elevator, after the reception room, do you want to see it?" ”

Ford glared at Zack, "Sure!"

Zach stretched out his hand, "This way." ”

"Not bad. As he passed the reception room, Ford glanced at the books on the shelves, "I'll give me a copy of your book list later." ”

Remember when decorating, Zach suggested that some psychological comfort books should be put in the reception room to help people face the departure of relatives and friends?

In the elevator, Ford was still looking, "Yes, people come up from here, isolated from below, and there is a sense of privacy." Yes, yes, yes. It's getting more and more like a real service industry. ”

Without speaking, Zach led the way and pushed open the office door.

"Well, nothing has changed here. "It's just a flip in the direction, Ford is familiar with sitting at the desk," read it again, hum, Alan should be convinced, and Grande should run the best as it should. ”

They were already in the office, so Zach took it for granted that it was time to get down to business, "Then, the purpose of Mr. Ford's visit this time is Allen?" "I want to start by saying that I don't have any feelings about Allen, and that there are problems in the funeral industry, and I want them to be solved." As you said, funeral is also our own business, and we all want it to be good. ”

"Hmph. "There's no malice," you don't need to tell me this, I know what Alan is up to, and I know that you're mad at him, heh, now you're carrying a restraining order. I can't tell you're still that kind of person. ”

Zach pouted, "That was a misunderstanding. "If I knew this, I didn't pay attention to Allen's commission...... No, I still have to go, because starting with that commission, the subsequent series of things are not bad - the mirror man became an angel, "You should know that Alan was squeezed out of the mill at the beginning, and I obviously helped save his son later, but his attitude is, forget it." After that, he said exactly that he wanted to raise the purchase price, but I still decided morally in the industry that I wanted to complete the acquisition, and in the end he suddenly changed his mind. I'm very angry. ”

"Hehe, I can understand that I might not be able to endure it for so long. Ford smiled, "I'm going to beat people up when he starts deliberately inflating the purchase price." Absolutely. He glanced at Zach meaningfully, "Ethically, I'm going to support what he's doing now, personally, I don't think our relationship needs to be that stiff." ”

Zach shrugged his shoulders without reproach, "I also support it, and I am now fully cooperating with the city government's review." ”

Ford smiled and nodded, and then, "I'm not here because of Allen, I have, well, business personal matters to talk to you about." ”

Zach didn't understand what the other party was saying at all, and made a gesture of please.

"You've probably heard that I'm adding traditional funeral rituals to cremation, memorials, farewell ceremonies, and even wake ceremonies. ”

"I know. Zach nodded, "I think it's good, there is no conflict, and it can also cushion the emotions of relatives when they witness the cremation of their loved ones." "The only conflict between cremation and traditional burial is the burial ceremony.

Let's put it this way, during the burial ceremony, you can let relatives and friends symbolically sprinkle the first handful of soil as a final symbolic farewell, and then watch the person you once loved buried in the soil for peace. How to do cremation? Let relatives and friends go and get a shovel and shovel their loved ones into the incinerator?!

Ford smiled again, "Yes, but the most important thing is to be able to collect money." ”

Zach laughed and agreed.

"Here's the thing. Ford smiled, "I have a client who has asked for a farewell ceremony at the Church of the Holy Child in the South End. ”

Zack raised an eyebrow, a little puzzled, "The church in the North District can't arrange time?" ”

"Customer requirements. Ford emphasized, but at the same time there was helplessness, "The customer insisted that the Church of the Holy Child has a special significance. ”

Zach frowned, and began to understand Ford's strange statement—Ford wanted to conduct his own business on the Grande territory.

It's not easy to say, but it's a tacit fact, Patton's funerals were also distributed before the advent of privatization, and they were still very even, with Grande and two churches in the West Side, Ford and two churches in the North Side (including Mary's Church) in the North Side, and the Church of the Son in the South Side was less populated and the marginalized Church of the Son was not needed, and the Gospel Church in the East was able to meet Alan's needs. We also know that there was basically no business in the past.

So by default, where the funeral home is booked where the church is. After privatization, it was almost the same, Grande was bound to the Church of the Holy Son nearby, even during the busy period of the tomb moving tide, and did not bother with the gospel church that had been bound to Allen, although Allen did not use it after privatization. I won't go to the church in the North and West Side.

"Personally. Zach glanced at Ford, "I don't mind, but the default rules all along, I still feel a little weird." ”

"I know. Ford was also helpless, "I even recommended them to Grande." He waved his hand, "But they insist on cremation, and I don't want to investigate why." Anyway, that's it, they want a ceremony and a cremation. I actually want to transfer this customer, even if you agree, the Church of the Holy Child has no opinion, and I don't want to get my Ford's business to the South End, after all, Alan is still watching. "Ethically, I should be on the same page as him, right?" I don't want him to think that I have any personal business dealings with Grande. ”

Zach nodded, "So what do you mean?"

"I want your mill to expand and add traditional ceremonies before cremation, as I did, and then I can refer customers directly to your mill. ”

Zach frowned, "Even so, if Alan wants to slander us, he can still do it, and you helped Grande expand his business again in disguise." ”

"That's something that can't be helped, it's better than me going to the Southern District in the name of Ford. Ford stared at Zach to make sure he understood.

Zach understands, which means that Grande and Allen are in competition in the South Side anyway, and there was, now, and in the future, the two families are on the same land, and there is no way to do it. Ford would rather maintain this situation than let a customer inexplicably insist on stepping in to the South End.

"Why don't you let Alan go and expand the business. Zach pursed his lips, "If he wants to use the Church of the Holy Son, and the client's request as a reason, of course." ”

Ford pouted, "I'm going, he doesn't have time to do this right now." ”

Zach was puzzled.

"He is dealing with the issue of unfair funeral industry while being investigated by the police. One of his former employees, as you should have seen, the accountant who put together the sales statements, disappeared. said that he had just been working at the Grande Mill for two days, and then he disappeared, and then the police investigated all the way and found that the accountant had done a lot of tricks in Allen's finances. Ford frowned, "Unfortunately, the police found out that Alan knew about these tricks, so they fired the accountant." Now, Alan is the suspect. ”

Ford waved his hand and chuckled meaninglessly, "Our former police chief in the North District just doesn't do things the same." (To be continued.) )