Chapter 6: The Legend of Guidaowan (5)

The timber distribution center is about 3 or 4 miles from the town. It’s not far because it’s a main road, and it takes about half an hour to walk from the town to the timber distribution center.

Before the liberation, there was a village here, but for some reason it was moved and abandoned for more than 20 years until the timber transportation office was established here.

At first, some of the office buildings of the timber transportation office were old houses in the village, as were the workers’ dormitories. Later, for some reason, all these houses were demolished and rebuilt. Liu Er said that he heard that Lin Jianguo had privately given the idea to the senior management of the transportation office.

However, these are just speculations. Only real things can prove something. Mr. Liu is a practical person.

So, when he said that the timber transportation office had recovered 17 bodies in the first year, he wasn’t exaggerating. It didn’t matter what the people thought. What mattered was that the higher-ups knew more or less about taboos. When the first body was recovered, a certain high-ranking official from the transportation office quietly found Liu Er.

“Mr. Liu, I heard that you used to help people in the town with their red and white affairs?” That day, the head of the transportation office did not come directly to the door, but in the afternoon, he asked someone from the office to bring Mr. Liu here.

“Oh, ha ha… that was all in the past. Everyone was busy with weddings and funerals, and I was just trying to make a living. Those were hard times. It’s good that I’ve had a good life since then, and I’ve never done that kind of work again. I’m now pursuing advanced education, and I even take part in literacy classes to help people learn to read.” Liu Er didn’t understand what the second-in-command of the transportation office was up to, but as one of the few literate people in the town, Liu Er was a smart guy who knew what to say to whom.

“Well, it’s good to pursue the advanced. We should take the essence of what our ancestors left behind… Mr. Liu is a cultured man for having such a realization.” The second-in-command praised Mr. Liu with a bureaucratic tone, but then he changed the subject and said, “However, there are still many things left behind by our ancestors that we should explore slowly. Mr. Liu, you have a lot of skills, but you can’t waste them.”

“Ah?” This time, Liu Er couldn’t figure out what the leader meant. If he said there was a problem, he was completely right; if he said there was no problem, what did he mean by saying that his abilities should not be wasted? At the most, he knew the standard procedures for weddings and funerals, and knew how to avoid taboos… Of course, this is actually the same ability, after all, this kind of thing is complicated to learn.

“Liu Er, let’s get to the point. The people need you now, but this must be done in a low-key manner. After all, an unknown hero is also a hero.” The second-in-command suddenly said this to the confused Liu Er.

Who is Master Liu Er? He is a shrewd man. He understands that the timber transportation office needs him to do something, and that he cannot refuse. Thinking about this, Master Liu Er’s heart is quite heavy. He ponders, “I absolutely have no objection to doing things for the organization, but I don’t know if I can do it.”

“This is something you can definitely handle.” The second-in-command didn’t say anything more, paused for a moment, then picked up his large teapot and took a big sip of tea before saying, “Yesterday, the workers at the transportation office fished up a corpse that was very rotten. It’s estimated that they won’t be able to find out who it is. They said they want to bury it, but there are some requirements for this. Master Liu, you have experience with this kind of thing. What do you think?”

The second-in-command never said what the matter was, but the meaning was very clear. Master Liu understood and knew that this was the time to make a statement. He did not hesitate and said directly, “Since the organization needs it, I will not say much about my opinion. I will handle it directly. I will do it tonight. It is not necessarily a good thing to keep the corpse for a long time. That’s it. However, even a clever housewife cannot cook without rice. There are some things that I need the organization to prepare for me…”

“Okay, then it’s settled.” The second-in-command was very pleased.

This conversation directly determined a side business for Liu Er, which was to help the Timber Transportation Office with some legal affairs, and to help some of the floating corpses that were fished out. In any case, at least psychologically, it could give the Timber Transportation Office peace of mind, and this matter could be considered a good cooperation between the two sides.

Master Liu had never delayed the legal affairs, and the timber transportation office also quietly gave Master Liu some subsidies. When talking to the old woman about this, Master Liu also quietly took out a small bag from a corner. The small bag was hidden with various tickets, not only food tickets, cloth tickets, and even oil tickets, and meat tickets were not few.

“You Liu Er, you dare to hide so many tickets from me?” The old woman was furious when she saw these.

“Can I take it out? Can I explain it if I take it out? This is a secret matter. You love to chat with those women. What if it is exposed? It is not easy for everyone. This is what I prepared for my youngest son’s wedding. I have been thinking about finding a way to tell you about it when the time comes. Otherwise, what can I do? Old woman, it’s not that I’m timid. I can’t hide this anymore today. I told you, but don’t go around talking about it.” Master Liu’s face was unusually serious. Since their marriage, he had never spoken to his wife in such a serious tone.

The old woman was not stupid. Although her education was not as good as Mr. Liu’s, she was more astute than Mr. Liu. She grabbed the tickets, gave Mr. Liu a look, and then said, “Go ahead and say it.”

“What’s there to say? Didn’t we just get this done? I don’t know if our lumber transport office is unlucky or not. Anyway, in the past six months, we’ve pulled up sixteen bodies. According to the second-in-command, some lumber transport offices are lucky and don’t come across a corpse for a year. But there are also more unlucky ones. I heard that the second-in-command had a comrade-in-arms who was also a leader in a timber transportation office. One time, they fished up a strange corpse. That transportation office even had three people die, and several people were seriously injured or ill… In the end, they hired an old Taoist priest to suppress the matter. This is why the second-in-command must let me do things.” Liu Erye couldn’t help but sigh. He didn’t have much ability himself, but he believed in many taboos, and it seemed that there was some truth to it.

“Then you’re lucky, you haven’t encountered anything strange.” The old woman was also shocked, but thinking that her husband was fine, why not sit in front of her and drink? She also let her heart down.

“Didn’t you meet it? Did you forget what I just said? Didn’t you later pull up the seventeenth corpse? That’s the real evil thing! I was just lucky enough to meet a great man like Lin Jianguo in the town, otherwise the first to die would be Wei Dahan, and the second to die would be me.” Liu Er said seriously.

“What happened? It was so serious, you have to tell me.” The old woman was also concerned.

It was a winter morning. As soon as I got up, it was a gloomy day. It looked like it was going to snow. The yellowish sky that looked like it was about to fall continued for almost an entire morning. I didn’t know when the snow would fall. In any case, this kind of weather made anyone feel bad.

At that time, Lin Jianguo had already fled the famine and arrived in this town. He had just moved into a shack, but Liu Er, who guarded the gate at the unit, was still unfamiliar with Lin Jianguo. He couldn’t care about such a person. What he cared about that day was when the snow would fall. The weather looked like the day of the accumulation of grievances described in the book, and it didn’t look so auspicious.

But in the end, Liu Er didn’t wait for the snow to fall in the guard room, because before noon, he was called away by the people from the timber transportation office.

On the way, he had a feeling of trepidation, thinking that this time things might not be ordinary.

People always have a little intuition, especially someone like Liu Er who has been organizing religious services for so many years.

Sure enough, before he even reached the timber distribution office, he saw the second-in-command from afar at the entrance to the unit. His expression didn’t reveal anything, but he was holding a cigarette in his hand and walking back and forth at the entrance, which made people feel that he was very anxious.

As soon as he saw Liu Er, the second-in-command immediately smiled, as if he had seen a relative. He threw away his cigarette and walked quickly over, grasping Liu Er’s hand and saying, “Comrade Liu, you’ve finally come. You understand ancient Chinese, and I’m having trouble learning on my own. I’ve finally been waiting for you.”

Master Liu often came to perform rituals, and this matter could not be known to everyone. Except for a few trusted people in the upper echelons of the timber transportation department, this matter was absolutely confidential. As for finding an excuse, that was difficult.

Soon, Liu Er was led into the office by the second-in-command. The office was already occupied by several people, all of whom were leaders of the timber transportation department, as well as three workers, two of whom were trusted confidants of the leaders. Liu Er had never encountered such a situation before, and his heart felt even worse.

The head of the transportation office is a silent person. When he saw Liu Erye coming, he was relieved, but he couldn’t say anything. He just exchanged a few words and let the second in command handle the matter.

It was cold outside, and the office was lit by a brazier, which was supposed to keep it warm. But the second-in-command came in and immediately made the temperature drop a few degrees.

“Master Liu… I think we’ve encountered something really strange this time. No, to be precise, we’ve finally encountered a really strange corpse. This is probably not going to be easy.” The second-in-command’s tone was so heavy.

After he finished speaking, Liu Er seemed to no longer feel the heat of the brazier in the room.

But the second-in-command sighed and did not intend to ease the atmosphere. He directly said to the unfamiliar worker, “Niu Dazhuang, you fished out the corpse. Tell me about the situation at the time.”

It turned out that this worker had fished out the corpse. Master Liu’s eyebrows and eyes unconsciously lifted. This worker was not from the town, but was brought in by the timber transportation office. His eyebrows and eyes were unfamiliar, but Master Liu only glanced at him.

Suddenly, he felt his heart jump!