Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 10 Cremation
"...This concludes Qian Xiaomei's farewell ceremony. Thank you all for your heartfelt farewell."

After speaking, Chen Miao walked towards Qian Xiaomei's parents.

After glancing at Qian Xiaomei's mother, who was still grieving, Chen Miao turned his gaze to Qian Xiaomei's father.

"Mr. Qian, it's time for cremation."

Upon hearing this, Qian Xiaomei's mother burst into tears.

After handing Qian Xiaomei's mother over to the others, Qian Xiaomei's father nodded to Chen Miao.

"Then... let's go."

Chen Miao nodded, signaled to the staff carrying the coffin, and then led everyone to the mourning hall.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Qian Xiaomei's coffin was lifted and carried out through a door on the side of the mourning hall, followed closely by her family members.

The distance from the mourning hall to the crematorium is not far; Chen Miao could walk there in two minutes.

But with the deceased in tow, the process took five minutes.

Upon arriving at the crematorium, Chen Miao asked the other relatives to wait outside while he led Qian Xiaomei's parents and several other immediate family members inside.

Upon entering the cremation room, Chen Miao told the others to wait, while he took the "Cremation Consent Form" signed by Qian Xiaomei's father, along with Qian Xiaomei's death certificate and other documents, and went to find the cremator, Lao Yu.

This document has already been verified, but this procedure still needs to be followed before cremation.

Although it's tedious, it's also a safety net.

Otherwise, if something really happens, it will be a big deal.

Old Yu is a man in his fifties, whose full name is Yu Huanshui. He is a fairly easy person to get along with.

Of course, this conclusion was drawn after Chen Miao had spent two years with him.

If an outsider saw Lao Yu, they would only feel the pressure emanating from his expressionless face.

"No problem, I'm going to preheat the stove."

After leaving the documents, Lao Yu went to the crematorium.

After returning home, Chen Miao told Qian Xiaomei's parents, and then had the staff lift Qian Xiaomei out of the coffin, place her in another paper coffin, and put her on the steel frame at the entrance of the crematorium.

Upon seeing this, Qian Xiaomei's mother cried again.

"I'll take one more look at Xiaomei, just one more look."

Chen Miao did not stop them and let Qian Xiaomei's parents come forward.

It was said to be just a glance, but I actually stared at it for a full five minutes.

It wasn't until Chen Miao went up to persuade them that they were separated.

As Chen Miao announced, "Criminalization begins," the steel frame of the crematorium was conveyed into it via a conveyor belt.

After two clicks as the furnace door closed, everyone saw the raging flames through the small window of the crematorium.

Cremation is not a simple matter.

It's not like a TV show or movie where it ends with a single scene transition.

The crematorium burned for a full two hours before it finally stopped operating.

But it's not over yet.

The ashes need to cool naturally for half an hour to avoid burns.

There was one more step after that, which Chen Miao knew, but Qian Xiaomei's parents didn't.

Based on his own experience, Chen Miao suggested that Qian Xiaomei's father send Qian Xiaomei's mother out to wait first.

Qian Xiaomei's father did not refuse and had Qian Xiaomei's overwhelmed grief taken away.

Half an hour later, Old Yu came out of the crematorium, opened the crematorium furnace, and pulled out the cooled ashes.

Then, Lao Yu used a tool to sweep the ashes into a sieve and sifted out large pieces of bone fragments.

Then, Lao Yu put the bone fragments into a bag, took out his tools, and began to crush the bag little by little!

This work should have been done in the crematorium, where the machine would crush the body, but unfortunately, the crematorium at Tianmen Funeral Home was purchased nine years ago, and my uncle bought it secondhand nine years ago.

If it weren't for my uncle consistently finding people to maintain and repair the incinerator over the years, and installing a flue gas purification device at the exhaust outlet, this incinerator would have been banned from operation long ago because it did not meet the standards.

Therefore, this step can only be done by the crematorium workers themselves.

The crunching sound kept coming.

Chen Miao turned his head and looked at Qian Xiaomei's father's pale face, sighing in his heart.

Although cremation is more cruel, at least you can't see it.

And now, Lao Yu is crushing the bones of Qian Xiaomei's daughter right in front of her father.

If you put yourself in his shoes, you'll understand how Qian Xiaomei's father feels. That's why Chen Miao wanted Qian Xiaomei's mother to avoid the situation.

Ten minutes later, Lao Yu opened the bag, poured the crushed ashes into the container, and then looked at Chen Miao.

Chen Miao understood and turned to Qian Xiaomei's father, saying, "Mr. Qian, please take the urn over."

Qian Xiaomei's father was stunned for a while before picking up the urn he had bought at the museum and having Lao Yu put the ashes inside.

After Lao Yu affixed Qian Xiaomei's information label to the inside of the urn, he handed it over to Qian Xiaomei's father.

After that, it was Chen Miao's turn.

"Old Yu, we're leaving now."

After exchanging greetings, Chen Miao took Qian Xiaomei's father to the service hall to obtain a "Criminal Certificate".

Because Qian Xiaomei's ashes were not placed in the funeral home, her family hired someone else for her burial.

Therefore, the procedures at Tianmen Funeral Home have now come to an end.

……

Chen Miao stood in front of the business hall and watched Qian Xiaomei's family leave. Then he took out the white bag that Qian Xiaomei's father had given him.

When he first came to the funeral home, he was not used to this conventional "rule," but after the previous funeral director told him that not accepting a body did not necessarily mean respect, he accepted the rule.

Chen Miao couldn't change these rules, so he could only try his best to do what he could.

With the white bag tucked into his pocket, Chen Miao turned and walked toward the uncle's office on the second floor of the business hall.

"Uncle, you were looking for me."

"Well, sit down."

Chen Weiyi got up, sat on the sofa, and boiled water to make tea.

"How's it going? Did it go well?"

"Yes, Qian Xiaomei's family members aren't the type to cause trouble, everything is going smoothly."

"That's good."

After pouring Chen Miao a cup of tea, Chen Weiyi asked, "Sanshui, what do you think of our funeral home?"

Chen Miao took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, which hadn't had water for several hours.

"Okay."

"Hehe, to be honest."

Chen Weiyi smiled.

Chen Miao looked at Chen Weiyi: "Is Uncle worried about the Fushou Funeral Center in the North of the City?"

Chen Weiyi shook his head.

"Worrying is useless; I'm just asking for your opinion."

Chen Miao thought for a moment and said, "Actually, if we don't pursue earning more, our funeral home's income is not bad for a small place like Tianmen County."

"How exactly is it good?" Chen Weiyi asked.

"Fushou Funeral Center does have newer equipment and more comprehensive services than us, but relatively speaking, the cost of going there is also higher."

"However, not all families in Tianmen County can afford to hold a grand funeral for their loved ones; some simply want cremation services."

“Their first choice will definitely not be Fushou Funeral Center, so Fushou Funeral Center cannot steal these customers.”

"Furthermore, our funeral home is in a great location! It's nestled against the mountains and beside the water, a place with excellent feng shui. Some clients who care about these things will naturally choose our funeral home to send their loved ones off on their final journey, and even store their ashes in the columbarium, rather than the barren Fushou Funeral Center in the north of the city."

"Based on this calculation, as long as our venue doesn't experience any serious incidents that damage its reputation, the number of customers will stop falling once it reaches a certain level."

"That's why I said it's not bad... but compared to before, it's definitely not as good."

After listening to Chen Miao's analysis, Chen Weiyi nodded with a smile.

"That's right. It seems you haven't been unaware of what's going on in the museum."

Chen Weiyi put down his teacup and looked at Chen Miao.

"In that case, Sanshui, would you be willing to be the curator?"

"Uh?"

Chen Miao was stunned.

"Me? The curator?"

……

(End of this chapter)