Folk customs begin with the entire funeral procession

Chapter 227 Three-Tailed Demon-Faced Scorpion!
Time flies, and the Lunar New Year is here.

The day before Lunar New Year's Eve, Chen Miao went to burn paper money for his parents and grandparents and said many things.

He spent New Year's Eve at his uncle's house.

That evening, Chen Miao checked the funeral home's income from the previous year with his uncle.

For the first six months or so, Chen Weiyi ran the business, and after deducting expenses, the profit was 200,000.

When Chen Miao saw this number, his heart warmed.

In fact, after running the business for a few months, he realized that what his uncle had told him was not true.

Even if Tianmen Funeral Home has poor business, it's hard for them not to earn at least 200,000 yuan a year. So even if Chen Miao doesn't manage the funeral home better, he can still earn at least 100,000 to 200,000 yuan a year.

Chen Weiyi was trying every means to give him more.

Of course, Chen Miao did not disappoint Chen Weiyi.

In the latter half of the year, due to Du Rui's arrest, the reputation of Fushou Funeral Center declined, leading to an increase in business for Tianmen Funeral Home.

After that, Chen Miao withstood Du Xiang's various tactics, and the funeral home stabilized.

Add to that Shi Manman's skill, Luo Zhiyong's good attitude, and the increase in business volume after winter, and December's income was almost the sum of the previous two months.

In the end, in less than half a year, Chen Miao made the funeral home's profit exceed 300,000 yuan. This figure made Chen Weiyi laugh and drink a few more cups with Chen Miao, his eyes full of satisfaction.

However, after learning that Chen Miao had given out a year-end bonus of 100,000 yuan, Chen Weiyi felt both heartache and admiration for Chen Miao's generosity.

But that's not all.

“Uncle, I plan to start renovating the funeral home after the New Year. We’ll replace the instruments and equipment that we can, and then we’ll decorate the exterior. By then, we’ll be just as good as Fushou Funeral Center in terms of hardware, and even better in terms of software. Our business volume will definitely increase.”

"So although we are spending money, we are actually investing in making money in the future."

Chen Miao's words made Chen Weiyi think for a long time.

"Your idea is correct, but don't rush into it."

Just as the doubt in Chen Miao's eyes began to rise, he heard what his uncle was thinking.

"The ten-year lease is about to expire. I've approached Lao Li several times recently, but he's been evasive and making excuses. I'm afraid the situation has changed. I'll wait until after the New Year and see what happens by paying some money."

"If things don't work out, then sell what you can in the museum and use the money to buy some shops for Sanshui to collect rent."

Chen Miao frowned slightly upon hearing this.

Chen Miao had never worried about this matter, because his uncle had been maintaining his relationships with some 'friends' all these years, and it wasn't the kind of last-minute effort.

But now, with this sudden turn of events, Chen Miao couldn't help but overthink it.

Moreover, judging from my uncle's words, it seems that the chances of things not going to work out are even greater.

It's possible that someone is sabotaging this!

Du Xiang's smiling face flashed through Chen Miao's mind. This was probably the other party's method.

No wonder they haven't made any moves in the last month or two. It turns out it wasn't that they had no other options, but rather that they knew where the weaknesses of the Tianmen Funeral Home lay.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Miao stood up and said, "Uncle, I'm going to call my friends and wish them a Happy New Year."

"Well, let's go."

Chen Weiyi was preoccupied with something else and didn't pay attention to it.

Chen Miao went to the balcony and closed the glass partition.

Watching the fireworks in the night sky, he called Xie Songde.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chen Miao told Xie Songde about his situation. Xie Songde did not give a definite reply, only saying, "I understand."

At first, Chen Miao didn't realize the significance of those words, but when he finished making New Year's calls and returned to his room, he saw his uncle already drinking by himself, his face flushed.

"Sanshui, come on, tell me about your renovation plan."

"As expected, Old Li is a good person to get along with; we should keep in touch!"

Chen Miao was stunned for a moment, then saw a text message on his phone from Xie Songde.

The message read: "Mr. Chen, please go and process the lease renewal after the relevant departments resume operations. If you encounter any problems, please feel free to contact me."

Chen Miao immediately understood.

After thanking him, I started chatting with my uncle.

As they were chatting, Chen Miao was stunned by something his uncle suddenly said.

"Sanshui, this time let's not just focus on renovation, let's also look at how to expand!"

"Expansion?"

"Correct."

Chen Weiyi smiled.

"Old Li called me and said that there would be no problem renewing the lease for our funeral home. He also said that I could rent that acre of land next door, and the rent would still be the same as before. Why not take it if it's free!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Miao once again remembered Xie Songde's help.

Looks like I need to think of a way to retaliate.

……

The next morning, after paying New Year's respects to his uncle's family, Chen Miao went to the funeral home.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the funeral home was not closed, but there was only one security guard on duty, and no one else was there.

But even after others go home, they can't completely relax.

Once someone contacts the funeral home, the hearse driver, cremator, master of ceremonies, and mortician must all be present.

Fortunately, this year was better; Chen Miao's work was all scheduled for after the third day of the Lunar New Year. Funeral homes don't usually put up red "Fu" characters or red couplets during the Lunar New Year, as guests would find the color too jarring.

But red envelopes are acceptable.

After handing a red envelope to the security guard who was still on duty on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Miao went to the funeral home for a stroll while the guard was all smiles.

Nothing happened, and Chen Miao went up to the roof of the dormitory building and stood there to look at the entire funeral home.

He talked a lot with his uncle last night and has a plan for the future.

The extra acre of land is north of the funeral home. Chen Miao plans to first compact the foundation of that part, then install the fence and complete the north gate.

Then we'll start making changes to other areas.

Because we have an extra piece of land, many things are much easier to do.

Chen Miao plans to replace the crematorium furnace first. The furnace in the museum is quite old. Although it can still be used for a few more years, it is outdated.

Taking this opportunity, Chen Miao plans to move the crematorium further north to that new location.

We'll build that area first, then demolish the old crematorium and sell the crematorium furnace, so that we can seamlessly connect the two.

However, when it came to purchasing a crematorium furnace, Chen Miao originally wanted to buy a mid-range domestic crematorium furnace, but after taking a look, he found that it cost 800,000 yuan. Ten years ago, that amount of money could have bought half a funeral home.

In the end, my uncle suggested that we buy a second-hand one. He would help us find someone to ask around and see where we could find a used crematorium furnace that had been returned to its original owner.

The requirements are that the service life should not exceed five years and the price should be within 500,000.

This price can buy a decent domestic second-hand crematorium furnace, or a slightly inferior high-end second-hand product from abroad.

I'll buy whichever one is available when the time comes.

Just like that, 500,000 yuan is gone.

Chen Miao originally planned to use the funeral home's revenue to completely renovate the funeral home this year. However, it seems that after the crematorium is renovated, it will be at least six months before he can continue to plan other places.

Even so, it was only because his uncle didn't take the 200,000 yuan from last year that Chen Miao was able to earn enough to buy a second-hand crematorium furnace.

If Fushou Funeral Center were to disappear, it would be able to make money much faster.

Unfortunately, as long as they don't cause trouble, Chen Miao can't do anything about them.

Although Xie Songde is wealthy and well-connected, the Du brothers, Du Rui and Du Xiang, may not necessarily be without powerful backers.

Otherwise, if Du Rui had been arrested, Du Xiang wouldn't have been able to continue operating so smoothly.

In this regard, we can only let nature take its course for now. If it doesn't work out, Chen Miao still has more than a million yuan, which he can invest first and earn back slowly later.

Then there's the matter of feng shui arrangements.

Chen Miao has already figured out some ideas. When renovating the funeral home later, he will follow the feng shui arrangement of "covering the ghost's eyes" to avoid it being blocked in the future.

Thinking of the feng shui arrangement, Chen Miao also thought of the "Spring Breeze Arrangement" in the small courtyard that Zhong Cai had given him.

Chen Miao had previously planned to buy a courtyard house similar to Zhong Cai's, but now he probably doesn't need to.

The funeral home is larger, but it has all the basic facilities, so there's nothing to add.

Instead of creating a landscape feature that few people will visit, it would be better to build a small courtyard for Chen Miao himself.

With the Spring Breeze Bureau in the courtyard, receiving friends won't feel like a gloomy funeral home.

Thinking this, Chen Miao took out his phone and called Zhong Cai, but unfortunately, no one answered.

Two weeks ago, Zhong Cai called Chen Miao to tell him some good news.

Zhong Cai said he had inquired with the people who had previously obtained the talismans and received their authorization. Chen Miao was just waiting for Zhong Cai to return so he could learn how to use the talismans Zhong Cai possessed.

As for the price, Zhong Cai said that they needed high-quality talismans, and he would help them trade some high-quality talismans at future trade fairs.

Chen Miao readily agreed.

But since that day, Chen Miao has never been able to contact Zhong Cai again.

Chen Miao was puzzled and worried when he tried to call to wish someone a Happy New Year last night.

But he had no other way to contact him, so he could only wait.

"Hopefully, they're just having a temporary problem, don't you think?"

Chen Miao raised his hand and looked at his palm.

Suddenly, a dark yellow East Asian scorpion, measuring 15 centimeters in length, appeared in my previously empty palm. Anyone who raises scorpions would be astonished to see such a large East Asian scorpion.

But what's most captivating isn't the scorpion's size, but rather its three tails!

Two days ago, under Chen Miao's careful guidance, the Ghost Pattern Scorpion finally advanced to become the Ghost Face Scorpion.

To Chen Miao's utter surprise, the ghost-faced scorpion in his hand had undergone a direct mutation in appearance.

Chen Miao's heart skipped a beat, thinking that the three stingers were the scorpion's new ability.

This is not a good thing for Chen Miao.

More than having two extra tail hooks, Chen Miao wanted those special functions.

No matter how many tail hooks you have, they're useless if they can actually pierce a person.

Just when Chen Miao thought he had raised the Ghost-Faced Scorpion wrong, he received information from the Ghost-Faced Scorpion.

He then realized that the physical mutation was just a side effect of this promotion.

There are three other true abilities!

Concealment, extended scorpion tail, and paralyzing venom—these are the true special abilities that Ghost-Faced Scorpion has gained in this advancement!

……

(End of this chapter)