False evidence

Chapter 300 Seven Nights (Part 2)

I leaned back in the driver's seat and looked through the car window at the gate across the street.

On the pillars at the entrance are five characters: West Suburb Funeral Home.

Looking at the time, it's almost midnight again.

It's abnormal to receive orders from the same person no matter where you are.

Most people in the same profession would be unwilling to go to a funeral home, a place considered "unlucky".

I have no taboos, but if I didn't find it strange, I'd be a complete idiot.

That woman always made me take her to the funeral home.

Alright, I'll wait at the funeral home entrance today and see if you can still 'locate' me so accurately.

If you were to place another order, where would you like to go next...?

"Drip!"

I looked at my phone screen—Ms. Zhai.

"It's really here!"

I checked the time; it was exactly twelve o'clock.

Without hesitation, I accepted the order and gazed once more at the entrance of the funeral home.

Just as I was concentrating, I suddenly heard a knocking sound on the glass from the other side.

Turning my head, I could vaguely see the person outside the window, who was the woman in white.

I unlocked the central locking system.

The woman in white got into the back seat, brushed her hair aside, and said, "Could you please take me to No. 11 Meiling Road?"

I looked left and right, shifted gears, and asked as I turned the car around:
"Besides the funeral home, there don't seem to be any other residences or businesses around here?"

"Heh, what? You think I'm a ghost?"

"No! Don't talk about ghosts in the middle of the night. I'm just wondering, Miss Zhai... why do you, a girl, come here every night?"

"I don't want to talk about it, but I really am a ghost!"

Miss Zhai leaned forward and blew a breath into my ear.

As she felt the warmth, she leaned back in the seat and laughed so hard she almost fell over.

"You idiot, I work here!"

Does the funeral home have night shifts?

“The regular employees at the funeral home don’t work night shifts. But my grandma is from a nearby village. She’s a Buddhist, and she and a group of other old ladies from the village often come here to chant sutras for the deceased.”

A woman died a few days ago, and her family set up a mourning hall here, saying they would cremate her after the seventh day memorial service. They invited a group of elderly women to chant scriptures for seven days straight. My grandmother is very old; I come here every night to take her home.

I asked, "Can you hail a car here?"

Ms. Zhai said, "I take the company shuttle bus to and from get off work, while the old lady rides her electric scooter here every day."

Her eyesight is poor, so she can't ride a bike at night. I came over, rode her bike, took her home, and then stayed at her house!
Also, my own home is in the city center, on Meiling Road. It's a house left to me by my parents, so both sides are considered my home.

I know you find it strange, but I'm even more curious than you about why you're always the one who accepts my ride requests.

Oh dear, after getting out of your car yesterday, I finally figured out why, but today... you've confused me again.

Why do I always get called for a car?

Miss Zhai leaned forward again, clinging to the back of the seat in front of her, and said:

"Do you mostly wait for work in places like KTVs and discos? I'm a makeup artist at a funeral home; I do makeup for the deceased."

You can probably guess what my profession is like—it's... well, you know. I don't have many friends, and my leisure time is quite boring.

I'm still young and can't stand feeling empty, lonely, and cold. So I often go to entertainment venues like KTV with two girlfriends who don't hide their relationship from me.

I'm not going there to sell myself, you know. Partly it's to relieve stress, and partly...

Hehe, if I meet a suitable man who can support me, I won't need to tell him what I do for a living; I'll just marry him anyway.

I'm out having fun every day, and you're always out looking for work nearby, and look what happened! It's such a coincidence; every time I go to a different place, I manage to run into you...

Oh dear, I'm starting to wonder if you're interested in me, or if you have ulterior motives and are deliberately stalking me.

"Little brother, if I may ask, are you the Rain Night Butcher? Waiting until it rains to strike me?"

I was a little confused by what she said.

She's a person; she pays for her ride.

As she said, I did spend most of my nights waiting for orders near entertainment venues.

That's easy money! Some idiots get drunk, take a ride-hailing service, and then arrogantly hand out tips.

Is it really that much of a coincidence? Receiving orders from the same person for six consecutive days?
I changed direction and asked, "Why did you go to the city instead of the funeral home today?"

Miss Zhai chuckled: "No wonder you've got me all confused. I met up with someone I met online today. He brags about being a tall, rich, and handsome guy online, but when we met at the bar, he turned out to be short, poor, and ugly!"

I definitely don't want to talk to someone like that anymore, so this is just an excuse to say "see you later."

When I booked your car, I told myself that if I could get one again, I'd just confess my feelings to you. You have a car, so you must own a house, right?

I have my own place too, so if we live together, we can manage. But... hey, the guy who took my order was an old man. He said he had a wife and kids, and he kept glancing at my legs the whole way there.

I was both amused and exasperated: "Aren't you being a bit too sarcastic? And what you're wearing underneath... is a bit revealing, isn't it?"

Ms. Zhai opened her white down jacket and stretched out her two legs, which were clad in white boots. "If you don't show your skin when you're having fun, are you still a woman? If you don't show your skin when you meet someone online, how can you expect to get together?"

"Makes sense."

"But there's something I don't understand. Why did you come to my workplace today?"

I countered, "Aren't you going to take your grandma home today?"

Miss Zhai took a deep breath: "I was so angry at that pretentious guy that I lost my mind. Today is the seventh day after the death of the deceased, which is said to be the night when the soul returns. No scriptures are chanted during this time! I rushed over here, but Grandma didn't even come!"

Then, you completely shattered my understanding of normalcy. You saw that I was wearing a skirt today, and to make my legs look thinner, I was wearing single-layer stockings. It was cold riding my bike, so I tried to call a car. And guess what? You were the one who accepted my order again!

Tell me, are you interested in me? Or are you a taxi killer? If it's the former, you just need to accept my profession, and in short—I'll submit to you.

If it's the latter, I won't object to you killing me, but I will resist. But let me make this clear: if you really kill me, you'll have to be responsible for putting on makeup for me. I don't want to die in a gruesome way.

You wouldn't believe it, our company used to have two makeup artists. Not long before the new year, one of my colleagues got into trouble because his girlfriend disliked his job. He got arrested and sentenced by the police.

My new colleague hasn't arrived yet, so now I'm the only one working myself to the bone. I respect every soulless shell; I want to be respected even after death. Someone needs to do my makeup, make me look beautiful.

"Hey!"

She patted the back of my chair. "Say something! Are you here for my leg, or for my life? Otherwise, why are you here at the entrance of my workplace?"

By then, the car had already entered the city's elevated highway. Looking at the streetlights on both sides of the road, I hesitated to speak.

The problem is, I freaking don't know how to say it!

In the end, I could only tell the truth: "I was also finding it strange that I'd taken your orders for six nights in a row, all to the funeral home! So, I just went to the funeral home and waited there to see if you'd still call for a ride..."

By the way, I own a house, but not a car. I'm an honest person, but please don't contact me. It's not that I mind your profession, it's just that I already have a partner. You have quite long legs, you must be about 1.7 meters tall, right?
Sigh, it's a shame we didn't meet sooner..."

(End of this chapter)