I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

On the day Lin Ye graduated, his WeChat Moments were like a large-scale exhibition of life's triumphs.

My roommate Zhou Hang posted a picture of a factory worker's badge, and the plastic badge in the photo looked shiny from the photo.

The caption reads: A new beginning.

My ex-girlfriend posted a screenshot of her passing the civil service exam, with a small red flower next to her profile picture.

The caption reads: "Efforts have not been in vain."

The class monitor went even further, posting a photo of an airport and locating it as London Heathrow Airport.

The caption reads: "The world is so big, I'll go see it first."

Lin Ye stared at his phone screen in silence for a long time.

The world is indeed vast, so vast that even after submitting over a hundred resumes, not a single company was willing to hire him.

He also wanted to post something to prove that he was actively embracing life even after graduation.

After flipping through the photo album for a long time, he only found one picture of instant noodles from last night.

Braised beef noodles.

There is no beef.

At that moment, he felt that both people and faces had lost their dignity.

In the end, Lin Ye didn't post it on his WeChat Moments because he was afraid others would like it.

Sometimes, failure is not terrible.

What's truly frightening is when someone gives you a thumbs-up for your failure and comments like, "Keep it up!"

Three months before graduation, Lin Ye was full of dreams for the future.

He felt that although he wasn't a prodigy, he was still a graduate of a proper university, so finding a job shouldn't be too difficult.

Reality slapped him in the face, so much so that even the opening screen of the job posting seemed sarcastic.

He invested in operations, but people said he had no experience.

He applied for a sales position, but people said he wasn't outgoing enough.

He applied for a government position, but people said it wasn't suitable for a guy.

He applied for a management trainee program, but people said his academic qualifications weren't impressive enough.

Later, he applied for a warehouse manager position, and after two days of silence, the other party replied: "The position is already filled."

Lin Ye stared at those three words for a long time.

Even the warehouse wouldn't take him in.

This shows that he is not having difficulty finding employment.

He was released by society.

On the day of the release, Lin Ye sat on a bench at the school gate with his suitcase. His phone battery was down to 18%, and his bank card balance was 327.6 yuan.

He originally wanted to buy a train ticket to go back to his hometown.

But the thought of my mother asking at the dinner table, "How's the job search going?"...

The father will definitely pretend not to care, but his ears are sharper than a router.

Lin Ye felt that the train ticket was not like a ticket home, but more like a summons to court.

Just as he was hesitating whether to find a bridge hole to calm down, his phone rang.

The caller ID showed an unknown number.

Lin Ye answered the phone, and the person on the other end was a woman with a very loud voice.

"Hello, is this Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye immediately sat up straight.

"I am."

The sound of turning pages came from the other end of the phone.

"Have you submitted your resume to us before?"

Lin Ye perked up.

"Yes, yes, I've submitted many."

The older sister paused for a moment.

"You must have applied. We have a position here, would you like to apply?"

Lin Ye almost stood up and bowed to her on the spot.

"Yes, I'd love to. What position?"

"security guard."

Lin Ye's smile faded slightly.

Security guards are fine too.

What happened to the security guard?

Security guards are also an important force in maintaining social order.

He immediately adjusted his mindset.

"Sure, where do you work?"

"Qingshan Cemetery".

The smile on Lin Ye's face vanished completely.

The wind blew past the school gate, making the cover of his graduation certificate in his hand crackle, as if applauding his life.

He suspected that he had heard wrongly.

"Big sister, where were you just saying?"

"Qingshan Cemetery".

Her tone was very natural, as if it were not a cemetery, but the Qingshan Science and Technology Park.

"The job is gate security and order maintenance, accommodation provided, night shifts, salary 3,800. If you are capable, you can start today."

Lin Ye fell silent.

Three thousand eight.

Cover it up.

I started work today.

These three words are very damaging to him right now.

They looked like three sausages, precisely inserted into his bowl of instant noodles, which contained no beef.

But the "cemetery" in the middle looks like a braised egg, its black color making it very noticeable.

Lin Ye tentatively asked, "Is this job safe?"

The older sister chuckled.

"It's very safe. The residents inside are all very stable."

Lin Ye didn't understand what she was saying at the time, and even thought the older woman was quite humorous.

He later realized that she wasn't being humorous.

She was right.

Lin Ye looked at his bank card balance, then at the group of promising people in his WeChat Moments, and finally gritted his teeth and agreed.

People shouldn't be too picky.

Especially when the balance on your bank card starts to affect your personal dignity.

Qingshan Cemetery is located in the northern suburbs of the city.

Lin Ye took two buses, then changed to a rural minibus, and was finally dropped off by the driver on the side of an asphalt road.

The driver pointed to a gray-white gate ahead.

"arrive."

When Lin Ye got off the bus, it was almost dark.

The setting sun hung on the distant mountain ridges, its red color tinged with a faded hue.

Pine and cypress trees are planted on both sides of the cemetery gate. Their dark canopies are crowded together, and the leaves rustle when the wind blows.

A stone tablet stands at the entrance.

Qingshan Cemetery.

The four characters were carved very neatly.

His upright posture made Lin Ye inexplicably straighten up a bit as well.

He dragged his suitcase inside, the wheels making a rumbling sound as they rolled across the ground.

The voice echoed in the empty front doorway, sounding more prominent than he actually was.

An old man was sitting in the guard booth.

He was in his fifties, his skin tanned dark by the sun, holding an enamel mug, and looking down at the newspaper.

Lin Ye knocked on the window.

"Hello, I'm Lin Ye, the new security guard."

The old man looked up and glanced at him.

His eyes were calm.

That calmness wasn't the calmness one has when looking at a new colleague.

It's more like watching a young man voluntarily jump into a pit, but calmly not bothering to shout.

"You're here."

He put down the newspaper and pushed open the door to come out.

"My surname is Zhao, you can just call me Uncle Zhao."

Lin Ye nodded quickly.

"Hello, Uncle Zhao."

Uncle Zhao glanced at the suitcase behind Lin Ye, then at the faded short-sleeved shirt he was wearing.

"Just graduated?"

"Um."

"Can't find a job?"

Lin Yeqian smiled.

"It's not that we can't find them at all; it's just that society and we are still evaluating each other."

Uncle Zhao was amused.

"So you've come all this way from your investigation, society really knows how to make arrangements."

Lin Ye didn't know how to respond to that, so he could only laugh along.

Uncle Zhao led him into the security booth and placed several sets of keys, a registration book, a flashlight, and an electric baton on the table.

"The job isn't complicated. There are people on duty during the day, and you're mainly responsible for the night. After 10 p.m., you close the main gate, patrol once at midnight, and then patrol again at 3 a.m. If someone comes to sweep the tombs, register them. If someone causes trouble, call the police. If someone gets lost, take them out."

Lin Ye listened very attentively.

He paused for a moment when he heard the last sentence.

"Are people still getting lost in the cemetery?"

Uncle Zhao glanced at him.

"The living sometimes have a worse sense of direction than the dead."

Lin Ye was once again at a loss for words.

Uncle Zhao then pointed out the window.

"The east area is the old cemetery, the west area is the old area, the south is the newly built Fushou Garden, and the north is still undeveloped. Since you're new here, don't go to the west too often at night."

Lin Ye immediately became alert.

"What happened in the west?"

Uncle Zhao unscrewed the enamel mug and took a sip of water.

"The road is bad."

Lin Ye waited for two seconds.

"That's it?"

"What else could it be?"

Uncle Zhao's question was so natural that Lin Ye felt awkward about asking further.

But as he spoke, his gaze drifted westward for a moment.

Lin Ye looked in that direction and saw only a denser row of pine and cypress trees.

The shadows of the trees pressed against the tombstones, like many people sitting there with their heads bowed.

Lin Ye felt a little uneasy.

However, he quickly comforted himself.

Don't scare yourself unnecessarily.

Trust science.

I am a person who has received higher education.

Although this education hasn't helped him find a job yet, it should at least help him overcome superstition.

Uncle Zhao handed him the key and then took him to the dormitory.

The dormitory was located behind the security booth; it was a small, single-story building.

Inside, there was a bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe.

The corner was a bit damp, and the window faced the cemetery entrance.

In terms of living environment, it is very simple.

In terms of psychological pressure, it has many layers.

Lin Ye put his luggage inside and touched the bed board.

The bed frame is very hard.

It was as if it was reminding him that one cannot be too weak in life.

Uncle Zhao stood at the door and said, "The bedding is new, you can stay here tonight. The canteen is behind the management office, but it's closed now, so you'll have to find your own food."

Lin Ye looked down at his phone.

The location is seriously off; the food delivery app shows there are no riders nearby.

well.

Even food delivery riders know better than him how to avoid risks.

Uncle Zhao seemed to sense his embarrassment and took out a bucket of instant noodles from the cabinet in the security booth and handed it to him.

"Put some padding in first."

Lin Ye took it and looked at it.

Braised beef noodles.

He felt a mix of emotions.

Fate can be quite lazy sometimes.

They wouldn't even change the props.

Lin Ye boiled water to make instant noodles, while Uncle Zhao sat beside him and continued to give instructions.

"Don't wear headphones when patrolling at night; it's windy, and you won't be able to hear anything."

Lin Ye nodded.

"it is good."

"Don't touch the offerings."

"clear."

"Don't be curious if you see anything in front of a tombstone."

Lin Ye paused, chopsticks in hand.

"for example?"

Uncle Zhao thought for a moment.

"For example, paper figures and cars left over from other people's burning, fruits, pastries, wine, flowers, and other miscellaneous items."

"What's all this nonsense?"

You'll understand once you've done it for a while.

Lin Ye suddenly felt that this sentence was not auspicious.

Often, when senior employees say, "You'll understand once you've worked here long enough," new employees end up knowing far too much.

He took a sip of instant noodle soup, forcibly suppressing his unease.

The hot soup calmed me down a bit.

Lin Ye asked Uncle Zhao, "Is nothing really happening here at night?"

Uncle Zhao looked down at his watch.

"fine."

Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

He added another sentence.

"At most, there will be some rumors."

A breeze just happened to blow through the window.

The pines and cypresses rustled.

In the distance, rows of tombstones gradually blurred in the twilight, like a group of silent residents waiting for the night shift to begin.

Lin Ye looked at the darkening cemetery and suddenly remembered what the older woman on the phone had said.

The residents there are all very stable.

He was holding his instant noodles when he thought about it seriously for a moment.

3,800, accommodation included, instant noodles provided, stable tenants.

Aside from the somewhat eerie work location, the other conditions are acceptable.

Uncle Zhao stood up and pushed the stun gun in front of him.

"You can familiarize yourself with the area tonight, and then patrol the first lap at midnight."

Lin Ye looked down at the stun gun.

It's dark and feels very safe to hold in your hand.

Although he didn't know whether this thing would protect him or add a sense of ritual to the other person if he really encountered something he shouldn't have.

Uncle Zhao put on his coat, ready to leave work.

As he reached the door, he turned back and glanced at Lin Ye once more.

"Xiao Lin."

"Why."

"Don't be nervous on your first night. It's quiet and not crowded here."

Lin Ye nodded.

"I'm not nervous."

Uncle Zhao is gone.

Lin Ye was the only one left in the guard booth.

He finished the last bite of his instant noodles, threw the empty bucket into a garbage bag, and then opened the register.

The first page is blank.

Lin Ye thought for a moment and carefully wrote down in the duty log:

Lin Ye's first day at work went smoothly.

He was quite satisfied after writing this line.

After all, no matter how bad life gets, you still have to leave some decent record.

The clock on the wall slowly approached twelve o'clock.

The wind outside is getting stronger.

Lin Ye stood up, holding his stun gun, ready to begin his first-ever night patrol of the cemetery.

Before leaving, he glanced back at the security booth.

The lights are very bright.

The instant noodle smell is still there.

At that moment, he even felt a little ridiculous.

How could a modern young man with higher education be afraid of a group of residents who had already quieted down?

Lin Ye took a deep breath and pushed open the door to step into the night.

The wind rustled through the pines and cypresses, creating a series of overlapping sounds.

He had just reached the first row of tombstones in the eastern section when a very soft laugh suddenly came from behind him.

It was like someone clearing their throat softly in the dark.