My family runs a coffin shop, and one day a woman came in and said she wanted to order a coffin.
She wanted a black coffin for a woman who was 1.73 meters tall, and she paid double the price. She didn't have any other requests, just that it had to be 1.73 meters tall.
This is quite strange. As the deceased is considered to be of the utmost importance, naturally, there are many considerations when ordering a coffin. Not to mention the style and color, at the very least, the width, material, shape, decorations, etc., must be specified. However, she did not say anything about any of this. Besides, no one orders a coffin based on their height. We don't usually just say our height when buying clothes.
But my business was very bad, and since she had offered to pay double the price, naturally I obliged.
I placed an order with the coffin factory I work with, and they finished it as promised. Six days later, the woman really came to pick up the coffin. She didn't say anything else, just used the tape measure she brought to measure it and accepted it.
I thought she was really strange, but I didn't dare ask. As it turned out, she ordered another coffin, a black one for a man 1.85 meters tall, and asked for the same as before.
This was really strange, ordering two coffins in a row? This is a coffin, associated with death. But the woman also paid double the price first, and I made 2,500 US dollars just for this coffin.
I still didn't ask any questions, and placed another order. Six days later, she came to pick it up again, and still used a tape measure to measure the length and then accepted it after confirming that it was accurate.
In fact, at this point, I was already a little uneasy. This woman was not from the neighborhood, and although she was generous, she did not look like a wealthy person. There was also sweat on her face, as if she hadn't washed her face in a few days, and she really didn't look like a normal person.
But I had made a lot of money, so naturally I would not ask about her business, and let her inspect the coffin and leave.
As a result, she did not leave, looking up at me, obviously wanting to say something.
My heart skipped a beat, you don't still want it, do you? Sure enough, she continued to order a black coffin for a 1.62-meter-tall woman.
Three coffins in a row? In less than a month, she ordered three coffins. Could it be that someone in her family dies every six days, and there have been three deaths?
I was puzzled for a while, and finally couldn't hold back any longer. I smiled and said, "Sister, is something wrong at home?"
She glanced away for a moment and said, "No, just order the coffins for me."
She seemed to be feeling guilty, which I found strange. What was she guilty of? Had she done something bad? And it had something to do with death.
But since she wouldn't say, I didn't want to press the issue. I took the money and gave her the order. This time even the coffin factory worker found it strange.
Six days later, this woman came again to pick up the coffin. As usual, she carefully measured the clothes and then looked at me.
I was a bit discouraged, and said, "You still want to order a coffin?" She nodded and said, "Yes, this is the last one, so I'm troubling the boss. It's a black coffin for a man who is 1.83 meters tall.
Remember, it's 1.83 meters, and there must be no mistakes with the last one."
She seriously told me, emphasizing '1.83 meters' twice. I froze for a moment, because I am exactly 1.83 meters tall.
Then I laughed, wondering what my height had to do with it. The woman probably didn't think I'd say yes, so she said she'd pay triple the usual price. Naturally, I was happy, and I agreed quite readily. It was the last one, so I'd made a profit and would no longer have to worry about it.
I also sent the order to the coffin factory, and then thought for a moment before calling my mother.
Actually, my parents used to run the coffin shop, and only this year did they let me come and learn the ropes. I don't really know much about it, and I need to report this.
I called my mother, and she answered quickly. She asked me how I was, and I said fine. Then she started talking about all kinds of things at home, and at the end she complained, "Things are fine at home, except that your sister just won't grow. She's always measured at 1.62 meters. Ugh, she's going to college soon, and she's still so short."
My heart skipped a beat. 1.62 metres? My sister's height is the same as the length of one of the coffins that woman ordered.
I remember the lengths of the four coffins that woman ordered. The last one is the same as my height, and the one before that is the same as my sister's.
This is a bit of a coincidence, and coupled with the fact that the woman was so strange, I couldn't help but wonder. Then I asked my mother, "What are your and dad's heights?"
She said she was 1.73 meters tall and my father was 1.85 meters tall.
I moved my throat a little. This can't be a coincidence. The heights of the four of us in my family are exactly the same as the length of the four coffins that woman wanted?
I don't know why I got a chill. How is it that the length of the coffins for the dead is the same as the height of my family?
I hung up the phone, and the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. It was too strange. I wondered if it was a prank, if the woman was trying to scare me on purpose. No way, I didn't know her, and who would spend that kind of money on a prank?
I didn't figure it out, so I simply closed the coffin shop and went to ask around the neighborhood to find out more about this woman.
In the end, no one knew, so I asked a motorcycle driver at the bus station.
"I've seen her twice, driving a pickup truck. She was carrying a coffin on the way back, which was pretty strange."
She was driving a pickup truck, so she wasn't one of us. I asked where she was from, and he said Luce Town.
Luce Town is next to us, but it's quite far away, about an hour's drive.
Why did that woman come all this way to ask me to order a coffin? It was very strange.
After asking, I went back too. I couldn't possibly go to Luce Town to ask.
Five days later, the coffin factory worker delivered the last coffin.
This guy has delivered three coffins to me, and after delivering this last one, he teased me, saying, "Brother Ryon, you've made a fortune this time, thanks to the death of four people in another family. When are you going to buy me a drink?"
This guy is relatively young, I call him oil bar. He's also not in the right frame of mind, and I don't feel good when I hear him insult the death of four people in another family, as if it were the death of four people in my family.
I told him to stop talking and get back to work. He greeted me and left, saying, "Forget it, I'm not drinking your wine. I have to go to Luce Town to drum up some business."
I pricked up my ears at the mention of Luce Town. What kind of business? He said it was big business. A family in Luce Town had died off, and the boss told him to go take a look and recommend some things for dead people.
We who deal in death are actually not bothered by the dead. The oil bar is also a gossiper, and I wouldn't have taken it personally in the past, but now when I heard him say that everyone in the family had died, I couldn't help but keep thinking about the four coffins.
I still think it's weird.
The coffin shop is also eerie. When it got dark, I didn't want to do business anymore, and I thought about it for a long time. I haven't been home for a long time, so I might as well go home and see my family.
When I got home, my parents were overjoyed. I deliberately observed them, but didn't notice anything unusual. Then I cursed myself, what the hell was I looking at?
I spent the night at home, and left the next day. My mother came to see me off, and pulled out an amulet and gave it to me, saying that she had bought it in Chinatown two months ago, and had forgotten to give it to me.
My parents are relatively religious, but I don't believe in it. I said that this thing is useless, and don't waste money in the future.
My mother glared at me, then laughed and said, "I also asked a psychic to tell your fortune. The psychic in Luce Town is very accurate. He said you will soon have good luck with women, so you should seize the opportunity."
Luce Town again?
I frowned and asked what you were doing in Luce. My mother said it was very accurate, that ours were all liars who made things up. The gentleman in Luce was famous far and wide, and he even asked about the height of our family members, so you could tell it was true just by looking at the details.
My heart skipped a beat, and I said, "The fortune teller asked about the height of our family members?" My mother said, "Yes, that makes it more accurate."
I immediately associated it with the woman who ordered the coffin, and my mother had revealed the height of my family members.
Could there be a connection between the two?
I didn't say anything, but went back to the coffin shop to figure it out myself. I knew it was definitely not right.
I looked at that last coffin again, and the more I looked at it, the more uncomfortable I felt.
What was going on? I simply covered the last coffin with a black cloth, so as not to feel uncomfortable looking at it.
Then I called oil bar to ask him about soliciting business.
He said there was no business at all, that no one had come to claim the body even though it was in the funeral home, and that the family could not be found.
I said that shouldn't be the case, as everyone has relatives. Oil bar was depressed: "How would I know? I heard from someone over there that the whole family of four died, poisoned by rat poison, but some people say they were cursed."
I got goose bumps when I heard that, because oil bar said there were four people in the family. There are also four people in my family, and the woman from Luce Town ordered four coffins the same height as my family members.
It's so weird. I told oil bar that you should bring your motorcycle to my coffin shop tomorrow, and I want to take a ride to Luce Town to take a look.
The oil bar said there was really no business, so there was no need to go. I said, "Don't worry about me, I just want to go for a little while," and he agreed.
Another day passed, and I got up early and planned to go to Luce Town. I found that six days had passed, and the woman had come to pick up the last coffin.
At that time, I was still sleeping in the rented room. After washing up, I planned to go to the coffin shop and wait for the oil bar, when I saw the woman standing outside my shop, as if in a daze.
She still looked strange, her hair a little messy, sweat on her face, her eyes staring at my shuttered door as if she could see through it.
I walked over slowly, and she suddenly turned her head and stared at me. I was startled, and she said a little anxiously, "Boss, is the coffin ready?"
I was about to say it was, but then stopped immediately: "It's... you're here so early today, just wait a bit, the coffin hasn't arrived yet."
She was actually angry and scolded me for being slow. I kept smiling and opened the door for her to come in and wait.
I glanced at the warehouse and said, "Why don't you come back tomorrow, so you don't have to wait."
She didn't say anything, just sat there waiting.
I felt a little uneasy, wondering how long this strange woman was going to wait.
In the meantime, perhaps because I was a little guilty, I couldn't help but keep glancing at the warehouse, afraid that she would discover the coffins in it.
But then I suddenly noticed that she was also looking at the warehouse. I was taken aback. Had she found out?
I laughed nervously. She got up and left, saying, "Forget it, I'll come back tomorrow."
I was relieved. It seemed that she hadn't noticed my strange behavior.
I saw her walking down the street, and I gritted my teeth and decided to follow her. I had to find out what her story was.