5:30 pm.

A residential area in Jiangnan District.

In the bathroom, Ye Tong applied shower gel three times and scrubbed her whole body over and over again.

The work of an undertaker can be divided into the following six steps:

1. Disinfect the corpse, clean up the dirt, and repair the corpse if necessary.

2. Wash the corpse (cleansing the body).

3. Change the deceased into clean clothes.

4. Further tidy up the appearance of the body and apply makeup to the deceased according to the family's request.

5. Embalm the body.

6. Place the body in the coffin.

For most undertakers, the first step is the most difficult part of the entire work process.

They need to remove the deceased's clothes and disinfect the entire body.

However, even with a mask on, undertakers may smell the odor of a rotting corpse, and the stench may easily stick to their bodies and take a long time to dissipate. Some deceased people may also have excrement flowing out, which also requires undertakers to clean up.

In this industry, enduring the stench of corpses and cleaning up excrement are relatively easy problems to solve.

What is even more frightening is that the undertaker has to repair the bloody and severely damaged bodies that have been affected by car accidents or accidents as much as possible.

For example, severely decayed body tissues are removed, and damaged parts of the corpse are sutured and filled using materials such as sculpting clay and silicone, in an effort to restore the deceased's body to its original state as complete as possible.

Although Ye Tong had long been accustomed to this job, every time she came home from get off work, she would scrub her face with shower gel at least three times to remove the corpse smell on her body as much as possible.

It took more than forty minutes to wash her hair before Ye Tong changed into her most beautiful outfit. Then she dried her hair with a hair dryer, tied it into a simple high ponytail, and put on some light makeup.

After everything was settled, Ye Tong said hello to her mother and went to a restaurant to meet her blind date.

…

While Ye Tong was scrubbing her body vigorously, Qin Guanhai was also washing his body over and over again at home.

Compared with undertakers, forensic pathologists are not much better, and may even be worse off than undertakers.

Ninety-nine percent of the bodies that undertakers deal with are fresh corpses, but forensic doctors... they can be found wherever there is a dead body, and dissecting corpses that have been dead for several months is their basic training.

However, although the work of a forensic doctor is more terrifying than that of a mortician, a forensic doctor has the identity of a police officer. He can determine the truth, investigate corpses and catch criminals. The psychological hint he gives to people is relatively strong and he can calm people down.

Therefore, the social status of the two is completely different.

Although Qin Guanhai doesn't have many friends in real life, his profession is always respected when it is mentioned.

After Qin Guanhai washed his body carefully, he changed into clothes that he felt better about, used a hair dryer to casually blow dry his hair, sprayed it with styling spray, and went out with satisfaction.

…

Seven o'clock in the evening.

At XX restaurant, Qin Guanhai and Ye Tong met!

Jiang Feng, the matchmaker, did not come, but gave them his contact information and asked them to contact and negotiate on their own.

After all, although Jiang Feng did not discriminate against forensic doctors and undertakers, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable eating with these two people, so it was better to avoid them if possible.

In fact, Jiang Feng himself knew that it was all due to his own psychology. When he attended wedding banquets, he would eat happily. But when he attended funeral banquets, even if the chef was the same, the food always tasted a little off.

Qin Guanhai and Ye Tong had both seen each other's photos, so when they arrived at the agreed location, they easily recognized each other.

Qin Guanhai took the initiative to extend his hand and greeted: "Hello, I'm Qin Guanhai!"

It took Ye Tong three full seconds to react, and she awkwardly reached out her hand to shake his, "Hello, I'm Ye Tong!"

After shaking hands, Ye Tong couldn't help but sigh: "You are the first person to shake hands with me since I started working."

Qin Guanhai felt sympathetic when he heard this. Their forensic doctors also had this problem, so he comforted them and himself by saying, "You'll get used to it. Chinese people have some taboos about this. This is a custom passed down for thousands of years and it's not so easy to change."

Ye Tong nodded and said, "Yes, the Chinese people do have too many prejudices against our profession. In comparison, you forensic doctors are much better. At least you are respected!"

Qin Guanhai gestured for an invitation and led the way into the restaurant while saying, "It's not much better, actually. I don't have many friends in real life. Most people do respect us forensic doctors, but that doesn't stop them from feeling uncomfortable."

It was rare to meet someone in the same profession, so Ye Tong followed him into the restaurant while complaining, "You guys are much better than us after all. At least you forensic doctors don't have any taboos when it comes to attending wedding banquets or birthday banquets, but since I entered the industry, I have never attended anyone's wedding banquet or birthday banquet!"

This is also the unspoken rule of their profession as undertakers!

In order not to mess with other people's mindsets, they set many unwritten rules for themselves:

Do not attend weddings or birthday banquets of relatives and friends, do not proactively tell others your occupation, do not hand out business cards or shake hands, and do not say "hello", "goodbye", "have a safe journey", etc. to visitors.

Many people would avoid inviting undertakers once they knew their identities.

Even if a friend invites him to do so, the undertaker will still decline politely because he does not want to affect the feelings of the people around his friend or cause trouble to his friend. Some people feel that the work of an undertaker is unlucky even if they do not feel fear.

After all, the psychology of seeking good luck is very common in my country, and the number eight and the number fu are homophones, so they have become auspicious numbers. The job of an undertaker is to send people off, so the association is unlucky and inconsistent with the festive atmosphere.

The two of them entered the private room, sat down, ordered their dishes and waited for them to be served.

Qin Guanhai asked curiously, "Why did you choose the profession of undertaker?"

Ye Tong smiled bitterly and said, “When I was young, I watched a program about undertakers on TV, and I felt that helping people leave with dignity was a sacred job, and from that time on I wanted to be an undertaker.

I really didn’t expect that this profession would be so discriminated against in society. If I had known then, I might not have chosen this profession! ”

"So this was my childhood dream, no wonder!"

Qin Guanhai suddenly understood, and then admired: "You are such a brave girl, you are really amazing!"

"Courage is something you learn. When I first came into contact with a corpse, I was actually very scared. Even after I had been in the industry for a few years, I was still scared to the point of almost crying."

Thinking of that horrific scene, Ye Tong still has lingering fears when she says, "When I was putting makeup on a dead woman, her eyes suddenly opened and her face looked hideous. I was so scared that my legs went weak and I screamed."

As an authority in this area, Qin Guanhai smiled calmly and said, "That female victim probably didn't die of natural causes, right? She must have died accidentally, such as drowning or a car accident!"

Ye Tong praised: "As expected of a forensic doctor, you know a lot. The female victim was indeed drowned."

Qin Guanhai smiled and said, "Although the deceased who died abnormally have lost signs of life, their body functions are still functioning normally. It may be that the deceased's nerves were touched intentionally or unintentionally, which has a lot to do with temperature. The biological nerves stimulate the brain, and the deceased will open his eyes. This is a normal phenomenon."

Ye Tong smiled and said, "I heard about it later, but I didn't understand it at the time. I was really scared that time."

Although it was the first time the two met, they both had special professions so they had a lot of common topics and there was no sense of strangeness when they chatted. It felt like they were old friends.

During this time, the waiter served the food and both of them paused to chat about their work.

Only after the waiters left did they continue to talk about some embarrassing things they had encountered in their careers.

Qin Guanhai said: "Compared to you undertakers, we forensic doctors also have an embarrassing situation. Every time we dissect a corpse, we will be contaminated with the stench of corpses. This corpse gas will not dissipate for several days, no matter how much we scrub it.

When I first started working, I didn’t have the financial resources to buy a house or a car, so I took the bus to and from work. Every time I got on the bus, the passengers would frown and walk away from me. It was really embarrassing! ”

Ye Tong covered her mouth and laughed, "We are indeed a little better off. Although we are more or less contaminated by corpse qi, it is not as serious as yours. But we also have our embarrassment. For example, when we are hungry after working the night shift and want to order takeout, but when we say it has to be delivered to the funeral home, no one will take the order!

One time, my colleague successfully ordered food, but three guys came to deliver the food. It was really frustrating! "

The two of them were talking about the corpse while eating. If it were anyone else, they would probably have lost their appetite no matter how delicious the food was. However, both of them have worked in their respective industries for many years, so they could eat even next to a corpse, let alone just talking about it!

Fortunately, Jiang Feng, the matchmaker, was not present. If he were also sitting here eating and hearing the two people's conversation, he would probably not be interested in any of the delicious food!

The two of them spent nearly two hours eating this meal.

At first, the two talked about their respective careers, and gradually the topic extended to their respective families.

After nearly two hours of communication, both of them developed a liking for each other. Not only were they well-matched in terms of family background, but even their professions were very compatible. It is really difficult to find such a suitable person!

Of course, this was the first time the two met, so no matter how much they liked each other, they wouldn't confess their feelings immediately.

However, before parting, Qin Guanhai still gave a hint and asked with a smile: "I don't have many friends in real life. Can I invite you to have dinner and take a walk after get off work?"

Ye Tong smiled and responded, "Of course, I have even fewer friends in real life. I usually stay at home after get off work and don't go anywhere. In my mother's words, I'm almost moldy!"

"Then let's make an appointment tomorrow!"

"Well, let's make an appointment tomorrow!"