“I’m waiting for your decision! My parents are rich, so I don’t have to worry about anything. Now they’ve pinned their hopes on my younger brother, so I can just enjoy myself.” If you want to become a forensic investigator, then I’ll go with you and keep you company.”

“Then why do you still go to training every year?”

“Hahaha, that’s just my hobby.”

Chris smiled slightly and said softly, “I’ll think about it a bit more.”

“Then make up your mind soon.”

As they chatted, they drove into East 16th Street.

Sheepshead Bay was still rather desolate twenty or thirty years ago.

Later, as more Chinese people arrived, the area gradually developed, and it started to show signs of becoming the third Chinese residential district after Brooklyn and Flushing. But as Sheepshead Bay became more prosperous, more and more people came here.

The Chinese community is mainly concentrated near Avenue U, which is Sheepshead Bay’s B district.

And the Ghost Funeral Home is located at the end of East 16th Street, near District C, which is the Black neighborhood.

The car stopped in front of the funeral home.

It was a three-story building.

When Miles Foster first came to Sheepshead Bay, the houses and land prices here were very cheap.

He bought an entire building in one go, which shocked quite a few people at the time. More than thirty years have passed, and the Ghost Funeral Home is no longer as famous as it once was, but in the Chinese community, it still holds a significant position.

“Your family’s funeral home isn’t small at all.”

It was Adam’s first time at Ghost, and he was quite surprised.

Bruno walked over with the keys to open the door, while Mia introduced, “According to the boss, business here was really good ten years ago. There could be three to five funerals a day. But in recent years, business has been tough. Several new funeral homes run by Mr. Young have opened in Sheepshead Bay, and they have closer ties to the cemeteries, so business is much worse than before.”

Funeral homes run by Mr. Young?

Adam asked in confusion, “Do they also do business with Chinese clients?”

“They’ll do any business as long as it makes money. They don’t care if you’re Chinese, Black, or White.”

Mr. Young?

Chris raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

From the original owner’s memories, he found some information about Mr. Young.

Although there wasn’t much, it was clear the original owner didn’t like Mr. Young.

But in America, Mr. Young is a taboo, a forbidden subject that’s not to be touched lightly.

“How bad is it?”

Adam asked curiously.

“Very bad!”

Bruno came over and said softly, “A few years ago, we charged 8,000 to 15,000 yuan per service for cremations; if it wasn’t cremation, the fee was between 15,000 and 30,000 yuan. But now, the burial business is almost completely monopolized by Mr. Young. The nearest Green Lawn Cemetery gives Mr. Young a much better price than us.”

He sighed and continued, “So now, we can only take on some low-end business.”

By low-end business, he meant cremations.

Mia added, “And business is even worse this year. In the first half of the year, we only had one service every day and a half on average, and they were all low-end funerals with very little profit. If it weren’t for Thomas having other connections, we might be losing money by now.”

“Other connections?”

Chris couldn’t help but ask curiously, “What kind of connections?”

Bruno glanced at Adam.

Chris immediately understood what he meant and smiled, “He’s my brother, there’s nothing to hide from him.”

“Well…” Bruno said softly, “Chris, do you know about The Franklin Gang?”

“The Franklin Gang?”

“They’re the local gang, all Chinese. The boss knows The Franklin Gang’s Mr. Lewis, so he often helps them out with little things. You know, the kind of little things you get paid for.”

Finally, Bruno lowered his voice and said, “Both Mia and I have done it.”

Chris frowned and turned to look at Adam.

Adam took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and said softly, “I was wondering what it was, turns out it’s just that. Chris, do you know what my grandfather did? He used to be a small boss in the The Kennedy Family.”

The Kennedy Family?

Never heard of it!

But judging by Bruno’s expression, it seemed to be something impressive.

Chris walked through the main entrance and looked at the quiet lobby.

“Go straight down this corridor and you’ll reach the crematorium.” Bruno led the way in front and introduced, “Downstairs is the basement, which the boss converted into a morgue. It can store up to two hundred and thirty-eight bodies at the same time. Mia, clean up here a bit, I’ll take Chris and the others upstairs for a look.”

Mia agreed and turned on the lobby’s air conditioning.

The three of them took the elevator to the second floor.

“The second floor is the reception room. At the very back are the funeral parlors—there are two in total. The one on the left is for the boss, and the one on the right is for Mia. There’s also an elevator here. After we finish preparing the body, we send the client down to the first-floor funeral hall, and then proceed with cremation… The third floor is the lounge and the boss’s office.”

Listening to Bruno’s introduction, Chris walked into the funeral parlor.