The night watchman outside knocked the clock at three o'clock. In the main room of a small courtyard deep in the "Ming'ao Mixing" house in the high-end residential area of Lingao, Zhou Sumiang was kneeling on the square brick floor "thinking about her past", her body leaning against the
At the Eight Immortals Table, I could no longer hold myself up.
The candlestick on the table was lit all night. The lady ordered: After performing the family rituals, Zhou Sumiang should be punished to kneel all night, so that she could reflect deeply.
The guard maid yawned again, and the candlelight on the table bounced twice and was about to burn out. She stood up groggily and was about to get another one. The door opened, and another maid held a lantern.
Came in: "Ruilan! You go back and rest first, I'll watch it for you."
It was a maid named Fuyue who came to serve Zhou Sumiang. As soon as the eldest lady came back, she called all the maids and maids around Zhou Sumiang to pass over for questioning one by one.
Ruilan was a little surprised: "What? Let you come back?"
Fuyue said: "I told the housekeeper and the eldest lady: I am helping in the kitchen today. Everyone in the kitchen can testify for me. I cannot be blamed for Aunt Zhou running out."
"It's okay!" Ruilan patted her chest. She looked at the sky outside and asked, "What time is it?"
"When I came over the clock had already struck twelve, and it was also the third watch outside."
Ruilan smiled and said: "That's all, at this time, the night watch housekeeper is coming soon. I've been up for half the night, so I might as well stay up for another half. If I want her to catch her, I have to be verbose!"
"Are you so afraid of her?"
"Aren't you afraid? She kept talking and was beaten so hard that she couldn't sit down for two days!" Ruilan seemed to be frightened, "I won't get into trouble with this."
Fuyue sat next to her and looked at the sleepy Zhou Suniang, "Are you asleep?"
"Yeah. I was beaten and scolded, but I couldn't hold on!" Ruilan sighed sympathetically, "My wife wanted to attack her a long time ago. This time she caught me!"
Fuyue put out the lantern, replaced it with a new candle, and sat down next to her: "Then I will accompany you."
As she said this, she walked over, looked at Zhou Sumiang first, then went to the back room to get a thin quilt to cover her.
The winter night in Lingao was still a bit cold. Ruilan had a thin blanket for night use, and the two of them put on the blanket next to each other.
"You're kind-hearted." Ruilan smiled softly, "You're so caring!"
"If something happens to the master's pet peeve, my wife faces south, and I will suffer." Fuyue sighed in a long tone, looked at Zhou Sumiang again, and whispered, "I'm afraid she will
Life is going to be difficult."
Ruilan nodded: The master is having a hard time, and being a maid is even harder.
"It's a good life, but I have to..." Ruilan muttered.
"Shh!" Fu Yue made a "silence" gesture, then looked at Zhou Sumiang and whispered, "Don't talk too much."
Ruilan knew he had made a mistake and quickly nodded.
"Hey, in this house, although I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and the work is not tiring, day by day is no different from being in jail." Ruilan said quietly, "I am worried all day long."
Fuyue whispered, "You haven't thought about quitting?"
"Don't do it?" Ruilan said in surprise, "A slave's body is a slave's life. If you want it, you will do it. If you want it, you will do it. If you are slapped, you have to ask the master if his hand hurts. How can you dare to say no?
'Character."
"Didn't Mr. Xia say it last time? All the contracts of prostitution in the hands of the Qu family are invalid! Now they are all hired workers." She pursed her lips towards Zhou Sumiang, "Her contract is gone too."
"That's what I'm saying, Sister Fuyue," Ruilan sighed, "So what if we don't have the contract? We don't just let the masters round and flatten them. If you're happy, you'll be given a candied date, and if you're unhappy, you'll be given a slap! You
Look at her..." As she spoke, she paid attention to Zhou Suniang again, "I must be my favorite! Madam, I was beaten to death last night, and the bamboo board was broken. If it weren't for fear of human life..." At this point, she said again
He glanced outside and said, "Oh, it's none of our business!"
"You are stupid. Without the contract, you are a good citizen, not a slave." Fuyue lowered his voice very low, "It is up to you to decide whether to leave or stay. When you go out, you can find a job by yourself, do you remember
The original third sister-in-law Gu?"
"I know, when we laid off people, all the men who followed her were let out, and her boss was not happy!"
Soon after the Qu family came to Lingao, they no longer kept servants to guard the courtyard. Due to the high cost of keeping slaves, they also laid off many of their original servants.
"She is now working as a female worker outside and can earn several dollars a month."
"It's quite a lot." Ruilan was a little envious. Old girls like them have been living in the mansion for at least ten years. Their monthly income is at most half a yuan. The first-class housekeeper only earns one yuan.
"Although the salary must be deducted from household expenses. But you are the master of your own family, you can eat whatever you want, and you have to decide everything - unlike us, who have to listen to others for everything."
Ruilan sighed: "This kind of thing is just something to think about. You and I have been doing the job of serving people since we were young. What can we do if we are released? Third sister-in-law Gu used to do a lot of work.
, if you have the strength, you can do the work. What about us, serving tea, water, and folding quilts?"
"Serving tea, bringing water and folding quilts, Australians also want it." Fuyue said, "Besides, don't you learn anything else? Gu Sansao's man used to do some menial work at home, cleaning and moving, and I heard that he still does it now.
Working in the workshop."
"You talk so lively, do you want to resign?" Ruilan felt a little cold and tightened the blanket.
"I think about it, I think about it every day. But I just can't make up my mind. Although it's not going well here, I will get beaten and scolded, but when I go out, I feel unsure of myself." She suddenly pulled Ruilan's arm, "
Let’s resign together and go out!”
Ruilan sneered: "You have a beautiful idea! Let's not tell you what you are doing when you go out. Don't forget that we still owe a debt to the Qu family! We don't have a penny of our worth, so if we give it to my mother, it will be cheap.
Ren Yazi, now it is considered our debt, plus the interest for so many years...you want to resign? Okay, the accounting office will first calculate how much you have to pay back, do you still have to pay it off?!"
"You are so honest!" Fuyue sneered, "Who will I collect from Sister Lian's debt now?"
"I can't do this. I have debts, and even if no one cares about me, I still feel like I can't hold my head high for the rest of my life." Ruilan said, "I've never been forced to this point."
The two maids talked, sighed, and whispered for a while, but they didn't notice that Zhou Suniang, who had lowered her head before and seemed to be asleep, moved slightly.
They talked for a while, each of them yawned, and finally couldn't stand it anymore, so they snuggled together and took a nap.
Hearing their breathing gradually becoming more stable, Zhou Sumiang opened her eyes, supported her body with both hands, and slowly raised her body.
She supported her body little by little with her arms and moved her legs and feet, which had almost no feeling. It took more than ten minutes before she managed to stand up and hold on to the table.
Numbness, pain and dizziness tormented her for a long time. She stood like this for more than ten minutes before she felt that her body that had fallen apart was back again.
Carefully came to the door of the west room, which was her usual "study", where she often read and wrote. At this time, with the help of the weak candlelight, you could see that the door of the west room was open, and the floor was full of messy books.
Picture scroll - When she was "tortured" last night, the eldest lady unceremoniously searched her residence, intending to take this opportunity to find evidence of her "handover" and "adultery".
Naturally, there will be no evidence, because she has no "adultery" at all. When it comes to "handing over to a foreigner," He Xiaoyue guessed right, that she was looking for her brother.
Zhou Sumiang was trafficked to Yangzhou. She left her hometown when she was a child. Now more than ten years have passed. She has long forgotten her last name, who her parents are, and where they are. She only remembers that she has an older brother.
Her life was actually pretty good among the sisters: she was ransomed at a young age. Although she was married to a merchant as a concubine, she was very favored, so the Qu family naturally looked at her differently.
Mr. Qu has been in business for many years and has considerable assets and vision. His family moved to Lingao, a blessed place in the Song Dynasty. He no longer had to worry about war and chaos, and had many fresh and comfortable "Australian enjoyments". She lived such a stable and wealthy life, calling
Living as a slave, I felt I had nothing to complain about.
What disturbed her mind was a shopping trip to Wanzi Pavilion. She saw the man named Wu Xinsheng and the mole under his eyes. In an instant, all the memories that had been blurred surfaced.
It's a pity that after repeated attempts to inquire, nothing happened. Wu Xinsheng even went to other places. Fortunately, Guo Xier was not tight-lipped, and she was able to find out the man's address.
The Qu family's security was very tight, and it was difficult to go out. But it was not difficult to ask someone to mail letters. Zhou Sumiang used some tricks and finally contacted the Nansha Cotton Textile Factory.
She was unwilling to give up this rare opportunity. Taking advantage of the fact that the master was away on business and the eldest wife was going to the temple to worship Buddha and fast, she quietly slipped out and went straight to Wanzi Pavilion. Although He Xiaoyue rejected her request at first, she could tell
, the other party sympathized with her, and she had a more resolute and decisive character than Guo Xier.
At the moment, the most important thing was the letters to and from the Nansha Textile Factory. One of them, together with the letter to her brother, was stuffed into the cracks of the sofa in the reception room of Wanzi Pavilion, but there were still two letters that she had to deal with quickly.
Zhou Sumiang knew that the eldest wife would never let her go. Sooner or later, her things would be found.
She lit a match and came to the bookshelf by the light of the fire. She squatted down a little awkwardly and groped at the bottom of the bookshelf. Soon, she touched a book protector stuffed inside.
She took out the book, and inside there were two letters - from the Nansha Textile Factory, and half a wooden comb.