“Erniu is prettier, and her mother loves her more. Just like your eldest sister, you must not do anything foolish. If a customer thinks you serve well and gives you money as a reward, remember to secretly save it. When you are redeemed, go home and give the money to your mother. Do you understand? Alright, stop crying. Da Niu, take your sister to the river to wash her face.”
Originally intending to give a few more words of advice, Sister-in-law Feng, seeing her eldest daughter crying incessantly, impatiently shooed them away.
"Sister, why are you crying? I actually really want to go to a brothel. I overheard the old women in Shoucheng Village chatting, and they said the women there live very comfortably every day. They have plenty to eat and drink, and men to serve them. I want to go too."
Erniu is a year younger.
Only thirteen.
Long-term malnutrition has caused her hair to become dry and her body to become petite, but it still cannot hide her beautiful face.
The two sisters resembled their father and their mother, respectively.
Yet they were still not loved.
“You’re so stupid. Women who go to brothels never have a good life. Erniu, let’s run away. Even if we run to the deep mountains and get eaten by wolves, it’s better than being sold.”
Da Niu wiped away her tears, and for the first time, a sense of rebellion arose in her heart.
“If you dare to run away, I’ll tell Dad. Be careful, Dad will beat you to death. I’m not talking to you anymore. I have to go wash my face quickly, so that the people in the brothel won’t want me. I don’t want to live a hard life again.”
The girl ultimately didn't escape.
As soon as it was light, the two sisters were taken to town.
This place is far less prosperous than Shuangqiao Town, and it has no luxurious brothels.
There was only one brothel in the entire town.
It's been open for decades, and it hasn't gone out of business even during famine years.
The place has all kinds of girls, from those in their thirties and forties to those in their twelfth or thirteenth years old, and there are girls of all shapes and sizes, from fat to tall to thin to short.
This brothel had a unique feature: people could redeem themselves at the age of 35. Even if they didn't, they would be given a different job when they turned 40, such as becoming a cleaning lady in the brothel.
Upon arriving in town, after asking a passerby, Feng Dagen took his two daughters straight to the brothel.
"Tsk tsk, the younger girls are not bad, but the older ones..."
The brothel's mother looked at Da Niu with disdain.
"Take the smaller one. Give her four taels of silver, sign a life-and-death contract, and she will have nothing to do with you from now on. You can sell the larger one elsewhere. We brothels also consider appearances."
"Please be lenient with me, how about this, I'll give you both girls for six taels of silver?"
Feng Dagen was too lazy to run around anymore; after all, selling her as a maid would only cost him two taels of silver.
If you encounter a dishonest seller, you'll have to haggle over the price again. It's better to just sell it to Flower Mom.
"Oh, poor things. Alright, you three, go and wait in the guest room."
Two hours later, Feng Dagen left the brothel alone. He was reluctant to leave, not because he was reluctant to part with his daughter, but because he had stayed to play with a prostitute after getting the money.
It cost five strings of cash, but only sixteen yuan. He was quite chubby.
Feeling refreshed, he went to the pharmacy and the grain shop. By the time he boarded the oxcart to go home with his bags and packages, he only had three taels of silver left.
Mother's medicine is just too expensive.
Back home, Feng Dagen gave the remaining three taels of silver to his mother, raised the price of the medicine, and concealed the five strings of cash he had spent at the brothel.
That night, Erniu received her first customer.
Since it was his first time, the customer spent a full two taels of silver.
But Da Niu was too ugly and didn't sell.
This led to her being beaten by Hua's mother in her anger.
His body was covered in whip marks, but his face was completely unharmed.
After being tormented for three days, Da Niu was finally chosen, but the price was a bit low, not as good as Er Niu's two taels, and she was only sold for three strings of cash.
While she was being dragged to wash up, Da Niu climbed out the window and ran away.
It wasn't unheard of for girls to run away before, but today was just a coincidence; a manure collection truck happened to stop in the alley of the brothel.
The girl hid inside. The bucket was half full of sewage, which stank horribly. She opened the lid a little to avoid being suffocated by the stench.
The thugs at the brothel naturally missed out on her because they thought the latrine buckets were too smelly.
The sewage truck left the city gate and swayed as it came to a side road. Taking advantage of the driver's inattention, Da Niu jumped out over the sewage bucket.
Fortunately, she was thin and light, and was not discovered.
The girl didn't dare look back and ran back to her original home.
She came across a stream on the way and took a bath there while still dressed, but she couldn't get rid of the stench on her body.
We walked for a day and a night.
Da Niu had just arrived in Shuangqiao Town.
Because she smelled so bad, looked so much like a beggar, and had many scars on her wrists, she was initially unable to enter the city.
I was only able to get in by blending into a convoy.
Da Niu was terrified. She dared not return to Shoucheng Village and did not know where to go.
He could only wander aimlessly through the streets.
Wherever she went, she left a stench, and everyone looked at her with disgust.
But Da Niu didn't care; she was very hungry.
My stomach hurts from hunger.
Suddenly, she smelled a sweet fragrance.
It looks like it came from a pastry shop.
Lured by the scent, Da Niu slowly walked forward.
Ultimately, she stopped at Yan's Pastry Shop.
"New product launched today: tea-flavored peach shortbread. It's sweet with a slight bitterness, refreshing and delicious. The price is the same, so hurry up and line up if you want to try it."
When Da Niu heard that she could try the food for free, she quickly joined the last person in line.
There weren't many people there at that time; Da Niu was the fifth one.
Soon it was her turn.
Before she could even reach out, she was kicked by a customer behind her.
"Get the hell out of here! You stink! A beggar dares to sample this? Can you even afford it? Get lost, don't ruin my appetite—"
The girl fell to the ground and hit her forehead, drawing blood.
Fresh blood was flowing freely.
The person who kicked him didn't care at all. He just grabbed a piece of peach shortbread and stuffed it into his mouth. One piece wasn't enough, and he wanted to grab another, but Jin Fu and Jin Lu stopped him.
"Sir, if you like it, please come in and buy it. The samples are limited, one per person. Also, even beggars can sample our peach shortbread. Please apologize to this young customer."
Yan Xia had just brought out freshly baked peach shortbread when she saw this infuriating scene.
She put down the baking tray she was holding, walked over to Da Niu, and helped her up from the ground.
Seeing that her head was covered in blood, he took out a handkerchief he had just bought to wipe it off for her.
The girl was stunned by his gentle expression.
"I should apologize to her? She's just a beggar, does she even deserve my apology? Do you even know who my father is? Huh?"
The fat man was arrogant; he kicked over a bench placed in front of the shop.
"Who are you? Is your dad Li Gang? Hmm? You like kicking people, don't you? Coincidentally, I do too!"
Yan Xia hadn't lost her temper in a long time, but that didn't mean her personality had become gentler. She stood up, lifted her silk skirt to reveal a foot wearing an embroidered shoe, and kicked the fat man hard in the face. She used half her strength, but the fat man was kicked seven or eight meters away.
Her strength seems to have increased again...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
