[Dear Mr. Night Watchman:
Hello sir, I am writing to you without any prior communication. I hope you can forgive me if it may be abrupt.
I know you are a man of great generosity, and you will never look down on me. So I will tell you here with confidence that I am Bai Shaoyao, the most famous prostitute in the Eight Great Hutongs. I am illiterate, and this letter was written by a kind person. I also heard the story you wrote from others. I am not afraid of you laughing at me. I really cried a lot at that time, for the little sister Baixiang who died in the book, and also for myself. If you don't mind, please listen to my story.
My family was poor when I was young, and then there was a drought, so my father sold me. When I fell into prostitution, I was one year younger than Baixiang. Girls of my age were not rare in the Eight Great Hutongs. My younger sister was deflowered when she was seven years old. I worked in this dirty place for ten years in the flesh trade, and suffered all kinds of inhuman torture. I won’t go into details here for fear of dirtying your ears. I think, compared with the dead Baixiang, I am lucky, because not only am I still alive, but I have also become a famous prostitute. The customers who come and go are all wealthy businessmen and celebrities. I have stood at the top of the prostitute industry, but how can a person be perfect in every way, and how can a flower be red for a hundred days?
Sir, do you know where the most famous Hong Mudan in the Eight Great Hutongs was ten years ago? Hong Mudan was more famous than me at the beginning, but since she was infected with that dirty disease, she quickly fell from the first-class Qingyin Xiaoban to a second-class teahouse. In our industry, once you fall, it is much more painful than death. When I saw Hong Mudan again, she had become the lowest fourth-class prostitute, that is, a brothel. No matter who it was, as long as you gave her a dime, you could sleep with her. Every day, she would receive more than 20 customers and would be beaten by the madam... Later, she died. Because she was too sick to receive customers, the madam threw her into a mass grave and buried her alive. Maybe her body was eaten by wild dogs like Baixiang in your writing.
Sir, I am not young anymore. Even if I wear gold and silver now, I will soon become a second-class teahouse owner. The fate of Baixiang and Hong Mudan is my fate. But I am unwilling to accept it. Sir, I am also the daughter of an honest family. Why should I die in such a shameful way? From your story, I know that you sympathize with us and you treat us as human beings. I know that you are more knowledgeable than me, a blind man, so I come to ask you, how can I survive? If I leave this business, what can I do...】
…
Bai Shaoyao's words only reveal the tip of the iceberg of the country's 3,000-year history of prostitutes. The real life of prostitutes is much more miserable than the stories written by Le Jing and Bai Shaoyao. Some people may ask, if it is so miserable, why don't they redeem themselves? Of course, it is because they can't afford it.
Prostitutes in Peking were divided into four categories: Qingyin Xiaoban, Teahouse, Xiachu and Brothel.
For example, the second-class teahouses generally have two types of customers: tea customers and shop customers. The former just drink tea, eat some melon seeds, and chat about lyrics and poems. The fee is one yuan per plate of melon seeds. The latter just chat about the philosophy of life and achieve the harmony of life. The fee is 12 yuan, of which the madam and the boss each get 5 yuan. The nanny and the waiter each get one yuan, and then the boss pays 50 cents to the prostitutes. In addition, as a legal profession, prostitutes have to pay very high taxes to the police every month. In the late Republic of China, third-class prostitutes paid 100,000 French francs in taxes every month, and also had to pay 250,000 French francs in inspection fees. Each time a prostitute receives a customer, it costs 100,000 yuan, of which the boss takes 90,000 yuan. That is to say, each third-class prostitute has to receive customers 35 times a month without eating or drinking to pay enough taxes. By the way, a piece of pork in Peking at that time cost 250,000 French francs.
In later generations, many girls chose to sell their bodies for material gain, but in the Republic of China, human flesh was cheaper than pork. Even if a few prostitutes were lucky enough to redeem themselves, they would soon have to return to their old ways after being abandoned by their clients because they had no means of making a living. That's why Bai Shaoyao asked Le Jing how she could survive.
How to survive is simple, but it is difficult in the current social environment. It will take decades for that great man to cut off this cancer with extraordinary courage, giving Bai Shaoyao and others a chance to live with a clear conscience. Le Jing cannot save Bai Shaoyao and others. If they want to survive, they can only save themselves.
Le Jing thought for a moment, and first told her the stories of Qiu Jin, Florence Nightingale, and Helen Keller, and then wrote: "In this world, women have to survive much harder than men, but despite this, there are still some women who never give in, and have made achievements in all walks of life, making history remember them.
I won't say anything irresponsible like you have to redeem yourself and become a clean white person. I can only tell you that you have to work ten or even a hundred times harder than an ordinary man to live an upright life. I also need to tell you that the constraints on women in this era are much less than before. Women can also work, go to school and become officials. If you want to change your situation, you might as well use your own advantages and learn to read and write from your clients. No matter when, educated people always have more options. "
A few days later, Le Jing received another letter from Bai Shaoyao. This time, there were only four crooked words on the letter paper: "Thank you, sir."
Le Jing didn't know what Bai Shaoyao's final fate would be. Perhaps her efforts would eventually be crushed by the tide of fate. But history would never forget her tiny efforts at this time. The brilliance of humanity blooming from Bai Shaoyao and others would one day illuminate the long night that had enveloped this country for three thousand years.
It was also through this letter from Bai Shaoyao that he suddenly had an inspiration.
He wanted to write a prostitute's memoirs, recalling his life in the voice of a famous prostitute.
Although the famous prostitute had a dirty body, she had noble aspirations, but in the end, her last bone was chewed up by this cannibalistic world.
Through Bai Shaoyao's letter, Le Jing also discovered that his articles had always been very unfriendly to the uneducated people at the bottom of society.
Like Bai Shaoyao, who is illiterate, she would never know the content of Le Jing's article if someone hadn't read it to her.
With the literacy rate so low nowadays, his writings are usually too pretentious. Although they are elegant, they are not conducive to dissemination.
Think about the later generations. Time-travel dramas and melodramatic romance dramas are naturally more popular than historical dramas. The same principle applies. What belongs to the people belongs to the masses and the world.
Therefore, he wanted to write his new work in a more simple and easy-to-understand way. Only in this way can the new work be spread more easily, awaken people's wisdom, and make more people at the bottom sympathize with the plight of prostitutes.
What's the name of the new work?
Le Jing suddenly remembered a movie from his previous life - "Memoirs of a Geisha", which tells the life story of a geisha.
Let's name his novel "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan" as a tribute to this great classic.
…
When Yang Jinglun came to visit, he couldn't stop smiling.
"Why are you so happy?"
Yang Jinglun said with a smile: "Sir, this time's "Dog Eyes Look Down on People" is really well written. Many authors are posting comments on this article!"
"What's Tang Nan's reaction?"
Yang Jinglun smiled disapprovingly and said, "Of course he will write an article to defend himself and criticize, but how can a firefly compete with the bright moon? With Mr.'s article as a shining example, no matter how much he criticizes, it won't cause any waves. Everyone is still talking about Mr.'s article with great relish."
Yang Jinglun looked at the calm young man, his admiration in his heart flowing like the Yellow River, "Sir, you are really a genius. You are so good at writing humorous novels. The jokes you said in the article have all been adapted into crosstalk!"
Le Jing was stunned. "Crosstalk?"
Yang Jinglun nodded, also showing a relieved expression: "Sir, you don't go out often, so you don't know that now teahouses are popular outside to perform crosstalk adapted from your articles. Even illiterate idlers laugh so hard that their stomachs hurt. It's because you write good jokes, sir, that they are so popular. In my opinion, Tang Nan's name will soon be a household name."
Le Jing smiled. It seemed that the people liked his new work very much, so they spread it spontaneously.
It is estimated that it won’t be long before Tang Nan will become the modern-day Pan Jinlian.
Three days later, Le Jing handed the completed "Memoirs of a Famous Prostitute" to Yang Jinglun.
After reading it, Editor Yang was amazed.
"This novel is really well-written!" Editor Yang said excitedly, "This novel is a severe blow to the lies and distortions of right and wrong by people like Tang Nan!"
…
As soon as "Memoirs of a Famous Courtesan" was published, it caused a sensation in the newspapers.
The public opinion originally triggered by the prostitute chapter of "The Rat's Eyes Look Down on People" was now even more boiling. Writers with different viewpoints used newspapers as a battlefield and articles as weapons to launch a bloodless battle.
Tang Nan would naturally not miss this good opportunity for revenge. He did not even care about maintaining his dignity as a cultured person, and he cursed like a shrew in the newspaper: "If the night watchman had not been hanging out in the Eight Great Hutongs so often, how could he know so much about prostitutes!"
"Prostitutes are just a bunch of self-degrading bitches! Do you think the night watchmen want to build a memorial arch for the whores?"
"How can the night watchman pretend to be a noble man when he is a whore himself? It is really ridiculous!"
Not only did he speak himself, he also encouraged a group of friends to support him in the newspapers, which created quite a stir for a while.
However, when several heavyweight bosses came out, a few dog barks could no longer cause any waves.
Famous writer and educator Zhou Dezhang rarely expressed his support by writing: "Prostitutes are a major poisonous sore in the country. Many intellectuals and politicians do not have the courage and ability to open the poisonous sore and treat it, so they simply cover it tightly and pretend that it does not exist at all. Such an act of covering one's ears and stealing the bell is really laughable! Because they do not have the ability to solve the problem, they first solve the person who raised the problem. This is the bad nature of the current Chinese authorities!"
Mr. Zheng Yiliang, a famous talker, even cursed at the dirty words of Tang Nan and others: "Bullshit! How can you speak so dirty and vulgar at such a young age! I really want to pay a visit to Mr. Tang and discuss the family education problem of the Tang Mansion."
In addition to these two bigwigs, some university professors also stood up to support the Night Watchmen and scolded those who opposed the Night Watchmen's articles.
Le Jing was amazed when he read these articles. He was indeed a cultured person. Even his insults were elegant, just like when Mr. Zheng Yiliang insulted Tang Nan in his article: "Are you a human? A dog? You keep barking. I'm afraid you are in heat!"
Once the experts made a move, there was nothing left. With so many big shots standing up for Le Jing, Tang Nan and his cronies immediately disappeared.
…
Tang Mansion.
Mr. Tang: "Stop publishing those messy articles in the newspaper! Don't you think your reputation is bad enough?"
Tang Nan was unconvinced and defended himself: "It was that guy who provoked me first!"
"I don't care who is right or wrong, just remember that the pen of a writer can kill people! Do you want the Tang family to be infamous along with you for eternity?" Mr. Tang said firmly: "Find a time to meet with the night watchman, build a friendship, and turn hostility into friendship."
Tang Nan's face turned the color of liver: "You want me to apologize to him? You might as well kill me!"
"you!"
Tang Nan sneered, turned around and left angrily, slamming the door.
Master Tang was so angry that he fell backwards: "Rebellious son! Rebellious son!"
Tang Nan felt as if a fire was burning in his heart, and he hated the night watchman so much that he wanted to chew his bones and flesh.
What a night watchman! He will never let him go!
The author has something to say:
The famous prostitute Sai Jinhua, the wife of the famous top scholar, accompanied her husband on a visit to Europe. During the Boxer Rebellion (the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China), she tried her best to represent the country as a socialite. She sold herself to the leading general and begged him not to harm the people. Later, the top scholar's friend thought she was a disgrace to her husband and expelled her from the capital. In order to make a living, she had to go back to her old job and later married a patron. After the patron's death, she died in poverty in the Eight Great Hutongs.
As the saying goes, those who are loyal are mostly butchers, and those who are unfaithful are mostly scholars.
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