Chapter 179 "As long as she's a woman, she will definitely..."
"Sister, I never thought I'd see you again." She laughed and cried at the same time, waking the baby in her arms. The baby cried loudly, and she quickly bent down to comfort it.
"Sister, come sit at my house for a while," she said to me, "and have a cup of hot water too."
I agreed. Actually, I had nowhere else to go if I didn't. She called over a little girl from the shop next door and asked her to take me to her home in the suburbs. She also called over a dilapidated carriage, clearly familiar with the driver, and asked him to make sure we were taken to our doorstep.
Half an hour later, the carriage passed through bustling streets, majestic city gates, icy mountain roads, and a wooden bridge over a wide river, arriving at a dilapidated, stinking slum. It stopped in front of a run-down shack. The little girl led me inside, lit a fire, and filled a kettle with water to boil.
"Please have a seat. The water has boiled, so please pour yourself a drink. The driver is taking people back to the city now, and I need to go back with him, so I can't stay here any longer." The little girl said, draping an old blanket from the floor over me. "Are you cold?"
I expressed my gratitude while shivering from the cold.
"I really have to go now. Aunt Aya will be back in two hours. There are still some biscuits here; you can have some if you're hungry." The little girl was surprisingly sensible. I thanked her again, and the little girl smiled, "Aunt Aya helps my family a lot usually; I'm just helping her with a little something now."
The little girl hurried away, and I wrapped myself tightly in the blanket and sat alone in the shed. As the fire in the stove grew stronger and the water boiled, the shed became warm. After a few cups of hot water and some flatbread, I regained some energy.
Just then, Aya rushed back. I asked in surprise, "Weren't you supposed to be back in over an hour?"
"I took leave and came back early." Aya said, placing a bag of food on the table. "Sis, have something to eat first."
Where is your child?
“That’s not my child. I’m just babysitting for someone else.”
The package of food was opened, revealing slices of glistening roast duck, chunks of cream cake, and a few pieces of dried sea fish. This was probably the best food Aya could buy.
Roast duck, cakes, and dried seafood are not cheap.
"I'm sorry to have troubled you to spend so much money." I felt a little embarrassed.
"Sister, what are you saying? You're a guest now." Aya smiled and stuffed a piece of roast duck into my mouth, then poured me a cup of hot water.
We sat down at the table and ate, talking very little, except when we did talk about things like whether it would snow again tomorrow.
After eating and drinking their fill, night fell and the wind and snow intensified. Aya stuffed the drafty parts of the shed tightly with rags, then opened the cellar and pulled out a thickly wrapped cotton quilt. "Sister, just make do with this tonight. Don't let its age fool you, it's very warm."
I laughed. "Why would I, a beggar reduced to the streets, care whether it's new or old?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Aya laughed out loud. "What beggar?"
She quickly made up a bed for me, and we lay on the thick floor mat, listening to the wind outside the shed and talking in hushed tones.
"Sister, this room is drafty. Make sure you cover yourself with a tighter blanket tonight, or you'll get a fever tomorrow."
"Sister, please stay here for a few more days. Although I am poor, I can still afford to entertain my friends."
I laughed and said, "I'm homeless now, and it's already my good fortune that you're willing to take me in."
“How could that be?! Meeting you, sister, is my good fortune,” Aya said. “It was because I met you, sister, many years ago that I was able to live a life of wealth and luxury.”
"A life of wealth and luxury?"
“Hmm.” Aya’s voice lowered. “A long time ago, Prince Bernard sent me and Sister Shaling to participate in maid training. Sister Shaling was smarter than me and quickly became the best one. She was then assigned to Prince Bernard’s side and later became the head maid. But I just couldn’t learn it. I couldn’t walk as gracefully as the other maids, nor could I interact with people like them. In the end, I failed the test. Later, I was assigned to Prince Bernard’s palace as a general maid. I was guaranteed three meals a day, had beautiful clothes to wear, and lived in a comfortable house. Wasn’t that a life of luxury? I was so grateful to you at the time, sister. If it weren’t for you, how could Prince Bernard have given me this opportunity?”
"A general servant?" I was taken aback. "It's very hard work. Didn't Shaling help you switch to another position later?"
“It’s not hard work,” Aya said immediately. “It’s not hard work at all, much easier than the work I used to do in the village. Sister Shaling helped me; after she became the supervisor, she transferred me to be Prince Bernot’s clothing maid, specifically in charge of the prince’s clothes. But after less than half a month, I had made a mess of the prince’s clothes. Either a piece of clothing would suddenly have a hole, or a piece of clothing that had been neatly arranged would disappear. I also didn’t get along well with the other maids, and I couldn’t win arguments with them. I was so stressed out that I applied to be transferred back to the storeroom. I think the storeroom is easier; the interpersonal relationships are simpler, and I don’t have to use my brain. I just have to clean, move, and guard the storeroom.”
I asked, "Then why did you stop working as a maid?"
“Sister Shaling got into trouble later. I don’t know what she did wrong, but she was imprisoned in the dungeon. As her sister, I was implicated and banished from the prince’s palace.” Seeing my expression change slightly, she immediately added, “But I was lucky. I wasn’t killed or thrown into the dungeon. Many of the maids who were close to Sister Shaling were killed or sold. Some of them died of illness not long after being imprisoned in the dungeon. I was just banished from the palace, and I quickly found a job again. I’m doing quite well now.”
I looked up at the drafty roof and the snowflakes leaking in. Is this what you call living a pretty good life?
Aya followed my gaze and saw it too, saying, "This roof has been repaired twice, but it still leaks, though it's much better than before. I'm actually doing pretty well." She smiled at me and said, "I have money to repair the roof, I can sleep wrapped in a quilt, I have food to eat every day, and I can still find a job."
Hearing her say that, I really felt that she was doing quite well.
We talked until midnight before going to sleep. The night was cold, and the wind made the shed rattle and bang against the windows. We huddled together for warmth and slept fairly comfortably and peacefully.
Before dawn, Aya got up to go to her first job, babysitting a blacksmith's wife. When she left, I was already up, sitting at the table eating the cream cake she'd brought back yesterday. We'd only eaten half of it yesterday.
After we finished eating, I cleaned her shack. The shack was messy and dirty; she certainly didn't have time to clean it on a regular basis. After cleaning, I took her dirty clothes to the well to wash them. When I arrived yesterday, I noticed a well at the entrance of the slum village, where several women were squatting and washing clothes.
In the biting wind, I quickly finished washing the clothes. Although they weren't perfectly clean, the stains on the surface were gone. While I was hanging them to dry, Aya returned with a food bag. Seeing me, she exclaimed, "Sis, what are you doing? Are your hands cold?"
My hands were a little cold, but it was okay, they'd be fine in a bit. I smiled and said, "It's alright."
She snatched the clothes from my hands and placed the food package in my hands, saying, "Go and eat something first." Of course, I refused, and we finished hanging the clothes together before returning to the shed.
"This must have cost you a lot of money, right?" I opened the food bag Aya brought back, revealing a fragrant roast chicken and some freshly baked flatbread.
"It's alright," Aya said nervously. "It's not really expensive, it's just that I don't earn enough."
“I’ll go out and find a job too,” I said, “that way we can have some money to spare.”
Aya looked at me in surprise. "Sister, aren't you going to see Prince Bernard?" Seeing my displeasure, she quickly added, "I don't want you to marry up or to live that kind of wealthy life through you. I just thought..." she said with some difficulty, "...that you want to be with him."
"Why do you think that?" I laughed.
"He's so handsome and rich, I think any woman would like him."
Do you like him, Aya?
“Of course, of course I like him. I was dazzled the first time I saw him. God, I’ve never seen such a handsome man. But I knew he wouldn’t even look at me. He wouldn’t even give Sister Shaling a second glance, let alone me. So later,” Aya’s voice was a little downcast, “I fell for another man.”
She suddenly stopped talking and pushed the roast chicken and flatbread in front of me, saying, "Sister, you eat, you eat."
I didn't ask any more questions. Everyone has their own secrets. Aya is probably in her early twenties, or almost thirty, but she looks old and haggard. She must have her own story.
After lunch, Aya took me to a dilapidated horse-drawn carriage heading out of town to look for work. We said goodbye at the city gate and agreed to meet there just as it got dark. Aya had to go to work, babysitting someone's child and minding the snack shop where I had bought water yesterday.
A light snow began to fall as I searched for work. I only had a few copper coins; there was no way I could use an employment agency, so I had to ask around at different shops. I asked at clothing stores, snack shops, barbershops, and other small businesses, but to no avail. Most of the female shop assistants here were hired through referrals; what chance did a complete stranger like me have?
As darkness approached, I had no choice but to drag my heavy steps toward the city gate. The snow began to fall heavier and heavier, and the weather grew colder. There were few pedestrians on the road, with only a few carriages passing by occasionally.
Leaning against the corner of the city gate, I waited for Aya. A beautiful, exquisite black carriage passed by, then suddenly stopped after a short distance. I didn't pay much attention; my gaze was almost entirely fixed on the tips of her shoes. If the snow got heavier tomorrow, I wondered how long these shoes would last in the snow. It wasn't until a noblewoman in a beaver fur coat stepped out of the carriage and walked quickly towards me that I looked up in surprise.
"Is it really you?!" The lady stopped in her tracks, exclaiming incredulously, "I almost thought I was seeing things."
In the dim light, the lady's round face, large eyes, slightly upturned nose, and stubborn chin seemed very familiar, but I couldn't quite place her. "Who are you?"
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Author's note: Thank you all for your support!
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