How much money can you earn in a month? (Chapter 153, short excerpt)
When Pan Jinlian first discovered that her menstrual blood was abnormal, she was actually quite terrified. Humans are social creatures and unconsciously reject those who are different. In the eyes of most people in this era, menstruation already represented bad luck, and now this was added to the mix... Pan Jinlian made up her mind that she would never let anyone discover that something was wrong with her.
But a beautiful woman without a powerful backer is seen as easy prey by everyone. There's no such thing as a fool who can hide forever. After narrowly escaping another trap, Pan Jinlian finally took the initiative to explore the patterns in the blood.
She didn't use live humans for experiments; she simply spread the word that she was collecting rats. As long as they had grown their fur and weren't injured when brought over, regardless of size or sex, they were sold for one coin each, all under the guise of being medicinal ingredients.
"My mother's illness just won't get better. This time the doctor prescribed a new formula, saying it needs a thousand rat hearts as a medicinal guide..."
The woman, with her rosy cheeks and delicate features, wept bitterly, and no one could bring themselves to say anything harsh to her. Seeking medicine for her mother was filial piety, and besides, she wasn't bringing any of the children in, so everyone turned a blind eye.
Shangguan Jieyou's eyes lit up as she looked at the excuse Pan Jinlian came up with. Many things, though only separated by a thin layer of paper, could not be figured out until someone pointed them out. She had actually learned something that was hard to talk about under such a pretext!
With enough experimental material, Pan Jinlian quickly got a general idea of its situation, which was worse than her best-case scenario, but much better than her worst-case scenario:
First of all, her monthly menstrual blood really became poison, but it was only effective for that month's menstrual blood. When a new menstrual period came, the old blood was just ordinary blood.
Secondly, Tian Gui was not born with poison. It was like a friend kindly helping her wash her menstrual pads, not that she was poisoned to death. Pan Jinlian did not find the cause of the first two attacks, but during the later experiments, she found that these blood needed to be recited in a long string of words to take effect - the words were dreamt, not her own conclusion.
This effect applies to any creature other than her, and the duration is much shorter than before. However, perhaps due to gender, the effect is halved for women... There are many restrictions and long rules, but it is enough to be considered a protective force, giving Pan Jinlian the courage to leave the protection of the wealthy family.
Having decided to venture out into the world, Pan Jinlian did not stay in the wealthy family any longer. She took her indenture and returned to her free family, intending to see the misty Jiangnan region.
Unfortunately, she missed every single one of the car, boat, shop, foot, and tooth services.
Fortunately, she had the courage to overturn the table.
There are indeed countless beasts in the world, but the death of one means there will always be one less.
Pan Jinlian fought her way through the land, quickly making a name for herself and discovering a way to share this power: she and the woman who wanted the power cut their fingertips, pressed their wounds together to mix the blood, and then recited the long string of words from memory, and that was it!
The woman who was shared with later gained the ability to share with others.
Looking at this method of dissemination, Sikong Xiaoqing felt that the word "share" was not quite right. "Share" means to split, like an apple being divided in two. Each person can only get half an apple, but their abilities are complete. It is like a repetition, so it should be called... replication.
In any case, thanks to the efforts of everyone in the book, more and more women obtained this power, and Pan Jinlian also saw many things during her adventures, and her original plan to live a carefree life gradually changed.
This passage is somewhat ambiguous, but Sikong Xiaoqing decodes it without any difficulty and can understand the author's concerns: in teahouses, people don't talk about national affairs. If "I am a cat" can write about rebellion today, he will be arrested by the police and thrown into jail tomorrow. If he returns to the Ming Dynasty, he will almost be finished. Why risk his life to write a story to make a living?
Pan Jinlian embarked on a path she had never imagined before. The author did not write about the ending, but only about a scene a thousand years later—an ordinary family celebrating their daughter's first menstruation.
[Balloons, flower petals, a red carpet, bright lights—the girl is receiving blessings from her mother's clan...]
"The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers flow ceaselessly, protecting our ancestors and ensuring their peace for generations. Women are born with their own weapons; when the red spreads beneath her, she transforms from a human into a god who governs life!"
"Of course, whether or not life is created is up to God!"
...
The black and white words on the paper felt like a red-hot branding iron. Sikong Xiaoqing almost panicked and threw the book away. The servant on night watch outside heard the noise and respectfully knocked on the door, but Sikong Xiaoqing brushed him off. She carefully stepped on the carpet to put the book away, but when she lay down on the bed, she tossed and turned without feeling sleepy at all.
The fragments about the future were short, yet they played repeatedly in front of her. The harder she tried, the more she couldn't forget them. Sikong Xiaoqing tried to laugh at the exaggerated and absurd words, but the voice of rebuttal in her heart grew weaker and weaker.
This statement is certainly an exaggeration, but where is it wrong? The man said that women can only give birth, but we haven't seen them give birth on their own.
Sikong Xiaoqing recalled the "mother-in-law system" she had read about before—when a woman gave birth, the man would lie in bed, and after the woman gave birth, the man would stay in confinement to pretend that he had given birth to the child.
Many things were colliding in Sikong Xiaoqing's mind. She didn't continue reading the story, but she couldn't sleep either. The next day, her eyes were dark and swollen. Even though she tried to cover it up with makeup, it was still noticed when she ate. As a result, she postponed her meeting with the young master of the Shentu family.
Shen Tu Gongzi was the husband that Sikong Xiaoqing's family had carefully selected. He was said to be gentle and polite, and after graduating from university, he went to work for the government. He was handsome, knowledgeable, and had a promising future. Sikong Xiaoqing had spent time with him twice and knew that the description was not false at all.
But is she really going to marry him?
Sikong Xiaoqing felt that she must have ruined her brain by reading "I Am a Cat" books, otherwise how could such a thought have come to mind? Regardless of Shentu Gongzi himself, the main businesses of the Shentu family and the Sikong family are complementary. Even if their marriage is not a match made in heaven, it is still a powerful alliance between the families. Not to mention that Shentu Gongzi is indeed a very good person. In fact, she is the one who has benefited.
...
"Getting married is the worst thing in the world."
The plump aunt frowned as she spoke, her language still carrying a touch of Western aria, a trace left from years of living abroad.
"The so-called marriage certificate is actually a contract of servitude from your parents to your husband's family. They treat you like a slave who bears children, while deceiving you into thinking they are in charge. Lucky women can be fooled for a lifetime, but unlucky women..."
Yao Xiaoyu pushed the cream chestnut cake on the table toward Aunt Pang. She was never good at comforting people, especially those who were really upset. The only solution she could think of was to give them something sweet, which might cheer them up.
Auntie Pang's real name is Hua Pang, but she insists that the two of them call her Auntie Pang. The woman, who is in her forties, has a round face, round eyes, and a cheerful smile. She has a strong back and powerful limbs that match her name, which perfectly fits Yao Xiaoyu's stereotype of the name.
"It's also my fault, why am I telling you little kids these things..."
Aunt Pang quickly composed herself and took the initiative to ask the two what they wanted to find out. After confirming that Aunt Pang was receptive enough, Yao Xiaoyu simply let her tell her story.
"We've never really been outside, so our questions are all over the place. Why don't you go first, and I'll ask you questions later?"
The last person to be so cooperative was Ms. Yu Deng. Due to gender issues, Yao Xiaoyu always tried to maintain an appropriate distance from Ye Junshu, so she is not included in this group.
"Sure."
Hua Pang didn't care, or rather, she didn't think her past was something that needed to be hidden—she had carved out her own path through hardship, which was amazing!
"Where should I begin...? Let's start with names."
Hua Pang wasn't originally called by such a straightforward name. Her name was Hua Xiangnan, Xiang as in fragrance and Nan as in golden nanmu wood. That's what her family always told her.
When she was still called Hua Xiangnan, she had parents who genuinely loved her, a childhood sweetheart betrothal, and a well-off family that started preparing her dowry from birth. If there was anything she was unhappy about, it was that she was interested in cooking, but everyone demanded that she manage the accounts and say that cooking was a cook's job, not something she should do as a person of her status.
If none of what happened later had occurred, Hua Xiangnan would have lived a happy life. But if she could turn back time and choose again, she would still choose to uncover the truth and become Hua Pang. Some people are willing to stay in a dream forever, but she would rather die awake than live in a daze.
"Later I found out that Xiangnan's explanation was just something she said to coax me back then. My parents' real name for me was Xiangnan, but they changed it to avoid gossip."
The more devastated Hua Xiangnan was back then, the calmer Aunt Pang is now when she talks about it. After all, as someone once said, as long as you're alive, it will pass. Not to mention that compared to her parents' impure affection, the bigger blow she suffered at the time actually came from her husband's family.
The story, which has been written to death by scholars, tells of a childhood sweetheart who already has a concubine. He pretends to be a couple who only need each other to secure the Hua family's dowry. The whole family repeatedly fails in their attempts to embezzle their daughter-in-law's dowry, but he is exceptionally gifted at doing so. By the time Hua Xiangnan discovers this, all their assets, both overt and covert, are gone—a woman is inherently an appendage of a man, and everything she has naturally belongs to him.
At that time, Hua Xiangnan was driven to despair by a series of setbacks. She faked her death and boarded a ship to the other side of the ocean. She found that life was not easy in a foreign land. In the end, she managed to gain a foothold with her cooking skills. Unfortunately, honest business could not withstand the forces of evil, and she eventually chose to return to her roots.
Compared to the legendary Yu Deng, Aunt Hua's experience is a peaceful version of the struggle of the lower class. Her information may not be as comprehensive as Yu Deng's, but it is detailed and in-depth enough, and it also provides Yao Xiaoyu with a lot of useful information.
"I might not be working here anymore."
When Yao Xiaoyu arranged a time to chat with Aunt Hua next, Aunt Hua said with a wry smile that Yao Xiaoyu asked her about it and found out that the family's temperament was really not to her liking.
"I'm getting older and don't want to work in restaurants or similar places anymore. I just want to be a home cook, but it's really hard to find a suitable family to cook for."
Aunt Pang returned in high spirits, but in families that can afford to hire a private chef, interpersonal relationships are more important than culinary skills. She didn't know where she would go in the future, or perhaps she would leave Shanghai.
Yao Xiaoyu looked at the plump aunt who was pondering her way out, finished the last piece of cream chestnut cake, and slowly asked:
"Auntie Pang, how much do you earn a month here?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
