Maidservant (12)
Anna had been with Mi for almost two months, receiving no salary and even having to return the only gift she had been given: a carriage. Anna's life at home wasn't easy either; being older, she couldn't find a new maidservant job and began working as a tutor within the family. Mi was very curious about maidservants, and every day after closing at the restaurant, she would follow Anna home to watch how she taught the little girl.
David's house was a three-story building, much better than Fried's. More than thirty little girls of varying ages lived there, ranging from five or six to twenty-five or twenty-six. When Anna brought Mi back, the girls were all in the first-floor reception room, combing each other's hair, some stroking each other's braids, others touching each other's faces. They nestled together, without a word, a tender affection flowing between them. Mi sensed this atmosphere as soon as she entered the reception room; they cared for the little girls like mothers and sisters, and the little girls trusted and relied on them.
After afternoon tea, it was bath time. In the huge tubs, the girls caressed each other, scrubbing each other's backs and kissing each other's wrists, arms, shoulders, heads, and cheeks, exploring each other's bodies. After bathing, the girls would massage each other, their fingers gliding over each other's backs with varying pressure and speed, until the person under their hands slowly drifted off to sleep.
After dinner, it was their reading time. The older girls would read to the younger girls, and these books were almost all about how to praise a woman. A girl in her twenties would praise another girl's beauty.
The girl said passionately and directly, "Madam, your eyes are as bright as stars, your gaze captivates me. Madam, please allow me to kiss your eyes, for they are the kindest gems in the world."
"Madam, your beauty is like the moonlight pouring down, and your eyes and brows exude a natural poetic charm. Your beauty lies not only in your appearance, but also in the composure that flows in every gesture, like a fairy who has stepped out of the forest, and even time seems to slow down for you. Madam, please allow me to take your hand and follow in your footsteps."
"Your wisdom is filled with the brilliance of thought, and your words speak the light of truth. You can see the essence of the world at a glance. You are like the wisest parchment, exuding a captivating fragrance. Madam, please allow me to kiss your lips and let your wisdom infect me."
"My lady, you are the most wonderful woman in Sun City. You are as gentle as water, yet as passionate as fire. The petals of a dahlia cannot compare to your fervor. My lady, you are the woman I admire most. Your hands have the warmth I rely on most. My lady, please allow me to hold you. In doing so, I will become the happiest woman in all of Sun City."
"Madam, your skin is as smooth and sweet as freshly boiled milk."
There were also straightforward requests: "Madam, have pity on me, please let me serve you."
"Madam, don't you want to kiss me?"
Hearing these words, Mi felt completely disgusted. These young girls were praising each other, as if the woman in front of them was an unparalleled beauty, each waiting to be favored and pampered. These young girls would also exchange ideas, and if a sentence was particularly attractive, they would compete to memorize it.
After finishing their day of study, the girls went back to their rooms to sleep. Anna accompanied Mi towards the Flower Inn, and Mi couldn't help but ask, "Who can accept such praise?" She felt extremely embarrassed. The girls in David's house did not live a normal life at all. They lived in a world full of women, and their behavior was completely unlike that of normal people.
"Madam, you are not one of those vain women; the tricks of little girls are tasteless to you. Only a woman like you, who has experienced the years, possesses true wisdom. You understand everything that time brings, you see through it all—"
"Stop, stop, Anna, are you flattering me?"
Anna stared at Mi with sparkling eyes, and Mi turned her head away: "Although I do appreciate it, this is just too embarrassing. How could you say it like that?"
Anna gently took Mi's hand and led her forward: "Mi, knowing how to speak to please your employer is the most basic function of a maid, but we know much more than that."
The next day, Mi followed Anna to David's house again. This time, the girls were no longer of mixed ages; they looked only seven or eight years old, and there were only five or six children in the class. Today, a middle-aged man was teaching them. His voice was somewhat authoritative: "You all need to listen carefully to what I say. I will only say it once. How much you remember will determine your future."
In front of the man was a blackboard with the word "woman" written on it. Pointing at the blackboard with a pointer, the man said, "First, you must understand that you serve women. What is a woman? A woman is yourself. Think about your vanity, your competitiveness, your hypocritical nature. You need flattery and affirmation more than men do. Never lose your temper in front of your master, never expect your master to coax you. No matter what your master gives you, never take it for granted. Your master's favor is the most illusory thing; only the golden goose, only the golden goose in your hands, is real."
The man looked at the girls in front of him, pointing his pointer at two of them: "You, and you, lower your heads. What's with the arrogance? Don't think that just because you're pretty you're entitled to be proud. Maids never rely on their looks to make a living."
"Uncle David, why was Aunt Anna sent back? Wasn't it because she's old and ugly?" The little girl's eyes were unusually bright, displaying stunning beauty at such a young age. She had sun-red hair, fair skin, azure eyes, and slightly upturned rosy lips. Even when saying the most cutting words, her expression remained lively. She wrinkled her nose and said with disdain, "Women over thirty have no market value. Even beauty like Beth's is useless."
“You’re not worthy to compare yourself to Beth. Beth lives off her voice, not on a man’s affection.” David pointed at the little girl and gestured for her to sit down.
“Uncle David, that’s not an ordinary man, that’s the king.” The little girl still held her head high.
"What, you want to be the next Queen of the Mill?" David sat in his armchair, leaning back as he looked at the little girl in front of him. "You should know that our family is in the women's business. If you want to attract men, go to Pink Street. There are plenty of men for you to choose from. You're not even worthy to shine the Queen's shoes. The Queen has been to the battlefield and accompanied the King through thick and thin. You, if you went to the snowy region, none of you would come back. Don't think life in the border town is easy; it's a place of exile. Never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway."
"Uncle David, please tell us the story of Queen Angelus. We all love to hear it," the little girl pleaded sweetly.
“Your tricks won’t work on me,” the man stood up, and added, “If you learn well, I can invite a court lady back to meet you.”
“Uncle David, you’re lying again. Every time you bring back a maid, she’s just an ordinary one, and she’s so arrogant. I don’t want to see them at all.”
“You think you’re any different from them now?” David pointed to the mirror. “Look at yourself. Who would want to see you?”
Mi then noticed that there was an entire wall of glass mirrors in the classroom, reflecting everyone's expression in perfect detail. Anna and several other older women were observing the little girls, pulling anyone with a bad expression in front of the mirror.
The man put away his pointer: "The first lesson I'm going to teach today is to break your spines. Women, only by breaking your spines can you understand women, and only by understanding women can you serve them well."
The younger girls were a little scared, and they slowly huddled together. The man checked their faces and expressions one by one, then sat back down at the podium: "Kneel down." The little girls knelt down in a group, and the man stood up again to patrol, tapping the backs of those who refused to kneel with his pointer: "Why are you standing so straight?"
Finally, a little girl couldn't hold back any longer and stood up, her face flushed: "Uncle David, why are you humiliating us? I've never seen a maid kneel like that. Don't maids have any shame?"
“Face?” David didn’t even look at the little girl. He pointed at the crowd and said, “Turn around and look at your sisters. Doesn’t the one with the taller spine have a bigger face? Our family’s face is supported by the Jindeli you brought back, not by your spines.”
“I don’t want to be a maid,” the little girl burst into tears. “Even Lily from the market laughs at me.”
"Who else?" David looked at the little girl in front of him. Two more little girls stood up. David nodded with a cold smile: "Very good, Anna. You take them to experience the life of market girls. Let me tell you, you only have three days. If you still have this attitude after three days, don't come back. Go be market girls forever."
Anna, along with the three stubborn little girls, took off their soft woolen robes and put on the roughest linen and woolen felt. She led them to the west of the city and took them to a dark little house. She gently embraced the three little girls and said a tender goodbye. A burly woman came out and carried the three little girls inside.
Mi looked at the closed room and couldn't help but worry: "What will they go through?" The sound of a little girl crying came from inside the room. The three girls had been scratching their backs since they started changing their clothes, and now they were crying in the room.
“They will soon give in,” Anna said quietly. “They will experience the life of ordinary girls, fetching water, wiping tables, starting fires, cooking, eating the hardest bread, and drinking the coldest soup. Enduring the beatings of their raging fathers and the weeping of their cowardly mothers is the daily life of those most ordinary children.”
"How did you all grow up?" Mi had stayed at Fried's house for a few days, and she knew how poor families lived. They bought two ounces of meat a week to make soup, and went to the market to buy the cheapest wheat cakes. The house was filled with the cries of hungry children. The older children, like Fried, would run outside to earn some pocket money, while the younger children waited at home. The mother's withered chest had long since dried up her milk, and the father had to squeeze out a little of his meager salary to drink.
“They drink milk and eat white bread, and their hands are nourished to be fair and tender.” Anna stretched out her hands; her fingers were still slender, while the fingers of the thirty-year-old women in the market were already so large and swollen that they could carry two sacks of wheat.
"Do you like this kind of life?" Mi didn't know what to say; everyone's days seemed endless. Sun City also had schools that accepted girls, but only wealthy families could afford them; most people were still struggling to make ends meet. Mi didn't know why she thought of Weicheng; they didn't have to struggle for a living, they lived with only one mission.
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