Chapter 184 The Lottery Was Changed
She looked up and saw the girl's gentle gaze and the captivating smile on her lips. She looked away in surprise.
The woman had been the record-keeper of the Red Chamber for many years and had seen many beauties brought in, but they were mostly filled with fear and exhaustion, unlike the young girl in front of her who had such a vibrant spirit.
Her tone softened, "Yes, but if you can secure a top-three spot in the subsequent competition, the manager will bestow a name upon you."
"Thank you, but what is 'grabbing a spot'?" Mu Jianjian asked, her voice as clear and melodious as a babbling brook in spring cascading over stones by a pond.
The woman hesitated for a moment. Logically, she wasn't responsible for explaining this, but the girl's intense eyes still momentarily captivated her. Her actions outpaced her thoughts. "The 'position-grabbing' refers to categorizing these new female slaves into various classes, such as music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Only by winning first place can one increase their value and escape the status of a slave. However—"
But if it were you, you probably wouldn't have any special talents and still have customers who like you...
Whether it was her soft-spoken manner or her graceful movements, she didn't seem like a poor woman at all, but rather like a young lady from a noble family. I wonder where they found this woman.
"Thank you." Mu Jianjian thanked her and was about to leave through the side door when the woman called her back.
"Wait." The woman raised her hand, then lowered it after the woman turned away, concealing her embarrassment. She frowned. "Don't keep thanking people here. No one will remember your thanks; they'll only see it as evidence of your weakness. And..."
Mu Jianjian blinked.
"Try to avoid running into the courtesan." The woman said this lightly, then lowered her head and turned to another page of her notebook, seemingly unwilling to say more.
"But you remembered it, didn't you?" Mu Jianjian said earnestly, "Thank you for your advice."
woman:?
Did she just say everything for nothing?
Mu Jianjian walked through the side door and saw someone leading people to choose their talents, so she also began to carefully select, thinking about what the woman had just said.
Away from the courtesan here?
Why?
Are courtesans bad women?
"System, I've had a rare stroke of luck, the card number is 520!" After pondering for a while without success, Mu Jianjian's attention couldn't help but shift to this.
The system was speechless: My silly host...
"What will you choose on May 20th?"
A voice came from behind Mu Jianjian, giving her the illusion that someone was confessing their love to her. She secretly glanced at the steward who was still in the distance before turning around to look at Shan Chuxue and Zhuang Mei who had come in. Sure enough, she saw "521" and "522" engraved on the wooden badges on their chests.
"I don't know," Mu Jianjian said, shrugging.
What skills does she possess in playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?
Whistling, playing Go, reading, drawing comics.
"I don't think you know anything," Zhuang Mei chuckled, walking over to the "chess" card in front of Mu Jianjian and carving her number. "Xue'er, which of the four arts—music, chess, calligraphy, and painting—do you like?"
Listening to the conversation between the two, Mu Jianjian ultimately chose "chess" as well.
Are you sure? The system expressed deep doubt.
"Only this can be learned quickly, how can I practice the others? With that 'book,' even if I practice for several years, I'll probably still be writing like a dog chewing words." Mu Jianjian said with heartache.
System: As long as you have a clear understanding and positioning of yourself, that's fine.
Seeing that Shan Chuxue had also carved a number on the "chess" board, Mu Jianjian asked with some concern, "Is Xue'er choosing this one too?"
"Hmm, this is easier for Xue'er than the others, and besides, aren't we here?" Zhuang Mei lowered her eyes and gently rubbed Shan Chuxue's cheek.
The two were remarkably aligned in their attitude towards protecting Xue'er.
Too.
After shaking off her unease, Mu Jianjian took Xue'er's hand.
——
After each person had chosen their category, the Red Mansion arranged ten rooms for them and began to instruct the nannies to teach them etiquette and skills early in the morning.
More than ten days passed uneventfully, with all news from the outside world completely cut off, and the initial test followed closely behind.
"520, your face—it's been attracting a lot of attention lately." As the group lined up to head to the testing location, Zhuang Mei's voice drifted gently into Mu Jianjian's ears from behind.
Mu Jianjian was already used to Zhuang Mei's unpleasant remarks, so she ignored her and thought about the terrain of their courtyard that she had observed during the rest of the training sessions a few days ago.
The Red Mansion was very large. At that time, there were many newcomers who came to the manor, not just from Yingzhou. Therefore, the number of people was large and the layout of the courtyards was particularly chaotic. Moreover, there were also cultivators guarding it...
It's even more difficult than before.
We can only take it slowly...
"...Did you hear what I said?" Zhuang Mei stood next to Mu Jianjian again after drawing lots.
"What did you say to me?" Mu Jianjian hadn't even looked at the lot she had drawn.
Zhuang Mei: !
Didn't hear it again!
She glanced down at the lot in her hand in the crowded aisle, then at the many women waiting beside her, and finally whispered through gritted teeth in Mu Jianjian's ear, "I heard that a courtesan is coming to this 'chess test.' If you can show your face in front of her and be chosen as a maid, you can get rid of your current status, understand?"
"Mmm." Mu Jianjian nodded.
Zhuang Mei looked at the girl's dazed expression and was furious. "Do you know that you're already being envied by the others in our class? Be careful that they don't sabotage your application and make you drop out!"
If she had a face like that other person, she would have seized the opportunity to climb up the social ladder long ago. Unlike her, she is casual and lazy every day and doesn't care about her current situation at all.
"Okay, thank you." Mu Jianjian smiled.
Zhuang Mei heard her number being called from outside, snorted, and walked out. Mu Jianjian watched the woman's departing figure before opening the lottery ticket in her hand.
The "music, chess, calligraphy and painting" competition is divided into four rounds, and each round involves two people of the same kind competing against each other. Mu Jianjian is not worried about her own abilities.
Master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world without fear!
She opened the lottery draw to see which round she was in, only to find two words written plainly in black and white:
"Painting test".
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