Chapter 209: The Ancients’ Bathing Shock
Jian Xingxia had no idea that in the eyes of her villa’s employees, she had already accumulated multiple persona layers.
For instance—the world’s poorest villa owner, who despite having a vast estate and grand business, didn’t possess a single cent of ready cash.
Or for instance—a profligate hedonist who, while completely penniless, casually offered a non-stop feast of chicken, duck, fish, and meat to everyone around.
Or yet another—a complete fraud who appeared deeply knowledgeable and multitalented but in reality understood neither this nor that, completely devoid of fine aesthetic sensibilities and cultural refinement.
And now, apparently—a humble practitioner who claimed to understand nothing of medicine, yet upon hearing of an injured person’s condition, could instantly produce the exact corresponding pharmaceutical remedies.
By the time Jian Xingxia emerged from the storehouse cradling the medical kit, Lin Sanniang had already taken Shaoyin to the bathroom to give her a brief wash, cleansing away the foul grime and mud clinging to her.
Lin Sanniang felt a wave of internal conflict and hesitation, but in the end, she still asked in a quiet whisper.
“Miss Shaoyin, during the day and night you were abducted… did you suffer any great violation to your person?”
It wasn’t that Lin Sanniang loved to gossip, but as a woman herself, she knew that females were physically vulnerable. If someone had inflicted internal trauma upon her, they had to treat it early and make preparations ahead of time.
Shaoyin shook her head resolutely. “No. Although they abducted me, beat me, cursed me, and used all sorts of methods to torment me, as long as I didn’t sign my name upon the indenture contract, they didn’t dare do anything truly irreversible to me.”
This was precisely why, no matter how difficult things became, Shaoyin had absolutely refused to listen to the shopkeeper’s slanderous honeyed words to sell her body, entertain clients, and make a massive fortune.
Lin Sanniang’s heart settled back into its place, but she still added a word of caution: “The Villa Mistress Young Lady is an exceptionally kind person. If you encounter any difficult matters, you merely need to perform your duties well at the villa, and the young lady will look upon your performance to resolve them for you.”
Shaoyin raised her eyes to look over, seeing only absolute sincerity and pride radiating from Lin Sanniang’s face.
It was as if she truly believed that eccentric Villa Mistress Young Lady was omnipotent.
Xu Shaoyin lowered her head. Because she sold her arts at a restaurant, she had met many people, and even individuals who could barely be called human. Having seen too much of all sorts of matters, she did not place her trust in people so easily.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, she simply felt this mountain villa was extraordinarily welcoming and warm.
Furthermore, everything before her eyes left her utterly astounded.
When she was framed by those scoundrels, shattering a single white jade wine cup was enough to saddle her with a monumental debt and force her to sell her body.
Yet now, within this small room she occupied, the ground beneath her feet and the four walls around her were completely lined with pure white porcelain tiles.
Shaoyin had seen fine goods at the restaurant after all; with a single touch of her hand, she could feel that this porcelain was smooth, glossy, and of the highest quality.
Xu Shaoyin spoke in disbelief, “Lady Lin, what kind of mountain villa is this… to actually use such expensive white porcelain as wall tiles.”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Lin Sanniang smiled. “In our land, if anyone managed to fire a single piece of white porcelain this flat and flawless, it would have been presented to the Emperor long ago.”
Xu Shaoyin nodded obediently.
It was exactly the same in their land.
But Lin Sanniang didn’t expand further on the porcelain tiles, turning instead to introduce the other objects within this small room called the “bathroom” to Xu Shaoyin.
“Look at this thing I’m holding, what do you think it is?” Lin Sanniang handed the showerhead to Xu Shaoyin.
Shaoyin received it carefully, weighing it in her hand. “It feels like iron to the touch yet isn’t iron, clinking sharply yet supple and flexible like a snake.”
“Hold it firmly,” Lin Sanniang smiled. Then, she twisted open the faucet handle.
“Ah!” Xu Shaoyin cried out in shock.
A sudden force surged through the snake-like object in her hand, followed immediately by a rushing torrent of crystal-clear water.
“It’s water!” Xu Shaoyin exclaimed in amazement.
“Correct, our villa has everything. Anything you can think of or can’t think of, it’s all here. Miss Shaoyin, live well; the good days lie ahead!”
As she spoke, she flicked the faucet again and called out to Xu Shaoyin, “Miss Shaoyin, try it again.”
Xu Shaoyin reached out her hand to test the water, suddenly letting out another cry of surprise. “How has it turned hot? Does this iron pipe connect to a hot spring or a geothermal pool?”
The backyard of Feiyue Restaurant also possessed a bathhouse pool, which was claimed to be filled with natural hot spring water.
But having worked as a dancer at the restaurant for two years, Xu Shaoyin naturally knew that it was merely spring water transported from outside the city, which was then heated up inside the restaurant to masquerade as hot spring water.
Yet this bizarrely shaped small fixture before her eyes could actually pour forth a continuous, inexhaustible supply of water in an instant. It could emit cold water, it could emit hot water, the volume of water was incredibly vast, and the transition was seamless.
Xu Shaoyin was stunned.
What kind of place was this?
Was it the immortal realm, or a deceptive illusion conjured by spirits and monsters?
The mirror on the porcelain wall reflected Xu Shaoyin’s shocked countenance.
She instinctively reached out her hand to touch it—Feiyue Restaurant possessed one such mercury mirror, which had been shipped from Ryukyu, but it was only the size of a palm and was treasured as the restaurant shopkeeper’s prized possession.
Only the most popular songstresses and dancers of the restaurant were permitted to look into it.
Xu Shaoyin had looked into it twice, which had once made her the most envied person among her sisters at the restaurant.
Yet now, an identical… no, an even brighter and clearer mercury mirror stood right here, a massive piece reaching half a person’s height.
Xu Shaoyin covered her face in disbelief; she could clearly see every single part of her face and body.
Even her trembling eyelashes catching droplets of water were perfectly distinct, strand by strand.
“Lady Lin, is… is this a mercury mirror?”
“Is this called a mercury mirror?” Lin Sanniang actually didn’t know. “We don’t have these in our land, only bronze mirrors.”
It took Lin Sanniang a bit of effort before she successfully taught Xu Shaoyin how to use the showerhead to adjust the hot and cold water, how to look in the mirror, and how to use the squat toilet flush…
The bathroom outside the back door was considered semi-public and used by the ancient employees as well, so Jian Xingxia hadn’t placed body wash or shampoo there, only a bottle of hand soap for guests.
She had also placed a cheap bar of soap that cost two yuan a piece.
It could be used to wash hands, wash hair, bathe, wash faces, and wash clothes.
Harboring immense shock, Xu Shaoyin wrapped herself up and washed.
Lin Sanniang unwrapped a fresh bar of soap for her. “Use this with peace of mind. If you work diligently at the villa, the young lady will give it to you. If you don’t wish to work, it doesn’t matter either; go ahead and use it first, and I can use my wages to buy it from her.”
By this point, Xu Shaoyin was already filled with intense curiosity and anticipation toward this mountain villa.
As the bar of soap entered her hand, her entire being drifted into a daze.
“So fragrant, so smooth… it is actually more pleasant to use than the finest scented soap fats and bathing powders of Feiyue Restaurant!”
As Lin Sanniang helped her tend to her wounds, Xu Shaoyin gradually began to unwind.
Afterward, Lin Sanniang stepped outside for a moment, and when she returned, she brought back a set of clothes.
The bathroom in the backyard was quite spacious, with a dedicated shower curtain for the bathing area. After Xu Shaoyin stepped out, she hesitated for a moment before changing into the clean clothes provided by Lin Sanniang.
Lin Sanniang handed a clean, fresh towel to Xu Shaoyin to wipe away the water, then used the towel to help wring her hair dry to prevent it from dripping.
Just when Xu Shaoyin felt she had already experienced an absolute maximum of shocks for one day, Lin Sanniang picked up another strange object from the wall.
It possessed a handle and a round barrel, looking like metal yet not quite metal.
Lin Sanniang instructed Xu Shaoyin to cover her ears and not be afraid.
Xu Shaoyin covered them in a state of utter bewilderment.
In the next instant, she was still startled into a crouch by the fierce, roaring blast that suddenly erupted from that strange barrel.
“Help! Help me—”
