Chapter 208: The Ninth Temporary Worker
A moment later, draped in Jian Xingxia’s shirt, the woman clutched the fabric tightly with both hands and sat anxiously on Jian Xingxia’s small pink tricycle.
Tao-ya sat right next to the green-clothed woman, gently patting her tightly clenched hands. “Don’t be afraid, Sister. We’re taking you back to the mountain villa to treat your wounds.”
Jian Xingxia was absolutely heartbroken—this was her employee!
Yet, it was only when the woman emerged from behind the tree that she and Tao-ya realized the stranger was covered in injuries.
On the side of her face that had been hidden, the corner of her mouth was bruised and swollen, and there was a cut about two centimeters long near the end of her eyebrow, with blood not yet dry.
Beneath the thin, translucent fabric of her clothing, her arms were covered in red burn marks, while her neck and her slightly exposed upper back were entirely crosshatched with whip welts.
There was even a distinct ring of shackle marks around her ankles.
Born in modern society, Jian Xingxia had rarely witnessed violence firsthand. Even her father, though he didn’t care much for her, had never laid a hand on her.
Whenever she occasionally saw news of such things online, she would feel a sharp, wrenching pain in her chest.
Now seeing the green-clothed woman’s injuries with her own eyes, a lump formed in Jian Xingxia’s throat, leaving her speechless for a long moment.
It wasn’t until they arrived back at the old house and Jian Xingxia got off the tricycle that she and Tao-ya together helped the woman down.
The woman’s steps were somewhat unsteady as she stepped down—not out of hunger, but because… she was motion-sick.
Even though there was a massive pile of baffling things before her eyes, she couldn’t help but ask in a low voice, “What kind of… carriage is this? How is it driven? This, this is far too fast.”
Tao-ya beat her to the punch: “It’s called a tricycle.”
The woman looked down; it did indeed have three wheels… but this vehicle was simply not something that could be explained by the mere word “tricycle.”
However, she didn’t ask further. She clutched the shirt tightly, staring in panicked anxiety at the three men standing outside the backyard.
There was Da-hei, who was farming; Shang Yue, who was leaning on a crutch; and Wei Sheng, who was sighing and groaning as he took a few steps with a flower pot before having to set it down to rest.
She instinctively shrank behind Tao-ya.
But realizing that Tao-ya was too short to shield her, she quickly hid behind Jian Xingxia instead.
Jian Xingxia hastily turned around to shield her. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I’ll make them leave.”
With that, she called out to Da-hei, “Da-hei, take Shang Yue and the scholar to the foot of the mountain to clear the wilderness and build the chicken coop!”
Da-hei didn’t hesitate for a single second. “Right away!”
As he spoke, he supported the lame Shang Yue with one hand and hoisted the scholar with the other.
Shang Yue was fine; he merely scrambled to grab his crutch and the “tool bag” Jian Xingxia had given him, bringing along his pile of iron pincers, shears, and firewood knives…
The scholar, however, panicked. “W-what? I have to go clear land too? A-and build a chicken coop? I only know how to make crickets fight, I don’t know how to build a chicken coop!”
Da-hei grunted angrily, “If you don’t know, a beating will teach you! You’ll know how after a beating!”
As a slave, even being allowed to “learn” was considered a blessing. Da-hei felt that with the scholar’s weak constitution, nobody would want him even as a slave.
He didn’t have two ounces of meat on his bones and couldn’t even move a flower pot properly.
Tears streamed down the scholar’s face: They call it a flower pot, but when it’s filled with soil and flowers, it weighs forty or fifty catties, alright?
But he didn’t get a chance to speak. Da-hei had already carried him and Shang Yue away as easily as lifting a pair of baby chicks.
Shang Yue was quite tall himself, but given his injured leg, he could only let Da-hei carry him.
Truth be told, being carried and slung around like this by Da-hei kept his injured leg off the ground, which wasn’t tiring at all.
……
The only one left was A-feng, who was around thirteen or fourteen years old. He stood by the back door, blinking his eyes.
Seeming to sense the situation, A-feng vanished decisively. “I’ll head to the main gate. Brother Hu Liu said he’s delivering two more cartloads of things today. I’ll go meet him!”
Now that A-feng had left, the villa only contained Jian Xingxia, Tao-ya, Fatty Aunt, and Lin Sanniang. The green-clothed woman suddenly fell to her knees before them.
Fatty Aunt leaped back hastily. “You mustn’t, you mustn’t, young lady!”
Lin Sanniang pulled Tao-ya aside to dodge the gesture.
Only Jian Xingxia sighed softly, by now entirely unfazed.
She stepped forward to help the woman up and asked gently, “What is your name? What hardships have you suffered?”
Tears welled in the woman’s eyes as she spoke. “My original name is Xu Shaoyin. I was born into a decent family of modest means in Jiangnan. But our family fortune declined, and I was forced to sell my arts to survive, changing my name to Yinyin.”
“Feiyue Restaurant is a famous establishment in Jiangnan. It employs ‘courtesans’ who entertain guests intimately, as well as ‘pure entertainers’ who only perform their arts and do not sell their bodies. I have worked there for over two years. Although the shopkeeper is harsh, frequently beating and cursing us on ordinary days, I managed to preserve my purity. My income was meager, but it was just enough to scrape by.”
“Who would have thought that as I grew older, my figure would draw covetous eyes. The restaurant shopkeeper pressured me multiple times to go upstairs and entertain guests. He used both carrots and sticks, and I even endured several rounds of the whip. But I refused to sell my body. Though I am a dancer, I am still a law-abiding citizen; he could not force me.”
“But recently, a wealthy merchant took a fancy to me and tried to force me to submit to him. I refused, so he and the restaurant shopkeeper joined forces to set a trap. Using the excuse that I had shattered a priceless white jade wine cup, they tried to force me to use my body to repay the debt.”
Shaoyin wept as she continued, “Fortunately, the sisters at the restaurant couldn’t bear to see me ruined by those scoundrels, so they secretly helped me escape. But now I have a home I cannot return to, and I dare not show my face… I wept all the way until I reached a bridge. Staring at the river below, I only wanted to end my life right there.”
But as Xu Shaoyin looked at the clear river water, she remembered how her family had fallen, forcing her to publicly take up the mantle to support her elderly wet nurse and the old housekeeper who refused to leave…
The river water was so pure; it wouldn’t turn black just because of a pot of ink.
She possessed such resilience, so how could she throw away her life just because of those filthy, wretched villains?
Thus, Xu Shaoyin swore an oath to the river: I must absolutely never die at the hands of these people in this lifetime. As long as I can get through this trial, I will do anything…
In the very next instant, having fled with injuries all over her body, she rolled from the bridge straight into a forest.
She had thought that after being beaten for so long, her head had grown dizzy before the river, causing her to plunge downward.
Who could have anticipated that while a sensation of weightlessness washed over her, her mouth and nose were not submerged by river water?
Instead, she had appeared in a completely unfamiliar place.
Even though Xu Shaoyin had heard plenty of storytellers’ tales at the restaurant, suddenly encountering such a bizarre scene still left her crying out in terror.
Fortunately, in the next moment, she had seen Jian Xingxia and Tao-ya.
……
Having finished listening, Fatty Aunt couldn’t help but slap her plump hand onto the wooden table. “What beasts! Hanging and quartering would be too good for them!”
Lin Sanniang also let out a sigh. Looking at the injuries on Shaoyin’s body, she turned to ask Jian Xingxia, “Young lady, Miss Shaoyin has far too many wounds on her. Do you have a way to treat them?”
The villa’s employees had heard Jian Xingxia emphasize multiple times that she didn’t know medicine and couldn’t treat illnesses or save lives, at most helping to buy some medicine.
However, most of them had witnessed Jian Xingxia treating wounds.
The Villa Owner knew how to clean a wound, how to disinfect it, how to bandage it, and how to apply medication, always producing the most suitable remedies…
Since the Villa Owner wouldn’t admit she knew medicine, they simply wouldn’t say it aloud.
But at such a critical moment, Lin Sanniang still asked Jian Xingxia out of instinct.
