Rose Lock - Chapter 9.2

“You were thinking of singing a song for me to offset those three silver dollars, is that right?” Gong Yan finished the rest of her sentence for her.

Having her intentions directly and bluntly revealed, Hua Manyi felt a little awkward, but for the sake of the three silver dollars, being a little thick-skinned was nothing, “Madam Gong, then what is your intention?”

She even switched to the honorific “you” (nin), it seemed she really didn’t want to part with those three silver dollars.

Gong Yan glanced at the woman still sitting on her lap. She wondered if it was her imagination, but having this woman sit on her made her feel a little warm.

“Alright, those three silver dollars are a clean slate.”

Hua Manyi’s eyes immediately sparkled with victory, and her smile hadn’t dropped since. She stood up from Gong Yan’s lap. Seeing that the red nightgown was wrinkled from her sitting on it, she curled her pinky finger, bent down, and carefully pinched the corner of the silk nightgown to smooth it out.

“Well… Madam Gong, Manyi won’t disturb your rest now.”

Probably too happy, Hua Manyi shamelessly blew a kiss, her delicate jade finger skillfully tossing the kiss towards Madam Gong, “Madam Gong, you are truly beautiful today!”

What woman doesn’t like being complimented on her beauty? Even though she knew the praise from Hua Manyi was clearly mixed with flattery and attempts to please, Gong Yan couldn’t help but chuckle as she smoked.

“Smooth talker.”

Hua Manyi cheerfully opened the door to leave. Just as she opened it, she heard the remark and couldn’t help but retort, “Madam Gong, you haven’t tasted it, how do you know if it’s smooth talk?”

The air went silent for a moment. Hua Manyi belatedly realized the foolish thing she had said. Her face instantly flushed scarlet, and the hand gripping the doorknob quickly closed the door.

Separated from the air inside, Hua Manyi was still full of regret. She was too frivolous. How could she, Hua Manyi, say such vulgar words?

Wasn’t that blatant seduction?

Realizing this, Hua Manyi felt increasingly mortified, hitting her forehead remorsefully as she walked towards her own room.

Gong Yan sat in the room, still for a long time, her eyes dark, deep in thought. After a good while, she finally got up and walked towards the desk, flipping through the account books from the past few months.

…

With 10 silver dollars, Hua Manyi walked with a much straighter back.

“Someone! Sister Yan is drunk! Someone please help her upstairs! I’m going to cook a hangover soup!” Ling Dang, the little maid following Xue Wengan, shouted anxiously backstage, but everyone was busy and couldn’t spare a hand to help.

Hua Manyi stepped forward and took the woman, “Ling Dang, I’ll help Sister Yan upstairs.”

“Ah, okay!” Ling Dang nodded gratefully, “I’ll go cook the hangover soup! Thank you, Sister Manyi!”

“You’re welcome.”

Hua Manyi put Xue Wengan’s arm over her shoulder to make it easier to help her up the stairs. Since she was a woman, her strength was a bit lacking. Hua Manyi exerted all her might to help the woman from the first-floor lobby up to the second floor.

Xue Wengan’s room was at the end of the hallway, an inconspicuous room, just like her—she never drew much attention to herself. Hua Manyi recalled that she had been at Fenghai for almost a month, and the number of times she had spoken to Xue Wengan was few. Usually, unless she actively went to chat, Xue Wengan would rarely initiate a conversation.

At first, she thought the other person didn’t welcome her, but later she realized this woman seemed to have no desires and kept to herself, rarely socializing.

Hua Manyi smelled the strong, heavy scent of alcohol on her, a reckless way of drinking. The front of her dress was even wet, whether it was from accidentally dripping while drinking or for some other reason…

She didn’t want to dwell on it. In the past month at Fenghai, she had more or less learned that accompanying clients in drinking was sometimes unavoidable.

Some people were just disgusting and demanded companionship in drinking. If you refused, they wouldn’t credit the cost of the alcohol to the lead dancer, resulting in very little commission, and being groped was common.

Those with low alcohol tolerance suffered even more. Passing out like that among men, who knew what could happen? Although Madam Gong strictly prohibited taking anyone away, the cabaret was large, and that woman wasn’t powerful enough to attend to every detail.

Those with good alcohol tolerance could handle the situation with ease. She had seen Sister Fang once drink down all the guests in the entire cabaret, but the consequence was sleeping for a whole day the next day, almost suffering from alcohol poisoning.

Arriving at the room, Hua Manyi laboriously carried the person to the bed, “Sister Yan, I’ll go wring out a towel for you.”

Stepping out of the room, the lobby downstairs was still lively. There was a faucet at the end of the hallway. Hua Manyi took a towel and washed it. When she returned, Ling Dang was already in the room, feeding Sister Yan the hangover soup.

“Ugh—”

A foul-smelling vomit was thrown onto the floor. Some got onto Ling Dang, who pushed it away with a look of disgust. Then, seeing someone at the door, her face instantly changed, like a Sichuan opera mask, and she anxiously wiped the filth from Xue Wengan’s mouth.

“Sister Yan, don’t scare Ling Dang!” Her tone was urgent but carried a hint of artificiality.

Hua Manyi tightened her grip on the towel, feeling a little uncomfortable. Almost every lead dancer had a little maid. When there were any benefits, the lead dancer would prioritize their own maid.

“The hangover soup spilled, Sister Yan. Ling Dang will go downstairs and cook you another bowl.” Ling Dang stood up, feigning surprise as she saw Hua Manyi at the door, “Sister Manyi, Sister Yan spilled the hangover soup. I’ll go make another bowl. Can you help me look after her?”

Hua Manyi stared at her with complicated eyes. Inside the room, Xue Wengan was vomiting again. Hua Manyi had no choice but to nod, “You go ahead. I’ll take care of Sister Yan first.”

Ling Dang immediately nodded with profound gratitude, tears of apparent emotion even glistening in her eyes, which made Hua Manyi quite admire her acting.

Xue Wengan’s hairstyle and even her makeup were a mess. After finally tidying her up, changing her clothes, and sweeping the floor, Hua Manyi finally straightened her back and wiped her forehead lightly.

Why was Ling Dang taking so long to cook the hangover soup?

Hua Manyi belatedly realized something was amiss. She glanced at the wall clock. Half an hour had passed, and it wasn’t ready yet? It hadn’t even been half an hour since she helped the woman upstairs, and Ling Dang had brought the hangover soup. Would the second batch take even longer to cook?

The more she thought about it, the more something felt wrong. Hua Manyi decided to go downstairs and check. She closed the door and headed towards the stairs.

Aunt Zhang in the back kitchen was a little intimidated by Hua Manyi. Last time, Zhu Zhaodi was straddled and slapped continuously by her, and in the end, Madam Gong didn’t punish her but instead fired Zhu Zhaodi. This young girl was not someone she could afford to provoke.

“M-Miss Manyi, are you going to cook something?”

Hua Manyi peered around, puzzled, “Did Ling Dang come by just now?”

Aunt Zhang nodded, “She came, scooped a bucket of hot water to take a bath.”

“What?” Hua Manyi couldn’t believe what she heard and asked again, “She went to take a bath?”

“Yes, what’s wrong?” Aunt Zhang was also puzzled.

“Did she cook the hangover soup?”

Aunt Zhang shook her head, “No. She came down, took a bucket of water, and went to take a bath, saying Sister Yan threw up all over her.”

Hua Manyi: “???”

This Ling Dang was too selfish. Her employer was still passed out drunk, and she, a servant, went to take a bath first?

A burst of anger welled up. She was about to go and settle accounts with her. After two steps, she suddenly remembered. When she cleaned the floor, there was only the smell of alcohol, and vomit mixed with alcohol. Hangover soup was usually brewed with oranges, plums, and hawthorns. If it had really been spilled, why didn’t she smell any orange? And where were the residues?

Upon closer thought, a cold sweat broke out on her back. This Ling Dang probably never intended to cook hangover soup for Sister Yan from the beginning. She probably just brought a bowl of plain water to fool her. The person was passed out drunk anyway, so who would know whether she drank hangover soup or not?

“This is simply too much…” Hua Manyi looked around and casually grabbed a ladle from the water vat. “Aunt Zhang, lend me the ladle.”

“Eh? What do you need the ladle for?” Aunt Zhang couldn’t stop her. Then she discovered that the young girl not only borrowed her ladle but also took her bucket, and although the bucket wasn’t big, it was filled with a whole bucket of ice water!

Aunt Zhang’s heart fluttered. Her left eye kept twitching. She had a feeling something big was going to happen tonight.

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