A Misty Night, With A Crystal-Clear Moon - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Rules of the Moon-Gazing Tower

Shopkeeper Li assigned Aunt Liu (Liu Ma) to take the two of them to their living quarters and teach them the rules of the Moon-Gazing Tower. Aunt Liu was a middle-aged woman in her thirties, already a little plump. She had lost her husband years ago and struggled to raise her child alone. Life was extremely difficult, but fortunately, Shopkeeper Li was kind enough to take her in and give her work, providing her with shelter. She was very diligent and was promoted to a supervisory role, managing all the maids at the Moon-Gazing Tower. She had a son named A-Shan, who was only five years old.

Aunt Liu led them to the back hall, which was a reasonably large courtyard. Besides some flowers, there were two large water vats, a well, a thatched shed covering a stone table, and a few small stools nearby. Some of the girls’ clothes were hung on the clothesline. The breeze carried the scent of soap.

Aunt Liu led them into a room, pointing to a few empty beds. “This is where you’ll be living. Choose a bed for yourselves.”

Linglong and Cui Xin walked in, and a damp, strange smell hit them. The room wasn’t particularly messy—it was, after all, where only women lived—but it didn’t face the sun. It only had two tiny windows, and sunlight would only stream in occasionally on bright days, making the room very dim.

“There are currently six maids in the house. With the two of you, that makes eight. We might hire more later,” Aunt Liu said.

Linglong nodded to her and walked to a spot where the sunlight reached. Cui Xin understood and pointed to the two beds next to it. “We’ll choose these two.”

Aunt Liu nodded. “Very well. Tidy up your things, and come out in a little while so I can tell you the rules here.”

Aunt Liu left. Cui Xin started unpacking their luggage. In truth, they didn’t have much to unpack, just a few clothes. Linglong surveyed the room again. In such a large room, there was only one long table, covered with various sizes of rouge boxes and several oddly shaped combs. She sighed softly and sat on her bed. Her hand naturally rested on the bedding, and she felt a sticky residue. She looked down and saw a ring of grease stains on the cover.

She immediately jumped up, startling Cui Xin. Cui Xin rushed over, looked where Linglong was staring, and then said reassuringly, “Miss, don’t worry. I’ll take this off and wash it right now.” With that, she deftly lifted the bedsheet and shook it, causing dust to fly everywhere.

Linglong covered her nose and said with distaste, “Forget it. The sun is weak. If you wash it now, it won’t dry, and we don’t have a replacement. We can’t lie directly on the mattress.”

She looked at the mattress, which was even more disgustingly dirty; its original color was unrecognizable.

“But Miss, how can you stand it when it’s so filthy?”

“I just won’t change my clothes, then.” She removed the gold earrings from her ears. “These should be worth some money. Find time tomorrow, take them to the pawnshop, and buy two new bedsheets and two duvet covers. That should be enough. If there’s any money left over, go buy some mugwort [Aicao] at the herbalist.”

“Miss, this pair of gold earrings is your favorite! How can you—”

“They are useless in a place like this now. Just do as I say.”

As the two were whispering, they heard Aunt Liu shouting from outside, “What are you two dragging your feet for?”

Linglong replied, “We’re coming out now.”

She held onto Cui Xin. “From now on, you cannot call me Miss anymore. You must call me Yu’er, just like the others.”

“How can I, Miss?”

“If you consider me your mistress, then follow my command.”

Cui Xin couldn’t argue with her and could only agree.

The two came to the main hall. Aunt Liu gave them two sets of clothes each. “These are the uniforms here. Starting tomorrow, you can only wear these clothes. There are only two sets, so wear them sparingly. When winter comes, you will be issued two sets of padded clothes. Maids at the Moon-Gazing Tower must braid their hair into two pigtails, tied with red string at the ends. There is only one kind of shoe: black cloth shoes, and you get two pairs. Since you are new maids, you will start with heavy chores as per the rules: cleaning floors, washing clothes, fetching water every day. You start at five in the morning, and the evening end time is flexible.”

“The second floor of the Moon-Gazing Tower consists of private rooms, and the third floor is for VIP guests. You can only move around on the first and second floors. You are not finished until all the guests have left, all the tables are cleaned, and all the dishes are washed.”

“The Moon-Gazing Tower’s core principle is ‘Customer First.’ We must comply with every request made by a customer. Anyone who offends a customer will be immediately expelled from the Moon-Gazing Tower. Here are your two contracts, for a term of ten years. During this period, if either of you should die due to illness or accident, the Moon-Gazing Tower holds no responsibility. Come and affix your fingerprint.”

Linglong felt her head swell and her breathing become strained. Was she truly going to stay here for ten years? For survival? Or for pride? She wanted to prove to Lang Qiyou, and to everyone who looked down on her, that she could live well without her father. But if she truly wanted to, she could completely leave this place without suffering, travel far away, never see these loathsome people again, and live a peaceful, stable life. But she didn’t want to. She had to find the truth and restore her father’s honor. For this, she had to endure.

She hardened her resolve and pressed a red fingerprint onto the contract. Her heart immediately settled, no longer beating as violently as before, as if everything had finally been decided.