Mrs. Mei's Survival Diary - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Enlightenment

It was the same woman who opened the door in the morning, and the scar on her face was obvious.  

Yue Niang was stunned when she saw it was Rong Yinshuang, and said in an angry voice, “Why are you here again! Didn’t I tell you that this is not a place for good women to come. Go away quickly.”

As she was about to close the door, Rong Yinshuang subconsciously reached her hand to stop her movement. 

Yue Niang was afraid of pinching the other woman’s hand, so she quickly withdrew her strength, held the door frame and asked, “What do you want to do, woman? Do you know where this is? You dare to rush in, and you won’t have a chance to complain if someone kidnaps you!”

Rong Yinshuang realised that Yue Niang stopped her from entering twice for her safety. She couldn’t help but smile and said, “Yuen Niang, I’m here to find you.”

Hearing Rong Yinshuang say her name, Yue Niang was stunned again, opened the back door, frowned and said, “Looking for me? But I… don’t know you.”

Rong Yinshuang smiled at her, “I’m the new owner of Puxian Teahouse. I heard that you used to make dim sum in the teahouse with your husband. Now my teahouse is just short of a dim sum chef. If you’re willing…”

Before Rong Yinshuang could finish her words, Yue Niang completely frowned and said, “I don’t want to.”

As she said that, she was about to close the door again. Rong Yinshuang simply stuck her whole body in the door and said to her, “Are you really willing to pour swill in this kind of fireworks for the rest of your life?”

Yue Niang was suddenly excited after hearing what Rong Yinshuang said, and said,

“What’s wrong with fireworks? There are many miserable people in the building. Should firework women be inferior to others? Since you look down on people in fireworks, why do you come to me?”

Rong Yinshuang looked at her agitated face and said, “I never said that I had other opinions about fireworks women. I just asked, are you willing to stay here forever?”

“…” Yue Niang calmed down her anger for a while, then turned her eyes away and said, “What’s the use whether I am willing or not? I have been here for two years even if I don’t want to.”

Rong Yinshuang looked at her and asked calmly, “Do you still believe that it was your husband who sold you in?”

Yue Niang raised her eyes and stared at Rong Yinshuang, and her eyes seemed to be about to pop out, making the scar under her brow look even more terrifying. “Who are you? Why do you know all this?”

Rong Yinshuang said, “You just need to say whether you believe it or not?”

Yue Niang took a deep breath and said coldly, “You are such a strange person. You always ask these inexplicable questions. Whether I believe it or not is like you asking me if I am willing to stay in this building. I don’t want to, but I have been in this building for two years. Even if I believe it, he didn’t sell me out, but I have been sold in. Is there any meaning in asking these questions?”

Rong Yinshuang didn’t speak, but took out a carefully folded piece of paper from her arms and handed it to Yue Niang. Yue Niang looked at her strangely, then took the paper, opened it and took a look. Then, her expression became more and more shocking. A lot of tears gathered in her eyes in an instant, but she didn’t even dare to blink. In the end, she was afraid that she would scream out, so she quickly covered her mouth. Tears fell from her eyes and fell on the back of her hand. Her hands were trembling, as if she thought of something, and she looked at Rong Yinshuang with great expectation.

Rong Yinshuang sighed and said, “Your husband sold you, but after he signed the contract, he snatched you back. The ruffians from Xingyi Casino chased your husband home and beat him to death just for your contract. He protected this contract for you until his death, but he never had the chance to tell you again.”

Yue Niang’s tears fell like a waterfall. She seemed helpless and at a loss at the moment. Her lips trembled for a long time before she asked, “You, where did you find this?”

Rong Yinshuang looked at her straight, and replied, “Under the two bricks under the long table in the main hall of the backyard of the teahouse.”

After hearing this, Yue Niang burst into tears decisively. “Yes, he likes to hide things there, husband…”

Rong Yinshuang felt bad seeing her like this, and patted her shoulder comfortingly before saying, “If he were still here, he would definitely not want you to stay here any longer.”

Yue Niang held the indenture contract in her hands, crying and nodding, saying, “He was always a jealous person. I don’t know how many times he has been jealous of me staying in a place like this. I knew he would be like this, so I scratched my face on the first day I came in. I haven’t done anything to let him down, and he should be able to rest in peace now.”

“Alas.” Rong Yinshuang squatted down, took out a handkerchief, wiped the tears from the woman’s face, and said, “I’ll ask you again, are you willing to stay here or leave?”

Yue Niang looked at Rong Yinshuang with tearful eyes, a little calmer than before, and asked, “Do you think all the people in this building are good men and women? Even if they don’t have my indenture contract, they dare to tie me up and bring me into the building to sell my body and entertain customers. How can I have a chance to go out?”

After saying this, Yue Niang stood up and said to her, “Thank you Madam for bringing this to me. It’s enough to let me know that my husband is not so heartless and ungrateful to me. My face is already ruined, and it won’t be a problem even if I stay here. Madam, please leave quickly. This is not a place for you to stay for a long time.”

“…”

Rong Yinshuang looked at her silently again, patted her on the shoulder, and said, “I will find a way to get you out tomorrow. After you get out, come to Puxian Teahouse to find me. I have something to show you.”

After saying this, Rong Yinshuang did not stay any longer and turned around and walked out of the alley.

Along the way, Rong Yinshuang was thinking about how to deal with Yue Niang’s matter. When she returned to the teahouse, it was full. Even the private room where her children played in the morning was cleared out. The children sat behind the counter and played with sandbags.

When Rong Yinshuang walked in, she saw that almost every table was full. Manager Li was sweating from his busy work. When he saw her come back, he wiped his sweat ran over and said, “Boss, your idea is really good. Everyone is saying that the pastries in our store have become more delicious. Will we buy some tomorrow?”

Rong Yinshuang looked at him with a frown. After a moment of silence, she said, “Let’s talk about it tomorrow. I’ll take all the account books back in the evening and do some calculations.”

Manager Li nodded honestly. “Okay, then I’ll get busy.”

Rong Yinshuang nodded, but suddenly stopped him and asked, “Manager Li, have you been to Zui Xiang Lou?”

“Boss, manager, why are you asking this? That kind of place, that kind of place… is it not something that good people should go to?” Manager Li’s old face suddenly turned red, and he hesitated for a long time before he said this.

“…”

Rong Yinshuang completely speechless, waved her hand and said, “It’s okay, go back to work.”

After Manager Li left, Rong Yinshuang thought about it again and suddenly remembered Uncle Bao. If she asked Uncle Bao to redeem Yue Niang from Zui Xiang Lou, she didn’t know if it would work.

Thinking of it, Rong Yinshuang took action quickly. There were many people in the building, and she didn’t want her sons to wander around, so she called them. The three of them went to Uncle Bao’s restaurant.

Ever since Zhao Qian sent people to cause trouble that day, the business of Uncle Bao’s restaurant was getting worse day by day. When Rong Yinshuang and the others went there, there was no one in the restaurant. Rong Yinshuang shouted a few times in the restaurant, and two waiters came out from the back kitchen. 

They recognised her. “Madam, are you here to see our shopkeeper?”

Rong Yinshuang nodded, and replied, “Yes, I have something to trouble your shopkeeper. Where is he?”

The waiters said, “Business is not good in the store. Our shopkeeper is outside during the day and usually comes back at night. Madam, please tell us if you have anything. We will tell him when he comes back in the evening.”

Rong Yinshuang shook her hand and said, “Oh, forget it. It can’t be explained in a few words. I’d better meet him and tell him in person.”

She called the children and was about to leave, but suddenly turned around and asked, “By the way, has the second wife of the Mei Mansion come to harass us again since then?”

The waiters sighed and said, “Well, there has been no harassment since that day, but there are several thugs who have been guarding the street entrance. Whenever there are customers entering our store, they rush in and drive them away. After a few days of trouble, no one dares to enter the store anymore.”

Rong Yinshuang sighed helplessly, nodded to show that she understood, and said goodbye to them.

The teahouse was quite busy at night. Rong Yinshuang had been collecting money behind the counter until the last quarter of the evening when there were fewer customers in the store.

Turning around, she saw that the two children had fallen asleep on the stools. 

Manager Li asked her to take the children back first. 

Rong Yinshuang was also afraid that the children would catch a cold if they slept there, so she asked Manager Li to hire a sedan chair for her, then woke up the elder son, picked up the younger son, took a few account books from the store, and went back.

Back in the temple, Rong Yinshuang settled the younger son down and went to help the elder son wash his feet and face. After he fell asleep, Rong Yinshuang squeezed a towel, took off the younger son’s shoes and coat, put them aside, wiped his hands and feet, and let the two children go to bed first.

She took the account book and sat under the candlelight, reading by lamplight.

Gu Yean came in through the wall, sat down on the other side of the stone table, and asked her what she was looking at. 

Rong Yinshuang told him everything about the teahouse. 

After listening, Gu Yean was very interested and kept saying, “That’s a good market, connecting the east and west cities, and the flow of people is needless to say. In addition, the teahouse has been open for some years, and the business should be good. It’s a pity…”

Rong Yinshuang looked at him, feeling strange in her heart. ‘Did he, a soul, know too much?’ She followed his words and asked, “What a pity?”

Gu Yean didn’t keep her in suspense and told her directly, “It’s a pity that the previous shopkeeper didn’t know how to do business. I’ve been to that teahouse twice before. The tea in the store is good, but the other things are much worse. Business means flexibility. The management method of that store is not even mediocre. It’s as rigid as a pool of stagnant water.”

Rong Yinshuang looked at him blankly. For a moment, she seemed to see her husband’s appearance in the past. Although her husband never let her get involved in the business, sometimes he would comment on the shops in the city with her when he went home. The way and tone of Gu Yean’s speech were very similar to her husband Mei Yuandao.

After a moment of trance, Rong Yinshuang hurriedly sobered herself up, retracted her gaze, and buried her head in the account book while saying,  “Didn’t you leave your body ten years ago? How come you remember the things about that teahouse so clearly? Even their taste…”

Gu Yean was stunned by Rong Yinshuang’s question. “Uh…”

End of chapter 27

Have a nice day!