Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just as dusk began to fall, the big red lanterns at the entrance were lit, and Drunken Fragrance Pavilion opened its doors for business.

After washing up and dressing, we stood along the railing on the second floor. The whole building reeked of cheap, choking face powder.

Guests came in wave after wave, and Ah Hai called out our flower names one by one. He and the madam managed us together.

“Guests are here! Come out and greet the guests! Hongying! Fragrant Snow! Pearl!…”

There were twenty-seven girls in the building, and he called down the line. Each time a name was called, there would be a sweet, coquettish answer, and the girl in question would raise a hand so the guests could see which one she was.

“Qiuyue! Xiao Wan! Jade Spring!”

There was a brief pause in the middle, because Xiao Wan did not answer.

Fortunately, Ah Hai was calling quickly, and the building was noisy. The guests were only taking a hurried glance anyway. They could not really see what anyone looked like, nor could they tell who had answered and who had not. Dizzy from the scent of powder, they simply pointed at whichever pretty girl caught their eye and went into a room.

Once the first group of guests had all chosen someone and there were no more customers for the moment, we let our smiles fall and chatted idly on the second floor.

Selling smiles to greet people was exhausting too. Those smiles had to be forced out, and wasting them on our own people would be a shame. We had to save them for the guests.

The madam came upstairs and looked around. “Xiao Wan didn’t take a guest, did she? She never came out?”

We all shook our heads. None of us had seen her.

The madam headed straight for Xiao Wan’s room, and we followed to watch the excitement.

When Xiao Wan saw the madam enter, she picked up her rouge box. “I was just about to look for you. This rouge color is far too vulgar. Bring me another box. And didn’t we agree you’d find a maid to serve me? Where is she?”

The madam gave a cold laugh. “Who agreed to that with you? The guests were here. Why didn’t you come out to greet them?”

Xiao Wan leaned against the wall, arms folded, her face full of disdain.

“I told you, I sell my art, not my body. You don’t understand how to market me. First, you need to spread my reputation. Tell everyone that a girl has come to your establishment who is accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and song, a beauty with peerless talent. And I am also the descendant of Manchu nobility, fallen into the pleasure quarters… This is called publicity, do you understand? People will flock here just to catch a glimpse of my face. Once the time is right, you can auction off my first night. If the man who buys me isn’t a warlord, I will never-”

The madam slapped her across the face, cutting off the rest of her words.

Xiao Wan was stunned by the slap. Covering her cheek, she stared blankly at the madam, her eyes filled with disbelief.

“A good-for-nothing wretch who rushed to take up this filthy trade, and now you have the nerve to put on airs and make demands? You think you can climb onto my head and tell me what to do? With a body fit for the lowest trade, you still think you’re some imperial consort? Dream on!”

The madam grabbed Xiao Wan by the hair and dragged her out the door. “That contract of sale was written out clear as day. Get out there and greet the guests. If you can’t sell a room or take a customer, don’t even think about eating!”

Xiao Wan clutched the doorframe and refused to go, shrieking like a ghost. “You can’t treat me like this! You’re cutting off your own fortune! I sell my art, not my body! I won’t sell my body! I won’t!”

As she wailed, Ah Hai, who had been refilling tea in another room, came running over in a rush. “Guests are coming! If she keeps screaming like that, she’ll scream away our business!”

The madam shoved Xiao Wan’s hands into Ah Hai’s. “Gag her and take her downstairs. Let her learn a lesson. Don’t hurt her face.”

After saying that, she turned to us. With a flick of the “Lazy Donkey’s Bane” in her hand, not one of us escaped. Each of us took a lash across the stomach. “What are you all standing around for? Didn’t you hear that guests are here? Forget selling rooms, you haven’t even sold a single pot of tea! Get out there and greet the guests!”

Ah Hai pulled the sweat cloth from his waist, balled it up, and stuffed it into Xiao Wan’s mouth. With one arm around her waist and the other pinning her hands, he carried her downstairs.

In no time at all, the cries disappeared. All that remained were hawkers’ calls, laughing curses, and waves of flirtatious banter rising higher and higher, boiling into a pot of bubbling hot oil that swallowed the whole of Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.

Anyone who stepped inside had to roll around in it until their skin split, their flesh curled, and their bones and sinews softened to mush. Once you were in, it was clear you would never crawl out in this lifetime.

Xiao Wan would be no exception.