Chapter 1

Chapter 1

In the second year after I transmigrated here, I moved into a communal room meant for eight. The place was damp and dark, with eight teenage girls crammed together on one heated brick bed. From then on, all I could do was eat coarse scraps, wash clothes, and chop firewood.

Before that, I had lived in a room for two, with my own bed. I did not have to do heavy chores, and there was even the occasional bit of meat in my meals. Thanks to my tireless efforts, I had finally managed to move down in the world.

Because I was in the hands of human traffickers. And where did pretty girls who had been carefully raised by traffickers usually get sold?

The moment I transmigrated here, I told myself that if I was going to be sold to that kind of place, I would rather smash my head open and die. Even doing rough labor for others was better than being used for their amusement.

I succeeded. The traffickers received buyer after buyer, and not a single one was willing to purchase me. What they wanted were delicate beauties as fragile as willows in the wind, and I did not fit their expectations.

On top of that, I sang off-key, danced stiffly, and knew nothing about musical instruments. Even at a discount, they could not sell me.

The traffickers were furious and wanted to beat me, but they were afraid that if they damaged me, I would be worth even less. My contract of sale was in their hands, but they still could not simply beat me to death as they pleased. Still, they had to punish me somehow to vent their anger, and so I was moved into the worst room.

Not long after, the traffickers had me cleaned up, changed me into new clothes, and brought me before a well-dressed middle-aged woman.

“Honored guest, she is the prettiest girl we have here. Her teeth are good too.” The woman pried open my mouth as if showing off a donkey from her own stable.

“She is rather nice. Pleasant-looking too. In a household like ours, even the fire-tending maids in the outer courtyard must be good-looking. Otherwise, wouldn’t they offend the eyes of the nobles?”

I did not know how much this body’s birth parents had sold their daughter for, but I did learn my current price: fifty taels of silver. The traffickers were delighted.

I also did not know which estate I had been sold to. Servants like me were not allowed anywhere near the main gate. We could only enter through the most remote side gate.

The middle-aged woman who bought me was a stewardess in the outer courtyard. She had bought twelve maids in total. When she asked what we could do, I did not dare say I was literate. I only said I could do kitchen work.

Very few servants could read. I was afraid she would assign me to serve some master closely. It would be easier to get ahead that way, but the risks were also greater.

It was better to go to the kitchen. Normally, I would not see the masters, and there were plenty of unofficial perks. At the very least, I would not have to worry about starving.

I was assigned under Mama Zhao in the kitchen, but I was not yet qualified to go inside. Newcomers could only do whatever work others had left over. I was sent to the tea room to boil water. The hot water could not run out at any hour of the day or night.

Two of us were responsible for boiling water. The other girl had entered the estate in the same batch as me, and we were given our names at the same time. She was called Lixia, and I was called Xiaoman.

Lixia and I lived together in a small corner room beside the tea room. It was still a communal bed, but with only two people, it was not cramped. Being next to the tea room also made it warm.

My monthly wage was five hundred copper coins. There were not many rewards to be had in the tea room, but fortunately, I could pick up a bite of leftovers. In less than half a year, I grew to one and a half meters tall and gained some weight.

My first period finally came when I was fifteen. After I faintly sensed the abdominal pain, I boiled myself a pot of brown sugar, ginger, and jujube water, and even poached two eggs in it. Staying in charge of the tea room did have this rare benefit.

“You really know how to eat. Share some with me.” Lixia came over with a bowl in hand. She smelled of powder and rouge, and an exquisite silk flower was tucked into her hair.

“When have I ever left you out?” One of the eggs had been prepared especially for her. I was currying favor with her.

She and I were both tea room maids, but she knew far better than I did how to make connections. To be more accurate, she was better at it than I appeared to be now, and she also knew how to dress herself up. After a bit of back and forth, she had hooked up with Mama Zhao’s youngest son.

Mama Zhao’s youngest son was already married. His wife was the daughter of a steward in the outer courtyard. Lixia wanted to become his concubine.

Mama Zhao controlled the kitchen, and the extra income she made in a year amounted to at least several hundred taels of silver. And this was only the outer courtyard kitchen, the place that cooked for servants and a few unimportant masters.

“Look at you. You’re not that young anymore. You should start thinking about yourself. Don’t tell me you plan to boil water in the tea room for the rest of your life.”

“Isn’t this so you can taste my cooking? Dear sister, please take pity on me and let me work in the kitchen. Even tending the fire would be fine.” I was not as goal-oriented as Lixia. What goal could I possibly have after coming to this strange, unfamiliar world?

The only thing that could be called a goal was probably saving enough money to redeem my contract and regain my freedom. But after I became free, what could I do?

I did not know what meaning there was in surviving, but at least I wanted to live. I even wanted to live a little better. One day at a time, getting by however I could.

“Such ambition you have. What’s the difference between tending the fire in the kitchen and tending the fire here?”

“I don’t have your good fortune, sister. I heard Mama Zhao has a house outside the estate, and a large three-courtyard residence at that. Once you marry into her family, you’ll be a mistress.”

At my words, Lixia beamed. I took out a purse and pressed it into her hand. “Dear sister, for you, it’s only a matter of saying a word. I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life.”

Inside the purse were two small pieces of broken silver, totaling two qian. I had specifically exchanged my copper coins for silver just so I could smooth the way into the kitchen.

Mama Zhao’s youngest son and Lixia were in the heat of their affair, and Lixia also wanted to save some silver for herself. The money was not much, but it was all the savings I had. Lixia earned the same monthly wage as I did, so she knew that very well.

“You’ve saved quite a bit. Don’t worry. For the sake of our rooming together, I won’t treat you badly.”

Lixia was carried into the Zhao residence in a small sedan chair, and I got my wish as well. I entered the kitchen and became an assistant to the pastry chef.