Chapter 88: Sneaking into a Brothel
Qianhuan paid the owner of the carriage shop 70 copper coins and told Ji Feng, "Just pick us up at Liuji Kaikouxiao chestnut stall next to Zuixianju at : p.m."
"Okay." Ji Feng nodded in agreement. He thought to himself that this young man was the vendor of the most popular Liu Ji Kaikouxiao Sugar-Roasted Chestnuts stall in the county.
At the hour of Mao, Qianhuan and Liu were packing up their stall. Sure enough, the coachman named Ji Feng arrived in his carriage as promised. Ji Feng helped load the things onto the carriage, and they set off for Yunfeng Village.
Ji Feng's driving was indeed very steady, Qianhuan was very satisfied with him.
Sitting in a horse-drawn carriage was indeed much more comfortable than sitting in an ox-drawn cart. Liu was drowsy from the shaking, and she leaned back in the carriage and fell asleep accidentally.
Qianhuan took the opportunity to lift the curtain of the carriage, stuck her head out and whispered to Ji Feng, "Ji Feng, pay attention later. There is a big locust tree next to the main road ahead. There is a fork in the road. You wait for me at the fork under the big locust tree at 6:30 tonight (about 8:30)."
"Okay, young master, I understand."
"Remember, after you send us home, don't mention coming to pick me up in the evening. I went out without telling my parents." Qianhuan was afraid that he would let the cat out of the bag, so she gave him another warning.
"Don't worry, young master. Ji Feng will never say anything."
"If I don't come out at six o'clock in the evening, you can wait under the big locust tree. I will definitely come."
Qianhuan was worried that something unexpected might happen, so she told the coachman to wait for her.
Ji Feng nodded and agreed: "Okay, young master, I will definitely wait for you."
When the carriage passed the big locust tree at the fork in the road, Qianhuan deliberately stuck her head out and pointed with her finger to Jifeng. Qianhuan had long discovered that there was a narrow mountain road behind her home. If you walk a few hundred meters along that mountain road, you will reach the main road to the county town directly.
Usually, Old Man Wang would pick people up at her doorstep by oxcart, then drive around the village and start from the village entrance to the county town.
Qianhuan had always gone out secretly at night. If Ji Feng drove the carriage around the village, it would easily wake up the villagers. The fork in the road was quite far from the village entrance, so she could get on the carriage and leave from there without waking up other villagers.
Ji Feng looked in the direction of her finger at the big locust tree. The fork in the road led into a bamboo forest, and the road became narrower as he went deeper. He secretly took note of it.
After the carriage arrived home, Liu hadn't woken up yet. Qianhuan shook her and called out, "Mom, we're home."
Liu opened her eyes with a start, and she said with emotion: "We're home so soon? This carriage is a bit expensive, but it's really fast. It's much more comfortable inside than an oxcart. I even fell asleep in it. No wonder you insisted on riding in a carriage!"
"Mom, you get what you pay for. It's expensive for a reason. Let's get the things down quickly."
Ji Feng helped move all their boilers and other tools into the main room. Qian Huan sent Ji Feng to the gate of the courtyard and reminded him, "Remember to wait for me under the big locust tree at 6:15 p.m."
Ji Feng got on the carriage, said "hmm", whipped the horse whip and drove away.
Qianhuan thought of her plans for the evening and hurried to the kitchen to help Liu prepare dinner. When the family of three finished dinner, it was already 2:30 p.m.
Liu helped Liang Laoer wash his body, washed herself, and then lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
In this ancient mountain village, it was pitch dark at night, there were no entertainment activities, and everyone was reluctant to light oil lamps, so they basically went to bed early.
Qianhuan just pretended to wash up in front of Liu, and then pretended to go back to her room to sleep.
As soon as the door of her parents' east wing was closed, she took out a tinder and lit the oil lamp on the wooden table. She tied her hair up high and dressed like a man. She took out an eyebrow pencil bought from a cosmetics shop in the county town from her bosom. Looking in her small bronze mirror, she drew her thin willow-leaf eyebrows into thicker shapes.
The skin on her face was now much whiter, and she used a little powder to make her skin a little darker, so that she looked more like a man.
Everything was ready. She half-lay on the bed and waited patiently for two quarters of an hour, then got out of bed and carefully opened the door of her room.
She tiptoed to the door of her parents' room and heard their regular breathing coming from inside. Knowing that her parents should be asleep, she secretly opened the back door of the main room and prepared to slip out.
When she opened the back door, the wooden door creaked. She was so scared that she stopped immediately. She waited for a while and found that his parents had not woken up at all. Then she continued to open the door and walked to the backyard. She ran from the vegetable garden to the small mountain road that led to the official road.
It was now mid-November, the moon outside was big and round, and the road wasn't that dark, making it just the right time for her to sneak out to do some work.
She hurriedly crossed the narrow mountain road and waited for the bamboo forest leading to the main road. Seeing that the carriage had stopped under the big locust tree, she thought to herself: This coachman is really punctual. She immediately ran over and got on the carriage.
Two quarters of an hour later, the carriage entered the county town. Qianhua said to Ji Feng, "Ji Feng, just stop by the alley next to Liu Ji Noodle House. I'll get off there."
Qianhuan didn't want Ji Feng to send her to the entrance of Xunfang Pavilion. After all, going to a brothel was not a glorious thing, so she should try to keep a low profile.
When they arrived next to Liu Ji Noodle House, Qian Huan got off the carriage. She asked Ji Feng to pick her up in an hour, and then Ji Feng drove away in the carriage.
Qianhuan walked forward a few hundred meters and arrived at the gate of Xunfang Pavilion. She tidied her appearance and walked into the building with her head held high.
The gatekeeper saw that he was wearing a patched cotton jacket and looked young, so he chased him away with some disdain: "You haven't even grown all your hair yet, and you're looking for a girl? Do you have money to spend here? This place is not open to just anyone."
It’s really not the gatekeeper’s fault for chasing her away. It was mainly because she was dressed so shabbily.
The new cotton-padded jacket her mother was going to sew for her wasn't finished yet. The one she was wearing had become bleached from washing and was covered in patches. Also, because she was growing fast, the clothes no longer fit her.
She immediately took out 10 coins from her bosom and stuffed them into the gatekeeper's pocket, and said in a hoarse voice, "I heard that Miss Hongyu dances very well, so I want to go in and see her. Don't worry, big brother, I have enough money and will never cause any trouble. I will just take a table in the corner and watch. Please help me."
The gatekeeper put the copper coin in his arms, waved his hand and let him in.
Although he made a fortune in the building, he was just a gatekeeper and only earned half a tael of silver a month. Usually, few gentlemen would give him a reward for being a gatekeeper.
He thought to himself: Since they have so many thugs in Xunfang Pavilion, I don't think this kid would dare to do anything wrong.
After entering the gate of Xunfang Pavilion, you have to pay the flower tea fee before you can enter the hall. This is a bit like booking a table in a bar in modern times. The flower tea fee is different according to the location of the table reserved by the customer.
A table close to the stage would cost about 10 taels of silver, and a table in the middle would cost four or five taels of silver. Qianhuan spent one tael of silver to choose the cheapest seat, which was far from the stage, near the corner of the lobby.
She only had three taels of silver in her hand, and could not afford to choose a good seat. After booking this flower tea table today, she only had two taels of silver left.