Chapter 89 Self-recommendation
At this time, a group of girls were performing a dance in the center of the stage in the lobby. After Qianhuan found her table and sat down, two maids immediately came forward to serve her.
The maid in the lead was a little older and wore red clothes. Behind her followed a little maid in green clothes.
The maid in red handed Qianhuan a booklet and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what kind of tea and snacks would you like?"
Qianhuan opened the booklet and found that it was similar to a modern ordering menu. When she saw the prices marked on the back of the tea and snacks, she couldn't help feeling guilty. There was nothing she could afford at the moment, which was embarrassing.
No wonder people say that brothels are dens of money. Just ordering a cup of tea and some snacks will cost several taels or even more than ten taels of silver. This place is really only suitable for rich young men to spend their time. Ordinary people probably can't even get in. After all, the tea fee is enough to keep out most people.
She closed the booklet, coughed a few times, and calmly asked the red-dressed maid in the lead, "Excuse me, is there any charge for boiled water?"
The maid in red frowned upon hearing this and replied with a look of disdain, "Boiled water is free."
Qianhuan handed the booklet back to the maid in red, and said with a polite smile, "Then please get me a pot of boiled water. Thank you."
A penny can make a hero fall. When she was in modern times, she had been to all kinds of high-end places and tasted all kinds of delicacies. But now, when she visits an ancient brothel, she can only shamelessly ask for a pot of free boiled water.
Life is really hard without money. She must speed up her pace of making money and achieve ancient financial freedom as soon as possible.
The maid in red secretly complained in her heart that it was shameful that she had no money but was still following the young masters' example and visiting brothels.
Then she instructed the little maid in green behind her, "Go get a pot of boiling water. I'll leave this place to you. I'll go and greet other guests."
"Yes, Sister Hong Xing." The little maid in green agreed reluctantly.
The shabby-dressed young man in front of her looked like he was not a rich man, and she would not get any reward for serving him. Sister Hong Xing clearly saw this and let her serve him.
Alas, there is nothing that can be done. After all, she is a new girl. She probably won't get any reward money tonight.
Although the little maid in green had some complaints in her heart, she still tried her best to serve the guests. After a while, she brought a pot of boiled water, poured a cup for Qianhuan, and then stood behind her respectfully.
Qianhuan sat in the corner and admired the group dance on the stage for a while. She felt that the dancing skills of these girls were not very good. Their dancing was just like the yangge dance, which was boring to watch.
After this group of girls left, a girl wearing a veil came on stage.
At this time, the men around suddenly started to make a commotion, and everyone was a little excited. Qianhuan asked the green-clothed maid behind her and found out that the girl who came on stage to perform was none other than Hongyu, the top girl in Xunfang Pavilion.
Qianhuan immediately sat up straight and stretched her neck to look at the stage. She saw Miss Hongyu wearing a white dress and a white veil. She was holding a pipa in her hand and singing a tune on the stage. Qianhuan discovered that people of this era sang tunes almost the same as performing operas.
Qianhuan carefully observed the person on the stage. What Passerby B said during the day was indeed true. This Miss Hongyu did have a slender figure, very similar to her own.
Passerby B said Hongyu was 15 years old and about 13 feet 165 inches tall. Although her body was only 2 years old, she was already cm tall. She originally thought that the difference of cm was not very big and it should not be noticeable.
Sure enough, when she saw Hongyu in person on the stage, she felt that their heights looked almost the same, and Hongyu was even slightly taller than her. She observed Hongyu's shoes and found that her soles were relatively thick, probably specially made to increase her height.
When the song ended, the people in the audience cheered and applauded, and some people even threw coins onto the stage excitedly.
After Hongyu left, she came on stage again after a while wearing a pink gauze dance costume. Qianhuan thought to herself: I've finally been waiting for this.
Only by knowing Hongyu's dancing level could she know how likely she was to succeed tonight.
Hongyu waved her wide sleeves and began to dance on the stage. Qianhuan was far away and some people in front of her blocked her view, so she could only stand up and stare at the stage intently.
After watching for a while, Qianhuan already had a rough idea of Miss Hongyu's dancing level.
It's not that she looked down on the top performer in Xunfang Pavilion, but in her opinion, Miss Hongyu's dancing skills were too average, probably not even half as good as her own.
But the men in the audience were watching with great interest. She thought: Maybe the overall dancing level of this era is on the low side. This made her more confident.
She stuffed 10 coins into the green-dressed maid who was pouring water beside her, and said, "My pretty sister, where is the mother of Xunfang Pavilion? Can you show me the way?"
The maidservant in green originally thought that she would not be able to earn any extra reward money for serving such a shabby young man today, but she did not expect to get 10 copper coins at once. She was immediately delighted.
Although most of the people who come to Xunfang Pavilion to spend money are wealthy, there are not many gentlemen willing to tip their servants. Her daily wage is only 20 cents, but this young master gave her a tip of half a day's wage. If Sister Hongxing knew about this, she would probably be so angry that she would die.
The maid in green clothes said enthusiastically, "Sir, Madam Yang from Xunfang Pavilion is in the private room upstairs right now. I will take you there."
Qianhuan stood up, returned the greeting, and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you to lead the way, sister."
The maid in green brought Qianhuan to the door of an elegant room on the second floor, knocked on the door and called out, "Mother Yang, there are guests waiting for you."
When Mother Yang opened the door and saw Qianhuan, she knew at first glance that this was a little girl dressed as a boy. Mother Yang saw that she was wearing an old patched cotton jacket and cotton pants, and she thought that this was probably another poor woman who couldn't make a living and came to sell her body.
Mother Yang turned around and walked back to the room, saying to Qianhuan, "Come in."
Qianhuan came straight to the point when she entered the room: "Mother Yang, I heard that you are worried about the Oiran Contest in three days. I have a way to help Xunfang Pavilion win the contest in three days."
"Oh, what can a little girl like you do?" It turns out she was not here to sell her body.
"My body shape is similar to Miss Hongyu's. I can take part in the dance competition on her behalf. I'm sure I'll win first place." Qianhuan said confidently.
"Oh, you, a little girl from a poor family, can dance?" Mother Yang obviously didn't believe her.
"Although my family is poor, I am gifted in dancing. If you don't believe me, you can watch me dance first and then make a decision."
Mother Yang was indeed worried about the competition in three days. She did not take other brothels seriously, but Yichunyuan, which was a strong rival of Xunfang Pavilion.
Hongyu is an excellent singer, but her dancing is much inferior to Sisi from Yichunlou. The other girls in the building dance even worse than Hongyu.
Last year, their brothel lost the competition and the title of the most beautiful lady was snatched away by Miss Sisi from Yichunyuan. Their brothel's business plummeted. If Yichunyuan wins again this year, their lives will probably be even more difficult.
Under normal circumstances, Mother Yang would never take such a poor little girl seriously, but today she had to give Qianhuan a chance.
"Okay, since you have the courage to recommend yourself, I will believe you this time. Let me see you dance first." Mother Yang gestured for her to dance.
Upon hearing this, Qianhuan slowly stretched out her beautiful arms, and danced freely to the left, right, and top, like a light and graceful butterfly.
She was dancing a classical dance, which was one of her best dances. She did not use her full strength and only performed at 70% of her level. She felt that this level was already far ahead of Hongyu and there was no need to use her full strength.
Mother Yang was very excited after watching the performance. She didn't expect that such an inconspicuous little girl could dance so well. It seemed that their Xunfang Pavilion was saved this time.
Mother Yang also said straight to the point: "The girl's dance is indeed very good, but I don't know what your purpose is in helping us like this?"
"To be honest, my family is poor. I took the risk to participate in the competition on behalf of Miss Hongyu for no other reason than to earn some money to take home. If I win the first place, mother can just reward me with some money."
Qianhuan's purpose was clear, she came for the money, but she did not say how much she wanted as a reward. After all, she still had no idea how much the brothel was willing to give.
"Deal. If you can really help Xunfang Pavilion win the championship, I will reward you with 100 taels of silver. What do you think?"
Mother Yang agreed immediately and generously promised a reward of one hundred taels of silver. This amount of silver was enough for her to buy ten girls back to her house. It was also a huge sum of money for ordinary people and was enough for them to live for many years.
As long as she can win the competition and help Hongyu win the title of this year's most beautiful lady, the business in the building will surely prosper. Not to mention a hundred taels, even thousands or tens of thousands of taels can be earned back.
"Okay, Mother Yang is indeed a straightforward person."
After understanding the prices of goods in that era, Qianhuan was quite satisfied with the 100 taels of silver reward. With this 100 taels of silver, she could build a large courtyard with blue bricks and tiles for her parents, and also build a small workshop on the wasteland, so that she could start making soy sauce soon.