spoiled brat

Chapter 1. A Dead End (Part 1)

Zhao Zhao is simply called Zhao Zhao; she only has a given name and no surname.

She doesn't have a father, so she can take her mother's surname.

But her mother was a prostitute, her maternal grandmother was a prostitute, and going back three generations, they were all prostitutes.

Both were doing well in their businesses, and neither could figure out which client's child they were pregnant with.

"Zhao Zhao'er, my little darling, I beg you, please coax your mother to agree to my request."

A white porcelain plate was placed on the table, on which lay a stewed pig's trotter, tender and soft. The skin and meat, coated with sauce, wobbled precariously. Zhao Zhao used her chopsticks to pick off the most bouncy piece and put it in her mouth.

She was still young and not yet of marketable age. She was fair-skinned and thin. Madam Yu in the building said she was a good prospect and would be more successful than her mother in the future. She might be bought by a high-ranking official and become his concubine one day, instead of rotting away in the building like her grandmother.

"Uncle Wang, of all the men who have been eyeing my mother, you're the best to me." Zhao Zhao ate her pork hock, feeling a bit greasy, and took a couple of sips of tea. "Don't say I'm just touched; my mother sees it all and thinks you're reliable too."

Butcher Wang excitedly leaned closer: "If this works out, I'll treat you to braised pig's trotters for a month!"

Zhao Zhao's eyes are round and watery, and when they turn, they look like those of a little cat or some other small animal.
“But Tailor Li buys me candied hawthorns every day, and I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I already agreed to his offer.”

"What's a few strings of candied hawthorns? You're embarrassed to offer such a small favor?"

Butcher Wang pulled a piece of silver from his sleeve and slapped it in front of Zhao Zhao with a thud. "Zhao Zhao, go and give him the money back! When it comes to choosing a stepfather, you have to think about your mother's happiness. Don't pay attention to those poor wretches. I can sell one pig and it's worth ten of his clothes."

Zhao Zhao's eyes were drawn to the silver, but her hand pushed it away, her facial expression becoming even more dramatic:
"Uncle Wang, I won't lie to you, my mother has admired you for a long time and told me not to take advantage of you. We're going to be family in the future, how could I possibly do that..."

Butcher Wang chuckled: "You really think that, Yao Niang?"

Zhao Zhao quickly covered her mouth: "Oh no... my mother told me not to tell."

After the two men declined three times, Butcher Wang insisted on stuffing the silver into Zhao Zhao's sleeve, already treating her like a stepfather: "We're family, so please accept it!"

Zhao Zhao accepted the silver, but said with worry, "My mother also said that it's not even been a year since your wife died, and it's probably bad luck for her to be with you now."

Butcher Wang opened his mouth to explain, but before he could utter a sound, he heard an urgent shout from behind: "Zhao Zhao'er, your mother has been caught and brought back. Mother Yu wants to punish her. You should go back and beg her!"

The man who came was Xiao Duo, the pimp from the building. He had run all the way and was panting heavily, bent over.

"You...your mother had someone plant her seed!"

"Sowing seeds?" Butcher Wang's dark face turned red, then white, then black. "Zhaozhao, didn't you say your mother hadn't been taking customers for the past few months because she was sick? How come she's pregnant with an illegitimate child?!"

Zhao Zhao was too lazy to argue, so she took out some silver from her sleeve and returned it: "Uncle Wang, I don't want this money."

She pulled Xiaoduo a few steps away, but Butcher Wang stood up and blocked their way, like a black mountain, and roared, "You little girl, you're so young and you already know how to lie?"

His saliva sprayed onto Zhao Zhao's face. Xiao Duo stiffened his neck and tried to retort, but Zhao Zhao pulled him back, wiped the saliva off her face with her sleeve, and laughed:
"Uncle Wang, if a prostitute doesn't lie, then she's not a prostitute."

Butcher Wang was so angry he gritted his teeth. He had treated Zhao Zhao to seven or eight meals and drinks, only to receive a bunch of lies in return. All his money had gone to waste.

You're playing me for a fool!

He raised his hand, which was bigger than Zhao Zhao's face, and hesitated before slapping her. The neighbors gathered around and shouted that he shouldn't argue with a child. But as they talked, it turned into "don't argue with a little bitch."

Wang the butcher glared at Zhao Zhao and said viciously, "You little bitch, you'd better hope you're lucky enough to run into a blind man who buys you. Your mother is pregnant with a bastard's child now, she's rotten to the core, I don't want her anymore, I'll save the money I'd use to redeem your mother to buy you in the future!"

"You've ruined seven women, and you still want to buy someone to take home and mistreat?" Xiao Duo said angrily. "The reason you're clinging to Zhao Zhao's mother is because ordinary girls and widows wouldn't dare marry you, right?"

Everyone in town knew about Butcher Wang's shady dealings, and they talked about his weapon as if it were poison. When Xiao Duo said this, the onlookers chuckled and started gossiping about Butcher Wang.

"A pimp without balls dares to talk back to your grandpa!"

With a loud slap, Xiao Duo was sent spinning like a top by Butcher Wang's hand, and collapsed to the ground, dizzy and disoriented.

Seeing that Butcher Wang was about to kick her again, Zhao Zhao quickly stepped in front of Xiao Duo, a worldly smile appearing on her innocent face:

"Uncle Wang, it's settled then. I'll wait for you to bring the money to buy me."

After saying that, Zhao Zhao shook off the surrounding noise and pulled Xiao Duo away.

Xiao Duo realized he had said the wrong thing and caused trouble. He apologized while spitting out blood, saying, "I was in a hurry... I didn't see that there was someone sitting in front of you."

"It's nothing." Zhao Zhao handed the handkerchief from her sleeve to Xiao Duo to wipe her face. "How is Mama Yu going to treat my mother?"

Zhao Zhao's mother is called Yao Niang.

Yao Niang was extremely beautiful, but she was unlucky. She was sold into prostitution from the age of fourteen to twenty-eight, and despite spending half her life in vain, she could not snag a wealthy official as a supporter.

Despite her aging and fading beauty, Yao Niang's spirit remained undiminished. She looked down on the small merchants who offered to redeem her and insisted on finding a talented scholar.

Coincidentally, a few months ago a high-ranking official came down to inspect the capital, and the music academy was short-staffed, so they had to find girls from brothels in the countryside to fill the gaps. Yao Niang was a skilled moon lute player and was borrowed for the official banquet.

Unexpectedly, a mistake in the music caught Zhou Lang's attention, and Yao Niang became acquainted with one of the officials' advisors at the banquet. Over time, they developed feelings for each other.

What should have been a beautiful story turned out to be a tragedy, but unfortunately, the advisor had not yet passed the imperial examination and could not enter officialdom to make money. He had no money to redeem Yao Niang, so he had no choice but to instigate Yao Niang to elope.

When Madam Yu saw that her top courtesan had run away, she cursed and swore for days, vowing to catch Yao Niang and beat her all over with a thorny branch, then strip her naked and hang her at the door as a public spectacle.

"When Madam Yu saw her, she slapped her a few times and called her a worthless slut who was a money-loser." Xiao Duo stammered, "Then...then she was dragged into the hall for a lecture."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhao slowed her pace and frowned, asking, "Were they really caught? Where were they caught?"

"We caught them near the North Gate." Xiao Duo scratched his head. "It's strange, they eloped for several months and are still in our county."

Zhao Zhao sighed and didn't say anything more.

Su Chunfeng is a somewhat old building, with a three-story building in front and a four-courtyard complex in the back, with the main hall located at the very innermost part.

When the two arrived outside the hall, a group of girls were gathered at the entrance, the younger ones looking timid and the older ones looking like they were enjoying the show.

Upon seeing Zhaozhao arrive, a sweet, coquettish "Aiyo!" drifted from the crowd. Then, a brightly dressed, alluring woman walked up to Zhaozhao and teased her:

“Zhaozhao, your mother has been impregnated. Her belly is quite big, about four or five months along. This time, your mother is probably…”

She stopped talking and laughed gleefully.

The girls in the brothel, who were engaged in prostitution, inevitably became pregnant. Usually, it was Yu Mama who handled the situation, using a mallet to induce an abortion or wrapping the fetus in satin to kill it. But these methods were only suitable for early-stage pregnancies; treating a four- or five-month-old fetus this way was tantamount to sending the pregnant girl to the brink of death.

"Yun'er, stop talking nonsense!" Xiao Duo stood between Yun'er and Zhao Zhao. "Yun'er's mouth is useless. She has a grudge against your mother and is just trying to scare you."

"Who's immoral? Who's talking nonsense?" Yun'er pointed at the tightly closed wooden door of the brothel and sneered, "Yao Niang has become that awful state all because of men!"

Zhao Zhao clenched her fists and stepped inside, but the girls surrounding the hall stopped her and advised, "Mother Yu won't let anyone in."

As soon as she finished speaking, the wooden door of the hall not far away opened, and a plump woman in her forties or fifties squeezed out of the doorway, pointing her short, thick finger at Zhao Zhao, her hoarse voice like a broken pipa: "Come in."

Xiao Duo was afraid that Zhao Zhao would get beaten if she went in, so she tugged at Zhao Zhao's hand to signal her to be careful. Zhao Zhao nodded, squeezed through the group of women, and followed Mama Yu into the hall.

The wooden door was closed, and the dilapidated hall was dark. A few rays of sunlight peeked in through the broken tiles, cool and damp, falling on the woman kneeling in the hall.

Zhao Zhao couldn't believe that the woman in front of her, who looked like a beggar, was her mother. Yao Niang loved to dress up and was the most beautiful girl among all the girls in town, but now she was kneeling there, wearing tattered clothes, her filthy hair simply tied up, fleas frothing in her hair, and her bare arms were no longer fair, but covered with large and small sores.

"mother……"

Yao Niang's back stiffened for a moment. Without turning around, she lay on the ground, covering her face tightly: "Zhao Zhao'er, don't come any closer..."

Before even getting close, Zhao Zhao could smell a pungent stench emanating from Yao Niang. She couldn't imagine what kind of life Yao Niang had been living these past few months.

“Go away…don’t look at me…” Yao Niang covered her face and sobbed, “I’m afraid I’ll frighten you…”

A few tears streamed down his dirty fingers, down his ashen cheeks, and by the time they reached his chin, they were black.

Yao Niang's hands were so thin they were almost bony, unable to conceal the hideous scar on her face. A long scar ran from her eyebrow across the bridge of her nose, just scabbed over, still showing a fishy pink and filthy black.

In the warm spring of March, Zhao Zhao felt herself freezing over. Listening to Yao Niang's sobs, she felt a lump in her throat and wanted to cry too, but she dared not speak, as if she would shatter if she made a sound.

Tears welled up in her eyes. Zhao Zhao didn't speak, and her crying was silent. Her hands trembled as she picked fleas off Yao Niang's body. A handful of dead fleas gathered in her clean, white palm, like black sesame seeds oozing blood.

It felt like an eternity before she finally managed to utter a broken, choked sentence: "...Mother, it's alright now."

Her vision blurred with tears, and she heard her mother's voice above her head: "Zhao Zhao'er, you helped her escape back then, are you satisfied with her current state?"

“Mother Yu…” Zhao Zhao looked up, tears streaming down her face, “Please save my mother.”

Madam Yu was a beautiful woman in her youth, but she became fat after becoming a madam. Her face was fleshy, her smile was obsequious and gentle, her anger was cold and fierce, but at this moment she was calm and indifferent.

“I originally thought highly of your mother and planned to hand over this brothel to her to manage in the future. Who knew she was both stupid and shameless, and was completely deceived by a poor scholar, losing both her body and her money.”

"She was clueless and followed him to the capital hoping to grow old with him. But after that man passed the imperial examination, he used her as a stain on his reputation and paid money to kill her. She survived, but ended up looking like this."

Zhao Zhao kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "My mother is foolish and has been deceived by a man... Please forgive her this time..."

Mother Yu raised her pipe, took a puff, and slowly exhaled smoke: "Zhao Zhao'er, this world is a place where people are devoured without spitting out the bones. Ordinary women have a hard time getting by, let alone us prostitutes. Your mother felt that sticking together with us was an insult to her, and she disdained to stay in this brothel. A few empty words from some random man and she would rush off to us."

"I said I'd have someone bring her back, but have you seen me actually do anything? I raised her like a daughter, and I'd rather she fly high and far away!"

“If she wants to leave, I’ll let her have her way. If she really climbs the social ladder, I’ll be happy for her and I won’t even think about taking advantage of her.” Mother Yu looked down at Yao Niang on the ground and sneered, “But now she’s down on her luck and wants to come back to beg for food, which is absolutely impossible.”

Zhao Zhao's heart sank. She was young and hadn't started working as a prostitute yet. The money she had was just a little bit she'd saved from eating and drinking for free, not even enough to buy her a decent set of clothes. Even if she borrowed money from Xiao Duo, it wouldn't be enough to treat her mother's illness.

Her tears had dried, and Zhao Zhao kowtowed one last time: "Mother Yu, please, for the sake of the past relationship between you and my mother..."

"Affection?" Mother Yu sneered. "The little affection between your mother and me has long been thrown away by her!"

For a moment, everything around fell silent. The dilapidated hall was filled with the stench of decaying wooden beams, which mixed with the smells of cosmetics and filth, creating a cloying, suffocating atmosphere of death.

"Zhao Zhao'er, there's no need to beg anymore." Yao Niang on the ground still kept her head down and said in a trembling voice, "I came back this time just to tell you... You have to walk your own path from now on. I didn't make a name for myself, so I can't help you anymore."

The two originally planned that Yao Niang would bet on that man, and once he passed the imperial examination, she would then persuade him to spend money to buy Zhao Zhao.

Who would have thought that after the man passed the exam, he not only forgot his benefactor, but also wanted to get rid of Yao Niang as soon as possible.

Now that she has lost both her money and her body, Yao Niang is a ghost that can no longer fetch a price, and Zhao Zhao can no longer use her name to cheat people out of food and drink. How are ugly prostitutes and little bitches supposed to make a living in this difficult world?

Perhaps recalling something from the past, Yao Niang sobbed, "It's all retribution..."

Mother Yu withdrew her gaze, too lazy to say anything more: "Zhao Zhao'er, your indenture is still with me. You can live in the building, but your mother can't. Throw her out yourself."

She lifted her foot to leave, but Zhao Zhao tugged at her hem.

“Aunt Yu, I’ll give you the money,” Zhao Zhao said, crying. “But I don’t have any right now, so I can only deduct it from my wages… I work two jobs in the building. When customers want to listen to the piano, I play it, and I can also do heavy work…”

Yu's mother pulled the hem of her dress from Zhao Zhao's hand and scoffed, "There are plenty of girls and waitresses in the brothel. Why would a little brat like you have the chance to perform and do odd jobs?"

She was about to leave again when Zhao Zhao rushed to her feet and hugged her legs tightly.

“I can also have an abortion! Mom, you're a Buddhist, how could you get your hands dirty with blood?”

"Zhao Zhao'er, you've gone mad..." Yao Niang, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, came over and grabbed Zhao Zhao's hand, "That's something that could kill people!"

The world's high-ranking officials and nobles believe in Buddhism and religion to preserve their wealth and seek longevity, while prostitutes seek a vague sense of fairness, hoping not to be reborn in the mud in their next life, and to live a life that is neither clean nor pure.

Mother Yu lowered her eyes and looked at Zhao Zhao's face:

"Zhao Zhao'er, you have a bit of cleverness, but you're still a fool. Your mother would be better off dead in this state. What good will it do you to waste your time and effort letting her live a few more days? She's carrying a child! Once the child is born, what ability do you have to support two useless people?"

"Buddhism speaks of cause and effect; without cause, there is no effect. You're so young, and you haven't even received anything yet, but you're already starting to pay off debts in a daze? You were born with good looks; wouldn't it be better to find a rich man to rely on when you grow up and escape this sea of ​​suffering sooner? If you have two burdens to carry, who would be willing to get into two more troubles for a prostitute?"

For a moment, Zhao Zhao lost her focus, her clenched fingers loosened, and she stared blankly at Yu's mother, unable to utter another word.

Mother Yu smiled, a smile both cruel and compassionate, and touched Zhao Zhao's forehead with her hot pipe:
"Why don't I give you a few taels of silver so you can buy some arsenic to give your mother a quick death and save yourself some suffering? Compared to the decades of life ahead, the bond between mother and daughter is really nothing important."

“Zhao Zhao’er, quickly thank your mother…” Yao Niang said, crying.

She pressed down on the back of Zhao Zhao's neck, gesturing for Zhao Zhao to kowtow and express her gratitude, but Zhao Zhao brushed her hand away and stared steadily at Madam Yu:
"Mom, since my mother isn't going to live much longer anyway, let's make a deal."

"What deal?"

“You can let her stay in this building until she dies, and I will take care of her in her old age and see her off in her final days,” Zhao Zhao said calmly. “I will stay in this building for the rest of my life, and even if an official comes to marry me in a grand sedan chair, I will not leave.”

Yu's mother lifted Zhao Zhao's face with her hand and looked at her: "I watched you grow up. It's not appropriate for you to use your little tricks on me, is it?"

Zhao Zhao pulled a wooden hairpin from her hair, and pointed the sharpened tip at her cheek:

"If Mom is afraid I'll change my mind, I can ruin my face right now."

She was still young, and a faint resolve lingered on her tender face. Her hands trembled incessantly, as if she were afraid that her mother would really ruin her face.

"You should rest," Yu's mother said, seeing right through her. "Why are you putting on an act with me? You're sure to fetch a good price. Would I pass up the money?"

Seeing Zhao Zhao's face turn pale for a moment, Yu's mother said while exhaling smoke, "However, I promise you. Starting tomorrow, you will play the piano and sing in the front building during the day, and do laundry and clean in the backyard at night. You will have to do both the rough and the fine work."

"Thank you, Mom." Zhao Zhao nodded in agreement and respectfully kowtowed twice.

"Remember, you must not hurt your face or hands. A prostitute may be heartless and immoral, but she must never lose her appearance."

A bag of money was thrown at her. When Zhao Zhao saw the money, her dark eyes welled up with tears, and she grabbed it as quickly as a cat saw a mouse.

A mocking voice rang out from above: "Zhao Zhao'er, how could parents who truly care about their children have the nerve to become a burden? Your mother is putting on a pitiful act, but she's actually waiting to bleed you dry."

After saying that, Mama Yu shuffled away with her plump body, leaving only Zhao Zhao and Yao Niang in the hall.

The two remained silent, and finally Yao Niang gently opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Zhao Zhao looked at her and inexplicably felt that her silent and empty mouth resembled that of a dying fish.

Laughable, pathetic.

“Mother, there’s no need to say anything more,” Zhao Zhao said softly. “Everyone’s living a dirty life, so how can we be so petty?”