spoiled brat

Chapter 13. Eliminating Evil (Part 13)

"Zhao Zhao'er, what are you daydreaming about?"

Xiao Duo slapped Zhao Zhao on the shoulder, pulling her back to reality, "Turn off the lights."

"Down the lamp" is a term used in the brothel community. When a prostitute receives a customer, it's called "up the lamp," and when the customer leaves, it's called "down the lamp."

Sure enough, a fat, big-eared man pushed open the door and came out, leisurely straightening his clothes. He took out two strings of coins from his sleeve, threw them into the crack in the door, and said contemptuously:

"They have the nerve to charge two strings for goods that have already been sold out."

A woman's ingratiating voice came from under the door:

"Sir...please come earlier next time, and I'll take good care of you."

She doesn't like to please people.

But she was already thirty years old, too old compared to the new batch of young prostitutes.

As her beauty faded and her health deteriorated, she could no longer attract new customers and could only lower herself to retain her old ones.

The man despised her lowly status, yet was pleased by her flattery, so he laughed and teased her like a dog:

"Shout 'Dada' twice more and let me hear it?"

Azhu trampled her stubbornness and arrogance underfoot: "...Dada."

The man sneered, "Your father raised a born whore."

The man only felt that the money was well spent after he had thoroughly abused Azhuo's body and mind, and then he walked away unsteadily.

Born and raised in a brothel, I've seen this kind of scene countless times, from initial discomfort to current indifference—

The kind of prostitutes who, according to storytellers, attract men to fawn over them because of their looks and talents, are few and far between. Most prostitutes live like dogs, being abused in bed and ridiculed off the bed.

"Let's go inside," Xiao Duo said.

Zhao Zhao shook her head: "Let her tidy up."

Even prostitutes have their pride.

She mentally counted the days until she figured the inside was all tidied up before gently knocking on the door.

Ah Zhuo thought it was a guest, so she forced a charming smile and opened the door, only to find out that it was Zhao Zhao and Xiao Duo who came in.

Her eyebrows and eyes crinkled when she smiled, and some wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes, but these disappeared when she stopped smiling, making her look much younger.
"You are here."

Azhuo hadn't expected the two to arrive so quickly; she was both excited and apprehensive. She welcomed them into the house, her hands trembling as she locked the door.

A prostitute locking her door means she's not taking any customers today, and Zhao Zhao didn't want to keep her waiting.
"Sis, we'll be leaving in a bit."

Azhu shook her head: "I won't sell anymore, I won't sell anymore in the future."

How can they make a living if they don't take customers? No shop will hire them to work.

Azhuo didn't answer, but poured tea for the two of them: "...You went to Zhao Si's house?"

"went."

A-Zhuo's eyes were a little red, and her voice was timid: "...You saw her?"

Zhao Zhao and Xiao Duo exchanged a glance, unsure of what to say.

“…She’s not doing well,” Zhao Zhao said.

It's more than just not very good.

Upon hearing this, Azhuo deflated like a string that could no longer be stretched.

She bent over, covered her face, and began to sob.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault..."

Xiao Duo frowned, puzzled, and asked:

"You know perfectly well that she has been suffering in Zhao Si's house, so why did you still get involved with Zhao Si?"

Azhuo raised her face, her eyes blurry with tears: "I'm afraid of dying..."

What else could a prostitute do but endure and wait for her chance to act?
Even if she spread the word that her young lady was not dead, how many people would believe her? And how many people would care?
"Then why doesn't Zhao Si fear you? Instead, he tries to win you over?" Zhao Zhao asked.

"How could he be afraid of me..." Azhuo laughed through her tears, her frail body no longer able to conceal her sordid past:

"If I hadn't drugged Miss's tea, how could he have had the opportunity to defile her?"

Zhao Zhao felt a chill run through her body and couldn't utter a single word.

Azhuo stood up shakily, her fingers gripping the table to keep herself from collapsing, and confessed in a tone of extreme self-loathing:

“I will remember that day forever… I was tied to a pillar in the market, and the slave traders were shouting that they were selling me, but no one was willing to buy me.”

"In the end, the young lady bought me... She stepped down from the sedan chair and came to me like a celestial being descending to earth in a play."

"She asked me if I had a name, and I said I had forgotten. She said, 'Then how about you be called A-Zhuo?'"

“I became her personal maid, and I had a place to stay. I no longer had to suffer from hunger and cold… But the more comfortable I was, the emptier my heart felt.”

“I feel like my heart has become a deep well, where a ghost hides. Every night, the ghost whispers in my ear—why was she born on the mountaintop, while you are stuck in the mud?”

"Before I met her, I never knew that anyone could live such a carefree life... She has a beautiful face, outstanding talent, a distinguished family background, and a lover who is her equal..."

"I kept telling myself not to be jealous of her, not to be jealous of my benefactor..."

Ah Zhuo's knuckles were white as she gripped the table, and blood was seeping from her fingernails.
"But how could I not be jealous of her?"

“I thought I had hidden my feelings well, but Zhao Si saw through them. That year, he was favored by the county magistrate and often came to the mansion. He took a fancy to the young lady.”

“But Miss is already married, and the two are a perfect match made in heaven. How could a lowly official like Zhao Si possibly have any designs on her? Zhao Si found me and asked with a smile, ‘Why couldn’t Hou Yi see ten suns in the sky?’ I said, ‘Because they were too dazzling.’”

“We hit it off immediately. Zhao Si promised that once he became the son-in-law, he would give me money to go far away from home… Actually, I didn’t want the money; I just wanted her to become dirty.”

Azhuo closed her eyes, tears streaming down her finely wrinkled face:

"Miss probably never imagined that the saying 'a little kindness is appreciated, but a lot of kindness breeds resentment' would happen to her. Later... there's no need to go into the details. The reason I've been living a life of ignominy until now is so that one day I can make amends to her, and then I'll die with this filth on my body."

"I admired you so much when you returned gold jewelry to the girls in our building last time, but I never expected you to be such an ungrateful beast!"

Xiao Duo slammed his hand on the table and stood up:

"Do you know that the fairy-like benefactor you speak of has had her tongue cut out?! She's been chained up in Zhao Si's house, living a life worse than a pig or a dog!"

Azhuo's face turned pale, and she collapsed to the ground as if she had no bones, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Xiao Duo was about to say a few more curses when Zhao Zhao pulled him back:

"What's done is done, there's no point in saying more."

She stepped forward to help A-Zhu up and used a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the blood from the corner of her lips:

"You want to save your young lady?"

Azhuo nodded.

Zhao Zhao asked, "I heard that your young lady and the son of County Magistrate Huang have a very good relationship. After she faked her death, how did the young master Huang react?"

"He loved my young lady terribly, yet hated her for her infidelity... After the engagement was broken off, he lost all interest in love and spent his days cockfighting and horse racing. Now he's a playboy who never leaves the casino."

Zhao Zhao lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then turned to look at Xiao Duo:

"Good boy, Mama Yu won't let me leave the city, so there's something I need you to do."

Xiao Duo nodded: "What is it?"

"Go out of the city and find A-Ming. Tell him to bring all the loan sharks who owe Zhao Si money in the city tomorrow morning and wait in front of the yamen."

"I'm afraid I can't persuade them," Xiao Duo said with some difficulty. "Those porters are busy all day long and can't rest. How could they put down their work just because of a few words from me?"

“Just ask them if they dare to take a gamble,” Zhao Zhao laughed. “If they win, they can get rid of all their debts; if they lose, it’s just a morning’s delay.”

After saying that, Zhao Zhao handed the paper and pen on the table to A Zhuo:

"I need to know what clothes your young lady used to wear, what she liked to say, and what her demeanor and expressions were like—"

As Azhuo wrote them down one by one, she couldn't help but ask, "Do you think you can save my young lady?"

Zhao Zhao glanced at the contents of the paper, folded it, tucked it into her sleeve, and smiled:

"I can do it."

(End of this chapter)