A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

That day, Gui'er ran into Taohua while eating in the servants' dining hall. She was so scared that she almost didn't recognize her.

Taohua was actually wearing the same coarse flowery dress she had worn when the two of them left the flower boat, and she was walking with her head lowered, looking timid, as if she was afraid of everyone.

Guier quickly grabbed her and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Taohua looked around nervously, and after making sure no one was around, she said with a bitter face, "Since Sister Xiaolian came, she's been very close to the young lady. This time, the young lady and Young Master Liang can't get married. Sister Xiaonian said it was because I refused to be Young Master Liang's concubine that the Liang family didn't want to get married. They said I wasn't loyal to the young lady at all and didn't deserve to wear such nice clothes."

Gui'er quickly pulled Taohua aside and said, "You're just talking nonsense. I'll tell you the truth. It's because I discovered that Young Master Liang had syphilis. This kind of thing is very embarrassing, so he didn't tell me."

Taohua said with tears in her eyes, "But now Sister Xiaolian and Miss are very close. Miss hasn't spoken to me for several days."

Gui'er didn't expect that Xiaolian was the same person as Wu Ma. If she continued to sow discord between them, Taohua's life would be very difficult.

Gui'er suddenly remembered that after Ah Xiang committed suicide, Wu Ma came to her to plead for Xiao Lian to fill Ah Xiang's place. He didn't want the matter to be over, and now no one has filled Ah Xiang's vacancy. Song Xichen didn't care about this matter either. If he brought it up, he wondered if Song Xichen would agree to let Taohua come.

Thinking of this, Gui'er felt that she should first ask Taohua's opinion, so she said, "If you're not comfortable staying over there, I can ask the young master to let you come over to fill Sister Xiang's vacancy. However, this position usually requires cleaning, which is a bit harder than what you're doing now."

Taohua nodded repeatedly and said, "It's okay. In fact, ever since the young lady stopped talking to me, all the work done by the people in the young lady's courtyard has been handed over to me."

Gui Er was furious when she heard this and said, "How could these people be so opportunistic and take advantage of others' misfortunes?"

She comforted Taohua: "Go back and be patient for a while, I'll go and talk to the young master. Before that, please don't make it public."

Taohua nodded gratefully and said, "You must speak slowly to the young master and don't make him angry. For servants like us, whether we are good or bad is up to the master's words."

After seeing Taohua off, Guier fell into deep thought. She felt that what Taohua said made sense. The young lady was such a gentle person that she didn't blame Taohua too much for refusing to be a concubine. She just kept a little distance from Taohua. The other servants came up to bully her like jackals. If it were her, would the situation be the same?

Thinking of this, Guier felt that she should prepare for a rainy day, at least she had to win people's hearts first. Thinking of this, she went back to her small room and rummaged around. She had received monthly allowances several times before, and now Guier had saved twenty or thirty yuan. However, she felt that giving money directly was not a good idea, as it would let people know her financial situation. If she met someone with bad ideas, it would easily lead to his insatiable greed.

But she didn't have anything good, so after searching through it, she found the roll of brocade that she bought when she first went to Wing On Department Store. She quickly took it out and found a pair of scissors to cut it into pieces. They didn't need to cut them into big pieces, because servants usually couldn't wear or buy this kind of brocade. In their eyes, it was just fashionable and high-end goods, used to make handkerchiefs or pillows.

After cutting five or six pieces, Gui'er took them out and went to the gatehouse to give one piece to the doorman. She said that when she and the young master were shopping in the mall, the young master saw some cheap ones and bought them for her. However, he did not know how to make clothes, so he cut some and distributed them to everyone. Then she gave one piece to each of the five or six servants in the young master's yard. The servants were overjoyed to see such good materials. Some said that the young master was so good to them, and some said that it could be used to make a pillowcase. The men were also very happy to receive them. Some said that they would take them home to their mother, saying that such good materials were something she had never used in her life.

Guier knew that what he said was true. A low-ranking servant only earned one dollar a month, but had to support a family. Moreover, it was not easy to find a job in that era. It was very lucky to get a job in a rich family.

Afterwards, Gui'er returned to her room and cut enough fabric to make a shirt, which she then sent to Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang had been a housekeeper at the Song residence for many years. Although she was only in charge of the kitchen, she had seen good things. She was also very sharp-eyed and well-informed, which would surely be of great help to her in the future. Aunt Zhang was delighted when she received the piece, and said with a smile, "Oh, Gui'er, you're embarrassing me! I can't possibly wear such fine material."

Gui Er quickly complimented her, saying, "Mother Zhang has been in charge of the Song residence for many years and has some reputation. I think the material is quite good and can be made into a set of clothes for the banquet. I hope Mother won't dislike it.

Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "Of course not. Thank you very much." She took out a bowl of egg custard from a cupboard, carefully checked to see if anyone was around, and handed it to Gui'er, saying, "This is the egg custard I steamed for the first wife this morning, but she went out early, so there's some left over. Here, have some. Eat quickly."

Gui'er wasn't shy about it. She took it over, found a place to sit, and began to eat voraciously. Aunt Zhang looked at the cloth from left to right. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. She nodded and said with a smile, "I knew I had a good eye. When you first came, I said you were something special. Look how the young master treats you now, and you treat us servants so well too. If you need anything in the future, I can help you. Just come find me, okay?"

Gui'er said quickly, "Auntie Zhang, what are you talking about? We are just servants, and we all have miserable lives. You have been in the Song Mansion for so many years, and you have much more experience than me. I will definitely have to trouble you in the future."

Zhang Ma was very pleased with these words and said with a smile, "Okay, okay."

After doing all this, Gui'er finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now she was waiting for Song Xichen to come back so that she could tell him about transferring Taohua to replace Axiang.

It must be said that giving gifts is still useful. Before Song Xichen came back, the doorman suddenly came to Guier and said, "Auntie Zhang sent something over."

Gui'er felt very puzzled. Usually, food was delivered by the little maids under Zhang Ma, and it was never her turn as the mother in charge. She knew there must be something fishy going on, so she hurried out to greet them.

Aunt Zhang held a bowl of egg custard and said with a smile, "The eldest lady asked me to bring a bowl of egg custard for the eldest young master."

Gui'er said quickly, "Thank you for taking this trip, Aunt Zhang. Please come in."

Zhang Ma entered the room and, seeing that no one else was around, she told Gui'er, "This happened suddenly, so I had to find an excuse to bring something over. Just now, Wu Ma came to tell me that Taohua will be transferred to the kitchen as a helper starting tomorrow. You know that kitchen work is rather tedious and onerous, and kitchen maids are only matched with ordinary servants when they grow up, just like Ah Hu, the one Wu Ma wanted to match you with before. I see that Taohua is delicate and tender, and I'm not sure if she can endure this hardship, so I'm telling you, if you have a plan, you should make it early."

When Gui'er heard this, she quickly said, "Thank you so much, Aunt Zhang. I will find a way." However, she didn't expect the young lady to be so heartless, so she sighed.

Zhang Ma saw that he was about to speak but hesitated for a few seconds before finally speaking: "I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it."

Gui'er quickly said, "Mrs. Zhang has always been doing this for my own good. Feel free to speak up if you have anything to say."

Aunt Zhang sighed and said, "You and Taohua are both beautiful. Honestly, you're even prettier than our young lady. When you first arrived at the mansion, I knew trouble was bound to happen. You're still young, and it will be tough trying to make a living out there. Even though I have no idea what's going on, I think I should remind you to prepare early. If anything goes wrong, it might be too late to start fundraising."

Gui'er quickly asked, "What did Madam Zhang mean by 'what if'?"

Aunt Zhang hesitated and was obviously unwilling to say more.

Gui'er could only smile and say, "Thank you, Mother Zhang, for reminding me."