High-class maid

She saw three girls, about her age, standing in the courtyard. They were all wearing pink dresses and pearl hairpins, their hair adorned with delicate pink rouge.

"This is Jinglin, she lives in the same room as you." Danxue pointed to the first girl, who looked a little serious.

"Hello, sister." Shen Xing'er quickly curtsied to her.

Na Jinglin slightly dodged and gave her a curtsy, saying, "No need to be so polite. We'll be living in the same room from now on. If you don't understand anything, just ask me."

Danxue then pointed to the second maid. The girl was plump with two faint dimples on her face, and she looked like she was easy to get along with.

"This is Jingpan."

"Hello, sister." Shen Xing'er also curtsied to her.

"Hello, little sister, no need to be so polite." Jingpan didn't say much more, just replied with this and then fell silent.

"This is Jingyue," Danxue said, pointing to the last tall woman.

"Hello, sister."

"Sister, you don't need to be so polite." Jingyue smiled at her, looking extremely amiable.

Danxue nodded in satisfaction as she looked at the harmonious scene among the four of them, and then said...

“They were all third-class maids from the beginning, so their names all start with the character ‘Jing’. The old lady is kind-hearted and said that you are already used to your name, so you don’t need to change it. Just continue to call her Xing’er.”

"Yes, thank you for your kindness, Madam." Shen Xing'er felt a sense of relief; she had thought she was about to have her name changed. She then continued...

"Sisters, I'm new here, so please bear with me if I don't understand anything. This is a small gift I prepared." As she spoke, she handed over the purse that her mother had given her that morning.

"This purse is really pretty." Jinglin took it and looked at it from left to right, clearly liking it very much.

"Then I'll accept it." Jingyue accepted it without any hesitation.

"Tch, what is this? It's really ugly." Jingpan curled her lips in disgust, glanced at the purse casually, and then put it into her sleeve.

The group glanced at Shen Xing'er, worried she might be angry. Danxue hadn't expected Jingpan to be so disrespectful, and began to lecture her.

"If you don't like it, then don't accept it. No one is forcing you."

Na Jingpan didn't expect Danxue to be so disrespectful to her. Her face flushed red and then turned pale as she stammered, "I, I..."

"Alright, everyone go to your posts. Xing'er, if you don't understand anything, ask your seniors." After Danxue finished speaking, she rolled her eyes at Jingpan and turned to leave.

Shen Xing'er hadn't expected the first day of reporting to be so exciting. Why was Jing Pan so hostile towards her? How could Dan Xue, who was always fair and upright, be so disrespectful to her?

She didn't have time to think much before she got busy.

Meanwhile, in another maid's room, Jingmo—no, it should be Lümo now, because second-class maids belong to the Lü generation, so her name was changed from Jingmo to Lümo.

At this moment, Green Ink was recalling what had just happened with a radiant smile. When she returned from the small kitchen with the dishes, she happened to run into the eldest young master, who was paying his respects to the old lady.

"What happened to you? When did you become a second-class maid?" the young master asked in surprise.

Green Ink, however, thought that the young master was concerned about her, so she smiled shyly and replied, "Young master, I was just promoted today."

"Oh, so you'll be serving the dishes from now on?"

"Yes."

"Then be careful on your way. Don't come into contact with anyone when you're serving the food. Be careful that someone might put something in the food," the young master instructed.

"Yes, the servant knows."

After the young master finished speaking, he strode into the inner room, while Green Ink was happy for a while before carrying the dishes in.

"The young master must be concerned about me, afraid I'll make a mistake and be punished, that's why he gave me these instructions." Green Ink lay on the bed, lost in thought…

If the young master knew what she was thinking, he would be terribly wronged. He was only concerned about his grandmother, and he would give her a word of advice to everyone who served the dishes, but he never expected to become the object of someone else's affections.

"How about I make a purse for the young master to repay him for his kindness?"

Achoo! Did I catch a cold? The young master didn't think too much about it. After paying his respects, he hurriedly returned to his courtyard to study.

Meanwhile, Green Ink got right to work, and in the following days, she spent her spare time embroidering sachets, constantly revising and re-embroidering, neglecting even her duties.

Meanwhile, the poor young master was unaware that someone had designs on him.

After a busy day, Shen Xing'er lay in bed, not wanting to move.

"I'm so tired, even more tired than working in the break room."

Jinglin heard this and said with a smile, "It's not busy today. If the old lady has guests in her courtyard, she'll be even busier. She'll wish she could fly."

Shen Xing'er didn't expect Jing Lin to hear her. She stuck out her tongue and said, "Sister, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean anything by it. I just feel uncomfortable."

“You don’t need to explain, I understand. These third-class maids look very respectable, but in reality, we do all the errands, such as carrying hot water, airing out quilts, and delivering clothes.”

Jinglin said with a wry smile.

Shen Xing'er was surprised that she felt so strongly about it, and quickly asked, "Sister Jinglin, don't you like this job?"

As Jinglin took off her shoes, she said, "What's the point of liking or disliking? We maids are just going wherever our masters assign us. Even if we're third-class maids, our parents will still feel proud."

Shen Xing'er wholeheartedly agreed. In ancient times, when people's thinking was so closed off, even ordinary families would have to fawn over someone who could become a third-class maid in the old lady's courtyard.

"Is Jingpan always like this? Or did I do something wrong to offend her?" Shen Xing'er suddenly thought of Jingpan's hostility towards her this morning.

"That's just the kind of person she is. She can't stand seeing others do well. Don't take it to heart. She and Jingyao are good friends. Now that you've taken her place as her good friend, it's no wonder she dislikes you!" Jinglin was speechless when she talked about her.

"But Jingyao brought this on herself, so why blame it on me?" Shen Xing'er asked speechlessly.

"Anyway, just stay away from her. None of us like her, but we all turn a blind eye because of her grandmother."

"Who is her grandmother?" Shen Xing'er thought to herself. Is she another person with connections? There are really many powerful and influential people in this old lady's courtyard.

"Her grandmother was the old lady's hairdresser, surnamed Zheng, and everyone called her Mama Zheng."

"I've met Granny Zheng a few times. She seems neat and efficient. How come Jingpan acts so unreliably?" Shen Xing'er asked in confusion.

"It might be like her mother. I heard that Granny Zheng doesn't go home even on her vacation. She doesn't want to live with her daughter-in-law." Jingpan finished speaking and blew out the candle.

So this is another case of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict. But to raise a daughter like this, her mother must not be a very sensible person either.

The days passed uneventfully, and apart from being a bit more tiring than working in the break room and occasionally receiving inexplicable eye-rolls from Jingpan, nothing particularly special happened.

Before we knew it, the Mid-Autumn Festival was just around the corner.