Yun Dai knew that in ancient times, the rich, noble families had had a practice of drinking breastmilk as a sort of health supplement.
She couldn't believe that this was still really happening.
She couldn't help but feel rather repulsed inside.
But she kept quiet and didn't react at all.
The merchant saw that even though she had an ordinary-looking face, she was clean, pleasant, quiet, and obedient, so she liked this girl quite a lot. She said to her, "You stand right in front."
As a result, Yun Dai ended up standing in the front of the line.
The other women were unhappy about this, but they didn't raise any objections.
After all, she didn't look as good as they did, so she wouldn't snatch any attention away from them.
The merchant said, "We're going to an official's house today, so all of you had better perform well and fight for a chance to be hired. This way, you can earn some money for your families. Come along, all of you, get into the cart."
She waved the women into a wagon pulled by oxen that drove them up to a large manor.
The manor was very luxurious, with two authoritative-looking chimera statues at the gates. It was obvious that this was an aristocratic family of palace officials.
The servant merchant hopped off the wagon when they arrived, and two of the guards at the gates came forward to question her. She ingratiatingly gave them a couple of coins and asked them to let the people inside know that she was here.
"Enter from the corner door at the back," said the guards impatiently.
The merchant led Yun Dai and the other women to the corner door at the back, where they passed under an arch decorated with flowers, and arrived at the area outside of the kitchen.
There were several women working busily in the kitchen, and a strong fragrance wafted out from there.
A woman who looked like a housekeeper walked out, exchanged a few words with the merchant, and then came over to take a look at Yun Dai and the other women.
"Are all of you from decent families?" she asked.
Everyone answered with a yes.
The housekeeper nodded, then looked each of them up and down as she said, "What can each of you do?"
Some of them said they knew embroidery and other needlework, some said they knew how to make tea and serve the master, some said they knew how to comb hair and draw eyebrows, and there were some who even said they could write and do the accounts.
Most of them were trying to get as close as possible to the owners of the house so that they would have a brighter future.
When it came to Yun Dai's turn, she said, "I don't know how to do anything else but cook."
She was the only one who was willing to do menial work in a place that was far from the owners of the house like the kitchen.
The housekeeper said, "The kitchen is not a place for everyone. Don't you dare think that you can pinch any food that is meant for our employers. You're so skinny. Are you able to chop firewood and carry water?"
"Yes, I can," replied Yun Dai.
"Then you can stay in the kitchen. As for the rest…" The housekeeper looked at them again and picked out the four best-looking girls and said, "You four, come to the front with me and see if the Master is willing to keep you girls or not. The rest can go back."
That meant that she didn't want the rest.
The servant merchant smiled broadly as she nodded in agreement. Then she turned to glare hatefully at the women who had been eliminated.
That was the total loss she was going to suffer.
The merchant went to get her money from the housekeeper, and even smiled and exchanged a few words with Yun Dai before leaving.
When Yun Dai entered the kitchen, all the women inside immediately turned their noses up at her.
"You're so skinny, what dishes do you know how to cook? Do you know what our Master and his family eat every day?" The women laughed and made fun of her. "Have you seen birds' nest and shark fin before?"
Yun Dai just smiled. "I'm stupid and clumsy, but if everyone is willing to teach me, then I will be able to learn."
"Ho, ho, once the disciple learns how, the master will starve." The women ganged up against her. "Are your hands and feet clean? We're not going to let you touch our Master's food."
The woman in charge of the kitchen sent her away to chop firewood.
Yun Dai didn't raise any objections.
She knew that she was new and in other people's territory. She had to just obediently work her way up from the bottom. If she tried too hard to steal the spotlight, things weren't going to end well for her.
She obediently went to chop all the firewood, getting a number of blisters on her fingers.
Then she was tasked with getting water and had to fill the jugs to the brim.
After working for an entire morning, it was finally lunchtime so Yun Dai could sit down and catch her breath.
But the kitchen suddenly became super-busy, because the housekeeper arrived to say that their Young Master had invited some distinguished guests to the house, so they had to prepare a feast for his guests.
And he wanted it now.
Everyone was suddenly swamped with work.
All the women in the kitchen started to grumble and complain unhappily among themselves.
The ladies of the household needed to eat, and so did the gentlemen of the household. On top of all that, someone had invited guests over without telling them in advance, and even wanted a feast.
Wasn't this making things difficult for them on purpose?
It wasn't as if they could clone themselves to do all this work, you know?