Xiao Hui snuggled into the blanket. The material was softer than anything she had ever been given before.
In front of her the strange woman was calmly sipping her tea as if just a few moments ago she did not barge in and save the maid from having her innocence stolen.
Said maid shuddered merely at the thought.
When the woman interrupted the scene, the horrible man literally growled and threatened to defile Xiao Hui. That, somehow, made the woman even angrier and she grabbed the beast by the collar and dumped him out of the brothel, vowing to castrate him if he ever entered again.
Then she turned to Xiao Hui, who at that time was still in shock, and smiled, inviting her for tea. All the previous fierceness had magically vanished, leaving behind a nice and kind woman.
She knew that one must not bite the hand that feeds rice (or tea in this case) but the maid was slightly fearful. After all, a hand that can throw a hefty man out of the brothel will surely have no problem doing so to Xiao Hui. Especially once she figures out that the maid did not work here.
"What is the matter?" Asked the owner of the aforementioned hand.
Xiao Hui realized belatedly that she had been staring at the woman. She quickly looked away, muttering that it was nothing. The next words made her turn back again.
"You are not one of us, are you?"
The maid stared in horror at the woman. Of course the woman would figure that out. She was clearly a very capable person. And now she was going to throw her out, just like what she did with the man that time.
But to her surprise, the woman did not do any of that. Instead she threw back her head and laughed.
"Oh my, look at your face!" She said, between gasps. "I am not that scary, am I, darling?"
Xiao Hui hastily waved her hands in, what she hoped, a placating manner.
"But see," the woman continued. "This is where I do not understand. Neither do you work here nor do you want to if that earlier display proved anything, so why are you here?"
This was her chance!
Xiao Hui explained the woman about the disappearance of the King and the tyranny of his brother. She explained as well as she could while omitting the fact that Li Xinyi used to exist before. She did not want to go there. So instead, she posed a question.
"Do you perhaps know where the King is?"
The woman, who had during Xiao Hui's explanation been leaning forward, now leaned backwards and crossed her legs, assessing the maid in front of her. Xiao Hui developed a pitiful look. She was not sure if she looked sad enough that the woman would listen, but she tried her best.
Whatever she saw must have been positive for she smiled and began recounting what happened.
"The King fell in love with A-Ming, a very beloved meimei of ours. He would visit us, her specifically, almost regularly, bringing her flowers and many other gifts."
Xiao Hui had an inkling of who this A-Ming was. Unfortunately she could not place a face to the newly learnt name.
"Then one day he came looking rather frazzled and took A-Ming's hand. He brought her to one of our rooms and they took a long time there."
The woman gave a bittersweet grin. "Being the manager of this place, I decided to check on them-"
"You are the brothel manager!" Exclaimed Xiao Hui, effectively interrupting her. The woman looked startled. Embarrassed by her rudeness, the maid slumped back down to her chair. Luckily she did not seem annoyed.
"Oh, did I not introduce myself?" Lightly bowing at Xiao Hui, she said, "I am Lady Jia, manager of this brothel and jiejie to all of the meimei here. A pleasure to meet..."
"Xiao Hui," the maid interjected. "Characters for dawn and light."
"Xiao Hui. A very pretty name." Lady Jia gave a shark like grin. "Now may I go on?"
At Xiao Hui's hasty nod, the brothel manager continued.
"And so I went upstairs to check on them, but guess what," she paused for effect, "they were leaving."
"Leaving! Where to?" asked Xiao Hui, eagerly.
"That's the thing," Lady Jia frowned to the maid's disappointment, "I have no idea where they went. All A-Ming said was that she was leaving and probably never coming back."
Xiao Hui slumped back in her chair. She hardly learnt anything of the King's whereabouts. They might be anywhere. They were most likely going to be out of the town.
The next words, however, gave her a spark of hope.
"But," said Lady Jia, slightly more cheerfully, "they did not bring much with them. Do you know what that means?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "they have not left Bei Yi."
***
Lady Jia watched as the maid scampered away. The bells in her skirt tinkled away until she was out of earshot. Her happiness was clear and beautiful like that of a fairy.
"Pity," the brothel manager mused. "She could have been such a good meimei, don't you think so?"
A soft mew replied her. Lady Jia fondly looked down at the creature rubbing against her legs. Its mangy fur tickled her shins but she paid no attention to the grime it left.
With a thoughtful tilt in her head, the Brothel Manager pondered. "I wonder if she does manage to find A-Ming and Bingwen. It sounds like an impossible feat; they could be anywhere. Bei Yi is not a small place after all, but..."
Looking down, once again, at the beast now pawing at her feet, Lady Jia gave a smile she knew the cat could not resist.
"Go, Zimo. Go follow that young maid and see how her journey goes. And tell this one everything. She is very interested to know. Perhaps I will write a story if the maid does find them."
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Question:
Has meeting someone ever inspired you to write a story?