Chapter 23 - Win Over People (1)
When An Yun heard Xiao Cui’s words, his eyes lit up immediately. He then looked at her and asked, “Really? Please tell me more.”
Xiao Cui observed An Yun’s face, which had gone from pale and bloodless to flushed with excitement. She suddenly saw him transform from a beautiful shuanger to a lively person and felt a bit happier in her heart.
Seeing An Yun hurriedly getting up from his seat, Xiao Cui reached out her hand to push him back down, smiled at him, and said, “Don’t worry, fulang. I’ll tell you carefully. Just sit still; there’s no need to get up.”
An Yun realized that he was being impatient. A hint of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he sat back down.
Xiao Cui watched An Yun lay back down with a smile on her face. She then gently sat on the corridor chair next to him, leaned close to his ear, and whispered softly as she remembered what happened over the past few days.
.
That day, after An Yun came up with the idea of selling lip balm to the high-level maids in the mansion, she carefully inquired about the maids’ residences and their daily routines, getting a general idea.
Although there were only four serious masters in the Zang Mansion, many servants were there to serve them. Consequently, two remote lower courtyards were specially built for the servants to live in.
Even among the servants and maids, the places of residence were quite particular.
For example, in the maid’s yard, there was various distributions.
Personal maids were first-class maids. They had their own independent rooms with a bed and a table.
Second-class maids served in the master’s room and slept in a dormitory with twenty beds, each person having a separate cabinet.
Third-class maids were the cleaning maids, sleeping in bed bunks. Although there were cabinets, they were much smaller, mainly holding out-of-season clothes.
The last group was the ordinary maidservants and the cooks, who also slept in bed bunks. Their configuration was similar to that of the third-class maids but with slight differences in details.
It turned out that Xiao Cui also slept in bed bunk. After all, she was just a maid who lit the fire in the kitchen and could be regarded as a miscellaneous cleaner.
However, later, Xiao Cui got acquainted with An Yun and followed him in and out. Chef Zheng sold her a favor and spoke to Qing Yue, leading to her transfer to the second-class maid position. Now, she had her own bed and cabinet.
But these details weren’t important. What mattered was that, except for a few maids, everyone living in the same dormitory as Xiao Cui were the maids serving the masters of Zang Mansion.
They had more contact with their masters on weekdays. In addition to the monthly money, they sometimes received a lot of rewards when the master was happy, so they all were well-off.
After An Yun asked these things in detail, he quickly made a plan and give Xiao Cui a box of lip balm, asking her to act according to his plan.
Since there weren’t many masters in the mansion, sometimes even the master who needed to be served was not in the mansion yet. Therefore, as long as there were no special circumstances, the time when the maids returned to their residence was fixed.
That day, before everyone came back, Xiao Cui tidied herself up according to An Yun’s instructions, making herself look neither outstanding nor sloppy. When everyone was about to come back, Xiao Cui took out the lip balm given to her by An Yun and gently applied it to her lips.
At that time, everyone finished their work and could chat a bit before getting ready for bed.
The maids didn’t notice Xiao Cui at first. After all, she was a newly promoted maid, and her bed was in the farthest and worst position.
However, in the half-dark candlelight, the moist red on Xiao Cui’s lips stood out.
No girl liked not to be pretty. Even girls who didn’t like to dress up couldn’t help but take a second look at beautiful things.
With so many people living together, there was no secrets among the maids. They also vaguely knew that Xiao Cui was favored by the new fulang who recently entered the house, so they made an exception and transferred her here.
At this time, seeing the rosy color on Xiao Cui’s lips, a knowledgeable person would know that the lip balm could not be cheap.
Everyone looked at each other, and one of the maids, who usually was very lively, stood up and asked Xiao Cui, “Xiao Cui, did the fulang in Qinxiang Garden give you this lip balm?”
This sudden sound seemed to frighten Xiao Cui. She hurriedly put down the lip balm and mirror in her hands, looking at the others with some embarrassment. “This, this was not given to me by An Fulang; I bought it myself.”
The maid couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed upon realizing that Xiao Cui was not rewarded by the new fulang.
However, she was still somewhat bold. After chatting with her, she said, “Your lip balm looks really good. You must have bought high-quality lip balm from the shop. It can’t be cheap, right?”
“You’ve been in the kitchen all the time; how could you buy such good lip balm? Did you get such a good thing as a reward from the fulang?”
“Yes, yes, I heard from the sisters who were waiting in the young master’s house that the young master is very kind to that fulang. Whatever good things he has, he would send them all there. He must have been extra generous with him.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about it too. The people who did the decoration said that the place where the new fulang lived is very beautiful, even more beautiful than the young master’s house.”
“Is that so? It seems that An Fulang is really favored by the young master. It seems that in a short time, he will become the young master’s concubine.”
“Xiao Cui, you are so lucky. The young master likes that An Fulang so much. When he becomes his concubine, you could be his personal maid and even have your own room.”
Although these maids served in the master’s room with decent daily food and clothing, they were still envious compared to the personal maids. After all, the personal maid was second only to the master in the house; their food and clothing were well taken care of, and their clothes were not much worse than other young ladies’ outside.