Rebirth: Ordinary Life and Living

Zhou Xinyue's mouth was blocked by a cloth strip, but she was still humming with effort.

The old woman was so happy that she kept cursing: "Speak up, speak up, why don't you say anything, you stinky girl? If I didn't think you were pretty, I would have killed you long ago, you dead girl. Aren't you powerful? Today I'll show you what happens when you curse me. Come on, drag this dumb girl out and kill her and feed her to the dogs."

When Zhou Xinyue heard this, she was instantly frightened. She knew how cruel these people were and how inhuman they were. She quickly apologized, cried, and kowtowed. When the woman saw this, she was even happier.

She kept saying, "Oh, you figured it out, you know I'm not easy to mess with, are you willing to apologize? You little bastard."

Zhou Xinyue kept nodding her head and humming with her mouth blocked by a cloth.

The old woman removed the cloth from Zhou Xinyue's mouth and said, "Speak now, apologize!"

Zhou Xinyue looked at the old woman, a greasy middle-aged woman with a belly bigger than an eight-month pregnant woman, and said, "I was wrong. I shouldn't have made the young lady angry. I was wrong. I was ignorant. Please forgive me. Please let go of that dumb girl who can't even speak! Okay?"

The old woman said happily: "Oh, I love to hear that, hahaha! Okay, as long as you listen to me, everything will be fine. Let her go."

Zhou Xinyue's heart dropped instantly. Zhou Xinyue was always on the edge of collapse, calling out in her heart: "Ayi, you will come to save me, right? I can't hold on any longer."

Time soon came, and the day of the Oiran Festival was approaching. Mother Hu said respectfully in front of several princes of the Yan'an King's party: "This time, Yichunlou will introduce a new Oiran contestant named Zhenzhu. Her skin is as white and gorgeous as pearls, and she looks like a fairy. She will definitely win the Oiran."

At this time, there were also five other brothels in Cangdu City standing in the room, all of which were owned by the four princes. Several other mothers tried their best to describe how excellent and beautiful the courtesan contestants from their own brothels this year were. I felt a headache when I heard these mothers chattering about various reports.

Prince Yan'an roared, "That's enough. As long as we can beat the Liuxiangyuan owned by the Twenty-ninth Prince and the brothels jointly opened by the other princes, it will be enough. The noise is giving me a headache."

The 20th brother Jin Youjiu said, "I remember that it was the 29th brother's Liuxiangyuan Hua Xin'er who won the competition last year. She was so powerful last year that more than a dozen of us brothers and uncles rushed to Liuxiangyuan to line up to see Hua Xin'er, causing our Qingxiang girl to only win the silver medal. Our Qingxiang girl was the gold medalist the year before last. Last year's profit was much smaller than the previous two years. We rely on the casino and Ninghe ship industry to cover all our expenses."

The 22nd Old Man Jin Yousheng said, "You go down first, and the casino people will tell them to wait outside."

The mothers bowed and left.

Jin Yousheng said: "I looked at the accounts. We have spent so much money to expand our staff in the past two years." Jin Youyuan compared the numbers, which shocked the others present.

Old Twenty-One jumped up anxiously and said, "I remember you said we still had so much left last year, how come we only have so much left this year?"

One of them said, "So, if it weren't for our other businesses, we would have already been out of pocket. In addition, the tea we collected from our other brothers this year can also be sold at a high price. We should be able to make a fortune from the tea business this year."

Old Twenty-Two curled his lips and said, "After those guys share 50% with us, I don't think we will make much."

As the princes discussed this, Prince Yan'an sighed, "I never expected that the Twenty-Nineth Prince's Liuxiangyuan has only been open for three years, and we have already lost so much. It's really abominable."

The 21st Old Master Jin You also said, "Why don't we take a look at the girls they put forward this year and see if they can compare to the Liuxiang Courtyard."

King Yan'an's eyes dimmed for a moment and he said, "If I hadn't found out who the partners of Old Twenty-Nine were, I would have burned down his Liuxiang Courtyard long ago."

King Yan'an waved his hand and said, "You guys take care of the clearance. I still have to deal with various memorials sent from the fiefdom. I have things to deal with, so you guys deal with the things here first."

Several princes nodded and accepted the order.

Mother Hu began to prepare various things for the Oiran Festival. Several old ladies were happy and made various calculations. They bribed so-and-so so that those people would vote for Zhou Xinyue, and they also chattered and discussed various things.

She found three extremely gorgeous dresses, but in Zhou Xinyue's eyes they were extremely tacky.

They had threatened Zhou Xinyue long ago that if she didn't obey and didn't try her best to win the competition, they would immediately kill the mute girl and feed her to the dogs.

However, they offered Zhou Xinyue an extraordinary condition to make her agree to participate in the competition with all her strength. As long as Zhou Xinyue won the competition, they would immediately release the mute girl and give her freedom.

Zhou Xinyue and the mute girl have been together for so long that they are like real sisters.

Now that they offered such favorable conditions, Zhou Xinyue was very excited and finally agreed to give it her all.

As long as they go back on their word, as long as Zhou Xinyue refuses to cooperate with the competition, they will suffer heavy losses and earn even less money.

Zhou Xinyue was still very sure that they would let the mute girl go.

Since Zhou Xinyue had agreed, she said, "Give me the scissors. These dresses are so tacky and vulgar. I'll modify them."

Several old ladies were surprised and said, "Pearl, do you know how much money you spent on these three dresses? How could you alter them? They are so beautiful. There are so many pearls on them. How could you cut them off?"

Zhou Xinyue said disdainfully: "Not only did you give me a vulgar name, but even my clothes are so vulgar. So many pearls look so densely packed together that if someone with trypophobia had vomited a long time ago."

An old lady asked, "What's right?"

Zhou Xinyue waved her hand and said, "In short, no one will like this pearl dress. It doesn't look good."

Several old mothers just couldn't persuade Zhou Xinyue. Zhou Xinyue would threaten them all the time that their clothes would affect her winning the championship, forcing them to half-believe and half-doubtfully ask her to alter the clothes, which made them feel very distressed.

Zhou Xinyue also didn't like the makeup they put on. In short, she didn't like anything they prepared, so Zhou Xinyue did it all herself.

Finally, after two days, Zhou Xinyue had rehearsed her program. She had arranged the three stages of auditions, promotions, and the final. She also secretly told the mute girl how to run out to deliver the letter, asking her to find a way to get Jin Youyuan to save her.

Finally, Zhou Xinyue was taken out of the room. She seemed to have not seen the sunlight outside for a long time. If she had not participated in the Oiran competition tomorrow, she might have been locked in that secret room for a long time.

The moment I was released, the sun was so bright, the sky was so blue, the clouds were so white, everything was so beautiful, the beauty of freedom.