Chapter 125: Xiuzhu

Since she had finished her task and reached the goal, Cuiping did not want to stay in Intoxication Pavilion a moment longer. She immediately counted out five hundred Silver Taels and took the initiative to find Wu Liniang to redeem herself. The Madam only cared about money, not people. She accepted the silver and returned the contract of servitude without even showing her face. Amid cheers from everyone, Cuiping tore the contract of servitude into pieces on the spot, feeling a great sense of pride and being reborn.

After regaining her freedom, she did not forget the hardships of her class or the sisterly bonds. As Cuiping was about to leave, the girls hugged each other and cried bitterly, unable to bear parting with their sister, but also giving her their most sincere blessings. When Cuiping looked at the owners of Intoxication Pavilion again, she thought that over the past ten years, if not for merit, she had still earned a lot of silver for them. Yet now they did not even show their faces. The class solidarity of the grassroots and the cold-heartedness of the exploiting class were fully exposed at this moment.

Cuiping said goodbye to each of her sisters one by one, then walked up to Liu Liwa. Her eyes filled with tears, she knelt directly on the ground and said choked up, “Brother Xiaoqi, I will never forget your great kindness. I have no way to repay you except to pray day and night for your safety, blessings, and long life.”

Liu Liwa quickly helped her up and smiled, “Miss, there is no need for this. Our gathering here is fate, and helping each other is only natural. There is no such thing as kindness. From now on, you have regained your freedom. I hope you live happily, safely, and joyfully from now on.”

“Alright, you two, stop exchanging greetings. Just talking without action is fake,” Miss Yanhong jumped in and said, “Brother Xiaoqi, as our manager, now that a sister is leaving, shouldn’t you do something? At the very least, we should have a good meal like yesterday. What do you say, sisters?”

“Good…” Who wouldn’t want a free meal?

Liu Liwa was not stingy either. After all, Lord Zeng had appeared, and he had not kept the small gold nugget from earlier at all. He once again tossed it to the Leftover Warrior in charge of purchases, and a big feast on the first floor happened again.

The girls from the second and third floors came and went down to wash up. They ate the cabbage soup and big steamed buns provided by Intoxication Pavilion, while the first-floor girls they had always looked down on were feasting on fish and meat, with a festive and lively atmosphere. This made them green with envy, and their sense of superiority vanished.

Liu Liwa and his group of several dozen people gathered together, eating and drinking heartily. Cuiping was naturally the center of attention, and the sisters were all giving her advice on how to survive after leaving Intoxication Pavilion. The best choice was to find a good man and marry him.

As soon as the topic of marriage came up, the atmosphere changed immediately. For men to marry and women to wed was only natural, but for the girls in the Pleasure House, it had become a luxury. However, in this regard, they had already accepted their fate. They had no strength to pursue it and never really thought about it, only treating it as a joke.

But since the topic of marriage was brought up, Cuiping suddenly said, “By the way, where is Xiuzhu? Why isn’t she here?”

When she said this, everyone suddenly realized that Xiuzhu, another girl who had reached the same age of twenty-eight, was not there. Since Wu Liniang issued the eviction notice yesterday, Xiuzhu’s mood had been very abnormal. Unlike Cuiping, she did not cry or make a scene but sat dazed alone, making it impossible to tell what she intended to do.

“Xiuzhu is still in her room. Since yesterday, she hasn’t eaten, drunk, or slept. She seems to have gone completely foolish. I went to check on her just now, and she was sitting blankly on the bed, holding a pair of scissors. Could she be thinking of doing something foolish?”

A girl who was close to Xiuzhu suddenly spoke up. The girls immediately became nervous. Although Miss Xiuzhu was introverted, usually quiet, and of good character, she did not like to show off and never competed with others for business. Therefore, she had always remained obscure in Intoxication Pavilion. Because she did not know how to please customers, very few patrons visited her, and she had almost no income. At this point, being dismissed by Intoxication Pavilion, she had only one path left—death.

“Let’s go check on her,” Cuiping suggested. After all, they had been sisters together. Moreover, these past two days they had feasted together and shared hardships, deepening their sisterly bond. Now that she had escaped this bitter sea, she naturally did not want to see another sister meet a tragic end.

At her suggestion, the girls all stood up. As the manager, Liu Liwa felt too embarrassed to keep eating by himself.

The girl who was close to Xiuzhu gently pushed the door open. The others waited outside but could still see inside. As soon as the door opened, a foul smell rushed out. The room was pitch black, the light very dim, but they could still see the mess everywhere—scraps of cut-up clothes and fabric scattered all over, as if it had just been ransacked.

Miss Xiuzhu sat on the bed, dispirited and lost, her long hair disheveled, her eyes vacant. She held a gleaming pair of scissors in her hand. There was nothing left around her to cut—even the bedsheets and quilts had been shredded. Now she was cutting her own sleeve, one snip after another.

The girl who was close to her thought she meant to harm herself and rushed over immediately, “Xiuzhu, Xiuzhu, please don’t be impulsive. Anything can be solved. Come on, be good, give me the scissors first.”

“Get away!” Just as the girl reached out to grab the scissors, Xiuzhu suddenly yelled, fiercely swung her arm, and with a snap, the scissors cut through her sleeve. The sharp blade sliced open her skin, and blood spurted out. But Xiuzhu seemed completely unaware, letting the blood flow freely while clutching the scissors tightly, as if they were her most precious treasure.

After her frantic reaction, no one dared approach her. But everyone did not give up on her. They all started talking at once, trying to comfort her, but she seemed to pay no attention, letting the blood flow as she held onto the scissors for dear life.

Seeing her ready to live or die with the scissors, none of the girls dared get close. At the critical moment, they had to rely on a man. Liu Liwa stepped forward, though his heart was pounding with fear. He had just shakily taken a step when someone suddenly grabbed him. Liu Liwa was delighted and stopped right away. He only felt a strong gust of wind beside him as a black shadow flashed past like dark lightning, rushing to Xiuzhu’s side in an instant. Only then did everyone see clearly—the person who arrived was actually Wang Meng, the security manager of Intoxication Pavilion.

A man eight feet tall, like an iron tower, stood by a delicate bed looking at a listless, sobbing woman. This scene easily stirred endless speculation in people’s minds.

“Give me the scissors,” Wang Meng stretched out a large, fan-like hand and shouted abruptly. He was not asking for Xiuzhu’s opinion but informing her before directly reaching to snatch them.

Xiuzhu clearly treated the scissors as her precious treasure. Seeing him try to grab them, she immediately went wild, brandishing the scissors. Everyone watched as the sharp tip of the blade stabbed into Wang Meng’s palm. All the girls broke into a cold sweat for Xiuzhu. After all, Wang Meng’s nickname was ‘Black Impermanence,’ the one who specialized in claiming lives and capturing souls. If she hurt him, what would become of Xiuzhu…