Chapter 4 04

Night is dead.Darkness reigned over the great mansion.The miserable cry when the electric lights died was still rippling in the air. Although the voice was very low, it was everywhere. Even in the corner of the room, there seemed to be extremely low crying.The time of joy is past, now is the time of weeping. People lie down, take off the masks they have worn during the day, and settle the ledger for the day.They opened up their hearts, opened up their "soul corner", that hidden corner.They repent, they weep, they live for the day wasted, for the day lost, for the pain of the day.Naturally, there are a small number of proud people among people, but they have already fallen asleep satisfied.The rest are the unfortunate, the disappointed, weeping over their fate under the cold quilt.Whether it is day or night, the world has two faces for two different people.

In the servants' room, a wattle oil lamp was dimly lit, and a large lantern flower was attached to the wick, which hung down and screeched as it burned, making the room even more dark.On the two plank beds on the right were the 30-year-old Mrs. He who took care of Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Zhang who took care of the eldest wife, snoring intermittently.On the left is the same plank bed, on which the grey-haired old Huang Ma sleeps; there is also a smaller bed, on which the 16-year-old servant girl Mingfeng sits on the edge of the bed, staring at the lanterns dreamily. Logically speaking, she had worked hard all day, and when the ladies had slept well and temporarily recovered her body's freedom, she should rest earlier.However, these days Mingfeng seems to value these free times very much.She wants to enjoy them and won't let them go easily, so she doesn't want to go to bed early.She was thinking, she was thinking.She was enjoying this rare "leisure", no one came to disturb her, and the voices of orders and scolding that rang in her ears all day long disappeared.

Like everyone else, she had been busy and laughing in a mask during the day, and now, in her precious free time of late, she took off the mask and opened her heart to see a corner of her "soul". ". "I've been here seven years," was the first thought that had haunted her so often of late.Seven years is a long time!She often wonders that these seven years of life have passed so plainly.Although I shed a lot of tears and suffered a lot of beatings and scolding during this period, it was very normal after all.Tears, beatings and scolding have become embellishments in her ordinary life.She thought it was inevitable, and although she might not be willing for it to come, she had to endure it when it came.She felt that everything in the world was arranged by an omnipotent and omniscient god, and she was destined to reach this point.That was her simple belief, and it was what she was told.

But something else was at work in her heart.She didn't know there was such a thing herself, but it began to move.It fanned a longing in her. "I've lived here for seven years, it's going to be eight years!" She suddenly felt the monotony of life, and felt a little sad. Like those girls of her kind, she began to lament her own pain. Fate comes. "When the eldest lady was here, she often talked about my destination. I don't know where my future destination is?" A vast wilderness appeared in front of her eyes, and she could not see a bright place to go.A familiar face wavered in front of her eyes. "If Missy is still here, there is someone who cares about me. She taught me many things, and taught me to read and write. She is dead now. It's a pity. Good people don't live long!" she said to herself , Speaking of which, tears wet her eyes.

"I don't know how long this kind of day will last?" She asked herself sadly.Scenes from the past return with terror.Her memory began like this: Seven years ago: also when it was snowing, a middle-aged woman with a fierce face took her from her dead wife's father and sent her to this mansion.So obeying orders, doing hard things, shedding tears, eating, beating and scolding came one after another.It all became important things in her life.Ordinary, always so ordinary.During this period, like other girls of the same age, she had some beautiful dreams, but these dreams only passed in a flash.The cold, merciless reality is always standing in front of her.She, too, had dreamed of fine toys, fine clothes, good food, and warm quilts, such as those enjoyed by the ladies she served.Yet the days went on and on with her pain, and brought her back nothing new, not even new hope.

"Fate, everything is predestined." She comforted herself with such words, even when she thought about being beaten and scolded.She thought again: "If my life is as good as the ladies'!" So she indulged in fantasy, imagining herself wearing beautiful clothes, enjoying the favor of her parents, and being admired by the young masters.Later a handsome young master came and took her in, and she lived a happy life in his home. "Nothing, what a wishful thinking," she smiled, as if blaming herself. "My destination is definitely not like that!" Thinking of this, she restrained her smile again.She clearly knew that her destination would never be like that.The fact will be: she has reached a certain age, and the wife said to her: "You have done enough." She was carried out in a small sedan chair, and she was asked to marry the one chosen by the wife, who she did not know. A man, maybe a man in his thirties or forties.So she lived in poverty in that man's house, worked for him, gave birth to his children, or even returned to the original mansion to serve the old master after ten or twenty days, the difference was that at that time she could get A little wages and not often scolded.

"Isn't Xi'er in the fifth wife's room like this?" she thought. "It's really scary. Isn't such a destination the same as no destination?" Thinking of her future, she shivered.She remembered that since Xi'er came back from her marriage and changed her braid into a bun, she often saw Xi'er crying alone in the garden.Xi'er sometimes tells people how badly her husband treats her.All this is just to predict Mingfeng's own destination. "It's better to die like the young lady!" She sighed bitterly.The surrounding darkness surrounded her.The light became fainter due to the enlargement of the lantern.The snoring sounds of Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. He on the opposite bed went straight to her ears.She stood up lazily, dialed the wick, and took off the flower, and her eyes became much brighter.She felt a little more relaxed, so she looked at the opposite bed.The obese Mrs. Zhang fell asleep on her side, with the bedclothes weighing heavily on her body, revealing only her messy hair and a small half of her face.Her snoring, which was similar to a strange scream, came out of the quilt one by one.Mingfeng scolded: "Sleeping like this!" She smiled wryly.

This smile did not relieve the pressure on her heart.Darkness still came from all directions.Many grinning faces loomed in the darkness.The faces approached her.Some even turned into angry faces, opening their mouths to curse at her.Covering her eyes with her hands timidly, she sat down again. The wind began to howl outside, shaking the windows violently, blowing the paper pasted on the panes and screaming miserably.The cold air seeped through the window paper.The room suddenly became cold.The lights were also flickering.A chill invaded her body from the sleeves.She shivered again, then put down her hands, and looked around again.

"Hmph, don't scare people with Fourth Wife's signboard!" Aunt He suddenly said something on the opposite bed.Mingfeng was taken aback, and raised his head to take a look.Mrs. He turned over.Put your face inside, and it's silent again. "Oh, let's go to sleep," Mingfeng sighed, and said listlessly, unbuttoning the cotton-padded jacket.She unbuttoned all the outer clothes, leaving only an undershirt inside.Two piles of soft flesh on the chest bulged out of the undershirt. "I'm not young anymore. I don't know what kind of destination I will have in the future?" She lamented again thinking of this.Suddenly the face of a young man appeared before her eyes.He seemed to be looking at her and smiling.She knows who he is.Her mind unfolded immediately.A glimmer of hope warmed her heart.She expected him to reach out to her.She thought maybe he would save her from this life.But the face gradually rose into the air, higher and higher, and disappeared in a flash.She looked at the dusty roof with dreamy eyes.

A chill hit her open chest and brought her back from the dream.She rubbed her eyes and lamented, "It's just a dream." She looked around reluctantly, then took off her cotton trousers, put her clothes on the quilt, and quickly got into the bed went. At this time, there was nothing left, and the two big words kept spinning in her mind. This was the "bad life" that the eldest lady often told her when she was alive. These two words kept whipping her heart, and she began to cry in bed.The voice is very low.She was afraid of waking others up.The lights gradually dimmed again.The wind sighed loudly outside.