While the discussion was going on over there,over at Willow Village at the foothill of Mt. Wanan and after days of labor,layers and layers of living quarters of different sizes surrounding the mainbuilding had began to take shape.
Everybody at the Cheng’s smiled happily!
These living quarters were all builtfrom lumber and rocks. There weren’t a lot of residents at Willow, but many ofthem are well skilled in their craftsmanship. There was no shortage of talentin this area!
With the exception of the sturdy meneven some sturdy women joined in to help. Everybody was happy as the Cheng’sprovided the meals, and their children would be accepted as his disciples. Itwas a win-win situation for everyone.
Most importantly, they didn’t have toworry about going hungry anymore. Not only was the meals at the Cheng’sdelectable, they could eat as much as they want!
A few particularly talented villagerseven established long term contract with the Cheng’s to perform work for them.They even got paid on top of that, many of the other villagers were jealous ofthem.
In the meantime, Cheng Xiao Xiao waslooking at 14 girls of various ages in front of her. All of them below the ageof 12, because any one 13 or above were already married and wouldn’t be here.
None of them were exceptionallybeautiful, just a few of them were fair. At least none of them were downrightunattractive.
Speaking of, it wasn’t Cheng Xiao Xiao’sidea for the to be here, but their families were nagged so much by the women inthe village that they had no choice but to send them there.
According to these village women, theydidn’t have any maids at their house so they sent these girls to be maids attheir place. They didn’t ask to be paid, just need to feed them three meals aday!\nWhen she heard this, Cheng Xiao Xiao’sjaw almost hit the ground. The villagers just outright treating them likemorons!
But they have known the villagers forthree years, they knew what kind of people they are. It was difficult for ChengBiyuan and Mrs. Cheng to decline so they accepted their offer.
That asides, they tossed all of it forCheng Xiao Xiao to handle!
Even though the Cheng’s weren’t anyexcessively wealthy land owner, but at this age and time, all poor familiestried to get their daughters into wealthy families to be maids. Being able to servingtheir master of the house was viewed as an honor.
So Cheng Xiao Xiao had no choice but toaccept. She couldn’t let all the village women down so she had to grit herteeth and take in these young village girls.
“You sure you want to join us Cheng’s? Letme get something clear up front. If you want to join us, then you must beobedient to us in the future, even if it’s an order from your parents, you willnot carry it out without our permission. Is that understood?”
Looking at the very series Cheng XiaoXiao these semi-old kids look at each other. After all, none of them haveencountered these situations before. Growing up, they have always been obedientto their parents. Naturally they would be a bit hesitant hearing that theycan’t listen to their parents any more.
Cheng Xiao Xiao didn’t rush them, shecontinued, “Take some time and think it over. I won’t force any of you. But ifyou want to enter the Cheng’s, you must be prepared to be obedient. If anyoneof you violates our rules, you will be let go in a light case, in a more severecase, you will be punished, maybe even by death. So give it some seriousthoughts. If you can’t make that decision, you can go home and discuss withyour families first.”\nAfter she was done talking, Cheng XiaoXiao stopped and wait for them to response.
“Miss, my family has already decided,once I entered into the Cheng’s, I will be a part of the Cheng’s. I will obeyevery order from miss, master, and madam!”
Liu Yesu, the oldest of the lot, repliedseriously.
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Note:
1.      Means “old little brother”. “Old” because he was old in age. “Di” is younger brother, old Du still referred to him as younger brother because he was older Du was older than Ning. I chose to go with Chinese pronunciation here as “old younger brother” just sounds very awkward in English.
2.      Â
3.      literally translates as “Rivers and Lakes”, but figuratively refers to the “underground world of martial arts”. A section of society consisting of martial artists, gangsters, thieves, beggars, prostitutes, merchants, entertainers, and anyone else wanting to operate outside of mainstream society or in the grey area of the law. (Source: Wuxiaworld.com)