Leaning against a wall, Cui Xi appeared to be calm, but underneath she was feeling only apprehension. If she could not make this work, then what was left?
“Xiao Hei, go buy me a dozen steamed meat buns,” she commanded, tossing him a pouch of coins.
“Yes, Mistress,” Xiao Hei grinned, easily catching it with one hand.
“You’ve thought about it then?” asked Xiao Yu, curious.
“Yes…We have to make a living with something…You’ll see,” Cui Xi smiled behind her veil. She leaned back against the stone wall and waited.
Xiao Hei was back in no time and handed her two packs of warm buns wrapped in paper.
“Hey kid. Come here,” she said as she squatted down to beckon a group of urchins playing at the side of the road. They looked at her with suspicion, but then paused, watching her unwrap the steaming buns, unable to hide the longing in their eyes. One who was braver and taller than the rest, reluctantly stepped over. Xiao Hei and Xiao Yu both folded their arms and stayed at the head of the alley watching with avid attention.
“A’Jie, are you going to give us those buns?” the boy asked with a calculating look.
“I can,” she said, cocking her head, her lips lifting slightly.
A few of the younger ones ran over.
“Really? You want us to run an errand, A’Jie? I can do it!” smiled one of the younger ones, reaching for the package. She expertly evaded him and swung the package away from the grasping hands, standing up in one motion.
“A’Mao!” the older boy shouted, putting his arm out, pushing them all back. “You can’t trust just anyone! Hey A’Jie, don’t try to fool us!”
“Good job!” she said. This one is the smart one. She turned to admonish the others:
“Your Ge is right. You shouldn’t trust just anyone, but I’m offering a fair trade. You do some work for me and I will give you one bun each right now. When you’re done with the work, come find me and not only will you get another bun, but you will get money,” she said.
They hesitated, but she could see that they were hooked.
She jiggled the warm package enticingly.
The older one thought about it for a moment and the younger ones waited expectantly. He was obviously their leader. Finally, he nodded agreement and the young ones cheered, chattering over top each other all at once.
Xiao Hei smirked.
“Well, A’Jie. You’d better tell us what you want to do,” the boy said seriously, folding his skinny arms.
“It’s like this…”
Hiding her smile, she squatted back down, waving them closer and carefully explained what she wanted as she handed each one a bun.
“Now, you show me how to do it and if I’m satisfied, I’ll send you off. Don’t all go to the same place. Do it well, and you will get another bun and money. If you can get all your friends to do it all over the city, then I will buy some roasted ducks and sweets for you.”
The boys paired off, and after a few practice runs each pair was able to repeat exactly what she had told them. Grinning, they wolfed down the buns and were about to run off, but then the eldest boy turned around just as he was about to exit the alley.
“A’Jie, where do we find you for our payment?” he asked, eyes narrowed in anticipation.
She walked toward them until she reached the head of the alley where Xiao Hei and Xiao Yu had been waiting and pointed at Xiao Hei, and then at a building in the distance.
“We’re staying at that guest inn. You know it? Well this guy will be standing at the front waiting for you to come back tomorrow morning. If you have done well, then I will do as I have promised, but you must do the work. If I don’t hear my story all over the city by this evening, then I can only assume that you have cheated me out of my buns,” she laughed.
The boy grinned.
“No, we will keep our promise: it will be all over the City by tonight. You just wait and see, A’Jie.”
She laughed.
“Very well. Go then!” she said, shooing them off.
Xiao Yu was smiling.
“Do you think they can do it, A’Xi?” Xiao Yu frowned.
Xiao Hei chuckled. Cui Xi was a bit stunned by his smile as he looked entirely different when he was not wearing his usual sullen look.
“How can they not?” he said, shaking his head.
“It’s honest work. Probably more upright than anything else they have been asked to do. Also, if they don’t do it, I’m just out some buns and they cannot come begging for what I promised them if they don’t fulfill the bargain. It’s a fair trade, don’t you think?” Cui Xi smiled, brushing her knees.
Xiao Hei snorted.
Sometime later that evening, a fine young master sitting out on the second-floor balcony of a guesthouse in the middle of the city, slapped his palm down on the table with a burst of laughter. His two companions, a young guard in black, and a young woman were also grinning. After a moment, they calmly returned to sipping their wine, enjoying the gentle breeze, while listening to the elegant sound of a woman picking a pipa, and the rather engrossing gossip of two old men at the next table.
“I heard it when I was at the butcher’s stall this morning. Two young gentlemen were talking about it. Can you imagine? A special wager at Hundred Flower House! Only by secret invitation! Half the City’s nobles wanted to attend…but only a few received a red invitation card! A very fine card, embossed with gold lettering! Some of the lesser houses had to fight for one!”
The other old man chuckled.
“Did you hear about the part about the cosmetician? She’s rumoured to be a skin painter who can weave illusions…they call her the Cosmetics Goddess. They say that she’s travelled past the western edges of the empire and learned from foreign masters there. She’s an orphan and hides her face behind a veil because of hideous burns, but she can turn plain women into beauties, men into women, and demons into fairies! Everyone is talking about it!”
“Your wine came! Your wine, honoured guest! What an elegant scene tonight! Eh, but what’s the wager about?” the waiter asked cheerfully bustling along.
He placed another jar on the table where Cui Xi was sitting and she nodded her thanks, smiling into her wine cup.
“Hah!” said a young man, fanning himself at the rail. “That’s the best part. They say that she will have the guests pick out six maids out of the Hundred Flower House’s staff. Once she’s painted them up, if the guests can find the same six amongst the brothel beauties then they can have a night with the new dancer that the Cosmetics Goddess brought along with her from the Western territory…”
“Yes, that’s right. She’s apparently a great beauty named Xinyue and can perform the most beautiful dance…”
“But that Hundred Flower place doesn’t even compare to the Chrysanthemum Tower!” someone else broke in.
“BAH! If you don’t know anything keep quiet! They saw her, that fairy girl Xinyue! That girl is going to make the place famous. Also, can you imagine if that skin painter Cosmetic Goddess stays? There won’t be a single girl in that place that isn’t a fairy…Won’t we all be drinking flower wine all day long?”
“Maybe, but what if you wake up next to a monster the next morning?” someone interjected.
“Well then you deserve it, don’t you! You idiot. You’ve got six concubines at home and can’t afford to keep another…and still taking your cock to the flower house…”
There was raucous laughter and the sound of men slapping each other’s backs.
Cui Xi made a ‘pffftt’ sound and tried not to spit her wine into her cup. Xiao Yu covered her mouth and Xiao Hei coughed gently.
“Perhaps we should retire?” Xiao Hei suggested tactfully.
Cui Xi threw back her wine and nodded agreement, leaning over to pick up the jug by the string. She swung it lightly from the tips of her fingers, in a wonderful mood.
It was only after they all reached the room that they let loose their laughter and laughed until their bellies hurt.
“Xiao Hei, go make sure to have the kitchen cook the ducks so that the children can claim their reward. They have done well,” Cui Xi wheezed out weakly, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
Exhausted but satisfied, she lay on her back staring up at the ceiling.
Now it would all depend on her skills, and she firmly believed that she would be able to beat the madam with one arm tied behind her back.
There was nothing to do now except win the wager.
