“We agreed on a three-day trial without pay, but my daughter worked for ten days! Shouldn’t she be paid for the extra seven days?”
But her voice was drowned out by the crowd’s laughter at the idea of an idiot being able to work.
Only Shen Miao heard her plea.
Shen Miao helped brush the dust off the old woman’s clothes and then made up her mind.
She asked softly, “Auntie, my shop is also hiring. Can your daughter wash dishes and sweep
the floor? If she can, would you like to give it a try? If you’re worried, I can pay her daily-she’ll get her wages at the end of each day.”
“But if she doesn’t do well, I’ll deduct from her pay. If you’re willing, come to my shop, and we can discuss it in detail.”
The old woman suddenly looked up, as if only now recognizing Shen Miao as the person who had once cooked her a large bowl of soup noodles.
She grew uneasy, even trying to subtly pull her arm away from Shen Miao’s grasp, and stammered,
“It’s you? You… you’re not trying to trick me into paying for that bowl of soup noodles, are you? I… I really don’t have any money left.”
No wonder she had run off that day when Shen Miao told her to wait.
She had been worried about this.
Shen Miao smiled, “If you’re truly penniless, why would I trick you? Come on, let’s go inside and talk.”
With that, she led the old woman, who in turn held onto her tall, sturdy daughter, and the three of them, like skewers of lamb, pushed through the whispering crowd and made their way back to Shen’s Noodle Shop.
Actually, when this mother and daughter had come to her shop for noodles that day, Shen Miao had already been somewhat interested in hiring them after hearing they were looking for work.
So today’s act of kindness wasn’t entirely impulsive or reckless.
Shen Miao took them straight to the backyard, settled them under the eaves, and then went into the kitchen to fetch two clean towels, allowing the mother and daughter to wipe their faces and hands and restore some semblance of dignity before continuing the conversation.
The old woman thanked her profusely, first wiping her daughter’s face and hands before slowly tidying herself up.
After redoing her loose bun, she sat up straight and bowed to Shen Miao again, her gaze now filled with even more gratitude.
Shen Miao shook her head and went to pour two bowls of hot tea.
“Have some tea, and then we’ll talk.”
“Thank you, Miss Shen,” the old woman said, holding the tea bowl with both hands.
She glanced at her daughter, who was staring blankly at the chickens strutting proudly in the yard.
She sighed and turned back to Shen Miao,
“Miss Shen, was what you said about hiring true?”
“It’s true. Right now, I’m running this noodle shop all by myself, and it’s becoming too much for me. I’m looking for a hardworking, honest helper who can wash dishes, sweep the floor, carry water, and chop wood. That’s all I need,”
Shen Miao said, sitting down on the ground under the eaves.
She then asked carefully, “But I’m not sure if she can do these things?”
“She can! She can!” The old woman’s eyes lit up with hope.
She put down the tea bowl, wiped her hands on her clothes, and then carefully took Shen Miao’s hands.
With a choked voice, she began to explain her situation,
“Miss Shen, she’s very capable. I gave birth to her when I was forty, and by then, her older brothers were already married. Because of the age gap and her… condition, her brothers and their wives didn’t want anything to do with her, seeing her as a burden.”
“Even my husband suggested we abandon her in the mountains, to be eaten by wolves or taken by tigers, so she wouldn’t drag the family down.”
“But she’s still a life! I gave birth to her, and even though she doesn’t understand much, she seems to understand some things.”
“She knows I’m the only one who cares for her, and she clings to me all day, holding onto my legs. I just couldn’t bring myself to abandon her. So no matter what others said, I raised her.”
“But as she grew older, her sisters-in-law only grew more resentful of her. Once, when I fell ill, my eldest son tried to take her to the mountains and leave her there.”
“I had to drag myself out of bed to search for her, and I finally found her in a ravine, covered in filth and crying hysterically, clinging to me and refusing to let go. That’s when I realized I couldn’t just keep her as a dependent.”
“If I died, no one would take care of her. No matter how much people looked down on us, I had to teach her how to survive on her own.”
The old woman wiped away the tears she couldn’t control, but her eyes showed no weakness-only an unexpected determination.
“I can’t blame my sons and daughters-in-law. The family isn’t well-off, and they have their own children to raise.”
“But I’ve stopped relying on them.So from the time this child was eight or nine, I started teaching her how to chop wood, carry water, wash clothes, fold clothes, wash dishes, wipe tables, and sweep the floor.”
“She learns slowly, but with careful teaching, she can do it. She really can, and she does it well.”
“If Miss Shen is willing to hire her, I’ll still say the same thing: let her work for you for three days without pay! If you find her useful, then hire her. I have no other demands, just that you provide her with two meals a day, clothes for all seasons, and thirty coins a day.”
“She can only count to thirty, so anything more would be lost on her. With those thirty coins saved up, she’ll have money to see a doctor if she falls ill. That’s enough. If she doesn’t do well in those three days, breaks a bowl, or makes a mistake, I’ll definitely compensate you.”
“Whether you keep her or not, just be honest with me, and I won’t hold any grudges or refuse to leave.”
As she spoke, the old woman’s head drooped slightly, as if awaiting Shen Miao’s judgment.
Shen Miao asked, “What’s her name?”
The old woman smiled bitterly, “For someone like her, I can’t ask for much. I just hope she’ll have enough to eat and wear, and not suffer. My husband’s surname is Nian, so we named her Nian Youyu ‘Year of Abundance’.”
“Where do you live?” Shen Miao asked again.
The old woman quickly replied,
“In the outer city, in a shack by the water gate. My husband and son work under the soldiers who guard the water gate. We have a small boat, and we make a living by dredging and cleaning the riverbed. Don’t worry, Miss Shen, we’re honest people.”
She then lowered her head and said,
“I’ve searched all over the outer city, but no one would hire her. That’s why I came to the inner city to try my luck.”
Little did she know that in the inner city, she’d be tricked into working at a pottery kiln, nearly becoming a lifelong indentured laborer.
The thought made her shudder with fear.
Shen Miao nodded and called out to Nian Youyu, “Youyu?”
The girl, who had been engrossed in watching two chickens fight, turned her head slowly at the sound of her name.
She opened her mouth and managed to utter a short “Ah,” then stared blankly at Shen Miao.
She responds to her name.
Shen Miao noted inwardly.
Then, without hesitation, Shen Miao stood up and clapped her hands,
“No need for three days. Whether she can work or not will be clear as soon as she starts. Let’s give it a try now while the shop is quiet.”
“Youyu, come with me,” she called.
Youyu slowly turned to look at her mother, who nodded encouragingly and silently gestured for her to go.
The girl stood up slowly and silently followed Shen Miao.
She listens to instructions.
Shen Miao noted again.
In the kitchen, Shen Miao handed her a stack of bowls and half a loofah sponge and told her to wash them.
Without a word, Youyu bent her head and started scrubbing.
The old woman pressed her face against the kitchen window, watching nervously, as if afraid her daughter might drop a bowl at any moment.
After washing the bowls, Shen Miao inspected them without comment and immediately had her sweep the floor, then carry water and chop wood.
Just as the old woman had said, Youyu wasn’t fast, but she was focused and meticulous, and her work was quite satisfactory.
Because of her simple-mindedness, she had no thoughts of slacking off and carried out every task with unwavering diligence.
After a round of work, Shen Miao turned to the old woman, whose heart had been in her throat, and smiled, “Let’s go.”
Go?
The old woman’s heart sank, and she despairingly took her daughter’s hand, ready to leave and return home.
But just as she turned, Shen Miao clapped her hands and said,
“Oh, by the way, do you have your household register with you?”
“Yes… why?”
“Let’s go find a lawyer and draw up a contract, Shen Miao said, unhesitatingly taking Youyu’s rough, calloused hand.
“From now on, she’ll work with me. At my place, she’ll have enough to eat, and I won’t just give her thirty coins a day—I’ll give her fifty. The money she can’t count, you, as her mother, can save for her.”
“When she’s old and can’t work anymore, she’ll at least have some savings to fall back on.”
This time, the old woman’s tears truly overflowed.
She tried to hold them back but eventually broke down and wept.
Youyu, panicked, also crouched down, flustered and unsure of what to do.
Finally, she clumsily opened her arms and hugged the old woman, mumbling incoherently,
“Cold, cold, hush, no pain, no cry.”
“No pain, no more crying.”
After that, Shen Miao took Youyu and her mother to a lawyer to sign the contract and seal it.
Then she took them shopping for two sets of plain cotton clothes and brought them to a nearby “Perfume House”-which wasn’t a place to buy perfume but a public bath house in Bianjing.
The girl had clearly suffered in the pottery kiln, as her body reeked, and her clothes were full of holes.
Shen Miao took her inside and had the bath attendant give her a thorough scrubbing, washing away a thick layer of grime.
Afterward, she looked noticeably fairer.
After dressing her in new clothes, Shen Miao didn’t hesitate to hand over fifty copper coins to Youyu’s mother and immediately put Youyu to work.
People might think she was foolish for hiring an idiot, but Shen Miao thought it was just fine.
Youyu was the best at keeping secrets, worked hard without complaint, didn’t gossip with others, never slacked off, and her wages were lower than a normal person’s.
Listening to the sound of Youyu washing dishes by the water basin, Shen Miao finally felt at ease and could focus on making her noodles.
Just then, two young women dressed in gauzy wide-sleeved robes and pleated skirts stepped into the shop.
Hearing the commotion, Shen Miao looked out through the window and noticed that they were accompanied by servants.
They didn’t seem like ordinary young ladies.
As soon as they entered, they instinctively looked up at the menu on the wall.
One of them, with an oval face, remarked, “It’s quite charming,” and then continued reading until her eyes fell on the two calligraphy pieces hanging on the wall.
At first, she didn’t seem to recognize them.
The oval-faced girl turned to her round-faced companion and said,
“It’s surprising to see so much calligraphy in a small roadside eatery in the middle of the bustling city… Let’s see what it says. Huh? Wait… this brushwork looks familiar. No… no…”
Her curious voice trailed off, eventually turning into astonishment,
“Isn’t this Ninth Brother’s handwriting?”
The round-faced girl was also stunned and murmured,
“Yes, it is indeed Ninth Brother’s handwriting. The signature is Xie Jiu, and the seal is the small leisure seal he often uses, engraved with ‘Guan Shan.’ “
This revelation struck like a bolt from the blue.
The oval-faced girl’s expression wavered with distress as she pointed at the calligraphy, her fingers trembling slightly,
“I’ve asked Ninth Brother several times to write for me, but he always refused. How could his work be hanging here?”