Chapter 18: Hiring Servants is a Problem
When the ladies got off the carriages, shopkeepers and servants in the market came up to them and asked them enthusiastically whether they wanted to buy or hire servants, whether they wanted to find a maid, a woman or a boy.
The shopkeepers all had smiles on their faces and looked so attentive.
However, no one came to ask Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue.
Mrs Wang threw the ball to the ground with a “Puh” sound. These shopkeepers looked down on people. Seeing that she and her daughter did not take the carriage, they did not come over to ask.
Mrs Wang straightened her back again so that these shopkeepers could see that she was also here to hire a servant.
But after going around in circles, no shopkeepers came up to ask Mrs Wang what kind of servant she was looking for.
There was no other way, so Mrs Wang had to find a very skinny shopkeeper who looked like she had no business intentions.
Mrs Wang called out to the middle-aged woman, “Hey, do you have a middle-aged woman here?”
The skinny shopkeeper raised her head, looked Wang up and down, and said, “You want to a find a master or family to work for them? How is your job? If you don’t do your job well, I won’t find you a client.”
Mrs Wang was so angry that she almost exploded. This blind shopkeeper actually thought she was applying to be a maid .
Mrs Wang said angrily: “It’s not that I want to be a maid…”
Before Mrs Wang finished speaking, the skinny middle-aged woman interrupted her: “It’s not you who wants to be a maid, but your daughter who wants to be a maid, right?”
The shopkeeper’s eyes were already on Wang Luoxue who was standing next to Mrs Wang.
Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue looked alike, and the shopkeeper knew at a glance that they were mother and daughter.
Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue were almost furious. Wang Luoxue said, “Are you blind, you old woman?”
Before Wang Luoxue could finish her words, the shopkeeper started talking: “How can you be so dirty, little bitch? Who would hire you as a maid? I won’t find you a master. Don’t ruin my reputation. Get out of here now.”
Wang Yapo has been in this human and horse market for many years. She has seen all kinds of people and had all kinds of fights. It is impossible for her to let Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue gain the upper hand.
Wang Yapo is the most famous shopkeeper in the human and horse market. The servants introduced by Wang Yapo are clean and efficient. The most prominent families in Qingyun County all go directly to Wang Yapo to buy servants.
The Wang mother and daughter thought that Wang Yapo had no business, but they didn’t know that Wang Yapo’s business was the best in the human – horse market.
When Wang Yapo saw the way Wang Shi and Wang Luoxue were dressed, she knew that they were not rich people, so she naturally classified them as those who needed to be employed as maids.
But after listening to the tone of their conversation, Wang Yapo understood that they were an ordinary family or a nouveau riche who came here to find a maid. These people who usually did not have maids would be so arrogant when they came here.
When Mrs Wang opened her mouth, Wang Yapo knew that the two of them came to hire a maid rather than to be maids, but Mrs Wang’s tone angered Wang Yapo, so Wang Yapo deliberately didn’t wait for Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue to finish their words and nailed them to the category of maids, just to piss them off.
As for the money from these two people, Wang Yapo was not interested in earning it at all. She could just hire a servant for a rich family and earn enough for an ordinary family expenses of two or three months including commission and reward. How could she be interested in the few coppers from Wang’s mother and daughter?
Wang Yapo turned around and left, without giving the Wang mother and daughter any chance to refute or explain.
When another fat shopkeeper saw Wang Yapo leave, she hurried over to Wang’s mother and daughter and said, “I’m Li Yapo. You two want to work as maids in a wealthy family, right? Come to me…”
Wang Shi had just finished being ridiculed by Wang YaPo, and she was holding back a mouthful of blood in her chest. She immediately cursed Li YaPo who caught up with her: “Get lost, I’m here to look for the maids and the servants, are you blind?”
Li Yapo was not angry at all. She just smiled and said, “Oh, so Madam is looking for a maid. I will find one for you.”
The mother and daughter, offended by Li shopkeeper, were not willing to let her help them find a maid. They turned around and left without saying a word to Li Yapo.
Li Yapo shouted from behind the two of them, “You two, if you can’t find a suitable maid, come back to me.”
Wang’s mother and daughter turned a deaf ear to the advice and went elsewhere to look for a suitable shopkeeper.
But after spending the whole morning in the human and horse market, Wang’s mother and daughter looked like defeated roosters.
Not only did several shopkeepers mistakenly think that Wang’s mother and daughter were looking for jobs as maids or servants, but Wang’s mother and daughter also discovered that hiring a maid or servant was not as easy as they had imagined.
The two men went to find a shopkeeper to hire maid, only then did they realize that in order to hire a servant, they had to first pay a month’s salary as a deposit with the servant. After the servant had worked for a full month, the shopkeeper would give the money to the servant. This was to prevent the master from refusing to acknowledge the work the servant had done for him.
Likewise, servants would also have to deposit some silver with the shopkeepers to prevent them from stealing the customers’ belongings.
Mrs Wang was very unhappy. She had originally thought to use Su Wan’s wages to hire maid, but now she had to pay the money now. Wouldn’t this involve using Wang’s own money?
Mrs Wang felt very uncomfortable. Using her own money to hire servant was like cutting her own flesh.
Mrs Wang backed out and planned to go back home and wait for Su Wan’s wages to come before hiring a servant. However, Wang Luoxue grabbed Mrs Wang and said that she should first pay for the maid with her own money, and then make up the difference with Su Wan’s wages. This was no different from using Su Wan’s wages to hire a maid, and in this way she could use the maid now, while if she waited for Su Wan’s wages, she would have to wait another half a month before she could hire the maid.
Mrs Wang thought about it and felt that what Wang Luoxue said made sense. She would pay the money first and then use Su Wan’s wages to make up for it after the work was done, so she still used Su Wan’s money.
There was really no suitable shopkeepers available, so Mrs Wang and her daughter went back to find Li, the shopkeeper who had treated them warmly just now.
Li Yapo warmly received Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue, but said that they still had to follow the rules.
Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue said they were willing to pay a one-month deposit, and Li Yapo collected another 100 coins from Mrs Wang for tea before leading them to a courtyard.
The yard was square, with more than twenty people sitting in front of the wall facing the sun. They were either teenage girls or old women in their forties or fifties.
Generally speaking, teenage girls were enslaved and sold to wealthy families as maids. These old women were not enslaved and could be hired.
Maids generally cannot be hired and can only be bought. Mrs Wang had originally planned to buy a maid, but now it seems that she cannot afford to buy a maid, so she can only hire a maid.
Mrs Wang walked up to the maids and walked around them several times, looking at each one. The maids didn’t say anything, nor did they look at Mrs Wang, but just sat in the corner to bask in the sun.
After comparing them, Mrs Wang took a fancy to a tall and capable woman. Mrs Wang felt that this person must be strong and could definitely do a lot of work.
rs Wang planned to ask the woman some questions to see if she was honest, and then let her clean the yard to see if she could do the job efficiently.
Mrs Wang walked up to the woman and said arrogantly, “How old are you and where are you from?”
Unexpectedly, the woman looked up and gave Mrs Wang a cold look, then lowered her head and ignored Mrs Wang completely.
Mrs Wang was so angry that she immediately became furious. How dare this lowly maid not answer her? Just as Mrs Wang was about to curse, she saw the woman stand up, walk around her and run behind her.
Then, the maids and old women who were sitting in the corner stood up and ran towards the direction where the woman had run.
Mrs Wang and Wang Luoxue turned around and saw a woman dressed in gold and silver leading a pretty young lady in. Behind them were a few people dressed as maids, and behind them were two servants.
The maids and servants all rushed to the ladies who had come in, saying:
”Madam, let me go to work at your house. I am very strong.”
”Ma’am, I am very good at embroidery.”
”Ma’am, I am very good at my job. I can do the work of two people.”
These maids and old women vied with each other to introduce their strengths to the ladies in luxurious clothes in front of them, hoping that they would be chosen.
These old women in Renma City were all hired by several clients to do work. Based on their experience, they knew that the richer the family, the easier the work and the more money they could make.
The richer the family, the more rules they have. In fact, these rules have more advantages than disadvantages. In wealthy families, the maids and servants are clearly divided into different tasks. For example, the one who helps comb the hair only helps comb the hair, the one who manages the things only manages the things, the one who sweeps the house only sweeps the house, and even the one who cooks and the one who makes the fire are done by different people. The people who work have their own duties and only do their own work well. The rest of the time they are free.
Not only that, if you do your job well, the master will often reward you, give you gifts during festivals, and give you two days off every month.
But it is different when working for ordinary families. If an ordinary family hires a maid, they will let her do all the work inside and outside the house, for fear that she will miss a thing to do.
Working for an ordinary family is tedious and complicated, and they don’t get any rewards or days off.
In short, working for ordinary people means less pay and more work. The old women all have experience. Even if they do work, they have to choose to work for wealthy families. Those small families not only don’t pay much, but most of them have a harsh attitude.
When the maids were waiting for customers in the human – horse market, they would gather together to chat and come up with the golden rule of the maid circle: try to work for a wealthy family if you can, and don’t work for a small family unless it is absolutely necessary.
Obviously, based on the clothes and expressions of Wang’s mother and daughter, the maids and old women easily identified that they belonged to the kind of small family that “would not be visited unless absolutely necessary.”
Originally, Mrs Wang came to the human and horse market with great joy and pride to hire a maid, but when she came here, she suffered repeated setbacks and was very angry. It would have been fine if the shopkeeper looked down on her and her daughter, but this maid actually looked down on them.
Luo Sheng is now a scholar, the top scholar in Qingyun County. In the future, he will become a juren or a jinshi. The Wang family will become an official family in the future. How dare these maids and old women look down on her.
Mrs Wang was very angry, but she had no way to vent her anger. After all, maid should be willing to work, and it couldn’t be done by force.
Li Yapo saw the awkward scene of Mrs Wang and her daughter standing there, smiled slyly, and walked up to Wang: “My dear sister, don’t get angry with these old women. They are just rough people. Naturally, they will pounce on anyone wearing gold and silver. How can they understand the benefits of a bookish person like you.”
It wasn’t that Li Yapo saw any bookish air in Mrs Wang, but she had seen too many people like Mrs Wang. They would be happy to hear someone use bookish air to help them out and cover up their poverty.
