Chapter 83: Where To Go From Here
The winter sun was like a dull knife, barely slicing through the lead-gray clouds, carving a few pale streaks of light on the broken tiled eaves.
Ice shards formed in the cracks of the bluestone slabs, crunching faintly underfoot.
Yu Mo, Little Mosquito, Fragrant Orchid, Yi Chun, Bean Seed, Red Ling, and more than a dozen other girls from the Qinhuai River were squatting by the riverbank at this moment, along with Meng Shujuan and dozens of other girls, washing clothes and bandages for the wounded. For a time, the riverbank was filled with the girls’ chattering voices.
After the life-and-death ordeal in Nanjing, the relations between these St. Paul’s Church female students and Yu Mo and the others had eased considerably. At least they no longer despised even the clothes they had used, and could now talk to each other.
The morning glow dyed the river surface, as Yu Mo squatted on the bluestone dock scrubbing bandages, the cuffs of her German-style military uniform stained with blood and soap foam.
The river water gleamed rust-red, shattering her reflection into trembling light spots. Those slender fingers, accustomed to plucking the pipa, now gripped a laundry stick, vigorously pounding the clothes on the stone steps.
Her hair bun had long come undone, a few strands of dark hair sticking to her sweat-dampened temples, brushing over the copper buttons at her collarbone with each pounding motion.
“Big Sister Yu Mo.”
Bean Seed, with her apple-like face, quietly came to her side and asked: “Big Sister Yu Mo, after we leave here, where do you plan to go? Are you planning to go back to Nanjing?”
After these days of baptism by the flames of war, the air of worldliness on Yu Mo had mostly dissipated, replaced by a steadiness and calm. She stopped her work, was silent for a moment, then shook her head: “I don’t want to go back.”
“Oh…” Bean Seed nodded. “That’s right. Nanjing has been taken by the Japanese now. We’d definitely come to no good if we went there.
But where can we go after leaving Nanjing? I heard Chairman Jiang and all those big officials went to Chongqing. How about we go to Chongqing too?
But we don’t speak Sichuan dialect either. How would we do business there?”
Watching Bean Seed talking to herself, looking somewhat troubled, a gentle light flashed in Yu Mo’s eyes.
She was silent for a moment, then said: “Bean Seed, I don’t want to do this line of work anymore.”
“Not do this line?” Bean Seed couldn’t help letting out a cry of surprise, then covered her mouth.
She glanced around, then said urgently: “Big Sister Yu Mo, have you gone mad… If we don’t do this line, what else can we do? Don’t tell me you want to go straight?
Don’t forget, for girls in our line, once a whore, always a whore—you can never wash it clean!
Or have you fallen for some man? Don’t be foolish. You said it yourself—there’s not a single reliable man!”
Yu Mo smiled faintly, her smile carrying a trace of faint desolation and sorrow. She reached up to tuck her hair. “Bean Seed, I haven’t fallen for anyone. It’s just that after experiencing these things these days, I don’t want to live in a daze anymore. I want to do something meaningful, so as not to have come to this world in vain.”
Bean Seed hesitated: “You mean…”
Yu Mo nodded: “I want to follow Officer Su, work under him, and fight the Japanese together with him.
Even though I can’t shoot or fight in battle, I still have these hands. I can follow the troops doing sewing and mending, or follow Shopkeeper Song to treat the wounded, emptying bedpans, carrying shit and piss, washing clothes.”
“I…” Bean Seed was dumbfounded. After thinking for a long time, she murmured: “Big Sister Yu Mo, could it be you’ve fallen for Regiment Commander Su?”
“Get out.” Yu Mo gave her a sideways glance. “In your eyes, am I someone with such poor judgment?
Go fight with Shopkeeper Song and that Xiao Lu girl over a man? You’d be trying to get me killed faster, huh?”
Bean Seed grinned awkwardly, scratched the back of her head embarrassedly, then pulled a long face again: “Big Sister Yu Mo, if you leave, what are we supposed to do?”
Yu Mo sighed lightly: “Bean Seed, our line of work feeds on youth. Once you pass thirty, your value plummets.
Then you’ll either switch lines or become a half-door to serve those coolies and laborers, catch a bunch of diseases before dying, and end up with no children to see you off, not even a coffin—just wrapped in a straw mat and dumped in a random burial ground. I don’t want to end up like that.”
At this point, Yu Mo’s eyes were red, crystalline teardrops plopping into the river, creating ripples that quickly vanished.
“I… I…” Bean Seed’s eyes also reddened, and she lowered her head in silence.
Since ancient times, prostitutes have been the lowest of the lower classes, their status even below actors, so their fates are predictable.
How many Qinhuai River prostitutes, young and beautiful, became top courtesans on the painted boats, with high officials and nobles vying to spend fortunes on them. But once they aged and faded, they became unwanted wilted flowers.
Finally driven out by the madam to wander the streets, with no skills, they ended up as half-door or even secret whores, serving stinking coolies or rickshaw pullers, scraping together a few cents each time just to get by.
They’d seen far too much of this sort of thing.
Looking at the silent Bean Seed, Yu Mo sighed softly and patted her fragrant shoulder. “Think about it yourself, but I suggest you decide quickly.
I reckon the troops will move out soon. You can pass my words on to the sisters too, see what they think, then decide.”
Just like Yu Mo and the others, who were anxious and wavering, Meng Shujuan and Liu Anna, these female students, were also worrying about where to go.
These female students had long lost contact with their families; otherwise, they wouldn’t have followed Chen Jizhi to risk escaping the city.
But unlike Yu Mo and the others, these girls were about the same age as Xiao Lu, so they got along even better and could speak openly about anything.
“Xiao Lu… could you talk to your young master? Ask him to take us along when you leave?” A girl named Liu Anna said to Xiao Lu beside her while washing bandages.
“Yeah.” Another girl pulled a long face: “We’ve all lost contact with our families. Right now, we don’t even have a place to stay. If your young master drives us away too, we’ll really be homeless.”
The group of girls all pleaded with Xiao Lu, many showing worry on their faces.
People of this era, accustomed to war and death, knew full well that for girls like them without support, once they lost a man’s protection, their fate would be miserable.
Never mind the bandits, rogue soldiers, and thugs everywhere—even if lucky enough to avoid bad people, these little girls probably wouldn’t last three days before starving to death.
Right now, for them, no place was safer than staying with the security regiment.
“I’m not really sure about that.” Xiao Lu tilted her head and thought, then said: “I can ask for you, but our young master has always been kind-hearted, so he should agree.”
“Great! Xiao Lu, you’re the best!” The girls cheered happily.
