Chapter 259: I'll Get You Some Female Secretaries
Padi Tu, looking thoroughly disgusted, yelled at the men ahead: "Look at you! As heroes destined to save the world, how can a woman's words make your bones turn to jelly? Useless! All of you are utterly useless!"
His scolding, however, jolted the men back to their senses. Their eyes instantly cleared, their backs straightened, and with a unified stride, they escorted Gao Yiye past the brothel, not daring to glance back.
Li Daoxuan shook his head with a smile. "Well, he proved useful in that moment," he mused. "Full of flaws, yet also full of virtues. A truly complex character. Humans really are fascinating creatures."
After the group had walked half a street, Li Daoxuan sighed. "Yiye, please go handle that matter..."
So, Gao Yiye turned back, but the militia soldiers did not.
Only Gao Yiye stood alone at the entrance of the brothel.
She dared not enter, for it was a place no ordinary young woman would venture. Instead, she stood by the door, calling out loudly, "Are you truly so hungry?"
A courtesan wept, "We truly have nothing to eat. We haven't had any customers for a very, very long time."
Another also cried, "No patrons have come to call."
The courtesans exchanged bewildered glances, and after several seconds, awkwardly replied, "Just a little bit of each."
"That question..." they thought, "came out of nowhere! Who goes to a brothel and asks if the women know these things? These are our basic skills! How else could we survive in a high-class establishment? We'd be relegated to the lowest dens."
"Good, then," Gao Yiye said. "Come with me."
A plump, middle-aged woman pushed open the ground-floor door and emerged, eyeing Gao Yiye with a strange expression. Though Gao Yiye wasn't dressed in silk or satin, her cotton clothes were clean and tidy, and her entire demeanor practically screamed, "I am not poor."
The plump woman, daring not to disrespect Gao Yiye, spoke courteously: "Miss, I know you are a kind-hearted person, but these courtesans have sold themselves into this establishment. They cannot simply leave with you."
Gao Yiye listened to Li Daoxuan's instructions and replied, "Are you the madam?"
The plump woman nodded. "Yes, I am."
Gao Yiye said, "I want to redeem all the women in this establishment. How much will that cost?"
The madam paused, stunned. "They aren't ordinary girls, you know. Each one excels in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and possesses many talents... it would be a very, very substantial sum."
Gao Yiye asked, "Is ten *shi* of flour enough?"
(One *shi* equals ten *dou*; one *dou* is a thousand coins.)
Ten *shi* of flour amounted to a hundred *liang* of silver.
In these famine-stricken years, the courtesans had no business whatsoever. The madam not only couldn't profit from them but also had to feed them to keep them from starving. Hesitating for even a second would have been an insult to the dire market conditions. "Sold!" she declared. "From this moment on, they are yours."
The women peeking from the window froze. They truly hadn't imagined that four living, breathing people, weighing dozens of *jin* each – hundreds of *jin* in total – would only be worth ten *shi* of flour.
They had always known their lives were cheap, but never imagined they were *this* cheap.
Gao Yiye instructed, "I will send someone to accompany you all to the Chengcheng Bookstore. There, we will exchange the people for the flour. Wait for me at the bookstore, and I will make further arrangements upon my return."
The madam was overjoyed. She quickly led the four women, accompanied by a militia member, to the bookstore.
Gao Yiye, however, sighed, then continued leading the militia toward the City God Temple.
Walking down a quiet, deserted street before the City God Temple, Gao Yiye finally couldn't hold back. She looked up and asked, "Heavenly Lord, are you... going to give those courtesans you bought... as rewards to the militia?"
"Pfft!" Li Daoxuan nearly spat out a mouthful of icy *tangyuan*. "This girl's imagination is running wild, where is she even getting these ideas?" he thought. "Of course not."
"Phew! That's a relief, you scared me," Gao Yiye said. "I thought, Heavenly Lord, you were going to... *ahem*."
Li Daoxuan gently explained, "Most of these courtesans are victims of circumstance, sold into these establishments by their parents; they are unfortunate women. They have learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting since childhood, skills that are now wasted in such a profession. It's a great pity. We might as well seize this opportunity, while their 'market value' is low, to acquire them at a minimal cost. This way, they can fulfill much more important roles."
Gao Yiye asked curiously, "Important roles?"
Li Daoxuan announced, "I plan to make them your female secretaries!"
Gao Yiye was greatly surprised. "Oh? What's a 'female secretary'?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "A female secretary is like a strategist or a clerk – someone who helps their employer with tasks. The name is just different. We can't really call women 'strategists,' can we? That would be strange. So, the term 'female secretary' came about."
Gao Yiye suddenly understood. "But I don't really have much to do, I don't need anyone to help me with tasks."
"No, you do," Li Daoxuan countered. "In 'Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan, Volume 2,' when you drew me striking down the Supreme Bright King, you depicted the Supreme Bright King with a broken arm."
Gao Yiye's pretty face flushed slightly. "My... my drawing skills... they're still..."
Li Daoxuan continued, "They can draw. They can help you with these things. You just need to focus on the story's plot, and they can refine the specific visuals for you."
Gao Yiye understood.
"They can also write," Li Daoxuan added, "and help you annotate a small amount of text in your comic books. Also, you led the women of the village to set up a cotton fabric store in the Gao Family business district, didn't you?
Gao Yiye nodded. "Yes, I did."
"And the cotton fabric store's sales, profits, and so on... are they completely chaotic?"
At that question, Gao Yiye's face reddened.
Indeed, the fabric store, spearheaded by the women, was truly a muddled mess of accounts; it had never been properly organized from start to finish.
Li Daoxuan explained, "The village lacks women who can read and calculate! Only the third young lady has acquired more knowledge, but she has more important tasks and cannot be burdened with miscellaneous duties. These courtesans, however, can fill that role. They will be of great use in the future."
Gao Yiye finally understood.
"The Heavenly Lord is thinking of matters far beyond my comprehension," she mused. "As a simple village woman, I don't understand it all, but I know that following the Heavenly Lord's guidance can never be wrong."
Then, another thought occurred to her. Seeing those women crying at the windows earlier had made her feel deeply uneasy. In this world, full of suffering, if she could save a few, she should save them.
A sigh escaped her.
Li Daoxuan instructed, "Once you bring them back to the village, do not let anyone know of their former profession. And this militia detachment must all be sternly warned not to speak of this matter. Only by showing them respect will you earn their respect in return."
Gao Yiye promptly replied, "I understand."
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