Chapter 39: Hiring Help

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An Chunfeng had indeed come to the employment agency today not only to ask about the aftermath of Madam Zhuang’s case, but also to renew her rent.

Although there had been some misunderstandings when she first moved into Pear Blossom Lane, and although the Qiu siblings had caused a bit of trouble, those were all minor matters.

After the disturbances of the past few days, the neighbors had come to know her fairly well. Moving somewhere new would mean starting over and enduring another period of adjustment, which hardly seemed worth the trouble.

An Chunfeng laid down ten taels of silver and renewed her lease for the coming term. Third Sir cheerfully wrote out a receipt, then asked whether she wished to hire someone to guard the gate and protect the residence.

This time, An Chunfeng did not refuse outright. She merely said she would look at the candidates first.

Third Sir shouted toward the outside, “Luo Cheng! Take Madam to the east courtyard to choose someone! Move quickly—the madam’s business is urgent!”

A young man in a short blue cloth jacket appeared at the doorway. He bowed obsequiously to An Chunfeng with a fawning smile. “Madam, this way, please!”

Unlike the taciturn Little Lin, this Luo Cheng was extremely glib, equipped with the full repertoire of an employment broker.

The east courtyard was only a few steps away, yet he never stopped talking. First, he praised An Chunfeng for having the discernment to choose such a fine house and complimented her for being straightforward and generous.

Then he praised her upright conduct and cursed Madam Zhuang on her behalf.

In between, he slipped in questions about An Chunfeng’s wealth, the identity of her husband’s family, and whether she still had relatives or friends in the capital with whom she kept in contact.

An Chunfeng merely smiled and brushed aside these familiar tactics without saying a word. She asked only about the going rates for hired help.

The east courtyard of the employment agency consisted of several crude little rooms and a patch of ground covered in broken roof tiles.

Seven or eight men and women who had been waiting for work for years were gathered beneath a small tree, playing cards. When they saw Luo Cheng bring in an employer, they hurriedly tossed aside their cards and crowded around.

Luo Cheng clapped his hands and called out, “This madam is here to choose someone. Everyone, stand properly!”

Three women saw that An Chunfeng was a young woman with a pleasant appearance. They assumed she must be looking for a cook or perhaps a seamstress, and each believed her own talents gave her the best chance.

Ignoring Luo Cheng’s demand for silence, they shoved and jostled the other men aside with their shoulders and hips, forcing their way to the front.

An Chunfeng glanced at them. The three women were all in their thirties or forties, and although they were dressed neatly, their eyes were full of slyness. One look was enough to tell that they were seasoned operators.

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The woman in front looked An Chunfeng up and down several times. Seeing her dressed in old clothes, she decided that An Chunfeng did not come from a wealthy household.

She lifted her chin arrogantly. “May I ask what sort of people Madam is looking for? The three of us are all highly capable household managers. Our Huaiyang, Shandong, and Beijing cuisine is every bit as good as that of the restaurants on the main avenue. Our embroidery and dressmaking are scarcely inferior to the seamstresses at the Clever Maid Workshop.

“And on top of that, we can sweep, wash clothes, handle every household chore, and tend flower beds. There is no task we cannot manage! If Madam chooses us, you can rest assured that everything will be done properly!”

The woman had a silver tongue and praised herself as an all-purpose talent, practically fit to serve as steward of a prince’s residence.

An Chunfeng coughed, interrupting her endless speech. “Sister, you are clearly very capable, but my few rooms would hardly have enough work for you. Besides, I only wanted to take a look today. I may not hire anyone at all.”

The moment the women heard that she was not necessarily hiring, their patience vanished. Their faces fell as they returned to the eaves and resumed playing cards.

“Madam should have said so sooner! You made me waste such a good hand!”

An Chunfeng looked over the others in the courtyard. Apart from the women playing cards, there were four or five men left.

Though they had not been as openly dismissive as the women, they had clearly lost interest as well.

“Madam, the few of us don’t mind guarding a small residence, but the monthly wage is one tael of silver. We’ll also need clothing for all four seasons, and during New Year and other festivals, gifts of at least three hundred copper coins. If you have errands such as chasing people down or delivering messages, those must be paid separately.”

Before An Chunfeng could respond, Luo Cheng was already smiling.

“Madam, that is simply the market rate in the capital. Their demands are not high. Some households pay as much as two taels of silver.

“These men were introduced by the Wanfu Employment Agency. We know their backgrounds, and they are accustomed to working under supervision. They certainly would not do anything disloyal to their employer. You may use them with complete peace of mind.”

An Chunfeng said nothing more. She turned and walked out of the courtyard, having already eliminated every one of them in her mind.

At the cloth shop, Qiushui and Song Qi had already told her the standard wages for various kinds of servants in the capital.

The wages of cooks and seamstresses depended on their skill and generally came to around one tael of silver a month. In addition, they could occasionally receive leftover food and fabric from the household.

Gatekeepers earned the least—eight hundred copper coins a month. If they were also responsible for tending the plants, emptying the night soil, and washing the latrines, they could earn as much as one tael of silver. As for other tips, those depended entirely on the employer’s mood.

An Chunfeng had found no suitable candidates. Luo Cheng followed behind her, his face dark with displeasure, muttering under his breath, “The Wanfu Employment Agency has the widest selection of workers. Go anywhere else, and you won’t find things nearly so convenient.”

When they returned to the document room and learned that she had hired no one, Third Sir remained courteous.

“Madam An, we’ll keep an eye out for you. As soon as we find someone suitable, we’ll notify you at once!”

As An Chunfeng was leaving, she once again saw Little Lin bent over, scrubbing the windowsill. Her brows twitched slightly.

Had this honest child been demoted from apprentice to odd-job servant?

At that moment, Pear Blossom Lane was in an uproar.

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Constable Xin of the Wannian County Office had fastened Madam Qiu in iron chains and dragged her out of the Qiu residence. He was taking her to the county office to stand trial and answer questions.

Qiu Rong was pale with terror, clinging desperately to the chain and refusing to let go.

Madam Qiu’s nose was running with tears as she wailed at the top of her lungs, “Constable Xin, I’ve been wronged! I’ve been wronged!”

Constable Xin’s face was grim. He snorted coldly. “You really won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin. Don’t forget, those fifty copper coins you gave me are evidence of bribery. I have already submitted them to the magistrate and had them entered into the record.”

“Ah! I… This woman… I…”

Madam Qiu’s eloquence was useless now. She had personally stuffed the purse into Constable Xin’s hands, leaving her no grounds for rebuttal.

All she could do was scramble for an excuse. “That man had nothing to do with me! The Gold Commander of the Capital Guard did not arrest anyone that day, yet you, a mere constable, think you can frame me!”

Madam Qiu would have done better not to mention the Gold Commander. The instant the words left her mouth, Constable Xin’s face turned so dark it seemed water might drip from it.

He waved at the runners holding the chain and bellowed, “The county magistrate is still waiting to bring people in for a confrontation! What are you dawdling for? Do you want to be beaten alongside her?”

The runners dared not delay any longer. They shouted in unison, drove back all the neighbors who had gathered around, and dragged the endlessly wailing Madam Qiu back to the county office to report in.

Madam Qiu had never dreamed that three days would pass and that she would think the matter was over, only to discover that it had barely begun.

Constable Xin was furious with himself as well. He had accepted Madam Qiu’s fifty copper coins, and if he had not acted decisively and turned them in as stolen evidence, he might have been charged as an accomplice.

He had spent ten years working in the county office. What sort of trouble had he not encountered? Yet he had never seen anyone drag an official into a criminal case before.

The thought alone made Constable Xin tremble with fear.

On the night of the Double Seventh Festival, the Gold Commander had ordered him to bring back a drunken man and lock him in the cells.

A minor disturbance caused by drunkenness would ordinarily have required nothing more than notifying the man’s family the next day and collecting bail. Who could have known that a shocking case involving a missing woman would occur that very night, sending every runner out to search for her?

In the ensuing chaos, everyone forgot about the drunk locked in the cell.

If the head jailer had not happened to hear his cries today and remembered him, the man would have been starved to death inside.