Chapter 662 - Fashionable Maids
Shan Liang continued: "As for specific floor, orientation, and location of units, I suggest two approaches—special consideration for special circumstances, and lottery for everyone else."
This distribution plan roughly addressed current needs, and transmigrators were generally satisfied. But some raised objections, arguing that managing housing this way smacked of "institutionalized social life."
"I don't understand why the Yuan Laoyuan has to manage our housing down to such detail," one transmigrator complained. "We have plenty of money in our accounts—why can't we just buy a plot of land and build our own houses however we like? Are we going back to the old welfare-housing era?"
Though some transmigrators thought welfare housing wasn't a bad deal, most wanted to build according to their own desires. Besides, the cold interiors of apartment buildings couldn't fully satisfy certain "fantasies."
Shan Liang had thought his plan was excellent, but having his painstaking work immediately challenged irked him. He patiently explained that this was a temporary measure, not permanent policy.
"...You used to live in prefab collective dormitories. Now you're upgrading to apartments. Eventually you'll upgrade again to detached villas with gardens..." As he explained, Shan Liang wondered if he'd been duped. How had explaining this fallen to him? He wasn't the one who decided to build apartments!
Still, realists prevailed over romantics. First, the transmigrator regime lacked the capacity to build luxury villas for everyone. Second, security remained a critical consideration. Having witnessed the cruelty of this era's government firsthand, everyone agreed their residences should be secure. Being captured by the legendary Jinyiwei or eunuchs of the Eastern Depot would be very bad indeed.
Though the intelligence agencies and Great Library all scoffed at Ming secret services, believing they lacked any real operational capability, years of movies and novels had brainwashed everyone—those fears couldn't be quickly dispelled.
With the abolition of the "Bairren City Transmigrator Housing Regulations," native life secretaries boldly invaded what had been transmigrators' exclusive living space. Though Ran Yao strongly opposed letting maids enter transmigrator residential zones, he had to yield. He ordered special ID cards and dog tags made for every maid, to serve as credentials for entering Bairren New Town and certain facilities.
The transmigrators' houses weren't built yet, but life secretaries in maid uniforms were already appearing in every corner of Bairren City.
Compared to when they first arrived in Lingao, the life secretaries' appearance had transformed dramatically. No longer toiling under the sun for long hours, and taking daily doses of "Three-White Soup" along with various natural skincare products, their complexions had lightened and their skin grown finer.
Nutritious food, ample rest, moderate exercise, and the many herbal tonics Liu San had formulated had filled out their cheeks and figures; their sallow hair had turned black and glossy. Mandatory posture training and deportment classes made their steps light and their bearing graceful. Though their Mandarin still carried regional accents, communication was no longer a problem.
Their slave status and the coercive training environment had instilled in them a tame, submissive quality that made transmigrators itch the moment they saw them. So when the life secretary lottery-auction began, nearly every unmarried transmigrator without a wife, girlfriend, or pressing reason to abstain purchased one.
The prettiest, most shapely life secretaries had to be won by lottery, so they remained in training, living under semi-confinement. Most of the more ordinary life secretaries, however, had sold out completely. Since transmigrator residences wouldn't be finished for a while, life secretaries who already had masters continued living dormitory-style. Wen Desi instructed that until they were claimed, training should continue.
"The focus should be on learning to better satisfy transmigrators' basic needs," Wen Desi instructed Dong Weiwei. "This area may need reinforcement."
Dong Weiwei felt embarrassed—she really wasn't suited to such instruction. Though these months she had been training life secretaries in addition to her Social Work Department duties: "I must decline. It's not appropriate to assign this task to me..."
"Oh." Wen Desi said nothing more, and the task was transferred to the already very busy Fang Fei. Of course, moonlighting at the maid training school only intensified Zhen Qian's surprise inspections of him.
This minor episode didn't dampen transmigrators' enthusiasm for life secretaries. After a long drought came sweet rain. For most bachelors, women satisfied not just physiological needs but also provided psychological comfort.
Though hotel rooms were scarce, every weekend evening the entrance to the life secretary training school was crowded with transmigrators' electric carts and bicycles. They came to pick up their secretaries for evening recreation—watching movies, dining at Commercial Hall, visiting Wu Nanhai's farm café for coffee.
"These aren't just maids anymore—they're practically girlfriends." Fang Fei sighed, watching the vehicles gather each weekend.
"More like kept women, I'd say." Shan Liang replied dryly.
"Didn't you purchase one?"
"I'm waiting for the S-tier lottery." Shan Liang said. He had long wanted to personally train a maid.
Since he was going to invest serious effort, naturally he would train only the finest—no settling.
"You're patient."
"Of course. Go for the best." Shan Liang said righteously. "Besides, this way I can observe whether the Executive Committee is rigging the system, ensuring transmigrators' interests aren't harmed."
Fang Fei nearly fainted—he hadn't expected such a noble justification.
The maids began appearing in East Gate Market, the county seat, and Bopu. These entirely novel-looking women caused a great sensation among local natives. Their maid uniforms especially—local weather was too hot for pure black wool, but deep-colored silk dresses with white aprons, lace trim, and wide-brimmed straw hats for going out created a fresh, simple aesthetic that delighted the eye. Combined with their distinctive bearing, "Australian maids" became the new sensation in East Gate Market. Whenever a maid went shopping, a crowd would gather to watch.
Transmigrators were quite pleased. Those who had obtained maids earlier now deeply regretted it—how could casually selected female students from Fragrant Garden compare to these specially trained maids?
Transmigrators who had obtained maids early now demanded their women be sent back for "retraining." For instance, Xun Suji, currently discussing his wedding with the Liu family—after witnessing the maids' elegance, he hastily telephoned Xiao Zishan, urgently requesting that Jin Xishan be returned to training class for retraining.
"Even if I have to pay the tuition, please agree!"
"This matter requires study."
"Don't study it," Xun Suji's voice nearly broke into sobs. "I'm a maid enthusiast—and I hear you are too. I have many resources; let's exchange sometime..."
Some wealthy locals even inquired how such maids might be purchased. The "Australian lifestyle" had triggered a second fashion wave in Lingao.
Unlike the first wave, which mainly involved daily goods and food—small mirrors, kvass, cigarettes—this one focused on fashionable attire.
"Australian-style" hairbands, hair accessories, dresses, knitted half-length cotton stockings, ladies' straw hats, decorative belts, and gloves sparked a new fashion trend.
Li Mei opportunistically opened an Australian clothing shop in East Gate Market, selling various "Australian-style" women's clothing and accessories. She also stocked less elegant "Australian-style" men's clothing—cotton garments based on field-uniform patterns. These mass-produced clothes from the garment factory far surpassed locally tailored clothes or homemade efforts in every respect. And they held a significant price advantage: modern-style clothing used less fabric, with higher raw-material efficiency. Combined with massive imports of cheap Indian cotton cloth, even homemade garments couldn't compete on cost.
"...Using industrial manufacturing to eliminate the craft of handmade clothing, and eventually eliminate home sewing as domestic labor, has not only economic but also political significance." Ma Qianzhu spoke at the "Propaganda Department Ideological Work Conference." "We use overwhelming economic power to gradually change their clothing habits. People always seek bargains—if prices are cheap enough, they'll gradually choose convenient, inexpensive, better-quality industrial clothing over laborious handmade garments. This isn't just about breaking down the natural economy; through economic means, we subtly transform the social dress system, making them identify more with us than with Ming."
"Changing dress codes—I imagine soon it'll be 'keep your hair or keep your head'..."
"I never said that." Ma Qianzhu replied. "Voluntary compliance is the basic principle. If someone insists on keeping traditional dress, we won't force them to change."
"But this effectively means eliminating Han traditional clothing!" He Xie, the representative of the extreme Huang-Han faction in ideological matters, understood clearly that economic means and social fashion changes were far more devastating than political persecution like "keep your head, not your hair" in destroying tradition.