Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Seven: The Maid School

After the purification work was completed, the Ministry of Health led a comprehensive physical examination to confirm the absence of malignant diseases and various chronic diseases, especially the latter. Shi Niaoren personally took charge and directed Zhang Ziyi to conduct the physical examinations with the nurses.

The examination items covered all the projects that the transmigrator members’ health department was capable of. Shi Niaoren requested that it be as detailed and meticulous as possible, and also to inquire about their family medical history. Based on his observation of the immigrants, Shi Niaoren had summarized the common familial genetic diseases of the common people in this time and space. The purpose of a life secretary was self-evident. Considering that they were very likely to give birth to the first batch of descendants of the transmigrator members, the health of the future generations could not be taken lightly.

Those with hidden diseases, chronic diseases, or a family history of illness were eliminated as soon as they were found. Those who needed treatment were isolated for treatment separately. Those who did not hinder work and were not contagious were arranged separately: those with education could be recommended for administrative training classes in the future, and those without education were arranged to serve in the General Office, working as waitresses in various facilities specifically for the elders.

In this way, about forty people were eliminated. The qualified ones entered a specially built camp for them to receive the next stage of training. In order to distinguish them from other natives and to have a grand-sounding title, the Maid Policy Committee issued an official standard title: “Life Secretary.” The purpose of a life secretary was: to serve the chief’s health and life at any time and any place.

The matter of cultivating life secretaries was personally handled by President Wen, and it was treated as a special case. No matter what was involved, it was all green-lighted. Ma Qianzhan had a lot of complaints about this. In his view, this was a serious waste of the Transmigrator Group’s manpower and material resources, but the big hat of “the interests of the masses” made it impossible for him to say much.

Unlike other camps managed by the Civil Affairs Committee, the Maid Service School was directly managed and supplied by the General Office. It had real walls instead of simple barbed wire or bamboo fences, and only one entrance and exit. The entrance was strictly guarded at ordinary times, and no one was allowed to enter the school without a special pass.

Although the school was small, it had all the necessary facilities. It had a separate bathroom, kitchen, and cafeteria, as well as an indoor stadium where physical training could be carried out even on rainy days. There was also a small health clinic, and the Ministry of Health specially assigned two native nurses to serve the students here.

The standard of the dormitories was even better than that of the Fangcaodi Education Park. Here, there were four people to a room, and each room was equipped with a dressing mirror, which was super luxurious in the eyes of the natives.

After the maids entered here, they completely lost their personal freedom. The deed of sale they signed was a “deed of absolute sale.” Not only did they not have the right to automatically obtain freedom after seven years, but even the right to redeem themselves was cancelled. Even if their parents and relatives became rich, they had to obtain the master’s grace to redeem them. President Wen did not intend to rely on this to force the maids to serve the elders for a lifetime, but only intended to leave this “grace” power to the elders to buy people’s hearts in the future.

In the school, they were subject to the strictest discipline. They were not allowed to contact the outside world, and there were certain rules for walking, talking, eating, and even sleeping. The women who were selected from the members of the society to be housekeepers and maids of large households were responsible for their direct management.

All the native staff serving the school were women over the age of thirty-five. Not only were they required to be healthy, hardworking, and strict, but they also had to have families in Lingao. There was no limit on their education level. The last requirement was that they be taciturn and promise not to gossip outside.

These women were very willing to strictly enforce the school’s discipline and were merciless in their actions. The cries of the maids could often be heard within the walled courtyard.

This move was called “knowing fear,” or more colloquially, a show of force. Unlike the subordinate relationship of obeying orders and observing discipline cultivated among the students and soldiers, here, any spirit of autonomy and self-reliance was completely discouraged. The core was “gratitude” and “knowing fear,” to fully establish a personality cult and extreme fear of the elders.

This practice was considered unnecessary by many members of the Maid Policy Committee. Some even suspected that President Wen had a taste for SM. President Wen, however, farsightedly stated that this was “a matter concerning the future stability and unity of the Transmigrator Group.”

“There are all kinds of men,” President Wen said at a meeting of the Maid Policy Committee. “Some are very masculine, and some comrades are too effeminate! If we don’t properly discipline the maids and make them feel the greatest fear from the bottom of their hearts, it is very likely that a Wu Zetian-style figure will emerge in some elders’ families!”

The members of the Maid Policy Committee immediately burst into laughter—everyone thought it was incredible.

“What are you laughing at? The time and space we came from was an overly effeminate world. Do you still think you are very masculine?” President Wen waved his hand in a very manly way. “I think you are all the type to be afraid of your wives!”

Everyone laughed even harder.

“Hmph, who dares to say that they have never bought flowers on Valentine’s Day? Never invited a woman to dinner?”

“President Wen, this is not the same thing, is it…”

“A real man doesn’t need such flowery things!” President Wen said painfully. “The men of the modern era have all been brainwashed by feminists and have had their IQs reduced by Korean dramas. They not only treat women as angels, but also as mistresses and goddesses.”

An Xi said, “President Wen has a point. There are many cases in history of being bewitched by women. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the saying ‘a hero can’t pass the beauty test’.”

“Comrade An has great insight,” President Wen praised An Xi. “Back to the topic! The possibility of being manipulated by women exists, and we must nip this in the bud from the source!”

“But will the female transmigrator members have any objections? The current show-of-force education method is suspected of abusing women.”

“Whoever has an opinion can request a general meeting. We will vote democratically,” Wen Desi said. “Everyone has freedom of speech.”

“I don’t think so,” Ma Jia said. “Isn’t it good that someone is severely punishing the ‘little vixens’?”

In addition to this group of women, the maid school also needed a principal to be responsible for all affairs. The otaku on the BBS who eagerly expressed their willingness to educate the maids for everyone were obviously unreliable. It was possible that they would steal from the granary they were supposed to be guarding. It was best to find a woman to be in charge to be reliable and stable.

There were nearly twenty adult women among the transmigrator members. The problem was that except for Li Xiaolu and Du Wen who were single, all of them were the wives or girlfriends of the transmigrator members—obviously they were not interested in cultivating their future competitors. As for Li and Du, one was a carefree person who, besides work, did not say a word, and the other was an absolute feminist who detested this even more.

After thinking about it, they thought of Dong Weiwei, not because she showed any “magnanimous” spirit, but because Dong Weiwei was the fitness coach for the maids.

This job was originally Chen Sigen’s—as a professional fitness coach, he was not unfamiliar with women’s body sculpting courses, and some he was very familiar with—this was not surprising in a fitness club. In some clubs, there were even male coaches teaching belly dancing.

But Chen Sigen had concerns about this. After all, what was being cultivated here were the future concubines of the elders. As a tall, handsome, and muscular man, a fitness coach could easily have a romantic encounter. Not to mention if such a thing really happened, even if some rumors spread, he couldn’t bear it.

So Chen Sigen found Dong Weiwei and planned to use an indirect teaching method: first teach Dong Weiwei, and then have Dong Weiwei teach the maids.

Dong Weiwei’s specialty was bodybuilding, and she was very familiar with various body sculpting and exercise methods. For her interest, she had also learned a lot of fashionable things in a disorderly manner. She had also learned belly dancing and pole dancing. After being guided and taught by Chen Sigen, she became an indispensable fitness teacher at the maid school.

Wen Desi believed that since Dong Weiwei was willing to be a coach, it showed that she did not have much resistance to the maid school, and could be entrusted with this important task.

After a special talk with her, Dong Weiwei was a little hesitant about this appointment—it was not a matter of women’s rights, but that she still had a lot of work to do in the social work department. Her cooperation with Du Wen was not intimate, but it was still pleasant. Seeing the grassroots organizations in the countryside gradually taking shape in her hands, this sense of accomplishment was difficult to express in words.

“You can do it part-time. You are already teaching at the school anyway,” Wen Desi knew that she did not want to give up her position in the Civil Affairs Committee. “On the day you have class, you can just go to the school to inspect and handle some school affairs.”

“Who will be in charge on a daily basis? If I’m going to do it, I have to do it well.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Wen Desi said. “A suitable candidate will be arranged.”

“Alright, I accept,” Dong Weiwei said frankly. “I know the Executive Committee is also in a difficult position. They are not at ease with using men, and they are afraid that women are not willing. You can rest assured. Since I’m doing it, I will definitely do it well. However, I must be involved in the decision-making for the selection of the principal’s assistant.”

“Very good!” President Wen nodded with satisfaction. “You have a great sense of the overall situation.”

“President Wen, you flatter me. This humble girl has shallow knowledge and can only do my best,” Dong Weiwei’s Ming-fan girl nature was revealed when she was happy.

In fact, Dong Weiwei was very interested in this appointment. She hoped to cultivate a few beautiful women with a blend of Chinese and Western temperament—after all, her university graduation thesis was “On the Culture of Romance in the Jiangnan Region during the Tianqi and Chongzhen Reigns.”

When Gao Xiaosong returned from the sea and learned of his wife’s new position, he joked:

“This school is for training the elders’ concubines. Aren’t you afraid of creating a little vixen to snatch your position?”

“Hmph, I am the legal wife, the one who wears the red skirt!” Dong Weiwei didn’t care about this at all. “Besides, she doesn’t even have the status of a concubine. She’s just a maid. If she wants to be a concubine, she has to get my approval. If she dares to be a vixen, I’ll skin her and make a coat out of it.”

She blinked her eyes, “Should we use the maid allowance to buy a girl back?”

“Of course not. One of you at home is enough,” Gao Xiaosong immediately refused righteously to show his firm stance.

“Liar,” Dong Weiwei wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck and smiled charmingly. “But I’ll think about it.”