Chapter 329: Disguise
If she could access the records from last nightâs operation, everything would be clear, as every guest had to register their identity card. Unfortunately, as a seconded auxiliary officer, she had no authority to view the materials from last nightâs spot check, nor could she access the guest register of âNight Flower.â Only the Public Order Department and the Criminal Investigation Department had that authority.
However, the information she had now was sufficient. The next step, Li Yongxun thought, was to find an opportunity to go to the Haixing Store for on-site verification.
That night, Lin Ming was in high spirits after discovering his sister-in-lawâs whereabouts. His vigor was greatly boosted, and he went at it several times. After the complimentary half-bell, he added another. Seeing that the girl was gradually becoming exhausted and his own circulation coupons were probably running low, he reluctantly took a bath, changed his clothes, and left.
When he reached the main hall, he saw Wang Xinglong already there, drinking tea and waiting. Seeing him come out, Wang Xinglong smiled and cupped his hands. âBrother Lin, you are truly mighty!â
âNot at all, not at all,â Lin Ming quickly demurred. âI wonder what the cost wasâŚâ
âNot much.â Wang Xinglong took out the bill. Lin Ming looked at it and felt a little relieved; it was within his means. If this were a brothel in the Great Ming, this amount of money might not even be enough to touch a girlâs hand.
They each paid their bill. After settling the matter, Little Six brought them two small, pink calling cards from the girls who had entertained them. They bore their professional names and the name of the establishment. On the back was a thirty-day calendar with different dates circled in red.
Lin Ming didnât understand. It wasnât uncommon for brothel girls to give their patrons calling cards, but what was the meaning of the circled dates on the back? Could it be their menstrual days?
âThese are their rest days. The circled days are when they cannot work. This is required by law,â Wang Xinglong explained. âNaturally, they also cannot work during their menstrual period.â
âI never thought the brothels here would have days off,â Lin Ming marveled.
In traditional society, apart from officials who had so-called rest days, practitioners in most industries had no days off, at most resting for a few days at the end of the year.
âThese are the Australian rules. In every trade and profession, you must rest at least two days a month,â Wang Xinglong said.
âDoes our shop have this holiday too?â
âAnyone who dares to disobey the rules set by the Australians has gone to dig sand,â Wang Xinglong said with a slight smile. âThe Australians are all about the ârule of law.â I think they are somewhat like the Legalists mentioned in the history books. Tomorrow is our rest day, which is why I dared to bring you here, brother. Otherwise, how could I work tomorrow with a sore back and a tired expression?â
âI see.â The two strolled along. As it was late at night, there were few pedestrians on the street. They were spot-checked several more times by police patrols. It was midnight when they returned to the shop. They unlocked the back door and went in. Wang Jinchun was still awake. Seeing them return, she couldnât help but complain about Wang Xinglong again. Wang Xinglong let her scold him, just smiling without saying a word. The two washed up, changed their clothes, extinguished the light, and went to bed.
Wang Xinglong, being young and carefree, had vented his energy and was tired. He lay down on the bed and was snoring in no time. Although Lin Ming was physically exhausted, he couldnât fall asleep.
He was overjoyed to have found Li Yongxunâs whereabouts so quickly, and the glance they had exchanged earlier told him that his sister-in-law still had feelings for him. This greatly increased the possibility of him taking her back to Foshan.
Since she had become a âpublic servant,â it would be inconvenient for him to look for her, but it shouldnât be difficult for her to find him.
As long as they could meet, they could plan their escape from Lingao. He had been here for a few days and knew that Lingao was a place of free entry and exit. You didnât need any special procedures to leave Qiongzhou Prefecture; you just had to get your permit stamped and canceled before boarding a ship. There were ships leaving for various coastal locations every day, so returning to Guangzhou wouldnât be difficult.
But he wondered if she would be willing to come and find him. Lin Ming wasnât sure about this. After all, Li Yongxun had been in Lingao for over two years. Since she was free to move about, she must have had opportunities to escape. The fact that she hadnât must mean she had her reasons.
Logically and emotionally, Li Yongxunâs âdefection to the short-hairsâ must have been forced. She came from a âloyal and good familyâ for generations, had always been âloyalâ to the emperor, and hoped to âserve the court.â Furthermore, her parents and family were still in Nanjing.
Therefore, Lin Ming wasnât worried about persuading his sister-in-law to run away. He was worried about why she hadnât run away and what her difficulties were.
After much thought, Lin Ming decided to take advantage of his day off tomorrow to leave the Jinyiweiâs secret signs in several places in Dongmen Market. He had taught Li Yongxun some of this secret code to arrange a clandestine meeting. He figured that as long as she saw the signs, she would definitely come to meet him. After all, she had a deep âJinyiwei complex.â Using this secret code would not only notify her but also evoke her âoriginal intention.â
The next day, Li Yongxun woke up very early. She hadnât slept at all, only closing her eyes for a while just before dawn. In her dreams, she returned to the time she lived at the Lin familyâs house in Foshan. The happy moments with her cousin-in-law, her cousin, and the several âauntiesâ flashed before her eyes. When she woke up, her pillowcase was wet with tears.
The dormitory was empty. Her roommate and apprentice, Zuo Yamei, had already gone to work. Li Yongxunâs whole body ached, but she couldnât sleep anymore. She was anxious to find Lin Ming, to find out why he had come to Lingao, and to urge him to leave quickly. She also needed to ask him to take a message to her parents and family.
Her uniform was neatly ironed and hung by her bed. This was Zuo Yameiâs handiwork. Since moving in, she had voluntarily taken on the cleaning of the dormitory. This was a great relief to Li Yongxun, who was constantly criticized during internal affairs inspections. She had been used to being served since she was a child and was basically incompetent at housework, always making a mess whenever she tried to clean.
When Zuo Yamei first arrived, Li Yongxun didnât think she looked like someone who did manual labor. Not only was she beautiful, but her demeanor and speech exuded a rare quality that often made Li Yongxun feel inadequate.
Unexpectedly, such a person was particularly deft at housework. Not only did she keep the dormitory spotless, but she could also iron clothes. Out of a basic sense of shame, Li Yongxun insisted on not letting her wash her clothes, but she acquiesced to the ironing. The cotton uniforms wrinkled too easily! And for her to iron her own clothes was practically asking her to commit arson. In fact, she had indeed burned a uniform once.
Zuo Yameiâs ironing was exceptionally neat. Not only that, there was almost no housework she couldnât do. Although they couldnât cook in the dormitory, whenever they talked about âcooking,â she was always knowledgeable. As for dressing up, a womanâs basic duty, it went without saying. Whenever they went out on their days off, Zuo Yamei always got more âsecond glances.â She never commented on Li Yongxunâs choice of outfits, but she always showed her through her own attire: she didnât know how to dress! This had recently caused Li Yongxun to wear her uniform more and more often when going out.
For this reason, she grew to dislike Zuo Yamei more and more. Of course, this girlish jealousy couldnât be shown. On the surface, her relationship with Zuo Yamei was still very good.
She glanced at Zuo Yameiâs bed: it was already neat and tidy, the quilt folded perfectly, not a single wrinkle on the bedsheet. The changed straw slippers were placed neatly under the bed. She yawned out of boredom and suddenly noticed a set of clothes she had never seen before hanging on the opposite hanger.
It was a âSong-styleâ outfit, as everyone now called the new style of clothes brought by the Australians. Li Yongxun had also bought many. But this Song-style outfit was one she had never seen before. A dark blue fitted jacket with a triangular lapelâshe knew this was called a Western-style collar, and some of the chiefs occasionally wore this kind of Song-style jacket with a large triangular collar.
Inside was a white shirt, with a red ribbon loosely tied around the neck. Li Yongxun had seen the Fangcaodi students wear something similar, tied in a knot on the chest for decoration, but on the Fangcaodi uniform, it was a triangular scarf.
Below was a pleated plaid short skirt. Li Yongxun estimated that, given Zuo Yameiâs height, it probably wouldnât cover her knees. Wasnât that too short?
She carefully touched the clothes. The jacket was probably a blend of wool and cotton yarn, not thick but very crisp and wrinkle-free. The shirt was of fine white silk, and the skirt was made of imported thin wool.
Was this a newly released Song-style outfit? But Li Yongxun had recently gone shopping with Zuo Yamei and hadnât seen it in any store, nor had she seen her buy it.
âHow strange, where did these clothes come from?â Li Yongxun muttered, then went to wash up.
After washing up, she took a common one-piece dress-style casual outfit for naturalized women from her wardrobe and changed into it. She also took a straw handbag and put a set of Ming-style womenâs clothing inside, planning to find a place outside to change. Fortunately, she hadnât cut her hair; her double buns would not look out of place with any outfit.
Many non-naturalized women in Lingao still retained âtraditional stylesâ of dress. A woman wearing naturalized clothing would be very conspicuous.
Li Yongxun hurried out the door and took a public horse-drawn carriage straight to Dongmen Market. To avoid attracting attention, she got off at the Wenshui Bridge transfer station, changed her clothes in the public toilet, and quietly entered Dongmen Market.
She came here often and knew her way around. However, the street where Haixing Store was located was not a busy commercial district. She specially bought a map at a newsstand in Dongmen Market and quickly found the shop.
She didnât approach directly, not even daring to get too close.
Because Haixing Store was âon the list.â
Shops on the list were under year-round surveillance, and their mail was also subject to regular spot checks.
Haixing Store dealt in the purchase and sale of local products. Its owner was a Ming merchant, and most of its managers and clerks had not undergone âpurification,â their political backgrounds being ambiguous. Its sales channels were mainly in the Great Ming, and the merchants it dealt with were also mostly from the Great Ming.
Due to the limited manpower of the State Security General Bureau, it was impossible for them to handle everything. Therefore, much of the surveillance work was âassistedâ by the National Police, which was why Li Yongxun had some impression of this shop.