Chapter 1504 - Brother and Sister

"I hadn't imagined the journey to Lingao would be so difficult. Since childhood, I had traveled no farther than Jinan Prefecture and Tianjin. Apart from knowing Lingao lay somewhere in Qiongzhou Prefecture to the south, I knew nothing of the route." Wang Xinglong was quite chatty, and with Lin Ming's skillful prompting, he rambled on freely about his journey.

As it turned out, Wang Xinglong had not walked all the way to Lingao—he could never have afforded such protracted travel costs, nor did he know which roads led there. He only knew that the Australians had many trading partners in Jiangnan, whose ships sailed back and forth regularly. So he had joined the mass of refugees on empty returning grain ships, traveling down the Grand Canal southward. In Jiangnan, he reached Shanghai, where he encountered the manager of Haixing Store and was granted free passage to Lingao.

"Speaking of earning a living, staying in Jiangnan would have been easy enough. But I had always heard that the Australians possessed wondrous skills and flourishing eclectic learning. I was itching to see it with my own eyes, so I came to Lingao." Wang Xinglong's eyes shone. "Only upon arrival did I realize how good it is here—a true golden age!"

Lin Ming cursed inwardly: Another one beguiled by the Cropped-Hairs' enchantments! Noting that Wang Xinglong had neither shaved his head nor changed his attire but still wore Ming dress, he asked, "You haven't shaved your head?"

"One's body, hair, and skin—gifts from one's parents." Wang Xinglong sighed. "My family is now destroyed and scattered. Only these relics remain—I dare not lightly alter them."

"Brother Wang is indeed a filial son." Lin Ming praised him. The fact that the youth was unwilling to shave and change his clothes meant he still harbored respect for the boundary between civilized and barbarian—he might yet be turned to the righteous cause. "This is our Cathay attire. How could one lightly abandon it? Otherwise, one could not face the ancestors after death."

Wang Xinglong did not perceive the hidden currents in Lin Ming's mind. Raised a scholar, though still young, such notions had been inculcated since childhood. Lin Ming's praise of his filial piety drew ready agreement.

"It was fortunate Manager Qian was willing to take me in and bring me to Lingao. Had I taken the Australian refugee ships, there would have been no choice—shave or be shaved." Wang Xinglong sighed.

"Under Australian rule it truly is a peaceful golden age, yet this insistence on shaving and changing clothes still seems... not quite right... Ah well—they are from overseas, after all..." Lin Ming said with deliberate subtlety.

"The Australians don't insist on shaving. But without it, one cannot enter their schools. Fortunately, there are plenty of books and papers on the market, and there's the library—one simply cannot hear the Australian sages' teachings in person." Wang Xinglong added with some regret.

Talking as they walked, they soon arrived at the East Gate Market Police Station and completed the household registration. On the way back, Wang Xinglong took him to a shop to purchase bedding and toiletries.

"Consider these an advance; pay back when you receive your wages," Wang Xinglong said.

Back at Haixing Store, Wang Xinglong led him to the rear—a small courtyard ringed by two-story buildings, with a well at its center. Beside the well stood a large flat stone. A young woman in blue, her back to them, sleeves rolled high, was vigorously scrubbing laundry. Wooden tubs on the ground overflowed with clothes awaiting washing.

"This is my younger cousin," Wang Xinglong introduced her, then called, "Jinchun!"

The young woman turned. Seeing her cousin with an unfamiliar man, she showed no alarm, merely dried her reddened hands on her apron and offered a curtsy.

Lin Ming hastily returned the courtesy, silently cursing Wang Xinglong. Have all his books gone into a dog's belly? What business had he, without kinship or connection, bringing his sister out to greet a stranger? Has he never heard that men and women should not touch hands when passing objects? Could he be trying to offer me his sister...

Looking more closely at the girl, her features were not bad—clearly from a middling or better family, though somewhat worn from toil. Her frame was somewhat sturdy, her bare arms exposed without a second thought... A good girl, quite spoiled now...

While Lin Ming's mind wandered, he heard Wang Xinglong say, "My cousin also works here at Haixing Store, handling miscellaneous affairs. She's a colleague of ours too. If you have clothes or bedding to launder, just give them to her."

"I couldn't possibly..."

"Mr. Lin, there's no need to be modest," Wang Jinchun said frankly. "This is my job. The manager pays me to wash and clean for everyone. If you don't let me wash for you, wouldn't I become a useless hanger-on?"

Wang Xinglong added, "Jinchun, Mr. Lin has only been off the ship a few days and doesn't know local customs. Give him time and he'll adapt." He led Lin Ming to a small room on the second floor.

"Mr. Lin, please stay here." Wang Xinglong set down the bedding. "All the male attendants live in this courtyard. The shower room is downstairs in the south building; washroom and toilet are there too. Very convenient."

"There are female attendants here?" Lin Ming noted the room was nearly identical to the one at Weimin Inn—same simple furniture.

In Ming and Qing commercial establishments, female employees were unheard-of; even managers were expected to leave their families behind. Hiring women was considered scandalous.

"Indeed—my cousin is one, and there are three or four others," Wang Xinglong laughed. "Mr. Lin, you've just arrived and don't know Australian customs. Many women go out to work here; some even toil in Australian factories."

"Not just work—some even become officials." A shrill female voice preceded Wang Jinchun through the door. In one hand she carried a tray bearing a teapot and cups; in the other, a large wicker-cased bottle. "If my brother hadn't forbidden me to 'purify,' I'd have become a cadre long ago..."

"Purification means shaving—absolutely not!" Wang Xinglong shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Utterly improper, utterly improper!"

The girl paid him no mind, continuing to grumble, "You yourself praise the Australians to the skies and insist on coming to Lingao, yet you refuse to go along with local customs once you're here. Now you can only be an attendant. Look at Mr. Liu, who came with us—he shaved earliest and is already a section chief..."

Wang Xinglong only smiled without retort, saying, "Have you finished the laundry? I'll help you hang it up later." He fished out a towel. "You never dry your arms after washing—your arms will ache when you're old..." Taking Jinchun's arm, he wiped it carefully.

Lin Ming cried inwardly, Breach of propriety! Breach of propriety! Yet Wang Jinchun seemed unconcerned, letting him wipe her arm, her eyes soft with affection. Lin Ming suspected something illicit between them and silently cursed, Worse than beasts! No wonder they submit to the Cropped-Hairs! He felt instant disdain for the Wang siblings but dared not show it, only turning his face aside.

During this uncomfortable moment, Wang Jinchun said, "Mr. Lin, here is tea. Leave the teapot in your room—fetch hot water from the kitchen. This is a thermos. If you have clothes to mend, just give them to me. It's all part of my duties."

Lin Ming exchanged a few polite words and saw them out. His luggage was still at the inn; there was no hurry to move it. He surveyed the room and courtyard once more. Though the space was modest, it was clean and orderly. A quick count showed more than ten rooms in the courtyard. Subtracting the first-floor toilet, washroom, and shower room, there were still at least seven or eight "respectable" attendants living here. Wang Xinglong had mentioned "four or five female attendants," and there would certainly be some rough hands and apprentices sleeping in dormitories too—that meant over twenty people... This shop employed a great many hands!

Lin Ming pondered these matters, spread out the bedding, then poured himself a cup of tea to settle his nerves. He had now established himself—a job, a place to stay, no fear of being "swept up as a drifter." He could take time to sort through his thoughts.

From what he had seen and heard, the Cropped-Hairs placed enormous importance on "Purification," and the core of Purification was "shaving and changing clothes." To eat directly from the Cropped-Hairs' hands required this. Along the way—government offices, village security posts, shops, workshops—everyone from top to bottom conformed to this pattern. Oh yes, Wang Xinglong had called them "naturalized subjects." Naturalized! Naturalized!—you barbarians dare use such a term?! Ordinary folk, it seemed, were left to their own devices; any number of naturalized subjects in Australian attire thronged the streets, but many common folk still wore Ming dress.

The kindness of three hundred years of Ming rule persists, Lin Ming thought with satisfaction. Even in this Cropped-Hair stronghold, many hearts still leaned toward the Ming. Even a man like Wang Xinglong, who had voluntarily come over, balked at shaving. The cause is not yet lost.

Lin Ming departed Haixing Store, first went to the employment agency to file his papers, then returned to Weimin Inn. It was already late, so he spent one more night there, enjoying a sound sleep: the room and bedding were spotless, especially free of fleas and bedbugs—one of the two things Centurion Lin acknowledged Lingao surpassed the Ming.

The next morning, Lin Ming checked out, moved his luggage to Haixing Store, and commenced his duties as a "clerk-secretary."

Contrary to his expectations, the clerk's work proved rather busy. Every day, messenger boys brought a pile of slips from Manager Qian's office, each bearing only a few terse lines. Lin Ming had to draft correspondence based on their content. The letters covered every imaginable commercial matter: inquiries and quotations, buy and sell orders, personnel changes, financial transfers... all extremely complex. Though Lin Ming was an old hand at official documents, he had never encountered this sort of thing. Fortunately, Wang Xinglong was on hand to guide him, and before long he had grasped the essentials, writing with considerably greater speed.

Once the letters were drafted, he sealed them in special envelopes addressed to recipients—places beyond Guangdong and Fujian included Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, even Tianjin and the Capital. Some locations he had never heard of; Wang Xinglong told him they were all counties subordinate to Qiongzhou Prefecture.