The next day, before dawn had fully broken, a rooster from one of the neighboring houses began to crow.
Jin Yuan startled awake and sat bolt upright.
Back home, the sound of a rooster had meant leaping out of bed at once — helping her mother cook, tending to her younger brothers and sisters, washing clothes after the meal, even going out to dig for wild vegetables. There was always an endless stream of chores waiting for her.
But at this moment she felt strangely at a loss.
Then it came back to her — she had been sold to the Master. The thought sent a wave of sorrow washing over her heart.
But she quickly steadied herself.
She turned her head and saw Sister Jin Yi sitting up and getting dressed, while the others were still asleep. She could only ask in a hushed voice, "Sister Jin Yi, what chores should I get up to do?"
"There's nothing much to do. The Master gets up very late, so breakfast is made quite late as well."
"I'm just used to rising early — I couldn't sleep, so I got up. You should go back to sleep for a while. You can get up later with Jin Xiu and Jin Wen."
"Oh, all right." Jin Yuan obediently lay back down, but it had been so long since she had slept in that she simply could not fall asleep again.
So as soon as Jin Yi left the room, she dressed herself and got up, pushing open the door to step into the courtyard.
Jin Yi was holding a small bucket and about to head out. Catching sight of her, she smiled and asked, "Can't sleep? It seems the two of us aren't as lucky as Jin Xiu and Jin Wen. Those two — the moment they heard they didn't have to get up early on their second day here, they went right back to sleep, ha."
"I had a look around just now, and it seems the only thing that needs doing is the water vat — it's running low. Since you're up, come fetch water with me."
"All right." Having something to do gave Jin Yuan a sense of security, and she hurried inside to fetch a wooden bucket.
"Just take the smallest one — there's so little to do that once we're finished, we'll have nothing left and will just have to idle about."
Jin Yuan knew this was Jin Yi looking out for her, so she played along with a joke.
But she obediently took the smallest bucket all the same.
When they reached the well, quite a few people were already queuing to draw water. Each of them filled only half a bucket, and they carried them home with ease.
After a few trips back and forth, the vat was full.
"Are you hungry? If you are, I'll start cooking now."
"The Master isn't up yet, is he?"
"It doesn't matter. The Master is very kind — he doesn't stand on ceremony about such things. If anything, it seems to make him happier when we're well-fed and well-dressed."
"The Master never treats us like servants — he truly cares for us as if we were his own sisters. But good as he is, we must never forget our place."
Jin Yi was cautioning Jin Yuan: that with time, one must not grow complacent or forget the difference in their stations.
After Zhao Baihui rose, the five of them had breakfast together.
Then he headed out alone, a sack on his back containing twenty jin of rice.
His story to the outside world was that his family was in the grain trade and kept a small stock at home for everyday use.
He had struck a deal with the owner of a grain shop in town: rice that sold at the market price of twenty-two wen, he would let go for twenty wen.
The shopkeeper saved himself the time and effort of sourcing the grain and cleared a net profit of two wen per jin.
They had been doing business together for over half a month, and the arrangement had settled into a steady routine.
After a while, Zhao Baihui returned and called out the four girls, who had been busy sewing clothes.
"Payday! Payday! Come along, everyone!" As he spoke, he drew four small cloth pouches, each the size of a fist, from inside his robe and set them on the table.
"Master, what is 'wages'?" Jin Yi voiced the question on all their minds.
"Oh — it's your monthly allowance."
"Master, what is a monthly allowance?"
"Ha! What sheltered little girls you are! Don't you know that maidservants in great households are always given a monthly allowance?"
Jin Xiu asked in astonishment, "They give you money even after you've signed a bond of servitude?"
"Of course. That's how it's done in proper households. You're not exactly maidservants, so think of it as pocket money — it amounts to the same thing."
"For now, each of you will receive a hundred wen of pocket money every month — and the amount will go up in time."
"What are you standing there for? There's one for each of you — come and take them."
The girls looked at one another, and nobody moved to take one.
It was because none of them had ever imagined that they could be entitled to possessions of their own.
"Won't take the money when it's given to you? Have you all lost your minds?" Zhao Baihui shook his head and pressed a little pouch into each of their hands one by one.
Jin Yi held the pouch as though it burned her fingers, and asked with reddened eyes, "Master — you're not giving us this money to send us away, are you?"
Zhao Baihui understood what was on their minds. To put their hearts at ease, he feigned indignation. "What are you thinking? You've all been sold to me — you'll follow me for the rest of your lives. When the time comes for you to die, you're not even allowed to be buried too far from me."
The girls burst into tearful laughter at that. Jin Wen wiped her eyes and plucked up the courage to ask, "Master, is this money really ours? Is it truly our own — to spend on whatever we like?"
"Yes, it's yours, every wen of it. Spend it however you please — even if you threw it in the well, that's none of my business."
Jin Wen stuck out her tongue. "I'm not stupid — I'd never throw it in the well!"
Zhao Baihui laughed heartily and tousled her hair. "You're the sharpest one of the lot, you are."
"All right, the money's been handed out. I'm going for my afternoon nap — do as you like."
Zhao Baihui retreated to his room, leaving the girls chattering away excitedly among themselves.
For the first time in their lives, they each had money of their own — a full hundred wen, no less.
They were so giddy with excitement that none of them knew what to do with themselves.
After quite some time, when the excitement had gradually faded, Jin Yuan furrowed her brow and said, "My father is ill — I don't know how he's doing. I want to take this money home for his treatment. Do you think the Master would be displeased if he found out?"
Jin Yi knew the Master best of all. "I don't think so," she said. "The Master told us this money is ours, entirely for us to decide how to use. You can do whatever you wish with it."
"Then I'm going home — I'll give the money to my mother."
"Mm. I want to go home and look in on things too."
As the eldest, Jin Yi understood what the others were feeling. She nodded. "Whoever wants to go home may go, but don't stay long — come back as soon as you can. And don't even think about not returning, or I'll report it to the authorities and have you dragged back."
Jin Wen stuck her tongue out. "Sister, I'm not stupid. Only a fool would run off — back home you can't eat well, can't sleep well, and you have to work from dawn till dark. I'd have to be out of my mind to run away!"
"Then go, each of you. Jin Yuan — your father is ill, and there's no telling how much his treatment will cost. Take my share for now."
"No, Sister, I can't… I could never repay you…"
"Didn't the Master say so himself? This is monthly money — there'll be more next month. Just pay me back then."
"But Sister — aren't you going home?"
Jin Xiu clapped a hand over Jin Yuan's mouth and dragged her out the door, with Jin Wen scrambling after them.
Something occurred to Jin Yi and she rushed out after them, catching the girls before they had gone far. With a furrowed brow she instructed them, "You may give the money when you get home, but do not tell anyone it comes every month. Say the Master gave it as a reward to celebrate some happy occasion."
Then, with a stern expression, she added, "None of you are children anymore. Don't go bringing trouble to the Master's door."
Young as they were, the girls had all grown up fast in their circumstances.
They understood what Jin Yi meant: she was afraid their families would come demanding money month after month, or even show up at the Master's doorstep in person.
It was not out of the question — in fact, it was quite likely.
Once the others had gone, Jin Yi walked quietly back to the room and sat down on the bed. Tears began to fall — slowly at first, then in an unstoppable torrent.
The door eased open, and Zhao Baihui stepped inside.
Jin Yi quickly wiped her tears and tried to force a smile, but no matter how she tried, she could not manage one.
"You poor girl." Zhao Baihui sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders.
"Jin Yi, the moment I, Zhao Baihui, gave you the name Zhao Jin Yi, I made up my mind to treat you as my own sister."
"So you are not alone. You have a brother — a brother who will look after you, protect you, and prepare a dowry that lets you marry with your head held high, so that your husband's family will never dare look down on you. As long as he draws breath, he will be your shelter from every storm, and he will let no one mistreat you. Not a single soul — not even your own father."
Jin Yi's eyes blurred completely. She threw her arms around Zhao Baihui and wept aloud.
"Brother…"