"Sister Ruoqing, the number of customers here has decreased again these past two days." After Li Yi left, the girl named Xiao Zhu looked at the sparse customers in the brothel and sighed.
As the popularity of "The Painted Skin" gradually faded, the customers in the brothel decreased day by day. Now, it was almost back to its usual level.
According to their original estimations, it should have taken a little longer, but things did not develop as they had expected.
In just one day, the story of The Painted Skin had spread everywhere. Although they were indignant, they couldn't say anything about it.
It was all a story. If Grandpa Sun said it, others would naturally say it too. For a short story like this, after listening to it once, one could almost repeat it. It was impossible to rely on these stories to earn money for a long time.
On one hand, the customers were taken away by other brothels. On the other hand, the story had been told too many times, so it naturally lost its novelty. There were fewer and fewer customers who had not heard of it, and there were no new stories to supplement it. Naturally, there would not be more people who were willing to come.
Wan Ruoqing looked at her sisters who were performing seriously on the stage, but there were not many people watching. She sighed softly, and a trace of helplessness appeared on her face.
They were just actors who lived at the bottom of the industry. They were not like those famous actors who depended on high officials and nobles. Every time they performed, they could get a lot of money. They could only survive in this way.
Her situation was better. She had some fame in a small circle, and her singing was not bad. She and Xiao Zhu did not live a comfortable life, but they could barely get by.
However, such a life was not worth looking forward to. Perhaps once they were out of luck, the first thing they would face would be the problem of survival.
"That Li seems to be very rich," the girl said in a low voice, holding her chin.
The shop called "Ruyi Fang" next door was very famous in Qing 'an Prefecture. It was said that many rich young masters and ladies liked to buy things there. He must not be short of money.
It was a pity that Sister Ruoqing never accepted the help of those friends. Otherwise, their lives would be much better.
But speaking of which, Sister Ruoqing treated that young master differently from others. Could it be?
The girl turned her head to look at her, and her face gradually showed a look of understanding, as if she had discovered something extraordinary.
Wasn't the best ending for actors like them to marry such a young man? Although they could not become the official wife, even if they could be a concubine, if they could be treated well by him, it would be an excellent ending.
Elder Sister Ruoqing was not only good at singing, she was also talented in poetry. Many scholars had expressed their interest in her, and there was one called Jiang Zi 'an who had pursued her relentlessly. However, Elder Sister Ruoqing did not agree. Apparently, her heart belonged to someone else.
That young master treats people very kindly, so he probably won't mistreat Elder Sister Ruoqing. However, she had to be careful of that girl who liked to play with her sword. When she climbed the wall, she saw her practicing her swordsmanship in the courtyard. Such a person was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
If Elder Sister Ruoqing entered his house, she might bully her. That woman was very powerful. Even if she and Elder Sister Ruoqing joined forces, they might not be her match …
In the girl's heart, she began to worry.
"What are you thinking about?" Wan Ruoqing saw that the girl's expression kept changing. Sometimes she was happy, and sometimes she was worried. She gently tapped her head and asked.
"If Sister Ruoqing marries Li, I'm afraid she has to be careful of that …" The girl subconsciously expressed her worries.
Before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Wan Ruoqing.
"Don't talk nonsense. Young Master Li has a family. There's nothing going on between us."
"I know. There is nothing between a man and a woman." The girl curled her lips and said.
He only knew how to use such an excuse to deceive her. If the two of them were innocent, why would he send them back in the middle of the night?
Honestly speaking, she still felt that there was nothing wrong with Sister Ruoqing being with him.
"Yuzhu, you're asking for a beating, aren't you?"
Wan Ruoqing pretended to wave her hand. The girl hurriedly stood up from her seat, stuck out her tongue and said, "If Sister Ruoqing feels embarrassed, I can be your matchmaker. I think he likes Sister Ruoqing very much …"
"You still say …"
Wan Ruoqing blushed and hurriedly chased after her. The girl screamed and immediately ran far away.
…
…
"The speed of County Magistrate Li's recovery is far beyond my expectation." When Doctor Chen of Huichun Hall came for a follow-up examination, he checked Li Yi's pulse and said with a look of amazement.
It was reasonable to say that an ordinary person would need at least several months to recover from his last injury. Even a strong person would need a month to recover to his current level.
At this time, it was only ten days since he was injured.
This County Lieutenant had the appearance of a frail scholar, but his recovery speed was truly amazing.
Li Yi felt a chill in his heart when he saw the old man looking at him as if he was some kind of precious object. The old man might even be thinking of taking him away for research.
After sending Doctor Chen away, he didn't continue to lie down. He strolled in the yard for a while and practiced Tai Chi twice to stretch his muscles and bones.
These days, his range of activities was from here to the brothel. He ate more and moved less. He didn't know if he had gained a few kilograms.
With his current physical condition, it was beneficial to do some proper exercise.
Of course, it was only limited to walking and practicing Tai Chi. It was not suitable for him to do more vigorous exercises.
Ru Yi brought Ruyi and Xiao Huan out. Regardless of ancient times or modern times, shopping was a woman's nature. It was the same for both young and old women. Especially when their families were not short of money, the prosperous Qing 'an Prefecture was a heavenly existence for them.
As the weather turned cold, Ruyi couldn't produce anymore. Ruyi's workshop was temporarily closed. The girls returned to the stockade village. With Ruyi and Ruyi here, there was no need to worry about their safety. Fang also came here occasionally.
After living in the prefecture for a long time, they were not used to the various inconveniences of living in the stockade village. Perhaps because it was boring to stay at home alone, Ruyi also moved out a few days ago and slept in the same room with Xiao Huan and Ruyi at night.
Although this made the room a little crowded, the three girls used to live like this when they were young, so there was nothing strange about it.
These few days, he would still go to the brothel for a while every day. Sometimes he would sit in the yard with Ruyi and bask in the sun. He would watch Ruyi practice the Tai Chi swordsmanship that he had just taught her and correct her mistakes from time to time.
When he first taught Tai Chi to Ruyi, she could do it more accurately than him after only watching it twice. Miss.Liu might not be talented, so it was a good opportunity for Li Yi to satisfy his desire as a master.
However, they were not here now. After Li Yi finished practicing two sets of fist techniques, he inadvertently glanced and saw a familiar head popping up on the opposite wall.
"The story of 'Ying Ning' is not finished yet." The young girl leaned on the wall and watched him finish those strange movements. She looked over and said this.
Li Yi hadn't seen her climb the wall for a few days. At this moment, there was someone to relieve his boredom. The story of 'Ying Ning' was actually almost finished a few times and there were only a few parts left.
Today, the young girl was obviously a little absent-minded. She listened quietly and didn't ask questions from time to time like before.
After the story was finished, the young girl sighed and said, "After tomorrow, if you want to watch dramas and listen to songs, go to another brothel."
"Why?" Li Yi asked with some doubts.
Although there were many brothels in the neighboring houses, the environment where they were at was better. These days, he had been going there every day. If he suddenly changed places, he wouldn't be used to it.
"Because there are too few customers. Grandpa Sun and the others are all going to leave," the young girl sighed again and said slowly.
Customers were the foundation of their survival. If there were no customers, they couldn't even maintain the most basic survival. If they couldn't make money in one place, they naturally had to change places.
Grandpa Sun and the others actually had the intention to leave a long time ago. However, because of the story of 'Painted Skin' last time, they still had a glimmer of hope in their hearts. However, the depression of the next few days made them completely disappointed.
Even if she told him the story of 'Ying Ning', it would only be lively for a few days. Moreover, one or even a few stories couldn't feed so many people.
If everyone left, she and Sister Ruoqing naturally couldn't stay here. They didn't know how they would live in the future.
"Leave? Don't! "Li Yi saw that she didn't seem to be joking and hurriedly persuaded her.
If they all left, where would he go to spend his time in the future?
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