Sheng Keyi - Northern Girls - Life Goes On

‘Thanks a lot, Mr Zhuang. We’ve given you a lot of trouble,’ Xiaohong said.

‘Mr Zhuang is a good man. You’ll see that all the more as you get to know him,’ Li Mazi said, obviously trying to gain a few brownie points with the boss. Mr Zhuang laughed and made a little small talk.

Before turning to leave, he added, ‘If there’s anything you need, just ask Li Mazi. Or you can come and find me, if you like.’ The girls nodded in unison, then gave a slight bow as the boss left the room.

Li Mazi laughed and said, ‘The boss is always like that. No male visitors can stay overnight, but then he’s so friendly towards any female guests. Everyone knows it. That’s the advantage of your sex.’

‘Advantage? What a load of crap. He’s just horny and has got his big eyes on us. You really think he’ll be able to restrain himself for long?’ Xiaohong turned slowly round and round, looking about the room.

‘Just so you know, Xiaohong, if you offend him, I lose my livelihood.’

‘Hmph. So Sijiang, I guess it’s up to you to hook up with him then.’ Xiaohong took a gulp of water. Sijiang, thinking her friend really did mean her to sleep with Mr Zhuang, turned bright red and squirmed visibly.

Li Mazi’s bed was as hard as a rock. After they’d had something to eat and taken a short nap, the girls got up and found themselves aching all over.

‘You sleep alright?’ Li Mazi asked, coming into the room with a pleased look on his face.

‘Alright? You must be kidding! I’m sore from head to toe.’ Xiaohong retorted, stretching her sore muscles. ‘The boss give you a raise or something? What’re you so happy about?’

‘I don’t know whether it’s good or bad, but it looks like we’re all in this together, so we’ll have to see what we can do to pull through it. Mr Zhuang knows this guy who owns a hair salon. He’s not really looking for workers, but he can arrange for one of you to work for him. There’s this one thing, though. He wanted me to ask…’

‘Well? Ask what?’

‘…whether you two are virgins?’

‘Virgins? What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Xiaohong, you don’t understand how things are. A lot of farmers around here are rich and they have certain tastes. If a guy can get a virgin and, you know, deflower her, he’ll pay a whole whack for it.’

‘Li Mazi, what the hell have you got us into? We didn’t come all the way here to be prostitutes!’ Xiaohong shook, her breasts standing up in rage. Sijiang held her back.

‘Settle down, Xiaohong. It’s not like anyone’s gonna rape you. It’s up to you whether or not you do it,’ Li Mazi said, trying to placate her.

‘Anyway, your bed strong enough for three people?’ Xiaohong asked Li Mazi, a bit on edge. ‘We’d look pretty ridiculous if it collapsed in the middle of the night.’

Lifting the sheet, he said, ‘See for yourself.’

‘God! Bricks! No wonder it’s so hard. I guess if anyone tries to attack us during the night, we won’t have any problems defending ourselves,’ Xiaohong said with a snigger.

‘Who’s going to attack us in our sleep?’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sijiang blushed at her gullibility. She said to Xiaohong, ‘You sleep in the middle. I’ll squeeze over against the wall. OK? Alright, then. That’s settled.’

‘And you,’ Xiaohong turned to Li Mazi and said sharply, ‘you better keep to your side of the bed and keep still.’

‘I won’t even breathe. Good thing it’s still cool. If it were June, we’d melt.’

Xiaohong crawled under the blanket and lay on her back. Li Mazi dozed off, leaving a gap between himself and Xiaohong. She felt cramped in the tight space. Wanting to turn to lie on her side, she considered whether she’d prefer her oversized breasts to face Li Mazi’s smelly feet or Sijiang’s back. She settled on the warmth of the other girl’s back. She spent the whole night drowning in a concoction of Sijiang’s body odour and Li Mazi’s own indescribable flavour.

The next morning, Mr Zhuang offered to arrange for one of the girls to go to work in the salon. Sijiang didn’t want to go, nor did she want Xiaohong to leave her alone. No matter what, she said, they had to stick together. Since Mr Zhuang’s offer was not going to work, they decided to manage their own job search, so off they went into town.

‘Hey Sijiang, you hear this chatter around us? Sounds funny, doesn’t it?’

‘I don’t understand a word of it.’

‘Then we learn! There’s nothing that can’t be learned.’

The two girls, hand-in-hand, walked into the Magang Market and tried their best to twist their tongues enough to make themselves understood by the locals. ‘Excuse me. Are you looking for shampoo girls?’

‘You got any experience?’

‘Yes.’

‘You got a temporary residence card? No? Let me see your ID card, then.’

‘ID card?’

‘Yeah.’

‘We don’t have any ID cards.’

‘Maybe a family planning card, then?’

‘Nope. We just got here.’

‘Not licensed to work around here? You better watch yourselves, then, if they come checking for papers. If you get picked up, you’ll be spending some time in the slammer!’

IV

‘Mr Zhuang’s invited you both to karaoke tonight,’ Li Mazi said excitedly, his eyes lowered in an obscure expression.

‘Carry-o-pee? What in the world is that? Never heard of it,’ Xiaohong said.

‘Yeah. Carry what? And aren’t you coming with us?’ Sijiang had always enjoyed gatherings with large groups.

‘It’s just singing. Kind of like a talent show. You know, holding a microphone while you sing your heart out.’

‘Li Mazi, I doubt it’s so simple. I think what Mr Zhuang really wants is a chance to get his hands on Sijiang.’

‘Me? Hardly. It’s your boobs the boss is always staring at, you know.’

‘You both have plenty of assets to your credit. Anyway, it’s on a boat. There’ll be lots of food, lots of drinking and lots of singing. Whatever you do, just don’t provoke him. Oh, I almost forgot. You find any job leads?’

Xiaohong answered, ‘We need a bit of help before we can do anything. We’ve got to get temporary residence cards.’

‘Hmm. We’ll need to ask Mr Zhuang. Tonight while you’re singing, when he gets a little tipsy, that’s the time to ask him about it. Make sure you do it then.’

‘Alright, I’ll try. What a hassle!’

On Li Mazi’s advice, the two girls dressed in their best clothes and put on some makeup, and then went to join in the karaoke session, carrying themselves uneasily. Sijiang was especially nervous. She was holding a scarf in her hands, constantly twisting it into knots then unwinding it again.

‘You two beautiful young ladies are here!’ Mr Zhuang’s smile was as shady as the dim lights inside the private karaoke room that he had reserved.

‘Let me introduce you. This here is the mayor. He takes care of a lot of business for me,’ Mr Zhuang went on, enraptured.

A man in his fifties, looking like a humble farmer, was sitting on the sofa. His face was as dark as a well worn wok. He smiled woodenly at the girls, without quite daring to look them in the eye. He kept his head hunched down close to his chest, enveloped in a thick cloud of cigarette smoke.

Xiaohong thought to herself, If this mayor is so capable when it comes to taking care of Mr Zhuang’s business, surely he’s up to securing a couple of temporary residence cards. Sitting down close to the man, she made sure to keep his wine glass full and his cigarette lit for the rest of the evening. The mayor focused on drinking and smoking, not uttering a word.