money player

After having a later lunch than usual, Sin Yiu-man left Li-ha Farm, taking Fei Bao-qi with him and leaving Narcissus behind.

Two meals were prepared, breakfast and lunch were made, and dinner was not lacking. In this way, the new bride's first performance was very successful.

After the car had driven some distance from Lixia Farm, Xian Yaowen embraced Fei Baoqi, kissed her hair, and gently stroked her cheek. "Having a hard time?"

Fei Baoqi hugged Xian Yaowen tightly, "It's so painful, so very painful. I almost couldn't breathe several times, Uncle..."

"If you feel awkward, you can call him by his name directly."

Fei Baoqi looked up and met Xian Yaowen's gaze. "It seems like your parents have seen through our relationship. Your mother has made several pointed remarks when she talked to me."

Xian Yaowen gently patted Fei Baoqi's arm, "People from the countryside certainly don't understand the world as well as people from the city, but their understanding of human nature is not necessarily the same. The scale of Bao'an people going to Southeast Asia is not as large as that of Taishan and Kaiping, but the number is still quite large, forming a diverse structure, meaning there are all kinds of people and situations."

For men alone, there were teenagers, young adults, and adults; unmarried, newlyweds, and married men. Going to Southeast Asia was like risking one's life. The first hurdle was the vast ocean, where shipwrecks were common, and there were also cases of people being thrown overboard.

Even if one successfully reaches Southeast Asia, the process of establishing a foothold is fraught with peril. Starvation, being beaten to death, or being sold into slavery in South America are all possibilities. In short, before one can rise to prominence and establish one's own power, one is always at risk of losing one's life.

This is looking at the issue from the perspective of men who went to Southeast Asia.

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If we look at it from the perspective of the wives who stayed behind, going to Southeast Asia would take five or six years, or even ten or twenty years, or even a lifetime. They shouldered the heavy burden of raising children, taking care of their parents-in-law, and managing farm work. They endured enormous pressure and loneliness both physically and mentally."

They were going through a long period of anxiety and fear: Had their husbands died? Had they changed their minds because their husbands hadn't sent money back in so long?
The term "left-behind wives" is more politely used to refer to "relatives of overseas Chinese," but more bluntly and directly, it means "living a life of widowhood."

Traditional notions of chastity were a heavy shackle on them; remaining chaste was not only a personal matter, but also concerned the reputation of the entire family.

In close-knit rural societies, especially in clan villages where people of the same surname live together, family elders and neighbors form a tight surveillance network from top to bottom, and their behavior is almost completely exposed to the public eye.

Once adultery is discovered, the punishment is devastating. At best, the woman will be punished by family law; at worst, she will be expelled from the family and drowned. Her children will also be unable to hold their heads high in the family.

Their livelihood depended entirely on remittances sent back from Southeast Asia by their husbands. If their infidelity was discovered, it meant the loss of their economic support, plunging themselves and their children into dire straits. They lacked independent economic status and social identity, and would find it difficult to survive without their families.

To put it simply, if a wife who stays behind in the home has an affair, there's a 50% chance she'll die. Even if her husband's family doesn't intervene, her own family might try to expel her. If a brother has an adulterous sister, he'll easily lose face and won't find a wife. The family line might even end.

In the minds of many parents in the countryside, daughters are like oxen, working tirelessly at home for over a decade, only to be sold for a good price to pay for the bride price when their sons get married. Alternatively, the bride price can be waived by finding a suitable family to exchange the oxen for a cow: "My cow goes to your family to work and give birth to calves, and your cow comes to my family."

Fei Baoqi couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He patted Fei Baoqi's arm again, "In the countryside, a woman only has a chance to become a superior person if she becomes a mother-in-law. She can have one or more daughters-in-law to be tormented and can vent the resentment that has accumulated along the way."

This becomes a source of hope for women who endure humiliation, and it also helps maintain family harmony. An invisible force is pushing this generational pattern of bullying the next, making it difficult for mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law to empathize, even though the mother-in-law may have hated her mother-in-law so much when she was the daughter-in-law that she wanted to chop her up and feed her to the pigs.

He paused again to give Fei Baoqi time to process what he had said, and then continued, “Women in the countryside have such a status that even if a wife who has an affair is left behind and meets a more lenient clan, and is not killed but expelled from the clan, her life will become extremely difficult.”

I won't go into how difficult it was, as you might find it unpleasant to hear. In short, it was very difficult, extremely difficult.

Although the consequences of infidelity are either death or hardship, it is not uncommon for wives who commit adultery to stay at home. Physical needs and psychological emptiness, once the opportunity arises, can drive them to act like moths to a flame.

To suppress their inner turmoil, some women would mix the ash their husbands sent home to build houses with water and apply it to their faces and bodies, seeking a false sense of intimacy.

Some clans and husbands are more open-minded, or rather, more perverse, and have invented a special marriage custom of marrying a ghost wife.

Before going to Southeast Asia, the husband would find a man from a poor family, pay him to live in his home, have sex with his wife, have children, and help with household chores. In short, the wife and the man were not husband and wife in name, but in reality they were husband and wife.

When the husband goes home to visit his family, the man returns to his own home, and the wife and husband continue to live as husband and wife.

Similar to the custom of marrying a ghost wife is the practice of recruiting a husband to support the family. When a husband becomes disabled due to a serious illness or a sudden accident, a helper husband is recruited to take over all the household labor and support the husband, wife, and children.

At the same time, he gains the right to have sex with his wife, and the children born to them generally belong to the legal husband to continue his family line.

Xian Yaowen met Fei Baoqi's gaze. "What I just said was what I learned from my time in the countryside. You know, I wasn't married at the time. If you're not married, you're not considered an adult. In other people's eyes, I was still a child, but I was still able to receive a lot of information and form a certain understanding of marriage and relationships between men and women."

When my father was young, he was a double-flowered red stick in the Xian clan ancestral hall. He was undefeated in the surrounding villages with his five-pronged hoe. He participated in many battles, both large and small, for water and manure, and also in guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.

For example, you could find fault with the high-ranking members of the clan hall in a rival village, expose the adultery of a woman in the village, and make the other clan hall lose face. But before you expose it, there are two steps to take: first, identify which woman is a suspect, and then start a follow-up investigation.

Since Wenchangwei Village did this, other villages naturally retaliated in kind. The village had always been terrified of adultery and guarded against it with utmost vigilance.

My mother was a scribe and a singer. The former was responsible for copying the names of the female descendants and keeping the account book of the money donated by married women for incense oil. This role was usually played by a widowed woman who was literate and highly respected in the clan. The latter was responsible for singing the names of newborn male descendants when the lanterns were lit on the Lantern Festival. This role was usually played by a woman with a loud voice and a dignified appearance.

It's not unusual for someone to be a singer; good natural qualities are all that's needed. The scribe, in a symbolic sense, led the women of the Xian clan, and all the women in the village were under her control.

In my memory, there haven't been any cases of adultery in Wenchangwei in the last ten years or so. There was one man who was caught in the act with a woman from the next village; he was nearly drowned in a pig cage. My father led a group to rescue him and handed him over to my mother to deal with.

Sin Yiu-man chuckled softly, “Do you understand? My father is an expert at catching adulterers, and my mother is experienced in preventing things from happening. As for you, your guilty conscience is written all over your face, as if the words ‘I’m having an affair with your son’ are engraved on your forehead. It’s not surprising that my mother was implying something.”

Fei Baoqi touched her cheek and exclaimed in surprise, "Is it that obvious?"

"It's not as obvious as you think. To see it, you need a prerequisite: preconceived notions. First, you need to know that I'm a womanizer. Second, you need to know about Baoshu's existence. In other people's eyes, I, Xian Yaowen, am indiscriminate in my desires, and I don't even spare older women. They might even think that I have a special fetish for older women."

Sin Yiu-man chuckled and said, "If people around us see that you and I are seeing each other all the time, what will they think?"

That fake foreigner must be having an affair with Fei Baoqi, his sister-in-law.

What would they say?

Let me tell you, once I saw the two of them pulling and tugging at each other. Oh my god, that fake foreigner's hand was even inside Fei Baoqi's clothes! I'm so angry, I'm so angry, he has no shame at all!

Most people would just listen to these kinds of things and not take them seriously. However, they would form the idea in their minds that "Xian Yaowen and Fei Baoqi are probably having an affair." From then on, whenever we appeared together, they would subconsciously pay attention to our every move.

If you exhibit any behavior that makes them suspicious, the initial "probability" will gradually turn into "certainty." When gossiping or spreading rumors, your tone will become firm, and over time, even without catching them in the act, our adultery will be treated as an established fact.

Xian Yaowen's words left Fei Baoqi in a state of turmoil. She was caught in a dilemma, unsure of what to do next. She felt reluctant to let go, as she had already crossed the moral barrier. Her mind kept replaying or showing the intimate scenes from her past.

If she doesn't let go, how will she face outsiders if they find out?

She was flustered, but Xian Yaowen pressed the pause button on dealing with Fei Baoqi's affairs. His thoughts had already drifted away, and he began to ponder other things.

On the way back to Narcissus Manor, the two embraced, but each had their own thoughts.

Back at the manor, Xian Yaowen took a shower in the bathroom, and then went to the dressing room, where Xiao Yan, Narcissus's maid, helped him change his clothes.

It was a bit hot today, so Xiaoyan helped him choose a dark gray silk long shirt, a pair of white straight-leg trousers, made of a single layer of Song brocade and Xiangyun yarn composite fabric, which was quite breathable, and a pair of black cloth shoes.

The jewelry I chose was a British Lever brand pocket watch with a sterling silver case, guilloché engraving, and royal crest. The original watch chain was replaced with a red cord, and an old mine icy jade koi pendant was attached to the sinker, which was about the size of a fishing line.

After putting on her long gown, Xiao Yan said while fastening the buttons, "Master, two of my sisters want to go back to Tangshan."

"Just tell Narcissus about this."

"They're bringing people back."

“Okay.” Sin Yiu-man said calmly, “I’ll write down a phone number for you later. You can give it to them and have them call when they get to Hong Kong. Someone will help them.”

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. By the way, could you give them some money? They can't return home in glory looking too shabby."

"My older sister has already given it to me."

"This is just my personal sentiment, and it's not the same as what Narcissus said."

"Yes."

Xiao Yan fastened the buttons and helped Xian Yaowen put on his pocket watch.

After getting dressed, Sin Yiu-man walked out of the main building and came to the annex building hidden in the woods.

When the Red Butterfly Gang, led by Narcissus, disbanded, some members left, while others continued to eat with Narcissus and obey her orders. The group split into two: one group was stationed in the annex building, and the other group was scattered in the shops around Narcissus Manor.

Looking out of the training room window in the annex, Sin Yiu-man saw that they were practicing dagger fighting techniques in pairs. One person held a dagger, while the other held other easily portable weapons to deal with various situations.

The training was extremely brutal, with fighting styles that traded injury for life. They would take a blow from a non-lethal part of their body, then plunge a dagger into the opponent's vitals, followed by a twisting motion of the dagger to shred the internal organs, instantly rendering the opponent unable to fight.

In a one-on-one close-quarters battle, the outcome can be decided in a maximum of three seconds. When the skill levels are similar, one will inevitably die while the other is injured, and trading injury for life is the most effective strategy.

After staring at the person with the highest fighting skills for a moment, he looked around and saw a huge human anatomy diagram on one wall and an acupoint diagram on the opposite wall, with several acupoints that could cause spasms and incapacitate a person marked with large red dots.

Having seen enough, he quietly left.

Half an hour later, he arrived at the villa area between Sims Avenue and Geylang Road, upstream of the Geylang River.

Far from the city center, this place was built for wealthy businessmen who made a fortune from rubber prices to escape the hustle and bustle on weekends. It has tennis courts, garages, servants' quarters, and a private dock, making it a luxury mansion of the villa level.

The river here is crystal clear, surrounded by rubber and coconut groves, and has both electricity and water. A gravel road leads to the main asphalt road, making it perfect for a weekend getaway. However, there is one drawback: there is no sewer system, and sewage from septic tanks is discharged directly into the Geylang River, giving it a somewhat remote and unappealing feel.

However, the price wasn't expensive. Shui Xian bought a house from someone else, and even after adding some markups, the price was only 3.5 Malaysian Ringgit.

Upon entering the garden of the villa, Sin Yiu-man saw a dozen or so women sitting comfortably on the lawn. Leung Sai-chu, the second of the four Leung sisters, was sitting on a low stool. Directly in front of them was a movable blackboard, where a teacher was speaking eloquently with chalk in hand.

He glanced at the blackboard and saw several English words written on it, such as "Ratepayers' Meeting" and "Municipal Council". The former is the taxpayers' meeting and the latter is the municipal council. Combining them, he knew that the teacher was talking about the Shanghai International Settlement. He then silently corrected the municipal council to the Municipal Council.

He stopped beside Liang Saizhu and listened to the teacher explain the origin of the translation of the Municipal Council.

It is said that during the Qing Dynasty, the terms "municipal committee" and "committee" had not yet been imported from Japan. When Huang Fang, the acting Shanghai Daotai, was about to submit a memorial to the Tongzhi Emperor to report on the matter of the International Settlement, he sent his servants to inquire about the function of the Municipal Committee. When the servants returned and reported back, he heard that the function was very similar to that of the Ministry of Works, so he referred to the Municipal Committee as the "Ministry of Works Bureau" in the memorial.

After explaining the origin of the name, the teacher went on to talk about the functions and positions of the Municipal Council. When talking about certain positions, the teacher would interweave some anecdotes about famous people, and would also go beyond the International Settlement to talk about the French Concession, mentioning some prominent figures from the past.

They might even take a bigger leap, talking about the origins of some US state names, such as Massachusetts being named after the Massachusetts Bay Company and Virginia after the Virginia Company, and then discussing British colonial thinking and strategies, switching from anecdotes to politics.

Xian Yaowen was quite satisfied with his teacher. The teacher made the dry content lively and interesting, making it easy for laymen to understand and experts to grasp, and the students did not find it too difficult.

He tapped Liang Saizhu's small shoulder lightly and whispered, "Can you understand?"

Liang Saizhu nodded.

He stopped talking, quietly left the classroom, and went into the mansion.

The living room was converted into a newspaper reading room, filled with four-sided columnar newspaper racks, with newspapers neatly categorized and hung on them, encompassing all the worthwhile newspapers from Singapore and Malaysia, as well as all the major newspapers from the UK and the US, and representative newspapers from other European countries.

Xian Yaowen flipped through the newspaper, then went to the bookshelf in the corner of the living room, where several rows of notebooks were placed, each with a name on it. He randomly picked one out and opened it to read the newspaper reading notes inside.

I randomly picked two pages to look at, then switched to another notebook.

After reviewing more than a dozen notebooks, I gained a general understanding of how "students" read and learn from newspapers.

Next, he went to the room that had been converted into a music room, browsed the record shelves to see what records were on the shelves, and then went to the instrument room, running his fingers over each instrument.

After visiting the library, chess room, dance studio, and dressing room, I finally returned to the garden.

The class had just ended, and the students were taking a break. (End of Chapter)