When mother sent Min Min into service, along with the usual servant's belongings and a bundle of food, she gave her a heavy bronze pot with two handles. And said - with such a pot you won't go hungry anywhere. She was, as she remembers, a bit surprised then. She said nothing aloud to mother, bowed properly - at the waist - and took the pot with her. Heavy. Polished to a shine. And it even seemed to smell delicious. A pot is a pot. And how could it feed her, it can neither get food nor cook by itself. Just a thing. Moreover, in the high house of the Won Mi family, servants were fed in a special dining hall, they had no access to the kitchen, the kitchen team was separate, servants of the high house - separate. Why it was arranged this way - she didn't know, simply upon arriving at the high house, and after Aunt Cho allocated her a sleeping place in the common rooms and showed her what needed to be done - she put the old bronze pot with two handles under her bed along with her other things, and forgot about it. Not for long.
That very evening two servants who cleaned in the scarlet wing of the high house approached her and asked - they say, what's this you have, wrapped in cloth, isn't it a pot? It turned out that if any of the servants wanted to eat in the evening, they had to cook themselves, since the dining hall closed in the evening. And the servants' life was simple - all day they cleaned, washed, dried mats, mended clothes, and who knows what else. And only in the evening, just before sleep, they had about two hours of free time, well, if someone didn't go to sleep, then even more.
And it was there, at the evening gatherings, modestly called "tea parties," that the servants communicated, exchanged news and gossip, talked about this and that, and it all happened at the table. Officially they were allowed to drink tea anytime they were free. And there was even a hearth for this, a small one for two places, just to put teapots on. However, the servants of the high house went everywhere, knew everything and could get anything. And at tea on the table there were often sweets of those that Lady Mei herself usually liked, and delicacies that the young lady had again deigned to throw out in the morning. Only, you can't fill up on sweets and delicacies, what is it to eat sweets at night, from such things your stomach can hurt. What was missing in the common room of the high house servants was a pot. To cook real food, either in hot oil or in broth. And if any of the servants started cooking in her pot, they had to invite the pot's owner. Someone would stew a piece of meat with herbs, someone bamboo shoots in oil, and sometimes they'd even make pastries. And each time she got a piece, because someone participated in the common cooking with meat, someone with vegetables taken from the kitchen team, someone cut and cooked everything, and she - with the bronze pot. So mother was right, the old bronze pot didn't let her go hungry.
And now they sat together with elder Ayua and little Sina around this very pot and with pleasure ate pieces of fried pork with finely chopped vegetables sprinkled with sesame seeds. Ayua had gotten a decent piece of pork during the day, wasn't afraid to run to the old and terrible butcher Weidun, appeased him with something. Little Sina ran to the kitchen for vegetables, well, vegetables could always be gotten from the kitchen team in exchange for a small favor or even just like that, enough to ask and smile, there were no women on the kitchen team, so the cooks suffered. Elder Ayua had her own oil - in a pot-bellied, green-colored bottle. She bought it in town when she had a day off, oil and spices. That's how a table for three was formed. There was of course also tea - and what tea! Good tea, from the Head's personal supplies, Lady Mei had rewarded the elder with a packet a week ago, real Jasmine Dragon of Noon!
And of course - sweets. Candied fruits in caramel, small ma chiu balls rolled in sesame, and several soft mochi. Before entering service in the high house of the Won Mi family, Min Min had never seen such sweets, let alone tasted them. And here she was - sitting at the table with servants of the high house, the same as them - in clean and beautiful clothes, drinking tea, picking up meat with chopsticks, and for dessert sweets from the best confectionery shop in town! Life is beautiful.
"Young Master Wang Yan came to the estate yesterday," little Sina shares: "I was beating dust from their mats in the Scarlet wing today, and there's a steep staircase there, while I was going down - I look, a carriage stopped at the porch. And Master Wang gets out of the carriage and his face - like petals of white roses at dawn."
"Master Wang is handsome," elder Ayua confirms: "tall, stately, such a velvet voice, walks as if floating above the ground, but..."
"Elder sister Ayua! Oh my! Are you one of those pining for Ming Tin?" the little one asks with interest and, covering her mouth with her sleeve, giggles from under it.
"Ming Tin is even a bit taller than this Wang Yan of yours. At the last Autumn festival they happened to be standing next to each other, and I immediately noticed that Master Ming's hat was higher than Master Wang's!"
"He just has a higher hat! And he also wears boots with thick soles! Otherwise he's shorter!" the little one enthusiastically waves her chopsticks and Min Min carefully holds her tea cup at the edge of the table - lest she knock it down.
"What do you say, Wok?" little Sina addresses her. Min Min only sighs. The ancient bronze pot has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. Sometimes they call her just that - Min Wok, that is, Pot. Well, fine. At least she doesn't go hungry.
"I actually like the butcher master," she replies and little Sina freezes in place, not bringing the piece of fried pork to her mouth with her chopsticks.
"So what?" the elder is not embarrassed at all: "Weidun, by the way, served in Imperial service up to veteran rank. A distinguished man and always with meat. And what hands he has! Solid muscles, gives you goosebumps."
"You have some kind of disease. Skin disease. If goosebumps run over you," the little one declares, finally getting hold of herself: "and a man shouldn't walk half-naked, only in a leather apron! Besides, he's an executioner! Last time he whipped poor Chisan so badly with the lash, she could barely walk!"
"Well, that's his job," elder Ayua shrugs: "and Chisan shouldn't have crossed the young lady. You know what her character is like."
"Lately she's become completely mad. You saw what happened to little Zhuwon? Well, the cook's boy from the lunch shift, curly-haired, still lisps every other word," little Sina shook her head.
"What happened to him?"
"She beat him with some stick, badly. Right on the head. He has bruises almost black and half his face is swollen. The kitchen team left him lying down, they've been working without him for three days, and he was on vegetable cleaning duty. That's why they sent for me - to help them clean vegetables for lunch. And I gathered some for us too."
"You should have said you spent half the day with the kitchen staff, batting your eyes there?" elder Ayua raises an eyebrow: "that's where your thoughts about Master Wang come from!" she nudges the little one in the side, jokingly, not seriously, and Min Min understands what the elder is doing now. Little Sina hasn't quite settled into the high house yet, doesn't understand that not all topics can be discussed like this at tea parties, that some things should only be whispered in ears, or better yet kept silent altogether. The topic about young Lady Liling, about her character and future marriage - is just one of those topics. And elder Ayua didn't cut the girl off and put her in her place, saying there's no need to gossip about the lady, especially to condemn her. She simply redirected the conversation to a safer topic.
"It's always easy to communicate with the kitchen team, not like with you!" says little Sina and pouts: "always like this to me..."
"It's just that the cooks are ready to drool over any girl," elder Ayua responds: "and you should guard yourself! Last year one such girl already married a cook and flew out of here herself and her husband after her! Where else will she find such conditions? Now she sells coal at the market with her husband."
"I'm not planning to marry a cook!"
"You're not planning to, so don't go to the kitchen in your free time! Or you might end up married to some bandit! You heard that those fleeing from justice are hiding on Mount Tian-Shu?" the elder purses her lips: "today you sell coal at the market, tomorrow you're in stocks on the square, and the day after tomorrow with bandits on the mountain. And from there it's not far to the 'Death of a Thousand Cuts' execution."
"Oh, what terrible things you say, elder sister. Let's better start eating sweets. This is what the young lady threw out yesterday, says they're too sweet. I don't understand how sweets can be too sweet at all. Sweets are sweets precisely to be sweet."
"Silly. Too sweet means cloying. When it's cloying - you don't taste the flavor. If you eat just sugar, would it be tasty? Look, mochi aren't sweet at all, but they emphasize the filling's taste because the rice flour shell is almost tasteless, but has texture."
"Oh come on," little Sina waves off the elder servant's words: "sugar is just wonderful. I can eat it in chunks, break it with tongs and put it in my cheek, let it melt there all day. If there are two pieces of sugar, I can do without other food! When it's sweet - that's good."
"Eating too much sweet will ruin your teeth, child," a voice suddenly sounds and Aunt Cho enters the door of the servants' tea room. Min Min immediately jumps up and bows, the other girls do the same, but a second late. Formally Aunt Cho is also a servant, but in reality she manages the entire high house and has power over everyone. Right after the Won Mi family members - Aunt Cho, the manager.
"Senior Manager Cho!" exclaims Ayua, as the eldest in the room: "forgive us for drinking tea at an improper time!"
"Oh, blessed goddess, sit down already. It's evening time, you've done all your work, drink tea, for heaven's sake." Aunt Cho cast a glance over the table and Min Min mentally cringed. On their table there wasn't just tea, there was meat, and stewed vegetables, and master's sweets... not every good family sets such a table, now Aunt Cho will ask - where did you get meat and sweets, did you really buy them with your own money, or did you steal them from the young lady's table? Oh dear, trouble, trouble, what will happen?! And she's here with her cursed pot too! She seems uninvolved, but she'll be an accomplice all the same. Not once in all her time serving in the high house had Min Min met the old executioner's whip, could the time have come?
Suddenly elder Ayua comes to her senses and invites Aunt Cho to the table, saying don't disdain us, Senior Manager Cho, sit down, help yourself, here are sweets, such wonderful mochi with red bean filling and stewed meat, cooked in a bronze pot, ancient bronze emphasizes the taste so well. Please sit down, and what tea! That very one, "Jasmine Dragon of Noon," the Head himself gave it to Ayua in a fit of good mood, she kept it until this moment, as if she knew that the Senior Manager would visit us today. It's modest here, but heartfelt, we just finished our work and sat down to drink tea and chat a little, no evil talk, exclusively about the good deeds of the Won Mi family, well and a few gossips about men and outfits, what else can girls talk about?
The Senior Manager just shook her head. She would gladly sit with you, girls, and your tea is wonderful, the Head was right when he marked your work with an expensive gift, and you little sister Ayua, are also good, didn't sell such a treasure to outsiders, but decided to share with friends. Still, in little Sina's place one should be more careful with sweets, teeth quickly spoil from such food, who will marry her then, Master Wang will certainly pass by. Little Sina immediately chokes, coughs, bending double and painfully blushing before their eyes. Min Min immediately pats her back, helping her cope with the cough.
"And you're just who I need, Min Min," says Aunt Cho and Min Min blinks, helping little Sina straighten up. She's needed by the Senior Manager? Why? Is this all because of the bronze pot? Her mother gave her this cursed pot for no good, it's also heavy, the pest. And now she'll get in trouble because of it too. So smart, Min Min? All servants are like servants, but you set up a kitchen in the tea room, even brought a pot, now go take a walk to the stable and tell old Weidun to give you some lashes on the back, you'll stop being clever in an instant!
"Aaa...eee..." Min Min squeezes out of herself, freezing before the Senior Manager's stern gaze and feeling drops of cold sweat rolling down her back.
"We need to talk. Alone," says Aunt Cho and these two traitors, Ayua and Sina, instantly evaporate! Mumbling something like "it's time to sleep" and "excuse us, we must go," these two slipped between Aunt Cho and the door like shadows of ghostly warriors after a bloody battle. The Senior Manager finally sits opposite Min Min and rolls up her sleeve, reaching for the teapot, Min Min, finally freed from her stupor, intercepts the teapot first and with a bow pours tea for Aunt Cho. She can't let her pour tea for herself, that would be disrespectful!
"Hmm." Aunt Cho unhurriedly brings the cup to her mouth. Closes her eyes, inhaling the aroma. After sipping - puts the cup on the table.
"Truly, the leaves of Jasmine Dragon of Noon tea hold within them the bitterness of rejected hopes," she says and shakes her head. Min Min is silent. She knows she doesn't understand tea varieties and doesn't know how to speak flowery and properly. Better to keep quiet, maybe there'll be less whip walking on her back later.
"What do you say, Min Min? Aren't you tired of being a servant in the high house yet? How do you like it here?" asks Aunt Cho and Min Min's heart falls down and rolls somewhere into her heels. She immediately bows, catches herself and falls prostrate before Aunt Cho.
"Please! Don't throw this worthless servant out on the street! My parents won't survive such shame!" she cries out, feeling tears boiling in her eyes: "please! I'll try harder! I... I'll throw out this pot!"
"What? What does the pot have to do with anything? Calm down!" Min Min feels Aunt Cho's soft hands lifting her up. Blessed goddess, she thinks, and here she disgraced herself, making the Senior Manager personally lift her from the floor!
"Sorry, Lady Cho, forgive me, Lady Cho, there's no forgiveness for me, Lady Cho... oh, I mean Senior Manager!"
"Stop already. I wanted to joke with you, but I see you don't understand jokes. Then I'll speak directly. Master Baoshu and Lady Mei have a new daughter. Adopted. I want you to become her personal servant. What do you say?"
"Lady Cho?" Min Min squeezes out of herself, feeling the tears dry on her cheeks. She'll be the personal servant of a Won Mi family daughter! Personal servant to the family head's daughter! This... this will be great! Mother was right after all - as long as she has this old bronze pot with her - she won't go hungry!