Like Guan Xiaorou, Zuo Feifei was another victim of feudal superstition.
She came from a scholarly family and was renowned as a talented young lady within a hundred li. She excelled at music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Perhaps the heavens were jealous of beauty. At fifteen, a red spot the size of an adzuki bean suddenly appeared beneath her left eye.
According to Da Kang superstition, a black mole in that spot meant great fortune, but a red mole or red patch marked a fox spirit, a seductress.
Guan Xiaorou’s sun allergy could be hidden; she simply stayed indoors spinning thread, and ordinary people never noticed.
But Zuo Feifei’s red patch was right under her eye. It could not be concealed.
Worse still, when her mother took her to see a physician, others saw it.
A betrothal that had already been arranged was instantly broken off by the groom’s family.
In feudal times, having an engagement cancelled was utterly humiliating for a woman.
Her father worked as a minor clerk in the Qingshan County yamen. When he heard people gossiping about his daughter behind her back, he lost his temper and punched one of them.
Only afterwards did he discover the man was the county magistrate’s son.
The magistrate of Qingshan was far more powerful than the one in Jinchuan; he was virtually omnipotent in his county. Striking his son was unforgivable.
That very day Zuo Feifei’s father was thrown into jail and beaten to death that night. The magistrate then framed him for crimes.
The Zuo household was confiscated, and all the women were sold into slavery.
Because of the red patch on her face, Zuo Feifei suffered greatly at the brokers’ yard. The brokers feared bad luck, so no one dared molest her, but they beat and scolded her constantly and often starved her.
Even the other female slaves shunned her.
Unable to bear it any longer, Zuo Feifei once tried to take her own life. Fortunately her mother was in the same yard and saved her just in time.
From that day on, her mother guarded her night and day, comforting and encouraging her.
Then Jin Feng appeared and brought both mother and daughter to Iron Pot Mountain.
After the horrors of the brokers’ yard, life on Iron Pot Mountain felt like paradise to the two women.
Though some still whispered behind her back, as long as she did her work well, no one dared bully her openly.
Out of gratitude, Zuo Feifei worked extremely hard and soon caught Wanniang’s attention.
When Wanniang learned she was literate, she immediately recommended her for a position as a female shop manager.
But a shop manager had to deal with customers face to face, and the red patch would be a serious problem, so Tang Xiaobei rejected the idea.
When Wanniang later left Iron Pot Mountain, she again recommended Zuo Feifei to Jin Feng as the new manager.
Jin Feng came to supervise the building of the soap workshops and observed her for a while. Finding her genuinely capable, he approved Wanniang’s suggestion.
This deepened Zuo Feifei’s gratitude towards Jin Feng, and she worked even harder. She introduced a series of measures that greatly raised workshop efficiency and, by blending kindness with discipline, successfully established her authority.
Because of her family’s tragedy, Zuo Feifei was usually very serious. The workers rarely saw her smile.
Yet in front of Jin Feng, she always smiled unconsciously. If he teased her a little, her eyes would curve into crescents.
Several times Jin Feng felt bewildered, unsure why she was so amused.
Right now, for instance, he had merely asked about recent developments on Iron Pot Mountain as a matter of routine, yet the smile never left Zuo Feifei’s face.
After chatting a while longer, the new group of female workers reached the top.
“Master, I will go settle them in first. I’ll come back later to report to you.”
Zuo Feifei said with a smile.
“Go ahead.”
Jin Feng nodded.
Zuo Feifei led the new arrivals away.
With so many people coming up the mountain, quite a few workers noticed the activity here.
If you asked where Jin Feng was most popular, the answer was definitely Iron Pot Mountain.
The soap factory workers were either former bandit hostages or slaves with tragic backgrounds. Their suffering had been even worse than that of ordinary commoners.
Thus their gratitude towards Jin Feng far exceeded that of the people in Xihe Bay.
At first they had only respected him and dared not be too forward. Later, when Jin Feng visited frequently to supervise the workshops, they discovered how easy-going he was, and gradually grew bolder.
Especially the girls who had been captured by bandits and lost their innocence; once they became familiar with him, they dared to tell him risqué jokes.
They knew nothing could ever happen with Jin Feng; they just found his embarrassed reactions entertaining and teased him on purpose.
The moment they spotted Jin Feng, the workers put down their tasks and headed towards the mountain entrance.
“Sisters, quick, look! Master Jin is here!”
“Master Jin, why has it taken you so long to visit Iron Pot Mountain?”
“Yes, Master Jin, Cai’er has missed you so much!”
“Stop talking nonsense or I’ll rip your mouth off!”
“Master is so handsome and capable. What’s wrong with missing him? If I still had my virtue, I would have slipped into his room at night long ago!”
“Even if you slipped in, aren’t you afraid someone is already in his bed?”
“What if there is? It’s cold now. More bodies keep it warmer.”
“Stop it, you’re making Master blush!”
“Master, you’re a grown man. Why are you blushing?”
“Maybe he’s tired from the ride. Master, let me wipe your sweat!”
…
Earlier Jin Feng had teased Zuo Feifei; now karma had arrived.
The workers crowded round him, laughing and greeting him noisily.
Their words grew bolder and bolder.
Some even started touching him playfully.
“Quiet, all of you! Keep this up and I’ll dock your wages!”
Jin Feng shouted, his face red.
After switching to assembly-line production, the female workers in the smelting workshop received three days off each month to do as they pleased.
They did not know how the furnaces were built or how the ore powder was mixed, so there was no risk of secrets leaking.
Soap-making, however, was far too simple and easy to copy, so Iron Pot Mountain workers were not allowed off the mountain, and outsiders were generally barred from coming up.
For example, the broker who had just delivered the new slaves was stopped at the fortress halfway up the slope.
At first Jin Feng worried the women would resent the restriction, but when Wanniang asked around, every one of them said they were perfectly content. No one complained, so Jin Feng decided to keep the policy for the time being.
To compensate them, he paid the Iron Pot Mountain workers more than the textile mill workers in Xihe Bay.
He also built a small supermarket on the mountain stocked with everything they might need, all sold cheaper than outside. When the women received their wages, they could spend them in the supermarket, save them, send money home to family members who were still free, or take an advance to redeem relatives who had been sold.
Recently, with the soap business booming, Jin Feng had given them another pay rise.
Compared to ordinary people in Da Kang, every Iron Pot Mountain worker was a little heiress.
Threatening to dock their wages had no effect at all.
The moment Jin Feng finished speaking, a worker immediately called back.
“Master, how much would you dock? Tell us a number, and tonight we can come to your room!”
“A bunch of hooligans!”
Jin Feng pushed away the woman who had spoken, thoroughly annoyed, and led Wan Yuhong off to find her brother.
“Master, you still haven’t said how much! Tell us a number! If I don’t have enough, my sisters and I can pool our money!”
“Yes, yes, Master, just name a price!”
“Master, don’t go! … Hey, he’s actually running!”
The women behind him kept shouting and laughing.
Jin Feng, face full of black lines, fled in defeat.
