327: Chapter 125: No One Knows the President Better Than Me 327: Chapter 125: No One Knows the President Better Than Me Nanshi Main Street, Sea Red Mansion… not the steamed kind of rainbow.
Tonight, the big red lanterns were hung high.
“Hang more!
No one cares now, don’t save candles for me!”
Manager Cui Yulou was in a good mood, beaming with joy.
He could finally conduct business normally, God knows what kind of humiliating days he had endured over the past two years.
Had it not been for his prudence, the moment the war ended, he immediately closed his business, donated military funds, and disbanded his staff.
He had sent the older girls away by canceling their contracts and adopted the younger ones as his daughters to provide them with an education… It was only thus that he had escaped disaster, otherwise, he would have ended up like his peers, at a complete loss.
This area used to be under the management of Qiu Ying from the Red Lantern Society, a ruthless woman who had fought alongside the President.
She was merciless and cold-hearted, reputed to relish drinking human blood and flaying people alive.
Dreaming about her was not the scariest thing; waking up from a nightmare to find her sitting by your window, her eyes fiercely fixed on you, could scare someone to death.
Manager Cui had experienced this three times, feeling as if it had shortened his life by at least ten years.
Now, finally, the woman was dead, reportedly blown to bits.
Good!
She deserved to die!
Although that was what he thought, Manager Cui dared not voice it aloud.
Being cautious was what had allowed him to maintain his business until now.
Upon returning to the VIP room, as soon as he opened the door, he heard the sobbing from inside.
Several girls in green jackets and black skirts… the most fashionable school uniform currently, were being groped and played with by clients cuddling them.
Manager Cui frowned and said, “What are you crying about?
Is serving these gentlemen too humiliating for you?”
“Hey!
Brother Cui, don’t say that, it’s all part of the ambiance!”
The leader withdrew his hand from inside a girl’s skirt, waved carelessly at Manager Cui, and said, “You can’t deny, Brother Cui, you are a leader in the industry.
I think this act is excellent, you must keep it.
You’ll probably make a fortune!”
Playing with female students, a tacitly indulged affair by the upper social echelons of contemporary society.
As for the new policies introduced by the President, they presented both joys and concerns to the elite class, a mixture of good and bad.
The ban was concerning because it completely doomed the local customs industry in Tianmen City, which had very few growth points left after the war; the economy was severely hit.
In the evening, one could no longer go out for drinks and fun, but rather toss and turn in bed, feeling lonely and empty.
What was delightful was that nowadays, young ladies and brides were taking to the streets, available for appreciation.
In the past, these modest women would rarely leave their homes and you wouldn’t see what they looked like until the day they got married.
Now, if you wanted to see, you could just look; to be frank, the demeanor and appearance of these reserved women were a hundred times better than the girls from the past in the brothels.
As for whether one could charm them into bed, that depended on individual skills.
Such activities were difficult to carry out in the past because officials really did come knocking.
The police would speak of the law, but those old women with red strings and safflowers in their hair didn’t talk about the law at all.
Finally, the hardships were over, and the clouds had dispersed in a day!
“Mr.
Liu, for you to take an interest in my young daughter is her good fortune,”
Boss Cui sat at the wine table, circled around with a cup in hand, and then returned to Mr.
Liu’s side, whispering, “You know I’m always keen on making friends, traveling from the south to the north and dealing with both the lawful and the lawless.
I unavoidably entertain a lot.
Even though everyone says the policies are loosening now, I’m still afraid those religious women will come back to haunt us…”
“Brother Cui, you’re being too modest.
If you didn’t know the insider information, would you dare to open up this place with such fanfare?”
Mr.
Liu slowly kneaded the girl’s waist with one hand while holding a wine cup in the other, gently clinking it with Boss Cui’s and chuckling softly, “The Red Lantern Society has fallen and let it be; no one wants them back—when everyone opposes you, no matter how hard you try, it’s like struggling against the tide alone.
It’s the trend, the people’s will, they can’t help but comply.”
Hearing this, Boss Cui hurriedly took the jug to refill Mr.
Liu’s wine glass, laughing apologetically, “Mr.
Liu, you’re deeply knowledgeable and well-informed; please give me some insight, what’s the reasoning behind this trend and the people’s will?”
“Do we really need to go into detail?”
Mr.
Liu scoffed, raising three fingers.
“The Red Lantern Society was originally nothing more than a group of old prostitutes banding together for self-preservation, claiming to believe in the Holy Mother of Red Lotus, but actually still engaging in their old tricks of burning incense and worshipping Buddha, a farce of playing with gods and ghosts.
Over the years, they’ve shown no innovation.
When the President started his rise in Tianmen, these women had their moment of glory because he needed them.
Now that the President has ascended to supreme power and controls the military, what use does he have for these shallow-minded women?”
“Since ancient times, rulers at the establishment of every dynasty have tried by all means to reduce these influential personnel, which is quite normal.
When you first rise to power, old comrades may not be very competent themselves but rely on their seniority to disrespect the Emperor, occupying their positions without performing their duties, causing displeasure both to those above and below them.”
“Although the President might refrain from making a statement due to past sentiments, there would certainly be people willing to share the monarch’s worries and serve—this is one point!”
“Moreover, it has been said since old times that an unskilled woman is virtuous.
In recent years, with the treacherous state of the imperial court and its changing fortunes, our President rose to power and even donned the Heavenly Robe, a hero of women rarely seen in a thousand years.
And now you expect a second one?
Nowadays, they promote gender equality, letting women receive education and work, but they even want to take the civil service exams and enter the court as officials?”
“Think about it, Boss Cui, the civil service examination has been an unchanging pillar of the state for a thousand years; even if the new government implements new policies, it is only a change in form, not in substance.
The textbooks might be new, but the studies are the same, the exams remain, nothing different.
If the civil service exam was already difficult to pass in the past, now they want women to enter the examination halls and compete with genuine scholars for spots?”
“Such a daring act that defies the world is bound to meet with opposition from all sides—this is the second point!”
“Then let’s discuss the Qianjin Church.
Do you think the Western Church is fond of it?
I’ve heard from Western friends that what those nuns are doing with the Holy Clothes Society and the Liberation Theology Sect, even in the context of the Western Religion, belongs to heresy.
When they were being suppressed by the Frank Empire, people were executed in droves, and they fled to our place only when they couldn’t stay in Europa anymore.”
“Domestically speaking, it’s even less justified—it’s a case of Zhu Bajie looking in the mirror, not human either way.
If it weren’t for their support for the President back then, they never would have developed to this extent.”