The General Under the Skirt - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The woman nudged Shen Roujia’s arm and asked, “What is your name?”

Shen Roujia lowered her eyes and said earnestly, “My surname is Shen, my first name is Roujia. Respectful and dignified, gentle and kind, my mother gave me this name.”

The woman was taken aback, then burst out laughing. 

“So your family is a scholarly one. I don’t understand what you mean. Since we’ve met, I’ll just call you Xiao Jia, it’s easier to remember.”

Shen Roujia nodded.

“Alright. What’s your name?”

The woman replied, “Me? My name is Qingrong.” She paused, then added, “Clear, as in clear water, Rong, as in appearance.”

Shen Roujia nodded, a gentle smile curving her lips.

“A lotus flower emerging from clear water, naturally beautiful. It’s a beautiful name.”

Qingrong smiled and replied, “A blind fortune teller in my village gave me that name. My father said he also recited this poem at that time.”

Qingrong then turned to look at Shen Roujia. The girl’s face bore visible red marks, but they couldn’t hide her delicate beauty. She sat huddled in the corner, her eyes slightly moist. Her skin was smooth and porcelain white, her lips pink and tender. Her voice was soft and melodious. When she looked at people, her eyes were full of sincerity and innocence.

Untouched by hardship, untouched by the world, like a child.

She didn’t belong in this place.

Looking at the redness on the girl’s cheek, Qingrong asked, “Did they beat you?”

The question clearly touched a sensitive spot for Shen Roujia. Her expression changed slightly. She touched her face and replied softly, “Yes.”

Qingrong said, “It’s okay. Almost everyone who comes here is beaten by those beasts to some extent. Did… did they do anything else to you?”

Shen Roujia’s voice was flat as she recounted, “They stole my valuables—everything, even the red cloak I wore when I left home.” 

Qingrong waited patiently, her gaze kind. “Anything else?” she asked quietly. Shen Roujia’s face twisted with pain; her hands clenched into fists. A long silence hung between them before she finally whispered, “…They weren’t human.”

Qingrong paused, understanding dawning on her, but she didn’t seem surprised. She patted Shen Roujia’s back and said, “It’s okay, everyone who comes here…”

Then she heard Shen Roujia continue, “Someone kissed… kissed me.”

Qingrong’s hand froze on Shen Roujia’s back and suddenly stopped, and her tone was very unnatural as she said, “… just kissed you?”

Shen Roujia nodded, a little confused.

“Yes…”

Then she turned to Qingrong, blinking. 

“What’s wrong?”

Qingrong shook her head and said, “Nothing, I was just asking. It’s okay, it was just a kiss. Wipe it off and it’s over.”

She looked at the group of people, then said, “Xiao Jia, I don’t know if we’ll ever get out of here. If we do, let’s be friends.”

Shen Roujia nodded without hesitation and replied, “Okay.”

Shen Roujia knew her situation. The fear of the unknown and the loneliness of being away from home weighed heavily on her, with no family, no one she knew. To have someone who was kind to her, willing to talk to her, made Shen Roujia feel grateful and reassured. Then Qingrong asked, “Have you eaten anything?”

Shen Roujia looked at the scraps on the deck and shook her head. 

“No.”

Qingrong followed Shen Roujia’s gaze and sighed knowingly. 

“Your family must have been well-off before.”

Shen Roujia didn’t know why Qingrong had suddenly brought this up. Slightly confused, she turned to look at her. Then she saw Qingrong pull out a steamed bun from somewhere, sigh and offer it to Shen Roujia.

“Here.”

The bun wasn’t large and rested calmly in Qingrong’s palm.

Compared to the ones Shen Roujia had seen them scrambling for earlier. It looked much cleaner, without the blue-black mould and not so greyish-yellow. It was slightly flattened, as if it had been hidden on her person for some time. Qingrong said, “This one is clean.”

Shen Roujia was starving. She swallowed silently, but instead of taking the bun, she asked, “Aren’t you going to eat it?”

Qingrong shook her head. 

“What, did you think I was saving it for you by not eating it? Don’t flatter yourself, this is what I had left over.”

She offered the bun to Shen Roujia again. 

“Are you going to take it or not?”

Shen Roujia reached out and took the bun, looking at Qingrong gratefully. “Thank you, Qingrong.”

“Eat it quickly, we have to go back soon.”

Shen Roujia looked at the bun in her hand. She was so hungry that she didn’t hesitate to take a bite.

Dry, coarse, and difficult to swallow.

Compared to what Shen Roujia was used to eating, it was practically nothing. But at that moment, she felt an indescribable sense of contentment.

That feeling of contentment came from the edible food and the friend she could talk to. 

After a while, Shen Roujia swallowed the food in her mouth and asked Qingrong, “Do you know… what they’re going to do to us?”

Qingrong’s expression stiffened for a moment, then returned to normal.

“I don’t know, but every time we reach a new place, some of the old faces disappear and new ones appear.”

After finishing the bun, Shen Roujia turned to look at Qingrong. Only then did she notice the numerous bruises on Qingrong’s neck. Frowning, Shen Roujia asked, “Did they… beat you?”

Qingrong was taken aback, then unexpectedly laughed. Shen Roujia couldn’t decipher the meaning of the laughter. Qingrong straightened her clothes, gave her a wry smile and said, “It’s nothing, it’s not like they’re going to kill us.”

Shen Roujia lowered her head, thinking that these people were vicious thugs. She had been beaten when she first arrived, not to mention Qingrong, who had been here for a while.

“Lick the floor clean, all of you! If you don’t, you know the consequences!”

A booming male voice suddenly came from the doorway, making Shen Roujia tremble with fear.

She was truly afraid of these people.

Her hands began to twist her clothes again, her feet shrinking back, afraid to look. At that moment, a pair of rough but warm hands covered hers. Qingrong leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Don’t be afraid.”

Shen Roujia froze. The soft voice calmed her nerves and she felt less afraid than before. At least she had found someone in this strange environment who could be her friend.

If there was a future.

***

After the meal, Shen Roujia returned to her confinement.

Although the bun was dry and coarse, it was better than nothing in this situation. She didn’t have much of an appetite anyway, and she felt much better than before.

Shen Roujia’s lack of life experience was frightening, her understanding of the world shockingly naive. Having never experienced cruelty or darkness, she assumed the world was full of sunshine.

Back in the cramped room, Shen Roujia sat back in her original place. She stared at the small, square room, a feeling of helplessness washing over her. She was now on a large ship. She didn’t know why these people had captured her, or what she would face next.

Outside, there were guards everywhere, all tall and fierce, each with a long knife at their waist. There was a guard at the entrance to each holding area. Let alone escape from this small cage, even if she could get out, how could she escape the watchful eyes of these men? Besides, she was on water. Unless she jumped, escape was impossible.

And she didn’t know how to swim at all.

Attempting to escape in this situation was practically suicide.

Shen Roujia sighed. Even now, she still couldn’t believe what had happened to her in the past few days. She was scared and terrified. She wanted to cry, but she had shed enough tears in the past few days. It had only served to vent her emotions. Her father and brother were so powerful, yet she was like a useless piece of trash, unable to do anything in this situation.

After about an hour, there was a commotion outside the door, someone opened it.

“Come out!”

Shen Roujia wasn’t as hesitant as the first time. She crawled out before the person could urge her. Once outside, Shen Roujia saw many other women who had been captured just like her. They all had their heads down, their faces haggard and pale, their appearance more than just desperate.

Shen Roujia didn’t know what to do, and she didn’t dare ask.

Whack!

Someone suddenly smacked her back with a bamboo stick. A searing pain shot through her, almost knocking her off her feet.

Shen Roujia cried out in pain. 

“Ah!”

“Screaming like you’re in bed? Keep moving! I’ll gouge your eyes out if you keep looking around!”

The sharp pain brought tears to her eyes, rolling down her cheeks before they could cool.

The men herded them together. Shen Roujia’s back burned with pain. She didn’t dare look back, keeping her head down as she followed the crowd.

They were being herded into a large room. She didn’t know what this place had been used for, but the floor was damp and had a strong, fishy smell. As soon as they entered, the men locked the door behind them.

Shen Roujia didn’t understand why they were being held here.

She was surrounded by women dressed in rags. Despite their disheveled appearance, it was easy to see that they were all around her age.

Some were alone, others huddled together in pairs or groups, their expressions filled with despair.

Shen Roujia saw the woman with the child again. She was sitting in the corner, her child asleep, her eyes open and blank, staring at the door. Shen Roujia tried to find Qingrong in the crowd, but after looking around, she couldn’t see her.

Were some of them not being held here?

Next to Shen Roujia, two girls sat huddled together, whispering.

Worried about Qingrong’s safety, Shen Roujia hesitated for a moment, then shuffled over to the two girls and asked, “Excuse me… I’m sorry to bother you, but do you know Qingrong?”

They stopped talking and looked up at Shen Roujia. At first, they were stunned by her beauty, but their expressions quickly changed to a pity that she couldn’t understand. One of them said, “You mean Qingrong?”

Shen Roujia didn’t notice the change in their expressions. When she heard her answer, she quickly replied, “Yes. Yes, it’s her.”

“Do you know where she is?”

The two looked around but couldn’t find Qingrong. Their expressions became difficult to read, and they hesitantly said, “…She must have been called away by those beasts again.”

Shen Roujia’s face froze, and she asked, “What are they doing to Qingrong? Are they going to beat her again?”

The girl seemed surprised by the question.

“Beat her?”

Shen Roujia didn’t understand their reaction.

“Isn’t… isn’t that it?”

One of them pursed her lips, her expression complex.

“You’re thinking too simply. When she’s taken out—”

“Yes!” the other girl interrupted quickly, then said quietly, “Yes, you’re right, they’re beating her again.”

After that, the girl clenched her fists and said angrily, “They’re not even human. They’re the ones who should die!”