Chapter 63: 63 Without You, How Can This Young Master Make Money?

Hearing Ning Mu suddenly say that he could find a divine doctor to remove the poison.

Liu Qingmei could not help but be startled.

However, she did not interrupt, only looked at him curiously, then feigned a normal expression.

As for Ji Siniang and the others, the noise of their discussion grew louder and louder.

In the end, they even began to deliberate.

Finally.

A graceful woman dressed in a gauze skirt, holding a pipa in her hands, was seen walking out from the crowd.

"Young Master, this concubine is Jiang Fuling, a Qingguan of Hua Man Ge. I would like to ask you, Young Master, are you certain?"

Jiang Fuling's voice was gentle and soft, moist and affectionate, and in her elegant, quiet eyes, which were like stars, expectation and nervousness flickered.

At this moment.

Ji Siniang also hurriedly stepped forward and explained: "Young Master, Owner, Fuling is the top Qingguan in our Hua Man Ge. Her skill in playing music is absolutely 'high-brow and refined'; the higher the song, the fewer the people who can harmonize with it!"

She was anxious to prove Jiang Fuling's status and strength, hoping to attract Ning Mu's attention.

Dialogue, after all, is about strength.

Although they themselves were all the lowest of the low, they still had to prove their own value to make the other party value them more.

Ning Mu raised his eyebrows and smiled, looking at Jiang Fuling, and said indifferently: "Even if I, this Young Master, say I am not certain, you only have half a month left now, so what else can you do?"

"On the contrary, since I, this Young Master, have already made a promise to you, why not just quietly wait for half a month?"

"From now on, this brothel will be managed by me, this Young Master. To put it bluntly, without you, how would I, this Young Master, make money?"

Hearing this, Jiang Fuling was startled.

It was indeed so.

Immediately, she and Ji Siniang exchanged a glance, and both nodded slowly.

"Very well, I, Fuling, on behalf of all the sisters, agree to the Young Master's request. Let us set a period of half a month. If within half a month, the Young Master can remove the poison from our bodies, then for the rest of our lives, we will obey the Young Master's every command. Whatever the Young Master says will be our mission. If..."

Speaking to this point, Jiang Fuling's eyes dimmed, and she said bitterly: "If the Young Master truly has no way, we will not blame anyone. This is just the fate we are meant to have..."

As Jiang Fuling's voice fell, most of the famous courtesans and prostitutes revealed bitter expressions, their eyes filled with infinite longing.

Even ants cling to life.

How much more so for them?

Ning Mu nodded and said: "Good, Jiang Fuling, is it? I, this Young Master, will remember you. You take them back first, and Si Niang, you stay."

The group of delicate women recovered some vitality and dispersed one by one.

Many of them secretly watched Ning Mu, their eyes filled with deep curiosity and expectation.

Most of them were women who had been abducted or bought, forced to engage in this profession under oppression, and had now resigned themselves to their fate.

But this did not mean they did not want to live.

If this new owner could truly remove the poison from their bodies, then to them, the new owner would be their savior, and they would repay him with their lives.

Once they had all left.

Ji Siniang then respectfully asked: "I wonder what instructions the Young Master has?"

Ning Mu gestured for her to come over, signaling her to sit down.

"Tell me how many people you have now, who can open the doors to welcome guests, which top courtesans are popular, and besides the usual 'laying the bed' and 'staying the night,' what other items... er, business methods do you have?" Ning Mu asked.

The so-called 'laying the bed' meant sleeping together with a prostitute, which was simply whoring. And 'staying the night' meant staying in the prostitute's room until dawn.

Ning Mu swore that he originally did not know these terms.

But he had always been a studious and inquisitive person.

These were all the underworld slang that Ye Yutan had taught him on the way to Hua Man Ge last time.

Of course, there were not only these items in the brothel.

There was also 'dry bedding,' which meant staying in the brothel but not having any physical contact with the prostitutes.

'Paving the hall' was when the guest and the prostitute admired each other, and they would set a date to invite guests, or even have the guest host a banquet to clarify their "sweetheart" relationship. This was what the madams liked best because it brought in the most money.

Then there was 'hanging the clothes.'

The so-called 'hanging the clothes' meant the first time visiting a prostitute's door and sleeping in the same bed.

This required setting off firecrackers, lighting red candles, and giving tips.

This brought in even more money and was more popular with madams than 'paving the hall,' so whenever a new customer arrived and looked well-dressed, the madam would have her maids use every trick in the book to keep the new guest.

Others, such as 'tea gatherings' and 'drinking flower wine,' were all standard procedures.

Ji Siniang did not hide anything and answered one by one according to Ning Mu's questions.

Currently, in Hua Man Ge, there were still 128 prostitutes, of whom about seventeen or eighteen were top courtesans, and there was only one head courtesan, the late Ruyan, who had been drained to death by Ning Xiaoxiu.

And among these 128 people, about one-third, or about forty people, were still Qingguan in training.

There were also about a dozen who 'sold their art but not their bodies.'

There were famous red-card courtesans who relied on their own literary talent, skills, appearance, and figure to build a reputation, and then sold their art but not their bodies, attracting guests solely through their literary talent and skills.

For example, Jiang Fuling was a top-tier musical artist in Hua Man Ge.

She was a courtesan who could be mentioned in the same breath as the former head courtesan Ruyan, and perhaps even surpassed her.

Of course, for the vast majority, 'selling art but not their bodies' was just to whet the guests' appetites, waiting for the highest bidder, and raising the price for their first time.

The remaining seventy-plus were almost all Red Courtesans who sold their bodies.

Besides these 128 famous courtesans and prostitutes, there were errand runners, handymen, maids for the top courtesans, security guards, cooks, and female musicians.

The total number of people remaining was over three hundred.

Ever since the last time they left, because Ji Siniang and the prostitutes had poison in their bodies, they had no heart for business, and those security guards and handymen who had not signed slave contracts had all run away.

Hearing Ji Siniang finish, Ning Mu frowned and thought for a moment.

"Bring me paper and a brush; I will speak, and you will record it."

Ji Siniang replied immediately: "Young Master, please give your instructions. Si Niang may have no other skills, but I will never forget anything that reaches my ears."

Ning Mu looked at her in surprise, then immediately began to speak.

"Cancel the open seating in the main hall, find carpenters and masons, and replace them all with nine-foot square private cubicles."

"Categorize the courtesans under your command and rearrange their future livelihoods based on what they excel at; men come here not just to seek that momentary thrill."

"You can operate by category, such as song and dance performances, foot washing and massage, board and card games, customized scenarios, and so on."

"Additionally, except for a very few top-tier courtesans, all remaining courtesans and maidservants must wear a uniform; the clothes cannot be too modest. To put it bluntly, we are earning this dirty money, so why bother gilding our own faces?"

"If there are not enough maidservants, you can inquire at the human trafficking agency and recruit some, but there is one point: I don't care how things were done before, but from now on, except for those who are willing, you cannot force good women into prostitution."

"That is all I have to say. You first find the masons and carpenters to solve the cubicle issue; as for the rest, I will create a detailed execution plan, and you can follow my plan when the time comes."

(End of chapter)