1. Set foot in the mansion

"Move more quickly! Don't expect to be chosen as the Curie family's maid if you keep moving at this rate! " -said a middle-aged woman in a sour tone. Daisy heard that and took a quick step forward, and I was standing next to her. I quickly followed Daisy after noticing her behavior. We were both shocked by the other woman's urging. She works as the mansion's housekeeper, and this mansion has an indescribably large land area.

The magnificence of this mansion astounded not only Daisy and me but all the girls who had gathered to compete in the maid selection contest. I, like the rest of the people, was captivated by the beautiful scene to the point of insanity. Meanwhile, I heard the housekeeper named White shouting over there: "What exactly are you looking at? Follow me to the mansion's garden! "

Curie's garden is planted with many beautiful and colorful flowers. There are also bushes trimmed into extremely interesting shapes. I guess the area of ​​this garden should be as large as ten wheat fields in my hometown. 

After we arrived at that beautiful garden and lined up neatly, we finally heard Mrs. White sternly say: "It is imperative that a maid in the Curie family knows how to take good care of flowers and plants. In front of you is a rose garden in full bloom with many fallen petals on the ground. You must sweep them away, but must not let the petals of the tree fall down. Do you understand? " 

Daisy and I immediately replied, "Yes, we understand." 

After hearing this sentence, Mrs. White immediately asked the girls standing in the first row to start sweeping the flower-growing area in front of them. After these girls complete the quest, the girls in the next row will take their place. Among them, there were a few who couldn't pass the test. Of course, they were immediately eliminated.

These cleaning jobs are inherently not difficult for me. Daisy also easily passed this test. While we were happily holding each other's hands, only somewhere could we hear the whimpering cries of some clumsy people who did not work well enough and were eliminated.

 

The pressure of this test was harsh because the wages that the Curie family paid the maids were many times higher than those of other ordinary families. So it's understandable that their maid selection standards were higher than the standards of other families. I let out a long sigh to relieve my nervousness and tried to prepare well for the next tests. If I could smoothly become the Curie family's maid, then a large sum of money would be sent back to my mother and younger brother at home every month.

 

Those who were lucky enough to pass the test like us continued to be led to the living room by Mrs. White. After that, we had to go through the tests again, from cleaning the table and chairs to making tea, from arranging the clothes in the closet to how to arrange the flowers on the table... Just like that, we did go to one of the final tests, which was to help members of the Curie family brush their hair and apply makeup.

At that time, there were only five of us in the group. However, at the time, the Curie family only employed four maids to serve. This means one of us will be eliminated.

In front of us, there were five women of different ages. The oldest is Madam Elisa, the mother-in-law of Madam Anna, the owner of this luxury mansion.

Sitting next to the two of them were three young ladies, the three wives of Peter, Anna's only son. The three young ladies, Mrs. Lauriel, Mrs. Stella, and Mrs. Luna, are the first, second, and third wives of Peter Curie, respectively.

Mrs. Lauriel looks extremely gentle, and always has a friendly smile on her face. While Mrs. Stella has a rather cold appearance, Mrs. Luna has very sharp eyes, and she is also the person we fear the most.

The best masters sitting there chose one of us to brush their hair. I pursed my lips and secretly hoped, Mrs. Lauriel would choose me because she looked like the easiest person. But unfortunately for me, Mrs. Lauriel chose Daisy. While I was a little disappointed, Mrs. Stella's finger pointed directly at my face. This makes me a little nervous because Mrs. Stella is a rather cold person. But fortunately for me, I was not chosen by Mrs. Luna, the most difficult of them all. 

Mrs. White turned the hourglass over there and loudly said, "Before this hourglass falls out of the sand, you must comb your masters' hair and make-up. Until time runs out, we'll find out who's been eliminated and who's worthy to be Curie's maids! " 

I smiled at Mrs. Stella, who was sitting there coldly. I just saw her indifferently staring into the distance, completely ignoring me. There's a cold breeze on my face, and I look in the direction of Daisy, who is laughing and joking with Mrs. Lauriel. Daisy is so lucky. I sighed and thought to myself, "The one who got eliminated in this final test, maybe it's none other than me!"

Thinking of this, I carefully approached Mrs. Stella and took a comb to comb her hair. Stella's hair was as smooth as a stream. When my turn reached Mrs. Stella's hair, I didn't feel any friction between them. Seeing her cold face, I continued to force a smile and curled her hair with a hairpin. Before I could even touch Mrs. Stella's hair, she used her cold gaze to glare at me, making me a bit flustered after that.

Mrs. Stella opened her mouth and said coldly, "What are you going to do?"

I said in a faltering voice: "I'm going to curl this strand of hair, and then use a clip to hold it. Also, this side of the hair will be braided by me..."

"Nonsense!" – Mrs. Stella said in a voice that could not be colder. Her voice was like throwing a bucket of cold water in my face, making me unable to say anything else right after. Finally, Mrs. Stella opened her mouth to continue: "My hair is already curly, you just need to tie it up into a bun and then use a pearl clip to fix it. The simpler something is, the more valuable it is. Do you understand?"

I rolled my eyes and could only answer "yes" before following along. Mrs. Stella's words really make sense. Her hair is inherently curly, so if you curl it again, it will only make her hair become fussy and quite messy. While I was thinking about that, my ears heard Mrs. Stella coldly continue: "What lipstick color are you going to use for me?"

I quickly replied, "Your skin is very white! If I use red as your lipstick color, it will make your lips stand out!"

"No! This red color doesn't match my hair and clothes. My hair is sepia, and the same goes for my dress. So you have to use sepia lipstick! "

I stammered "ah" for a few hours but found that it was right. Thanks to Mrs. Stella's suggestion, I was a little excited: "You're right! The sepia lipstick suits you very well!"

When Mrs. Stella heard that she sighed and shook her head: "Do you know how to apply makeup, after all?"

I smiled shyly and looked at the jewelry box next to it, and there was a pretty ruby ​​ring there. So I immediately reached out and grabbed the other ring, then softly said to Mrs. Stella, for the purpose of asking her opinion: "Is this ring suitable for you, master?"

Mrs. Stella then nodded slowly, "Looks like you're not as bad as I thought. But time is almost over. If you don't hurry up, you won't make it on time!"

I followed that with a smile on my face, only knowing how to quickly style the hair and makeup of the beautiful girl in front of me. I secretly thought in my heart, is there still such a beautiful woman in the world? Actually, the answer is "There are."

The remaining four owners of the Curie family, even with or without jewelry on, are still incredibly beautiful, and they are many times more noble and luxurious than others. The noblest is Madam Anna. She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but be satisfied with the person who combed her hair and put on her jewelry. The corner of her mouth curled up, only turning her head to say to Mrs. White: "How do you feel?"

 

I only heard in my ear the gentle voice of Mrs. White: "Yes, madam! This girl is indeed a bit clever!"

When Madam Anna heard that, she nodded and smiled, then glanced at her three daughters-in-law. Finally, she asked softly, "Do you guys like your hairstyle?"

Mrs. Lauriel was the first to say: "My hairstyle is very delicate and elegant! I love this hairstyle!"

Madam Anna glanced in my direction and said softly, "What about Stella?"

I held my breath, waiting for Mrs. Stella to comment. Just seeing her, she quietly said: "This hairstyle is okay, Mom!"

After hearing this sentence, Madam Elisa smiled softly: "Our Stella has always had an aesthetic sense. Just based on her one word, 'good', this style absolutely doesn't look bad!"

Only to see Mrs. Stella smiling and looking at Madam Elisa, she politely said: "Thank you grandma for complimenting me!"

After she finished saying that, she looked at me coldly, and of course, I felt shy. In my heart, I do understand that her eyes at this moment are meant to criticize my ability!

But we have to thank her anyway. If she hadn't reminded me earlier, I would have been kicked out of the Curie family by now.

Suddenly, an annoying voice was heard. Exactly this voice came from the other beautiful girl, who was Mrs. Luna: "So I'm the only one to be laughed at here?"

Everyone there turned their gazes to her, and they just found her there to be more beautiful than other people. The jewelry on Mrs. Luna's head is constantly sparkling, making her as beautiful as a rose. I really don't know why she doesn't like that hairstyle after all.

Suddenly, I heard Mrs. Lauriel, who was sitting next to Mrs. Luna, softly say: "I think your hair and jewelry are very beautiful. Why are you not satisfied, young sister?"

Mrs. Luna widened her eyes in surprise before replying: "Do you really think this hairstyle is beautiful, big sister? Grandma, what do you think?"

Suddenly, I heard Mrs. Stella silently say: "What a talkative woman! Does she like to have a quarrel like that?"

I pursed my lips in horror. Maybe Mrs. Stella didn't like Mrs. Luna very much. That's why she quietly said such an annoying sentence. When I thought of that, in my ear, I heard Madam Elisa ask: "Why are you so upset, Luna? I think you're so beautiful!"

When Mrs. Luna heard that she sniveled more: "Even grandma feels that way?"

Seeing her master glance at her, Mrs. Luna's closest maid, Alex, bowed her head and said: "Madam, the girl serving Mrs. Luna is so stupid. Apparently, Mrs. Luna is pregnant, but this girl put a daisy clip on Mrs. Luna. Daisy is not a flower that can bear fruit!”

It turned out that with just this small detail, Mrs. Luna became very angry.

I only saw the girl who had just served Mrs. Luna hastily knelt down: "I'm sorry! Please, Mrs. Luna, forgive me!"

After hearing this sentence, Mrs. Luna sneered and threw the daisy-shaped clip on the ground: "Are you trying to say that I can't give birth to this child? You must slap your own mouth!"

The poor girl there listened obediently. Just like that, she was not afraid of pain, but waved her hand and slapped her cheeks.

Mrs. Lauriel was originally gentle. Seeing that scene, she intervened: "Sister! You are pregnant right now, so you shouldn't be angry to avoid affecting the unborn baby in the womb. I see the girl indeed. It was a mistake, but she's also very skillful. Please forgive this mistake for her, okay?"

Mrs. Luna then laughed coldly before replying: "Are you blaming me? Do you mean that I was too harsh for someone as lowly as this maid?"

Mrs. Lauriel was a little embarrassed after hearing this because she didn't mean as badly as Luna just said. Suddenly, I heard Mrs. Stella sitting next to me coldly say: "Luna, you dare to raise your voice like that to Sister Lauriel in front of outsiders. Is it because you have surpassed your status or are you relying on your pregnancy? If everyone knows this, they'll laugh at our family! "

Mrs. Luna heard this sentence and got a little angry: "You dare..."

But not long after, Mrs. Luna changed her voice: "You misunderstood what I meant. Just because I'm carrying Peter's first grandchild means that I'm carrying a great responsibility instead of you and sister Lauriel. So, of course, I'm a little nervous and accidentally said something like that to Lauriel just a while ago. However, I believe that Sister Lauriel won't blame me. Isn't that right, Sister Lauriel? "

Mrs. Lauriel heard that and could only shyly nod. She was Peter's first wife, but in the end, the hierarchy was secondary, while giving birth was the most important thing for a woman. So even though Mrs. Luna has a lower status, because she's pregnant, she can be arrogant. Seeing this scene, I just dared to sigh in sympathy for Mrs. Lauriel, who, despite her status, had no voice in the Curie family.

Suddenly, Madam Anna coughed softly, then she slowly said: "Enough, Luna! I know you are pregnant, so you often feel uncomfortable inside. However, when you talk to Lauriel, don't exceed your status. You should pay more attention in the future, shouldn't you?"

I only saw Mrs. Luna bow her head in apology, but the gesture did not seem very sincere: "Yes, mother, I understand!"

Madam Anna accepted this sentence and nodded. Then she looked in Madam Elisa's direction and said politely: "I see that these five girls are all talented. Or let's organize another sub-competition to choose the four best, Mom?"

Madam Elisa slowly nodded: "That's good! But I feel a little sleepy, I will go back to my room first!”

Madam Anna heard that and ran towards Madam Elisa and took her arm. Finally, she softly said: "Let me help you to your room!"

Before leaving, Madam Anna turned her head to look at Mrs. White and advised: "Everything here will be decided by Mrs. Lauriel!"

Mrs. White bowed politely and said, "I understand, ma'am!"

Wait until Madam Anna left, Mrs. White asked Mrs. Lauriel: "What field will the sub-test be about?"

Mrs. Lauriel thought for a moment and then slowly said: “Let's give them a cooking contest! Whoever makes the best cookies wins!”

Mrs. Luna heard that, glanced at Alex, and said: “I hate this stupid girl! You have to find a way to prevent it from entering this Curie mansion, do you understand?”