"Ai!" Old Madam Zhou heaved a sigh; from Little Jing's great-grandfather onwards, they had always served the Zhou family, and by Little Jing's generation, only she was left and was thus raised in the Zhou family from childhood.
In the past, servants like them, known as "family-born children," would serve the master's family generation after generation. Their glory was hitched to the master's, and they declined as the master's family did.
But by her generation, and even the one before, with the entry into a new society, things were no longer as they were. Most became free individuals, while a portion, unwilling to leave the master's family, started working in industries under the master's control, as per the master's arrangements.
Of course, some master's households fell into decline, and how could they still look after them?
