As with many Chinese-run brothels in the UK, though, she catered to a largely white male clientele. When I rang, Grace's first question was whether I would be both a maid and a part-time xiaojie female sex worker. In a Chinese-run brothel, the xiaojies are high above the baomu housekeeper in the labour hierarchy. They are the means of profits, the yao-qian-shu money tree , while the maids are far more dispensable in the eyes of the owners. Some maids are encouraged to become zhuangzhong stand-in sex workers during busy periods , and those who agree to fulfil such a dual role are highly sought after.
I detected Grace's disappointment when I said I was just a maid who offered no other services. Mia urged me to "try it out". Many housekeepers end up doing zhuangzhong , she said. You need to do it when you don't look like an old lady yet.
Grace had agreed to take me on in Finchley, and I rang her for directions when I arrived at Finchley Central. Rather than giving me the address, she kept me on the phone and directed me through every turn and corner as I walked.
When I eventually reached the building, she told me to knock on the back door, saying her boyfriend Jamal would let me in. The door was opened by a young, well-built, Middle-Eastern man, who led me up to a first-floor flat with two bedrooms and a large lounge that doubled as Grace's bedroom and the xiaojies ' sitting room. A slim woman was having lunch at the table as I walked in.
Her hair was brushed to one side and her face was pale. She did not look at all well. To her left, a middle-aged woman was holding up a bowl of noodles with both hands, chewing noisily. I said my name was Xiao Yun. My cover story was that I had come from Zhejiang province, a single mother with a seven-year-old daughter. I had outstayed my business-visitor visa and had been working in Britain without papers for almost three years.
