The Quagmire of Desire: From Gambling Addict and Village Flower to Movie Queen

The sound of Li Laoliu falling off the wall was loud, a "thud".

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling were naked in the yard. They paused for a moment, then looked at each other and suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hey old bachelor, have you stared enough?" Liu Meiling shouted at the top of her lungs toward the wall, deliberately puffing out her chest.

The sound of hurried footsteps running away came from outside the wall.

Sun Xiaoyan's face was still a little red. She quickly grabbed a towel to wipe herself: "Hurry up and put on your clothes, or someone will really see us."

"So what if they see?" Liu Meiling slowly wiped away the water droplets, which trickled down her full breasts, across her flat stomach, and finally disappeared between her legs. "Anyway, our husbands aren't home all year round, so it doesn't matter who sees."

Despite saying that, she still picked up the clothes from the ground.

Both of them were wearing old clothes they had bought a few years ago; Sun Xiaoyan was wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt, and Liu Meiling was wearing a pink one.

The clothes were washed until they were a bit faded and the fabric was thin, clinging tightly to my body.

Sun Xiaoyan's breasts weren't particularly large, but they were perky and firm, and even when her shirt was buttoned up to the top, it still felt a bit tight.

Liu Meiling was different; her breasts were big and round, making her pink shirt bulge, and the top two buttons were left undone, revealing a small patch of white flesh.

Both of them wore dark, tight-fitting pants that hugged their buttocks.

Sun Xiaoyan's buttocks were round and perky, while Liu Meiling's were even bigger and fuller, swaying as she walked.

"Staying at home is so boring." Liu Meiling smoothed her hair in front of the broken mirror in the yard. "How about we find something to have some fun?"

Sun Xiaoyan was looking at the patch of skin on her chest that was red from the steam in the mirror when she heard this and turned her head: "What's going on?"

"Playing cards!" Liu Meiling's eyes lit up. "At Guo Daqiang's place at the village entrance, the card room is bustling with activity."

Sun Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment: "Playing cards... costs money, right?"

"Oh, let's play the small ones, one or two yuan."

Liu Meiling took her arm. "Didn't your husband just send money back last month? My husband sent some too. Let's just take a few dozen yuan. If we lose, we can just consider it a fun purchase. If we win, we can earn some pocket money."

Sun Xiaoyan thought about it and realized that she was indeed feeling very stuffy at home.

Her husband, Jiang Jianjun, works on a construction site and can only come home twice a year. Her parents-in-law live in the old house, so she's all alone in this courtyard all day.

Although having sex with Liu Meiling relieved my boredom, I felt even more empty afterwards.

"Okay." She nodded.

The two tidied up, locked the door, and headed towards the village entrance.

It was past three in the afternoon, and the sun was still blazing.

The village was quiet; all the young people had gone out to work, leaving only the elderly and children.

The few men I occasionally saw were all over forty or fifty years old.

Guo Daqiang's chess and card room is next to the old supply and marketing cooperative at the entrance of the village. It used to be a warehouse, but he has now converted it into three rooms.

Before even entering, I could hear the clattering of cards inside, along with men shouting "Pong!" and "Gang!" in their gruff voices.

As soon as I opened the door, a smell of smoke mixed with sweat hit me.

The room was filled with smoke, and all four mahjong tables were occupied.

At the innermost table, Guo Daqiang was smoking a cigarette and looking at his cards when he heard the door open and looked up.

Guo Daqiang was in his early forties, not very tall, with a beer belly, a buzz cut, and a gold chain around his neck—it was unclear whether it was real or not.

He saw Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, narrowed his eyes, and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Oh, what a rare guest!" Guo Daqiang stood up, walked over with a smile, and said, "Xiaoyan, Meiling, what brings you here?"

Liu Meiling was more outgoing than Sun Xiaoyan, and replied with a smile, "I was bored at home, so I came to Brother Guo's place to hang out."

"Play cards?" Guo Daqiang sized them up, his gaze sweeping over their chests and buttocks. "Do you know how to play?"

"I know a little," Sun Xiaoyan said softly.

"Just a little bit will do!" Guo Daqiang slapped his thigh. "Perfect timing! Those two guys on the east end just said they were leaving. You two can take their place."

He led the two to the table by the window.

Two men were already sitting at the table, one tall and thin, the other bald, both looking to be in their forties.

When they saw Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling coming over, the two men's eyes widened.

"Old Zhang, Old Wang, let me introduce you to two new mahjong partners." Guo Daqiang said, pulling up chairs for Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling to sit down. "This is Sun Xiaoyan, and this is Liu Meiling. They are the wives of Jiang Jianjun and Li Guoqing from our village. Their husbands are both working away from home."

The tall, thin guy is Old Zhang, and the bald guy is Old Wang.

The two men nodded quickly, and Old Zhang even put out his cigarette: "Sit down, sit down, welcome, welcome."

The card table wasn't big; after the four people sat down, their legs were almost touching.

Sun Xiaoyan could smell the cigarette smoke on Old Zhang across the table, and the sweat on Old Wang next to her.

Guo Daqiang stood behind Sun Xiaoyan, bending down to watch her arrange her tiles: "Xiaoyan, let's play small, one yuan as the base, five yuan for discarding a winning tile, ten yuan for self-draw, and extra for kongs, okay?"

Sun Xiaoyan nodded. She calculated that she had fifty yuan in her pocket, enough to cover even if she lost it all.

Liu Meiling was already rubbing her hands together excitedly: "Let's begin! Let's begin!"

In the first hand, Sun Xiaoyan had an unusually good run of luck and immediately got a winning hand.

She was a little nervous; her hands were shaking when she touched the cards.

Old Zhang across from her played a three of a kind. She hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "I...I won."

"Hey, Xiaoyan, that's great!" Guo Daqiang laughed behind her.

Old Zhang readily pulled out five yuan and handed it over. Sun Xiaoyan took the money, her palms slightly sweaty.

In the second round, Liu Meiling won by drawing the winning tile herself.

When Old Wang gave her ten yuan, his finger "accidentally" touched the back of her hand. Liu Meiling giggled and didn't flinch.

The game continues.

Sun Xiaoyan gradually relaxed.

She noticed that the two men weren't very good at cards, and they kept playing the cards she wanted.

Liu Meiling was in her element and won several hands in a row.

"Meiling's got a lucky streak today," Old Zhang said as he shuffled the cards, his eyes glancing at Liu Meiling's open neckline.

Liu Meiling noticed, and instead of dodging, she leaned forward, making her two mounds of white flesh even more noticeable: "That's right, my husband isn't home, so I'm saving up all my luck."

Old Wang chuckled twice, and as he drew a card, his elbow "accidentally" brushed against Sun Xiaoyan's arm.

Sun Xiaoyan's face flushed, and she shrank back to the side, but didn't say anything.

After a few more rounds, Sun Xiaoyan had accumulated a small stack of change in front of her.

She counted and realized she had won almost thirty yuan.

Liu Meiling won even more, probably over fifty.

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore." Old Zhang pushed his cards away. "My luck is just too bad today."

"That's right, we've been giving you two money all along." Old Wang also stood up and stretched. When he stretched, his arm was raised so high that it almost touched Sun Xiaoyan's face.

Guo Daqiang quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "Hey, you're leaving after playing for only a short while? Why don't you play a few more rounds?"

"I'm really not playing anymore, I have things to do at home." Old Zhang said, then glanced at Liu Meiling, "Meiling, let's play again next time."

The two men left.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling began to collect their winnings.

Guo Daqiang pulled up a stool and sat down next to them, offering them two cigarettes. Sun Xiaoyan shook her head, but Liu Meiling took one.

Guo Daqiang lit a cigarette for her, and Liu Meiling took a puff, which made her cough.

"Slow down your smoking," Guo Daqiang laughed. "You two are doing well today, you've won quite a bit."

"I'm lucky," Sun Xiaoyan said softly.

"It's not just good luck, it's your card skills," Guo Daqiang said, his gaze lingering on Sun Xiaoyan's tightly clenched shirt. "Want to come again tomorrow? I'll find you better partners tomorrow, I guarantee you'll have a great time."

Liu Meiling's eyes lit up: "Will it be as easy to win as it is today?"

"Absolutely," Guo Daqiang patted his chest. "Guests are always welcome. How could I, Guo Daqiang, mistreat you two?"

Sun Xiaoyan glanced out the window; it was getting dark. She stood up. "Then...then we'll come again tomorrow."

"Okay, tomorrow afternoon, same time." Guo Daqiang also stood up and saw them to the door.

Stepping out of the card room, the air outside felt much fresher.

Sun Xiaoyan took a deep breath and felt the tightness in her chest dissipate considerably.

Liu Meiling counted the money in her hand, grinning from ear to ear: "Sixty-three yuan and fifty cents! That's enough for the two of us to go to town and have a good meal!"

"Are you coming again tomorrow?" Sun Xiaoyan asked.

"Come on, why not?" Liu Meiling took her arm. "You're just sitting around at home doing nothing anyway, this place is so much fun. All those men are practically staring at us."

Sun Xiaoyan felt her face flush again as she recalled the feeling of Lao Wang rubbing against her arm.

But she had to admit that the feeling of being watched... wasn't unpleasant.

"Then come again tomorrow," she said.

The two walked back along the village road.

The setting sun cast long shadows of them, and their buttocks, encased in tight pants, swayed back and forth in the light and shadow.

At the entrance of the chess and card room, Guo Daqiang, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, watched their departing figures and slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

He took out his phone and dialed a number: "Hey, Lao Wang? Come on time tomorrow afternoon... Yes, it's still those two young wives... Don't worry, you won't lose out. Let them win a little first, and we'll talk about it later when they get hooked... By then, both the money and the women will be left behind."

After hanging up the phone, he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out.

The sound of shuffling cards came from inside the room again, a "clattering" sound, like some kind of bait.