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

The next morning, Meiling and Xiaoyan got up early.

Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating the living room floor.

Liu Yue was sent back to her own home by Xiao Hui last night. Xiao Hui's room door was still closed, so he was probably still asleep.

Meiling stretched and sat on the sofa, lighting a cigarette: "Let's go to the store today, it's been so many days since I've been there."

Xiaoyan was pouring water in the kitchen and nodded, "Yeah, I'll go thank Sister Yan for giving us such a long holiday."

"Walk."

The two quickly washed up and changed their clothes.

Meiling wore a black T-shirt and jeans, while Xiaoyan wore a white shirt and had her hair tied up.

Although the two were dressed casually, their figures were still impressive, and even a burlap sack couldn't hide their voluptuous curves.

As I was leaving, Xiao Hui came out of his room, his hair disheveled and his eyes squinting.

"Sis, you're heading out so early?" Xiao Hui yawned.

Meiling smiled and said, "Go check out the shop, you can go back to sleep. Oh, and make sure you take care of lunch yourself."

Xiao Hui waved his hand: "It's okay, I'll just grab something to eat."

The two went out and hailed a taxi directly to the chess and card shop.

When we arrived at the entrance, the store was already quite lively.

Several young women in cheongsams were standing in the hall greeting guests, the sounds of tea being brewed and mahjong tables mingling together.

Xiaoqin was standing at the front desk, talking to a little girl with her head down. The little girl had two braids and was doing her homework while leaning over the counter.

Meiling and Xiaoyan walked in, and Xiaoqin looked up, her eyes lighting up immediately: "Sister Meiling! Sister Xiaoyan! You're back!"

The little girl next to her heard the sound, looked up, saw the two of them, and immediately put down her pen and ran over: "Auntie! Auntie's back!"

Xiaoqin's daughter hugged Xiaoyan's leg tightly, looking up at her with a smile.

Although this girl isn't very fair-skinned, she has big eyes and two dimples when she smiles, making her very likable.

Xiaoyan squatted down and pinched her little face: "Sweetie, have you finished your homework?"

"I've finished half of it, but there's still one question I don't know how to answer, and neither does Mom," the little girl said, pouting.

Xiaoqin laughed beside her: "I didn't go to school much either, I can't even understand second-grade questions now."

Meiling smiled and patted the little girl's head: "Auntie will teach you later."

Several girls in cheongsams also came over to greet us, asking us all at once if the trip was fun, how the beach was, and what delicious food we ate.

Meiling smiled and made a few perfunctory remarks, then led Xiaoyan to the back office.

"You've been doing a good job managing things these past few days," Meiling said, sitting down and crossing her legs.

Xiaoqin followed me in and stood in front of the desk, rubbing her hands a little embarrassedly: "No, it's nothing, I just manage it as usual. Sister Yan comes over to check on things often, and I call her if anything comes up."

"How's the revenue?"

"That's great, the turnover this month is almost 20% higher than last month," Xiaoqin said, handing over an account book.

Meiling flipped through it and handed it to Xiaoyan. Xiaoyan glanced at it a few times and nodded.

"That's good," Meiling said with a smile. "You've worked hard these past few days, so here's a raise for you."

Xiaoqin was taken aback: "Huh?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Meiling said, a cigarette dangling from her lips. "A raise, starting next month."

Xiaoqin's eyes immediately reddened, and her lips trembled: "Sister Meiling... this... this is too much, I already..."

"Stop talking nonsense." Meiling waved her hand. "You deserve a raise for doing a good job. Your daughter needs money too."

Xiaoqin rubbed her eyes and nodded vigorously: "Thank you, Sister Meiling, thank you, Sister Xiaoyan."

Xiaoyan stood up and patted her on the shoulder: "Work hard, you'll have a chance to get promoted in the future."

"Yes! I'll definitely do my best!"

After Xiaoqin left, Xiaoyan leaned back in her chair, looked at the account book, and smiled: "That girl is something else, she's managed to get through this all by herself."

Meiling exhaled a puff of smoke: "Yes, she's more capable than I imagined."

The two sat in the office for a while longer before going to Li Yan's place.

Li Yan was wearing a leather jacket and her hair was tied up, looking very energetic.

As soon as the two entered, Li Yan said with a smile, "Oh my, you two beauties are back! I thought you were out having fun and weren't coming back."

Meiling walked over: "Sister Yan, how could that be? I just got back and came to see you."

"I heard you guys had a great time at the beach?" Li Yan sat down, crossed her legs, and said, "I saw all the photos you sent me. Tsk tsk, those two figures in swimsuits, any man would have a nosebleed."

Xiaoyan blushed: "Sister Yan, you're just making fun of us."

"I'm serious, with figures like yours, you could be models," Li Yan said with a smile.

After chatting for a while, Li Yan said, "Tonight, invite Wang Hong, Xiao Qin, and a few of the girls from our shop. I'll treat you to barbecue to welcome you back."

"Sister Yan, I'm so sorry to have troubled you to spend money as soon as I got back," Meiling said with a smile.

"No need to spend money, we're all family here. It's settled then, 8 PM tonight, I've reserved a table."

The two quickly thanked them.

It was already noon when I came out of Li Yan's shop.

The two returned to the chess and card shop they managed. Xiaoqin was teaching her daughter how to do homework at the front desk, with three boxed lunches next to her.

Xiaoqin's daughter saw the two of them and ran over again: "Auntie, have you eaten yet? Mom bought a boxed lunch, let's eat together."

Xiaoyan smiled and patted her head: "Auntie has already eaten, you should eat quickly."

Xiaoqin came over with a lunchbox: "Sister Meiling, Sister Xiaoyan, would you like one? I bought an extra one."

"No need, you eat yours." Meiling waved her hand.

Meiling and Xiaoyan sat on the sofa in the lobby, watching people come and go in the store.

Several guests recognized them and greeted them, saying they were back.

A middle-aged man in a floral shirt walked over and said with a smile, "Ladies, it's been so long! I thought you'd quit."

Meiling laughed it off: "No way, I went out to play for a few days."

The man rubbed his hands together: "Are you free tonight? How about a couple of rounds?"

"I have something to do tonight, let's do it another day," Meiling said with a smile.

The man didn't press the matter, nodded, and left.

The afternoon passed quickly, with customers coming and going in waves.

Xiaoqin's daughter ran around the store after finishing her homework, humming a nursery rhyme. Several girls in cheongsams played with her, and the atmosphere in the store was quite nice.

Around 7 p.m., Meiling said to Xiaoyan, "Let's go back and change our clothes. Sister Yan is treating us to dinner tonight."

The two returned to Xiaohui's house, where Xiaohui was playing on his phone in the living room.

"Xiao Hui, have you eaten?" Mei Ling asked.

"I ate, it was takeout." Xiaohui looked up. "Sis, are you guys going out again tonight?"

"Yes, Sister Yan is treating us to a welcome dinner," Meiling said, pushing open the bedroom door to go inside and change her clothes.

Xiaoyan followed her inside.

The two changed into cheongsams. Meiling chose a short red one with a thigh-high slit, revealing her fair legs.

Xiaoyan chose a long, light blue dress with a side slit that reached her upper thigh.

Xiao Hui glanced at it and laughed: "Are you two going on a blind date or going out for dinner?"

"Mind your own business," Meiling rolled her eyes at him. "Is it pretty?"

"It looks good, it looks good," Xiao Hui said, touching his nose.

The two went out and took a taxi to the barbecue restaurant that Li Yan had booked.

It was a roadside stall, but the space was quite large, with a large tent and a dozen or so plastic tables.

Li Yan was already seated at the large table at the very back, next to Wang Hong and five or six other women in cheongsams.

Li Yan saw the two of them and waved, "Over here, over here!"

Meiling and Xiaoyan walked over, and Wang Hong stood up and said with a smile, "You two beauties, you've finally decided to come back!"

"Stop making fun of us," Xiaoyan said with a smile.

Everyone sat down, and Li Yan waved for the owner to serve the dishes.

Soon, grilled skewers, grilled fish, grilled eggplant, enoki mushrooms wrapped in tin foil, and all sorts of other dishes were served, filling the table to the brim.

We also opened a case of beer, chilled and steaming.

Li Yan raised her glass: "Come on, welcome back Meiling and Xiaoyan! Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank them down in one gulp.

A group of women in cheongsams sitting together at a roadside stall was already quite eye-catching.

Soon after, men came over to chat her up.

A middle-aged man with a protruding belly walked over, holding a glass of beer, and said with a smile, "Ladies, how about we get to know each other? I'm at the table over there."

Li Yan smiled and waved her hand: "I don't know them, we're just family eating together."

The man persisted: "Let's be friends, how about adding each other on WeChat?"

Meiling laughed and said, "Brother, we don't add each other on WeChat. Go find someone else."

The man walked away sheepishly, and two young men, who looked like construction workers going to and from work, came over and asked if they could share a table.

Wang Hong said directly, "Why are you sharing a table? My sisters and I are drinking by ourselves."

The two young men exchanged a glance, then, feeling embarrassed, left.

"Damn it, being good-looking means you get harassed every day." Wang Hong picked up her beer and took a sip.

Li Yan laughed and said, "Then look at that table next door, a dozen or so men. Who else would they bother if not us?"

Everyone looked at the next table and sure enough, there was a group of men, some of whom were drunk and their faces were red and their necks were thick, and they were looking this way.

Meiling raised her glass: "Come on, let's ignore them and drink our own."

Everyone laughed, clinked glasses, drank alcohol, and ate barbecue skewers.

Xiaoqin also drank a few glasses of wine, her face flushed, and she sat there grinning foolishly.

Li Yan patted her on the shoulder and said, "Xiaoqin, you've been doing well lately. Keep up the good work, and I won't treat you unfairly."

"Thank you, Sister Yan." Xiaoqin nodded vigorously.

Meiling watched from the side, thinking to herself that this girl was like a different person since her divorce, much more cheerful than before.

The group drank until after 10 p.m. before Li Yan paid the bill and the party ended.

Everyone dispersed, and Meiling and Xiaoyan called a car to go back to Xiaohui's house.

When we arrived at Xiaohui's house, we opened the door and went inside. Xiaohui was sitting in the living room looking at his phone.

"You're back?" Xiao Hui looked up. "You've had quite a bit to drink."

Meiling waved her hand and sat down on the sofa: "I'm alright, I didn't drink too much."

Xiaoyan also sat down and leaned back on the sofa to catch her breath.

Xiao Hui put down his phone and said seriously, "Sis, I have something to tell you."

"What's wrong?" Meiling asked.

"I got accepted to Shanghai University of Foreign Languages, majoring in Public Relations," Xiao Hui said with a smile.

Meiling and Xiaoyan exchanged a glance. Although they didn't quite understand what this major entailed, they were happy to see Xiaohui so happy.

"Isn't that great! It's a prestigious university!" Meiling said with a smile.

"Congratulations, Xiaohui!" Xiaoyan said with a smile.

Xiao Hui nodded and said, "Liu Yue also applied to the same school and was accepted as well."

Meiling and Xiaoyan exchanged a glance but neither of them said anything.

After a few seconds of silence, Meiling said, "Xiaohui, Yan and I have over 80,000 yuan in our account now. We spent some of the money on the card you gave us before, and then deposited another 30,000 yuan into it, so we have about 80,000 yuan in the account now. You'll need money for college, so you can take this money for now."

Xiao Hui waved his hand: "No need, I have my own money."

"Where did you get the money?" Meiling frowned. "You're just a high school student, and your brother... well, who's going to give you money?"

Xiao Hui's expression changed, but he quickly regained his composure: "Don't worry about it, I have enough anyway."

Meiling and Xiaoyan exchanged a glance, both realizing that Xiaohui didn't want to talk about it, and they didn't dare to press him further.

"Alright, as long as you know what I mean," Meiling said.

Xiao Hui added, "I want to get my driver's license before school starts, and I've already contacted a driving school."

"That's great. It'll be good to pass the test early so you can drive a car later," Meiling said. "I want to take the test too."

Xiao Hui was stunned for a moment: "Really?"

"Well, what if we can afford a car someday?" Meiling said with a smile, "then we can sign up for lessons together."

Xiaoyan waved her hand: "I'm not interested. You guys go ahead. The shop can't be left unattended."

Meiling patted her on the shoulder: "Then you keep an eye on the shop, I'm going to learn with Xiaohui."

Xiao Hui nodded: "I'll teach you how to do the questions for the first part of the driving test."

"Okay, then teach me," Meiling said with a smile.

As night deepened, the living room was warmly lit.

Meiling leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling, and thought that this kind of life seemed pretty good.

Although we've been through a lot, at least things are stable now.

He has a shop, money, a place to live, and a younger brother named Xiaohui.

Xiaoyan sat beside her, thinking about the same thing.

She watched Xiaohui's retreating figure, thinking to herself, "If only things could stay like this forever."

The clock on the wall struck eleven. Everything had changed, but some things remained the same.

For example, they are still by each other's side, Xiaohui is still here, and tomorrow can continue.