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

After reading Zhang Mingfa's voice message, Liu Meiling handed the phone to Sun Xiaoyan.

Sun Xiaoyan took the phone and listened to the voice message. Liu Jing's voice was hysterical, cursing with the most offensive language. She called Zhang Ming a heartless man and Liu Meiling a vixen, while also complaining that her mother's medical expenses were insufficient and she had to stay in the hospital.

Finally, it was Zhang Ming's voice that said he had already called the police.

Sun Xiaoyan returned the phone to Liu Meiling, remained silent for a moment, and then said, "This woman is really crazy."

Liu Meiling didn't reply, but put the cigarette in her mouth and took another puff.

The two looked at each other but said nothing.

The mahjong parlor did fairly well in the afternoon; a few regular customers were playing mahjong in a private room, the clatter of tiles filling the air.

Xiaoqin, dressed in a cheongsam, greeted guests at the door, occasionally glancing back at the two people sitting at the front desk drinking tea.

Liu Meiling kept staring at her phone screen. When Zhang Ming didn't send any more messages, she put her phone in her pocket and took a sip of her tea.

"Do you think she might come looking for us?" Sun Xiaoyan asked.

"Who knows?" Liu Meiling leaned back in her chair. "They wouldn't be able to find me anyway, it's not like I told her to cheat on me."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't reply, she just stared at the doorway.

Around 6 p.m., it started to get dark.

A few customers who wanted to play a couple of rounds of cards after get off work came into the store. Xiaoqin was busy arranging seats when suddenly there was a commotion at the door.

Liu Meiling looked up and saw a figure rush in.

It's Liu Jing.

Liu Jing's hair was a mess, her face was covered in tears and snot, and the neckline of her T-shirt was askew, with half of her chest almost falling out, but she didn't care. She was acting like a madwoman.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and she stared intently at Liu Meiling as soon as she came in.

"Liu Meiling, you shameless vixen!" Liu Jing pointed at Liu Meiling and cursed, "You seduced my husband, you slut!"

The customers in the store all stopped and looked over here.

Sun Xiaoyan stood up and blocked the way, pointing at Liu Jing and saying, "This is a place for business, get out."

"None of your business!" Liu Jing shoved her aside, suddenly pulled a fruit knife from her pocket, and lunged at Liu Meiling.

"I'll kill you, you vixen!"

The guests were startled and quickly backed away.

Liu Meiling's two bodyguards reacted quickly, rushing forward and grabbing Liu Jing's wrist as she held the knife.

Several guests rushed forward to help, and together they managed to wrest the knife away.

Liu Jing was held down by two bodyguards, still struggling and cursing.

Liu Meiling then stood up from her chair.

She took a drag of her cigarette, walked up to Liu Jing, and exhaled a puff of smoke towards her.

Liu Jing coughed repeatedly from the choking, but she kept staring intently at Liu Meiling.

Liu Meiling didn't say anything, but simply took out her phone and pressed play.

The phone rang with the sounds of Liu Jing and the man in the floral shirt having sex in an unfinished building.

The entire card and board game shop heard it.

A woman's voice, a man's voice, and the sound of splashing water in between.

Liu Jing's face turned pale instantly.

"This...this..." Her lips trembled. "When did you record this?"

"Guess?" Liu Meiling, with a cigarette dangling from her lips, reached out and slapped him across the face.

With a sharp crack, Liu Jing's head snapped to one side from the blow.

Liu Meiling slapped her again.

"You hit me?" Liu Jing covered her face. "You vixen who seduced my husband, how dare you hit me?"

"Why wouldn't you dare?" Liu Meiling flicked her cigarette ash. "Didn't you say I seduced your husband? Then go ahead and sue me. The court isn't your private property. I have the video of you cheating. The way you and that man in the floral shirt were talking, it sounded like you were really enjoying it."

Upon hearing this, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

Xiaoqin stepped forward at this moment, smiling and saying, "Sister Liu Jing, look, your chest is showing. Let us fix it for you."

As he spoke, he reached out and ripped off Liu Jing's T-shirt.

The moment the T-shirt was ripped off, a green lingerie piece was revealed underneath. The fabric was so minimal, it looked incredibly provocative.

Liu Jing's snow-white body and chest were completely exposed to everyone's view.

"Oh, this lingerie is pretty flashy. Did you buy it for your husband or for that man in the floral shirt?" Liu Meiling sneered.

All the guests around Liu Jing were staring at her, and some of the men were even staring wide-eyed.

"You shameless woman, you cheated on your husband and then tried to slander our Boss Liu? With your looks and figure, do you even have a single hair like Boss Liu?" a male customer chimed in.

"That's right, look at your slutty self, how dare you cause trouble?" another chimed in.

The crowd echoed their sentiments, and a chorus of curses erupted.

Liu Jing's face turned deathly pale, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, unable to utter a single word.

Just then, another person arrived at the door; it was Zhang Ming.

Zhang Ming was wearing a white polo shirt and his hair was messy. As soon as he entered the room, he saw Liu Jing sitting on the floor with her upper body bare. He was stunned for a moment, and then quickly turned his head away.

He walked up to Liu Meiling, bowed, and apologized: "Meiling, I'm sorry, I didn't handle it well."

Then he turned to the people in the shop and said, "Excuse me, everyone, I'm sorry to bother you."

Zhang Ming turned to look at Liu Jing: "Why are you harassing her here? We have nothing to do with each other anymore. You're not ashamed, but I am."

Liu Jing suddenly jumped up from the floor, pointed at Zhang Ming, and started shouting, "Everyone, be the judge! This is my husband! My mother is in the hospital, and he won't pay any money or help her! This morning I got up early to buy groceries and cook for him, and when I came back I saw him with this mahjong parlor owner—a mahjong parlor owner who serves his customers with his body—the two of them were lying on the sofa having sex! And now he wants me to leave with nothing! Everyone, be the judge!"

A crowd had already gathered at the entrance to watch the spectacle, some of them taking pictures with their phones.

A girl passing by overheard this and couldn't help but say, "Men are all the same, ugh."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Liu Meiling wasn't in a hurry. She slowly took out her phone and pressed the record button.

This time the sound is even more explosive.

"Honey...is your husband useless? My husband is a complete waste of space..."

Is your husband older than me?

"No...you're older..."

The entire card and board game shop fell silent; everyone listened, their faces flushed with embarrassment.

Liu Jing's face changed from white to red, and finally to green.

A middle-aged man passing by spoke first: "Women are indeed no good."

Liu Jing was completely paralyzed, sitting directly on the ground, unable to even stand up.

Zhang Ming's face was extremely ugly. He cursed and pushed through the crowd to walk out. When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around and kicked Liu Jing hard.

"roll!"

Liu Jing was kicked to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time.

Zhang Ming left without looking back.

Liu Meiling looked at Liu Jing and said, "You can leave now. I won't see Zhang Ming again. These recordings are enough to make you leave with nothing."

Liu Jing slowly got up, ignoring the fact that her outer clothes had been torn off. She walked out of the card shop, naked from the waist up, looking lost and disoriented, and disappeared into the night.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

It was 11 p.m. when the chess and card shop closed.

Liu Meiling sat on a chair in the back room, the cigarette butt flickering in the darkness.

She was wearing a black tank top, her snow-white skin gleaming coldly in the moonlight, her long legs crossed, and her eyes staring blankly out the window.

Sun Xiaoyan brought in a cup of hot water and handed it to her.

"You really aren't going to have anything to do with Zhang Ming anymore?"

Liu Meiling took the water glass, took a sip, and said, "This kind of man is troublesome even after divorce. I don't want to get involved with him."

She glanced at her phone; the screen lit up—it was a message from Lin Dong.

"Abdominal Muscle Bro is still the best. Look, he sent me another photo to seduce me." Liu Meiling handed her phone to Sun Xiaoyan.

Sun Xiaoyan took it and saw a photo of Lin Dong shirtless, with his abs clearly visible.

"Tsk, that's a nice figure." Sun Xiaoyan laughed.

"Right?" Liu Meiling smiled as well.

Sun Xiaoyan handed the phone back to her and sat down next to her: "You can decide for yourself."

The two sat in silence for a long time, with only the chirping of insects outside the window.

On the other side, at Xiaohui's house.

Xiao Hui didn't go out to practice driving today; he picked Liu Yue up from the hospital during the day.

Liu Yue was wearing a loose nightgown, her hair was down, and her face was still a little pale, but much better than a couple of days ago.

Liu Yue lay on the bed in Xiao Hui's room and whispered, "Honey, can you be gentle with me now?"

Xiao Hui stood by the bed, glanced at her, and said, "We'll talk about it later."

Liu Yue was about to say something when a clear doorbell rang outside.

Ding dong.

Both of them were stunned.

Liu Yue looked up at Xiao Hui: "Who is it? It's so late."

Xiao Hui frowned slightly, said nothing, and turned to walk towards the door.