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

Not long after dawn, the door was pushed open.

Xiaoya had dark circles under her eyes, but she was in great spirits and rushed in holding her phone.

"Wake up! Look! It's trending!" She almost shoved her phone screen into Sun Xiaoyan's face.

Sun Xiaoyan opened her eyes groggily and saw on the screen those disgusting images of herself being controlled by drugs and wrestling with Liu Meiling last night.

The video is playing in a chat group, with several messages below it.

"Damn, Sister Ya is awesome! Where did you find this stuff? It's amazing!"

"That figure is amazing! Especially that one who's crying like that, she looks so pitiful."

"The other one's pretty good at dancing too, Ya-jie, when are you going to bring her out to play?"

Xiaoya swiped through the screen, chattering, "See that? My girlfriends' group chat! Over thirty people! They all say you two are amazing! Especially you, Xiaoyan, they all say that the way you look like you're about to cry is absolutely incredible!"

Sun Xiaoyan's face turned pale instantly, and her stomach churned.

Liu Meiling also sat up, looked at the explicit comments, and remained silent, her lips pressed tightly together.

"How about it? Happy now?" Xiaoya put her phone away and waved it triumphantly. "This has really made you famous! From now on, you two are considered 'stars' in my circle."

Sun Xiaoyan buried her face in her knees, and her shoulders began to tremble.

"Oh, still shy?" Xiaoya chuckled. "Alright, get ready. My dad's bringing new guests later, so you two better behave yourselves. Maybe you can earn a little more... though it won't be yours anyway, haha!"

After Xiaoya finished speaking, she skipped out.

Only suppressed breathing could be heard in the room.

Around nine o'clock in the morning, Lao Ma led two people in.

A man wearing a wrinkled polo shirt and with a beer belly was a regular customer.

The other one was a bit different. He was wearing an expensive-looking shirt and a shiny watch on his wrist. He was probably in his forties. His eyes were scanning Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling with a scrutinizing look.

"Boss Chen, Brother Li, you two are in luck today, this is something special." Old Ma rubbed his hands together and laughed.

Li, the guy with the beer belly, chuckled and walked straight toward Sun Xiaoyan, who was huddled in the corner of the bed.

Mr. Chen, who was wearing a shirt, glanced at Liu Meiling a couple more times.

Liu Meiling's heart skipped a beat.

She immediately got out of bed, and instead of dodging like Sun Xiaoyan, she took two steps toward Boss Chen, forced a smile, and softened her voice: "Boss Chen, right? You look kind."

Boss Chen was a little surprised, and he smiled: "Oh? What makes you look so kind?"

"It's just... I feel different from those rough guys." Liu Meiling leaned closer and lowered her voice, "If you... want some peace and quiet in the future, just come to me directly. It's more cost-effective than going through Boss Ma."

As she spoke, her finger lightly touched Boss Chen's arm.

Boss Chen narrowed his eyes, scanned Liu Meiling up and down, especially her chest which was particularly noticeable because she wasn't wearing a bra, and then gave a meaningful "Oh".

He didn't reply, but simply followed Old Ma out to prepare to "get things done".

The process was nothing new.

Sun Xiaoyan's side was lifeless; she was like a rag doll, at the mercy of Brother Li, her eyes staring at a blank spot on the ceiling.

Liu Meiling, on the other hand, used all her skills.

She shouted louder than anyone else, and her movements were extremely accommodating. She used all the tricks she had learned in Guo Daqiang's chess and card room and later, while also observing Boss Chen's reaction.

Boss Chen was clearly very satisfied. At the end, he patted Liu Meiling's bare legs.

While Lao Ma went out to see Brother Li off, Boss Chen quickly pulled a small, stiff card from his shirt pocket, stuffed it into Liu Meiling's hand, and whispered, "There's a phone number on it."

Liu Meiling's heart pounded, and she immediately gripped the card tightly and pulled her hand back.

Boss Chen straightened his clothes and left as if nothing had happened.

After a while, Old Ma returned, holding a small notebook in his hand.

"Boss Chen is generous, he gave me five hundred. Brother Li got three hundred, that's eight hundred in total." Old Ma said, taking out a pen and scribbling in his notebook. "However, your accommodation last night, today's meal, the 'usage fee' for this room, and the 'management fee' I charged for connecting you two... well, let's say it offsets two hundred yuan of your debt."

"Two hundred?" Sun Xiaoyan finally reacted, her voice hoarse. "The two of us... we're only worth two hundred?"

"You think that's too much?" Old Ma slammed the notebook shut. "Eight hundred is gross income! After deducting costs, that's all I'm left! Don't want to work? Fine, pay off your debts, then you can go wherever you want."

After Old Ma finished speaking, he glanced at them again: "You two now owe me a total of five thousand three hundred. Keep working hard, and you'll be able to pay it off eventually."

The door was closed again.

Sun Xiaoyan lay there, motionless.

Liu Meiling secretly wiped the sweat from her palms onto the bed sheet, and carefully, when Sun Xiaoyan wasn't looking, slipped the stiff business card into the crevice of her underwear.

She touched the hard edge and felt a little more at ease.

Five thousand three... If Old Ma keeps deducting like this, how long will it take to finish?

Xiaoya came again that evening.

This time, she was holding a small paper package, a smile of excitement and cruelty on her face.

"Come on, ladies, let's do something even more exciting tonight." She poured out two dark red pills. "These are newly arrived 'candies.' Once you eat them, I guarantee you'll forget all your troubles and experience ecstasy."

Sun Xiaoyan shrank back in fear.

Liu Meiling looked at the pills, then at the phone Xiaoya was holding up. She knew that resisting was useless.

She reached out and took the pill, swallowed it dry, and then said to Sun Xiaoyan, "Xiaoyan, take this, otherwise... it will be even harder to bear."

Sun Xiaoyan looked at Liu Meiling, tears welling up in her eyes, and finally swallowed the pill with trembling hands.

The medicine works quickly and strongly.

Sun Xiaoyan felt dizzy, as if her body was on fire, or as if she were floating on clouds. Shame and pain became distant, leaving only an empty, magnified instinct.

Xiaoya set up her phone and excitedly began giving instructions: "Yes, yes, Xiaoyan, lie down! Meiling, you come from behind... Oh no, that's not how it works, I'll send you a 'tutorial'!"

Xiaoya actually showed them other videos in the group chat, asking them to imitate even more perverted and obscene poses and movements.

Sun Xiaoyan mechanically followed the instructions, but as she did so, tears began to fall uncontrollably in large drops, mingling with the sweat on her face. She couldn't tell if it was the medicine or if she was genuinely crying.

As she was instructed to assume the humiliating posture, she let out suppressed, intermittent sobs.

"Cry! That's good!" Xiaoya became even more excited, the camera following her intently. "Tears streaming down her face, my girlfriends love watching this! It's the secret to high viewership!"

Liu Meiling was also cooperating, even managing to squeeze out a kind of intoxicated expression on her face, but when her eyes occasionally glanced at Xiaoya and the cold phone camera, there was no warmth in them, only a deep, cold blackness.

She kept thinking about the hard business card hidden in the lining of her bra.

Mr. Chen...phone...

That might be the only light left.