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

The room was pitch black, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering in from the window.

Sun Xiaoyan was curled up in the corner of the bed with her back to Liu Meiling, not moving at all, breathing very lightly, but Liu Meiling knew she was not asleep.

"Xiaoyan." Liu Meiling's voice was very low, almost a whisper.

Sun Xiaoyan did not respond.

Liu Meiling moved closer to her, her hand touching Sun Xiaoyan's arm; it was icy cold.

"Stop pretending, I know you're awake."

Sun Xiaoyan's shoulders twitched, but she still didn't turn around.

"You want to stay like this forever?" Liu Meiling leaned close to her ear, her voice even lower, "Lying here like a piece of rotten meat, letting them do whatever they want with you, filming those videos, owing a debt you can never repay in your lifetime?"

Sun Xiaoyan's breathing became a little heavier.

"I have a way," Liu Meiling said.

Sun Xiaoyan finally turned around a little and looked at her in the darkness, her eyes lifeless.

"What can we do? Run? Old Ma said, 8,700, there's no way we can escape."

"He says we can't run away, so we can't?" Liu Meiling scoffed. "Back in the village, Guo Daqiang also said we couldn't live without him, but we still ran away, didn't we?"

"So what if you ran away?" Sun Xiaoyan's voice was hoarse. "You still ended up here."

"That's because you went to the wrong place!" Liu Meiling said anxiously, but then immediately lowered her voice, "This time it's different. I have connections."

She reached under her pillow and carefully pulled out the shard of glass, waving it in the dim light. "Look."

Sun Xiaoyan stared at the piece of glass, her eyes flickering. "What...what can this do?"

"For self-defense." Liu Meiling gripped the glass shard tightly. "It can be useful in a pinch. But it's not enough on its own."

She lay back down, head to head with Sun Xiaoyan, her voice barely audible.

"I've been observing; Xiaoya comes to deliver the 'medicine' every night. It makes her dizzy, but what if she doesn't take it? Or, what if we find a way to get her and Lao Ma to take it?"

Sun Xiaoyan gasped. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm not crazy," Liu Meiling said steadily. "Think about it, if they fall, we can get the money. I glanced at the drawer where Lao Ma keeps the money; it's locked at night, but the key might be on him. And Xiaoya's phone, it took so many pictures of us..."

"You took the money and the phone, and then what?" Sun Xiaoyan asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Then run!" Liu Meiling said. "Once I'm out of the farm, I'll make a phone call."

"Who should I call?"

"Boss Chen." Liu Meiling uttered these three words, feeling the hard edge of the business card on her chest prick her. "That Boss Chen from last time, he left me his phone number. He said... he thinks I'm pretty clever. If we go to him, he'll definitely have connections to get us out of here and find us a decent way to make a living."

Sun Xiaoyan fell silent. In the darkness, only her unsteady breathing could be heard.

"Meiling," she finally spoke, her voice trembling with tears, "I'm scared... what if I get caught..."

"Go ahead and grab her!" Liu Meiling interrupted her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it hard. "Could things get any worse? Xiaoyan, we're sisters, we came from the same village. At Guo Daqiang's, on the truck, here... we've always been together. We have to be together this time too. Trust me, okay?"

She paused, her voice softening: "Think about the past, when we used to bathe naked in the yard, and Li Laoliu would peek, and we'd laugh at him. Think about the first time we won money, and we went to buy new clothes... those were such good times. We can't just rot here."

Sun Xiaoyan's tears fell and dripped onto the pillow.

She turned around and grasped Liu Meiling's hand tightly.

"Okay." Her voice was soft but clear. "I'll do it with you."

Liu Meiling felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders.

She carefully tucked the shard of glass back under her pillow.

"When Xiaoya comes to deliver the medicine later, watch my eyes. I'll try to get some information out of her and find out where she usually keeps her medicine and what her habits are."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded.

The two remained silent and waited quietly.

About half an hour later, the sound of footsteps and Xiaoya humming came from outside the door.

The door was pushed open, and the light snapped on.

Xiaoya held a water glass and two white pills in her hand, looking impatient. "Get up, take your medicine."

Liu Meiling immediately sat up, forcing a smile: "Little Ya, it's so kind of you to make this trip so late."

Xiaoya pouted: "Stop with the nonsense, hurry up."

Sun Xiaoyan slowly sat up, head down, without saying a word.

Liu Meiling took the pills and water glass, but didn't take them immediately. Instead, she looked at Xiaoya and said, "Xiaoya, this medicine... won't it make me sick if I take it every day? I've been feeling dizzy these past two days."

Xiaoya rolled her eyes: "It's good that you're dizzy, it means the medicine is effective. Don't worry, it won't kill you, it's just to help you sleep better at night, so don't overthink it."

Her tone was perfunctory, clearly indicating she didn't want to explain further.

"Oh, oh." Liu Meiling pretended to realize something, put the pill in her mouth, swallowed it with water, and then asked casually, "Where do you get this medicine from every day? I don't think your dad cares about this."

"My dad can't be bothered with these little things," Xiaoya said smugly, raising her chin. "The medicine's all in my drawer; I get it myself every day. What, you want to get it for me?"

"No way, I was just asking casually," Liu Meiling said with a smile, handing the water glass to Sun Xiaoyan.

Sun Xiaoyan followed her example and took the medicine as well.

After watching them finish eating, Xiaoya turned and left, saying, "Alright, go to bed early. We have guests tomorrow."

As she walked to the door, she turned back and added, "By the way, my dad is going to town to buy goods early tomorrow morning and won't be back until the afternoon. You two should behave yourselves this morning."

The door slammed shut.

The lights went out, and the room was plunged into darkness again.

Liu Meiling and Sun Xiaoyan waited quietly for a few minutes to make sure Xiaoya was far away.

Liu Meiling immediately spat out the pills hidden under her tongue and clutched them in her palm.

Sun Xiaoyan did the same thing.

"She said Lao Ma is going to town tomorrow morning," Liu Meiling said in a low voice, her tone a little excited. "Xiao Ya will be watching over us alone this morning... It's an opportunity."

"What should we do with the pills?" Sun Xiaoyan asked.

"Hide it first." Liu Meiling tucked the pills into the edge of her bra. "We'll find a chance to put them in their water cups tomorrow. I've seen Xiaoya drink a cup of sugar water every day. Lao Ma drinks at night. We need to time it right."

"And then?" Sun Xiaoyan asked, her voice more steady this time.

"Then, when they're drowsy or asleep, we'll use this," Liu Meiling patted the pillow, "to pry open Lao Ma's drawer, take the money. With the money and Xiaoya's phone, we'll run. Once we're out of the farm, we'll head east along the main road. I think there's a small shop there."

"Call Boss Chen..."

"Yes. He has a car, let him pick us up." Liu Meiling said, though she wasn't really sure herself, but she couldn't let Sun Xiaoyan see it.

"He said he thought I was clever and wouldn't leave someone to die."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't ask any more questions.

She slowly lay down and leaned closer to Liu Meiling.

Liu Meiling also lay down, and the two of them squeezed together.

"Meiling," Sun Xiaoyan whispered in the darkness, "what if... what if we make a mistake again this time?"

Liu Meiling paused for a moment, then reached out and hugged her.

"So what if we made a mistake?" she said. "At worst, we'll both make the same mistake. It's better than lying here waiting to die."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything, but rested her head on her shoulder.

After a while, Liu Meiling felt that her shoulder was a little wet.

She knew Sun Xiaoyan was crying again, but this time she didn't make a sound.

She didn't try to persuade her, but just hugged her tighter.

The two of them held each other like that, neither of them sleeping, staring into the darkness, waiting for dawn.

Waiting for that opportunity that may never come.