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

The sun was still blazing the next afternoon.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling stood at the entrance of Guo Daqiang's chess and card room again.

"I won 63.5 yuan yesterday, and maybe I can win 100 yuan today." Liu Meiling rubbed her hands together, her eyes sparkling.

Sun Xiaoyan hummed in agreement, feeling a little flustered and itchy at the same time.

Counting money last night felt more exciting than using those gadgets from Liu Meiling.

Pushing open the door, the smell of smoke was still so strong.

Guo Daqiang was sitting behind the counter eating sunflower seeds when he saw the two of them. He immediately stood up and smiled so much that his face was all wrinkled.

"Here you are! We've been waiting for you two!" Guo Daqiang said, taking out two bottles of iced soda from under the counter. "Come on, have something cold to drink first, it's hot."

Sun Xiaoyan took the soda; the bottle was icy cold, with a layer of water droplets condensing on the outside.

She unscrewed the cap and took a sip; it tasted sweet.

Liu Meiling had already gulped down half a bottle.

"Want to play for higher stakes today?" Guo Daqiang leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Yesterday it was one yuan, today let's play five yuan? Twenty yuan for a discard win, forty yuan for a self-draw."

Sun Xiaoyan's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the soda bottle.

Five yuan as the base? If you fire one shot, it's twenty yuan; if you win by self-drawing, you can win one hundred and twenty yuan.

She only had 63.5 yuan she won yesterday in her pocket, plus her own 100 yuan of savings.

"What are you afraid of?" Liu Meiling nudged her. "We were on a winning streak yesterday, we're sure to win again today."

Guo Daqiang chuckled: "That's right, Meiling is right. With your luck, it would be a shame not to go all out."

Sun Xiaoyan bit her lip: "Then... okay then."

"That's right!" Guo Daqiang slapped his thigh. "Come on, the table is all ready for you."

It's still the same table by the window, but today it's not Old Zhang or Old Wang sitting there; there are two unfamiliar faces.

One was chubby and wore glasses. The other was thin and had a crew cut.

"This is Brother Wang, and this is Brother Li," Guo Daqiang introduced. "They're both honest people with good playing style."

The fat one is Brother Wang, and the thin one is Brother Li.

Both of them nodded and smiled at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, their smiles quite amicable.

The four of them sat down. The table was still so small, and their legs were touching.

The game begins.

In the first hand, Sun Xiaoyan's hands were a little shaky, and she couldn't draw any good cards after trying for a long time. On the other hand, Liu Meiling got a winning hand right away.

"Self-draw!" Liu Meiling pushed the tiles away, grinning from ear to ear.

Brother Wang and Brother Li readily handed over their money, forty each. Liu Meiling won eighty in one go.

Sun Xiaoyan watched with envy.

In the second hand, Sun Xiaoyan also got a winning hand.

She stared nervously at the cards, drew one, but it wasn't her. She drew another, still not her.

The opposing player, Brother Li, played a 70,000.

"I...I won!" Sun Xiaoyan's voice trembled slightly.

He handed her twenty yuan. She took it, her palms sweating.

The game continues.

Sun Xiaoyan noticed that the two men's card skills today seemed to be worse than the two men from yesterday.

She always plays the cards she wants, or she ends up giving away points.

Liu Meiling even won two rounds in a row by self-draw.

"You're really lucky today." Brother Wang pushed up his glasses, his eyes scanning Liu Meiling's chest.

Liu Meiling wore a tighter short-sleeved shirt today, with a low neckline that revealed her underwear when she bent over.

Instead of dodging, she leaned forward slightly and said, "That's right, I dreamt about playing cards last night and winning a lot of money."

Brother Li laughed and picked up his glass from the table: "Come on, let's celebrate, have a drink."

Guo Daqiang brought over some liquor at some point, baijiu (Chinese white liquor), in a small glass.

Sun Xiaoyan quickly waved her hand: "I won't drink."

"Just a little bit, just a token." Guo Daqiang shoved the cup into her hand. "Aren't you happy about winning money? Have a drink to cheer yourself up."

Liu Meiling had already taken the cup and downed it in one gulp, her tongue sticking out from the spiciness.

Sun Xiaoyan looked at the wine in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and then took a sip.

It's spicy, burning from my throat all the way down to my stomach.

But after drinking it, I felt warm all over, and that tension seemed to dissipate a bit.

"Xiaoyan has a good capacity for alcohol!" Guo Daqiang praised her from behind, his hand "accidentally" resting on the back of her chair.

Sun Xiaoyan's face flushed, but she didn't dodge. They played a few more rounds of cards.

The change in front of Sun Xiaoyan kept increasing, red and green, piling up in a small heap.

She counted and realized she had won almost two hundred.

Liu Meiling won even more, more than three hundred.

"Meiling is truly blessed with good fortune today," Brother Li said, as his hand "accidentally" slipped while drawing cards and landed on Liu Meiling's thigh.

Liu Meiling stiffened for a moment.

Sun Xiaoyan saw it, and her heart pounded.

She wanted to offer a reminder, but didn't know how to say it.

But Liu Meiling didn't dodge. Not only did she not dodge, she also squeezed her thighs together, trapping Brother Li's hand.

Brother Li paused for a moment, then laughed, without pulling his hand back, leaving it there.

Sun Xiaoyan quickly looked down at the cards, her face burning.

"Xiaoyan, you played your cards a bit conservatively." Guo Daqiang had somehow gotten even closer, almost touching her back. "Look, if you play this card, you'll be able to get a winning hand."

As he spoke, he reached out and pointed to a card in Sun Xiaoyan's hand. His fingers touched the back of her hand; it was warm.

Sun Xiaoyan's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the card.

"I...I can do it myself," she said softly.

"Alright, alright, you can do it yourself." Guo Daqiang laughed, but his hand didn't completely retract. Instead, it slid down her back, gently patted her waist, and finally stopped at her hip, giving it a massage. "Relax, it's just a game of cards, having fun is the most important thing."

Sun Xiaoyan froze completely.

That hand was burning hot; she could feel the pressure of the fingers through the thin pants.

She tried to dodge, but her body seemed frozen in place.

"I won!" Liu Meiling shouted again. Only then did Guo Daqiang withdraw his hand.

Sun Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that her back was soaked with sweat.

"I'm done playing, I'm done playing." Brother Wang pushed the cards away. "I've had terrible luck today, I've just been giving money away to you two."

Brother Li also stood up and stretched. When he removed his hand from Liu Meiling's leg, he gently squeezed it.

Liu Meiling giggled. "It's only this late and you're already saying you're not playing anymore?" Guo Daqiang said, but his face was all smiles. "Alright, alright, we'll come again tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling started counting their money. After deducting the money given to Guo Daqiang for the card game, Sun Xiaoyan won 230 yuan. Liu Meiling won 380 yuan.

"Are you coming again tomorrow?" Guo Daqiang asked, his eyes fixed on Sun Xiaoyan.

Liu Meiling interjected, "Come on! Why wouldn't you come?"

"Then tomorrow..." Guo Daqiang paused, "Let's play for higher stakes tomorrow? Ten yuan as the base? Fifty for a discard that results in a loss, one hundred for a self-draw."

Sun Xiaoyan's hand trembled, and the money she had just counted almost fell apart.

Ten dollars at the bottom? That hand of cards could mean winning or losing a few hundred dollars.

"Scared?" Guo Daqiang laughed. "With your luck today, what's there to be afraid of? Besides, it's only exciting when you're betting big."

Liu Meiling's eyes lit up: "Okay! Let's play the ten-dollar game!"

Sun Xiaoyan looked at the stack of money in her hand, red bills and green bills.

She remembered winning 63.5 yuan yesterday and 230 yuan today.

If I play the 10-yuan bet tomorrow, I might win 500 or even 1000.

"Mmm," she heard herself say, "Come on."

Guo Daqiang laughed even harder: "Then it's settled! Tomorrow afternoon, at the same time, I'll be waiting for you two."

Stepping out of the chess and card room, the sun outside was so bright it made my eyes water.

Liu Meiling grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's arm, practically skipping with excitement: "See that? Three hundred and eighty! Adding yesterday's, it's almost five hundred! Tomorrow we'll play ten-yuan bets, maybe we can win a thousand!"

Sun Xiaoyan didn't speak; she was still thinking about Guo Daqiang's hand, warm and pressed against her waist.

"What's wrong with you?" Liu Meiling asked, looking at her.

"No...nothing," Sun Xiaoyan shook her head. "I'm just thinking, playing this high-stakes game, might..."

"What do you mean, 'what if'?" Liu Meiling interrupted her. "A win is a win! Don't you want to win more? With the money, we can buy whatever we want and go wherever we want."

Sun Xiaoyan thought about it and agreed. If she won the money, she could go to town to buy the dress she had been eyeing for so long, and she could also buy her husband, Jiang Jianjun, a pack of good cigarettes and send it to him.

The two walked back along the village road.

Liu Meiling kept counting the money the whole way, counting it over and over again. Sun Xiaoyan touched her burning face; her heart was still pounding.

As they approached Sun Xiaoyan's house, Liu Meiling suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Hey, did you see Brother Li touch my leg just now?"

Sun Xiaoyan nodded.

"Guess what?" Liu Meiling leaned close to her ear, her breath hot on her ear, "When I grabbed his hand, he... got a reaction down there."

Sun Xiaoyan's face burned even hotter: "You...you're not disgusted?"

"What's so disgusting?" Liu Meiling laughed. "He didn't really do anything. Besides, we won so much money from him, what's wrong with letting someone touch us? It's not like it'll hurt us."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't know what to say.

The two entered Sun Xiaoyan's courtyard and closed the door behind them.

The room was stuffy, so Sun Xiaoyan turned on the fan. Liu Meiling plopped down on the bed and started counting money again.

Sun Xiaoyan sat down, took out the money she had won, and spread it on the bed. Red and green coins covered the bed.

"It looks really good," Liu Meiling said.

"Yes, it's really beautiful," Sun Xiaoyan thought. "More beautiful than anything else."

The two of them sat there, staring at the pile of money for a long time.

Outside the window, Li Laoliu was clinging to the wall, his eyes wide open.

He saw Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling enter the house, saw them close the door, and saw them sitting on the bed counting money.

Through the gap in the curtains, he could see Sun Xiaoyan's profile, which was flushed.

You can see Liu Meiling smiling so hard her eyes are almost closed.

You could also see that when they were counting money, their shirts weren't buttoned up properly, revealing a patch of white flesh. Their breasts swayed inside, bouncing with each movement as they counted the money.

Li Laoliu swallowed.

He remembered being hit by a broom yesterday, and his pants being torn.

I remember Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling taking a bath naked in the yard.

He was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth, yet he also felt a strong urge to watch.

Inside the room, Sun Xiaoyan finished counting the last bill and looked up: "Meiling, tomorrow...are you really going?"

"Go ahead." Liu Meiling stuffed the counted money into her pocket. "Why not? You've won so much, you'll definitely win more tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan touched her burning face and then looked at the pile of money on the bed.

"Then... then let's go."