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

As dawn broke, a grayish-white light shone through the small window in the back room of the hair salon.

Sun Xiaoyan woke up and heard Liu Meiling next to her applying makeup in front of a small mirror.

"Get up quickly if you're awake," Liu Meiling said without turning her head. "Sister Hong will be calling you soon."

Sun Xiaoyan sat up, her sundress wrinkled. She picked up the cheap powder compact from the bedside table and applied some to her face.

The two were working on themselves in front of the mirror when there was a knock on the door.

"Meiling, Xiaoyan, are you up yet?" It was Sister Hong's voice.

"Hello, Sister Hong." Liu Meiling quickly responded and went to open the door.

Sister Hong stood at the door, not coming in, her eyes sweeping over the two of them: "Get ready, come out in a bit, we'll talk."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Liu Meiling and Sun Xiaoyan exchanged a glance and quickened their pace.

After getting ready, the two walked to the hair salon in front. Sister Hong was sitting in her old chair, a cigarette between her fingers.

"Sit down," Sister Hong said, pointing to the stool next to her.

The two sat down.

Sister Hong took a drag of her cigarette and slowly exhaled: "There's a job, door-to-door service, high pay."

Sun Xiaoyan looked at her without saying a word.

Liu Meiling's eyes lit up: "How tall is she, Sister Hong?"

"Two thousand per meal," Sister Hong said, "enough for you to sit here at the door for several days."

Sun Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. Two thousand? That much?

"However," Sister Hong changed the subject, "the customer has a rather peculiar fetish; he likes to hit people. He doesn't know his own strength, so he might have to rest for a week or two before he can take on another customer."

Liu Meiling's excitement didn't diminish; in fact, it intensified: "Just hitting people? Anything else?"

"It's mainly about spanking," Sister Hong looked at her, "spanking, spanking that spot, until it's swollen and red. That's what they're after. Are you going or not? Who's going?"

Sun Xiaoyan's palms were sweating.

Hitting someone? And in a place like that? And you need to rest for a week?

She opened her mouth, as if to say something.

"I'll take it!" Liu Meiling blurted out before she could, her voice crisp and decisive. "Sister Hong, I'll take this order!"

Sister Hong nodded: "Okay. I'll give you the address. I'll go there tonight. But they require someone to meet you outside so they can help you back home afterwards."

Liu Meiling turned to Sun Xiaoyan: "Xiaoyan, will you come with me? We can just wait outside, no need to go in."

Looking into her bright eyes, Sun Xiaoyan's throat felt a little dry: "I...I'll wait outside?"

"Yes, just wait in the stairwell. You can help me up when you're done." Liu Meiling took her hand. "Xiaoyan, it's two thousand! That'll be enough for us to save up for a while."

Sun Xiaoyan remembered what Meiling had said about "saving money to rent a place and working independently," and after looking at the address slip in Hongjie's hand, she finally nodded.

"Okay," she said.

Sister Hong handed the address slip to Liu Meiling: "Be there at eight o'clock sharp tonight. Don't be late, the customers don't like it."

"Don't worry, Sister Hong." Liu Meiling took the note, carefully folded it, and stuffed it into her skirt pocket.

It was past 7 p.m., and it was dark.

Liu Meiling changed into the red halter dress that best showed off her figure; the dress was short and the neckline was low.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a long time, then applied another layer of lipstick to her lips.

"Let's go," she said.

Sun Xiaoyan followed behind her, and the two walked out of the hair salon.

The address Hongjie gave us was in a decent-looking residential building, not one of those dilapidated houses in an urban village.

The hallway has motion-activated lights and is fairly clean.

Liu Meiling found the apartment number, took a deep breath, and turned to Sun Xiaoyan, saying, "You wait here in the stairwell, don't go far. Don't come in if you hear any noise. I'll call you when I'm done."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded and squatted down at the corner of the stairs: "You...you be careful."

"I know." Liu Meiling smiled, turned around and knocked on the door.

The door opened a crack, letting in light. A man's voice called out, "You've arrived?"

"Yes, Sister Hong introduced me," Liu Meiling said softly.

The door opened a little too wide, and Liu Meiling squeezed in sideways. The door slammed shut.

Sun Xiaoyan squatted in the dimly lit stairwell, listening to her own heartbeat.

It was very quiet at first, there wasn't a sound at all.

Then, there were faint voices, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying.

Then, a crisp sound suddenly rang out.

Sun Xiaoyan's body trembled.

Then came Liu Meiling's scream, not a scream of pain, but more like... an exaggerated scream with a slight tremor.

"Ouch...be gentle...it hurts..."

Sun Xiaoyan covered her mouth; her fingers were icy cold.

"Snap! Snap!" Several more sounds, very rhythmic.

Liu Meiling's voice changed, trembling with tears, yet also seeming to carry something else: "Stop hitting me...please...ah...it hurts so much...have mercy on me..."

Then came a man's laughter, very deep.

The sound of whipping didn't stop; instead, it became more frequent. Interspersed among these were Liu Meiling's increasingly desperate pleas for mercy and cries for mercy, words that made Sun Xiaoyan's face burn with embarrassment.

"Master... harder... ah... good punishment... harder..."

"Please... I can't take it anymore... Ah..."

The sound came through the door and was particularly clear in the quiet hallway.

Sun Xiaoyan's legs went numb from squatting, but she dared not move.

She counted the time, and each second seemed to pass incredibly slowly.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, an hour...

The commotion inside the house never stopped.

The sounds of whipping, Liu Meiling's uncontrollable cries, and the man's heavy breathing and low commands mingled together and came from behind the door.

Sun Xiaoyan buried her head in her knees, unable to listen any longer.

I don't know how much time passed, it felt like centuries, before the sounds inside the house finally gradually subsided.

Then came complete silence.

Sun Xiaoyan looked up; her legs were numb and she couldn't feel them.

After waiting a while, the door lock clicked.

The door opened, and Liu Meiling walked out, supporting herself on the doorframe.

Her red halter dress was askew, the neckline was torn open, her hair was messy, and her makeup was ruined.

She walked strangely, her legs were spread wide apart, and she moved step by step as if each step was in great pain.

Sun Xiaoyan quickly stood up, her legs went weak and she almost fell. She rushed over to support Liu Meiling.

"Meiling, you..."

"It's alright," Liu Meiling said in a hoarse voice, clutching a wad of cash tightly in her hand. "Help me back."

Sun Xiaoyan took the money from her hand; it was a thick wad of red 100-yuan bills.

She didn't dare count them, quickly stuffed them into her pocket, and then put her arm around Liu Meiling's arm.

The two slowly walked down.

Liu Meiling walked very slowly, gasping for breath with each step.

When they got downstairs, under the streetlights, Sun Xiaoyan could see clearly that Liu Meiling's thighs and buttocks, which were exposed under her skirt, were red and swollen, with some areas even broken.

"He...he hit me too hard," Sun Xiaoyan said, her voice trembling.

"It's alright," Liu Meiling breathed a sigh of relief, "They pay well."

They took a taxi back to the hair salon.

The driver glanced at them several times in the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

Back in the back room of the hair salon, Sun Xiaoyan helped Liu Meiling lie down on the hard bed.

Liu Meiling lay prone, her brows furrowing with every movement.

Sister Hong came over when she heard the commotion. She looked at Liu Meiling and didn't say anything, only saying, "I won't take a cut from this order. You should rest for a few days."

After saying that, she left.

Sun Xiaoyan fetched a basin of warm water, wet a towel, and gently wiped Liu Meiling's red and swollen areas.

Liu Meiling shuddered when the towel touched her skin.

"Does it hurt?" Sun Xiaoyan asked.

"A little," Liu Meiling said, "but it's alright."

After wiping it, Sun Xiaoyan looked at the stack of money, took it out, and counted it. Thirty bills, three thousand yuan.

"Didn't you say it was two thousand?" she asked.

"The customer was happy and gave me an extra thousand," Liu Meiling said with her eyes closed, "saying I...did a good job."

Looking at the thick wad of money in her hand, and then at Liu Meiling's swollen buttocks and thighs, Sun Xiaoyan felt a tightness in her chest.

"Why doesn't Sister Hong take a cut?" she asked.

Liu Meiling smirked, "She must have received a referral fee for this kind of deal; otherwise, why would she be so kind?"

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything, and put the money on the bedside table.

The room fell silent.

Sun Xiaoyan walked to the window, wanting some fresh air.

Outside the window was a dimly lit street, with several streetlights broken, casting an intermittent glow.

She watched as a few people walked by on the street, when suddenly, a figure flashed past from the opposite street corner.

The figure looked familiar; the way he walked, his height…

Sun Xiaoyan's heart tightened suddenly, and she peered out the window.

But the person had already turned into another alley and disappeared.

"What are you looking at?" Liu Meiling asked from behind.

"N-nothing...it's nothing." Sun Xiaoyan turned around, her heart pounding. "I think I saw someone I know."

"What acquaintances could you possibly know here?" Liu Meiling said lazily. "You must be mistaken."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't reply, and glanced again at the empty streets outside the window.

Who exactly is that figure?