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

Footsteps came from outside the door; the driver had come in.

He looked at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling lying on the bed, scratched his head, his anger had not completely subsided, but there was a hint of something else on his face.

"Um... Cuihua's gone," the driver said, his tone a little awkward. "About... what we agreed on..."

Liu Meiling sat up and smiled, "Big brother, come on over. We keep our word."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything, but sat up as well.

What happened next was somewhat unexpected for Sun Xiaoyan.

The driver wasn't as rude as the previous passengers; in fact, he was rather...polite?

You could even call it gentle.

He climbed onto the bed, first looking at Sun Xiaoyan, then at Liu Meiling, muttering, "You two have such amazing figures... one with bigger breasts, the other with a perkier butt..."

Liu Meiling chuckled: "Big brother, you're quite good at making comparisons."

"Of course," the driver laughed, reaching out to touch it. "I need to take a good look and compare them properly."

The process got a little... weird.

The driver didn't seem to be venting; he seemed to be appreciating and experiencing something.

He had Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling change positions, while he himself got very close to observe them closely, constantly offering his opinions.

"It's so white here..." "That waistline is amazing..."

He might even stop and simply kiss you, from head to toe.

Sun Xiaoyan was tense at first, but gradually she relaxed.

Because the driver didn't actually hurt them; on the contrary... he made them feel something too.

Liu Meiling was more relaxed, actively cooperating and even making some noises to add to the fun.

The three of them actually... had a lot of fun.

After the first time, the driver, panting, said with a gleam in his eyes, "No, let's do it again. I didn't get enough of it."

After the second attempt, he wanted to do it a third time.

Just as he was preparing for a third victory—

boom!

The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.

The driver's wife, a woman named Zhang Cuihua, stood at the door with her hands on her hips, her face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Behind her were her three card-playing friends: one in a floral shirt, one bald, and one tall and thin, all watching the fun with smiles.

"Li Guoqiang!" Zhang Cuihua shouted in a shrill voice, "You're something else! You're really doing this? And a threesome at that? Aren't you disgusted?"

The driver panicked and grabbed the blanket to cover himself: "You... why are you back again?"

"This is my home! I can come back whenever I want!"

Zhang Cuihua walked in, pointing at the naked Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, "Look, look! What kind of trash are these two? Did they just crawl out of some brothel? How could you bring yourself to kiss them? Aren't you afraid of getting diseases?"

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling quickly pulled their clothes over their heads to cover themselves, their faces turning bright red.

Enraged by what he'd said, the driver snapped, "Zhang Cuihua! What are you pretending for? Weren't you just out having fun with those three men? You do your thing, I'll do mine, we'll keep to ourselves! You're the fucking slut!"

"Who are you calling a whore?" Zhang Cuihua glared at her.

"I'm talking to you!" the driver yelled back. "These two of you at least paid for this...it's all about feelings! What are your three guys? Free gigolos? Hahahaha!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhang Cuihua trembled with rage. "What I did was socializing! What you did was prostitution! A genuine free-roaming chicken, ten yuan a pound!"

The three card players behind him burst into laughter.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling felt like they wanted to disappear into the ground after hearing these harsh words.

They hurriedly dressed and headed out.

"Stop right there!" Zhang Cuihua blocked their way. "You think you can just leave like that? Do you think you can treat our house like a hotel?"

Liu Meiling raised her head and took a deep breath: "Sister, we agreed with Brother that the matter is settled. As for the money... we didn't take yours. Let us go."

Zhang Cuihua looked them up and down, then sneered, "Get lost, getting lost. Seeing you is bad luck."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling felt like they had been granted a pardon. They quickly squeezed out of the bedroom, passed by the three mahjong players who were still watching the spectacle, and escaped from the driver's house.

Once they were downstairs and on the street, the two of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"We can't stay here anymore," Liu Meiling said, her face looking very pale.

"Okay." Sun Xiaoyan nodded. "Let's go back to Sister Hong's place, grab our things, and leave."

When they returned to the "Rongfa" hair salon, it was almost dawn.

Sister Hong had just gotten up and was brushing her teeth when she saw them return. She asked, her voice muffled, "How did it go? Did the order go smoothly? Did you get the money?"

Liu Meiling shook her head: "Sister Hong, we want to leave. We... can't stay here any longer."

Sister Hong rinsed her mouth, wiped her lips, and looked at them: "Have you thought it through? There's no place like here that offers room and board."

"I've thought it through," Sun Xiaoyan said.

Sister Hong didn't try to persuade them further, waving her hand and saying, "Alright, everyone has their own ambitions. Take care of yourselves."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling returned to the back room and picked up their meager belongings.

It's really just a few changes of clothes.

Liu Meiling touched the wallet hidden in her bosom; it was something she had taken from the hotel owner, and it still had a few thousand yuan left.

The two said goodbye to Sister Hong and left the hair salon.

As dawn broke, the streets began to bustle with activity.

They hailed a taxi, and Liu Meiling said to the driver, "Driver, go to the city center, the liveliest place."

After driving for more than half an hour, the car stopped on the side of a bustling street.

Skyscrapers, bustling traffic, and crowds of people.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling stood by the roadside, feeling a little dizzy.

This place is a completely different world from the urban village and the street with the hair salon.

"Let's buy a cell phone first," Liu Meiling said. "Sister Hong taught me how to use it, and having a cell phone will be convenient."

They found a mobile phone store, spent a long time browsing, and finally chose two of the cheapest smartphones, spending over a thousand yuan.

Holding their new phones, the two were quite excited. They fiddled with them for a long time at the store entrance, finally learning how to make calls and save numbers.

"Now we need to find a place to stay," Liu Meiling said. "We need to rent a place and settle down."

As they walked along the street, they saw many rental ads posted on utility poles.

Liu Meiling took out her phone and dialed the number on GG's phone.

"Hey? Hello, is this a rental property?... How much is it per month?... Three thousand five? And you need to pay a deposit and three months' rent upfront?"

Liu Meiling hung up the phone, her face a little pale.

She made a few more.

"Two thousand eight hundred a month, excluding utilities."

"A shared single room costs 1200 a month, but it has to be paid annually."

"Two months' deposit and one month's rent in advance, four thousand a month."

I tried several, the cheapest of which cost over a thousand, and the conditions were all very poor.

Sun Xiaoyan listened from the side, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.

All their money combined is less than 10,000 yuan.

If I have to pay a deposit of one month's rent and three months' rent upfront, I'll have to pay most of the money. How am I going to eat in the future?

"It's too expensive," Sun Xiaoyan said softly.

"I know," Liu Meiling said, biting her lip. "Let's look again."

They turned from the bustling main street into the side alley, hoping to find cheaper housing.

The alley is very narrow, with old residential buildings on both sides, and the walls are covered with all kinds of little GG stickers.

As they walked, looked around, and made phone calls, the responses they received were still disheartening numbers.

Tired from walking, the two stopped at a corner of a wall.

Liu Meiling took out her wallet and counted the money; she still had over eight thousand left.

"We need to be careful with our money," she said.

Sun Xiaoyan looked into the depths of the alley, where it was darker and more dilapidated.

Suddenly, a man's voice came from behind, with a slight accent:

"Beauty."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling turned around at the same time.

A man in his thirties, wearing a gray jacket and with slightly messy hair, stood a few meters behind them, looking at them and smiling.

His smile made Sun Xiaoyan's heart skip a beat.