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

The dark figure at the end of the corridor flashed and disappeared.

Sun Xiaoyan wasn't sure if it was Xiaohui. She was too tired, her head was buzzing, and she just wanted to go back and lie down as soon as possible.

Brother Chen drove them home without saying a word the whole way.

Liu Meiling leaned against the car window with her eyes closed, while Sun Xiaoyan watched the neon lights rushing past outside the window, the collar around her neck making it hard for her to breathe.

Got home.

After parking the car, Brother Chen opened the door and went inside first.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling followed behind, their steps unsteady.

The living room lights were off, only the streetlights shining through the window.

Brother Chen changed his shoes without turning his head: "Clean up and go to bed early."

After he finished speaking, he went into his room and closed the door.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling stood in the dark living room, neither of them moving.

After a long while, Liu Meiling finally spoke, her voice hoarse: "Go wash up and go to bed."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded, and the two of them dragged themselves to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

Even with the water at its hottest setting, my skin still felt cold.

After showering, the two of them collapsed on the living room sofa, neither wanting to go back to their own room.

The collar around my neck was still on; the leather strap against my skin had already gotten a little warm.

Liu Meiling reached out and touched the clasp on the collar, then sneered, "Boss Zhou's rules, huh."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything; she was so tired that she didn't even want to move her fingers.

The living room was so quiet you could hear two people breathing.

Just then, Xiaohui's door opened gently.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling turned to look at the same time.

Xiao Hui stood at the door, wearing school uniform pants and a white tank top.

He didn't turn on the light in his own room, so the light from the living room shone on his face, creating a dim, half-lit effect.

"Still not asleep?" Xiao Hui asked, his voice flat.

Liu Meiling forced a smile: "I'm exhausted, let me sit down for a bit."

Xiao Hui walked over and sat down on the single sofa opposite them.

He didn't look at them, but instead fiddled with his phone.

Sun Xiaoyan sensed something was wrong.

Xiao Hui usually either snorts at them or goes straight back to his room when he sees them, but today he actually took the initiative to come and sit down.

Liu Meiling sensed it too, and she sat up straighter: "Xiaohui, is something wrong?"

Xiao Hui looked up at them.

His eyes were cold, so cold they were almost frightening.

"Do you want revenge?" he suddenly asked.

Sun Xiaoyan was stunned.

Liu Meiling narrowed her eyes: "Revenge on whom?"

"Who else could it be?" Xiao Hui turned his phone screen towards them, "My brother, Boss Zhou, and those idiots in the private room."

A video is playing on the phone screen.

The scene was a bit dark, but you could make out which private room in the club it was tonight.

Sun Xiaoyan knelt on the ground and lit a cigarette with her mouth, while Liu Meiling was surrounded by several men. Brother Chen and Boss Zhou sat on the sofa and watched with smiles.

You can still hear sounds in the video. Boss Zhou says, "The training is up to standard," and Brother Chen chimes in, "Boss Zhou is right."

The camera shook slightly, probably because the person filming was adjusting the angle. It captured Chen Ge whispering in Zhou Laoban's ear, his face clearly showing a fawning yet smug expression.

The video is short, only a few minutes long.

After the performance was finished, the living room was deathly silent.

Sun Xiaoyan felt all the blood rush to her head, then suddenly recede, leaving her hands and feet icy cold.

Liu Meiling stared at her phone screen, her breathing becoming heavier.

"Did you take this picture?" she asked.

"Yeah," Xiao Hui put his phone away, "I followed them all night."

"Why?" Sun Xiaoyan finally spoke, her voice trembling violently.

Xiao Hui looked at her, his eyes growing even colder: "Because I hate him too."

He paused, swiped his finger across the phone screen a few times, and opened a hidden folder.

It's full of photos and documents.

The top photo is of a woman with a gentle smile and a small mole on the left corner of her mouth.

Sun Xiaoyan recognized her as the woman in the photo in the study drawer—Chen Ge's ex-wife.

The angles of the photos below are getting increasingly strange.

There are photos of a woman's back as she takes a shower, her profile as she sleeps, and candid shots of her changing clothes.

They were all taken secretly.

Below are several scanned newspaper articles with headlines such as "Woman Missing for Three Months, Husband Offers Reward to Find Her" and "New Developments in Suspected Insurance Fraud Case."

At the bottom are several video files, with the filenames indicating the date. The most recent one was filmed tonight.

"My sister-in-law," Xiao Hui pointed to the first photo, "was killed by my brother. He murdered her for insurance money, all those dirty business dealings, illegal detention... I have evidence of it all."

He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling.

"Do you want to kill them?"

Liu Meiling didn't answer immediately. She stared at Xiaohui for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "Xiaohui, aren't you afraid we'll tell your brother all this?"

"If you're afraid, then I won't say anything," Xiao Hui laughed, but there was no warmth in his smile. "You tell him, and I'll release those videos of you at the club. Anyway, I have plenty of material now, let's all die together."

Sun Xiaoyan's heart pounded.

She looked at Xiao Hui, a usually quiet high school student, whose eyes were now filled with ruthlessness.

"What...what do you want to do?" Liu Meiling asked.

"Cooperate," Xiao Hui said. "I'll provide the evidence, and you provide the manpower. Don't you want to climb the ladder? Following Boss Zhou will only make you playthings in the end. But if we bring him down, you might be able to turn things around."

Liu Meiling's eyes flickered.

Sun Xiaoyan's mind was in complete turmoil.

Revenge? Kill Brother Chen and Boss Zhou? Is that even possible?

But as she looked at the photos on Xiaohui's phone, remembering the humiliation she had suffered at the club that night, and the damn collar around her neck, a fire suddenly ignited in her heart.

"I'll do it," Liu Meiling suddenly said.

Sun Xiaoyan looked at her.

Liu Meiling's eyes lit up, that familiar look of someone seeing an opportunity: "Xiao Hui, how do you suggest we cooperate?"

"Let's gather all the evidence first," Xiao Hui said. "My brother is taking you to an even bigger venue next week. I'll be there to film as much as possible. You guys can try to get information out of them, or record it."

"and then?"

"Then we'll find an opportunity to take them down in one fell swoop," Xiao Hui said. "We still need to think about the specifics. But the first step is that we have to be in the same boat."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Sun Xiaoyan and asked, "And you?"

Sun Xiaoyan opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the sound of a key turning suddenly came from the front door.

The three people froze at the same time.

The door opened, and Brother Chen and the strange woman walked in.

Chen Ge was taken aback when he saw three people sitting in the living room: "Why aren't you asleep so late?"

The strange woman, arm in arm with Chen Ge, glanced at Sun Xiaoyan, Liu Meiling, and Xiao Hui, and smiled, "Oh, having a family meeting?"

Xiao Hui had already stood up, his face returning to its usual indifferent expression: "It's nothing, I'm going back to my room."

He finished speaking and left, closing the door gently.

Brother Chen glanced at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling: "Go to sleep quickly, we have things to do tomorrow."

After he finished speaking, he pulled the woman back to the room.

Only Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling remained in the living room.

The two looked at each other, but neither spoke.

But the images and words on Xiaohui's phone just now were like a red-hot branding iron, deeply etched into their minds.

For the first time, hatred burned so clearly.

It burned people so much their bodies were burning hot.