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

They emerged from the reeds, unsure of what time it was.

Anyway, the sun was high in the sky, and it was hot and sunny.

Sun Xiaoyan was shirtless, wearing only a tattered jacket given to her by Liu Meiling. The jacket was short and thin, covering nothing, and her chest swayed back and forth as she walked, so she had to cover it with her hands.

Liu Meiling was alright, but the skin on the soles of her feet had scabbed over, and she was wincing in pain when she stepped on the gravel.

The two men were covered in mud from the knees down, and their hair was a mess, just like cavemen.

"Meiling, where is this?" Sun Xiaoyan looked around and saw only desolate mountains and wilderness, without even a decent road.

Liu Meiling glanced at it and said, "I don't know either."

They walked along a stream for a long time; the water was clear and gurgling.

The two were so thirsty that they lay down by the water and drank, not caring whether it was clean or not.

After drinking water, my stomach started growling again.

My stomach is rumbling with hunger.

Sun Xiaoyan saw a wild fruit tree by the stream, with a few green fruits hanging sparsely. She picked one and tasted it. It was sour and astringent, and very unpalatable, but at least it filled her stomach.

She picked a bagful and shared it with Liu Meiling.

The two continued walking along the stream, not knowing how long they had walked. Their feet were covered in blisters, which burst and then gave way to new ones, causing Sun Xiaoyan to cry from the pain.

But she dared not rest, for fear that if she did, the people behind her would catch up.

"Look!" Liu Meiling suddenly pointed ahead.

Sun Xiaoyan looked up and could vaguely see the rooftops of several mud houses, with smoke still billowing from their chimneys.

"There's a village!" Sun Xiaoyan's eyes lit up, and she forgot all her tears.

The two quickened their pace, trudging along the muddy path.

As you get closer, it is indeed a small village.

There were only seven or eight households, all living in old mud-brick houses. Firewood stacks and farm tools were piled up in front of and behind the houses, and a few speckled chickens were kept at the base of the walls, clucking and running around.

A dirt road leads in, full of potholes.

Just as Sun Xiaoyan was about to pull Liu Meiling into the village, she suddenly felt a churning in her stomach. She cried out, "Meiling, I need to use the restroom..."

Liu Meiling also clutched her stomach: "I want to too."

The two found a patch of dense grass at the entrance of the village and went inside.

Sun Xiaoyan squatted down, quickly took off her pants, and her bare bottom was exposed among the weeds.

She shrank back, afraid of being seen.

It's true what they say, what you fear most is what happens.

Footsteps and gruff voices came from afar, and two men carrying hoes walked over.

A man in his forties, dark-skinned and thin, wearing a tattered undershirt and with a towel wrapped around his head.

Another one was short and chubby, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

The two were talking when they turned their heads and saw two white mounds in the grass.

Sun Xiaoyan was so frightened that she quickly clamped her legs together, squatted there without daring to move, her face flushed red.

Liu Meiling didn't take it seriously at all, just squatted there and even looked up at it.

"Holy shit!" The short, fat man's eyes widened, staring at the two girls' skirts and groin, drool practically dripping from his mouth. He whistled, "Hey, where did these girls come from? Taking a break here so early in the morning?"

The dark-skinned, thin man also stopped, sizing up the two women with eyes like knives, his gaze lingering on Sun Xiaoyan's bare buttocks, then looking at her breasts, smacking his lips: "Tsk tsk, not bad looking at all, the two sisters are quite something."

Sun Xiaoyan was so embarrassed that she squatted down even lower, burying her head in her knees.

Liu Meiling, however, remained squatting there, looked up impatiently, and said, "What's wrong? Do you want to eat my shit?"

The two men were taken aback by her harsh words and were left speechless.

The short, fat man's face stiffened, and he spat out, "Damn, what a fucking jinx, looks like a pheasant."

"Let's go, let's go, let's get to work." The dark-skinned, thin man cursed as he shouldered his hoe and left.

Even after they'd walked away, you could still hear them saying, "Where did this wild woman come from? She's shameless."

Sun Xiaoyan then stood up, trembling.

Liu Meiling wiped herself, pulled up her pants, and said nonchalantly, "Let's go, into the village."

Sun Xiaoyan kept her head down, her face still burning, but she still followed Liu Meiling into the village.

The village was quiet, with the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking, but hardly anyone could be seen.

Liu Meiling looked at each house one by one, and suddenly stopped in front of a house.

The gate to that house was open, and an old woman was sitting in the yard picking vegetables.

The old woman looked to be at least sixty years old, with gray hair, wearing a faded blue cloth jacket, and rough hands, clearly someone who had worked in the fields.

She looked up and saw the two of them, then froze.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling stood at the door, dressed in tattered clothes, their faces covered in mud, their clothes torn, and barefoot, looking like refugees fleeing a disaster.

"Auntie..." Sun Xiaoyan began, her voice hoarse, "Could you give me some water?"

The old woman looked at them, put down the vegetables she was holding, and stood up.

"Come in."

The two entered the courtyard.

The courtyard wasn't large, but it was clean. There were a few chickens in the coop, a few balsam plants in the flower bed, and a hand pump well in the corner.

The old woman looked them over, her gaze lingering on Sun Xiaoyan's half-undone coat before she sighed.

"Wait here, I'll go get you some water."

She went into the main room and brought out two bowls of boiled water.

Sun Xiaoyan took it and gulped it down in a few mouthfuls, not even minding how hot it was.

Liu Meiling also drank it all.

"What happened to you?" the old woman asked. "Were you kicked out?"

Liu Meiling wiped her mouth: "Auntie, we...we're lost. We've been walking all morning."

The old woman glanced at the blood blisters at their feet, then at the two women, who were filthy, their faces covered in mud, and their clothes tattered. She sighed and said, "Wait."

She turned and went inside. A little while later, she brought out a large bowl of hot porridge with pickled vegetables, and then took two more bowls.

"Eat something to fill your stomachs first; look how thin you all are."

Sun Xiaoyan almost burst into tears, and took a big gulp of water from the bowl.

The porridge was millet porridge, cooked until very soft, and served with pickled vegetables—it was so delicious!

The two of them wolfed down their food, not caring about anything else.

"Slow down, slow down, don't choke." The old lady patted Sun Xiaoyan on the back.

After they finished their porridge, the old woman boiled a large pot of hot water for them, saying, "Go wash up; what kind of appearance is this, covered in mud?"

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling did not refuse and carried water from the yard to the woodshed to take a bath.

The hot water felt so good all over my body.

After washing up, the old woman rummaged through the house and found an old, oversized jacket and a pair of blue floral trousers, handing them to Sun Xiaoyan: "These are clothes I wore when I was young. Change into them first."

They also gave Liu Meiling a set of patched coarse cloth clothes.

The two changed into the clothes; although they were too big, it was still better than being naked.

Sun Xiaoyan put on a coarse cloth jacket and tied on blue floral pants, and she looked just like a young wife from the village.

Liu Meiling put on the patched clothes, put her hands on her hips, looked at herself, and laughed: "Hey, we've gone back to basics."

The old lady took their wet clothes out to dry in the yard, then busied herself boiling water for them and giving them a bowl of steamed egg custard.

After the two of them finished eating, they lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the west room, feeling completely exhausted.

Sun Xiaoyan rested her head on her hands, staring blankly at the roof beam.

Liu Meiling crossed her legs and hummed a song whose tune was unknown.

It's so warm and quiet.

The sounds of roosters crowing outside, the voices of people talking in the distance, the dim glow of the oil lamp—everything seemed to slow down.

Sun Xiaoyan felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and she was about to fall asleep.

Suddenly, a rough, hoarse male voice came from the courtyard.

"Mother, have we had guests?"

Sun Xiaoyan suddenly opened her eyes and sat up.

Liu Meiling stopped humming and looked towards the door.

A burly, dark-skinned man stood at the door, a coat draped over his arm, watching them with a cold gaze.