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

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling looked up and saw a dark-skinned, muscular man standing in the yard.

It was the same man who had watched them urinate and defecate at the village entrance that morning.

Sun Xiaoyan blushed instantly and lowered her head, not daring to look.

Liu Meiling reacted quickly, laughing, "Oh, big brother, it's you."

Erniu scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, "Don't be offended, girls. We're just rough people from the mountains. Did we scare you this morning?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Liu Meiling waved her hand. "My sister and I just got lost. The old lady was kind enough to let us stay for the night."

Erniu nodded, his eyes sweeping over the two of them, but he didn't say anything more.

The old woman came out of the kitchen: "Erniu, these two girls are going to the city. The Zhang family at the foot of the mountain is having a wedding tomorrow. We'll go to the banquet and then hitch a ride with Liu Da to take them."

"Okay." Erniu replied, went into the kitchen, took a bowl of rice, and squatted on the doorstep to eat.

Sun Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Liu Meiling back to the west room.

"Meiling, something feels off about this place," Sun Xiaoyan whispered.

"What's so strange?" Liu Meiling asked, lying in bed. "There's food and drink, and we're leaving tomorrow."

"That Erniu... keeps staring at me."

"It won't hurt me to take a look." Liu Meiling rolled over. "Go to sleep, go to sleep. Let's leave early tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything more, but she still felt uneasy.

The next morning, the old woman knocked on the door to wake them up.

"Girl, get up and eat. After you finish eating, we'll go to the foot of the mountain for a feast."

The two got up, quickly washed their faces, and ate the corn porridge that the old lady had made.

Erniu was already waiting in the yard. He had changed into a cleaner jacket and grinned when he saw the two of them come out.

"Let's go."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling followed behind the old lady and Erniu, walking along the mountain path towards the foot of the mountain.

The area at the foot of the mountain was indeed bustling with activity; a large courtyard was filled with seven or eight tables and people.

Sun Xiaoyan counted and found several three-wheeled motorcycles parked outside the yard, and a few young men squatting by the chimney smoking and whistling at them.

"Sit here." The old lady pulled the two of them to sit at a table in the corner.

Sun Xiaoyan sat down and glanced around the courtyard.

All the workers were women.

The people serving dishes, pouring drinks, and setting the table were all women. They kept their heads down, moved quickly, and had little expression on their faces.

The men sat around the table, smoking, playing cards, and shouting loudly.

A woman was slow in serving the dishes, and a man went up and slapped her across the face.

"Fuck you, what are you dawdling for?"

The woman covered her face, quickly lowered her head, and walked away.

Sun Xiaoyan was shocked by what she saw, remembering how the men in the village used to be like that.

"Sister-in-law, have some vegetables." Erniu picked up a piece of meat for them.

Liu Meiling took a bite, chewed it, and said, "It's alright."

The courtyard suddenly fell silent. Someone shouted, "The bride is here!"

Sun Xiaoyan looked up and saw two women supporting a bride in a red dress as she walked out of the house.

The bride's head was covered with a red cloth, but Sun Xiaoyan could see at a glance that the bride's mouth was stuffed with a red cloth and her hands were tied to her body with hemp rope.

Two women pushed the bride to the center of the courtyard. An old man in a worn-out suit stood at the entrance to the main hall, recited some words, and then shouted, "Wedding Ceremony!"

The bride was forced to bow, and as her head lowered, the red cloth slipped down a little, revealing a young face with red eyes and tears streaming down her face.

Sun Xiaoyan's heart tightened.

"Why... how are you tied up?" she asked the old woman in a low voice.

The old woman smiled and said, "This is our local custom. The bride is shy, so we tie her up to prevent her from running away."

Liu Meiling frowned but didn't say anything.

After the wedding ceremony, the two women helped the bride walk towards the bridal chamber.

She had only taken a few steps when several men suddenly stood up at the table next to her, laughing and joking as they surrounded her, their hands reaching out to touch the bride.

Some people bent down to lift their skirts, some reached into their clothes, and some even took advantage of the chaos to pinch them hard.

The bride's hands were bound with red silk, and she desperately tried to dodge. Her mouth was stuffed with a bridal veil, and she could only make muffled sobs.

Sun Xiaoyan was stunned, and Liu Meiling's face turned pale.

Everyone in the room was laughing, and no one thought anything was wrong.

After the men had had their fun, two more men, laughing and joking, squeezed into the bridal chamber.

The door was ajar. Through the crack, Sun Xiaoyan saw someone push the bride onto the bed. She then lifted her skirt and peered inside.

The old woman patted her hand with a smile: "This is an old custom here, it's how we tease the newlyweds in the bridal chamber."

Sun Xiaoyan's palms were covered in cold sweat.

Liu Meiling tugged at her sleeve and lowered her voice, "Let's go, something's not right here."

The two stood up, and the old woman immediately asked, "Where are you going?"

"We... want to go find Brother Liu and ask about the car," Liu Meiling said.

"Oh, what's the rush? Let's eat first." The old lady pressed them back to their seats. "Come on, let's play some mahjong. Liu Da will be here when they're done playing over there."

Sun Xiaoyan wanted to say that she didn't know how to play, but someone had already set up a mahjong table.

Erniu smiled at her and said, "Hey girl, let's play a couple of rounds."

Sun Xiaoyan declined, saying, "I have no money, I really have no money."

"We're not playing for money, just having some fun," the old woman said, pushing them toward the card table.

Several men nearby chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, not for real money, just for fun."

Sun Xiaoyan had no choice but to sit down, and Liu Meiling sat opposite her.

Erniu sat next to Sun Xiaoyan, and another young man sat next to Liu Meiling.

The mahjong tiles clattered and clicked.

Sun Xiaoyan had just drawn two cards when she felt something touch her leg.

She shuddered, looked down, and saw that Erniu's hand had somehow reached out and was now resting squarely on her thigh, slowly making circles.

The sensation, transmitted through the fabric, was rough and scalding, like a red-hot branding iron.

Sun Xiaoyan instinctively tried to dodge to the side, but Erniu didn't move. Only his low voice came over, carrying a hint of barely perceptible force: "Don't move, little sister, just play your cards."

Sun Xiaoyan bit her lower lip, her newly formed courage instantly vanishing, and she dared not move an inch further.

Erniu's hands didn't stop.

The hand, like a warm snake, slowly moved up her leg, pausing for a moment when its fingertips touched the edge of her skirt.

Then continue going inwards.

Sun Xiaoyan felt all the blood rush to her head, then just as quickly recede.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted to flip the table.

She wanted to grab the mahjong tiles on the table and smash them in the man's face.

But she did nothing.

It felt like my throat was stuffed with cotton; I couldn't make a sound.

Her hands were still touching the cards, her knuckles stiff, mechanically picking up one and then playing another.

She didn't even know what she was typing.

She glanced to the side out of the corner of her eye.

Everyone was looking at cards, chatting and laughing. The old lady was chatting with the woman at the next table, while the men at the next table were playing rock-paper-scissors. Someone lost a hand and slammed his fist on the table, cursing.

Nobody is looking this way.

It was as if what was happening between her and that hand was separated by an invisible glass dome. Outside the dome, everything was bustling and lively, but inside, she was all alone.

Sun Xiaoyan felt as if she had been split in two.

One half sits at the card table, drawing cards, playing cards, nodding, and smiling; the other half floats in mid-air, watching the sitting girl, watching her bite her lip, her body stiffen, and watching everything that hand does under her skirt.

Meanwhile, Liu Meiling was in the same situation.

The young man's arm seemed to casually rest on the back of the chair behind her, but his hand moved slowly behind her, using his body as cover.

The movement was very subtle, almost imperceptible unless you looked closely. But Liu Meiling could sense it.

The position of each knuckle and the strength of each strike were clearly discernible.

He wore a perfectly normal smile and said in a cheerful voice, "Girl, you're really lucky. Let's play one more and see if we can win this round."

His tone was so natural, as if he were chatting with an old friend he had known for many years.

He talked about the cards, his eyes were on the cards on the table, but his hands were doing something completely unrelated to the cards.

Liu Meiling stared at the mahjong tiles in front of her, one by one. She recognized all of them, yet she didn't recognize any of them.

The cards became a blurry mess in her eyes, colorful and indistinct, like an unclear dream.

She wanted to stand up.

She wanted to slap him.

But she saw the courtyard full of people, the women working with their heads down, the men drinking and playing drinking games, and the bride, bound and tied up, disappearing behind the half-open door.

She swallowed the words that were about to come out.

The cards were played round after round.

The sky gradually darkened.

Sun Xiaoyan has lost count of how many laps she has done.

Her consciousness became intermittent during the long ordeal, like a radio with a poor signal, sometimes having sound and sometimes just static.

All she remembered was that hand never left her side.

She only remembers that she never made a sound.

All she remembers is that the laughter around her never stopped.

Sun Xiaoyan finally couldn't hold back any longer. She turned to the old woman and asked, her voice dry as if sandpaper had been scraping her throat, "Auntie, when is Brother Liu's car coming?"

"Almost done, almost done. Have dinner before you leave," the old woman said without turning her head, picking vegetables in her hands.

Sun Xiaoyan was anxious, but the hand was still on her leg, and she dared not confront them directly. She was afraid that if they did, something even more terrible would happen.

What she didn't know was that something even more terrible was already happening.

When they reached the seventh lap, Liu Meiling stood up and said in as calm a voice as possible, "I need to go to the restroom."

Erniu pointed to the back of the yard: "Over there."

Liu Meiling is gone.

Sun Xiaoyan watched her walk across the courtyard, past the people drinking, past the women serving dishes, and head towards the backyard.

Her figure became increasingly blurry in the darkening sky, finally turning a corner and disappearing behind the wall.

Sun Xiaoyan suddenly felt a void in her heart.

She wanted to call out to Meiling.

She wanted to go with Meiling.

But Erniu's hand was still on her lap, the young man was still sitting opposite her, and the old woman was still picking vegetables beside her.

Everything seemed so normal, so normal that she wondered if she was overthinking it.

She didn't call out.

She lowered her head and continued drawing cards.

The sound of mahjong tiles clattering in the courtyard was like bones hitting bones.

Sun Xiaoyan waited for five or six minutes, but Meiling still hadn't returned.

The unease in her heart swelled up little by little, like beans soaking in water.

She turned her head again to look towards the backyard, but the wall blocked her view, and she couldn't see anything.

"I'm going to find her." Sun Xiaoyan stood up.

Erniu's brother blocked her way, waving his hand with a smile: "What's the rush? It's just going to the outhouse."

The smile was on his face and looked quite warm, but his eyes weren't smiling.

The way those eyes looked at her was as if they were looking at something.

The unease in Sun Xiaoyan's heart suddenly exploded.

She pushed the man away and ran towards the backyard.

She had only run a few steps when a hand suddenly reached out from behind and hugged her around the waist.

The arm was thick and strong, like an iron hoop, wrapped around her waist and dragging her backward.

Her feet left the ground and kicked wildly in mid-air, knocking over a nearby bench, which fell to the ground with a thud.

"Let me go!" Sun Xiaoyan screamed.

Her voice exploded in the courtyard, sharp and piercing, like a knife slicing through glass.

But no one turned back.

She saw the women still working with their heads down.

Some were serving dishes, others were washing dishes; they were all quick and efficient, their faces expressionless.

She saw the men still playing cards, shouting and yelling, their cigarette butts glowing in the twilight.

She heard someone shout, "Brother Erniu is so lucky!"

Then came laughter.

Laughter from many people.

That laughter was like a bucket of cold water, poured over my head and toes.

Sun Xiaoyan suddenly realized something—they all saw it. They all saw it.

She wasn't inside that glass dome.

She remained in the courtyard the whole time, right under everyone's noses.

But no one will help her.

This realization terrified her more than the hand itself.

Her screams turned into sobs, and her struggles turned into trembling.

She was dragged across the yard, past the people drinking, past the women serving dishes, towards the haystack.

As she passed the outhouse, she heard noises coming from inside.

It wasn't the sound of speaking.

It's another kind.

It was muffled and intermittent, like something being squeezed out of the throat by someone covering one's mouth.

Sun Xiaoyan shuddered and shouted with all her might, "Meiling!"

No one answered.

She only heard the sound from the outhouse stop for a moment, and then continue.

More anxious, more stifling, more desperate.

Then she was dragged over.

The haystack was in the farthest corner of the yard, furthest from the banquet and closest to the outhouse.

The haystacks there were half a person high, used for feeding livestock, and smelled of hay and dirt mixed together.

Sun Xiaoyan was thrown onto a haystack, the dry grass scratching her face, her arms, and her legs.

She struggled to get up, but a knee pinned her back down, leaving her sprawled on the haystack, unable to move.

Her face was buried in the hay, and nothing could be seen.

But she can hear.

The people in the courtyard were still drinking and eating meat.

Some people were playing drinking games, some were cursing, and someone told a dirty joke, making everyone at the table laugh so hard they were doubled over.

A woman carrying dishes walked by, her footsteps light and quick, as if she was in a hurry to leave.

She could hear the sounds continuing from the outhouse, growing faster and faster, mixed with a man's panting and another, softer sound, like something being crushed.

Then she heard footsteps. More than one person's footsteps.

Some people walked over from the banquet area, some from the outhouse area, and some from directions she didn't know.

The haystack was surrounded.

Sun Xiaoyan doesn't know how many people she has.

She could only see shadows on the ground, one after another, surging in from all directions and surrounding her.

It was already dark.

The lights in the courtyard were turned on, and the dim yellow light stretched the shadows very long, like black tentacles reaching out from all directions to wrap around her ankles, her wrists, and her throat.

Sun Xiaoyan buried her face in the hay, closed her eyes, and tried not to see or think about anything.

She couldn't remember anything after that.

That period felt like it had been cut from her life, leaving only fragments that drifted intermittently in her memory. The lamp above the courtyard.

Rough red bricks on a stone mill.

The pebbles below my knees are hard and uncomfortable.

The sky above was getting darker and darker.

And the sounds of drinking games echoing throughout the banquet never stopped from beginning to end.

She remembered hearing Liu Meiling's voice later.

It's very close, it seems to be just a short distance away.

That wasn't a cry for help.

The voice was very soft and flat, as if it were talking about something trivial.

But Sun Xiaoyan could tell—the thing in that voice was broken.

Later, she heard Erniu's voice. He was talking to someone, his tone as relaxed as if he were chatting about tomorrow's weather.

"There's one more."

Then came laughter.

She didn't know how much time had passed.

long time.

So long that the sounds of drinking games in the courtyard faded, so long that the dishes on the table went from hot to cold, so long that the shadows surrounding her dispersed one by one, so long that when the last person left, he patted the grass clippings off his hands, said something, and went back to the banquet.

She lay on the haystack, motionless.

She can't move.

Her legs felt like they were filled with lead, and her arms were like those of a puppet with broken strings.

She tried to move her fingers, and they poked into the hay, touching a cold pebble. She gripped the pebble tightly for a long time.

Suddenly, a noise came from the courtyard.

Footsteps, voices, the sound of chairs being dragged. The banquet was over.

Then someone pulled her up.

It's an old lady.

The old woman had no expression on her face, one hand gripping her arm, the other holding a rag.

Her hands were rough, with thick knuckles, and she was quite strong. The way she pulled Sun Xiaoyan was no different from when she usually carried firewood or buckets of water.

Sun Xiaoyan was dragged a few steps by her, her legs went weak, and she almost knelt on the ground.

The old woman didn't say anything, switched hands, and continued pulling.

She saw that the old woman had also helped Liu Meiling up.

She couldn't see Liu Meiling's face clearly; there was no light at the entrance to the woodshed, so she could only see a silhouette.

The figure was hunched over, unsteady on its feet. When the old woman pulled it forward, its steps were unsteady, as if it were walking on cotton.

"Let's go home."

The old woman's voice was exactly the same as usual, just like when she called them to get up for breakfast this morning, and just like when she arranged for them to stay in the west room last night.

The two were dragged back to the old woman's courtyard and pushed into the woodshed.

The threshold of the woodshed was very high, and Sun Xiaoyan tripped over it, falling onto the pile of firewood.

The dry firewood pressed against her ribs, and the smell of wood filled her nostrils, mixed with the smell of soil and dust.

Liu Meiling was also pushed in and fell down next to her.

Erniu chuckled outside: "Just stay put, we'll have another banquet tomorrow."

The laughter was relaxed, content, and carried the carefree feeling of someone who had just finished a good meal and a good drink. It was no different from the grinning he wore in the yard during the day.

The door was closed from the outside.

Then came the sound of the iron lock locking.

With a snap.