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

The next morning, just as dawn broke, Chen Xiaodie's father knocked on the door.

Sun Xiaoyan was half asleep when she heard a knock on the door and immediately sat up.

Liu Meiling turned over, mumbled something, and closed her eyes again.

"Get up, I'll take you to the warehouse," Chen Xiaodie's father said from outside the door.

Sun Xiaoyan nudged Liu Meiling: "Get up quickly."

The two hurriedly put on their work clothes, tied their hair, and went out the door.

Chen Xiaodie's father stood in the corridor, wearing an old jacket and holding two enamel mugs: "Breakfast is served at the factory, but we'll have to make do this for now."

Sun Xiaoyan took the jar, lifted the lid, and found it contained white porridge with a few strands of pickled mustard greens floating on top.

She picked it up and took a sip; it was so hot she gasped for breath, but her stomach felt warm.

Liu Meiling took it too, and without saying a word, she shoveled it into her mouth, slurped it down, wiped her mouth, and said, "Let's go."

The warehouse is behind the old building; it's a five-minute walk away.

It was a large shed made of corrugated iron, filled with cardboard boxes and plastic packaging.

Seven or eight female workers had already arrived and were loading boxes of goods onto the tricycle.

Upon seeing Chen Xiaodie's father arrive with two unfamiliar faces, they all stopped what they were doing.

"You're new here, so train them. The work isn't heavy; it's just counting, packing, and shipping," said Chen Xiaodie's father.

A slightly plump female worker glanced at Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, smiled, and said, "Okay, come with me."

Her name is Azhen, she is 28 years old, and she has been married to a man in the provincial capital for several years. She speaks as frankly as a firecracker, rattling off a bunch of warehouse rules.

Sun Xiaoyan was a little confused, but Liu Meiling remembered about 70-80% of it.

"Have you ever done things like moving goods, keeping count, and putting up slips?" Ah Zhen asked.

Liu Meiling shook her head.

"It's okay, you'll get the hang of it in a couple of days." Ah Zhen patted her shoulder. "Start by moving the lightest things, and let the male workers do the heavy ones."

Sun Xiaoyan followed Azhen to the shelf, where Azhen handed her a list: "Count the item numbers on this list and see if you have enough. If you do, move them over there; if not, just let me know."

Sun Xiaoyan took the form and looked at the dense numbers and letters on it, her palms sweating slightly.

She counted them carefully several times to make sure the number matched before moving the boxes onto the cart.

The boxes weren't heavy, but my arms started to ache after carrying them a few times.

Liu Meiling had already started posting the forms; she was working efficiently, and Ah Zhen nodded in approval: "Not bad, you're quite fast."

At lunchtime, a folding table was set up in the warehouse, and several female workers took out their lunch boxes.

Chen Xiaodie's mother brought over a thermos containing braised pork and stir-fried vegetables.

Sun Xiaoyan picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth. It was so fatty and oily that it smelled delicious, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"Eat slowly, don't choke," Ah Zhen said with a smile. "Judging by your physiques, you two haven't done any heavy work before, have you?"

Sun Xiaoyan shook her head and continued eating her rice.

Liu Meiling spoke frankly: "I used to do farm work in the village, but it's different from this."

"Then why did you come to the provincial capital?" another tall, thin female worker asked.

"I'll find some work," Liu Meiling said, picking up a bite of food. "I can't stay in the village anymore."

Ah Zhen glanced at her, didn't ask any more questions, and only said, "The provincial capital is good, there are many opportunities, work hard."

In the afternoon, Chen Xiaodie packed her luggage and came out of the building pulling two suitcases.

Sun Xiaoyan was moving boxes at the warehouse entrance when she saw her come out and paused in surprise.

Chen Xiaodie was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, with her hair in a ponytail; she looked like a completely different person.

She walked over, put the suitcase on the ground, and said with a smile, "Sister, I'm going back to school."

Sun Xiaoyan put down her suitcase and dusted off her hands: "Back to university?"

"Yes, school starts soon, and it'll take several hours to get back by bus." Chen Xiaodie's eyes were a little red as she took Sun Xiaoyan's hand. "Sisters, please take good care of yourselves. I'll come to see you when I'm on vacation."

Sun Xiaoyan opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything; her eyes reddened first.

Chen Xiaodie grabbed Liu Meiling's hand again: "Meiling, you two must take good care of yourselves. My dad said you can work as long as you want, or go somewhere else if you don't want to. Anyway, this is your home."

Liu Meiling laughed and patted Chen Xiaodie's hand: "Alright, alright, stop being so sentimental. You focus on your studies, we'll be fine here. Just remember to bring back some good food when you're on vacation."

Chen Xiaodie was amused and nodded vigorously: "Definitely!"

She hugged Sun Xiaoyan, then hugged Liu Meiling, and then pulled her suitcase toward the street corner.

Sun Xiaoyan stood at the warehouse entrance, watching Chen Xiaodie's figure disappear around the corner, and tears finally fell.

"Don't cry, she's just going to school, it's not like she's never coming back," Ah Zhen said from the side. "You two are really lucky to have found such a good employer."

Sun Xiaoyan wiped away her tears and nodded.

The following month passed peacefully.

Every day before dawn, Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling would get up, wash up, and go to the warehouse.

In the morning, I inventoried the goods, moved boxes, and affixed labels.

We ate lunch from the same pot, and then continued working in the afternoon.

After finishing work in the evening, I went back to the storage room to take a shower and go to sleep.

The work isn't strenuous, but it's tedious.

Sun Xiaoyan couldn't remember the item numbers at first and often miscounted them, which led to her being scolded by Azhen.

Liu Meiling picked it up quickly and became proficient in the job in just a few days. Ah Zhen even praised her, saying she was "born to do this job."

The wounds on the two people slowly scabbed over and then slowly fell off.

The rattan marks on Sun Xiaoyan's back turned into faint white marks.

New skin has grown back on the areas on Liu Meiling's wrists that were chafed by the hemp rope.

After taking a shower that evening, the two sat on the bed looking at each other's wounds. Sun Xiaoyan said, "It seems a little better," while Liu Meiling said, "It looks terrible."

One evening, after finishing work early, Ah Zhen pulled a deck of cards out of her bag: "Come on, let's play a few rounds."

Liu Meiling's eyes lit up: "What are you calling?"

"Playing cards, the loser crawls under the table," Ah Zhen laughed. "Betting on peanuts and melon seeds, one cent a hand."

Sun Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment, but Liu Meiling had already plopped down on her chair: "Come on, come on, it's been a long time since we played."

The table was an old wooden table from the warehouse where tools were stored, and several people sat around it in a circle.

Ah Zhen threw a handful of peanuts in the middle as a bet.

Sun Xiaoyan grabbed a hand of cards, her hand trembling slightly.

Her luck with cards was as bad as ever; she had only low-value cards in her hand and not even a King.

She lost the first game.

Ah Zhen laughed: "Go ahead and drill."

Sun Xiaoyan had no choice but to squat down and crawl under the table.

The coarse cloth pants rubbed against the ground, making my knees a little sore.

I lost the second game too.

"Drill again."

Sun Xiaoyan went through it again.

The third game, and they lost again.

Ah Zhen laughed so hard she slapped the table: "What kind of divine luck is that? Let's do it again!"

Sun Xiaoyan blushed and obediently crawled through the tunnel a third time.

His knees were red from rubbing against the ground, and his pants were covered in a layer of dust.

Liu Meiling was overjoyed on the other side, holding her cards firmly in her hand.

She played her cards decisively and won three hands in a row, piling up peanuts like a small mountain in front of her.

She peeled a peanut, popped it into her mouth, and said as she chewed, "Finally, I've gotten my revenge."

Ah Zhen lost a round, and, unwilling to accept defeat, shuffled the cards and started again.

Sun Xiaoyan's cards were slightly better this time, but she still lost in the end.

She laughed at herself: "Did a ghost touch my hand today?"

"It's okay, you'll get used to it after a few more times." Ah Zhen smiled so much her eyes narrowed.

When Sun Xiaoyan returned to the storage room that evening, she collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. The knees of her pants were worn raw.

Liu Meiling washed her face, peeled a bowl of peanuts she had won that day, and poured them into a dish: "Eat, don't be shy."

Sun Xiaoyan picked one up and put it in her mouth; it was salty and crunchy.

Lying in bed at night, the metal frame of the bed creaked and groaned.

The neon lights of the provincial capital outside the window cast red and green shadows on the wall through the tattered curtains.

Sun Xiaoyan stared at the crack in the ceiling, a long water stain stretching from the corner of the wall all the way to the light fixture.

She stared for a while, and suddenly realized that her heart seemed to have calmed down.

It's not the kind of quiet that makes you afraid; it's the quiet that makes you not afraid.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Liu Meiling turned over, the bed creaking as she said, "I get paid tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan hummed in agreement.

"Let's go buy a new pair of pants," Liu Meiling said. "These work clothes are almost worn through."

Sun Xiaoyan smiled and said, "Okay."

Outside the window, the red and blue neon lights were still flashing. But at this moment, the light didn't seem so dazzling.

Sun Xiaoyan turned over and pulled the blanket over her head.

All I could hear was Liu Meiling's even breathing and the Huangmei opera playing on the radio in the next room.

She closed her eyes and stopped thinking about anything else.