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

On the afternoon of payday, Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling clutched three thousand yuan, their hands trembling with excitement.

Liu Meiling counted the money three times, her eyes shining like light bulbs: "Let's go buy clothes!"

Sun Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment: "Should we save it for now?"

"What are you saving!" Liu Meiling grabbed her arm. "How long has it been since we wore new clothes? Let's go!"

The two men changed out of their work clothes, put on clean coats, and ran into the city as soon as they left the warehouse.

The provincial capital's commercial street is only four bus stops away from the warehouse. The two of them stood on the bus, holding onto the handrails, and felt as if the whole city had been illuminated.

Liu Meiling pulled Sun Xiaoyan into a women's clothing store, where clothes were hanging everywhere.

Sun Xiaoyan spotted a floral dress; it had a light blue background with small white flowers. She reached out and touched the fabric, then glanced at the price tag and was startled: "Three hundred and eighty?"

Liu Meiling had already picked up two dresses and was holding them up against herself: "Buy them if you like them! We earned the money ourselves, what's there to be afraid of!"

Sun Xiaoyan gritted her teeth and took off the floral dress.

Liu Meiling picked out a red short skirt to match a white shirt, and then picked out a black dress, and looked at herself in the mirror.

When the two of them were trying on clothes, Sun Xiaoyan looked at herself in the mirror wearing the new dress and paused for a moment.

The skirt just covered her waist, revealing a section of her fair calves, and was slightly open at the chest, exposing her collarbone.

She never wore clothes like that in the village back then; she always wore coarse cloth jackets or old work clothes.

Liu Meiling emerged from the fitting room, her long, white legs peeking out from under her red mini-skirt, her waist cinched tightly. She laughed at herself, "I've got a pretty good figure!"

Sun Xiaoyan smiled too.

The two of them each bought two sets, and Liu Meiling then dragged Sun Xiaoyan to the mobile phone store.

"It's inconvenient for us to be out and about without cell phones." Liu Meiling picked out two identical smartphones, the cheap kind, each costing five hundred yuan.

Sun Xiaoyan held her new phone, touched the screen, and for the first time felt like a city dweller.

Liu Meiling said that with three thousand yuan spent, she still had a little over three hundred left, which was enough for dinner, and she would eat there when she got home that night.

The two people, dressed in new clothes but carrying bags of old clothes, walked along the shopping street.

Sun Xiaoyan was wearing that floral dress, and the wind made the hem of the dress flutter gently, making her walk a little lighter.

Liu Meiling, dressed in a black skirt and white shirt, walked along fiddling with her new phone, beaming from ear to ear.

"This is the kind of life a person should live," Liu Meiling said.

Sun Xiaoyan nodded, and the corners of her mouth turned up.

The two turned into an alley, intending to buy a cup of milk tea.

Just as I reached the middle of the alley, seven or eight people suddenly darted out from in front of me.

A spirited young man with dyed yellow hair, wearing ripped jeans and a floral shirt, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, was laughing and joking with his arm around someone's shoulder.

A woman was surrounded in the middle.

Sun Xiaoyan took a closer look and her heart skipped a beat.

The woman, wearing a tight leather skirt, heavy makeup, and bright red lipstick, was none other than Xiaoya from the farm.

Xiaoya also saw them.

She was smiling and chatting with the young man next to her when her smile suddenly froze.

His eyes were like knives, fixed intently on Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling.

"Oh, who do we have here?" Xiaoya walked over slowly, followed by seven or eight young men who surrounded her.

Sun Xiaoyan took a step back and gripped the bag tightly in her hand.

Liu Meiling stuffed her phone into her pocket and stared at Xiaoya: "What are you planning to do?"

"What do you want?" Xiaoya walked up to the two women, looking them up and down with hatred in her eyes. "You're dressed quite smartly, you slut. Where did you buy your new clothes? Did you earn them by selling your body?"

Liu Meiling's expression changed: "Watch your mouth!"

Xiaoya sneered and suddenly raised her hand to slap Liu Meiling across the face.

Snapped!

It's very crisp.

Liu Meiling was hit so hard that her head turned to the side, and blood immediately seeped from the corner of her mouth.

"Clean?" Xiaoya gritted her teeth. "When you stripped me naked and took pictures at the farm, why didn't you say 'clean'?"

Sun Xiaoyan's mind was buzzing.

She recalled those days at the farm, the video Xiaoya filmed of them being bullied on her phone, and the smiling look in Xiaoya's eyes as she watched from the sidelines.

At that time, they hated Xiaoya so much that they were itching to tear her apart. Before running away, they took advantage of Xiaoya's sleep, stripped her naked, and took photos of her.

I never expected to run into you here today.

"We haven't settled things from that time yet," Xiaoya grabbed Sun Xiaoyan by the collar. "Today, I'll show you what karma is!"

She waved her hand: "Get them!"

Seven or eight energetic young men immediately surrounded them.

A blond-haired man reached out and grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's hair, pulling hard. Sun Xiaoyan was in so much pain that tears welled up in her eyes.

Liu Meiling grabbed the shopping bag in her hand and smashed it over the blond-haired man's head: "Get out of here!"

Several people rushed forward and pinned the two people to the ground.

Sun Xiaoyan struggled desperately, and her newly bought floral dress was torn at the neckline. With a tearing sound, the fabric was ripped in two, revealing half of her snow-white breast.

She quickly tried to cover herself with her hands, but a green-haired boy pulled her arm away.

"Wow, she's quite fair-skinned!" Green Hair chuckled and reached out to pinch her breast.

"Let me go!" Sun Xiaoyan shouted, her voice shrill and trembling.

Xiaoya stood to the side, taking out her phone and snapping photos, smiling smugly: "Why would someone who's already sold anything need new clothes? Wouldn't they look better naked?"

Liu Meiling's situation was even worse; several people were pulling her jeans down.

She was clutching her waistband tightly when a young man kicked her in the stomach, causing her to let go in pain.

hiss-

His jeans were pulled down to his ankles, and his underwear was ripped off in half, exposing his white buttocks under the streetlights.

"Take a picture! Take a picture!" Xiaoya shouted. "Post it online so everyone can see what these two sluts look like!"

Several young men held down Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, forcing them to kneel on the ground. Their clothes were tattered, and their breasts and buttocks were exposed.

Sun Xiaoyan felt her face burning, unsure whether it was from being slapped or from embarrassment.

Her eyes were closed, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Liu Meiling gritted her teeth and struggled desperately, but was held down even more tightly.

Xiaoya squatted down and poked Sun Xiaoyan's face with her finger: "Oh, crying? Weren't you quite the hero when you were undressing me?"

Sun Xiaoyan opened her eyes, which were bloodshot, and stared intently at Xiaoya.

"What are you looking at!" Xiaoya slapped him again. "If you glare at me again, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

She stood up and said to the young men, "Strip them naked and drag them over to the trash can to film them!"

Just as the young men were about to make their move, a furious roar suddenly came from the alleyway entrance: "What are you doing!"

Everyone looked up.

Seven or eight people rushed out of the alley, led by a burly woman wielding a wooden stick.

It was Ah Zhen.

She was followed by four or five female workers and two or three male workers, all of whom were warehouse colleagues, each carrying a stick or a wrench.

"Sister Zhen!" Sun Xiaoyan cried out.

Ah Zhen rushed up and smashed a stick into the shoulder of a blond-haired man, who screamed and fell to the ground.

Others rushed up and started fighting with the group of energetic young men.

The warehouse workers were strong; after a few blows with a stick, the energetic young men were deflated, covering their heads and backing away.

"Run!" Xiaoya shouted and took the lead in running.

The seven or eight people scattered in a commotion, leaving Xiaoya behind, who ran far away but turned back shouting, "You wait! This isn't over!"

Ah Zhen didn't chase after them; she quickly squatted down and helped Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling up.

Sun Xiaoyan's new dress was torn to shreds, half of her breast was exposed, and her body was covered in bruises.

Liu Meiling's pants were pulled down to her ankles, and her white buttocks were covered in bruises.

Ah Zhen took off her coat and draped it over Sun Xiaoyan: "What happened? Who are those people?"

Sun Xiaoyan shivered as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself and shook her head: "We met in the village before, and we have a bit of a grudge."

Liu Meiling pulled up her pants, buttoned them up, and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth: "It's nothing serious, just a random accident."

Ah Zhen frowned: "Their attitude is more than just 'a little grudge.' Should we call the police?"

"No need, no need," Sun Xiaoyan quickly said. "We can handle it ourselves."

Ah Zhen glanced at her but didn't ask any further questions: "Alright, hurry back and don't stay here."

Several female workers stepped forward to help pick up the scattered items. Sun Xiaoyan's floral dress had been torn into strips and was no longer wearable.

She looked at the few pieces of cloth in her hand and felt extremely sad.

Liu Meiling's black dress was also torn, but she didn't say anything. She tied the torn part in a knot and dusted herself off.

"Let's go back first," Ah Zhen said.

A group of people helped Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling out of the alley and walked towards the bus stop.

It was getting a little dark, and the streetlights were coming on one by one.

Sun Xiaoyan, wrapped in A-Zhen's coat, sat on the bus, looking at the neon lights flowing outside the window, her hands and feet still trembling.

Liu Meiling sat next to her, took out her phone and looked at the slap mark on her face: "Damn, that slap was really hard."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't speak, she just kept her head down.

My mind was filled with Xiaoya's hateful eyes and her last words—"This isn't over."

She knew that Xiaoya would definitely come again.

When the bus arrived near the warehouse, everyone got off, and Ah Zhen escorted the two to the door of the storage room.

"You all get some rest. Don't rush to work tomorrow," Ah Zhen said. "Just call me if you need anything."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded: "Thank you, Sister Zhen."

"No need to thank me, we're from the same factory." Ah Zhen waved and left.

In the storage room, Sun Xiaoyan took off her tattered skirt and changed into work clothes.

Liu Meiling also changed her clothes and took out a new phone, the screen of which was already cracked.

"Damn it," Liu Meiling cursed, "My new phone is smashed on its very first day."

Sun Xiaoyan sat on the bed, hugging her knees, and didn't say anything.

Liu Meiling put down her phone and turned to look at her: "Don't be afraid, Xiaoya won't dare to do anything."

Sun Xiaoyan shook her head: "She brought so many people, and even said she was going to post it online..."

"Let them post it," Liu Meiling sneered. "What kind of photos haven't we had taken of each other? Why do we care about this?"

Sun Xiaoyan was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "What if she brings people here?"

Liu Meiling was stunned for a moment, and her expression changed.

The two looked at each other and saw the fear in each other's eyes.

At that moment, Xiaoya had already run to the entrance of an internet cafe in the west of the city.

She took out her phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang for a long time before a somber voice came from the other end: "Feed."

Xiaoya lowered her voice: "Dad, I saw those two sluts, they're in the warehouse in the west of the city."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, the voice was as cold as ice: "Keep an eye on them, I'm bringing men right now."