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

After a three-hour drive, the convoy finally arrived at the farm.

Sun Xiaoyan looked out the car window at the rusty iron gate and felt a wave of nausea wash over her.

This is the door where she and Liu Meiling were brought in by an unlicensed taxi and locked up for a month.

The police car came to a stop, and the officer got out.

Seven or eight people suddenly rushed out of the farmyard, led by Xiaoya's mother—a woman in her fifties with messy hair, holding a broom in her hand.

"What are you doing! What right do you have to come to my house!" Xiaoya's mother shouted at the top of her lungs.

Several shrewish women surrounded him, some even reaching out to grab the officer's collar.

Two shirtless men stood at the door, carrying shovels and with menacing faces.

The officer's clothes were pulled askew, but he didn't flinch; he simply pulled out his badge.

"Police are investigating, please make way."

Xiaoya's mother, spitting as she spoke, yelled, "What kind of case are you handling! My daughter's been arrested and you're still here! Don't you have any respect for the law?!"

As he spoke, he lunged at the police officer, grabbing his collar and refusing to let go.

The officer gave a wink to his colleague next to him.

Two policemen came up; one grabbed Xiaoya's mother's wrist, and the other took out handcuffs.

A snap.

Xiaoya's mother froze for a second, then burst into tears, crying, "They hit someone! The police hit someone!"

Before she could finish shouting, her hands were handcuffed and pressed against the hood of the police car.

When those shrewish women saw that things were getting serious, they all took two steps back.

The two men with shovels put them down, shrank back, and remained silent.

The officer straightened his collar, turned around and waved to Sun Xiaoyan: "Come down, lead the way."

Sun Xiaoyan took a deep breath and pushed open the car door.

Liu Meiling also got out of another car. The two looked at each other, neither of them spoke, and walked into the farm gate one after the other.

The familiar courtyard.

The marks of a mahjong table were still visible on the cement floor, and a clothesline stretched under the eaves, with several women's underwear and bras hanging on it.

Sun Xiaoyan remembered that those were all clothes they had worn.

Liu Meiling walked ahead, her steps quick.

She crossed the courtyard and turned into the corridor behind the house.

Sun Xiaoyan followed behind, her steps a little weak.

At the end of the corridor was a wooden door with a rusty handle.

Liu Meiling stopped and glanced back at the police officer: "This is the one."

The officer nodded, signaling his colleagues behind him to get ready.

Liu Meiling pushed open the door.

A strong, fishy stench hit her. Sun Xiaoyan, standing at the door, almost vomited from the smell.

The curtains were drawn, making the room dimly lit.

Three naked girls were lying on the bed.

The three girls looked to be in their early twenties, with their eyes half-open and half-closed, their mouths slightly open, and drool hanging from the corners of their mouths.

One was lying on her side, her breasts slumped on the sheets, and her buttocks exposed.

The other one was lying on its back with its legs wide open, its thighs covered in purplish-blue pinch marks.

Another child was curled up at the head of the bed, mumbling incoherently, "Again...again..."

None of the three were wearing clothes, and their bodies were covered in bruises.

Sun Xiaoyan felt a churning in her stomach and turned her head to vomit.

Liu Meiling stood at the door, her face pale, biting her lip, unable to speak.

The police officer frowned and went inside, reaching out to check the girl's breath as she lay on her back.

The girl was still muttering, "Bastard...again..."

"They're still alive." The officer looked up. "They've been drugged; something's wrong with them."

Liu Meiling finally spoke, her voice trembling: "It's this kind of drug... As soon as we entered this room, the people from the farm forced us to drink it. After drinking it, we became confused and didn't know anything. We just did whatever they told us to do. The three of them must have just been given it; the effects of the drug haven't worn off yet."

The officer turned to look at her: "Was this the same thing you did back then?"

Liu Meiling didn't speak, but nodded.

After vomiting, Sun Xiaoyan wiped her mouth and walked over, her voice trembling: "This room is where Liu Meiling and I used to entertain customers. The three of them... were also locked up here to serve customers, working from dawn till dusk without rest. Customers came and went, and their bodies were covered in injuries."

The officer walked to the bedside and lifted the blanket.

When the girl, who was curled up at the head of the bed, was exposed, her lower body was swollen and red, her groin was covered in sticky stuff, and there were patches of white fluid stains on the sheets.

The officer's hand froze in mid-air, his face grim.

He paused for a few seconds, then pulled the blanket back up, turned around, and yelled, "Get me a sheet!"

The two policemen quickly brought bed sheets from the car.

The three of them worked together, each wrapping one girl, and gently carried the three girls off the bus.

The three girls were still groggy when they were wrapped up, shouting "Again!" and "Don't go!" in soft, delicate voices that sent chills down one's spine.

The police officer stood at the door, glanced at the messy bed sheets and empty medicine bottles and condom wrappers scattered all over the floor, and took out his phone to make a call.

"Seal off the farm; no one is allowed in. The forensic team and evidence collection team are on their way immediately."

He hung up the phone and shouted to the people in the courtyard, "Everyone, don't leave!"

The police quickly dispersed; some searched the backyard, some rummaged through cabinets looking for medicine bottles, and some squatted on the ground taking photos as evidence.

Someone found more than twenty small medicine bottles, a DV camera, and several data cables in the bedside table.

"Boss, this place is full of medicine, and there are also video recordings." A young policeman ran out carrying a bag.

The officer took the bag and searched it, his face turning ashen: "Take them all back, leave none behind."

Half an hour later, all the people at the farm were put into police cars.

Xiaoya's mother was still cursing in the car: "You just wait!"

Nobody paid any attention to her.

The police officer walked up to Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling and handed them a bottle of water.

"Thank you for your hard work. You did a great job and it helped a lot in solving the case."

Sun Xiaoyan took the water, her hands still trembling.

The officer took out his phone, scrolled through it, and looked up, saying, "You cooperated with the investigation and were a great help. According to regulations, each of you will receive a reward of two thousand yuan. I'll transfer it to you right now."

Sun Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment: "No...no need..."

"Here you go." The officer had already opened the transfer. "You guys have it tough too."

Sun Xiaoyan's phone rang; two thousand yuan had been deposited into her account. Liu Meiling's phone also rang.

The two looked down at the numbers on their phone screens, neither of them speaking.

The officer put his phone back in his pocket: "We may need your cooperation in the follow-up investigation, but that's about it for today. Go home and rest."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded.

She turned and walked out; the farm's main gate had already been cordoned off.

Several policemen were sealing off the wall, the white seals rustling in the wind.

Liu Meiling followed behind her, looked back at the seals, and bit her lip without saying a word.

A black sedan was parked on the side of the road outside the courtyard, and two people were standing by the car door—Chen Xiaodie's father and mother.

Mr. Chen was wearing a gray jacket, his hands in his pockets, and his face was serious.

Chen's mother stood beside him, her eyes red-rimmed. When she saw Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling come out, she quickly went to greet them.

"Children, get in the car, I'll take you home."

Sun Xiaoyan lowered her head and said, "Uncle, no need, we can take the bus back ourselves."

"Get in the car." Mr. Chen's voice was soft but firm. "It's hard to get a taxi here, I'll give you a ride."

Sun Xiaoyan opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them.

Chen Xiaodie leaned out from the back seat of the car: "Sis, come on in quickly, it's cold in this wind."

Liu Meiling bit her lip, stepped forward, opened the back door, and got in.

Sun Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment, then got into the car as well.

Chen's mother closed the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

The car's heater was on, and it felt stuffy.

Sun Xiaoyan huddled in her seat, staring out the window at the iron gate of the farm that had been sealed off, feeling neither relieved nor heavy-hearted.

Liu Meiling also looked out the window, her eyes unblinking.

Chen Xiaodie sat between the two, holding a bottle of mineral water in her hand.

"Sis, have some water."

Sun Xiaoyan took the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

Liu Meiling neither took the water nor said anything.

Chen Xiaodie placed the water bottle on her lap: "Sister, you should drink some too, the journey is still long."

Liu Meiling looked down at the water bottle on her lap, picked it up, and took a sip.

Mr. Chen started the car, and with police cars leading the way, the convoy slowly drove away from the farm.

Outside the car window, the country asphalt roads were winding and the roadside was lined with withered cornfields and bare poplar trees.

The sun was setting in the west, and its orange-red light shone on the mountain road, turning the car windows a warm color.

The car was quiet; no one spoke.

Sun Xiaoyan leaned back in her seat, watching the shadows of the trees flash by outside the window, her mind filled with the image of the three naked girls lying on the bed.

The girl, lying on her back, shouted "You bastard, come again!" with a laugh in her voice, as if she were talking about something happy.

But everyone present knew that it wasn't laughter at all; it was just the ramblings of someone under the influence of drugs.

Sun Xiaoyan recalled that she was in the same state during her first few days at the farm.

Every day when I wake up, I don't know what I did the night before. I only remember that my body aches, my legs won't close, and my voice is hoarse.

Liu Meiling leaned against the other side of the car window, her eyes half-closed.

Her hand moved back and forth on her thigh, as if confirming something.

Chen Xiaodie sat in the middle, looking left and right, opened her mouth as if to speak but then swallowed it back.

Finally, she picked up the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

"Sister," she finally spoke, "don't overthink it, it's all in the past."

Sun Xiaoyan did not respond.

Liu Meiling opened her eyes, glanced at Chen Xiaodie, and asked, "Do you think there's any justice in this world?"

Chen Xiaodie was stunned.

"That farm owner, his daughter, and his mother..." Liu Meiling's voice was very soft, "They locked up so many women, filmed so many videos, and fed them so many drugs... How long will they be sentenced?"

Chen Xiaodie didn't know what to say.

Sun Xiaoyan chimed in, "It will be judged."

Liu Meiling looked at her.

"The officer said," Sun Xiaoyan looked out the window, "that they've got all the evidence, and he can't escape."

Liu Meiling didn't say anything more and closed her eyes again.

The car fell silent again.

Mr. Chen glanced in the rearview mirror and pressed the accelerator harder.

After the car rounded the last bend, the farm completely disappeared from sight.

The setting sun shone on the winding mountain road, casting long, long shadows of the three people that intertwined in the carriage, and no one spoke.