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

The train whistle sounded.

The two carried their old schoolbags and followed the flow of people to the ticket gate.

The hard-seat carriages were packed with people, and even the aisles were full of people.

Sun Xiaoyan was squeezed in the aisle, her bag was on her back in front of her, and someone squeezed right next to her.

He was a man in his forties, wearing work clothes, and smelled of sweat.

The man rubbed against Sun Xiaoyan's buttocks, his hands restlessly moving towards her waist.

Sun Xiaoyan twisted her body, but the man didn't move away; instead, he pressed himself even closer.

She bit her lip and didn't say a word, pushing herself forward with all her might.

"Come here!" Liu Meiling reached out and pulled her to a seat.

The three-seater was already full. The two window seats were occupied by a young man wearing glasses and a middle-aged woman.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling squeezed into the remaining seats, their bottoms only able to occupy half the seats, their bags resting on their laps.

The man was still standing in the aisle, glancing this way.

Sun Xiaoyan didn't look at him, but turned to look out the window.

The station lights slowly receded, the train sped up, and the neon lights of the provincial capital gradually faded into the distance.

The night outside the window was dark, and occasionally a small station would pass by, its lights flashing by.

The carriage was noisy; some people were eating sunflower seeds, some were chatting loudly, and there were also children crying.

Sun Xiaoyan leaned on Liu Meiling's shoulder, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she drifted off to sleep.

"We're here!"

Sun Xiaoyan was woken up by a gentle nudge. She opened her eyes and saw that it was already bright outside the window.

The train was slowly pulling into the station, and people were coming and going on the platform, with the station name being announced over the loudspeaker.

"I'm getting off the bus." Liu Meiling picked up her bag and stood up.

The two followed the flow of people out of the carriage and onto the platform.

The air in southern cities is humid and muggy, a world apart from that in the provincial capital.

The exit was crowded with people, some holding signs, others shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Hey girl, want a room at the hotel?"

"Want to work at factory XX? Room and board included!"

Several men holding signs stared at the two of them.

Sun Xiaoyan felt uneasy and grabbed Liu Meiling's arm to walk quickly.

Liu Meiling suddenly remembered something, took out the business card from her pocket, and dialed the number on it.

"Hello, Manager Wang? We've arrived," Liu Meiling said.

A male voice came from the other end of the phone: "Arrived? Which stop?"

"Exit."

"We'll send someone to pick you up."

After hanging up the phone, Liu Meiling looked around.

Sun Xiaoyan grabbed her wrist: "Meiling..."

"What are you afraid of? Let's take a look first," Liu Meiling said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes.

After waiting for about ten minutes, a silver-gray bread truck stopped outside the exit.

The car door opened, and two men jumped out, one wearing a black T-shirt and the other wearing a gray vest.

"Liu Meiling? Sun Xiaoyan?" the man in the black T-shirt asked with a smile.

Liu Meiling nodded.

"Get in the car," the man said, opening the back door. "I'll take you to a nice place."

Sun Xiaoyan took a step back and pulled Liu Meiling's hand backward.

Liu Meiling hesitated and stood still.

"What, afraid we're bad guys?" The man in the black T-shirt laughed even harder. "Don't worry, Manager Wang introduced us. It's a legitimate factory! Room and board included, and the monthly salary is eight thousand!"

Another man stepped forward and grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's arm: "Get in the car, stop dawdling."

"What are you doing!" Sun Xiaoyan struggled to back away.

Liu Meiling also realized what was happening and forcefully pushed away the man who was pulling Sun Xiaoyan.

Another man rushed up, grabbed Liu Meiling by the hair, and dragged her into the car.

Sun Xiaoyan was pulled so hard she stumbled, and her cloth shoes almost fell off.

The two women were dragged to the bread truck, and the man in the black T-shirt pushed them by the buttocks and shoved them into the truck.

"Let go! Help!" Sun Xiaoyan cried out.

People were watching, but no one stepped forward.

The people at the station glanced at it, then turned around and continued holding up their signs and soliciting customers, as if nothing had happened.

"What are you shouting for!" The man in the gray vest covered Sun Xiaoyan's mouth and pushed her into her seat.

Liu Meiling was pushed and slammed into a seat, her forehead hitting an iron pillar, causing her to see stars from the pain.

The car door slammed shut.

The engine started, and the bread truck drove out of the station square.

Sun Xiaoyan was pressed down in the back seat, her mouth covered, and she could only make muffled sounds.

Liu Meiling struggled to sit up, a bump on her forehead and her hair disheveled.

The man in the gray vest sat next to her, his arm resting on her shoulder.

"Behave yourselves, you'll have a good time when we get there." The man in the black T-shirt glanced at them in the rearview mirror as he drove.

Sun Xiaoyan looked out the train window; the lights on the platform were getting farther and farther away.

The city's buildings receded into the distance as the van turned into a narrow road, flanked by dilapidated old buildings and tangled wires hanging from utility poles.

Sun Xiaoyan's tears flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto her clothes.

She didn't know where the car was going, or what awaited them.

All she knew was that she had finally escaped the mountain village, the farm, and the warehouse, only to be dragged onto this dilapidated van by two strangers.

The van drove through several streets, turned into a narrower alley, and stopped in front of an old six-story building.

"We're here, get out of the car." The man in the black T-shirt opened the back door.