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

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling huddled on the iron bunk bed, staring intently at the sounds coming from next door.

The bed creaked and groaned, and the woman's moans were muffled, as if something had gagged her.

The man's heavy breathing was mixed in, one breath at a time, with a very clear rhythm.

Liu Meiling rolled over and lowered her voice, "Did you hear me?"

Sun Xiaoyan did not speak.

Of course she could hear her.

This dilapidated house has terrible soundproofing; you can hear the neighbor breathing through it, not to mention the bed is practically falling apart.

"It's Xiao Zhao," Liu Meiling said again, her tone laced with a sneer. "I was wondering why that girl had so many resources; it turns out she slept with the lecturer."

Sun Xiaoyan remained silent, staring at the crack in the ceiling with a dark look in her eyes.

The commotion next door was getting louder and louder.

Xiao Zhao's voice rose a little, tinged with a sob and something indescribable, then suddenly stopped, as if someone had covered her mouth.

Then came heavy breathing, and the bed creaked for a while before slowly stopping.

Liu Meiling scoffed, turned over, and remained silent.

The next morning, while the two were brushing their teeth, they heard footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor.

Liu Meiling peeked out with a toothbrush in her mouth and saw the lecturer, wearing that cheap suit and with his hair slicked back, coming out of the next room with a thermos in his hand.

Xiao Zhao followed behind, his hair wet and his clothes buttoned up messily. He walked quickly with his head down.

Liu Meiling spat out the foam in her mouth and winked at Sun Xiaoyan.

Sun Xiaoyan didn't reply and continued scrolling with her head down.

Making surprise phone calls as usual in the morning.

Sun Xiaoyan's throat was still a little sore. She drank a few mouthfuls of cold water and sat down. Just as she picked up the receiver, she saw that Liu Meiling's phone had suddenly been connected.

"Hello, is this Sister Zhang? This is Xiao Liu. About that project I mentioned to you yesterday..."

Liu Meiling's voice was steady and sweet, much smoother than a few days ago.

"Yes, it's that investment project. Low entry barrier, high returns... Listen to me, my husband turned his life around with this, earning tens of thousands a month..."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Liu Meiling quickly added, "Sister Zhang, how about this, why don't you come over tomorrow? Our company is located in the industrial zone, and I'll personally show you around when you arrive..."

There was another moment of silence.

Sun Xiaoyan couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the phone, but she could see Liu Meiling's face was tense and her hand holding the receiver was red.

Suddenly, Liu Meiling's face lit up with a smile, and her voice rose: "Really? That's wonderful! I'll be waiting for you at the door at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"

After hanging up the phone, Liu Meiling paused for two seconds, then suddenly turned around: "It's done!"

Sun Xiaoyan was startled: "What? It's done?"

"That Sister Zhang, she said she'll come to pay tomorrow!" Liu Meiling's eyes gleamed frighteningly. "She said she'll invest two thousand first to test the waters!"

Sun Xiaoyan was also excited, almost dropping the phone in her hand: "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you!" Liu Meiling stood up, took a few steps down the corridor, then turned back. "Come on, let's go ask the lecturer for his phone. We'll tell him we've brought in some people; we should at least let our families know, right?"

Sun Xiaoyan also stood up, her heart pounding.

The two walked quickly to the lecturer's small office at the end of the corridor. The lecturer was sitting at his desk looking at some documents when he heard the knock on the door and looked up.

"What is it?" The lecturer asked expressionlessly, his gaze sweeping over them.

Liu Meiling stepped forward, a smile plastered on her face: "Lecturer, I just brought in a client who'll be paying tomorrow. Could you perhaps return Xiaoyan and my phones first? We want to call home to let them know we're safe..."

The lecturer put down the documents and stared at Liu Meiling for three seconds.

"You haven't even paid your tuition, and you want your phones back? Dream on!"

The smile on his face froze.

"But..." Sun Xiaoyan couldn't help but speak up, "we really did manage to recruit someone..."

"Got someone?" The lecturer slowly stood up, walked over to the two men, and sneered. "Do you know what you get for bringing someone back? You get a commission. But a commission is a commission, and tuition is tuition. You won't get a penny less of what you owe."

"We..." Liu Meiling wanted to say more.

"I ask you, what are you here for? To make money! To make a lot of money!" The lecturer's voice suddenly rose. "But you can't even endure this much hardship, yet you expect to get rich? You have to put in the effort before you can reap the rewards, don't you understand that principle?"

Sun Xiaoyan was overwhelmed by his imposing aura; she opened her mouth but couldn't say anything.

Liu Meiling bit her lip, her face turning a little pale.

"Alright." The instructor waved his hand. "Keep making those calls. Don't mention the phone to me until you've got at least ten people. If you don't want to work here, you can leave now, I won't stop you. But don't expect to come back."

After saying that, he turned around, sat back down at his desk, opened the files, and stopped looking at the two of them.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling exchanged a glance, both seeing despair in each other's eyes.

Liu Meiling clenched her fists, her lips trembled twice, but in the end she didn't say a word, turned around and left the office.

Sun Xiaoyan followed behind her, feeling a tightness in her chest.

Back in the corridor, Liu Meiling leaned against the wall, looked up at the ceiling, and took two deep breaths.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath.

Sun Xiaoyan stood next to her, unsure of what to say.

Liu Meiling suddenly turned around, sat down again, picked up the phone, and started dialing.

"Hello, is this Sister Li? This is Xiao Liu..."

Her voice was steady and sweet, as if nothing had happened.

Sun Xiaoyan looked at her, her heart ached, and she sat down as well, picking up her own phone.

For the next three days, the two of them were like clockwork, calling each other day and night.

They played from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., then played again until 7 or 8 p.m. after lunch, and continued playing until the dormitory lights went out after dinner.

Sun Xiaoyan's voice went from hoarse to completely speechless. She drank some water infused with Malva nut and continued to cast the spell.

On the first day, Sun Xiaoyan made more than a hundred phone calls, all of which were hung up on.

The second afternoon saw many calls, but some ended after only a few words.

On the morning of the third day, she was almost unable to speak when a young voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, is this...is this Brother Zhang?" Sun Xiaoyan's voice was terribly hoarse. "I have a startup project here..."

"What project?" the young man on the other end asked, sounding quite curious.

Sun Xiaoyan mimicked Liu Meiling's tone and recited the script.

She spoke for about ten minutes, and the young man actually asked her, "Where is your company located?"

Sun Xiaoyan's heart was pounding in her chest.

"It's...it's in this industrial area. If you're interested, you can come and take a look..."

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Sun Xiaoyan stared blankly at the receiver, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.

Seeing that she was crying, Liu Meiling quickly came over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone...someone said they'd come tomorrow," Sun Xiaoyan said, sobbing.

Liu Meiling was stunned for a moment, then slapped her shoulder hard: "Well done!"

That evening, the lecturer called a meeting with everyone to praise Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling for their "rapid progress".

"These two new sisters have made over a hundred phone calls in the past few days and successfully brought in two clients. They are worthy of everyone's learning!" The lecturer applauded on stage.

Dozens of people in the audience applauded in unison, and the applause resounded.

Sun Xiaoyan sat on a plastic stool, clapping along with everyone else, a mechanical smile on her face.

Liu Meiling smiled, but the smile lacked warmth, and her eyes were devoid of light.

The lecturer then talked about "success principles" for a while, saying that as long as he brought in a few more clients, he could be promoted to team leader and earn over ten thousand yuan a month.

As Sun Xiaoyan listened, she suddenly remembered a dream she had a few days ago—

In her dream, she stood on the podium, surrounded by a sea of ​​heads chanting slogans. Their faces were all names from a list...

"Meeting adjourned!"

The applause rang out again, pulling Sun Xiaoyan back from her reverie.

Back in the dormitory, everyone washed up and turned off the lights.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling were squeezed into the iron bunk bed, preparing to go to sleep, when suddenly there was a noise from next door.

The bed frame creaked and groaned.

The woman's moans were suppressed, mixed with heavy breathing.

Liu Meiling rolled over in the dark, pulled the blanket over her head, and muttered, "She's really damn diligent."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't reply. She stared at a crack in the ceiling, listening to the sounds from next door. Her expression grew increasingly complicated in the darkness.