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

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling each took three stacks of red bills and returned to their bunk beds.

Three thousand yuan, real money.

Sun Xiaoyan counted the money three times, running her fingers over the banknotes repeatedly.

The money came too easily, so easily that it made her uneasy.

Liu Meiling jumped off the bed and ran down the corridor with her slippers clattering.

Sun Xiaoyan knew she was going to ask the lecturer for her phone.

Sure enough, a short while later, Liu Meiling returned with a dark face and slammed the door shut.

"Damn it, they still won't give it to us." Liu Meiling gritted her teeth and stuffed the money under her pillow. "They said we haven't paid our tuition fees and we still owe them."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't say anything, but looking at the three stacks of money in her hand, she suddenly felt that they were burning her.

The lecturer followed, standing at the door with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, you two, I'll give your phones back," the instructor said. "But you have to show some results first, right? Keep making calls, get ten people in, and I guarantee you'll get your phones back."

Liu Meiling sneered, "What if you don't poop enough?"

The lecturer's face darkened: "Then keep hitting."

After saying that, he turned and left, the sound of his leather shoes echoing in the corridor for quite a while.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling exchanged a glance.

There's no other way but to keep going.

The next morning, the lecturer suddenly summoned everyone to the lobby.

"We have three new colleagues today." The lecturer clapped his hands. "Let's welcome them."

Three young people walked in through the door—two women and one man—all in their early twenties, with timid eyes, just like Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling when they first arrived.

The instructor pointed to Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling: "These two are our old students. You can learn from them and ask them if you don't understand anything."

Sun Xiaoyan was stunned for a moment.

Liu Meiling reacted quickly, stepping forward with a smile: "Come on, let me teach you."

Sun Xiaoyan followed, but felt a little uneasy.

She looked at the faces of the three young men and remembered that when she first arrived, she looked the same way—coming with hope, thinking she could get rich.

But now?

She taught them conversation techniques for an hour.

"When you make the call, your voice needs to be steady and confident," Sun Xiaoyan told the new female recruit. "You need to make the other person feel that if you can make money, they can too."

The new bride nodded as if she understood, and took notes in her notebook.

Liu Meiling taught even more enthusiastically from the side, even demonstrating the movements herself, her voice sweet and charming, leaving the three newcomers completely stunned.

Looking at this scene, Sun Xiaoyan felt a tightness in her chest.

They are teaching these people how to lie.

But if she doesn't teach, the instructor will teach someone else. The result will be the same anyway.

This week, Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling were making phone calls to recruit people while also training new recruits.

Sun Xiaoyan's voice was hoarse again, but her sales performance was still good, and she got three people to agree to come and see.

Liu Meiling was even stronger, pulling five more.

A week later, the lecturer called another meeting with everyone on the evening of the same day.

The bald boss also came this time, wearing a floral shirt and a gold chain around his neck that swayed back and forth.

"I have great news for you all." The bald boss stood on the stage, grinning like a Buddha. "Tomorrow, we're all moving to the large factory area in the suburbs!"

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

The bald boss raised his hand and gestured: "That place is big, legitimate, and convenient for everything. Once you get there, I guarantee you'll earn tens of thousands a month, more than ten times what you're making now!"

Sun Xiaoyan sat on a plastic stool and clapped mechanically.

Liu Meiling whispered from the side, "Really?"

Sun Xiaoyan shook her head; she didn't know either.

The next morning, two large trucks were parked at the entrance of the industrial zone.

More than fifty people, carrying their luggage, squeezed onto the bus.

The truck bumped along for two or three hours before finally stopping in an industrial park.

Sun Xiaoyan jumped out of the car and looked around.

This is a proper factory building, with red brick walls, a corrugated iron roof, and white smoke billowing from the chimney.

There was a sign hanging at the entrance, something about a manufacturing plant.

She breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn't one of those dilapidated factory buildings.

But once inside, she realized something was wrong.

The dormitory wasn't a single room; it was a shared dormitory with rows of hard, metal-framed beds, without even a mattress.

The instructor said, "Everyone, please settle in first. We'll officially start work tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling occupied the two lower bunks in the corner, and laid out the old quilts they had brought.

The bell rang at six o'clock the next morning.

Everyone lined up to receive their employee badges and entered a workshop.

The workshop was an assembly line, with piles of cardboard boxes and packaging materials stacked on top.

"Starting today, this is what you'll be doing." The team leader, a middle-aged woman in her forties, had a loud voice. "Packaging, packing, it's very simple."

Sun Xiaoyan stood in front of the assembly line, watching the products on the conveyor belt, mechanically picking them up and packing them into boxes.

The work itself isn't tiring, it's just tedious.

After a day's work, her hands ached and she couldn't straighten her back.

But what made her even more uneasy were the burly men outside.

When she went to the toilet, she deliberately went around to the back door of the factory to take a look.

Seven or eight burly men in black T-shirts were squatting at the door smoking. Their muscles were bulging and their waists were bulging, clearly indicating that they were carrying weapons.

More than before.

She quickly lowered her head and walked back.

During the meal, Liu Meiling whispered, "What are those people outside doing? They're even more ruthless than before."

Sun Xiaoyan shook her head: "I don't know, but they can't escape."

And so, the two of them worked for three days.

Three days later, the bald boss suddenly called him into his office.

"You two have good looks, don't waste them in the workshop." The bald boss looked the two up and down. "Go to the front desk and answer the phone, make calls, specifically recruit female workers who want to work in the factory."

Sun Xiaoyan was taken aback: "Hiring?"

"Yes." The bald boss handed over two sets of clothes. "Change into these."

Sun Xiaoyan took it and blushed.

She wore a low-cut mini dress with a neckline that almost reached her navel, and the skirt barely covered her upper thighs.

Liu Meiling's outfit was even shorter, a black, shiny leather skirt.

"Put it on and put on some makeup," the bald boss said. "Speak nicely on the phone and recruit more people; you'll get a commission."

Sun Xiaoyan clutched her skirt, her palms sweating.

Liu Meiling readily agreed, picking up the dress and saying, "Okay, let's change."

The two changed their clothes and went to the front desk.

The reception area is right at the entrance of the factory, with a table, a telephone, and a recruitment poster next to it.

Liu Meiling sat down and picked up the phone immediately: "Hello, is this Sister Li? We're in a large factory area, hiring female workers. Room and board provided, starting salary 4,000 yuan per month..."

Her voice was sweet and steady, just like a customer service representative.

Sun Xiaoyan stood to the side and also picked up another phone.

She lowered her head and read from the script.

"Hello, this is XX manufacturing plant. We are directly hiring female workers. No deposit required. Monthly salary is 4,500..."

She spoke haltingly, but someone actually listened on the other end of the phone.

After hanging up the phone, she also had someone agree to come and see her.

And so, the two talked on the phone all day long.

At first, I would call 20 people and get rejected 17 times, but as my communication skills improved, my success rate increased.

"Hello, is this Sister Wang? Yes, we provide meals and accommodation, the environment is great, and the dorms have air conditioning..."

"Hey, is this Xiao Zhang? If you come to our factory, you'll get paid even during your apprenticeship, a guaranteed 3,000 yuan..."

"Hey, how old are you? Eighteen? That's perfect, we're hiring people between eighteen and thirty-five..."

By the end of the day, the two had brought more than twenty people to visit the factory.

The next day, more than twenty young women stood at the factory gate, dragging their luggage.

Sun Xiaoyan stood at the front desk, watching the girls walk in one by one.

They were all very young, some only eighteen or nineteen, with smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes.

They thought they had found good jobs.

But what happens after you get in?

They pack and package in the workshop, earning three to four thousand yuan a month. With strong men guarding outside, they can't escape at all.

As Sun Xiaoyan watched them line up to receive their work uniforms, she felt a pang of guilt.

Liu Meiling stood next to her, watching as well.

After a while, Liu Meiling took out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

"We've hurt people," she whispered.

Sun Xiaoyan did not speak.

She leaned against the wall, looking at the rows of young figures, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

After get off work, the two squatted at the back door of the factory.

The setting sun shone on the cement ground, making it look golden.

The new girls lined up, each receiving a set of blue work clothes, and walked towards the dormitory chatting and laughing.

Liu Meiling stubbed out her cigarette and flicked the butt onto the ground: "Go back."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't move.

Looking at the smiling girls, she suddenly remembered when she first arrived.

They also trust people so much.

I also feel like I've found a good job.

But what happened next?

"Let's go," Liu Meiling said, pulling her arm.

Sun Xiaoyan stood up and patted the dust off her bottom.

The two walked back along the corner of the wall, and behind them came the laughter of the girls. One girl called out, "Mom, I'm at the factory! The environment is great! Don't worry!"

Sun Xiaoyan paused for a moment.

Then she lowered her head and followed Liu Meiling, disappearing into the shadows of the factory.