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

The next morning, the cafeteria was bustling with noise.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling squatted in the corner, holding bowls of porridge.

The ordeal last night left them both aching, with bruises all over their arms, but at least they got a good night's sleep and felt much better.

"Will those workers from yesterday come to pay today?" Sun Xiaoyan asked.

Liu Meiling slurped up a mouthful of porridge: "Who knows? Didn't the lecturer say that someone would be coming today?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion erupted at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Seven or eight men walked in, the one in the lead being the worker who had worn the plaid shirt yesterday.

The men following behind him were probably his buddies, dressed in work clothes with lecherous smiles on their faces.

"Where are they? I've brought my men!" the man in the plaid shirt shouted.

The lecturer jogged out of the office, his face beaming with smiles: "Coming, coming! This way, bosses, please!"

The man in the plaid shirt patted his pocket: "I brought the money, thirty thousand yuan."

The lecturer's eyes lit up: "Sure, sure, pay first and sign the contract."

The man in the plaid shirt pulled out a wad of red bills and patted them on his hand: "Before signing the contract, call those two women out. My brothers haven't met them before and want to get to know them."

Several young workers chimed in, "That's right, that's right, let's meet them first!"

The lecturer's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal: "Don't rush, don't rush, pay first, and everything will be fine after you pay."

The man in the plaid shirt slammed the money on the table: "The money's here, but where is he?"

The lecturer gestured towards a corner of the cafeteria with his lip: "They're over there, eating."

Seven or eight workers all looked over, their eyes landing on Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling.

Sun Xiaoyan kept her head down and continued drinking her porridge. Liu Meiling glanced up at her but didn't say anything.

The man in the plaid shirt laughed: "Not bad, you look even more radiant than yesterday." As he spoke, he walked towards Sun Xiaoyan, "Brothers, come on, let's go sit down."

Several young workers followed behind, exchanging winks and smirks.

The lecturer suddenly waved his hand.

A dozen burly men surged in from the canteen entrance, led by a dark-faced man. Each of them was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, blocking the workers' way with cold expressions.

"What does this mean?" The man in the plaid shirt turned around, his expression changing.

The lecturer chuckled, "Pay the membership fee, three thousand per person. Once you pay, everything will be easy."

The man in the plaid shirt was stunned: "What membership fee? We didn't talk about this yesterday."

"I didn't mention it yesterday, so I'll make it up to you today." The lecturer walked to the table, picked up the stack of money, and counted it. "Thirty thousand, exactly the membership fees for ten brothers, not a penny more or less."

The man in the plaid shirt, his face ashen, said, "Are you kidding me?"

The lecturer didn't speak. The dark-faced man took a step forward and stood in front of the man in the plaid shirt, looking down at him.

The man in the plaid shirt swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, glanced back at his buddies, and muttered a curse under his breath: "Fine, you win."

He turned around and waved to a few young workers: "Let's go."

The young workers were still looking in Sun Xiaoyan's direction when the man in the plaid shirt yelled at them, "Are you leaving or not?"

The workers reluctantly followed him outside.

The lecturer smiled and saw him to the door: "Take care, boss, come again next time!"

The man in the plaid shirt didn't turn his head; his cursing grew fainter and fainter.

The cafeteria was quiet for a few seconds.

Sun Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief and was about to lower her head to continue drinking her porridge when she heard a sharp voice from the side: "You two are quite good at seducing people."

She looked up and saw seven or eight young women standing at the entrance of the cafeteria. The one in the lead was a woman with long hair, wearing a tight T-shirt, with her hands on her hips and a hostile look in her eyes.

Sun Xiaoyan was stunned: "What?"

"Stop pretending." The long-haired woman took a step forward. "We've all heard about it. You two used your bodies to lure customers in and trick them into paying. You're doing well, but what about us? We were tricked into coming here, our phones were taken away, we didn't earn a single penny, and now we're locked up here!"

The other girls chimed in, "That's right! What gives you two the right?"

Liu Meiling put down her bowl and stood up: "You all need to understand, we were also tricked into coming here."

The long-haired woman sneered, "Luring them in? You seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit. Didn't you go into the inner room with those men last night?"

Sun Xiaoyan blushed to the roots of her neck: "You—"

"What did I do wrong?" The long-haired woman grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's collar. "Let me tell you, you two have ruined our lives, and you're not getting away with this today!"

She was about to take action as she spoke.

Liu Meiling kicked her in the waist: "Get the hell out of here!"

The long-haired woman was kicked back several steps, and roared angrily, "Sisters, attack!"

Seven or eight girls immediately surrounded them.

Before Sun Xiaoyan could even stand up, she was pinned to the ground by the two girls.

A round-faced girl grabbed her hair and slammed her head to the ground, while another short-haired girl kicked her in the stomach.

"Let me go!" Sun Xiaoyan struggled, her collar was torn open, revealing half of her white breast.

The round-faced girl chuckled and said, "Wow, she's got quite a figure, no wonder men like her." She then reached out to grab her.

Liu Meiling rushed over, shoved the round-faced girl aside, and slapped the short-haired girl twice across the face: "If you're so capable, go find the lecturer! Why are you taking it out on us like this!"

The short-haired girl was stunned by the blow. She covered her face, took two steps back, and then pounced on Liu Meiling to pull her hair.

The two rolled around on the cafeteria floor.

Liu Meiling straddled the short-haired girl, grabbing her head and slamming it against the ground: "You bullied me! You bullied me!"

A tall, thin girl tried to help, but Sun Xiaoyan got up, grabbed her collar, and shoved her onto the table. Bowls and plates crashed to the floor, and porridge was splattered everywhere.

The cafeteria was in complete chaos.

Seven or eight girls were fighting with Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, causing tables, chairs and benches to fall over and bowls and chopsticks to smash and crackle.

Although there were many of the new girls, they had never been in a fight before, and their movements were quite clumsy.

Liu Meiling pressed the short-haired girl to the ground, ripped off her clothes, revealing her white bra underneath.

The long-haired woman tried to help, but Sun Xiaoyan kicked her in the knee, causing her to squat on the ground and scream in pain.

The round-faced girl's floral dress was torn, exposing half of her buttocks. She quickly covered herself with her hands and squatted in the corner crying.

The tall, thin man hid in the back, too afraid to come forward.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling, on the other hand, got more and more excited as they fought, despite having many bruises on their bodies.

Liu Meiling kicked the long-haired woman to the ground again, and then pulled up her T-shirt, revealing the woman's breasts.

"You're bullying me!" Liu Meiling roared, slapping the short-haired girl twice more.

Sun Xiaoyan straddled the round-faced girl, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against the ground: "Weren't you so fierce just now? Get up!"

The cafeteria was filled with cries, curses, and the sounds of tables and chairs falling over.

Several burly men stood at the door, watching coldly, and no one stepped forward to break up the fight.

After a while, the lecturer slowly walked out of the office. Seeing the scene, he frowned and asked, "What are you doing?"

No one cares about him.

The lecturer raised his voice: "Hey, what are you doing?!"

Still, no one paid any attention to him.

The lecturer sighed and waved to the dark-faced man.

The dark-faced man led several burly men up and quickly separated the people.

Sun Xiaoyan was pulled off the round-faced girl; her clothes were tattered, and half of her breast was hanging out.

Liu Meiling was also pulled away, her mouth smeared with blood and her hands bearing scratches.

The new girls were in an even more disheveled state.

The long-haired woman was lying face down on the table, her T-shirt pulled up to her neck, exposing her breasts.

The round-faced girl squatted in the corner, her floral dress torn in two. The short-haired girl's face was flushed red from Liu Meiling's slap, and there was blood at the corner of her mouth.

The lecturer glanced around and laughed: "What's going on here? We're all family, why are you fighting?"

The long-haired woman looked up and roared, "Who says we're family! They use their bodies to deceive men, it's filthy!"

The lecturer walked over, squatted down in front of the long-haired woman, and said with a smile, "You can't say that. They're just trying to make money for all of us."

The long-haired woman scoffed, "Making money? Where did all that money go? It's all with you!"

The lecturer's expression changed, but he quickly smiled again: "Don't worry, don't worry, after a while, we'll move to a different place, and we're sure to make big money!"

Before the long-haired woman could say anything more, the lecturer stood up, clapped his hands, and said, "Alright, alright, everyone disperse. Those who need to go to work, go to work; those who need to eat, eat."

The new girls all lowered their heads and slunk away.

As the long-haired woman walked past Sun Xiaoyan, she glared at her fiercely.

Sun Xiaoyan ignored her and squatted down to tidy up her torn clothes.

The neckline of her clothes was completely torn, revealing half of her chest.

She pulled it up, but it didn't cover her at all.

Liu Meiling walked over, squatted down next to her, took off her coat and handed it to her: "Put this on."

Sun Xiaoyan took it, put it on, and fastened the buttons.

The two were squatting in a corner of the cafeteria, their hair disheveled, their faces bruised, and their clothes tattered.

Liu Meiling wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and laughed: "Damn, that felt good."

Sun Xiaoyan glanced at her and laughed, "A group fight must hurt quite a bit."

"What's there to hurt? I've never been afraid." Liu Meiling reached out and grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's wrist. "Stand up, don't squat like a quail."

The two helped each other to their feet.

The instructor walked over, smiling, "Not bad, not bad, you two are pretty good at fighting."

Liu Meiling ignored him.

The lecturer said, "I'm serious, you two have potential. Keep up the good work, and after a while, if you move to another place, you're sure to make a lot of money."

Liu Meiling looked up at him and scoffed, "Change the location? That's an easy way of putting it."

The lecturer patted his chest and said, "I keep my word."

Sun Xiaoyan didn't speak, and lowered her head to straighten her collar.

Outside the cafeteria, the new girls were cleaning up the broken dishes.

The long-haired woman turned around and glanced at Sun Xiaoyan, her eyes filled with hatred.

Sun Xiaoyan ignored her and pulled Liu Meiling out of the cafeteria.

Just as I reached the door, I heard the long-haired woman's cursing voice behind me: "Slut."

Liu Meiling turned to rush back, but Sun Xiaoyan stopped her, saying, "Never mind."

Liu Meiling gritted her teeth, but ultimately didn't move.

The two walked out of the canteen and stopped by a water tap in a corner of the factory area.

Sun Xiaoyan turned on the tap and scooped up a handful of water to wash her face. The cool water rinsed away the blood and dirt.

Liu Meiling also came over, rinsed her mouth, and spat out a mouthful of bloody water.

The two exchanged a glance.

Sun Xiaoyan said, "I wasn't afraid at all when we were fighting just now."

Liu Meiling smiled: "Me too."