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

At three o'clock in the morning, Sun Xiaoyan was half asleep when she was suddenly awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

"Get up, get up, all of you!" The lecturer's voice boomed from outside the door. "Pack your things and leave right now!"

One by one, the people on the bunk beds got up, and some rubbed their eyes and asked what was wrong.

The lecturer snapped impatiently, "Stop asking so many questions, hurry up and pack! This area is being monitored, and the boss said we need to evacuate overnight!"

Sun Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. Liu Meiling reached out from the side, patted her arm, and whispered, "Don't panic, just follow me."

More than fifty people got up in the dark and hurriedly packed their luggage.

Some people didn't even bother to put on shoes, and were just groping around on the ground barefoot.

Some people stood there, clutching their blankets, unsure of where to go.

The lecturer stood at the door, his flashlight beam flailing wildly, shouting urgently, "Hurry up, hurry up, the car is waiting outside!"

Sun Xiaoyan stuffed a few tattered clothes into her schoolbag and zipped it up.

Liu Meiling had already put the cigarettes and lighter into her pocket and was pulling her out.

Two large trucks were parked at the factory gate, their cargo beds pitch black.

The lecturer waved to urge people onto the bus, and more than fifty people squeezed to climb on.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling were squeezed into a corner, squatting by the side of the truck bed with their schoolbags in their arms.

A cold wind blew in, and Sun Xiaoyan shivered.

"Drive!" The instructor patted the roof of the car.

The truck bumped and jolted as it drove out of the factory area.

Sun Xiaoyan looked back and saw the factory lights getting farther and farther away, finally being swallowed up by the night.

No one spoke in the truck bed; only the dull roar of the engine and the clanging of the sheet metal could be heard.

The new girls squatted on the other side, some sobbing quietly. Someone asked the lecturer where he was going, but the lecturer, sitting in the front of the truck bed, didn't turn around and said, "You'll know when we get there."

Liu Meiling took out a cigarette, lit the lighter, but the wind was too strong and it wouldn't light.

She cursed and tucked the cigarette behind her ear.

After driving for more than an hour, the road became increasingly bumpy and full of potholes.

Sun Xiaoyan's buttocks were sore from being bounced around, so she simply squatted down.

Liu Meiling leaned on her shoulder, her eyes fixed on the dark fields outside the truck bed.

The truck stopped just before dawn.

Sun Xiaoyan peeked out and saw that all around her was wasteland, and in front of her was a row of dilapidated tin sheds. A strong stench filled the air, like a cesspool that had been fermenting for many years.

"We're here, everyone get out!" The lecturer jumped out of the car and shone his flashlight around.

More than fifty people jumped off the bus, and some squatted on the ground and vomited.

Sun Xiaoyan covered her nose and followed the crowd inside. Upon closer inspection, it was an abandoned pig farm. The corrugated iron sheds were drafty, the ground was covered with moldy straw, and several dilapidated pig pens were piled with dried manure.

The bald boss stood in the middle of the open space with his hands on his hips, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Quiet down! Stay here for now, and we'll see how things develop. Move your luggage into the shed and find a place to make your bed."

Someone muttered under their breath, "This place is even more dilapidated than the factory."

The bald boss heard this and glared at him: "If you don't want to stay, leave. I won't stop you."

No one said a word.

Sun Xiaoyan looked around. There were several large holes in the tin roof, through which the wind howled, and the ground beneath her feet was damp and sticky.

The pigsty next door still smelled of rotting pig manure, making people feel nauseous.

Liu Meiling stubbed out her cigarette and muttered under her breath, "Damn it, he's lying to people again."

The two of them, carrying their schoolbags, walked into a slightly cleaner shed and found a corner where they spread out straw.

The others also found their own spots; some spread cardboard on the ground, while others simply poured it onto the straw.

Just as we settled in, the lecturer came over and called out, "Sun Xiaoyan, Liu Meiling, you two go feed the pigs."

Sun Xiaoyan was stunned: "Feed what?"

"Pigs," the lecturer gestured toward the pigpen next to him, "There are a few pigs in there that will starve to death if they aren't fed."

Liu Meiling sneered, "Are we here to raise pigs?"

The lecturer glared at her: "If you're not going to do it, then don't stay here."

The two women exchanged a glance and had no choice but to follow the instructor to the pigsty. The instructor tossed them two pairs of rain boots and two shovels: "Clean the pigsty thoroughly. The pig feed is in that bucket over there."

Sun Xiaoyan put on her rain boots and, enduring the stench, entered the pigsty. Inside, three pigs were rooting in the corner, grunting.

She picked up a shovel and shoveled the manure; the stench was nauseating. Liu Meiling grumbled and cursed beside her, but still followed along and shoveled.

Just as they were shoveling, a young man with blond hair, wearing ripped jeans, came over with a grin and said, "Sisters, you guys are really capable! You can even handle the work in the pigsty."

Sun Xiaoyan ignored him.

The young man leaned closer, his eyes fixed on Liu Meiling's buttocks: "Sister-in-law, you're both so beautiful, it's a waste that you're doing this kind of work. Why don't you come to the city with me? I'll treat you to a meal."

Liu Meiling turned her head, glanced at him, and didn't say anything.

Thinking he had a chance, the young man reached out and touched Liu Meiling's buttocks.

Liu Meiling raised her hand and shoveled straight at the target.

With a muffled thud, the young man fell into the cesspool next to him.

"Ah—Help!"

The manure splashed up, and the young man thrashed about in it, his head and body covered in pig manure and sewage.

Liu Meiling stood to the side, shovel planted firmly on the ground: "Still want to treat me to dinner?"

The young man crawled out of the cesspool, his body stinking and his mouth still dripping with excrement.

Several companions saw this and burst into laughter.

Sun Xiaoyan couldn't help but laugh out loud, covering her mouth as she squatted down beside the pigsty.

The young man, grumbling and cursing, ran to the tap to rinse himself. Liu Meiling clapped her hands and said, "I've never been afraid of anyone before I started doing this job."

In the afternoon, the bald boss called everyone together.

More than fifty people stood in the open space, with the bald boss in the middle shouting at the top of his lungs, "New place, new rules! Let's have a welcome party tonight to liven things up!"

Several burly men carried out several cases of beer and set up a stereo system.

The stereo blared, and deafening rock music erupted. The bald boss clapped his hands: "Everyone better have a good time tonight!"

The lecturer found Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling and asked them to change their clothes.

Sun Xiaoyan asked what to change into, and the lecturer said, "Don't you have skirts? Change into them to liven up the atmosphere."

Liu Meiling frowned: "It's not even evening yet, why are you changing into a dress?"

The lecturer glared at her: "Just change when I tell you to, stop talking nonsense."

The two exchanged a glance and had no choice but to go back to the shed to change their skirts.

As I stepped out of the shed, the lecturer looked me up and down and nodded: "Not bad, you'll be dancing on stage later."

Just as Liu Meiling was about to curse, the lecturer turned and left.

As night fell, several tables were set up in the open space of the pig farm, and the clinking of beer bottles echoed one after another.

Several men were already flushed and throbbing from drinking, and one of them started pulling at the girls next to them. Some of the girls dodged, while others sat motionless, numb.

The instructor pushed Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling onto the makeshift stage: "Come on, let's dance to liven things up!"

The rock music was deafening.

Sun Xiaoyan stood stiffly, while Liu Meiling bit her lip and managed to twist her body a couple of times.

The men in the audience whistled and clapped, and someone shouted, "Twist it bigger!"

Sun Xiaoyan closed her eyes and swayed mechanically. Her skirt slid up with the movement, revealing her upper thighs.

Suddenly, a drunken, burly man rushed onto the stage and grabbed Sun Xiaoyan's skirt.

"Sizzle—"

Her skirt was torn open, revealing her underwear.

The burly man yanked again, pulling her underwear down to her knees, exposing Sun Xiaoyan's fair buttocks directly to the light.

"Ah—" Sun Xiaoyan screamed and instinctively kicked out, hitting the burly man squarely in the stomach.

The burly man staggered backward, nearly falling.

Liu Meiling grabbed a beer bottle from the table next to her and smashed it on the burly man's head with a "bang".

Bottle shards flew everywhere, and blood streamed down the burly man's forehead. He stood there, stunned.

The audience erupted in uproar.

Some people stood up and cursed, some whistled, and some shouted and made a fuss.

The bald boss flew into a rage, charging over and yelling, "You've all gone too far! Lock him up!"

Two burly men immediately rushed up, one grabbing Sun Xiaoyan's wrist and the other pulling on Liu Meiling's arm.

The two struggled desperately, with Liu Meiling yelling "Let me go!" and Sun Xiaoyan biting the strong man's hand.

The burly man, in pain, slapped Sun Xiaoyan across the face, causing blood to immediately seep from the corner of her mouth and her head to tilt to one side.

Liu Meiling rushed over to help, but was pinned to the ground by another burly man.

The two were dragged to the tool shed next to the pigsty, where the iron gate was slammed shut and locked.

The tool shed was dark and filled with farm tools and pesticide barrels.

Sun Xiaoyan collapsed onto the fertilizer bag, her face burning with pain.

Liu Meiling squatted in the corner, panting heavily.

Looking out through the broken window, people in the open space were still raising their glasses and drinking, the loud music making the ground tremble.

Some people drank too much and vomited next to the pigsty, while others grabbed girls and dragged them into the shed.

Sun Xiaoyan muttered under her breath, "These beasts."

Liu Meiling sneered and said in a low voice, "We'll run away tomorrow."

Sun Xiaoyan looked at her; Liu Meiling's eyes shone in the darkness, and she didn't seem to be joking.

Sun Xiaoyan nodded and reached for the iron object in the corner.

A rusty sickle, its blade still gleaming coldly. She stuffed the sickle into her skirt pocket.

Outside the window, moonlight shone on the abandoned pig farm, and the distant mountain shadows crouched darkly, with the occasional bark of a dog.

The two leaned against the fertilizer bag, neither of them speaking.

As dawn broke, the sound of motorcycle engines could be heard outside the pig farm.

Old Zhang, a village cadre, rode by on his dilapidated motorcycle. He was an elderly man in this remote mountain village and was responsible for patrolling this area.

The pig farm had been abandoned for two years, but suddenly there was activity, so Old Zhang made a special trip to check it out.

The car had barely come to a stop when a woman's heart-wrenching screams for help erupted from the tool shed—

Upon hearing the sound of the motorcycle, Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling immediately rushed to the window and screamed desperately, "Help! Help!"

Old Zhang frowned, took out his phone, and dialed the police.

Two hours later, three police cars arrived with sirens blaring.

As soon as the police officer got out of the car, the bald boss rushed up to him with a smile: "Officer, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. This is my woman. She was disobedient, so I was just disciplining her."

The policeman shoved him aside: "What misunderstanding? Just because you say it's yours doesn't mean it's yours!"

Several people rushed in to search the shed, clearing out more than twenty people who had been detained, and finding several stacks of cash and account books in the corner of the pigsty.

The lecturer stood to the side, his face pale and his lips trembling.

"Take them all away!" the lead policeman waved his hand.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling climbed out through a broken window of the tool shed.

The window opening was very small, and the two of them squeezed out, their bodies covered in dust and cobwebs.

"Over here!" Sun Xiaoyan grabbed Liu Meiling and plunged into the sugarcane field behind the pig farm.

The sugarcane leaves are dense and hard, and they hurt when they scratch your arms and legs.

Sun Xiaoyan's skirt was already torn in half, and her top was also ripped open, exposing half of her breasts and stomach.

Liu Meiling's leather skirt was tattered beyond recognition, leaving her bare buttocks exposed. The two ignored this, heads down, desperately trying to squeeze forward.

The sound of police sirens and the bald boss's curses came from behind: "Damn it, those two bitches got away! Chase them!"

"Stay still! Don't move!" The policeman's shout immediately silenced him. The police car engine started, and the bald boss was forced into the vehicle, still cursing towards the sugarcane field: "You sons of bitches, I'll remember you!"

Sun Xiaoyan didn't dare to turn around and pulled Liu Meiling to continue crawling.

Sugarcane leaves left countless bloody scratches on their bodies, and their skirts were torn to shreds.

After running a few hundred meters, the two stopped on a ridge in a field, panting heavily.

Sun Xiaoyan squatted down, her chest heaving violently.

Looking back, Liu Meiling saw the lights of the abandoned pig farm in the distance flashing, and the red and blue police lights alternating. The figure of the bald man being escorted into the car was faintly visible in the morning light and lamplight.

Liu Meiling spat: "Pah, you beast."

She turned around and patted Sun Xiaoyan on the shoulder: "Come on, keep running."

The two of them ventured deep into the sugarcane field again, disappearing into a hazy morning mist.