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

Sure enough, four unfamiliar faces came to the shop the next afternoon.

The four men were all in their thirties, dressed plainly. As soon as they entered, they specifically asked for Sun Xiaoyan, Liu Meiling, and Wang Hong, along with two women in cheongsams to keep them company.

Wang Hong's relationship with him has recently improved, and they often work together.

Sun Xiaoyan led them into the private room, and as soon as she closed the door, the man in the lead reached out and touched her buttocks.

Sun Xiaoyan was startled and quickly moved aside, saying, "Big brother, what are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" the man chuckled. "It's just playing around, what's wrong with touching me?"

Another man sat down next to Liu Meiling, placed one hand on her thigh, and pinched it: "These legs are so smooth. Name your price, how much for one night?"

Liu Meiling slapped his hand away and said coldly, "This is a legitimate card and mahjong parlor. We only play cards with people; we don't do that kind of thing."

"Proper?" The man scoffed. "A proper shop dressed like this? Your cheongsam's slit is this high, and you call that proper?"

Wang Hong, standing nearby, snapped, "Watch your mouth!"

The man got angry, stood up, and shouted, "What kind of lousy shop is this! Bad service and they even swear at me! I paid money to come here, and they won't even let me touch them!"

The partition between the private rooms was thin, and the sound carried into the lobby, causing several card-playing customers to peek in.

Hearing the commotion, Li Yan rushed over, pushed open the door to the private room, and saw the four men surrounding Sun Xiaoyan and Wang Hong, shouting at them.

"What happened?" Li Yan asked in a deep voice.

"Boss, the service from the women in your shop is terrible!" the leader shouted. "We paid to come here and have fun, and they won't even let us touch them? What does that mean?"

Li Yan stared at him for a few seconds, then said coldly, "This is a legitimate card and board game shop; we don't provide that kind of service."

"Not providing them?" the man scoffed. "Then why are they dressed like this? Isn't it just to seduce people?"

Li Yan didn't reply, only saying, "If you don't want to play cards, you can leave."

The four men exchanged a glance, the leader snorted, and walked out.

Li Yan watched them leave, her face grim.

Sun Xiaoyan tugged at the crooked collar of her cheongsam and whispered, "Sister Yan, these people were sent by Erhu again, weren't they?"

"It's definitely him." Li Yan took a deep drag on her cigarette. "He's here to cause trouble."

Liu Meiling cursed from the side, "That damn Erhu, all he knows is how to play these underhanded tricks."

Li Yan didn't say anything, turned around and left.

For the next three days, the unfamiliar guests sent by Erhu came every day.

At first, she was quiet, but as soon as she entered, she specifically asked Sun Xiaoyan, Liu Meiling, and Wang Hong to play with her.

As soon as they entered the private room, they started touching each other inappropriately. Some people squeezed breasts, some reached out to touch thighs, and some even brought their mouths close to kiss.

Sun Xiaoyan was pinned against the wall by a man in a floral shirt. The man had one hand on her waist and the other was being forced inside the collar of her cheongsam, shouting, "So juicy! Name your price, how much for a night?"

Sun Xiaoyan pushed him away forcefully, shouting, "Let go!"

"Stop pretending!" The man's face changed. "I paid to come here, what's wrong with touching me?"

Things weren't peaceful for Liu Meiling either. A tall, thin man pinned her down on the mahjong table and reached under her skirt.

Liu Meiling kicked him in the stomach. The man staggered back two steps, his face flushed red: "Damn it, you dare kick me!"

They started yelling, "What a lousy place! They promised to provide companionship, but they turned their backs on us after taking the money!"

The guests in the other private rooms heard the commotion and started to peek out.

When someone asked what was going on, the unfamiliar man shouted, "The women in this shop are all for sale, but there's an extra fee, didn't you know that?"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the card players lit up.

A bald customer grabbed Wang Hong and asked, "Hey girl, how much for a night?"

Wang Hong shook off his hand: "We're not those kinds of people!"

"No?" the bald customer said, pointing to a stranger who had just left. "Then why did you let that person go? I saw him put his arm around you and go into the inner room!"

Wang Hong's face turned red with anger: "He practically dragged me in!"

"Deadlift?" the bald customer asked, unconvinced. "Then shout! Why didn't you shout?"

Several other male customers also gathered around, asking about the price.

A bespectacled man looked at Liu Meiling, his gaze lingering on her chest: "Girl, I'll add money too. Name your price."

Liu Meiling said coldly, "We're not selling."

"Not for sale?" the bespectacled man said, pointing at an unfamiliar face. "Then how come that guy was able to hug and touch you just now? Does your shop discriminate based on who you serve? Aren't we human too?"

Wang Hong, standing to the side, stomped her foot angrily: "Don't listen to their nonsense!"

But the male guests didn't believe it, and their expressions changed.

Some people said, "What a lousy shop! They don't treat everyone equally. I'm never coming here again."

One person threw down the mahjong tiles, saying, "I'm not playing anymore! I'm never going to this kind of place again!"

Several regulars shook their heads and walked out, cursing as they went.

Li Yan stood at the door, watching the guests leave one by one, her face ashen.

She ordered her men to keep an eye on the unfamiliar faces, but those people were very shrewd; they would cause trouble and then leave, making it impossible to catch them red-handed.

Erhu would stand at the entrance of the chess and card shop every afternoon, a cigarette dangling from his lips, a crooked smile on his face.

Seeing Li Yan come out, he called out, "Sister Yan, how's business?"

Li Yan ignored him.

Erhu laughed and said, "Sister Yan, your shop will close sooner or later."

These words made Li Yan's face turn even uglier.

For several days in a row, the number of customers has decreased sharply, and sometimes there are only a few people coming for an entire afternoon.

Li Yan sat in her office, smoking one cigarette after another.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling sat on chairs outside, looking at the empty private room, feeling uneasy.

Sun Xiaoyan said, "Meiling, this can't go on, we're not getting any customers."

Liu Meiling bit her lip and didn't say anything.

That night, Li Yan called two of her trusted confidantes to her office.

He lowered his voice and said, "You two, go to Erhu's casino tonight. Pretend to be gamblers and try to cause some trouble."

The two trusted confidants nodded, changed their clothes, and went out.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling were sitting outside when they saw Li Yan standing by the window, smoking with a gloomy expression.

Liu Meiling tugged at Sun Xiaoyan's hand: "Sister Yan is about to retaliate."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded, but felt a little worried.

Around 10 p.m., the two trusted confidants returned.

His face was bruised and swollen, and blood was still flowing from one corner of his mouth.

Li Yan looked at them, her face turning even uglier.

"What happened?" she asked.

One of the men wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said, "Sister Yan, we did as you said, pretending to be gamblers at Erhu's shop. At first, everything was fine. We deliberately lost money, then flipped the table and accused them of cheating. But then Erhu's men rushed in and beat us up without saying a word."

"Did they beat you up?" Li Yan asked.

"They beat me up and threw me outside," another man said, covering his swollen face. "Erhu sent his men to tell Yan Jie to behave herself, or she'll be the next one getting beaten up."

Li Yan remained silent for a long time.

The office was filled with the smell of smoke, and the only sound was the clicking of a lighter.

Sun Xiaoyan stood at the door and saw the anger burning in Li Yan's eyes, but it quickly died down and turned into a calm ruthlessness.

Liu Meiling grasped Sun Xiaoyan's hand and whispered, "Sister Yan is really angry."

Sun Xiaoyan nodded.

Li Yan stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, remained silent for a while, and then said, "If he's heartless, don't blame me for being unjust."

The voice was very soft, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between the teeth.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling exchanged a glance and saw a ruthless glint in Li Yan's eyes, a look that sent a chill down their spines.

Li Yan stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the street in the night.

The main entrance of the card and mahjong parlor was closed, and the roller shutter door was tightly locked.

Only a few of them remained in the shop, the lighting was a stark white.

Li Yan took out her phone, scrolled through a few pages of her contacts, found the number she hadn't contacted in over a year, and dialed it.

The phone rang a few times before it connected.

Li Yan took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly: "Brother, it's me."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Li Yan said again, "Brother, help me."

The other party remained silent for a long time, probably more than ten seconds.

Only faint breathing could be heard from the other end of the phone.

Then, a deep male voice came: "Understood."

The phone hangs up.

Li Yan stood there, holding her phone, staring at the dark street outside the window, motionless for a long time.

Sun Xiaoyan and Liu Meiling stood behind her, neither of them saying a word.

The card and board game shop was extremely quiet, with only the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Erhu stood at the entrance of his casino, a cigarette dangling from his lips, watching as Li Yan's shop across the street turned off its lights.

He smiled, turned, and walked back. His subordinate came up to him: "Brother Tiger, Li Yan's shop hasn't had many customers lately. Looks like your method worked."

Erhu exhaled a puff of smoke and scoffed, "That woman Li Yan is just a pretty face; what kind of skills could she possibly have?"

"So what's our next step?"

"No rush." ​​Erhu squinted. "Let her suffer for a few days. Once her shop is completely deserted, those two pretty women will naturally come begging to me."

As he spoke, he glanced in the direction of Li Yan's shop, his face full of smugness.