FY - 2

Si Wen was Zhou Yan’s first client.

When her colleagues talked about their first time selling themselves, that experience with Si Wen was like someone pouring a bucket of ice water over her head. The feeling was so vivid, it felt like it had happened just yesterday.

At that time, Qizhou’s “chicken stalls” hadn’t yet formed an industry chain; it was chaotic, with just a few here and a few there, scattered in KTVs, hair salons, nightclubs, and bathhouses. The young owner of “Candy” saw a business opportunity amidst the chaos, thinking that integrating these women would be a lucrative venture. So, he found Yang Hong, who ran a small hair salon and claimed to be a madam with resources covering all the johns in the East City.

After being “recruited” by Candy, she used a mix of coaxing and deception to lure in a group of young women and wives from the lower strata of society. Zhou Yan was one of them.

After Candy incorporated “erotic services,” they introduced many new tricks to attract customers. At that time, there was a rather trendy game.

Every Saturday, Sister Hong would meticulously select twenty escorts, either young, top-tier, or good at what they did, with virgins mixed among them. That night’s customers would first go through a bidding process. Whoever offered the most money got to choose first, whether it was for drinking or sleeping, it was up to them. If someone was lucky enough to get the “first blood,” they had to give the pimp a red envelope the next day, with the platform and the girl splitting it fifty-fifty.

Usually, it started at eight thousand, but the rich could pay up to ten thousand, even twenty thousand.

Zhou Yan was singled out by Sister Hong to entertain a client who had just returned from abroad. Sister Hong even booked the best room in an underground hotel, six hundred eighty a night. But he refused, taking her out of Candy and driving along a mountain road to a secluded small motel.

The past is like smoke; as long as you draw on it, you can relive it.

Zhou Yan stood across from Candy in the billiard hall, letting the night wind blow, the smoke stinging her eyes.

________________________________________

Four Years Ago, Linshan Motel.

He paid and took the key, then turned to look for her.

Zhou Yan saw the cigarettes in his pocket and said, “Smoke one before we go in.”

He took out the cigarette pack, lifted his eyelids, and looked at her: “You smoke?”

Zhou Yan shook her head: “No. But I can light one to keep you company.”

He handed her one.

The owner impatiently shooed them away, “Smoke outside, or you’ll get the carpet dirty.”

The two walked outside. He pinched the filter, took a drag, and white smoke curled out of his nose. “Try it.”

Zhou Yan also took a drag, but white smoke came out of her mouth. She childishly reached out to catch it.

He asked her: “How old are you?”

Zhou Yan: “Eighteen.”

He didn’t speak again, silently finished his cigarette, and stubbed it out on a gray Hyundai car.

Seeing that Zhou Yan had only smoked half, he lit another one to keep her company.

It was Zhou Yan’s turn to ask him, “What’s your name?”

He said: “Si Wen.”

Zhou Yan didn’t believe him. Sister Hong told her that she could have sex with men, but not to trust their words. “Let me see your ID.”

He was expressionless: “It’s not like we’re dating. Do I need to show my ID to hire a prostitute?”

“So if we were dating, I could see it?”

“Something like that.”

Zhou Yan then smiled, “Then let’s date.”

Si Wen didn’t even look at her. “You’re not worthy.”

Zhou Yan: “With so many people just now, you chose me.”

Si Wen: “I paid your madam beforehand. She told me you were a virgin.”

“No wonder. You’re handsome and rich, and you don’t look stupid, yet you chose me.” Zhou Yan mumbled for a long time, then spoke up, emboldened, “Sister Hong is too greedy; she might not give me half the money you gave her.”

Si Wen took out a black leather bag from the car, counted two stacks, and handed them to her, saying nothing.

Zhou Yan didn’t dare to take it. She had never seen twenty thousand yuan in cash. She wasn’t so scared that her legs turned to jelly, but she didn’t dare to just take it without asking. “You’re not a wanted fugitive, are you? Asking me to help dispose of stolen goods? I can’t do that.”

Si Wen didn’t answer her. He put out both their cigarettes and effortlessly carried her upstairs.

The room was on the second floor, to the left. It was dilapidated and small, permeated with a lingering, unpleasant odor of stale fish.

Si Wen tossed Zhou Yan onto the bed, pressed down on her, and with practiced ease, used one hand to unfasten the “scenery” on her chest.

Zhou Yan was inexperienced and didn’t mind Si Wen taking the initiative.

The wind made the curtains tremble, and the full moon shone upon a pair of frantic waists.

Afterward, Si Wen smoked, naked. Having sex with a virgin was a bad experience; her skills were terrible, and she even bit him during oral sex. She noticed it herself; when she looked up, her eyes were like Bambi’s, so he endured it.

He had paid five times the price to specifically get a virgin; if he didn’t endure it, should he just back out?

Zhou Yan endured the pain and rummaged through the bedsheets, her face growing increasingly pale.

Si Wen heard the movement and turned his head: “What are you looking for?”

Zhou Yan’s expression was flustered: “Why is there no blood?”

Si Wen looked down at the bloodstains on his penis, intentionally not telling her, “Then you’re not worth twenty thousand.”

Zhou Yan raised both hands, her words stumbling: “I really, I, I’ve never been touched before.”

She was careful, cautious. Her long, naturally curly hair was soaked with sweat, pushed to one side, and her bitten lips still retained a crimson hue. Two thin arms hung from her slender shoulders. Her chest was beautiful, easy to see right through.

Si Wen truly liked her appearance. He pulled her up, turned her around, and thrust hard.

Later, Zhou Yan fell asleep. The pain was gone, the pleasure was gone, the worry was gone. In a haze, she only remembered Si Wen answering a few calls and smoking a few cigarettes beside her. The smoke made her cough constantly.

When she woke up, it was in the middle of the night. The room was pitch black, there was no moon outside the window, and it was eerily quiet.

Si Wen wasn’t there.

On the table were thirty thousand yuan and a note from him. The handwriting wasn’t good, but the meaning was clear:

‘The extra ten thousand is an advance. Remember to be on call next time.’

________________________________________

At that time, Zhou Yan didn’t know that this man named Si Wen would be the beginning of a life worse than death for her.

She finished the last cigarette in the pack, looking at the marble ashtray on the trash can, full of cigarette butts.

Her phone rang. She glanced at the time before answering: “Isn’t it 8 o’clock?”

The voice on the other end sounded like it had just woken up: “It is 8 o’clock.”

Zhou Yan frowned, confirming again; it was clearly 6:30. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”