Chapter 1376: Zhang Liyuan (Twenty-Two)

Zhang Lijuan (twenty-two)

"What... what is this..." I looked at Xiao Ya Jie in confusion. "Did I say something wrong...?"

"You didn't say anything wrong." Xiao Ya Jie turned away and stopped looking at me. "But this car isn't for you. Get out."

I glanced doubtfully at Lan Lan beside me and Xiao Sha behind me, but they just turned to look out the window, not saying a word in my defense.

"I don't understand..." I said to Xiao Ya Jie. "Jie... didn't you just say you could give me work? Something that pays one or two hundred a day... What do you mean by telling me to get out now?"

The driver, Xiao Long, seemed to grasp the situation and turned to Xiao Ya Jie. "Jie... didn't you say in our line of work..."

"Do I need you to tell me?! Does your jie need lecturing from you?" Xiao Ya Jie looked furious but held back her anger as she spoke to me. "You, get out. Go find some other work and stop getting in my way."

After that, she turned to the driver. "Xiao Long, give her twenty yuan and tell her to go."

Her sudden change in attitude left me completely baffled.

Why does my life always turn out like this?

Without me doing anything, things suddenly flip one hundred and eighty degrees.

This woman stopped me from killing myself, brought me into the car, and promised I wouldn't go hungry, but just after hearing my introduction, she tells me to leave.

As I hesitated, Xiao Sha from behind reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder.

I turned to look at her, thinking she might plead for me, but instead, she shook her head at me and said:

"Tiantian, listen to Xiao Ya Jie. Go on, this isn't a car you should get into."

It felt strange. I stared into Xiao Sha's eyes; even though she was telling me to leave, I didn't sense any malice in her gaze.

Xiao Long turned around and handed me two ten-yuan bills. "Here, take this and go."

I stayed still, not moving.

I didn't want to just wander off aimlessly anymore. I wanted to know the reason.

"What's the matter? Are you damn well sticking to my car?" Xiao Ya Jie looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Do I have to bow to you before you'll leave?"

"Tell me why," I said. "Why did you want me to come earlier, and now you want me to go?"

"You damn..." Xiao Ya Jie turned back with an angry expression. "Now you're trying to reason with me? I saw the look in your eyes earlier and thought you were one of us. I asked if you knew what a 'jishu gongzuozhe' is, and you said yes. What do you know about it! You even used a name like 'Tiantian' to trick me—you almost had me fooled, you know!"

I was still completely lost, not understanding what she meant about me tricking her or her tricking me.

"Thank god I caught on early," Xiao Ya Jie continued. "Otherwise, if we got there and you started crying and screaming that you'd been tricked, I couldn't handle that kind of trouble! If you're not in this line, get out now. I don't bring people like you into it—your jie is trying to accumulate some good karma here. I want to have a smooth life when I have kids."

"I think I'm starting to get it," I nodded. "So it's just that we have different understandings of 'jishu gongzuozhe.' That's fine; I learn things quickly."

"Ah..." Lan Lan beside me spoke up at that moment. "Tiantian, you're not like us. You should go. Go live a proper life..."

Live a proper life?

That was ridiculous. What proper life is waiting for me in this world?

If Xiao Ya Jie hadn't stopped me earlier, my life would already be over.

"I still can't go," I said. "Xiao Ya Jie, what kind of work are you recruiting for? Why am I not suitable?"

"Damn..." Xiao Ya Jie gritted her teeth and cursed. "You're the first girl I've met like this. If you want to know, I'll tell you, and then you get out. We're out here selling ourselves, got it? If you followed me all the way there in a daze, do you know what kind of sin I'd be committing?"

"Selling... yourselves?"

"That's right—getting paid to sleep with people. Don't you get it?!" Xiao Ya Jie snapped.

"I thought it was something else..." After hearing that, I let out a light laugh, and my tense body relaxed. "So that's it... Can you really earn one or two hundred a day like that?"

"What...?" Xiao Ya Jie frowned at me.

"Xiao Ya Jie, you saw it earlier..." I said bitterly. "I'm someone who was ready to trade my life for money... Would I really object to trading my body for it?"

"Tiantian..." Lan Lan turned to look at me. "Take my advice—if you have any other options, don't get into this. Once you're in, you can't get out, and no one jumps in on purpose."

"That's right," Xiao Sha added from behind. "You don't know how many disgusting people we have to deal with every day. And if people from back home find out, you'll be gossiped about for the rest of your life—called things like 'promiscuous woman' or 'cheap slut' everywhere..."

"It's not just gossip," Xiao Ya Jie interjected. "For girls like us, even the police station won't help. If something happens, the authorities won't back us up."

I looked at them all with a blank expression.

"Is that... all?"

"'All'?!" Xiao Ya Jie looked at me like I was crazy. "What do you mean by 'all'?"

"I've lived through stuff like that before, but I never earned one or two hundred a day."

After hearing my deeper background, the car fell even quieter.

Whether it was Xiao Sha, Lan Lan, or Xiao Ya Jie, they all went silent again.

The whole van seemed to have walls of its own, separating us from the noisy world outside.

"Since I have to suffer anyway, why not let me earn more money?" I asked.

Xiao Ya Jie turned back to face forward, staring at the scenery ahead. I didn't know what she was thinking.

Lan Lan and Xiao Sha stopped trying to persuade me and just looked out the window.

A few seconds later, Xiao Ya Jie asked, "How old are you?"

"Eighteen," I replied.

"Have you been through anything before?"

"Jie..." I stared at her eyes in the rearview mirror. "In your line of work, you don't even need real names, so do you really need to know about my past suffering?"

"You damn well say it or don't." She turned to look out the side window and muttered quietly, "When we get to the shop, take a look for yourself. If it doesn't feel right, just leave. I don't want to drag you into this."

"Thank you, Jie."

"Thank your ass." She shook her head. "Xiao Long, drive on."

That day, Xiao Ya Jie treated us three girls to a full meal.

I had never eaten such delicious paomo before, holding the big bowl and drinking every last drop of the soup.