Chapter 5: A Night of Horrors

  Zhen leaned her head against the wooden door of the guest room, and her heart was racing like a startled deer. Suddenly, there was a slight vibration, followed by a gentle knocking sound.

  "Who?" Jing had been tricked once before, this time she must ask clearly who it was before opening the door.

  "It's me." A soft and sweet voice came from outside the door, a tone that only his daughter had.

  "'Squeak' Who are you..." The wooden door let out a heavy creak, Zhen looked at the uninvited guest in front of her with confusion, a thick and large whip hung on his chest, thin eyebrows, melon-shaped face, fair skin, and sparkling eyes that revealed a hint of cleverness.

  "I'm Juanzi, my dad brought you to this inn." The girl's crisp and sweet voice made Zhen feel that she was very genuine. Looking at her age, which was about the same as her own, her defensive heart relaxed for a moment.

  "Heh heh, it's you! Come on in!" Zhen let Jinzi enter, looking at the remaining stool in the room, "Sit down!" She casually closed the door and walked over to sit on the iron-framed bed.

  "Okay, hehe." The girl sat down casually and freely.

  "Hehe."

  "Hehe."

  The two of them exchanged a glance, both smiling wryly, but neither knew who should speak first.

  "Hmm, are you from out of town?" After all, it was still familiar territory for her, and so Yuwen first broke the temporary silence to ask.

  "Right! Your family..." Zhen took advantage of the lamplight to observe Juanzi closely, thinking she was really good-looking and spoke kindly, her instinctive vigilance gradually relaxing.

  "Our family has been here for many years, I came last year. My parents mainly came here to have a younger brother with a handle, so they work here. The younger brother is already eight years old."

  "Hmm... my family is like that too, my parents didn't like girls, they had a son and spent all the money on fines, so our family became very poor. I dropped out of school early and wanted to come out and make some money to reduce the burden on my family." Zhen said this with a tangled heart, feeling somewhat sad.

  "Hmm... I see! What's your name? You're really beautiful." Juanzi said with an admiring gaze.

  "Right! I haven't told you my name yet, my name is Lin Zhen, you can just call me Zhen."

  At this time, a shout for Juanzi came from somewhere, and when Juanzi heard it, her smile suddenly disappeared... Several seconds of silence.

  "Hehe, nice name. Alright, you rest now! I... still have things to do, gotta go." Juanzi's mouth curled up in a wry smile as she bid farewell with her head bowed and eyes cast down.

  "Alright... goodbye..." Zhen originally wanted to continue asking about the situation here, and also what kind of work could be done to earn money, and what rules there were. Seeing that Juanzi seemed anxious to leave, she got up and sent her off at the door.

  Jiān zǐ gāng gāng lí kāi, zhēn jiù xiǎng qǐ gāng cái qù máo fáng nà yī mù, jí máng lā kāi fáng mén, mù cè shì xiǎng tí xǐng jiān zǐ zhù yì, jié guǒ tā lā kāi fáng mén què kàn dào yī gè nán rén yōng zhù yī gè rén jìn le gé bì de wū zǐ.

  Is that Juanzi? Zhen thought it was Juanzi from the girl's side profile. Who is hugging her? Her dad! No way!

  Zhen curled up in bed, but couldn't sleep all night. The house was not soundproof. The noise from next door stubbornly seeped into her eardrums.

  "Don't... uh..." The girl's voice trembled with tears.

  "Girl, you've satisfied me, I'll give you an extra ticket later." The man's lewd voice. Then the sound of the bed creaking 'creak creak'.

  "Hmm..." The girl seemed to be resisting all along.

  She clutched her pillow and covered her ears, but that sound still managed to pierce through the gaps and invade her eardrums.

  "What's wrong with you?" the man cursed roughly.

  "It's not... I haven't finished with that yet, so..." The girl's timid voice.

  "Damn it, what a mood killer." The man seemed to get up from the bed, the sound of his belt buckle and then the girl's sobbing.

  "Please, you... somehow... still have to pay, right?" The girl's pleading voice was vague and unclear.

  "Hey, you think my money is that easy to make?! Come and serve me..." The man's lewd voice, accompanied by a sly laugh, pierced into Zhen's auditory nerves like a sharp arrow.

  Zhen Ming didn't understand their jargon, but at least she figured out what was going on next door - a man and a woman's affair... She furrowed her brow and thought to herself: Is this place a brothel?

  Such an idea suddenly emerged, and Zhen suddenly wanted to grasp something. That boundless sense of fear came over her. Her nerves were generally on edge, she quickly sat up, her heart was inexplicably racing, and she suddenly felt a chill all over her body. She didn't know if it was because she was afraid, but what exactly she was afraid of, she had no idea. She wanted to call Jing, but she couldn't bear the long-distance phone charges.

  "Calm down..." Zhen hugged her pillow tightly, her eyes never daring to relax their vigilance towards the slightest movement of the door.

  The noise from next door seemed to have quieted down a lot, only the creaking of the bed and the man's wanton laughter could be heard, as well as the sound of the bed frame being pressed. The woman was beset by waves of drowsiness, but every time she dozed off, she would wake up with a start, her fragile nerves stretched taut throughout the night.

  It wasn't clear whether it was the dawn or the sound of a door closing from next door that suddenly woke up Zhen. Dazed, she looked around, her body, the door, everything was fine. Only then did she let out a soft sigh.

  The sky in Shenzhen is not as good-looking as the sky in A city, giving people a gloomy feeling. Zhen walked out of the house door and glanced at the neighboring house that had been noisy all night, but it was already locked up, just like no one had lived there before. Due to a night of anxiety and fear, she felt extremely tired, her legs were sore and soft, and she wanted to fall asleep on the bed for a while. But thinking about the environment here and the scene where she was scared by a drunkard last night, she didn't want to stay any longer even if you killed her.

  "I'm moving out." Zhen said as she walked up to her landlady.

  "Leaving after just one night?" The landlady's stout body, with her messy curly hair, short waist and small legs, seemed to be summarizing the situation. She appeared dissatisfied that Zhen was only staying for one night, and asked gruffly with a sideways glance of her beady eyes.

  "Hmm, our relatives should be worried." Zhen explained.

  "Oh, 20 yuan." The boss's wife said in a low, sullen tone, her face clouded over.

  Zhen took out 20 yuan from her bag and handed it over, then quickly pulled her suitcase downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she unexpectedly saw Juanzi also carrying a bundle waiting for something.

  "Hi!" Juanzi greeted Zhen proactively.

  "Hi!" Zhen hastily replied, but her mind was recalling the scene from last night.

  I don't know what's going on, but the scene from last night next door has been weighing on Zhen's mind. Juanzi is also leaving the hotel and her parents to look for work in the city center.

  At this time Zhen should feel happy, it's not easy to get to know someone of the same age, and she can go job hunting with her, having a companion is better than being alone.

  But Zhen didn't know what was going on, she just couldn't get excited, and she felt that Juanzi wasn't as simple as he seemed on the surface. From his gloomy eyes, it seemed like there was a deeper secret hidden beneath.

  The first day at the labor market was when Juanzi took Zhen there...

  Fill in the information, personal profile, ID number, record it, and leave your phone number to wait for notification. A middle-aged woman with a dignified and elegant appearance, a kind face, known as Yang sister, said to Zhen and Juanzi in a gentle tone.

  "Yang Jie, is anyone here? I've come several times already." A middle-aged man with a refined demeanor and soft-spoken tone suddenly shouted as he entered from the doorway.

  "Ah! Here are two ready-made ones, take a look at how they are?" Yang sister pointed at Zhen and Juanzi and said.

  "The two of them... hmm, not bad..." The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction and handed over the relevant procedures to Zhen and Juanzi, saying: "Let's go! Sisters."

  "May I ask you, what is that for?" Juanzi, who was more mature and astute than Zhen, pulled her back and asked hastily.

  "I won't let you do anything bad, as long as you girls register here, nothing will go wrong. You see there's a hotline for reporting, if the host family mistreats or withholds your salary, you must report it." Yang Jie said resolutely.

  "That won't do, you have to tell us what kind of work it is." Juanzi said stubbornly. Zhen listened attentively on the side, secretly admiring Juanzi's courage and insight.

  "Alright! I've paid the agency fees, you have to go even if you don't want to." The middle-aged man had already decided that Zhen and Juanzi would go work for him, so he casually dropped this sentence. Then he continued: "Sichuan restaurant, dishwasher, salary 1500, includes food and lodging."

  "Good! Good!" Jing answered excitedly. But Juanzi pinched her hand secretly, hinting not to rush into an answer.

  "Will you work overtime? What time do you get off work, what time do you start work, is there labor insurance?" Juanzi haggled with the host family like an old hand.

  "Occasionally work overtime, start work at 9 am, get off work at 8 pm, receive a packet of laundry detergent every month, and uniforms need to be paid for."

  "I won't go." Juanzi flatly refused after hearing the other party's conditions. This made Zhen anxious, she was overjoyed when she heard that the boss said that meals and accommodation were included in the salary of 1500, and besides, she had to finalize the job today, otherwise she would have nowhere to live and wouldn't have to return to that rundown hotel again.

  At this time, Juanzi immediately refused, which made Zhēn anxious. "She's not going, I'll go." Zhēn hastily stepped forward to the boss and said loudly.

  "Y...". Juanzi saw Zhen completely disregarding her opinion, her face flushing red with frustration, biting her lip tightly before finally uttering a single word.

  Zhen sat in the car of this Mr. Li, sitting in a luxurious small car, all the way, nervous, anxious, excited. All kinds of thoughts filled Zhen's mind, and she felt dizzy. Just like that, Zhen became a beautiful female dishwasher at a Sichuan restaurant.

  Juanzi and Zhen parted ways like this, and Zhen didn't know where Juanzi went to work. But after they met unexpectedly once, Zhen completely changed her own destiny. Of course, that's a later story; first let's take a look at the situation of this beautiful dishwasher here.

  This Mr. Li, in general, was still quite polite to Zhen, after all, they were both from Sichuan, so naturally, he was a bit more familiar with her.

  Unfortunately, the boss's wife was born to be a vinegar jar. Every time she saw Zhen and the boss alone together, she would scold and rebuke them, making Li Boss very embarrassed and speechless.