The six of them were utterly shocked.

Entertain clients? Serve them well?

Isn’t this just being a prostitute?!

After the shock wore off, one of the girls came to her senses and shouted in a trembling voice, "I won’t be a prostitute! You... you’re breaking the law! I’m calling the police!"

The other five also started crying and shouting that they wanted to call the police.

But to their surprise, Ms. Archer just snorted coldly, looked at them with disdain, and replied, "What kind of world do you think this is? You think the police will care about you? Let me tell you, the people in charge have given their silent approval for what happens here. The police won’t get involved!"

Then, as the girls stared in shock, Ms. Archer added, "I’ll be honest with you. We have no shortage of prostitutes here!"

"These days, plenty of men and women are lining up to sell themselves just for a bite to eat. I only took pity on you little girls and kindly offered you this chance to live."

"After all, if you don’t stay and become prostitutes, you’ll be dragged to a hospital for tissue matching! The hospitals are short on organs right now. Lots of people are waiting for your corneas, skin, hearts, livers, kidneys..."

Listening to Ms. Archer’s words, the girls’ panicked hearts sank, bit by bit, into a hell of despair.

Seeing the despair gradually fill their eyes, Ms. Archer delivered her parting shot: "Think it over, the six of you. If you refuse to entertain clients, in a few days, someone will come to take you for tissue matching. Whether you live or die is entirely up to you."

Then, Ms. Archer left.

The six of them huddled together, crying and screaming in despair for two more days. They pounded desperately on the door, trying to get someone’s attention, but unfortunately, no one paid them any mind.

During those two days, no one brought them food or water.

Two days later, just as they were starving and on the verge of collapse, the door opened a crack. Six sand vine cakes were thrown inside, and then the door was shut again.

The six of them scrambled over, snatched the sand vine cakes, and devoured them ravenously.

Then they were locked up for another two days.

Over the course of that week, they cried until they were exhausted and screamed until they were hoarse. Each of them lay numbly on the floor, staring at the ceiling as despair washed over them like a tide.

The second time the person outside opened the door to deliver sand vine cakes, one of the girls tried to take the opportunity to push the door open and escape.

But as soon as she ran out the door, a burly man with dyed-blond hair knocked her to the ground with a single punch.

As if to make an example for the other five girls in the room, Blondie dragged the would-be escapee back into the room. In front of all five of them, a rain of fists fell upon her until she was on the brink of death, lying motionless on the ground.

...

Nina Walsh hugged her head, not daring to recall the scene. She only remembered Blondie grabbing the dying girl by the ankles and brutally dragging her out. After that, the remaining five of them never saw that girl again.

Perhaps due to the extreme shock, one of the five surviving girls developed a high fever that night that wouldn’t break. She kept intermittently crying out that she felt sick.

The other four gathered around her anxiously, but they were completely helpless.

They tried to call for the people outside the door, but still, no one paid them any attention.

When they woke up the next day, they found that the girl with the high fever was already stiff.

They screamed and pounded on the door, shouting that someone had died, but the people outside still didn’t come in to check.

The four of them were left with a corpse for a day and a night. It wasn’t until two days later, when it was time for the sand vine cake delivery, that Blondie finally came in and dragged the dead girl away.

His expression was calm, utterly unfazed, as if this sort of thing had happened many times before.

At that point, two of the remaining four girls couldn’t hold on any longer. They voluntarily stepped forward and told Blondie they wanted to see Ms. Archer—they would entertain clients.

Then, the two of them were taken away by Ms. Archer.

Only Nina Walsh and one other girl were left in the room.

The two of them stayed in that room for another two days, constantly encouraging each other in hushed voices. They reassured one another: their families must have already called the police, the police would surely find a way to rescue them, they just had to hold on.

Their hopes were utterly shattered the next day when Blondie opened the door.

The two of them had assumed Blondie was there to deliver sand vine cakes, but instead, he walked straight in, started dragging the other girl out, and said he was taking her to the hospital to have her corneas removed.

The girl’s face went deathly pale with terror. She struggled desperately, screaming that she was willing to entertain clients, that she wanted to see Ms. Archer.

But Blondie ignored her completely, dragging the girl out as if she were a helpless chick.

Only Nina Walsh was left in the room.

She was panic-stricken. She didn’t want her corneas removed!

She tried to negotiate with Blondie through the door, telling him her father worked for the government and begging him to let her go. She even promised she would never call the police if she got out.

But Blondie paid her no mind.

Nina Walsh had also considered seeing Ms. Archer. ’After all, entertaining clients is better than having my organs harvested.’

But something inside her told her, ’If I really agree to entertain clients, I’ll just be walking from one hell into another.’

’What good could possibly come from being a prostitute?’

’My body violated, my mind abused, my soul trampled...’

She had seen a documentary in one of her university electives that followed and interviewed prostitutes. Their clients not only carried all sorts of infectious diseases, but many were also drug addicts!

Nina Walsh refused to live that kind of life!

Extreme fear turned to rage.

Nina Walsh started screaming at the door.

When she was tired of screaming, she would collapse on the floor to rest.

This rage kept her from giving in, and another two days passed just like that.

She sat alone in the empty room, her days a repeating cycle of passing out and waking up, as if time itself had stood still.

At first, her nerves were stretched taut. She watched the door vigilantly, convinced that any second, Blondie would burst in and drag her to the hospital to have her corneas or a kidney removed.

But as time ticked by, second by second, she eventually couldn’t hold on any longer and simply passed out.

Thirsty and hungry, she couldn’t even focus her thoughts. For a few moments, she even felt it would be better if Blondie just put her out of her misery.

That was until the day before yesterday, when a little girl calling herself "Amy" came to the room.

She brought two sand vine cakes for Nina Walsh and tried to persuade her, saying that this was no way to go on.

Nina Walsh didn’t respond, so Amy just started telling her own story. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Amy said she had been sold here by her own father.

Of the eight girls in her group, two were beaten to death on the very first day for resisting.

The remaining five girls teamed up and made a plan to escape, but they were easily overpowered and sent to the hospital together...

Amy, who had agreed to entertain clients, was the sole survivor.

Amy also told Nina Walsh that entertaining clients wasn’t as scary as she imagined. Most of the clients fancied themselves gentlemen; they were gentle and would even give the girls all kinds of delicious food.

Amy urged Nina Walsh to accept reality, insisting that as long as she was obedient, life here wouldn’t be any worse than on the outside.

Nina Walsh just listened in silence.

Seeing that she wouldn’t speak, Amy had no choice but to leave.

Nina Walsh thought she wouldn’t come back, but to her surprise, she came again today, bringing more sand vine cakes.

Amy watched Nina Walsh wolf down the sand vine cakes, her eyes filled with disdain. She really couldn’t understand why Nina insisted on holding out.

But she still coaxed in a soft voice, "Sister, why are you being like this? If you keep holding out, your health will only get worse."

"Sister, every day you hold out is another day of suffering. Why not just face reality?"

"Sister, the boss here has powerful connections. Once you’re brought here, there’s no escaping. I once had a friend who couldn’t accept staying here. She begged one of her clients to call the police, but the police never came. She was taken straight to the hospital..."

"Besides, even if you did manage to escape, what kind of good life is there to go back to? Isn’t everyone on the outside starving and thirsty too?"

"But if you stay here, you can eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day. If you’re obedient enough, you can even have meat."

"Sister, just agree. If you agree, you can get out of this room. You’ll get to live in a luxurious hotel room every day. A room here costs tens of thousands a night; ordinary people could never afford to stay here."

"Sister, in this world, people laugh at the poor, not the prostitutes. Why are you being so stubborn?"