laid
her on the bed. She stretched out, and felt sleep wash over her as
Longwei laid down next to her, wrapping her again in his arms, his
strength giving her the comfort she needed to finally relax.
Chapter 6
Joy
inhaled deeply before remembering the air was thick with tobacco
smoke. Coughing softly, she took a moment to clear her lungs before
centering herself, focusing on the next few minutes. It had been a
long time since she had done any singing in public.
The
initial plan had seemed simple, but now seemed helplessly foolish.
After stripping and searching the Triad bodies, Longwei had discussed
the situation with some of the other village elders, men he trusted
and had known since he was a boy. In a sign of how important Joy was
becoming to him, he included her in all of the meetings, even if she
didn't understand much, if any, of what was being said. Still, he had
filled her in, explaining that while the written note had included
directions on how to get to the village from Shanghai, the men that
had attacked were actually members of a much closer sect of the
Triad, based in the nearby industrial city of Hefei. That they were
armed with automatic weapons was more concerning, because it meant
that the Triads were willing to risk serious governmental reprisal.
The
initial plan was for Longwei to try and go in alone, but Joy had
nixed that. "No offense Longwei, but you're a man, and it will
take you years to gain their trust and penetrate the layers of their
organization to the point of doing anything meaningful."
"So
what do you propose?"
Joy
laughed. "We use a weapon that men worldwide have been weak to
since the beginning of time."
The
conversation had led her here, to this Triad controlled nightclub
deep in the Triad controlled pleasure district of Hefei. She was
standing backstage, dressed in a tight blue velvet dress, her breasts
pushed together to create maximum cleavage, a long slit running
almost all the way to her hip. She was thankful she had some singing
ability, as the waitresses in the club wore even more revealing
clothing, and from what she could see, were groped by the patrons on
an almost regular basis.
Glancing
to her left, she looked into the club's tiny kitchen, where she saw
Longwei studiously washing dishes. He spared her a worried glance,
but smiled, which she dared to return. Officially, their cover story
was they didn't know each other, and just happened to start working
at the club at about the same time. They even kept separate
apartments, dives that were tiny and cramped, but within a block of
each other. It had been this way for the past two weeks.
The
club manager came to the back, chattering at her angrily in the Hefei
dialect. While closer to Mandarin than the village's, she could still
only catch about one word in three he was saying, although she got
the message. It was her time on stage.
Stepping
through the curtain, she thought again how fortunate she was that the
local Triad head favored what Longwei had derisively called a
"rainbow policy" for girls working in his club. With a
fetish for all types of foreign girl, the Boss had hired girls from
most areas of the world for his nightclub act and as waitresses.
Those who could sing, like the blonde Russian before her and the
petite Filipina after, were given slightly better positions as
entertainers. Those who couldn't sing but had some grace, like the
Japanese girl she had seen and the Latina who Joy wasn't sure where
she was from, worked as dancers, ranging from semi to full on exotic
strippers.
The
worst positions were saved for the girls who couldn't sing or dance,
but whose bodies were desirable to the Triad Boss. They served as
what were officially deemed hostesses, but were often little more
than grope dolls for drunken, horny Triads who thought that grabbing
a foreign tit or ass was no big deal, and was just good fun. Joy had
even heard that many of the girls were coerced into sleeping with
various Triads, whether for