Prison

Fan thought about the hardest decision she had ever made. Prison would be hell; a hell that would last for thirty years at least, but at least that one promised eventual freedom. Taking the rubber, while she may not fully know what it would entail, meant that there would be no chance for freedom. One thing Fan knew for certain: no Chinese woman had ever come back home after taking the rubber. It was not something a girl could change her mind about. How could she know what would happen to her? For all the actress knew, some sick pervert would and kill her.

"Prison," she announced with a heavy heart. "I choose prison."

ONE WEEK LATER

The former actress didn't react when she was shoved to the ground. Even if she had seen the attack, Fan was simply too exhausted to put up a fight. The floor was lifeless, cold, and rough, and yet she did not want to get up now. Her muscles burned, even in places she'd never thought she could feel tired from, tired from splitting rocks and carrying steel and digging holes. Tired of the meagre sleep and the tasteless food. Tired of the cold and the stone hard bed. Fan felt her eyes closing, embracing an uncomfortable rest... until a sharp kick prodded her ribs.

"Get up, báifùměi." It was Xiang, the bitch that had apparently made it her goal to make Fan's life miserable. She must have seen one of the actress's movies at some point, because the first time Fan had seen Xiang, the woman had already been glaring at her.

Fan curled her body into a ball. "Stop it, Xiang... just let me rest." Unlike the other women in her cell, Fan did not have a mattress; Xiang had taken it from her during her first night, along with her comforter and rock-hard pillow. On that first night, Fan told herself that she must endure, that she must learn to live until she was finally free... one week later and the movie star was pretty sure she was going to die before the month was over.

Xiang, however, was not done with her torment. "Poor little báifùměi. Don't like your accomodations?" she mocked mercilessly and the other women in their cell giggled just as sadistically. "Didn't your mother tell you to eat before going to bed?"

Fan opened her eyes to see a bowl set before her. White rice, just as it had been last night and the night before that; cold and hard like the ground she laid on. A rumble in her stomach was heard all over the cell nontheless, and Fan slowly reached a trembling hand towards the bowl. Just as her fingers were about to graze against the cheap wooden bowl, Xiang's ankle kicked it away, little grains of white food landing on the ground. Fan's tormentor stepped all over her meal and the entire cell laughed even harder when Xiang pressed her feet on top of Fan's closed lips.

"Go on! Eat it! You're going to need your strength, báifùměi! What's the matter? Not enough caviar? Missing some French truffles? Didn't get your bird's nest soup?" Xiang cackled. "This is what delicate rich girls like you do, don't you? Throw away the food that us working girls have to pick up? Well, I'm going to make sure you eat every single piece of rice even if I have to drag your tongue through the ground!"

The actress curled into a ball again. Her eyes were teeming with tears of frustration, anger, hate, and fear... but she would not cry. She would not cry in front of these women. Fan would never give them the satisfaction; not while she still had her dignity. Soon enough, the entire cell joined Xiang, stepping over the actress, chanting "Báifùměi! Báifùměi! Eat the rice, báifùměi!"

Then, everything stopped. Fan opened her eyes to see one of the guards opening the cell, and all the prisoners went silent. The female guard marched to the curled form of the actress, and grabbed her by the arm. "Get up, Bingbing. You're coming with us."

Compared to the cell, the metal manacles Fan was fitted with were warm. Her sight stayed on the ground as she was led out of the cell and through several corridors, eventually reaching a sturdy steel door. After a clinking of keys, the door swung open, and she was led through. Inside the room was a small table, two chairs, and another person already sitting. Fan finally raised her gaze to meet the eyes of her visitor.