The Story of Qiu Lian Pt. 01

"Why weren't you there to help your parents?" they had asked. "Where were you, what were you doing? You came back from drinking, the nerve-" some villagers who had been her parent's friends had gotten so visibly upset with her they almost struck out. It took many others to prevent them from doing so.

"None of the other families lost any lives, only material things that can be replaced. They were fine, because their children had been there to help. Where were you? You killed your parents!" they had said.

Qiu could not even respond to them. Her own emotions had prevented her from facing that truth, facing the fact that her selfishness might have killed her parents. She felt like dying.

School had become a challenge as well. She at first received half hearted pity, but then life moved on the everyone else. Her friends slowly abandoned her, being persuaded to distance themselves from Qiu because of their parent's warnings. They said Qiu's lack of filial piety had led to her mother and father's deaths. She slowly became an outsider, a few close friends sticking with her, but only covertly, fearing the backlash of being seen supporting the outcast in the village.

After the initial week after the tragedy, Qiu began to regain her mental faculties. Gripped with sadness, she longed to reach out and embrace her mother, to run to her father and cry that she didn't mean to not be there for them. She felt lost, lost in a way that only losing one's parents at such an age could create. The depths of her despair permeated to almost every aspect of Qiu's world, the reality of what had happened almost too great a pain to bear.

She noticed her friend's parents, in whose house she was staying, were looking on her as a burden. She felt unwanted. At the family meals, people rarely spoke to her, trying allow Qiu to feel welcome after such hardship, while unable to ignore the dishonor and disdain that Qiu carried with her. Qiu decided to leave.

She had saved up a small amount of money from her job. It was enough to get started somewhere else. She was sick of having to deal with the village's ostracism, as well as coping with her own loss of her entire life.

At the early onset of spring, she left her village, the only place she'd ever known to be home.

Chapter Four

Qiu rested her forehead against the train, the afternoon sun soothing through the cold plastic window.

"Ticket, please," said a ticket checker. Qiu handed him her ticket without much enthusiasm, and took it back after he punched a hole in it.

"Ticket, please," Qiu heard him say to the next row behind her.

She had thought about where to go. She would be alone, regardless. She had no family left, grandparents had died before she was born. No one she could go to, no real friends outside her village. She planned on finding work, studying for the college entrance exam, and make a life for herself. The best place she determined this could be possible was the city she had visited, the capital. She was headed back toward Changsha.

The memories of that place she had visited haunted her mind, almost as much as the loss of her parents did. She thought about the money, thought about the idea of the position. 'It'd prevent another Jun from happening,' she rationalized. It sounded crazy to her, too far-out, but it also held some allure.

Qiu thought about it. 'Wearing a-a chastity...' the words themselves almost didn't make sense. It was just a way out, a way to alleviate financial pressures, she told herself. But still, a voice in her head kept whispering, 'It would guarantee you have complete control over your body. You'd never be tricked by a man wanting to fuck you and leave you. You would be your own master, incapable of your power being stolen from you like the way Jun did. You...you would be in control.' Qiu licked her lips, and smiled at this thought. There was an attraction to that, and she planned to save it as a last option. 'But I can find better work,' she told herself, shaking the pulling feeling of excitement.

After a few days of living in a hostel and scouring the area for a job, she remembered her old job. 'Oh, forgot to tell that phone store I quit. Haha, oh well, it was a shitty job anyway,' Qiu thought to herself.

Despite making an effort to get a regular job, she couldn't stop thinking about the strange company. Every time she would ask a small clothes shop, or a grocery store if they had any openings, the only thing that was on her mind was Zheng and that office room. She couldn't shake the feeling any longer.

Qiu sat in her room at the hostel and surveyed her situation. She planned to independently study for the college entrance exam, which was months away, but didn't have much money left to live on. With no easy openings for a dull job to sustain herself, she made the decision to go back to modeling company. 'I'll just see what they're offering, won't jump in too fast. They're legit, I'll be fine,' she reassured herself. The next day she planned to go back to the company, and slept soundly.

On a warm Thursday afternoon, Qiu found herself standing in front of the same building she stood before months ago. She thought about how her life had changed since. Losing her parents, meeting that horrible guy who wooed her to bed, losing her connection with her village, her house, her belongings. She'd lost a lot. Qiu hoped what this place could offer her could give her a life back.

She walked into the same lobby she remembered, an attendant smiling to greet her as she informed him she was there for a modeling position. After the brief exchange of politeness, she was on the elevator to the sixth floor. The same hallway stood before her, the same door. What awaited her inside would be the same as she had remembered, but more.

She opened the door, and with much less nervousness than the previous time she visited this place, walked through. The same desk attendant was there to greet her, who showed no outward signs of recognition.

"If you'd take a seat, we'll be with you in a moment," the attendant said with a smile.

Qiu sat, hoping to see the familiar face of Zheng walk through the door. After a few minutes of silence, the tattering of the desk keyboard buzzing away, the door that led to the hallway opened. Qiu's face brightened when she saw Zheng, almost the same as she had remembered, walk into the waiting room, and said, "Hello, Qiu. It's wonderful to see you again. We can talk in my office, please come with me."

Qiu complied, confident in what to expect. She followed Zheng down the same hallway, noting Zheng's ridiculously high heels once more. "It's been what, four months since we saw you?" Zheng asked.

"Yeah, I think just about four months," Qiu replied.

Zheng opened her office door, motioned for Qiu to go in with a smile, and followed her in. Qiu stood before the same chair she had sat in, observed the different items on Zheng's desk, and sat down once Zheng was seated.

"So, what can we do you for you, Qiu?" Zheng said.

"Well, I'm interested in, that is-I've been thinking I might-" Qiu began.

"You'd be interested in contracting with our company?" Zheng asked with a wide smile and big eyes.

"Yes, I think so," Qiu said shyly, looking down at her hands.

"Well that's just great. We've still got your information in our system, it wouldn't take long at all to set you up," said Zheng, as she opened a drawer to her desk. Qiu noticed large stacks of bound paper being set heavily on the desk.

"This," said Zheng, "is the contract that we employ for our models. It covers everything that our models must know before joining us." Zheng rotated the booklet and pushed it toward Qiu. "You must carefully read every line in this, and make sure you fully understand every article. If, after reading and digesting it all, you are prepared to sign it and become a model, we will prepare lawyers and witnesses for a signing to make it final."

Qiu pulled open the book, and found every page was covered from top to bottom in sentences, numbers, bold words. It looked like a dictionary.

Zheng leaned a little closer toward Qiu, and said, "Now, Qiu, this is a very serious endeavor you would undergo upon signing this. As much as our company desires models for our products, I want to ask if you're completely ready for what this all entails."

Qiu looked up at her, and saw what she thought were almost motherly eyes in Zheng staring back with concern. "I, I'm pretty sure I want to do this," Qiu said.

"Alright. Take this contract home with you. Make sure you go through everything, every detail will be very important to both you and our company down the road. The information on compensation can be found at the beginning. We don't rush anyone into this, so please go home now, and come back when you're completely sure you want this. And, I must ask you again, you're not pregnant, are you? We can't hire pregnant models."

"No, I'm not," said Qiu with a shy smile. "I'll make sure I read it."

"Great. Well I hope to see you again, and if you have any questions we can answer anything you might ask here when you return." said Zheng, standing up.

Qiu mimicked Zheng's action, picked up the booklet, and held it firmly. She shook Zheng's outstretched hand, observed a genial smile, and turned toward the door.

"I'll come back when I've read it, see you then," Qiu said with confidence.

"It was great to see you again, Qiu. Bye now."

Qiu pushed open the door, walked down the hallway, hearing the door shut slowly behind her.

No one seemed to watch her as she walked out the building, and began walking back to her hostel. Along the way, she felt like she had something important. 'I'll read this contract, and maybe sign it. It might be a whole new world.' For those moments walking on the streets of Changsha, Qiu felt more excited than she'd ever been.

Chapter Five

Qiu was lying on her bed in the small room she inhabited, staring at the cover of the contract she was about to read. 'The possibilities, it's so exciting.' During the time before she opened the contract, she let her fantasies play out in the ideas of what could be held inside the red cover that simply bore the word "Contract" in bold black letters.

After a short while longer, Qiu opened the cover, ready to face the reality of what she had in her hands. The first thing she found was the compensation section. It entailed a signing bonus, along with monthly payments. It wasn't an enormous amount of money, but it was considerably more than she made working at the phone shop.

The contract was very specific."The devices the subject will wear will remain on the subject for the duration of the contract. The contract will run for a period of one year (subject to change at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department). Should any increase in time occur, monthly payments will be determined accordingly. All unforeseen medical emergencies will be covered under the health insurance of the company. The well-being of the subject will always be taken into consideration, and should any proper medical care be required, the company will provide the necessary treatments of the highest standards." 'Yeah, seems legit,' thought Qiu.

She saw increasing payments, relating to the increase of items she could wear. There were four levels of "intensity", it read, each level offering a multiple of pay in the signing bonus and monthly payments. Level one was a tongue stud. Level two was a belt, with thigh bands. Level three was a bra, and level four was a collar, along with wrist and ankle bands.

Qiu could hardly breathe, 'These sound so interesting. It's almost like jewelry.'

She read on, finding the beginnings of the agreements and item descriptions. Qiu's mind nearly drifted into a daze reading the words of the contract she held. 'Could this be for real?' she thought. 'These things, I don't know. Could I really wear these devices for such a long time?' She had a growing level of anxiety as she read, but that was tempered with a growing sense of excitement as well.

Qiu read the contract until she fell asleep, her dreams influenced by the strength of her feelings from what she read.

She woke up the next day, and kept reading. 'The details, the descriptions, it's more...it's so much. It's amazing.' Qiu had to remember to eat something, and take a break from reading. After a short breakfast, she continued reading until lunch.

Emotions began to color her judgment. Her head was swimming. She decided. 'I want this. I want it all, this is everything I've ever wanted. I must have this, I must. My life will be amazing doing this. This stuff, these things, they're so different. They make ordinary life seem boring. I'll do it.' She wanted to go through with it.

Qiu saw power in what she read. She saw a declaration to the world that she had made this decision, and nothing could stand in her way. In giving in to this company's plans, 'No matter what it all meant,' she told herself, she felt more in control than she'd ever imagined she could feel. 'And the best part of all this,' Qiu thought, 'it'll be secret. No one will know I'm wearing anything so devious as a chastity belt. I'll be in control of everything, it's perfect,' Qiu said to herself with a smirk.

The idea of the contract, wearing the metal devices fascinated Qiu. She had always felt apart from others, distance separating them and herself. She saw in the contract a way to live fully as herself, to state to the world that this was who she was. In this fantasy of her imagination, Qiu made the most fateful decision she would ever make.

Qiu quickly showered, got dressed, and was out the door to change her life. She had planned to gain something in doing this, something like empowerment, control, self-respect. The truth of what she was about to do would not only change her life, but it would also deprive her of these very things she expected to gain.

Chapter Six

Sitting in front of Zheng in the same place as the day before, Qiu declared her intention.

"I want to do this," she said with confidence.

The first thing Qiu noticed in Zheng's face was happiness, which lessened slightly to become a look of concern. "That's wonderful, we're very happy to offer you this position. Now, you've read the contract?"

"Yep, whole thing," Qiu said. It was mostly true. She had read all the big sections, everything that looked like it would matter.

"What questions do you have for us?"

"Uhhm," Qiu thought about it. "I think I understand everything," she said, her mouth breaking into a smile. "I'm super ready to do this, I want it all."

"All? You're sure you want to sign up for the entirety of what the contract stipulates? It's broken into sections to make it easier, and shorter. To undergo everything...that is no minor commitment, Qiu."

Qiu paused. "I know that. I understand what this will mean, I want to do it." She put a strong look in her eyes. "I need this. It's not just for the money, this is going to give me something I feel I've been lacking. Okay?" Qiu had rationalized that she would trust this company, regardless of what she might have missed or might forget in the contract. This place, these people, and their products she would wear would provide her with a base. A place of trust, of understanding. This is what she thought she needed in life, and Qiu was determined to grab at it.

"Yes, of course," Zheng said, recovering from her concerned feelings. 'This is business, make it happen,' she thought to herself. "We can set up a signing later this evening, it will take place downtown at the government office. I could drive you there if you'd like."

"Sure, that'd be great. I'm staying at a hostel, I'll give you my address," Qiu said, looking for a piece of scrap paper and pen. Zheng dug them out from the clutter of the desk. When Qiu had written the address, Zheng took a look at it, and nodded.

"Alright, I'll come by around six o'clock, can you be outside?"

"Yeah," Qiu said with growing excitement. 'It's happening!' She felt giddy.

"We'll need to get your banking information for the payments when we sign the contract, so have those numbers ready by then." Watching Qiu nod, Zheng smiled and said, "So you're excited?"

"Yeah, I am," Qiu said happily.

"Good," Zheng said. 'You'll need this excitement to carry you through what you will experience, little one.' "I'll be outside your hostel at six."

"Okay, see you then," Qiu said, getting up to leave.

Zheng sat there, staring, her smile a little smaller than usual. Qiu waved, went out the door, and back toward her hostel.

Zheng picked up the phone on her desk and dialed some numbers. 'We finally have a model for this. And right before our funding was about to dry up, too. Qiu will give us the chance to study what we've been wanting to research. Finally.' Zheng sighed, and smiled. 'This Qiu might be in for a surprise.' The line connected and Zheng began making the preparations.

On the way back to the hostel, Qiu felt overjoyed. The colors of the trees looked greener. She could almost see the aromas of the street vendor food in the air. 'This will be the beginning of happiness. The happiness that was taken from me, Jun, the fire, I'll be happy again,' she said to herself.

She decided to stop by a book store to buy some college entrance exam materials, planning on beginning to study for the college entrance exam. Inside, the people seemed happy. They didn't feel any different from before, but Qiu's happiness felt infectious. She couldn't stop smiling, and anyone who saw her couldn't help but to smile in return with an awkward politeness.

After finding the right books, she checked out, and decided to go to an internet cafe for the downtime until six. Hours were spent enjoying the many wonders of cats, checking her email, and playing a few random games. In between videos of cats, Qiu went to her bank website and recorded the routing information, noting the dwindling amount of money she had left.

Around five o'clock, she left the internet cafe, headed toward home, and picked up some street food on the way home. 'Mmmm, delicious,' she thought, smelling the bag as she walked up the stairs to her hostel.

Qiu ate voraciously, savoring the morsels of chicken and vegetables. She washed it all down with water, and then sat on her bed, contemplating what she was about to do. She didn't feel any different. 'Eeeeh! This is so exciting, this is guna be so fun. I can't wait to see how it all feels.' She rubbed her breasts, getting a tingling sense in her groin. Thoughts sprang into her mind of her night with Jun, and shocked her a little. She almost stopped, but closed her eyes and continued to touch herself.

Masturbation was something relatively new to Qiu, as she had only recently learned first hand what sex is like. Before she met Jun that night, she had touched herself only a few times, finding internet sites that depicted men and women doing things that Qiu had never seen before. 'At least Jun used a condom, I can remember that much,' she thought, trying to lift her spirits.

Breaking herself out of her fantasy, she checked her phone, and saw she had to be downstairs soon. She collected her purse, pulled her long, black hair into a ponytail, made sure she had her room key, and went out the door.

She saw a car sitting outside the hostel as she exited the building, and the passenger window rolled down to reveal Zheng sitting in the driver's seat. Qiu smiled, walked over to the car, and got in.

"You ready?" Zheng asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Qiu said, smiling. "I've been ready for a while now."

Chapter Seven

The government building was rather plain on the outside, but inside there were plenty of decorations. Flags, plaques, portraits of the great men that built their country were all around the halls.