The Story of Qiu Lian Pt. 01

"Ms. Yuan, right this way," a voice said from nearby the front desk. Qiu saw a middle aged man with big rimmed glasses, smiling and gesturing with both arms which direction to go towards.

"Mr. Hong, I trust the preparations have been completed?" said Zheng.

"Yes, Ms. Yuan. Everything is ready," he turned his attention toward Qiu. "Is this is the signatory? "That's right, this is Qiu," she said. Zheng turned to address Qiu. "Qiu, this is Mr. Hong, he will be one of the lawyers to witness and document the contract."

"Nice to meet you," Qiu said, outstretching her hand.

Mr. Hong grasped it, and said, "And very nice to meet you, young lady. Now, if both of you wouldn't mind following me to the ceremonial signing room, we have the documents ready."

Zheng and Qiu followed Mr. Hong down one of the main hallways of the government office building. Qiu looked up at Zheng, who still wore those high-heels, and felt small beside her. Zheng was looking ahead unwaveringly. Qiu swallowed and kept pace.

Mr. Hong approached a large double doorway, turning to pause before opening one of the doors.

"Here we are," he said, holding the door and ushering them in.

Upon walking into the room, Qiu's stomach lurched. The walls were draped with red velvet curtains, the national flag hanging wide in the top center of the main wall. There must have been a dozen people, standing around a display table in a semi-circle, who all turned when the two women walked inside. They wore black suits, the crowd being mostly men. Walking toward the people, who were all smiling with a welcoming aura, Qiu saw a camera aimed at the table, a portrait of Chairman Mao beneath the flag, looking on impassively as always.

Qiu turned to Zheng, "Are these people all-?"

Zheng cut her off, "Yes, they're affiliated with the company. Some represent the investors, others the science crowd. They all know what you're signing today." Zheng smiled, and walked to greet the awaiting crowd.

Qiu saw in Zheng something she had not noticed before. 'Malice? No, Zheng wouldn't have bad thoughts toward me, she's supposed to be helping me. But what was that expression?' Qiu would ponder this question for many years after that day.

As Qiu neared the group of people, Mr. Hong hurriedly passed her to meet one of the men standing there. There was a great deal of handshaking, and Qiu felt somewhat excluded. After a few minutes of niceties, Zheng motioned Qiu over to the crowd. Qiu blushed upon being introduced, and was offered a great deal of hands to shake.

The men and women of the group circled her, saying things to each other that Qiu couldn't quite make out over the collective garbling. They were all smiling, nodding their heads, and Qiu noticed a couple of times people would point at her, and turn to another person with a hushed voice. It felt a little uncomfortable, but before it went on, Zheng pulled Qiu out of the circle, and walked her to the table.

She put a pen in Qiu's hand and slid the documents toward her. Someone was fiddling with the camera, focusing on Qiu and the table. It felt a little unreal to Qiu, but she forced herself to remember her excitement. 'This is what I want,' she kept telling herself.

"Now Qiu, what you have before you is the same exact contract you took with you and read," said Zheng. "Mr. Hong will guide you through the rest of the process." Zheng stepped back, and motioned to the cameraman to begin filming.

"Thank you Ms. Yuan. Now Qiu, we've got a number of places for you to mark your signature. Before we begin, I must ask for the record if you are in full mental capacity in this moment."

"Uh-yes, I'm aware of what I'm doing," Qiu replied.

"Excellent. Now you have read and fully understand this contract in front of you?"

Qiu looked to Zheng, who only gave a small nod of encouragement with a smile. "Yes, I've read it."

"And you are fully prepared to be bound to this contract, with heavy legal ramifications should you withdraw from this agreement you sign today?"

"Yes, I'll be with it till the end, the end of the contract." She thought back to her rationalization for saying those words. 'One year does sound long, but I can make it. It will be an adventure, an exciting change for some time. It'll be fun, I know it will be.'

"Very good. Now will you read the following page carefully, and when you are ready, sign at the line at the bottom and add the date?" He slid a full page of text in front of her.

"This is the contract?" she asked.

"It concludes the first portion. It holds the information for the first stage of the contract," Mr. Hong replied.

Qiu remembered the portions, knew the general details of each, but above all felt she wanted it. Wanted everything. She read the page, a warm feeling stirring inside her as she did so. Finally, she reached the end. "What's the date?" she absentmindedly questioned anyone who heard her.

Mr. Hong looked at his watch, and told her the date. Without hesitating Qiu signed on the line and dated it. Mr. Hong pulled the page away from her slowly, and just as slowly slid another one just like it in front of her.

"Here is the second portion of the contract, please read each line carefully, and when you are ready, sign at the line at the bottom and add the date."

This process was repeated another four times, Qiu carefully read through, and signed and dated at the end. For the last two pages, she scanned them, noting the same structure, same concepts, a few different words, but nothing that blared out at her. A section titled "Function of Cathodic Devices," caught her eye, but didn't think much of it. She scanned the section, found some familiar words like batteries, voltage, and computer. 'Must be part of the way they study the devices,' Qiu thought. She continued on to other sections, quickly forgetting about the various big words that held no meaning to her.

After getting to the end, she signed the line, dated, and looked up at the crowd around her before starting on the last page. Everyone had eyes locked not on her, but on the pen in her hand. They were quiet, standing stiffly, almost as if they were holding their breaths. She saw Zheng's face, just as straight as the others.

"Here is the final page, please read it carefully, and when you are ready, sign and date at the bottom," Mr. Hong droned on.

Qiu began reading the page, and saw this one was different. It was in a different structure than the others. Rather than listing very detailed descriptions of what she would agree to wear, this one focused on the mental health of the signatory. She found stipulations that she hadn't seen in the contract when she read it back at the hostel. "If the signatory of this contract is declared unable to function independently by a mental health doctor during the time the contract is in force, the company will provide living arrangements at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department." 'That's weird,' thought Qiu. 'Like, if I go crazy or something? That doesn't make sense.'

"Mr. Hong, this sentence here, about living arrangements, what does it mean?" Qiu asked.

Mr. Hong bent down toward the paper. "It means exactly as it reads, it is all very plain wording," he said.

"Is it ever used?" Qiu asked.

"I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

"Like, has that actually happened to anyone else while they were in the contract?"

"No, it has not happened before," he said. Qiu felt reassured.

She kept reading, blocking the feelings of the people around her out, and read the rest of the page. There were more guidelines that focused on signatory, which would be her, should this or that happen. Some of the clauses were things like suicidal tendencies, losing ability to function, and so on. It all seemed very improbable. She felt depressed after that night with Jun, and losing her parents, more depressed than she'd ever felt before. While she could not push those memories out her mind, she had no intention of killing herself. 'I'm strong,' she thought to herself. 'I can handle anything that's thrown my way.' She continued reading.

Another part of that page was centered on the business aspect of the endeavor. 'If more investors come forward or offer their support, additional instruments may be developed and implemented for study at the discretion of the Head of the Testing Department, yaddha yaddha.' She felt confident in her trust of the company, confident in her trust of Zheng that she wouldn't be going into something she couldn't handle. 'Zheng will watch out for me,' she told herself, 'I'm sure of that.'

Qiu read about the legal ramifications should she attempt to withdraw from the contract. "This contract is legally binding, and should any party not fulfill their obligations listed in the contract, lawsuits may and will be brought up onto the party that fails to meet their responsibilities." 'Hm, intense, thought Qiu as she read on. 'Wow, people could go to prison for not sticking with the contract. Pretty serious stuff. It won't be a problem on my part at least, this is what I want.' Qiu nodded to herself, feeling sure in that judgment.

She skipped around a little, catching the major parts, noting minute details that she didn't expect would matter. "She read the final sentence, "All clauses from page one of the contract to this sentence are final and unable to be retracted." 'Yep, I understand that.' Qiu signed on the line, dated it, and applause broke out among her crowd. She looked up, smiling, not understanding what was so amazing.

'I might be the only one here signing this stuff, but this feels legitimate. These people couldn't be bad or anything.' She turned her gaze to the camera, which was being put away by someone. Above the camera hung Chairman Mao, looking on, a symbol of goodness and trust, in her eyes. 'Hell, we're here in a government building, the government wouldn't allow some shady company to function in its facilities.'

She heard bottles of wine being opened, Zheng was laughing with some of the men, drinks were being poured. Someone patted her on the back, and she looked back, her face full of joy.

Mr. Hong approached her with another paper, speaking in a quieter voice. "This is the bank paperwork, do you have your account information?"

"Yes, I do," said Qiu, reaching down into her purse. She pulled out the paper with the numbers and took the pen Mr. Hong was offering. She recognized the page as the ordinary direct deposit slip that was used by many companies, the same one she had used for her phone store job. She filled in her information, carefully double-checking it was all accurate, and handed it back to Mr. Hong. He accepted it with a smile, and went back to collecting the various documents on the table.

'I did it,' thought Qiu. 'I'm in. Now it's for real.' She stood there smiling, watching everyone around her celebrating. 'Sure is strange, but I guess I should enjoy the attention.'

As Qiu stood there, beaming that everyone seemed so happy with her, she did not notice Zheng moving around the room, speaking directly with each person.

"So, we have your continued support?" Zheng asked a tall man in a suit. The man turned to look at Qiu, and smiled with a glean in his eyes. "Yes," he said. "You have my support, and more, for this one. I'm prepared to double my investment for this project."

"Marvelous, we do appreciate your investments, and I will personally guarantee results we are looking for," said Zheng with a humble tone. The man smirked, and drank down his drink.

Zheng repeated this process with each investor in the room, garnering as much support and funding as she could. 'Qiu sure is popular, this is going to be one helluva testing period,' she thought to herself. 'We might even be able to go all the way with this one, but that will come for the future.'

After some time of watching all the talking and sipping some of the wine, Qiu was approached by Zheng, who had the biggest smile she'd seen yet on her face.

"Let's go Qiu, we're done here," said Zheng. She took Qiu by the arm and led her out of the room, smiling all the way. Qiu felt like a movie star with an escort, the way the people reacted to her exit. 'So strange,' thought Qiu. 'One moment they're stone cold silent, the next they're drinking and laughing.' The significance of the people who acted as witnesses to her contract signing was lost on her.

In Zheng's car on the way home, Qiu felt ecstatic. "So, when do I start?" she asked.

"In about four days, the equipment will be ready. You'll come to the office to have the first stage installed." Zheng replied.

'Installed.' Qiu played with the word in her mind. She was still in the process of digesting the scope of what she was going to go through with, but was excited nonetheless. "In the contract it said there'd be monthly meetings, is that when the pictures are taken?"

"The pictures?" questioned Zheng.

"Like, the modeling. The contract stated monthly 'inspections'. That's when pictures are taken of me wearing the parts?"

"Yes, pictures will be taken each inspection meeting, as well as the survey you answer about a variety of personal topics. You know all this though, why are you asking?"

"Right, just making sure," said Qiu. She looked ahead, watching the rain patter on the windshield. 'I can't wait. Four days. I guess I'll start studying for the college entrance exam in the meantime.'

Driving through the slow traffic back toward Qiu's hostel, Zheng thought about what Qiu had asked. 'Did she really read the whole contract? She should know the plans from here on out.' With a half smirk, she thought, 'Well, she'll be in for a few surprises, but it doesn't matter anymore. The contract's been signed. When Qiu comes into the office next, she'll begin her new life. She'd better be prepared. I plan on getting the most out of this one.'

The traffic light turned green, and the cars began to move slowly.

"When do I start getting paid?" Qiu asked.

"You'll receive the compensation along with the signing bonus on the day you begin to model. So, around four to five business days from now." Zheng said.

Qiu nodded, staring straight ahead, thinking about what to buy first. They arrived at the hostel a short time later, and after a quick goodbye, Zheng was on her way.

Chapter Eight

Qiu spent the next four days preparing a list of items she intended to buy, and daydreaming about her new lifestyle that was about to begin. She'd never had as much money as she would be getting from the job, so Qiu spent some time coming up with a list. She quickly filled pages of ideas for presents to herself and foods she'd buy.

She decided to walk down to the internet cafe, and got some food on the way. Upon logging into her email and bank account, she saw the low funds she had. 'Gotta make it stretch, just a few more days," she told herself.

Four days passed, in which Qiu sat at the internet cafe, bought cheap meals, read some of her college entrance exam prep books, and slept. She took some walks in public parks, a big smile on her face the whole time, enjoying the simple pleasure of people-watching. Finally, the day her equipment was ready had come.

Qiu woke up at ten o'clock, and could hardly contain her excitement. 'It's today, it's really happening,' she thought. After a quick shower, getting dressed in her usual jeans and a dark purple t-shirt, she gathered her purse and walked downstairs to the street.

After a short walk, at a pace that was almost jogging, she arrived at the building. She looked up at it, and took a big breath in. Smiling, she walked into through the door. The attendant waved at her with a smile, nodding as she returned the gesture. In the elevator, up six floors, through the initial hallway, and to the door that held held a treasure within, Qiu believed. 'It might be different, even a little bit scary, but I'm ready. I want this to happen,' she said to herself. A thought of her parents, her old home, leaped into her mind. Suppressing it with a small grimace, she pulled the handle, and stepped inside.

Zheng was leaning over the front desk, talking to the attendant. She turned her heard and stood up to greet Qiu with a smile.

"There she is, you all set to do this?" Zheng said.

"Yes, I'm ready," Qiu replied.

"Perfect. Follow me." Zheng walked to the same door Qiu had been through many times before. Qiu followed, taking steady breaths.

Zheng walked at a brisk pace down the corridor, with Qiu in tow. Past her office, past the room in which Qiu had been so thoroughly measured, and past many more similarly colored doors. They made a left turn at the end of the hallway, continued down the corridor, and finally came to a big door that looked like it came from a hospital. Zheng turned to Qiu with a look of excitement, and pushed open the door. Qiu walked in, Zheng following right behind her.

"This is device application room, as we call it. In here we prepare the devices that are awaiting installment, and through that door over there," Zheng pointed, "is where the operations and installation takes place."

Qiu looked around. It was the cleanest room she had ever been in. 'Feels just like an emergency room or something. One of those clean rooms from movies,' she thought.

"Over here," Zheng said, walking to a table at the far end of the room, "are the devices that will be installed on you today. You may look at them if you'd like. You'll soon know all about them and what they're capable of doing."

Qiu walked to the large stainless steel table, and her mouth fell open. 'This, this is beautiful,' she couldn't help thinking. She saw the chastity bra, the chastity belt, the thigh bands, the collar, the wrist and ankle cuffs, and in a small container saw what would be the tongue stud. Each object was a very polished, machined piece of titanium alloy that looked nearly like stainless steel. Qiu had never seen such flawless metal before, and became short of breath as she reached out to touch the nearest item.

The bra looked about like a sports bra, only all metal. It consisted of two small breast cups that were rounded perfectly smooth on the outside. The semi-circles stuck straight out from the flat metal that would cover her chest, and were only eight centimeters in both height and diameter.

It had a flattened chest area that would cover Qiu's chest from below her breasts, up to her collarbone. The length of the bra looked like it would encompass her whole front torso. There were four bands of the same material that, two running up over where the shoulders would be, and two running from the ends of the sides of the bra. There was a soft, black material on the inside of the bands. Qiu ran her finger over the inner bands, still in awe, noting the sensation felt like leather. The bands weren't closed together, but hanging rigidly with a small amount of flexibility. The bands were four centimeters in width, and about one centimeter in height. On the ends of the bands there were what looked like connection points, which would fit into mating slots. The horizontal bands had similar but opposite looking connecting points, and the upper shoulder bands appeared to fit into the top sides of the lower bands, a short distance in either direction from the center of Qiu's back.

Zheng watched on attentively. She checked her watch, wondering if the physicians would be late. Qiu continued to examine the bra, holding the two top bands and picking it up. It was lighter than she had expected. She looked at the inside of the chest plate, and gasped. In between the small breast cups on the inside of the bra, Qiu saw what looked like a great deal of sensors. 'Heart monitors?' Qiu thought to herself. She also saw an assortment of round nobs in a circular pattern on the insides of the breast cups. They were not more than a quarter of a centimeter tall, equally wide in diameter, all sticking out of the inside of the cups toward the center of the flesh that would be encased within. They were rounded off at the ends, forming miniature domes. At the very tip of the bra cup, Qiu saw what looked like dozens of these rounds nobs, all centered on where the nipple would be. 'There must be fifty to sixty of the round nobs in each breast cup,' thought Qiu. 'What are they for?'