Ticking Time Bomb

These country girls have eyes like hunters, says the cab driver, turning into an unlit lane of liquidambar trees in Kunming's Golden Star neighborhood. "They can easily spot the men wanting sex." The taxi pulls over, and a young woman sashays out from behind the trees. She's wearing a cherry-colored blouse, tight white slacks and a cloud of cloying perfume. Her name is Little Jade, and she behaves less like a predator than prey, glancing nervously up and down the lane for cops — and, with equal apprehension, at the taxi's passengers.

Finally, Little Jade slings herself into...

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