Yue Linze stared at the water cup in silence, thinking about how he had just provoked the young prison guard with this face. For the first time, he felt that the prison guard’s look of disgust might be genuine.
Slap!
He expressionlessly placed the cup on the ground and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes. Just before falling asleep, he suddenly remembered that when he fell into the pit with the young prison guard earlier, his face looked almost the same as it did now.
Yue Linze’s mouth twitched, understanding for the first time what it meant to be utterly embarrassed.
In the cafeteria, Tao Yu stood quietly leaning against a pillar, watching the prisoners in her area eat.
The prisoners were clearly divided into two groups, with a tense atmosphere that made her momentarily think they were about to fight.
Compared to her area, Lao Chang’s side was much more relaxed. Prisoners ate when it was time to eat, drank porridge when it was time to drink, and after finishing, they would stand up and wait. Soon, a group of people finished eating, lined up obediently next to the table, waiting for Lao Chang to take them back to their cells.
“I’ll go ahead. Call me if there’s anything. I’ll take them back to the office after sending them off, and we have a meeting today,” Lao Chang said, then left with the prisoners.
Tao Yu enviously glanced at his prisoners, and after he left, continued to watch her own unruly group. As soon as Lao Chang left, she felt the atmosphere change.
If earlier it was just tense, now the two sides were about to draw their swords.
She took a step back inconspicuously, her hand quietly resting on her baton.
Li Xun caught her subtle movement from the corner of his eye and said disdainfully, “What, officer? You’re going to get involved?”
“You’re bullying us, taking advantage of our boss’s absence to try to lay hands on us. Of course, we officers have to intervene!” The fat prisoner, feeling confident Tao Yu was on his side, looked quite pleased. Without considering Tao Yu’s small frame, he was already thinking about boasting about this for half a year.
“Who’s on your side? Have you forgotten who hit your face?” Tao Yu rolled her eyes at the fat prisoner. “And, that phrase isn’t used in this context.”
“The officer is right!” The fat prisoner said, raising his eyebrows at Li Xun, clearly missing Tao Yu’s main point.
Li Xun, who couldn’t stand provocation, had just felt somewhat balanced after hearing the fat prisoner’s injury was from Tao Yu, but seeing the fat prisoner’s arrogant attitude, his face immediately darkened. “What are you showing off about? Didn’t you hear he’s not on your side?!”
“Mind your own business! I’ll show off however I want!” The fat prisoner was unrelenting.
After exchanging childish insults like elementary school students, people behind them pulled out weapons – pots, bowls, ladles, and wooden sticks. Tao Yu raised an eyebrow, wondering where they had pulled these from.
The atmosphere was about to explode. Tao Yu yawned, “Could you hurry up? Didn’t you hear Lao Chang say to call me? I’m new, and if I’m late, he might give me a hard time.”
Her casual remark slightly dampened the youthful, passionate fighting atmosphere. Li Xun and the fat prisoner looked at her dissatisfied, then exchanged a glance, silently deciding to curse a bit more.
They were used to fighting, and pre-fight verbal provocation to boost morale was essential – life needed a bit of ritual.
“Oh, by the way, this is the cafeteria. You’ll definitely mess it up after fighting. Please clean up, or I’ll definitely get scolded tomorrow,” Tao Yu smiled.
The atmosphere completely dissipated. Li Xun threw down the large ladle, glaring, “Are you done? Why do you always get scolded? You’re really embarrassing our Fifth District!”
“And our Sixth District!” The fat prisoner retorted.
Tao Yu found it amusing. “I remember I’m in charge of the Fourth District.”
“Who wants to be in the same district? I’m from the Sixth District, six six big success!” The fat prisoner looked slightly proud.
Li Xun rolled his eyes, “I’m from the Fifth District, which ranks higher than some people!”
… Fine, they’d effectively dismantled the Fourth District and created their own Fifth and Sixth Districts. Tao Yu curved her lips, glancing at the wall clock, “Five more minutes, please hurry.”
The rest of the passage continues in this engaging and humorous style, depicting the complex interactions between the prison guard and prisoners.
Tao Yu exhaled silently, and after sending them away, she hurriedly went to the office. When passing the cafeteria again, she paused briefly, turned into it for a moment, and then quickly came out.
When she arrived, everyone was already in the room. She thought she would be scolded, but to her surprise, Lao Chang saw her and was instead astonished, “Why are you back so early?”
“…Are you being sarcastic?” Tao Yu was somewhat speechless, noticing two more people in the office.
“I thought Li Xun and the others were going to fight. Turns out they didn’t?” Lao Chang laughed, then introduced the two present, “These two are prison guards responsible for areas one and two. You can call them Wang Ge and Liu Ge. Now that you’re here, we’re all assembled. Let’s have the meeting.”
Because of this island prison’s unique freedom, there were only a few prison guards on the island, with the rest composed of external personnel. The prison was roughly divided into four areas, each with a person in charge.
Apart from Tao Yu, these three were the heads of areas one, two, and three.
After greeting the two and sitting down, Tao Yu suddenly realized something: Lao Chang knew those people were going to fight, and as her guiding mentor, he had run off alone. How did this sound not quite right?
However, she hadn’t reacted earlier, and bringing it up now would seem petty. Being a newcomer, she could only swallow her frustration.
Lao Chang’s eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at Tao Yu, then smiled and said, “I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which do you want to hear first?”
“Lao Chang, just say what you need to say. Stop beating around the bush. I’m waiting to go back and sleep,” slightly chubby Lao Liu yawned.
“Then I’ll start with a bad news that’ll keep you awake,” Lao Chang, very tolerant with his old colleagues, went straight to the point. “The higher-ups are sending an inspection team.”
Before he finished speaking, Lao Wang was stunned, and Lao Liu’s half-yawn stopped midway.
Tao Yu blinked, thinking this timing was quite coincidental. Was heaven helping her clear things up with Yue Linze?
Lao Liu, still with tears in his eyes, couldn’t be bothered to wipe them and exclaimed in shock, “Where did you get this information? When are they coming? After so many years of no one remembering us, why suddenly an inspection team?”
“Which of these many questions should Lao Chang answer first?” Lao Wang glared at him and immediately asked, “Is the information accurate?”
Lao Chang chuckled, “The document has already come down from above. What do you think?”
Lao Wang sighed in relief, “As long as it’s not a covert inspection.”
“Um…” Tao Yu, feeling quite insignificant among these people, couldn’t help but raise her hand and ask, “Why are you all so panicked about the inspection team?”
“You’ll understand when they arrive,” Lao Liu, currently irritated, coldly sneered.
Tao Yu’s mouth twitched, thinking she was clearly a nobody here and should stop talking.
Lao Wang, with remarkable patience, explained to Tao Yu, “We’ve been relying on donations from various circles for years. The higher-ups have never allocated funds here or managed this place. This time, who knows what’s gotten into them to suddenly want to inspect. Given the state of our prisoners, do you think we’ll fare well if they really inspect?”
