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Yang Ming was wondering why these people were afraid of him until he heard Bao Sanli’s voice behind him. “What is going on? Who the f*** dares to bully our people?”
Yang Ming turned and saw Bao Sanli’s wicked look and then he realized that those punks were afraid of Bao Sanli not him! Yang Ming found out yesterday that Bao Sanli was the boss in the detention house.
“It’s ok, Brother Bao. Those punks were bullying this old man, so I taught them a lesson!” Yang Ming talked as he sat down with Bao Sanli. The old man sat beside them.
Bao Sanli scolded, “Don’t bother about them. They probably just came in, such greenhorns!”
After the meal, the old man came to Yang Ming while he was putting away his dishes. The old man said smiling, “Thank you, young man!”
“You’re welcome. I can’t understand those who bully old people.” Yang Ming shook his head like it was a small matter. However, he got these miraculous contact lenses because of his respectful attitude. “Oh yeah, old man, for what reason were you were brought here? I heard that you’ve already been here for almost eight years?”
The old man seemed sad after he heard that. He shook his head and didn’t say anything in the end.
Yang Ming was curious about it so he asked Bao Sanli to introduce him to another old man in detention, Dong Jun. Dong Jun was a thief, but he was a thief with a god-like ability who normally wouldn’t get caught. However, he was also a person who had a big heart and cared a lot about other people, especially the poor. Thus, the police could easily trace him as long as there were cases related to the poor. If he lived in ancient times, this man could be considered a grand thief [1].
After Bao Sanli introduced him, Yang Ming felt good about Dong Jun. Dong Jun was twenty-two years old. He studied under his master since he was eight years old. Once he graduated at the age of fifteen, he became a regular visitor to the police station and detention center.
Therefore, he naturally knew about a lot in the detention center. Even the officers weren’t better than he.
Dong Jun was intrigued that Yang Ming was interested in his stories. In his opinion, the people who came into the detention center were busy with their own businesses. They didn’t have time to bother with others.
Yang Ming spoke honestly, “I pity this old man. He has to stay in the detention center even though he is old.”
“Oh, is that it? Then I’ll tell you! There is nothing to do anyway!” After Dong Jun heard Yang Ming’s reply, he smiled. “That old man is called Fang Tian. He once was the number one person in Song Jiang City! When old Fang was young, he worked at a construction site. His wife died of tuberculosis because he didn’t have the money to treat her. Fang Tian was in grief and he swore that he would become a rich man. He got famous and went from being a mason to the leader of a contractor team. After he got some money, he had a few big projects. He really loved his wife so he didn’t find another one. When he turned fifty, he met a woman who was younger than him by twenty-five years. This beautiful woman was his secretary. Their love developed through time so they were together at the end. He still had hard feelings regarding his previous wife so he treated his current wife especially well. Basically, he gave her whatever she wanted! Then at a cocktail party, the gang’s boss, Hu San, took a fancy to Fang Tian’s wife. But Fang Tian wasn’t a vegetarian [2] either, so they started clashing openly and secretly! Later on, Hu San recruited a vice director of the detention center who was also the previous vice director of our current detention center. They caught Fang Tian into the detention center with illegal procedures. It was all forged by the vice director. So, Fang Tian was unknowingly set up by Hu San.
Yang Ming asked, “What happened to Fang Tian’s wife after that?”
Dong Jun said disdainfully, “Heh, the woman got together with Hu San since she heard Fang Tian got caught. Not only that, she helped with Hu San’s dirty business and became a tool to cultivate popularity!”
Yang Ming tried to recall but he couldn’t remember if there was a Hu San in Song Jiang City. “So where is Hu San now?”
Dong Jun said, “He’s dead. He got shot together with the woman!”
Yang Ming was puzzled. “Since he is dead, Fang Tian should be fine, right?
“Yes, that’s right, but the vice director and the associated staff were caught for shielding Hu San. For them, Fang Tian was just a little incident and they long forgot about him! So the vice director didn’t remember Fang Tian nor that such a person existed! Although Fang Tian’s detention procedures were forged, the details were real. Thus, the new director naturally didn’t notice the problems with them. That’s how he was being kept here until now.” Dong Jun shook his head. “Besides, Fang Tian was crazy since the time he got in. He didn’t want to speak up for himself so what else can we do?”
Another person framed because of a woman. Damn it. Just like me! Yang Ming couldn’t help but be indignant when he thought of this!
As for Dong Jun, he unexpectedly smirked as he watched Yang Ming leave.
Night time was the open activities period where all the prisoners can watch TV in the detention hall. Besides the normal news on TV, of course, there were some patriotism education videos. This was attractive for the prisoners that didn’t have any other entertainment.
Yang Ming followed Bao Sanli’s gang to the detention hall. Even before they reached the hall, they already heard the hustle and bustle of shouts.
“Son of a bi***, don’t you know this is my, Brother De’s, seat?
“F*** you, Brother De. Who knows about you?”
“F***, This kid is really good at talking. Brothers, let’s loosen his bones and let him enjoy it!”
“No problem, Brother De! You just have to watch! Hehe, kid, our loosening bone technique is the same as a normal massage. If we break your bones, don’t blame us! We have warned you beforehand!” However, for them, it made no difference between saying and not saying anything.
Bao Sanli heard the argument and immediately he said to Yang Ming, “Not good. It’s Yu Lei!”
Yang Ming knew gang fights were normal in the detention center, but he didn’t expect it on the first day. When he thought of Bao Sanli’s attitude when they first met, he was relieved. The prisoners all thought they were superior here. It was normal to have arguments.
Yang Ming, Bao Sanli, and Qi Wenrui pushed through the crowd and came to the center of detention hall. Yang Ming saw five physically strong men punching a man. He must be the Yu Lei that Bao Sanli spoke of.
Although Yu Lei was fighting back, it was impossible to fight against five people! It wasn’t even fighting back but more like defending himself.
“How dare you touch my brother!” Bao Sanli saw that Yu Lei was getting beat up, so he couldn’t hold himself back and directly rushed into the fight. Qi Wenrui saw that Bao Sanli was up for the fight so he naturally followed him.
However, these five people were incomparable to the Health Bureau people. These five people were similar to Bao Sanli; they were veterans in fighting. The situation became better after Bao Sanli and Qi Wenrui got in, but it was still one-sided.
Yang Ming shook his head; he knew that he must help them! The prisoners here were usually in groups, and Bao Sanli was the only friend he knew. Although Bao Sanli and he are like brothers, if he didn’t help this time, after the incident, Bao Sanli might hold a grudge against him! Besides, if he had to stay there for a long time and chose the wrong organization, he might not have any more peaceful days!
While he contemplated, Yang Ming walked toward a man who planned to backstab Bao Sanli immediately. Yang Ming grabbed the man’s collar and kicked his back. The back is one of the weak spots in the human body. The person fell to the floor and couldn’t get up after the strike. He probably would have to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair!
They were cruel. Yang Ming was even crueler than them! During the days when Su Ya had left him and he became desperate, Yang Ming numbed himself by being mad. The punks literally called Yang Ming as ‘Mad Yang’ in private.
When Yang Ming fought outside, he would be more conservative because he worried about injuring people too much. However, Yang Ming was more relaxed in the detention center. Yang Ming thought his behavior was reasonable because he was bewitched by those Hong Kong dramas and thought that fights between prisoners were always deadly. Actually, if you kill a person in the detention hall, you still have the legal liability. It wasn’t an easy task to judge the responsible person in a gang fight.
Therefore, Yang Ming was deadly with the first strike and the man was lying on the floor before he could react. The pain on his backbone was so intense that he couldn’t even get up.
Chapter Notes:
[1] An ancient grand thief in the Chinese context is like our Robin Hood in the Western context.
[2] Vegetarian here is used to associate with a monk who is usually known to be kind, forgiving, generous and does not retaliate.