Tian Xingjian walked out of the processing plant reluctantly. In prison, they first strip you of the rights you ought to have and then give them back as rewards. This is the tradition here. Both the guards and the prison bullies do this. Things that originally belong to you, like a bed near the cell door, a dinner, a piece of meat or a cigarette, can be taken away for no reason. If you behave well or if they are feeling unusually kind, you might get a bit of food or a puff of smoke. These things, which are worthless in the Free World, become luxuries, temptations, and tools in prison.
Seeing Davis earlier, raising the workbench for the new prisoners to a normal height, seemed like he had done a great deed. Fatty was almost tearfully grateful before stopping Davis’s incessant self-congratulation.
As he walked out of the factory gate, he saw the yard was already filled with prisoners sunbathing, chatting, or playing basketball. Tou’er was leaning against the outer wall, hands in his pockets, idly peering into the plant. When he saw Fatty come out, he was delighted and quickly came up to pull him over, saying, "How’s it going, any trouble?"
Fatty shook his head and pouted, "No trouble. I helped Davis out a bit, and my reward was getting my workbench raised to the normal position. This world is too dark." Looking righteous and indignant.
Tou’er was stunned, "It’s your first day at work, and he raised your bench to the normal height? How big a favor did you do him?"
Fatty, puzzled, said, "From how you’re talking, it’s like I came out way ahead. I helped him solve a Mecha malfunction. Outside, that would at least fetch a thousand in reward."
Tou’er sighed enviously, "If you could spend a thousand to buy a year’s worth of no-bending six-hour workdays, wouldn’t you think it’s worth it?"
"A year?" Fatty was startled, shivering all over. One day was already exhausting enough. If it were every day like that, he would rather be a shrimp.
Tou’er nodded, "Yeah, not counting overtime."
Fatty stood there hesitantly for a while before suddenly getting happy, a smug satisfaction on his face, feeling superior as he sighed, "Ah, you guys sure have it rough. Days like that aren’t for people. This world, this life is really tough, so bittersweet... I must be lucky, right? Haha."
Tou’er sped up; he really didn’t want to see that gleeful face on Fatty anymore. From the bottom of his heart, he felt that if anyone needed to play a villain, Fatty was perfect — an absolute natural!
They walked along the fence to the other end of the yard, where there was a row of benches full of prisoners sunbathing. Among them was Andre. At that moment, he didn’t look like a prison bully, just like an ordinary prisoner chatting away. Only those occasionally coming over, queueing to shake his hand and kiss him, showed his superior status.
Seeing Tian Xingjian and Tou’er approaching, Andre smiled and stood up, while the big guys around him moved in front of him, glaring at Fatty. Yesterday’s events hadn’t fully involved Andre’s men; most who troubled Fatty were prisoners from D block. Today, those standing before Fatty hadn’t seen the scene personally, nor felt the direct impact of it. Therefore, seeing this scrawny Fatty, their first reaction was hostility. With their numbers in the prison, they could nearly bully any prisoner without backing, and Fatty looked like easy prey, someone anyone would want to bully.
Andre waved his hand, signaling the big guys to back off. These men didn’t know the terror of Fatty, but Andre knew very well. What was embarrassing was that last night he had nightmares. The image of Fatty going wild kept hovering in his mind; he crashed through the crowd right and left, his bloodied face eventually turned into that of a roaring tiger with a bloodthirsty maw. And everyone around was his prey, swallowed and bitten alive without resistance.
Looking at Fatty’s timid demeanor before him, Andre laughed silently. This guy, as long as he wasn’t sleepwalking, posed no threat. If he wanted to handle Fatty, just a word now and his men would surround Fatty, block the guards’ sight, and when the crowd dispersed, Fatty would be lying in a pool of blood. Google seaʀᴄh ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet
"However..." Andre turned his gaze to the other end of the yard. Tall Gino and his top enforcer Ghost were playing basketball. Their team was charging aggressively; the opponent had almost no chance. As if sensing Andre’s gaze, Gino stopped and met Andre’s eyes. After a few seconds, they both gave each other a fake smile and turned away.
"This Fatty might be my secret weapon against Gino." Andre walked up warmly, first shaking hands and kissing Tou’er’s cheek lightly, saying, "Well done."
Patting the stunned Tou’er’s shoulder, Andre turned to Fatty, remaining silent for a while before finally smiling. His face was like a spring breeze, but his low words were icy like a viper, "Fatty, believe me, if I wanted, you’d be a corpse in five seconds!"
Fatty’s smile froze instantly, looking worse than crying.
Then, that wretched man actually shook his head under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Going crazy, everyone standing beside went crazy, and Andre couldn’t believe his own eyes, he felt as if someone had slapped him hard across the face. It wasn’t until Andre’s expression changed that Fatty hurriedly nodded. That face squeezed out an ugly, sycophantic smile, extremely lewd.
Andre steadied himself, suppressing the rage in his heart. Seems Fatty was scared silly, didn’t even know to nod or shake his head. However, with his disruption, the momentum Andre had been building for a long time instantly turned into an absurdity. This feeling of punching cotton in front of Fatty was the second time already.
The last time, before Andre could even make a move, Fatty had already rolled on the ground by himself. Such a shameless, lewd idiot, truly couldn’t use normal human reasoning to speak with him.
Fatty looked at Andre’s somewhat livid face, secretly chuckling in his heart. With these people in front of him, as long as he started running, they wouldn’t catch him even with five thousand seconds, let alone five seconds. If he were to make a move... He faintly glanced at a sharp small guy standing five steps behind Andre’s side, this person’s waist had a weapon, probably no longer than twenty centimeters, a bayonet. As long as he dealt with this person and the two big men beside him watching his hands and feet, the rest of the guys glaring at him with fierce eyes were all rookies. Judging by their necks, they wouldn’t endure even one hand chop from him. If there were no interventions from the guards, the battle could be resolved within fifteen minutes.
Colin’s back was drenched in cold sweat, he sharply caught Fatty’s glance towards him. As a former Army Special Soldier, no one understood such a glance better than he did. Unconsciously, he touched a scar under his right rib, in that battle, the enemy he faced had the same glance, he almost escaped that reverse bayonet strike in the embrace of Lady Luck.
These were his secrets. And the Fatty in front of him, who seemingly looked extremely foolish, seemed to see through him completely. He wasn’t looking at anyone else, just at him, more precisely, at his waist. That self-made three-edged bayonet felt like a burning coal against his waist, uncomfortable. That glance was definitely from a top warrior surviving countless battles!
Colin stared at Fatty, wanting to verify his feelings from the lewd Fatty’s eyes, but he became increasingly disappointed. The despicably disgraceful Fatty in front of him was sweating profusely, with a flattering face, smiling more painfully than crying, constantly nodding and bowing. That glance was nowhere near that of a top warrior, not even close to a beaten dog.
However, regardless if his feeling was a delusion, Colin still shifted his body slightly aside. Now, whether Andre issued the order or not, he couldn’t make a move. The task he carried was absolutely not to be distracted by such matters. In this prison, no one wanted to stand out aggressively, the best survival strategy here was to stand aside and watch! Moreover, given Fatty’s mad skill, he couldn’t defeat him at all, only Beilu could handle him.
Fatty caught Colin’s movement in his peripheral vision, somewhat puzzled. This small guy had two arms that looked like steel, and his legs were filled with explosive power. Fatty had seen many well-trained Special Soldiers, nearly all had this guy’s looks. Their traits were too obvious in Fatty’s eyes. However, such a master capable of beating half the people here, turned out to just be a bouncer, and clearly retreating after catching Fatty’s glance.
What the hell does this mean? Did his warning glance work? Did it scare him away directly?
"Since you understand, then my intention is very simple. Either you stand with these brothers and do what you should do. I guarantee no one will bully you in this prison. Or, I’ll give you five seconds to pray." Andre’s voice sounded in Tian Xingjian’s ears.
Fatty almost swore without hesitation: "Big brother, from now on, you’re my big brother Zhang Yuan. Whatever orders you have, just say the word, through water and fire I won’t even frown!" The wretched man spoke passionately and forcefully.
*********************
Today’s Chapter, released before 12 o’clock, was delayed due to discussing business matters at the factory during the day.
Back home, my mind is much clearer, writing three to four thousand words per Chapter seems to take less time. No longer getting distracted by business matters while writing.
Still, thanks to everyone’s constant support. I will work hard to repay my debts.
(To be continued, to find out what happens next, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM, more Chapters available, support the author, support reading the original!)