Chapter 6: First Experience in Xiaogushan Detention Center

  The day before he left for the Xiaolongshan Detention Center, Ye Haodong met with Li Weidong in the reception room of the police station under the supervision of a police officer.

  Li Weidong: "I heard Jiang say you're going to Xiao Gu Shan that way?"

  Ye Haodong curled his lip, seemingly nonchalant: "Mm, tomorrow's business."

  Li Weidong: "What are your plans for the acquisition of this station? When will it open? How will specific things be handled? Give me a program, I'm afraid I won't do well with such a difficult task, and without you here, I feel uneasy."

  "Tomorrow, we'll open for business. Tell Gangzi to buy some more firecrackers and make a bit of noise; also invite some leaders from related departments for dinner. Doing this line of work is considered accumulating virtue, saving energy and protecting the environment, but that doesn't mean we can't break any rules. Listen up, when collecting old items, only pay according to their original price, no matter if it's paper or ceramic jars... If it's not something that should be handled as waste, don't take it even if it's very cheap! Also, regarding metals, first of all, we absolutely cannot collect electrical cables and optical fibers. Complete metal parts also can't be collected. In short, just avoid anything that might be illegal, you won't make much money from it anyway... You bring the stuff back with Gangzi and store it for now, no need to rush to sell it. We'll sort it out and put it in our courtyard, I'll take care of it when I get out."

  A speech that was both red and specialized made the civilian police officer listening on the side nod frequently.

  Ye Haodong says a sentence, Li Weidong remembers a sentence. Seeing Ye Haodong has finished his confession, Li Weidong recalls some things about Xiaogushan and says with concern: "In the gang, there are rules in the gang. On the first day of new recruits, there is a program called 'Feng Shui'. You have to pay attention."

  "Get used to the local water and soil? What does it mean? Is it that newcomers will get sick from the water and soil? Do you know what it means?" Ye Haodong turned his head and asked the police officer behind him with a smile.

  The police officer behind him smiled with a knowing look, but didn't say anything, his expression was very understanding.

  Li Weidong: "It's all about the old prisoners in the cell or ward bullying new ones, and when you're in the cell, be careful not to offend the cadres. If something happens, shout 'report to the government', don't just yell randomly, it's easy to get punished. I've asked a friend on the inside to take care of you, his name is Duan Hongwei, everyone in the cell calls him 'Gui Liu Er'. Also, be careful with Hou San Er, this time he didn't commit a serious crime, but next time he might end up there too. This kid is an old hand in the cell, and has more connections than you do, so watch out for him causing trouble."

  Yehao Dong smiled brightly: "A wolf travels a thousand miles to eat meat, Brother Li, rest assured, we are fighters, wherever we go, we can't be taken advantage of."

  A nearby police officer supervising them couldn't help but cough at their increasingly absurd conversation.

  Ye Haodong turned his head and glanced at him with a smile: "Don't cough anymore, it's over."

  The two brothers shook hands and said goodbye, Ye Haodong watched Li Weidong's back as he walked out the door, a sense of melancholy rising in his heart. The news brought by Li Weidong, an "old-timer", had a greater impact on Ye Haodong than it seemed on the surface. Thinking about the new environment he would soon face, Ye Haodong felt a little nervous and uneasy, yet at the same time, he seemed to be looking forward to new and strange things.

  A row of people lined up to receive physical examinations, and then went to pick up their personal belongings. Ye Haodong, whose body was basically fully developed but still looked young on his face, followed the person in front of him step by step forward.

  "What they call a physical examination is just asking if you have any infectious diseases and taking a look to see if you're hiding anything. Today's a special day, the detention center on the Gongzhuling side had a collapse due to water seepage, so a group of prisoners were temporarily relocated here to Xiaogushan, that's why there are so many people in line." Standing in the corridor, somewhat bored, Ye Haodong's backside companion, who called himself 'Er Bizi', was lecturing with an air of self-importance, spreading unheard-of "jianghu" rules.

  The process of physical examination would never make people feel happy, and it was finally Ye Haodong's turn. A middle-aged police officer with a expressionless face said to Ye Haodong: "Take off your clothes."

  Ye Haodong complied, and the police officer said: "Take everything off, including your pants!"

  Under the gaze of the middle-aged police officer who was not at all angry, Ye Haodong very uncomfortably stripped himself completely naked.

  The police officer's gaze was sharp, from top to bottom, and after a careful examination, he determined that Ye Haodong did not have any sexually transmitted diseases or skin diseases.

  Officer: "Do you have a history of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis or hepatitis?"

  Ye Haodong: "No."

  "Alright, go over there for a mug shot and get your uniform and ID card."

  Leaving the office building of the Detention Center, Ye Haodong and others were escorted by four police officers to board a Guangzhou large bus that was old and leaky but had steel bars for safety. Along the way, no one spoke until they arrived at Xiaogushan Detention House.

  What entered Ye Haodong's eyes was a high and large wall made of dark green bricks. On the tall watchtower, armed police officers patrolled back and forth, and the black gate seemed to be hanging like a black curtain. The bus stopped in front of the gate, and the leader of the four police officers responsible for escorting handed over the relevant documents through a small elevator embedded in the wall. After checking without error, the soldiers above pressed the mechanism, but the large black gate did not move at all, only the small door on the side was automatically opened. Under the command of the escort police officer, the prisoners got off the bus one by one, and Ye Haodong also followed the crowd through that small door.

  This is a grey world made of steel and green bricks. Two rows of grey-green squares are isolated into cells. More than two meters high in each cell, there is a window with a diameter of no more than sixty centimeters, and the windows are inlaid with coarse threaded steel bars without exception. At the window, you can vaguely see the prisoners looking out with difficulty, all of whom are bald.

  The main gate of the building had a large 5-character inscription, which reminded Ye Haodong of the number 506 on his new uniform. This was probably the origin of the 5 in 506. It seemed that there were at least four other places with the same scale as this courtyard.

  Along with Ye Haodong, six people who got off the car were left in this courtyard. A leading police officer holding documents representing their identities escorted them into an office.

  The warm air carried the refreshing aroma of tea leaves wafting out of the cup, and under the winter sun at 10:30, the light showed a few colors that were slightly hallucinatory. Ye Haodong took a sip of the familiar fragrance, his eyes fixed on the rising hot air, and his anxiety gradually subsided. The old policeman in charge of receiving Ye Haodong and others had an expression that was not hallucinatory at all. He took over the prisoner's information handed over by the escort personnel in a very procedural manner and casually put it into the large iron cabinet in the corner of the wall. Then, on the form in the hand of the escort personnel, he signed a name: Guan Maolin. Ye Haodong's position was relatively good, and he could clearly see these three words, which were written quite well.

  After the escort team left, old prison guard Guan Maolin took down a large bunch of keys from the wall. The clanging metal sound was pleasant to hear. In the dark and narrow corridor, the old prison guard's hoarse voice rang out: "Guo Baokun!"

  A stout middle-aged prisoner with a face full of acne ran out of a room that was roughly the kitchen. Ye Haodong faintly smelled a scent of steamed buns from the direction he came from. The prisoner had a smile all over his face, his round and chubby face looked like a laughing Buddha, kind and humble.

  Middle-aged prisoner: "Here!"

  "Line up and search them."

  National treasure trapped in front, a group of people walked by, every window on the prison cell door was crowded with excited prisoners who were bursting with joy, those who were blocked behind even jumped up and down inside, everyone's expression seemed to have welcomed the People's Liberation Army into the city with enthusiasm, as if they had received New Year's gifts and were overjoyed.

  Guan Maolin's face suddenly turned ugly. Guo Baokun, who was following behind him, had a flattering expression on his face that instantly disappeared, replaced by a stern and ruthless look. His sharp eyes scanned every window of the prison cells, and the prisoners inside were immediately silenced, as if they had been frozen in place. The atmosphere in the entire building became solemn at once.

  Under the watchful eye of Guan Maolin, Guo Baokun conducted another body search on Ye Haodong and five others. He searched very carefully and asked each person a few gentle questions. Ye Haodong was the last one.

  Guo Baokun: "For the first time?"

  Ye Haodong: "Yes, the big girl is getting married."

  Guo Baokun smiled: "Looks like you're not very old, little kid with a sharp tongue, what brings you here?" Probably stimulated by Ye Haodong's sentence about the big girl getting on the sedan chair, the old man's hands didn't stop, and he searched even more carefully.

  Ye Haodong's voice was low and solemn: "Seventeen years old, a murderer."

  Kuo Pao-kun's hand hesitated for a moment before quickly withdrawing. He glanced at Kuan Mao-lin beside him and reported, "Report to the government, no abnormalities."

  "What's going on? When did you, Guo Baokun, learn how to report to the government?"

  "This isn't a place for newcomers, we need to show them the ropes and let them know what kind of place this is. No matter how glorious they were outside, once they're here, even if they're dragons they have to coil up, and even if they're tigers they have to lie down."

  "Alright, stop messing around with these useless things and come with me."

  Ye Haodong followed Guan Maolin, and the meticulous Ye Haodong discovered that every time they came to a prison cell door, the prisoners inside would reveal expressions that only suppressed longing and excitement.

  They walked all the way to the end of the corridor, stopped in front of cell 6 on the east wall, and pushed Ye Haodong and another pale and thin prisoner to the iron gate. Guan Maolin opened the iron gate with an expressionless face, his tone crisp: "In!"

  As the sound of Guan Maolin and Guo Baokun's footsteps faded away, Ye Haodong looked around the small cell with a complex mood, his heart filled with three parts anxiety, four parts curiosity, and three parts indifference. The room was less than 20 square meters in size. A large kang bed ran from east to west, occupying most of the space. Several tattered quilts were stacked neatly on top of the kang. The cement floor had been wiped clean and was lined with several scattered pieces of cardboard. There was a small sink by the door, but no water source. Next to the sink was a bucket and a rag.

  There were six aboriginal people in the room, with a man in his thirties sitting on the edge of the kang, occupying the largest space. He was clearly the strongest presence in the room. The others were a middle-aged person, two young men under thirty, and two boys not much older than Ye Haodong. The only commonality among the six people was one word - thin! Ye Haodong was sizing up the people in the room without any reserve, while they too were sizing him up along with another new prisoner.

  They exchanged glances, Ye Haodong didn't speak first, Ma Lian's group also held their breath, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became oppressive, and the air instantly solidified.

  "Hello everyone, I'm the new one, my name is 'Huang Mao Er'." A timid voice came from another newcomer.

  Six people on the kang still managed to keep a straight face, but Ye Haodong couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hello, big brothers, I'm also new here, my name is Ye Haodong." The same words, only with less of Huang Mao's timidity in his tone, sounded especially jarring to the people on the kang.