Chapter 9: Zhu Mingfu's Masterpiece

  Even someone like Zhu Mingfu, who has been to the imperial palace three times, would find it as difficult to get cigarettes whenever he wants as Song Zude's scolding of Guo Degang (almost to the point of being delusional).

  Cigarettes were hard to come by, but not absolutely hopeless. Occasionally, Guo Baokun would secretly throw in one or two longer cigarette butts left over by the prison guards. At this time, Ye Haodong's roommates would show off their skills.

  It was about three or four days after Ye Haodong entered the detention center, on an afternoon when the prisoners had finished their exercise and returned to their cells. Guo Baokun was sweeping the floor in the corridor, and as he passed by cell 6, Zhu Mingfu smiled all over his face: "Brother Guo, we've been dying of thirst for these few days, how about showing some mercy and giving us a cigarette?"

  Kuo Bao-kun grunted and said, "You little rascal, you're always getting into trouble. Scram! No way!" As he spoke, he tossed two unfinished cigarette butts through the small window in the door. Then, whistling a tune, he walked away as if nothing had happened.

  "Come on, Lao Yu, let's get moving!"

  Zhu Ming quickly picked up the cigarette butts, carefully collecting one of them, apparently intending to save it for later use. He tore open another cigarette and poured the tobacco onto a small piece of paper he had dug out from the kang hole, skillfully rolling it into a purely handmade paper cigarette. It's said that this kind of cigarette is more enjoyable to smoke. Ye Haodong witnessed him complete this entire process in less than a minute. But what was truly impressive was not his skilled hands, but rather the way he lit the fire.

  Rubbing fire, this is a new term. Ye Haodong knew that the ancients drilled wood to make fire, but rubbing fire, he had never heard of it before, how would they do it?

  The old man quickly got down from the kang, took out a small box of paper from one of the kang holes, with some ash inside, and put it away. Then he pulled out a piece of cotton wool from the quilt pile, tore it into a thin strip, and poured a little ash on top. After that, he carefully twisted the cotton wool into a small stick, rubbing the ash firmly inside. He picked up one shoe, pressed the stick with both hands using the sole, and quickly rubbed back and forth. After just a few rubs, his two hands suddenly pushed outward, then relaxed, took out the stick, shook it, blew on it, and a wisp of black smoke emerged from the middle of the stick, igniting!

  Ye Haodong's face was filled with joy. Good fellow, applying the principle of generating heat through friction so skillfully is truly an extraordinary skill! Looking at it that way, the cigarette ash should be playing a catalytic role, and the person who invented this trick must be a genius.

  The cigarette was ready, the fire was also twisted, Zhu Mingfu sat cross-legged on his own bed, and the ashtray was placed in front of him by Lao Yu to collect ashes for next time.

  Lao Zhu first asked Ye Haodong if he smoked, although he was very curious and eager to try, but Ye Haodong still restrained his desire to taste what this handmade product tasted like. He knew he didn't have much of a smoking habit, but the people in the room had already shown expressions of finally getting something they had been craving for a long time. A gentleman doesn't take away what others love. It's better to go back and make one himself, and then personally practice again.

  Ye Haodong maintained a polite smile: "Thanks, Zhu Ge, I don't smoke, you guys go ahead."

  Zhu Mingfu didn't think about it anymore, he squinted his eyes and lit up that "cigarette", the others all stared at the swirling smoke with extreme longing.

  A thin cigarette, known as "a shot" in the dormitory, was quickly smoked by Old Zhu to nearly half of it. He savored the taste and handed the remaining butt to Old Yu beside him. The latter hastily took two puffs before passing it on to the next person, until less than a centimeter was left, and their fingers were too hot to hold it. Even those at the end of the row hurriedly pulled down a thin rod from the broom, folded it in half, and fiercely sucked on the small butt - this is called "ginseng, bird's nest, cigarette butt" or "cigarette butt burns hands, take a few hard puffs".

  Old Zhu laughed and chatted with Ye Haodong like a curious baby about the meaning of their series of actions just now.

  It seems that he deliberately wants to help Ye Haodong make up for the regret of not practicing in person earlier. At some point, Guo Baokun walked to the door of cell 6 again, his low and hoarse voice was like heavenly music to the prisoners in cell 6: "Younger brother, do you smoke?"

  Guo Baokun called out "Lao Di", this honor, except for Ye Haodong, no one else in the entire No. 5 courtyard had it. Ye Haodong looked at the eager eyes of his fellow inmates and wouldn't say no: "I was just thinking about that, Lao Gege, if you have some to spare, give me a few more."

  Two complete Daewoo air purifier filters were thrown in through a small window.

  "Cigarettes are not good, don't be picky, this is the condition here, can't give more, too much will cause trouble, old brother comes over every day, you have to be ready to call out at any time." Guo Baokun said and quietly left again.

  Ye Haodong smiled and picked up the Daubao brand cigarette on the ground, which was almost a luxury in this environment. His eyes scanned the faces of the crowd instantly, and the brothers' faces were filled with unhidden longing and envy. The special treatment Ye Haodong received was indeed enviable.

  Fortunately, Ye Haodong didn't plan to monopolize the cigarette, he first handed one to Zhu Mingfu, then followed suit and tore open another cigarette, apparently intending to roll a hand-rolled paper cigarette. Huang Ma'er, who had been watching from the side, understood his intention and actively pulled out a small piece of paper from the kang hole and handed it over. Ye Haodong rolled for half a day according to Zhu Mingfu's operation steps, finally succeeding, but the process and product were far inferior to Zhu Mingfu's previous one, whether in time or quality. What's more infuriating was that this guy wasted some tobacco during the rolling process.

  Having finished rolling the cigarette, it was time to light a fire. Lin Dashan, who had eyes that were not inferior to Huang Mao's, had already prepared the tobacco ash box and small cotton swab for him in advance. Ye Haodong took over, imitating the way Old Yu did it before, and after twisting the small cotton stick, he also picked up a shoe and started rubbing vigorously. Unfortunately, he obviously only learned the superficial movements without grasping the essentials of lighting a fire. He repeatedly copied Old Yu's actions several times, but still didn't see any black smoke coming out of the small cotton stick. The crowd couldn't hold back their laughter anymore, and they all showed the smile that teachers have when looking at clumsy apprentices, even Shao Wei, who was in charge of keeping watch, couldn't help but laugh: "Haodong, stop rubbing, with your strength, you won't be able to light a fire, but you'll wear out the sole of the shoe first."

  Ye Haodong didn't mind, and chuckled: "It looks easy, but emotions are also a technical job."

  "Think you can? Put down your whistle, if there's a mistake, let the kid drink some more water. Zhu Mingfu, who had been watching for a while with an itchy heart, also came to join in: "Hehe, brother, this job can't be mastered in three to five days, watch me show you a trick."

  Ye Haodong smiled: "I was just about to ask you."

  Only to see Zhu Mingfu also pulled out some cotton wool, put some cigarette ash inside, and rubbed it into a bar with his hands. He took an old shoe that others thought had unclear sole patterns and was not good for rubbing fire, and then, not on the ground but on the wall, not with both hands but with one hand, after a few rubs of the cotton wool, he pulled it lightly and swung the cotton rod, and a clear flame burst out! The head came out of his hand, and indeed it was extraordinary.

  Ye Haodong watched with relish, bursting into loud laughter. After lighting the cigarette, he took a drag in a rather affected manner, but only had one puff, not only because he wanted to save the cigarette for others in the cell who needed it more, but also because this purely handmade product was... quite choking!

  More than half a month after the end of the "fire boy" incident, Ye Haodong finally bid farewell to his fellow prisoners and left the Xiaoyishan Detention Center, which had brought him many new and interesting experiences. His next destination will be the Chengdong Juvenile Detention Center located in the city center area.

  Juvenile correctional facility is a place for education, salvation and reform of juvenile delinquents who are over 14 years old but under 18 years old. Also known as Juvenile Correctional Facility.

  It is one of the labor reform organs with Chinese characteristics.

  The prison is directly under the jurisdiction of the judicial authorities of each province, city and autonomous region, with one warden, one political commissar, several deputy wardens and deputy political commissars.

  The biggest difference between this place and a prison, apart from the younger age of the detainees, is that it also has an educational training function.

  This functional institution, in addition to having the same basic setup as prisons and labor reform brigades, must also establish necessary teaching and research institutions and be equipped with teachers. According to the provisions of the Hua Xia Republic Prison Law, juvenile offender correctional facilities should focus on providing political education, moral education, and basic cultural and productive technical education to juvenile offenders. In accordance with the characteristics of juvenile offenders, while taking care of their growth and development, they are allowed to engage in "light" labor, using methods such as induction, care, encouragement, and emotional inspiration to provide comprehensive education suitable for the psychological and physical characteristics of juvenile offenders, promoting their ideological transformation and early reform into new people beneficial to society.

  On April 5th, 1994, on the day of Qingming Festival, Ye Haodong and Huang Maoer, an old man from the detention center, were transferred to the city's eastern detention center together.

  All the way, Huang Mao'er was explaining to Ye Haodong the difference between a juvenile detention center and a watch house. Under his patient guidance, Ye Haodong learned many important things about the juvenile detention center ahead of time.

  In the juvenile reform school, when looking for a cadre, you have to shout: "Report to the instructor!" There is quasi-militarized management. Every day, there are morning exercises and chores (including folding blankets into squares, generally self-provided, if not, the reform school will provide one military blanket). Everything must be neatly arranged in the dormitory, and any matter must be reported first. In addition, some "doable" tasks need to be done, such as processing some commonly used rags and cotton threads in factories. The endless work has to be done every morning, and during work hours, the instructor cadres do not even allow talking or laughing. I don't know how much economic benefit this kind of work can bring to the reform school. But this kind of work is probably very effective in consuming the lively and almost violent mentality of young offenders, which can make the restless and arrogant young people as calm as an old monk. After lunch, the young offenders also study. Singing songs, singing revolutionary songs, the sky is sunny in the liberated area, the people are happy... Reading books, reading the rules and regulations of the reform school, reading the public security management regulations, reading the criminal law. Not only do they read, but they also have to recite them one by one. I have a good memory, so it's not difficult for me, but some people can't, and when they can't recite, they often cry. They really cry, stammering while reciting in front of the instructor cadres. The reform school has two extremely boring cultural classes every afternoon, where young offenders are divided into several classes according to their grade level at the time of dropping out, and external teachers with VIP cards come to teach. This is the most disliked program for most young offenders...