Chapter 2: Implicit Rules, Rules, No Rules Make a Square Circle

  Gao Dapeng hastily chose a more comfortable sofa. Just like the one he saw in the detention center with Ye Haodong, but surprisingly, his posture was even more standard than Huang Ma'er's.

  "Damn it, looks like you're a regular practitioner, so don't let me give orders anymore. Don't miss a single move - smoking, drinking tea, relaxing with one leg up, just go wild."

  About seven or eight minutes later, the sound of banging pots and pans and shouting came from outside the door: "Food's ready! Each room go get your meal!"

  Everyone took out their rice bowls from the brick holes of their own stalls and walked to the gate of the cell, waiting to go out for dinner. Even Gao Dapeng automatically dispersed, doing what he had to do. Ye Haodong looked at others busy with a dazed expression, sitting on his bed, not moving. After a while, the instructor walked to the door, opened it with a creak, pointed an electric baton at Ye Haodong, and said in a Steel City accent: "You come out, follow me over here, there's something for you to receive, your personal belongings."

  Ye Haodong walked into the duty room of the instructor with a slight nervousness, and the instructor in his thirties followed behind him.

  "Are you the boss of Xin Lü Paper Industry?"

  "Report to the government, previously I was, now I am Ye Haodong, a prisoner serving sentence in Quadrangle Prison Seventeen Ward."

  "Hey, don't be so tense, it's okay. My family is also from Xin Guang district. My sister and brother-in-law work at the paper mill where you are. They asked me to bring some stuff for you." As he spoke, he pointed to the table, and Ye Haodong followed his gaze, feeling a warmth in his eyes. There was a pile of things on the table, including two large quilts and a big bag of origami cranes.

  "Guān jiào: 'My sister is Wang Shaoling, my brother-in-law is Xiao Dalong, the security guard at your factory who had his hand cut off by a paper cutter. These things were made by everyone in your factory together. Each origami crane has a sentence on it. You can look at them and then put them back here. I'll need to turn them in later. Maybe they will be useful for you.'"

  Ye Haodong: "If you don't mind, can you tell me what your name is?"

  "King Shaolin: 'Wang Shaolin, haha, a name given by my father, sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?'"

  Yeh Hao Dong smiled: "Not bad, a very loud name, Shaolin represents the Chinese nation's martial spirit, very suitable for your profession."

  Wang Shaolin: "From now on, I will have a shift every three days. During the shift period, I am here for 24 hours. If you need anything, you can find me."

  Ye Haodong: "I will, can you help me keep those letters? I want to take a closer look at them slowly, okay?"

  Wang Shaolin readily agreed: "Alright, if you don't need them as evidence of your active cooperation in reform, I can let you keep them."

  Yeh Hao-dong: "Thanks for your guidance, Wang."

  Wang Shaolin walked to the door, opened it and looked outside for a few moments before whispering: "Have you seen He Kui?"

  Ye Haodong nodded: "Mm, what's up?"

  Wang Shaolin: "He's the warden here, and he's the most greedy person you'll ever meet. If you want to survive your sentence, you need to find a way to bribe him. He assigned you to the 17th group because he knows you have a history with Hou San'er, and he wants to teach you a lesson so that you'll come crawling to him."

  "What does he like?"

  "Good cigarettes, good wine, cash, gold, anything valuable is fine with him."

  Ye Haodong: "That's easy, what's your relationship with him?"

  Wang Shaolin shook his head: "He's not a friend, but I've never offended him. If you want to get in touch with him, I can help you talk to him and tell him you'd like to see him."

  Ye Haodong raised his head and thought for a moment, shaking his head: "No need, you don't have to show up, listening to his accent is also a Steel City person, I myself have a way to find him."

  Wang Shaolin: "Don't touch that tall and majestic Peng in your room, he is being taken care of by Political Commissar Lin Yuntao."

  "Transfer him away, otherwise it's useless for anyone to take care of him."

  Wang Shaolin frowned: "I know you're a good guy, can't stand that kind of person, but I advise you one sentence, when under someone's roof, it's better to lower your head."

  Ye Haodong said wildly: "Bow your head? There is no such word in my dictionary, I will poke a hole in his broken hut, Brother Wang, do you believe it?"

  Wang Shaolin wanted to persuade him, but Ye Haodong waved his hand and interrupted: "Don't mention him, after you get off work, help me with something. Pass a message to the factory, just say what I said. Let my sister give the workers at the factory a year-end bonus. If it's already been given, add another one, 1,000 yuan per person. Also, tell my sister to focus on what she needs to do and don't look for excuses outside. I've just started to make some progress here, and if she messes it up, it'll be ruined."

  Wang Shaolin had also heard his sister and brother-in-law talk about the things this guy had done outside, and he knew that he had a sister who was a master of manipulation. From what he could tell, it seemed like he was treating the people in this courtyard as opponents in a game of chess, not allowing his sister to make any moves, for fear of ruining the fun of playing chess.

  After finishing the handover, Ye Haodong waved his hand: "That's it, I'll go first, still have to go get lunch."

  Wang Shaolin pulled him: "Give you a new basin, take things back."

  Ye Haodong carried a large pile of bedding back to the seventeenth ward. Including what Jiang Wei had someone send in, this guy's bedding was enough for everyone in the room to make a quilt. Only when Ye Haodong opened the new bedding did he discover that there were actually two boxes of cigarettes hidden inside, and they were Hongtashan.

  Nong Junting has to leave.

  Her belly was gradually showing, and the old man at home urged her to hurry up, shouting: "Can people not survive in the north during winter? You need a stick to pee, hitting one side while urinating. The old farmer, who seemed like an immortal, was very clear about the dynamics between Nong Junding and Ye Haodong. He had always been lenient towards their relationship, with a broad-minded attitude that didn't care about social status. However, in his heart, he wanted Ye Haodong to be worthy of his great-granddaughter, at least for now, he must rely on himself to get through this difficulty, and couldn't let his five-month pregnant great-granddaughter brave the minus 20 degrees cold in the north for him. The old man had fought against the devils on this land before, thinking about how cold the winter in Northeast China was, making him even more eager to bring his great-granddaughter back home.

  Before boarding the train back to Shenzhen, Nong Juntin completed the last thing entrusted by Ye Haodong and found a financial director from the Northern Affairs Department of the family business to replace herself. After handing over everything, she set off on her way home.

  Seventeen groups of monitoring rooms. Evening.

  After dinner, before lights out, these few hours were the time for everyone to study legal knowledge and prison rules. The six of them had nothing to do, so they started chatting idly. Smoking was not allowed in the cell, if you wanted to smoke, go to the corridor to smoke, if you smoked in the cell and got caught by the instructor, you would be punished. Except for Gao Dapeng, each of the others had just received ten cigarettes, how could they hold back now? They left one person on watch, while the others chatted idly and smoked. The guys from Team 17, except for Gao Dapeng, were all old-timers, when talking about other prisoners' affairs, it was like telling a familiar story, Ye Haodong listened with relish, this guy always had to have something new to entice him, otherwise he would stir up some trouble.

  Fang Hualong has grown a big brain, and is said to be the most familiar with the rules here. He's also a talkative person, and he starts the conversation. The main topic of discussion is naturally about teaching Ye Haodong the rules of the prison.

  Newly admitted prisoners generally undergo a three-month training period. During this time, prisoners learn legal knowledge and physical training. The purpose is to make prisoners plead guilty and prepare their bodies for future labor reform. Visits are allowed according to the visitation schedule. According to regulations, it is not allowed to send living supplies to prisoners, but they can be mailed through the post office. Living conditions are acceptable, at least food is sufficient, unlike in detention centers where life was miserable. Eating prohibited items is not allowed, but they can be purchased in the prison supermarket for the safety of prisoners. If you want to save money, it can be received in prison if you know the prisoner's cellblock and address, it's best to mail it through the post office, 100% will be received. Most importantly, remember that although the freedom here is much greater than in detention centers, the rules are still very strict, and a phrase often repeated by management personnel proves this: only allow discipline, do not allow chaos. If there is chaos, it will be immediately suppressed and punished. This sentence is not just talk! Must remember!

  After Fang Hualong finished speaking, Lin Hongwei continued: Every morning, starting from the first floor, I would go to the wind field for a run to recover my physical strength and prepare for labor. After running, I would wash my face, brush my teeth, fold my bedding, and wait for meals. Here, we have three meals a day. Breakfast is a bowl of cornmeal porridge, with pickled vegetables and steamed buns available at will. No waste is allowed; you eat as much as you need. We don't follow the old routine of training for three months here; instead, training is conducted every day, with new and old inmates together. New inmates basically start working as soon as they arrive, mostly doing labor inside the prison, but occasionally going out for construction work. When that happens, you might catch a glimpse of the outside world, but even if you do, you're not allowed to make any improper movements or expressions, including whistling, making faces, or being overly cheerful, as these can easily attract the attention of the prison guards.

  Hou San'er had long lost the energy to challenge Ye Haodong, two newbies were dead, and he still wanted to make a fuss about his little skills, which was not much different from looking for death. His sentence was almost up, and this was the time when one thing was better than nothing. In order to change Ye Haodong's impression of him, seeing that Ye Haodong was very interested in things in the cell, he seized the opportunity to show off, snatching the conversation: "Circle" refers to women, and "stick" naturally refers to us men, but there is another kind of person here who cannot be called a stick or a circle.

  "What's that thing?" Ye Haodong asked with great interest.

  Hou San'er smiled mysteriously: "The second child, that is, the old and happy male prisoners who are specially provided for the various judges in the prison, these people are basically all slender and handsome. Some of them do it voluntarily, but more are forced to. Those who do it voluntarily are either because they are gay or because they want to find a backer here."

  Ji Cheng just felt a bit stuffy: "What's the point of talking about these dirty things, it's polluting Dongzi's ears, don't listen to him, let me tell you something more interesting."

  Ye Haodong nodded: "Seasonal brother, you say."

  Ji Chenggang: "The most interesting thing to say is the competition and get-together between different prisons. Every year on November 11th, during Chinese New Year, there are organized events, such as playing chess, poker, and the most exciting ones are arm-wrestling and wrestling. Our prison used to be very good at this when Shan Longhu was in charge. Each prison has a leader chosen by the inmates, who decides who represents the prison in competitions with other prisons. There are six prisons in our Four Fang Shop Prison, each divided into ten groups. We are from the second prison, and our leader is a death row inmate from group 10, nicknamed Guo Dapou, whose real name is Er Dong. He was sentenced for murder and arson, but got off with a lighter sentence due to his alleged mild mental illness. Not only is he ruthless and cunning, but also comes from a wealthy family, with at least 10,000 yuan deposited into his account every month. The prison warden and guards all look up to him."

  Ye Haodong nodded, this is the most important information for tonight's chat. At 9:30 sharp, all lights will be turned off, and no noise is allowed in any cellblock. After Gao Dawei turns off the lights, he will be the last one to go to bed. The previously lively and noisy cells suddenly became pitch black and silent.

  The next morning, everything went as Lin Hongwei had said. Everything was carried out in an orderly manner, with the first item being a run on the wind farm.

  When Ye Haodong was running in the wind field, he also saw Bao Lijiang. What surprised him was that this guy had been beaten up with a blue nose and swollen face. Ye Haodong thought it was probably a group fight, otherwise, who could beat him like this? Ye Haodong stepped on the brakes and approached him to ask a question, but the result shocked him even more - Bao Lijiang wasn't beaten by a group of people, but was actually beaten up in a one-on-one fight with someone else.