Chapter 28

It was December 28th. Da Xiong had been in custody for more than three months, with about a month left before his own trial.

At 11:30 a.m., the Dragon City Police Department's Criminal Detention Center served lunch on time. In cell 106, more than thirty suspects were already sitting on the bunks, lined up, waiting for food to be distributed.

The Criminal Detention Center was very different from a formal prison because it held suspects awaiting trial. The management system was much stricter. For example, family visits were not allowed, and neither were recreational activities outside the cell. In short, once a person entered this place, before the official trial result was released, the suspect had almost no chance of leaving the cell except for being interrogated by the judicial department.

More than thirty people were locked in a room of only forty or fifty square meters, staying for four or five months, and constantly worrying about their trial results. Therefore, the mentality of the people here was somewhat distorted. Especially the suspects who had committed serious crimes, their hearts were filled with countless negative emotions, and their eyes looked strange.

At mealtime, Da Xiong held a basin and squatted early at the cell door, ready to receive the suspects' meals from the food delivery slot.

Da Xiong was mentally weak and spoke poorly. In addition, he was introverted, so his three months here were probably more painful than three years for other ordinary suspects. Because this was a small society filled with crime, any suspect taken out at random was a lawbreaker on the outside. They were not good people, so Da Xiong's experience here could be imagined.

Bullying! Almost everyone in the cell was bullying this young man with congenital defects. He was forced to do all the dirty and tiring work, and in his spare time, they made fun of him.

Da Xiong squatted at the cell door, honestly receiving meals for more than thirty people. Only then did he hold his small plastic饭盆 (fàn pén, food bowl), get a little food, and squat in the most remote corner of the room to eat.

While eating, the familiar suspects were whispering to each other, but Da Xiong was the only one who was ignored. He squatted alone in the corner, strictly following the cell regulations, making no noise and not talking loudly while eating.

Da Xiong had a large appetite, and one serving of food was not enough for him at all, so he ate very slowly, as if he was a little reluctant to wolf it down. He broke the rock-hard馒头 (mán tou, steamed bun) into pieces, put them in the soup, and drank it carefully.

After lunch, the suspects began to lie on the bunks as required, preparing for a nap.

Da Xiong hugged his legs with his arms and squatted in the corner, constantly yawning.

A prisoner came over, looked down at him, and said, "You're on duty again at noon today!"

Da Xiong looked up at him: "B-Big...Big Brother, I'm too sleepy...I've been working the night shift for several days in a row."

"Bang!"

The prisoner kicked Da Xiong in the head and cursed, "Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

Da Xiong's head was dizzy from the kick. He pursed his lips and looked at the other person, nodded, and did not retort.

In the Criminal Detention Center, whenever it was time to sleep, there had to be two to three prisoners on duty because the police officers could not lie in the cell and stare at the suspects all the time. Therefore, the suspects had to supervise each other to prevent serious criminals from committing suicide, or harming others due to mental breakdowns, or causing other troubles.

Da Xiong had been on duty for many days in a row. He always worked the third shift at night, which was the second half of the night, from two o'clock in the morning until morning. And he had to be on duty during the noon break. So, the time he could sleep every day was only the first half of the night.

Da Xiong could endure the physical exhaustion because he had been through it since he was a child. But the mental exhaustion had brought Da Xiong to the verge of mental breakdown.

The case of taking the blame for manslaughter, his parents' selective abandonment, his own confusion about the future, and the various encounters in the cell, Da Xiong could only bear them himself. He didn't even have anyone to talk to.

At noon, Da Xiong and another person were on duty together. They each sat in a corner of the room, not disturbing each other.

Da Xiong leaned the back of his head against the cold wall and naturally thought of his Third Sister again, the days of chatting with Gou Liuzi, and the small iron box where he secretly hid money.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on the corner of Da Xiong's mouth for no reason. There were too few things in this world that he could miss and be happy about, so he could only carefully, meticulously, recall them over and over again.

Perhaps he was too tired, or perhaps it was because after a high degree of mental stress and fatigue, people instinctively had to adjust themselves. So, Da Xiong fell asleep with his head against the wall, and soon began to snore.

Around twelve o'clock, creaking footsteps sounded on the bunk. A prisoner walked to Da Xiong's side, looked down at him, and slowly raised his arm.

Diagonally opposite, the suspect who was also on duty at noon looked at this scene and grinned meaningfully.

"Slap!!!"

An extremely crisp slap sounded, and Da Xiong, who was sleeping, was suddenly awakened. He was completely unprepared just now, and he was both confused and frightened by the slap.

"Who told you to sleep, huh?!" The prisoner bent down, pointed at Da Xiong, and cursed, "What if the police come to inspect the cell later and see you sleeping? Are you trying to cause trouble for me?!"

Da Xiong looked at the other person in shock and anger: "I...I've been on duty for a long time, I...I'm too sleepy, I can't control it."

"Talking back? Cnm (cursing), do you think you're still at home, doing whatever you want? This is a detention center, people here are animals, and you're still negotiating with me?!" The prisoner habitually raised his foot and kicked it towards Da Xiong's head.

"Bang!"

In shock and anger, Da Xiong suddenly got up and only raised his arm, directly knocking the prisoner down.

How loud would it be if the weight of an adult hit a hollow bunk?

"Thump!"

A muffled sound rang out, spreading throughout the quiet cell corridor.

All the other prisoners in the room woke up. The Big Brother with the highest status in the cell asked sleepily, "What's going on?"

"He was sleeping on duty and hit me."

"You goddamn idiot, don't you want to stay here, do you?" The Big Brother in the cell sat up and shouted, "Beat him up!"

"Whoosh!"

More than a dozen people in the cell rushed over and started fighting Da Xiong.

Da Xiong leaned against the wall, relying entirely on his weight and strength, and instantly knocked down three people. His fighting style was similar to that of a bear. If you punched him, he might not feel anything, but if he punched you, it would be like being hit by a hammer.

Although Da Xiong was brave, he couldn't handle so many people. The prisoners swarmed up and directly knocked him down.

There was an extremely ironic phenomenon here, that is, many of the people who participated in beating Da Xiong were also objects of bullying on weekdays and had a very low status in the cell. But at this moment, they were all participating in beating Da Xiong with red eyes. No one knew what deep hatred they had between them.

The fighting in the cell quickly alarmed the police officers, and then the警铃 (jǐng líng, police alarm) in the corridor also rang.

...

In the city.

Xu Hu suddenly called Tang Baiqing: "I have some news here, come over here right away."

At the same time.

Su Tianyu was at home, cheerfully preparing gifts for visiting relatives and friends during the Spring Festival: "Second Uncle, should we send something to the Bai family too?"

"Okay, send Bai Dabiao a fiery red pair of underpants. If I remember correctly, this year is his year of birth." Su Zhengcai replied politely.