Restricted Area

In the afternoon, the prison welcomed a group of about twenty people for a tour, mostly comprising of executive directors from a large corporation.

Back when Jiang Chijing was still working as a court stenographer, he had seen many top corporate executives involved in embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, and suchlike. For people of authority who wielded power, it was all the more pertinent to educate them on the general law.

“It’s their time out of the cells now, most inmates wouldn’t be inside.” The warden walked at the very front, giving the visitors a rundown of the prison.

Unlike touring other places, prison tours came with more stringent requirements such as no separating from the group, no taking photos, no dresses, etc.

Southside Prison had once hosted a group of middle-school students. Several more mischievous students had run rampant out of curiosity, causing a lot of trouble for the prison. However, the corporate executives this time were adults who could follow rules, which made this visit easier for the prison staff to handle.

Jiang Chijing followed listlessly at the tail-end, habitually observing every person in the group.

As those in the management tier of a listed company, the average age of this group wasn’t young. No matter the gender, they were all dressed immaculately, without the slightest sense of sloppiness that was prevalent among the younger age groups.

“Hello.” A woman at the fringe of the group, probably unable to hear the warden too clearly, made conversation with Jiang Chijing. “Is it hard working in prison, usually?”

“It depends,” Jiang Chijing said. “Some posts have it harder than others, while some posts have relatively less to do.”

For example, his post as a librarian. In accordance with the lowest income with respect to the rest of his colleagues, he also had the easiest job.

“You don’t follow regular work hours, right?”

“Most people don’t. A full shift can span 72 hours, followed by 24 hours of rest.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Jiang Chijing was briefly puzzled, unsure how the question had turned to probe into his personal affairs. “I assume a civilian post, I clock in at eight and leave at five.”

“That’s not bad,” the woman nodded thoughtfully. “Are you dating anyone?”

Jiang Chijing started to get a bad feeling from this, because this elder spoke to him in the exact same tone as his relatives at home.

“No.” Unused to lying to strangers, Jiang Chijing replied honestly for now.

“How old are you?” the woman went on to ask.

“Almost thirty.” To be precise, he was twenty-seven, but Jiang Chijing deliberately kept it vague.

“Wow, I couldn’t tell. That’s great. I have a niece, she’s quite pretty and a hard worker. It’s just that she’s too picky and hasn’t found a partner all this while. She’s twenty-nine now, about to turn thirty too.”

Right. This conversation was progressing exactly as Jiang Chijing had thought it would.

It appeared that there was one constant that could never be circumvented regardless of social class, and that was—matchmaking.

“My niece is very capable and has a high annual income, so she doesn’t mind the financial situation of the guy and only bases her preferences on intuition. It should be hard for you to come across many girls with a job like yours, right? Let alone classier women like my niece. How about it, would you like me to introduce you?”

While it was true that Jiang Chijing didn’t come across many women in his job, this problem had never affected his love life.

“Your niece is already twenty-nine?” Jiang Chijing subtly steered the conversation away. “You only look to be in your early thirties.”

This wasn’t a lie. Those standing at the top of society took good care of their images, and this woman didn’t look a year over thirty-five.

“Oh, you’re too kind, isn’t early thirties a bit of an exaggeration?”

The subject was successfully changed by Jiang Chijing to discuss ways to maintain one’s youthful appearance.

The group toured around the cell blocks, then went to the mess hall and the showers, and finally to the strawberry sheds.

Of the various labour, strawberry farming generated the highest income at Southside Prison. An agricultural expert who had been incarcerated once bred high-yield strawberry seedlings, and later an engineering expert modified the greenhouses, further enhancing the yield of strawberries here.

The strawberry shed was roughly the size of half a football field. Upon stepping in, a cool breeze would billow over.

Although Jiang Chijing had been working at Southside Prison for the better part of the year, he had never been to this area behind the admin block.

“Inmates start labour at two in the afternoon. You can see an inmate harvesting strawberries right now,” the warden pointed to Zheng Mingyi, not far away.

Sweeping a glance across, only a sparse few inmates were at work in the large shed. Aside from Zheng Mingyi, who the warden had pointed out, the rest were the more well-behaved inmates with good track records. It appeared that they had been deliberately arranged.

“1017,” the warden called. “Come over for a bit.”

Zheng Mingyi set down the small basket of strawberries in his hand, taking off the linen gloves as he walked towards the visitors.

Jiang Chijing had unwittingly walked up to the front of the group. At first, Zheng Mingyi was looking straight at him, but after scanning the group of visitors, a barely noticeable change appeared in his expression, and he no longer looked at Jiang Chijing.

“This is the convict that was involved in the financial crime case that shook the economy of the country,” the warden introduced. “After undergoing reformation at our prison, his ideological consciousness is significantly elevated.”

“So you’re Zheng Mingyi.” A person, who seemed to have the highest status of the group, swept a scrutinising gaze over Zheng Mingyi. “Does prison food taste good?”

Jiang Chijing involuntarily found it weird when he heard this. The style of this conversation didn’t sound like it was between two strangers, and from Zheng Mingyi’s expression just now, Jiang Chijing guessed that the financial crime case could have implicated this company, resulting in huge losses for them.

But Zheng Mingyi’s next words caused Jiang Chijing to change his mind.

“Decent enough,” Zheng Mingyi said. “Speaking of which, Liu Dong, do the shareholders know of the money that your mistress has embezzled from the company?”

The moment this statement was made, the other executive directors present exchanged confused looks at each other, unable to make sense of the situation.

Liu Dong’s face darkened. He spoke harshly, “What nonsense is this?”

The warden also seemed unable to comprehend what was going on, so he chose to mediate first. “That, 1017, tell us about your life in prison, preferably with any profound insights you’ve learned.”

Jiang Chijing had told Zheng Mingyi beforehand to mention the political niceties that the warden liked to hear, such as thanking the prison for the ideological reformation, allowing him to gain new perspective and turn over a new leaf. By doing this, he could possibly enjoy special treatment in the future.

However, what came out of Zheng Mingyi’s mouth was: “Insights? My present insight is that imprisonment is a good choice.”

Jiang Chijing, “?”

“I can go to bed and rise early every day, I have stable work and rest hours, I get nutritious and balanced meals from the mess hall, and the labour isn’t too strenuous. More importantly…” Here, Zheng Mingyi looked at Jiang Chijing. “The prison officers are also very cute.”

Jiang Chijing, “??”

“Ahem. This means that we have good prison conditions.” The warden hurriedly snatched back the flow of the conversation.

“Warden, can this still make inmates reflect?” Liu Dong asked with a frown.

“It’s like this; we also have confinement cells. If you’re interested we can go over to survey it as well.” The warden hurriedly made eyes at Jiang Chijing, instructing him to drag Zheng Mingyi away.

Then, the warden led the visitors to the other side of the strawberry shed, getting another inmate to introduce the strawberry products produced by the prison.

Jiang Chijing didn’t continue to follow behind the group but stayed with Zheng Mingyi, returning to where he had left the small basket earlier.

“Do you know Liu Dong?” Jiang Chijing couldn’t resist asking.

“That is Wu Peng’s friend,” Zheng Mingyi said.

Wu Peng was the CEO of HX Management, also Zheng Mingyi’s supervisor. If Jiang Chijing wasn’t mistaken, he guessed that it was highly probable that Wu Peng was the one who had framed Zheng Mingyi.

“Have you done business with him before?” Jiang Chijing continued to ask.

“Not really.” Zheng Mingyi picked up the small basket and walked to the sink in a corner, washing strawberries as he conversed with Jiang Chijing. “There are improper dealings between him and Wu Peng. My case resulted in losses to many companies, but he made a considerable profit from it.”

This was the first time that Zheng Mingyi was proactively chatting with Jiang Chijing about the case. The clues that Guan Wei mentioned abruptly came to mind, and Jiang Chijing asked, “Are the clues you have voice recordings of a conversation between him and Wu Peng?”

Zheng Mingyi plucked the leaves on the strawberry, then looked at Jiang Chijing. “I don’t have the clues on me.”

In view that Zheng Mingyi didn’t seem keen on going deep into this topic, Jiang Chijing suddenly felt a bit curious, asking, “How did your meeting with Guan Wei go?”

“I got him to make sure that his unit was clean before coming back to find me,” Zheng Mingyi picked a red and shapely strawberry from the basket, shaking off the water droplets on it.

Jiang Chijing inadvertently slipped into his thoughts. The clues Zheng Mingyi had likely weren’t ironclad evidence, only enough to prove that there were issues with the investigation, allowing law enforcement to reopen the case. However, under this situation wherein there were too many uncertain variables, it was indeed unwise to rashly hand over the clues.

“Officer Jiang.” Zheng Mingyi’s voice cut into Jiang Chijing’s thoughts.

“Hm?” Jiang Chijing lifted his gaze to look at Zheng Mingyi.

“Open your mouth.”

Before Jiang Chijing could react, Zheng Mingyi shoved the strawberry in his hand into his mouth. Jiang Chijing didn’t know if he was imagining it, but he felt that when Zheng Mingyi was drawing his hand back, his thumb had brushed over his lower lip.

He unconsciously bit down, and sweet juice burst out of the soft pulpy flesh, in an instant pervading his entire oral cavity. It was a little sour at first, causing his brows to furrow reflexively, but after he got used to it came endless sweetness, spreading down into his heart.

“How is it?” Zheng Mingyi asked.

Jiang Chijing’s throat rolled, swallowing the pulpy flesh into his stomach. But reluctant to admit the strawberry was tasty, he said contrarily, “It’s really sour, are you sure you know how to plant strawberries?”

These words, frankly, were unfair to Zheng Mingyi. After all, the strawberry variety and environment were fixed; at best, he could only control some relatively insignificant factors, such as the timing of the harvest.

“I don’t know how to plant strawberries?” Zheng Mingyi’s brows creased faintly. He glanced at the visitors, then looked back at Jiang Chijing and said, “Then follow me, I’ll show you another variety.”

With that, Zheng Mingyi turned around and walked further in towards the corner. Following behind Zheng Mingyi, it was only when Jiang Chijing entered the corner area that he vaguely felt that something was amiss.

There was a shelf in this corner, on which were gloves, watering cans, and suchlike, alongside a mop and a broom next to it. One look was enough to tell that this was a place to store miscellaneous items. Jiang Chijing asked curiously, “Where are the strawberries?”

“Here.” Zheng Mingyi returned, then circled Jiang Chijing’s back, pressing him into the corner, unceremoniously leaning in towards his neck.

A stab of pain abruptly blossomed on his neck. Wide-eyed, Jiang Chijing braced both arms against Zheng Mingyi’s chest, whispering, “Zheng Mingyi?!”

His nape was firmly caught by the other, and the back of his waist was wrapped so tightly that he couldn’t break free.

Zheng Mingyi pressed Jiang Chijing into the corner, burying his head into the milky white skin, devoting his attention to planting strawberries. His arm forcibly confined Jiang Chijing like an animal in a snare, a message broadcasting from his body: Who said that I can’t grow strawberries?

The surveillance camera was just overhead, and this corner storing miscellaneous items was situated right in its blindspot. But the warden and the visitors were not far away. As long as anyone looked over towards this corner, they would see the suggestive posture of the two men.

A cool breeze flitted through the shed, and the freshly cultivated soil bore red strawberries, like a small audience, smiling merrily at the two men.

The warden’s voice drifted over from the other end of the shed, which was particularly resonant in this empty space. Jiang Chijing was knotted with anxiety—he could barely believe the guts Zheng Mingyi had; how could he plant strawberries on his neck in such a public space?

Fortunately, the warden and visitors were engaged in good conversation, and no one noticed the movements in this corner.

Jiang Chijing eased up a bit but was still on edge. He felt breathless, as though he had dropped the balancing pole in his hands when walking on a tightrope at high attitude.

Zheng Mingyi seemed to sense that Jiang Chijing was no longer putting his heart into struggling; he lightened the hold on him, and his fierce licking and biting turned into gentle kisses.

In actuality, with Jiang Chijing’s strength, he was entirely capable of pushing Zheng Mingyi away by this point. However, his hands, latching onto Zheng Mingyi’s prison uniform, were never able to find the strength.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t find it, but that there was an evil little minion deep down in his heart, screaming with excitement, telling him to seize the opportunity to breathe in the pheromones suffusing the air next to Zheng Mingyi’s ear.

Jiang Chijing didn’t want to be this way, but he couldn’t control his hands. If he were to describe his mood now, he was seriously…

Going insane.