Chapter 28

The next day, An Xiaohai requested to make a phone call, and at 8 PM, he appeared promptly in the duty room.

The phone rang once before Pan Zhuangzhuang picked up. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, An Xiaohai recited a long string of numbers. With just a few seconds left on the call, he hung up.

“What do the numbers you just gave mean?” the duty officer asked, suspiciously.

“They’re lottery numbers,” An Xiaohai replied.

“Lottery numbers?” The duty officer seemed uneasy but couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. After frowning and thinking for a while, he waved his hand, signaling An Xiaohai to leave.

The largest numbers in a lottery are usually only in the thirties, which certainly wouldn’t cover the information An Xiaohai was trying to convey. So, a special arrangement of the numbers was necessary, increasing their quantity.

The real issue that made the duty officer feel something was wrong wasn’t the number of digits, but the fact that An Xiaohai had recited over 100 numbers without pause. This was something most people would find difficult to do.

An Xiaohai realized this midway through and thought that next time, he might need to act like he was writing the numbers down on a piece of paper.

Back in the hospital room, An Xiaohai wrote up a report requesting to return to the prison in two days. With less than 20 days left, he needed to leave the hospital to prepare. That way, he could push his plan forward.

Another day passed, and once again, in the middle of the night, Wang Tiejun appeared in the medical office and woke An Xiaohai from his sleep.

“What’s going on with you? Why are you here again? What do you want me to do with the prison schedule from this period?” Wang Tiejun asked, sitting down and immediately firing off three questions.

“To save my life,” An Xiaohai replied, adjusting his position on the bed comfortably.

“Save your life? Explain yourself!”

An Xiaohai smiled slightly and then recounted the attack on him from a few days earlier in detail. Wang Tiejun’s face grew serious as he listened. After some time, he clasped his mouth and thought hard before looking back at An Xiaohai.

“This is really abnormal. I need to investigate those two officers!” Wang Tiejun said.

“No, don’t do that!” An Xiaohai quickly waved his hand.

“First of all, I’m not sure you’ll find anything. But if you start investigating them, our relationship will definitely be exposed. I’ll be in a worse situation than I am now.”

Wang Tiejun had no reply.

An Xiaohai was right. Any prisoner connected to Wang Tiejun would likely end up in a bad situation. Moreover, Wang Tiejun, as just the head of the drug enforcement team, had no authority to investigate corruption within the prison.

“And how does the schedule relate to all this?” Wang Tiejun asked.

“Of course, it’s relevant. First, I want to figure out who those two officers were. Second, I need to know their shifts. If I can’t confront them, at least I can avoid them,” An Xiaohai explained, lowering his head.

An Xiaohai knew his reasons were weak and that Wang Tiejun might not help, but he decided to try. If it didn’t work, he would find another way.

Wang Tiejun stared at An Xiaohai for a long time, then, after some hesitation, bit his lip and pulled a folder from his bag, tossing it onto the table.

“Look, but you can’t keep it.”

“Of course not, thank you, Captain Wang!” An Xiaohai said, eagerly picking up the folder and flipping it open.

After carefully reviewing the schedule for the day of the attack, An Xiaohai focused on the upcoming 20 days of shifts.

Wang Tiejun didn’t speak, just stared at An Xiaohai intently. The young man was becoming more and more difficult for him to understand.

—

At the same time, in a private room at a nightclub called “Paradise on Earth.”

Yang Yuanbing was pouring wine for a man in his forties. His expression and actions were very respectful, even servile.

“Director Han, this is a fine wine my classmate brought back from a winery overseas. Please try it!” Yang Yuanbing said.

The man across from him, Han Jianyong, was the deputy director of the Shenhai City Prison Administration. He was also one of the key figures Yang Yuanbing was trying to cultivate a relationship with. It was Han Jianyong’s instructions that placed An Xiaohai and Liu Jun together.

Han Jianyong swirled the wine in his glass, sniffed it, and then drank it down in one go.

“Good! Director Han, you really have a great tolerance for alcohol! Let me pour you another one!” Yang Yuanbing quickly poured another drink and downed it in one gulp.

“Foreign wines are nothing special; they can’t compare to our hometown’s Xinghua Village wine!” Han Jianyong said, smacking his lips.

“Of course, of course! But who has the same capacity as Director Han? That’s why we drink these lower-proof wines. By the way, I’ll be on a business trip to Xishan next month. I’ll be sure to bring you a few cases of authentic Xinghua Village wine.”

“Hehe, that sounds great! Come to my house when you’re back, and we’ll drink together!” Han Jianyong laughed.

“I’m looking forward to it!” Yang Yuanbing beamed.

“By the way, Yang, what’s going on with Liu Jun? The prison has had such a big incident, and the investigation has been going on for so long. Any results?” Han Jianyong asked.

“This is…,” Yang Yuanbing took a deep breath, knowing Han Jianyong wasn’t asking about Liu Jun, but about An Xiaohai.

“It’s a strange case. We’ve interrogated him repeatedly, but we still haven’t figured out who did it.”

“And what does Liu Jun say? Does he have any idea?”

“He truly doesn’t know. The attacker covered his head with a blanket, so he didn’t see who it was. Liu Jun’s left kidney was destroyed. He just had surgery to remove it a few days ago, and he’s not out of danger yet. His life is ruined,” Yang Yuanbing said in detail, trying to emphasize that Liu Jun wasn’t lying.

“Any suspects?”

“The biggest suspect is Wu Guanhai.”

“Why him?” Han Jianyong frowned.

Han Jianyong was cautious by nature. Yang Yuanbing was only in charge of the prison schedules, but others carried out the actual attacks. Han Jianyong knew that Wu Guanhai was the one who had been directly responsible.

Yang Yuanbing wasn’t aware of this, but Han Jianyong knew.

“I don’t know,” Yang Yuanbing shook his head. “When we asked Liu Jun who he thought did it, he was most suspicious of Wu Guanhai.”

“Ah, I see… Could it have been someone else? Why not An Xiaohai?” Han Jianyong asked.

“This is unlikely. The forensic expert confirmed that the attacker used his right hand. An Xiaohai’s right hand was broken at the time, so even if he wanted to do it, he wouldn’t have been able to. Besides, he didn’t even know there was a toothbrush hidden under Liu Jun’s bed.”

“Could he have attacked first and then broken his own arm?” Han Jianyong asked with a raised brow.

“That… seems unlikely,” Yang Yuanbing said awkwardly.

It seemed like Director Han really had a personal grudge against An Xiaohai.

“Why is it impossible? Don’t be fooled by his appearance! Fighting and injuring someone to death, is that something an ordinary college student would do? Don’t be careless! Make sure to investigate thoroughly!” Han Jianyong insisted.

“Yes, yes, we will investigate thoroughly,” Yang Yuanbing said.

“Good. So, is An Xiaohai still behaving well in the First Prison District?” Han Jianyong asked.

“He’s been behaving, though recently, there’s been some trouble.”

“He got into a fight in the hallway while picking up materials sent by his family. His arm was stabbed badly, and he was seriously injured!” Yang Yuanbing observed Han Jianyong’s expression while speaking.

Yang Yuanbing didn’t spell it out, but he knew Han Jianyong would understand the implication: someone was trying to kill An Xiaohai.

“This happened too?!” Han Jianyong was surprised.

Yang Yuanbing was also surprised, wondering if Han Jianyong had ordered it himself.

Han Jianyong lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then said, “That’s careless. How can your prison let prisoners fight in the hallways? Why wasn’t this reported?”

“It hasn’t been reported yet, but it should be by the end of the month. By the way, I was at a meeting at the Municipal Party Committee recently, and they seem quite concerned about An Xiaohai.”

“Oh?” Han Jianyong gave Yang Yuanbing a glance but didn’t say anything more.

“Director Han, let’s not talk about work. I heard there are some pretty young girls here recently. How about I call a few in to keep you company? I hear there are even a couple of college students.”

“Really?” Han Jianyong’s eyes lit up. “Well, I must see for myself! Call them in!”

“Alright, please wait a moment.”

Yang Yuanbing immediately stood up, stepped to the door, and quietly spoke with the waiter outside. Soon, a group of

 young girls in revealing outfits entered the room.