Chapter 52

After the noisy Spring Festival, everything returned to calm.

The winter vacation was short, and by the time school started, Lin Xuan’er had still not seen An Xiaohai for a second time.

Although, thanks to Guo Xiangshui’s mediation, An Xiaohai and Zhao De’s group no longer had any major conflicts, the hostility between the two sides was still very strong.

After some time of observation, An Xiaohai had roughly figured out the situation in Cell 27, where the 27 men were divided into four factions!

Gui Liu, Guo Xiangshui, and Zhao De were the heads of three of these factions.

Gui Liu was a drug dealer, Zhao De was the leader of a gang, and Guo Xiangshui’s background was unclear—no one mentioned it, and nothing could be inferred from his own words.

These three groups were organized and tightly controlled, while the fourth group was much looser, mainly consisting of people who had come together for mutual support. Yang Bo, who had come with An Xiaohai, was in that group.

It was clear that this group deliberately kept their distance from An Xiaohai, as he had offended De Ge as soon as he arrived, and no one wanted to be associated with him and his troubles.

Although the two sides were getting along for now, everyone knew it wasn’t over.

An Xiaohai didn’t push the issue. He could see through these people in prison—they were incapable of sharing both good and bad times together. The reason they gathered was merely to form a strong front, avoid being bullied, and perhaps bully others in turn.

But if they ever ran into real trouble, they would be useless.

Even if he joined one side, life wouldn’t necessarily get any better. There were still hierarchies within small groups, and the bullying would continue.

Thus, An Xiaohai and Peng Yuangui had essentially become the fifth faction in Cell 27.

There were two other people in Cell 27 who seemed particularly unusual. One was named Deng Wei, and the other was Lai Donglin. These two had almost no standing in the cell.

Anyone could bully them, and everyone liked to do so.

The reason was simple—Deng Wei was a rapist, and in prison, rapists rarely fared well, a rule that applied universally across the world.

Lai Donglin, originally an accountant, was likely imprisoned for embezzlement or similar crimes, but he claimed to be wrongfully accused. He wrote appeal letters almost every month, even though none were ever answered, and he continued to do so tirelessly.

To be honest, it was difficult for An Xiaohai to watch these two suffer. He saw a reflection of his former self in them.

But An Xiaohai never considered standing up for them.

Many things couldn’t be helped by outsiders. To survive in the first prison, where criminals were rampant, and to live a slightly better life, one had to fight for themselves.

Guo Xiangshui had always been the good guy and would occasionally try to make nice with An Xiaohai, either intentionally or unintentionally. Each time, An Xiaohai responded cautiously and politely, neither offending him nor getting too close.

There was no such thing as a free lunch. If you gained something, you had to lose something.

Although joining Guo Xiangshui’s group would bring more security, An Xiaohai would become a subordinate, obliged to listen to him and serve his purposes.

Unless absolutely necessary, An Xiaohai didn’t want to be anyone’s puppet. It was risky, but at least his current situation wasn’t bad.

One day, after An Xiaohai and Peng Yuangui finished their meal, they walked toward their cell’s dining area. Upon arriving, they realized all the seats were taken, except for those next to Gui Liu and Zhao De.

An Xiaohai frowned.

Clearly, this wasn’t a coincidence. It was very likely that Gui Liu had arranged this on purpose. An Xiaohai definitely wasn’t going to sit next to Zhao De, so his only option was Gui Liu.

“What are you standing around for? Sit down and eat!”

Mo Qinglian’s voice urged from behind. An Xiaohai took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Peng Yuangui, and the two walked directly to sit next to Gui Liu.

“Come sit by me, I’ll help you deal with the lunatic.”

After they sat down, the two of them ate in silence, and only when they were almost finished did Gui Liu speak.

“Thanks, Brother Gui, but there’s no deep hatred between me and Xu Tianyou. Thank you!”

“No deep hatred? You burned down my house, and there’s no deep hatred?” Gui Liu glanced at An Xiaohai sideways.

An Xiaohai quickly finished the last few bites of his food, wiped his mouth, looked back at Gui Liu, and gave him a faint smile.

“I’ve heard he’s a lunatic, so it’s normal for him to go mad from time to time. Actually, I don’t know what I did to provoke him. Everything was fine, then suddenly, he snapped and said he was going to kill me.

But, I’m not sure Xu Tianyou is the one who burned my house. I’ll definitely look into it. If it turns out it was him, I won’t let him off.”

“Interesting… not bad! Brother, if you really want to deal with the lunatic, come find me.”

“Thanks, Brother Gui. I’ve finished eating. I need to get to work. Otherwise, I might have to work overtime today.”

“Mm, go ahead,” Gui Liu nodded, continuing to eat. He seemed to take large bites but was actually eating very slowly.

An Xiaohai cleaned up his dishes, and he and Peng Yuangui left, walking slowly. They didn’t stop or look back as they left the cafeteria.

As they disappeared outside, Gui Liu rubbed his chin stubble, and his expression was strange—half smiling, half angry.

After leaving the cafeteria, An Xiaohai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been in Cell 27 for over two months, and today was his first real contact with Gui Liu! The conversation was short, but An Xiaohai had learned a lot of information from it.

First, Gui Liu and his subordinates must have been keeping an eye on An Xiaohai, or they wouldn’t have known that his house had been burned down.

Second, Gui Liu was probably serious about recruiting An Xiaohai as a little brother, and his offer to deal with Xu Tianyou was just a pretext.

An Xiaohai didn’t believe that Gui Liu could really do anything to Xu Tianyou. If Gui Liu were that powerful, Xu Tianyou wouldn’t still be alive and well.

Lastly, An Xiaohai felt that when he refused Gui Liu’s offer, Gui Liu was actually pleased. This was a feeling, not based on evidence, but it seemed correct.

“Really patient… These people shouldn’t be underestimated…” An Xiaohai thought to himself.

Gui Liu must have been Xu Tianyou’s archenemy, and he was also a drug dealer, which meant he was likely the “Sea Hawk” that Wang Tiejun was looking for. An Xiaohai had suspected this from the beginning.

An Xiaohai was truly planning to fulfill his promise to Wang Tiejun, so since he had arrived in Cell 27, he had focused most of his attention on Gui Liu.

It was inevitable that he would need to get close to Gui Liu, but after much thought, An Xiaohai decided to do nothing for now and just wait patiently.

Sea Hawk was Wang Tiejun’s lifelong enemy.

In another timeline, Wang Tiejun hadn’t been able to wipe them out, even at the cost of his life. This meant they were no ordinary group. Investigating such an organization would be perilous, and even the smallest mistake could lead to destruction.

If Gui Liu truly was connected to Sea Hawk, An Xiaohai needed to be extra careful.

How could he approach them without raising suspicion? The answer was to avoid approaching them directly, instead drawing them to approach him.

Only then could he minimize their suspicion.

An Xiaohai’s refusal to join Guo Xiangshui’s group was at least partly because of this.

Once An Xiaohai became part of Guo Xiangshui’s group, according to the rules, he wouldn’t be able to switch sides easily, unless the leader betrayed him. This would make it harder to approach Gui Liu in the future.

The reason for rejecting Gui Liu’s offer was the same—to reduce suspicion.

People are like this; things that come too easily are often not cherished.

Late at night, An Xiaohai had thought many times about how he should behave to appear more normal. His conclusion was: he needed to subtly distance himself from all the prisoners. Only this would seem truly normal.

Imagine a first-year college student who accidentally kills someone and ends up in prison. How should he act?

Despair would be the most likely response.

In another timeline, that was exactly what An Xiaohai did—he completely gave up on himself.

Alternatively, he might still harbor some hope, fantasizing about returning to a normal life after getting out.

If he held onto such thoughts, he would need to maintain a distance from the prisoners, or he might be dragged down by them when he got out.

So, when faced with Gui Liu’s invitation, An Xiaohai couldn’t appear too eager. He had to seem resistant.

This was his whole strategy for dealing with Gui Liu.

But the downside of this approach was obvious—Gui Liu’s reaction to being rejected was unpredictable!

It was possible that from now on, An Xiaohai would be excluded from Gui Liu’s attention. So, he needed to

 figure out a way to keep Gui Liu interested and prevent him from giving up easily.

“This is tough! It’s so hard right from the start. I really don’t know how I’m going to get through this…” An Xiaohai thought with a bitter smile.