Chapter 53

The work in prison isn’t something every inmate can do.

For violent offenders like Gui Liu and Zhao De, they don’t have that privilege. The majority of their time is spent confined to the small cell.

Guo Xiangshui has committed serious crimes, but his appearance and behavior are highly deceptive. As a result, he is often assigned to some tasks, most of which are manual labor.

However, the prisoners are still willing to do such work. Even if it’s exhausting, at least it allows them to move around, which is much better than sitting in a cell, bored to madness.

In political economics, it’s said that when communism is realized, labor and work become a fundamental human need.

An Xiaohai didn’t believe this before. People are inherently lazy, and the idea that labor and work become basic needs seemed impossible! But now, An Xiaohai believes it.

“I say, Ah Hai, did you offend Gui Liu’s group again?” Guo Xiangshui, who was shoveling sand next to An Xiaohai, asked quietly.

Since An Xiaohai had directly rejected Gui Liu’s offer, Gui Liu’s subordinates had started picking on him, some even speaking to him with harsh words.

An Xiaohai had tolerated it and didn’t handle it the way he did with Zhao De’s group.

Gui Liu was different from Zhao De. Gui Liu was very goal-oriented in his actions and generally kept a low profile. If you didn’t provoke him, they were likely to leave you alone.

As for the trouble caused by Gui Liu’s subordinates, there were two possible reasons: one was real revenge, and the other was that Gui Liu hadn’t completely given up and was trying to apply pressure on An Xiaohai.

An Xiaohai judged that the situation with Gui Liu’s group was the second case. If it were real revenge, they wouldn’t be so restrained.

“No, I haven’t offended them.”

“No way? I see them always picking on you on purpose.”

“Really, I think they’re just bored being stuck in here. Maybe they’re just looking for some fun. I can understand.”

An Xiaohai didn’t tell Guo Xiangshui about Gui Liu’s recruitment offer. There was no need, and if he wasn’t careful, he might directly offend Gui Liu’s group.

If Gui Liu lost interest in him because of this, it would be a big loss.

“That’s good. Those guys are very different from Zhao De’s group, so be careful.”

“I will, thanks, Brother Shui.”

“Ah Hai, stop being so polite to me! You’re making it seem like we’re distant!”

“Heh, sorry, I’m just used to it.”

“You’re doing it again! …Oh, by the way, Ah Hai, don’t call me Brother Shui anymore.”

“Then what should I call you?”

“Call me Uncle Shui. I’m almost 50. Calling me ‘uncle’ won’t hurt you! I have a daughter around your age. Calling me ‘uncle’ will feel more familiar!”

Guo Xiangshui said this while glancing around. When he saw no one was paying attention, he pulled out a photo from his pocket and handed it to An Xiaohai. “Ah Hai, this is my daughter, look!”

An Xiaohai took the photo. The girl in the picture wasn’t unattractive. In fact, she could be considered quite pretty, though her style was a bit shocking.

She had a big, curly, wine-red perm; through her ripped jeans, tattoos were visible on her thighs; she wore a tight leather jacket and was sitting on a motorcycle, looking very rebellious.

“What do you think? Pretty, right?”

“She’s pretty.”

“I told you! But she’s very disobedient! When I want her to go east, she goes west. It’s so frustrating! She used to be well-behaved when she was younger, but now she’s completely changed.

Anyway, forget about that. Once we get out, I’ll introduce you to her. Fangfang is two years younger than you, you’ll have things to talk about, and she might pick up a little of your more refined style!”

“She’s called Guo Fangfang?”

“No, just Guo Fang. I call her Fangfang.”

“Oh, that’s a nice name.”

“Nice, right? I came up with it! Hehe!”

“Stop talking, get back to work!” Mo Qinglian’s annoying voice came just at the right moment.

An Xiaohai cursed under his breath, handed the photo of Guo Fang back to Guo Xiangshui, and Guo Xiangshui quickly took it and tucked it away. The two of them resumed their work.

“Heh, you even showed me a picture of your daughter… You’re really trying hard…” An Xiaohai thought to himself. Guo Xiangshui had clearly been putting a lot of effort into him, but An Xiaohai wasn’t sure what his intentions were.

Anyway, An Xiaohai didn’t believe that Guo Xiangshui was interested in him or wanted to introduce his daughter to him.

Guo Xiangshui always carried the photo of Guo Fang with him, and An Xiaohai often saw him lying on his bed, looking at it for hours.

This showed how much Guo Xiangshui cherished his daughter. Such a precious daughter—would Guo Xiangshui really introduce her to someone like him, an ex-convict? Probably not.

Moreover, An Xiaohai recognized the motorcycle Guo Fang was riding in the photo—a Suzuki RG500, the same model that Liu Tianwang rode in the movie *”If There Is a Love”* a few years ago.

That motorcycle cost 500,000 yuan!

Yes, 500,000 yuan! In this era, that was a huge amount!

Think about it—500,000 yuan back then was no small sum! This was the official price! For such a popular motorcycle, the real cost would have been much higher.

From this, it was clear that Guo Xiangshui doted on his daughter to the extreme, and he had the financial means to do so. This made An Xiaohai more cautious about Guo Xiangshui.

Guo Xiangshui!

An Xiaohai quietly raised his assessment of Guo Xiangshui’s danger level by two notches.

Over the past two months, An Xiaohai hadn’t provided any information to Wang Tiejun. Wang Tiejun hadn’t contacted him either and hadn’t appeared in the prison. An Xiaohai didn’t know what he was busy with.

Jia Laer’s case was still under investigation, and Chen Shuifen’s suspicion hadn’t been cleared; in fact, it had intensified. Chen Shuifen had been ordered not to leave Shenhai City, and An Xiaohai suspected his mother was secretly being monitored by the police.

This issue was like a heavy stone pressing on An Xiaohai’s chest, and he wouldn’t be at peace until it was resolved.

But in prison, An Xiaohai had no other options and could only wait anxiously.

Tian Qiaoguang had approached An Xiaohai again, but this time he didn’t ask him to revise the circuit design. Instead, he directly requested the development of a visual intercom system using analog signals.

Hearing this request, An Xiaohai was a bit surprised. It meant that the company was growing quickly, and the boss had sharp foresight.

The market for visual intercom systems was still small, but it would become mainstream in the future. If they could develop and produce it now, securing some market share, they would have a huge first-mover advantage.

This type of system wasn’t difficult for An Xiaohai to design, but he chose to delay and acted hesitant, making no progress for two full months.

There was no choice—if things went as smoothly as before, it would be too fake.

At the same time, An Xiaohai was thinking about whether he could use this opportunity to meet the manufacturer’s representatives.

Though meeting them didn’t seem to have any major significance, at least by interacting with them, An Xiaohai might learn some useful outside information. It could serve as an additional source of intelligence.

For An Xiaohai’s delay, Tian Qiaoguang showed no displeasure.

His older brother, Tian Qiaoming, had already instructed Tian Qiaoguang. The visual intercom technology was cutting-edge worldwide. Having An Xiaohai design it was purely to test him.

What if it worked out?

It hadn’t been so simple. Two months had passed, and there was still no concrete feedback from An Xiaohai. But the ideas he had sent over were slowly getting Tian Qiaoming more and more eager.

“If only I could meet this genius in person and discuss these designs face-to-face…” Tian Qiaoming thought as he looked over the design drafts late into the night.