Restrictive Zone

RA 16 - Confinement

As it happened, Jiang Chijing's intuition was right on the mark.

He had considered that Chen Er would provoke Zheng Mingyi, hence with good intentions, had warned Zheng Mingyi to watch out for him.

But he didn't actually expect such a serious incident to occur in less than two days after Zheng Mingyi was transferred over to Block B.

A bone-chilling scream erupted from a corner cell on the ground floor, and all the prison guards in the cell block rushed toward that corner in unison.

Jiang Chijing had only just come through the corridor to Block B, still with undelivered mail in his hands. As a civilian prison staff, it wasn't convenient for him to rush to the forefront; he could only lean against the railing on the second floor and peer down at the situation in the corner cell of the ground floor.

Chen Er was led out of the cell first. His expression was severely contorted, and his whole face was beaded with sweat.

He had guards flanking him on all sides. It was only after the guards had brought him to the second floor and passed by Jiang Chijing that he noticed a toothbrush, with its handle ground into a sharp tip, was stabbed into his left palm, dripping a trail of crimson blood behind him.

"What happened?" Jiang Chijing pulled hold of a guard he was well acquainted with to ask.

"He got into a fight with 1017." The guard stopped in his tracks. "We're sending him over for a check-up with Dr. Luo first, I reckon he'll probably have to be hospitalised outside as well."

"Was it Chen Er who acted out first?" Jiang Chijing asked again.

"He said that 1017 was the one to provoke him first. Your guess is as good as mine," said the guard.

Every time a fight or a brawl occurred, the people involved would find excuses to justify their actions. While Chen Er said that Zheng Mingyi had provoked him first, it wasn't clear how much of it was the truth.

"This 1017 is really savage; he got into a fight twice and sent away two people." The guard jested, "If anyone wants to take a stroll outside to a hospital next time, they can just go up to him."

At this, Zheng Mingyi was also brought over by other prison guards. However, unlike Chen Er, he had handcuffs on his wrists.

The guards surrounding Zheng Mingyi weren't as tall as him. As the cluster of them approached Jiang Chijing, only Zheng Mingyi, in his bright orange prison uniform, had a palpable presence, whereas the other guards had pretty much faded into grey cardboard cut-outs.

Zheng Mingyi wasn't showing any particular expression on his face. Even his breathing was steady. If it weren't for the injuries left behind from the fight on his hand, it would have been impossible to tell that he had just disabled someone.

The distance between them closed. When passing by Jiang Chijing, an expression finally appeared on Zheng Mingyi's face. But it was very, very faint. He simply looked at Jiang Chijing calmly, as if saying: Morning, Officer Jiang.

But Jiang Chijing wasn't in any mood to greet Zheng Mingyi.

He and Zheng Mingyi had gotten too close during this period of time, so much such that he almost forgot how dangerous this man truly was.

Chen Er was sent to a hospital for external medical treatment, whereas Zheng Mingyi had his wounds tended to at Luo Hai's infirmary before being sent to a confinement cell in Block A.

The warden had immediately ordered a thorough room check and seizure of all contraband. The whole prison was bustling with activity. Only Jiang Chijing and Luo Hai had the leisure to smoke and chat on the balcony.

"The guard who escorted Chen Er over said that Chen Er had thrown the first punch."

Luo Hai had given Chen Er's left hand basic first-aid. He had greater access to first-hand information than Jiang Chijing.

Jiang Chijing wasn't surprised in any way. From his impression of Zheng Mingyi, only when someone first came to mess with him would he display aggressive tendencies.

"But there's a problem," Luo Hai puffed out a mouthful of smoke. He looked at Jiang Chijing, and he said, "The inmates in his cell all said that Zheng Mingyi was the one to provoke Chen Er first."

Jiang Chijing flicked off the cigarette ash with his thumb, asking, "How so?"

"Don't know," Luo Hai shrugged. "I'm only giving you a reminder. You'd better keep your distance from him."

Jiang Chijing didn't immediately answer. He didn't feel that he and Zheng Mingyi were so close to the point that he needed to keep his distance. He fell silent for a moment before asking, "What if it was Old Nine who instructed them to say so?"

"You're still speaking up for Zheng Mingyi," Luo Hai said.

Jiang Chijing believed that he was already being very objective, however, Luo Hai did have a point as well. After turning it over, it was possibly because he had more chances for interaction on a day-to-day basis with Zheng Mingyi and thus knew how he was like usually, whereas Luo Hai essentially only saw the way Zheng Mingyi was like when he beat others up.

Winding the clock even further back, not only did Jiang Chijing know what Zheng Mingyi was like in prison, but he'd also seen the way he was in normal life, hence instinctively spoke up in defence for him.

"You're still the same as ever," Jiang Chijing said, "always worrying about others."

"You know me, I can't help it," Luo Hai said. "I heard that Zheng Mingyi will be transferred to Block A after being let out of confinement."

"It appears you were right before," Jiang Chijing exhaled. "He might as well have been classified as a high-risk inmate from the outset."

Regardless of how it came to be, the result was still that Zheng Mingyi was sent to Block A, the cell block with the strictest security.

The inmates there were in a completely different class from those in regular cells. Most of them had blood on their hands and were either on life sentences or on death row.

These people were allowed a limited number of visits every month and weren't allowed to participate in the evening group activities. Even if each of them had a single cell to themselves, no ordinary inmate would want to be shut in there.

Zheng Mingyi's confinement period this time was 72 hours. Perhaps three days might seem like a short time, but when enclosed in a small and dark confinement cell, every second would feel unimaginably torturous.

The confinement cells were situated on the third floor of Block A. Normally, Jiang Chijing wouldn't make his rounds here when delivering mail.