fight
Zhu Qinghe silently followed behind Li Qingqing, watching her stride away, her thin back filled with deep anger.
With a loud crash, the wooden gate slammed against the wall, and the female prisoners sitting and resting inside immediately looked over.
"Get out, all of you!" Li Qingqing shouted angrily, her eyes fixed on Sister Zhang sitting in the center.
The other female prisoners, unaware of what was happening, exchanged glances. This person wasn't the opera singer from cell number five. What was going on?
Now that we're all here, none of us are delicate little flowers, so even if she shouted, no one would listen to her.
No one moved, which made Li Qingqing even angrier. Just as she was about to attack without warning, a gentle, smiling voice came from behind her.
"Sisters, the deputy warden is looking for someone to be the consul for tomorrow's patrol. We two were too stingy and weren't chosen. Don't you sisters want to give it a try?"
The female prisoners' hearts skipped a beat. Consul, this was a great opportunity to show off! If they could curry favor with the high-ranking official who came on inspection, they wouldn't have to worry about getting out.
So everyone rushed out, afraid of missing out.
After most of the people had left, only Sister Zhang, Li Qingqing, and Zhu Qinghe remained in the house.
"Sister Li, I'll wait for you outside." After saying that, Zhu Qinghe went out and thoughtfully closed the door behind her.
Sister Zhang remained seated there calmly, her face expressionless, her gentle eyes drooping. Even her bland and listless face took on a sinister air in the quiet and gloomy prison.
Li Qingqing clenched her fists and asked, "Why?"
When Zhang Jie lifted her eyelids, the loose eyelid folds piled up, and her eye bags drooped, making her look older and more tired than her actual age.
"Why what?"
"I'm asking you," Li Qingqing shouted, her shoulders shaking, "why did you team up with that bastard to plot against me!"
Sister Zhang chuckled softly, "Qingqing, you're still too naive. Do you think it's so easy to get out of here? I'm doing this for your own good. If you serve the jailer well, you might still have a chance to get out."
Li Qingqing lunged forward with a "whoosh," slamming her to the ground with her weight. Zhang Jie, being older, couldn't withstand the impact and lay on her back with her eyebrows furrowed in pain.
Li Qingqing grabbed her by the collar, lifted her upper body off the ground, and said, word by word, "You're a woman too, don't you find it disgusting?"
Sister Zhang spat at her: "What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? You're just a gigolo, how are you any better than a prostitute?"
"He really thinks he's someone special!"
Li Qingqing slapped her hard across the face. "It's true that I'm an opera singer, but I earn my living with my own skills. Even if I were a prostitute, you have no right to look down on me!"
"Don't you have a daughter? With a mother like you, she won't amount to much in the future."
Suddenly, a light ignited in Sister Zhang's unfocused eyes. She suddenly sprang up and tackled Li Qingqing to the ground.
He grabbed her by the neck and said fiercely, "You're not allowed to talk about my daughter!"
Li Qingqing's face turned red from being pinched, and she dug her nails into the back of her hand on her neck, glaring at her fiercely: "I told you, you and your daughter will both die a horrible death!"
Sister Zhang: "Ah—shut up—"
Li Qingqing's throat made a gurgling sound as she was choked, and her eyes rolled back on her purplish-red face.
Hearing the commotion, Zhu Qinghe pushed open the door and, upon seeing the scene inside, rushed over and shoved Zhang Jie aside, shouting, "You're going to strangle her!"
Li Qingqing touched her neck and coughed desperately, tears and snot smearing her face.
I curled up into a ball, wishing I could press my forehead against my knees, and my throat was burning with pain.
Zhang Jie, who had been knocked aside, sat slumped to one side, her hand covered in bloody, mangled wounds from being scratched, and strands of hair that had fallen during the fight were scattered on her shoulders.
She's like a madwoman.
After Li Qingqing calmed down, she was about to pounce on Sister Zhang again when Zhu Qinghe stopped her by the waist: "Alright, alright, you've already fought, and no one got away with it. Let's calm down and talk things over."
Two disheveled women sat facing each other. Zhu Qinghe looked around and sighed; this situation was truly difficult to handle.
"Sister Zhang, although I haven't known you for long, I don't think you would do such a thing. Is there some reason for this? Can you tell us?"
Sister Zhang pursed her lips tightly, the dead skin on her lips digging into her tender flesh, but she quickly loosened her grip.
"The jailer said that if I help him, he will let me see my daughter once."
Li Qingqing exploded: "Just for this, you're pushing me into a fire pit? I treated you like my own sister, are you even human?!"
Sister Zhang panicked, her expression breaking down: "What can I do? I haven't seen my daughter for three years. That deadbeat of mine married someone else a long time ago. I know that woman; she's no good."
"I heard she's going to marry my daughter off to the old cripple in the east of the village. My daughter is only fifteen! She's not human! I have to get out of here, I have to see my daughter. I'll do anything!"
She covered her face with her hands and wept softly.
Li Qingqing fell silent. After a while, she irritably ruffled her hair. "Fine, this won't happen again. But if you really believe that bastard's words, how could he possibly let you go out to see your daughter?"
Sister Zhang wiped away her tears, lowered her voice, and said with a hint of eager excitement, "He told me that there are tunnels in our prison so we can get out."
The fact that there's an authentic local site is a truly unexpected delight.
Zhu Qinghe was still worrying about how to get out when this solution came to her.
Just as they were about to discuss the authentic route, a piercing ringtone started ringing frantically.
"That's the emergency assembly bell; something serious must have happened," Sister Zhang said.
Zhu Qinghe and Li Qingqing exchanged a glance. Seeing their strange expressions, Sister Zhang asked, "What's wrong? Do you know what happened?"
Her suspicious gaze lingered on the two of them, as if she understood something: "How did you get back? Where's the jailer?"
"He shouldn't be dead. He still has a breath left, but it's hard to say whether he can hold on until tomorrow," Li Qingqing said.
Sister Zhang angrily scolded, "Are you all crazy! You already have serious crimes to commit, do you really want to die?"
"Stop talking nonsense. It's all because of you. The murder weapon was your fork. You have to find a way to protect us, or you won't be able to escape either."
Li Qingqing took the wooden fork from Zhu Qinghe and held it in front of Sister Zhang's eyes. Sister Zhang's name was engraved on the handle of the wooden fork.
Zhang Guizhi.
Sister Zhang slapped her thigh. "What a tragedy!" She snatched the fork, stood up, and said, "Alright, I understand. Go out now."
As the emergency bell rang, the female prisoners lined up neatly outside the door, awaiting further instructions.
The deputy jailer hurried along, his brows furrowed deeply. He had no idea which powerful figure he had offended recently.
On the day the higher-ups came to inspect, the jailer was actually stabbed. Although he didn't die, the wound was to a major artery, and he lost too much blood and was barely clinging to life.
It takes two hours to get a doctor from this shabby place, and by the time the doctor arrives, it's uncertain whether the person will still be there.
Most importantly, who exactly injured the jailer? When he knocked on the door earlier, he clearly heard him having fun inside, and there were also female voices.
Could it be that the woman killed him?
But this is a women's prison, full of women. How is he supposed to find the suspect? Does he expect every woman to call out her name?
It's absolutely absurd.
The deputy warden walked to the center of the corridor, looking at the female prisoners lined up on both sides, his scrutinizing gaze sweeping over each of their faces.
"About half an hour ago, where were you all, what were you doing? Can anyone vouch for you? Tell me starting from the front of the line."
Although I don't know exactly what happened, judging from the scale of the incident, it's no small matter.
So everyone announced their names one by one.
"Half an hour ago, I was washing laundry detergent in the laundry room. Xiaofang can testify for me."
"Yes, we were together at the time, and the washed clothes were still hanging outside to dry."
As everyone testified, the deputy warden turned his gaze to the back of the line.
"You two, what are you doing with your heads down? Look up!"
Li Qingqing looked up, and the bruises on her face made the deputy warden raise an eyebrow. "Oh, you got into a fight?"
"Don't you know fighting isn't allowed in prison?"
Sister Zhang smiled apologetically: "Sir, it was just a small misunderstanding, it's been resolved, and it will definitely not happen again."
The deputy warden had no interest in their feud between women and continued to ask, "Where were you half an hour ago, and what were you doing?"
Sister Zhang continued, "Oh, is that so?"
“I was asking them, not you,” the deputy warden coldly interrupted her.
Sister Zhang chuckled awkwardly and shut her mouth.
Zhu Qinghe spoke up: "Half an hour ago, we went to see the jailer."
Sister Zhang looked at her with some shock.
The deputy warden's brow twitched: "Oh? Tell me in detail, why did you go to see the warden?"
Zhu Qinghe nervously clutched the hem of her clothes, "This...this matter is a bit private, otherwise..."
"Speak quickly!" the deputy jailer shouted, and the man in front of him trembled in fear, his face turning pale.
He stammered, "Sister Zhang told us to go. She said if the jailer took a liking to us, we could get out sooner."
"When we got there, the jailer didn't even see us. He just told us to get out of there. We heard there was someone else inside, so we came back."
"Then what was the reason for the fight?" This made sense to him. He scoffed inwardly. Did the jailer really think this was his harem, and was even selecting concubines here?
Zhu Qinghe said indignantly, "It's all because of Sister Zhang. She clearly agreed to introduce the two of us to the prison warden, but then some woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere and stole our opportunity."
“We went back and questioned Sister Zhang, but she still denied it. It’s really too much.”
Sister Zhang understood what she meant and hurriedly shook her head: "I really don't know who that person is. I clearly agreed with the jailer that there would only be the two of them."
The deputy warden wasn't interested in their pimping process. After asking around, he found a few suspicious people who couldn't provide any corroborating evidence. It seemed the suspect was among them.
The three men breathed a sigh of relief after the man was taken away for questioning.
At least for now, they've gotten through this hurdle. Once the patrol arrives tomorrow and their attention is diverted, they can find an opportunity to search for the secret passage and escape.
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