Chapter One (Part 1): First Meeting
At the end of May, in response to the local government's call for more humane management of prisoners, Xiaoya Prison, for the first time ever, came up with the idea of taking their measurements again and making a batch of new clothes for them.
Duhua Garment Factory received the order.
Xiaoya Prison was the largest prison under the jurisdiction of Zhangchuan, housing several thousand inmates. The group was a special one, and the workload was substantial, so the factory director entrusted the important task to Lu Yin, who had just been promoted.
Lu Yin was the deputy designer at Duhua Garment Factory. She had originally graduated from the fashion design program of a prestigious university in the province. With an education like hers, she could have had much better prospects. Given her abilities, settling for a position at a garment factory was clearly a waste of her talents. Yet for Liu Zecheng, she had given up the opportunity to pursue further studies, content with the status quo and deeply rooted herself in this field. She had been doing it for five years.
Early Monday morning, she took two tailors with her and hurried to Xiaoya Prison.
Iron walls separated two worlds. Inside the walls, the atmosphere was oppressive and terrifying.
After undergoing strict registration and inspection, the three of them followed the prison guards across the empty exercise yard. On the other side of the diamond-shaped fence, inmates were out for recreation. They leaned against the railings, their expressions fierce, their gazes ill-intentioned, following the women all the way with eyes as keen as wolves.
Lu Yin's scalp prickled, feeling every hair on her body stand on end. She forced herself to remain calm, withdrew her gaze, and walked straight ahead as she followed them through a doorway. Beyond the door was a long corridor, empty of everything, seeming excessively cold and solemn. It was very quiet. The only sound was the light tapping of her heels against the floor.
Lu Yin could not help walking on tiptoe, deeply regretting wearing high heels today.
They entered through an iron door. The room was very large, with only a single window high up on the wall, sealed with steel bars as thick as a thumb. The room was somewhat dark. Two incandescent bulbs illuminated the walls to a ghastly white, and the atmosphere was so heavy it seemed difficult to breathe.
The tailors were even younger than her. Usually lively and talkative, they now stood silently and motionlessly behind her.
Lu Yin ordered herself to relax. She turned around with a smile and reassured them, “Just work quickly when the time comes. Don't worry about anything else. Once we're done taking the measurements, we're out of here.”
The two responded and turned around to prepare the measuring tools.
About fifteen minutes later, the iron door was pushed open. Amid a rustling commotion, two prison guards entered first. They wore green uniforms, their shirts tucked into their trousers, equipment belts fastened around their waists with various pieces of equipment Lu Yin had never seen before. Each held a thick, long baton in his hand.
A group of men then filed in and lined up against the wall.
Lu Yin looked over. Every one of them had a shaved head and wore black tank tops and athletic shorts. Tall and short, fat and thin, old and young, they were a motley collection of people.
She stood where she was, not moving for quite some time.
The prison guard said, “These are representatives selected according to height and weight. The men's and women's prisons are being handled separately. You'll go to the women's prison afterward.”
Lu Yin picked up the measuring tape. “Okay.”
“Then we'll be troubling you.”
She smiled generously. “Not at all. It's what we should do.”
Lu Yin went over first. She gave them a rough glance. There were a little over twenty people in total. If they worked quickly, they could finish measuring everyone in half an hour.
There were two rows. Lu Yin went to the back, leaving the front to the tailors, weaving through the group of men. Aside from catching a peculiar smell, there was nothing particularly unusual. The smell was like some kind of signal animals gave off before going into heat to attract the opposite sex. It was so distinctive that it was almost impossible to describe.
It was understandable. The male inmates were all serving sentences of at least a year. Inside these high walls, women were hard to come by, let alone being able to touch one. So even if their gazes were brazen and they seemed restless with desire, it was inevitable.
Lu Yin worked quickly and soon finished measuring two people. She hung the measuring tape around her neck, lowered her eyes to record the measurements in her notebook, and took a step toward the corner, preparing to measure the next person.
“Hold your arms straight out,” she said with her head lowered.
The moment the words left her mouth, her movements paused slightly. A breath brushed the fine hairs beside her temple, making her scalp go numb. She keenly sensed the atmosphere around her grow more intense. Her eyes lifted, the tip of her pen scraping across the paper with a sharp screech, tearing a gash through it, and her body instinctively took half a step backward.
Only a ruler's length away, a monstrous beast was opening its bloody maw toward her...
An almost inaudible laugh came from above her head. She steadied herself slightly, stepped forward, and repeated, “Hold your arms straight out.”
A few seconds later, the other person lazily opened his arms.
Lu Yin's gaze darted away, repeatedly stealing glances at the chest as thick as a wall before her. His chest muscles were broad and firm, faintly gleaming with oil. A black jiaolong tattoo covered them, its massive dragon body coiled over his right shoulder, its head extending across his chest, whiskers flying, its ferocious eyes glaring. Its scales were evenly distributed, layered one upon another. The tattoo was rendered in black and gray, with touches of dark green bringing its eyes to life, making its gaze appear especially vicious.
The jiaolong was so lifelike that it seemed as though it could tear itself free from the man's body and emerge at any moment.
Lu Yin's movements became mechanical. Clearly, she was no longer as calm as before, and the order of her steps became muddled. She constantly felt a pair of eyes roaming over her body. Unlike the gazes of the two men before him, this was a gaze filled with an intensely aggressive quality.
Waist circumference, chest circumference, shoulder width, neck circumference. Her gaze followed along involuntarily, and then she saw his face.
The man stared directly at her without blinking, his expression carrying a hint of amusement, the corner of his mouth curling into an arc.
The first thing that caught her eye was a two-centimeter scar extending from the peak of his right eyebrow toward his temple. The scar was slightly lighter in color, standing out sharply against his bronze-toned skin. His eye sockets were deep-set, his eyebrows broad and level, his nose straight and prominent, his lips thin yet moist. Paired with that slightly fierce gaze, his features carried an indescribable wildness.
In short, no matter how she looked at him, he had a handsome, heroic appearance... Yet all she could feel was that he was ferocious.
Lu Yin quickly averted her gaze and bent slightly to measure his hip circumference.
She spread both hands, reaching around his body, then brought her arms together to catch the measuring tape. For those brief few seconds, they were far too close, and she smelled that scent again, several times stronger than before.
Lu Yin cleared her throat softly and looked away.
The measuring tape went around the man's hips and met at the side of his leg. Suddenly, a voice came from above her.
“Miss, that's too tight.”
His voice was slow and languid, rough like gravel grinding against teeth, hoarse and raspy, not pleasant to hear at all.
Lu Yin trembled, her hands tightening the measuring tape even more.
The other inmates burst into laughter. Someone jeered, “Qiang-ge, is it tighter than your hand?”
A roar of laughter followed. The atmosphere, which had been restrained and patient until then, finally erupted with that one question.
“Quiet!” the prison guard shouted, banging on the iron door several times. “Stand properly. 0852, settle down. You're getting out soon, so don't cause trouble.”
The room quieted somewhat, though some inmates still whispered among themselves.
The man licked his lips and lowered his head. Before him, the woman's cheeks were flushed, her eyelashes fluttering as she breathed softly.
Her hand was still extended, her movements stiff. She was angry, but she endured it, not daring to lose her temper. In a low voice, she retorted, “If I loosen it any more, your pants will fall down.”
Her voice was very soft and attracted no attention, but the man heard her and let out a muffled laugh.
Lu Yin straightened up, not daring to look into his eyes. She only shot a glare in his direction before turning her head away again. After measuring his trouser length, she quickly turned toward the others and did not look at him again.
The three of them were highly efficient. They finished everyone in twenty minutes. Lu Yin gathered her things and prepared to leave. She did not dare look back, yet she could not help thinking of that jiaolong stretching over his shoulder. It was imposing and arrogant to the extreme, yet it also seemed like a pet he had tamed, lying across his broad shoulder, waiting for the chance to strike.
Lu Yin shook her head, ordering herself not to think about it anymore. They were people from two different worlds, light and darkness, destined to travel in opposite directions. They would never meet again.
When she walked out from behind the high walls, the air outside was free, the sky vast and the earth wide. She felt so fortunate to be standing beneath the sunlight. Lu Yin was in an excellent mood. She glanced back and thought to herself that she would not come to this damned place a second time even if they beat her to death.
After the women left, the prison guards shouted commands and organized the inmates to return.
During the brief moment when they turned around, Lao Lai moved closer to him and whispered, “Qiang-ge, that chick just now was pretty good. Look at that figure, those tits... and that ass was big enough too. If only...” He did not continue. Lao Lai raised his eyebrows and gave two knowing, wicked chuckles.
Lu Qiang narrowed his eyes and rubbed a hand over his shoulder. Just now, her fingertips had brushed against his skin. That cool sensation seemed to still linger. He smiled, finding it interesting.
Lu Qiang lowered his head and glanced at his chest. That woman had kept sneaking glances at his tattoo. Clearly timid as a mouse, she had still pretended to remain calm and composed. Her eyes had darted around, yet there was a simple stubbornness in them. The way she looked, both naive and adorable, was so amusing that he suddenly felt like teasing her.
Life inside was harsh. You had to find some fun somehow.
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