Chapter 19

The juvenile detention center was originally a prison, with a history that could be traced back to the Anti-Japanese War period. These isolation cells were left over from that time. As far as Li Fan knew, he had never seen such professional isolation cells in the country. Even adults would suffer mental breakdowns in them, let alone these children.

In Li Fan's view, although Qin Feng was much more mature than the average child, he would likely not be able to hold out for a day in there. Just like when Li Tianyuan first went in, Li Fan had to carry him out himself.

"Qin Feng, come out. Open your eyes slowly when you get outside, be careful not to get hurt."

After opening the iron door, Li Fan, under the dim light of the corridor, cast his gaze toward the narrow isolation cell, ready to help Qin Feng out at any moment. This was not the first time for him.

"Are we leaving so soon?"

Qin Feng opened his eyes, a look of dissatisfaction on his face. In the past, he had practiced martial arts to avenge his grievances and avoid being bullied, and he had to hustle every day to make a living. Qin Feng had never had the time to carefully experience and reflect. Now, with such a good opportunity, it was suddenly interrupted, and he wished he could throw Li Fan out.

"You... What did you say?" Li Fan was very skeptical of his ears. Was there actually someone who wanted to stay in this hellish place?

"Cough, I mean, thank you, officer." Qin Feng realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly stood up and walked out. However, his unwillingness was evident on his face, leaving Li Fan unable to say any of the prepared words.

"Qin Feng, you need to reform yourself here. Don't bring the bad habits from the outside world in here, understand?"

After sending Qin Feng out of the cell, Li Fan could only give him a few mild lectures. He really didn't know what to say to this extremely unconventional teenager. His professional knowledge seemed completely inapplicable to Qin Feng.

"Understood, officer." Qin Feng nodded, showing no sign of dissatisfaction, which greatly disappointed Li Fan. He shook his head and turned to leave.

"Hey, kid, you're quite a character, huh?"

Just as Qin Feng was about to turn around, he felt a gust of wind behind his head. Sensing something, Qin Feng did not dodge, allowing a hand to pat his shoulder.

"Boss Li, what do you mean? I don't understand."

Qin Feng turned around and saw that the person who had patted his shoulder was Li Tianyuan. He immediately put on a puzzled look and acted nervous, saying, "Boss Li, I didn't run away during the fight yesterday."

"I know you didn't run away, you're a man."

Li Tianyuan tried to look generous, but his face, which had been severely beaten, still looked like a panda's, even after a day. He threw a cigarette to Qin Feng and said, "It's not important if you can't fight, what matters is having courage. From now on, you're my brother here."

"Brother Feng, let me light it for you."

Just as Qin Feng took the cigarette, Jiang Ping came over with a fawning smile, struck a match, and offered to light it for Qin Feng.

"Damn it, Jiang Ping, where were you yesterday?"

Hearing Jiang Ping's voice, Li Tianyuan's anger flared up. There were about ten people in their cell, and almost everyone had injuries. Even Qin Feng had bruises on his arms, but Jiang Ping was completely unscathed. He had been the last to leave for the playground yesterday and had slipped away unnoticed.

"Boss, I... I had a stomachache yesterday." Seeing Li Tianyuan raise his hand, Jiang Ping quickly clutched his stomach and shouted, "It's true, ask Skinny Monkey, I've had diarrhea all day today."

"Damn it, coward, move your bed to the toilet."

Li Tianyuan didn't want to deal with Jiang Ping's whining, so he just changed his bed location. There was no private bathroom in the cell, and the area near the toilet was not pleasant.

Jiang Ping's bed by the window naturally went to Qin Feng, which was Li Tianyuan's way of rewarding him.

"These are just kids, yet they make things so complicated."

Qin Feng shook his head inwardly. He hadn't expected to integrate so quickly into the cell, but for him, it was a good thing. At least, if he did something unusual, the other inmates wouldn't report it to the officers.

Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, Qin Feng had been in the juvenile detention center for a month. He had become familiar with the center's routines.

The center operated under a military-style management system. Every morning at six, they had to get up and exercise, breakfast was from seven to seven-thirty, followed by a half-hour break before political classes, which included legal and cultural education, aimed at preventing these young people from repeating their mistakes.

In the afternoon, they had some drill training to strengthen discipline, and in the evening, the juvenile delinquents had to write reflections, which the officers checked weekly.

For Qin Feng, this life was much better than when he first started wandering with his sister. He had food, drink, and the opportunity to learn. If it weren't for the need to find his sister, he might have wanted to stay.

"Why do I always feel like someone is watching me?"

After playing basketball on the playground for a while, Qin Feng looked around suspiciously. For the past month, he had always felt like he was being watched, especially on the playground, as if someone's eyes were always on him.

"I need to be more careful. If I can't escape this time, it will be even harder next time." The feeling of being watched returned, and Qin Feng lost interest in basketball. After playing absentmindedly for a while, he returned to the cell with Li Tianyuan and the others.

Qin Feng had been practicing martial arts for about six years. If he didn't practice every day, he would feel uncomfortable. However, in this place, he didn't want Li Tianyuan and the others to notice anything, so he secretly squatted in a horse stance during class, never sitting in his chair.

"Hey, Qin Feng, let me teach you a few moves. You're so strong, it's a waste not to know any martial arts."

Seeing Qin Feng doing push-ups on the ground, Li Tianyuan was amazed. The boy looked thin but had muscles like iron, very hard. He did three hundred push-ups every night without fail.

Of course, Qin Feng had never shown his martial arts skills. Several times when people from Nie Yuanlong's group provoked him during meals, he had backed down, appearing very timid. So, the other inmates in the cell thought he was just naturally strong and didn't suspect anything.

As the leader of the cell, Li Tianyuan naturally wanted to show off his martial prowess. However, after being sore and almost unable to get up for morning exercises the next day, he gave up the idea of competing with Qin Feng. However, he did develop a habit of exercising every night, which made his body much stronger.

"Boss Li, forget it. I don't fight, so why should I learn martial arts?"

Qin Feng looked up and smiled innocently. After completing his three hundred push-ups, he picked up a book and started writing his reflections seriously. No one could tell that Qin Feng had already made up his mind to escape that day.

In a month, the quiet and reserved Qin Feng had thoroughly mapped out the juvenile detention center, which was converted from a prison. He knew when the guards changed shifts, when the officers took over, and when the guards were most likely to be negligent. All of this was firmly etched in his mind.

At nine o'clock, the lights-out whistle sounded. The entire detention center was dark except for the bright lights on the walls, which illuminated the area like daylight. The entire detention center was enveloped in darkness.

Five hours later, Qin Feng, who seemed to be sound asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. He listened carefully to the breathing of the people around him and slowly sat up. If the lights had been on, it would have been clear that Qin Feng had not taken off his clothes.

He observed the window for several minutes. The guard who usually patrolled the post was nowhere to be seen. Qin Feng took a deep breath and got out of bed silently.

Without making a sound, he put on his shoes, crouched down, and approached the window. Using a bedsheet he had prepared, he wrapped it around two steel bars and then took a short stick, inserting it through the middle of the bedsheet.

Before going to bed, Qin Feng had soaked the bedsheet in water, making it extremely tough. After using the stick to twist it, the bedsheet gradually tightened, binding the two steel bars together.

The short stick was a piece of wood that Qin Feng had deliberately broken off a mop a week ago. The remaining part was hidden, and since it wasn't made of metal, no one paid much attention to it. Now it came in handy.

As he twisted the stick, the two steel bars, about the thickness of a thumb, began to deform. Qin Feng's movements became more cautious to prevent any noise. Each turn of the stick took about two minutes.

After half an hour, the two steel bars in the middle of the window were pulled together by the bedsheet, and the gap was wide enough for a person to stick their head through.

Carefully loosening the stick, Qin Feng slipped through the gap, moving quickly in the darkness. He knew that behind the window was the playground, and the only blind spot was the vegetable patch in the northeast corner. Due to the wire fence, only that part of the wall lacked an electric fence.

"He's actually trying to escape?"

Qin Feng didn't know that just as he slipped out of the window, Li Tianyuan, who was sleeping on the other side of the window, suddenly opened his half-closed eyes and tightly covered his mouth with his right hand.

PS: First update, please give me a recommendation!

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