Chapter 24

"Government, I am innocent! They were the ones chasing me and beating me up!"

Upon hearing Hu Baoguo's words, Li Tianyuan's face immediately fell. This was the first time in his life he couldn't understand why the victim also had to be punished.

"Why didn't they beat up the others, but only you?"

Hu Baoguo kicked Li Tianyuan angrily and scolded, "What government? Who taught you this bad habit? You little brat, you just need a good beating!"

Generally, adult inmates in prison refer to the guards as "government."

This juvenile detention center was converted from a prison, and there were some old inmates who stayed after their sentences were completed. They had some contact with the children, so sometimes they would also call the guards "government" in private.

Seeing that his plea for justice did not change Hu Baoguo's mind, Li Tianyuan could only obediently follow another guard to the isolation cell.

With both parties now gone, the atmosphere in the cafeteria immediately relaxed. Of course, the daily one-hour break on the playground was canceled, and many people were probably cursing those two unlucky guys behind their backs.

Watching Li Tianyuan leave the cafeteria, Director Hu suddenly pointed at Qin Feng, who was about to return to his cell, and said, "You... come with me!"

"Me?"

Qin Feng looked around and pointed at his own nose, saying, "Director, you... are calling me? I didn't do anything!"

Last time, he suffered unjustly, and this time, Qin Feng didn't understand why the director was targeting him again. It didn't seem like his escape attempt had been discovered.

"Rubbish, I know you didn't do anything. Otherwise, you would already be in isolation."

Hu Baoguo waved his hand to cut off Qin Feng's words and said, "If I call you, you follow. Why so many words? Haven't you memorized the prison rules?"

"Yes, I will obey the guards!"

Qin Feng responded listlessly, his head hanging low as he followed Hu Baoguo. His mind was racing, "Could it be about yesterday's incident? But that doesn't seem right."

Hu Baoguo's figure didn't match the person from yesterday, so it definitely wasn't him. If that person wanted to harm him, they could have just shouted yesterday; there was no need to report it to the director today.

Thinking this, Qin Feng's mind calmed down. He looked up and saw that he and Hu Baoguo had already arrived at the playground. In the vast open area, they were the only two people.

Hu Baoguo suddenly said, "I've brought you here. Remember our agreement."

"What agreement? Director, what agreement did we have?"

Qin Feng, who was following Hu Baoguo, was completely confused by the director's words.

"I'm not talking to you."

Hu Baoguo turned around irritably, and Qin Feng immediately saw an old man with a deeply lined face, whose age was hard to guess, smiling at him from behind the wire fence about three to four meters ahead.

"You... you..."

Seeing this old man, Qin Feng's eyes widened. From the man's build, he could tell that this old man was definitely the one who brought him back to the prison yesterday.

Since last night, Qin Feng had been guessing, but he never would have thought that the "high person" was actually this old man who tended the vegetable garden right under his nose every day?

"What... what are you talking about?"

Hu Baoguo's voice snapped Qin Feng out of his daze, "Kid, you don't need to attend the morning formation training or the evening study sessions anymore. Follow him and help with the gardening. If you do well, you might have a chance for a reduced sentence!"

"What... what?" Qin Feng looked at Hu Baoguo in disbelief, "Let... let me garden, and I can get a reduced sentence?"

In both prisons and juvenile detention centers, inmates have to work for labor reform. Of course, the treatment for juvenile delinquents is better, and they only do some manual labor every few days.

However, in the juvenile detention center, there is one job that is done every day: kitchen help and miscellaneous tasks. To utilize idle labor, these jobs are usually done by the juveniles.

Of course, because kitchen help is done outside the security zone, the chance of escape is much higher. Therefore, such jobs are usually given to those who are about to be released.

Since they are about to be released, the juveniles generally don't try to escape, and the detention center is very lenient with them. Occasionally, they can even step outside the facility to breathe the free air.

So, even though it's just a miscellaneous job, almost all the juvenile delinquents want this opportunity. Qin Feng never thought that Director Hu would give him this chance.

"Alright, follow him. You must return to your cell before lights out at night!"

Hu Baoguo's mood didn't seem very good. After giving Qin Feng some instructions, he left with a wave of his hand. However, he didn't seem to fear Qin Feng's escape and didn't even warn him.

"Kid, are you surprised? Come over and plow this field for me."

Just as Qin Feng was standing there, still a bit dazed, the familiar voice from yesterday reached his ears. Qin Feng was jolted awake and looked at the man.

"You... who are you? Why does the director listen to you?"

Qin Feng had countless questions and doubts. He desperately needed answers because what was happening in front of him seemed absurd.

"Me? Who am I?"

The old man laughed and waved to the guard on the nearby watchtower, saying somewhat desolately, "I've been in this prison for over thirty years. What do you think I am?"

The guard, apparently having received instructions, didn't react to the old man opening the small gate in the wire fence, but his eyes swept over Qin Feng.

"Are you a guard here? Retired?"

Qin Feng thought he understood. Apart from this explanation, there seemed to be no other reason for the old man to be able to move freely in and out of the prison.

"Guard my ass, I'm the one being guarded!"

Hearing Qin Feng's words, the old man jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on. He pulled Qin Feng behind the wire fence and said, "Hurry up and get to work. Finish the job and go back to sleep."

"Okay!"

Qin Feng nodded. The years of wandering with his sister had taught him the value of silence. Suppressing his curiosity, Qin Feng really picked up a hoe and started plowing the field.

The place where Qin Feng used to live was on the outskirts of Cangzhou. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the city hadn't yet expanded to that area, and it was mostly farmland, not much different from the countryside.

When he was eight or nine years old, Qin Feng had helped people pick wheat ears and even planted rice and harvested wheat. He was no stranger to farm work, and he did it quite well with the hoe.

However, the plot of land the old man asked him to plow seemed to be newly cultivated. After plowing the one-third of an acre, Qin Feng was drenched in sweat. He leaned the hoe against the side and stood there silently without saying a word.

"Damn, I don't know if you're fourteen or forty..."

The old man stared at Qin Feng for a while. Seeing that the kid had no intention of speaking, he said, "Kid, don't you want to ask anything? Aren't you curious at all?"

The old man came from a prestigious family and had roamed the world since he was young. He had seen countless people, from high officials to common thieves. Although he had already thought highly of Qin Feng, he didn't expect a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy to be so composed.

"Curious, very curious, but if I ask and you don't answer, isn't it a waste?"

Qin Feng nodded heavily. His answer was simple, but it left the old man somewhat speechless.

---

PS: It's Monday, and every click and recommendation vote is crucial. Friends, please take a moment to support me with your votes!