69novels Chapter 16 A Feast for the Senses
Chapter 16 A Feast for the Senses
Women's prison ward, in the bathroom on the basement level.
"Thump—thump, bang, bang," came a muffled sound from the ceiling.
"Tian Tian is back. Qing Xuan, come and meet her for me. Sister Xi, you can't move around easily, so go and guard the door," Li Qi quickly instructed.
Before long, Tian Tian emerged from the ventilation shaft she had crawled through. Pang Qingxuan braced herself on all fours, with Li Qi stepping on her back, just enough to catch Tian Tian.
"Your round trip took almost four hours; I was worried something had happened to you. How did it go? Did you see them?"
The speaker was Pang Qingxuan, whose face showed some worry and anxiety. At this moment, she was most concerned about the library's affairs tomorrow morning.
After all, she didn't want to suffer the aftereffects; although she was young, she felt she couldn't afford it.
"Well, it went fairly smoothly. There was a section of the road that was very dark, with no light at all. I guess it's because there are no rooms below that section, so it took a little longer. But thankfully, I found them."
"I had them make a handwritten copy of the ventilation duct diagram that Lizzie made, and Ron will be doing the library assignment tomorrow morning."
Upon hearing Ron's name, a subtle emotion flashed across Lizzie's face, but she quickly returned to normal.
"They were supposed to be working in the bathroom this morning, but they probably went there in the afternoon because the supervisor who was showing them around had something to do."
So, they should be in the bathroom tomorrow morning. Ron will use the map I gave him to climb up to the library and meet us.
Tian Tian rattled off her plans for tomorrow in one breath.
"Do they have any new leads?" Lizzie pressed.
"Not yet, because they've been staying in that exercise yard all morning."
And all the questions they asked were the same old things; there haven't been any useful clues yet.
Tian Tian paused for a moment, then continued:
"However... one of them is missing. We haven't seen that person since we met at the exercise yard this morning."
I just asked, and they said they offended the prison bully and were forced to do chores, but they didn't know exactly what they were doing.
"So it's just the few of us who've been busy the whole time, while they get to just stroll around in the morning and then get fed up with the clues while cleaning up in the afternoon."
Pang Qingxuan grumbled, seeing that Tian Tian hadn't brought back any more clues from that side, and she was extremely dissatisfied with the performance of her teammates in the men's prison area.
"Will they come to the library every morning after that?" Lizzie ignored Pang Qingxuan's complaints and continued talking to Tiantian about serious matters.
"The time was a bit too tight, and we didn't discuss things in great detail."
Anyway, we can meet at the exercise area tomorrow morning, and discuss the details then if it's convenient.
For now, we can only take it one step at a time.
As Tian Tian spoke, she walked over to Pang Qingxuan and patted her on the shoulder:
"It's only the first day, so it's normal to not have many clues yet. Don't get impatient; it will only affect others."
Upon hearing this, Pang Qingxuan was dissatisfied, but she didn't say anything more. She just nodded, stood up, and began to finish cleaning the bathroom.
Zhang Qingxi's health no longer allows her to do these physically demanding jobs, so the cleaning duties have fallen to the other three.
After a flurry of activity, the prison guards inspected the cleaning of the bathroom right on time.
After checking them over and finding nothing wrong, the prison guard gave each of them a 5-yuan bill and then signaled that they could go eat and rest.
Lizzie and Pang Qingxuan helped the elderly Zhang Qingxi. Tian Tian originally wanted to help, but Lizzie stopped her, indicating that Tian Tian should rest first, and that she and Pang Qingxuan were fine.
And so, the three of them walked slowly toward the restaurant, keeping pace with Zhang Qingxi's pace.
It must be said that the food in the prison was really good, or maybe the three of them were so exhausted that they ate quickly and in large quantities.
Especially Tian Tian, who was holding a big chicken leg in her left hand and a big, golden-brown, fluffy bread in her right hand, taking bites from both sides without any regard for appearances.
She ate until her mouth was covered in grease and bread crumbs, and every now and then she would take a sip of milk to smooth it down.
Pang Qingxuan was shocked by Tian Tian's eating habits and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Lizzie stared blankly at Tian Tian sitting next to her, then a smile, which hadn't appeared on her face in a long time, appeared: "Eat slowly, I'll get more if you're not full."
After saying that, he gently patted Tian Tian's back to help her catch her breath.
Zhang Qingxi also shakily reached out and handed the toilet paper to Tian Tian.
The little incident temporarily eased the tension in the four people's nerves, and the sense of comfort after a satisfying meal also temporarily dispelled the fear and confusion in their hearts.
"Girls, you've all gone through so much. It's already tough here, and you've had to take care of me too. Sigh..."
Zhang Qingxi felt a little guilty. She wasn't someone who liked to rely on others, and she disliked causing trouble.
"It's alright, Sister Xi. You became like this because of our mission. Don't worry, we won't abandon you." Lizzie said, looking at Pang Qingxuan and Tian Tian.
The two nodded in agreement, but Lizzie didn't finish her sentence.
She meant that she wouldn't abandon anyone unless absolutely necessary. She wasn't a saint; self-preservation was her primary goal in this godforsaken place, and being able to protect herself when necessary was the most important thing.
Meanwhile, in the men's prison cafeteria.
After a busy afternoon, Ron and his group dragged their tired bodies into the restaurant. The three of them had spent the afternoon doing a full day's work, so it would be strange if they weren't exhausted.
As the three of them got their food and were looking for a place to sit down, Ron noticed a middle-aged man sitting alone, eating, about five tables away from him.
He got closer and realized that the person was indeed Xisang.
"Xisang!" Ron waved excitedly to Xisang, then turned and waved to Lao Zeng and Su Zixu, signaling them to come over.
When Xisang heard someone calling his name, he abruptly raised his head to search for the source of the sound.
When he saw that the person who came was Ron, his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, but the next second, his expression became serious again.
Seeing that Ron and the other two were about to sit down with their plates, Sissan stood up uneasily, about to leave, but Old Zeng, who was one step ahead of him, pressed him back down onto the stool.
"Don't look for me anymore, I've already told you everything I know."
Recalling Quaid's gloomy face when he questioned her that morning, Sissan, out of goodwill and also out of self-preservation, began to distance himself from their group.
Ron sensed the change in Sissan's attitude, and his expression turned slightly serious: "Has someone been causing you trouble? Why isn't Lawson with you?"
"No, no. Lawson will be brought back by the guards tonight, we're not together during the day." Sissan quickly waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.