What Do You Mean by Surprise

"Ke... Keyan?!" Wang Xin stared in disbelief at the tear-streaked face of Wang Keyan before her, her own tears instantly spilling over uncontrollably.

Now she finally understood why Li Ming had told her to bring tissues, saying she'd need them later. She had thought...!

Turns out, she'd misunderstood! Overwhelmed with joy, Wang Xin burst into tears.

She hurried to Wang Keyan, her hands trembling as she carefully touched her daughter's hair, afraid this might be a dream—that the slightest touch would wake her. She didn't want to wake up.

There was a time when she, too, had hair this long—around the year Keyan was born!

"My child! My baby! This isn't a dream! Keyan! I’ve finally seen you again! My daughter!" Wang Xin could no longer hold back. She pulled her weeping daughter into a tight embrace, her flowing tears silently narrating years of longing.

Feeling the warmth of her mother’s arms, Wang Keyan knew this was no dream. Hesitantly, she raised her own hands and hugged her mother back.

The two women clung to each other, sobbing.

Li Ming watched the scene unfold and let out a sigh of relief.

Good, no mistake here. After all this trouble, it would’ve been beyond awkward if he’d gotten it wrong.

Tactfully, Li Ming left the room to give the mother and daughter their privacy, stepping outside with a newfound lightness in his step.

Wang Xin and her daughter hadn’t seen each other in so long—they’d want time alone. Not wanting to intrude, Li Ming instructed two guards to keep an eye on things before leaving the administration building.

He hadn’t inspected the prison blocks in days. Now was as good a time as any, and he could also check on Tan Qingqing while he was at it.

Arriving at Block One, Li Ming was met with an empty space—not a single inmate in sight. Pausing in confusion, he quickly realized what must’ve happened and headed to Block Two.

Sure enough—just as deserted. He walked all the way to the end, crossing the yard before finally spotting the prisoners.

Lin Xi had brought him here before—this was the inmates’ worksite. Stepping into the factory area, rows of sewing machines filled the space, with prisoners divided into groups, busy at work. Seeing Li Ming, guards and inmates alike offered scattered greetings.

Li Ming nodded, casually observing their tasks.

The prisoners seemed to be making clothes, working in teams of over a dozen. The setup wasn’t much different from an assembly line outside—ten-hour workdays, part of the so-called "reform through labor."

Inmates worked five days a week, with one day for skill training and another as a rest day. Sounded decent, but as Lin Xi had once said, it was only decent on paper.

Sometimes, to meet deadlines, prisoners were forced to work overtime—with no option to refuse. It was far more grueling than factory work outside. After all, this was prison. They weren’t here to retire—they were free labor.

After a full round of inspection, Li Ming still didn’t spot Lin Xi, but he did find Tan Qingqing!

The woman was crouched on the floor, a small pair of scissors in hand, scowling at the endless stream of clothes passing by. Every now and then, she’d pick one up and snip off loose threads.

Tan Qingqing had indeed slept well the previous night. After returning to her block, the guards, following Li Ming’s orders, assigned her a single cell. She’d slept comfortably.

But the moment she woke up that morning, guards had rushed her through washing up and breakfast before dragging her here to trim threads.

She’d never done this kind of work before. Within minutes, her legs were numb and aching. When she tried asking for a different task, the guards shut her down—this wasn’t the outside world. No special treatment here.

Tan Qingqing then demanded to see the warden, only to be ignored. She considered making a scene, but one look at the female guard raising her baton in warning made her back down. Resigned, she returned to her miserable task.

Bent over her work, Tan Qingqing suddenly noticed someone standing in front of her. Looking up, she saw Li Ming and nearly leaped to her feet in excitement.

"Warden! Thank goodness! You have to save me!" She grabbed Li Ming’s hand desperately, clinging as if he might vanish.

"Save you? From what? You’ve been doing just fine from what I’ve seen!" Li Ming smirked, well aware of her reluctance. Her delicate, unworked hands were proof she’d never done manual labor—no doubt she was suffering.

"Warden! Can we talk alone? There’s something I need to tell you!" Tan Qingqing glanced at the guards behind Li Ming, not daring to speak freely.

"But... I still have inspections to do. Whatever it is, just say it here." Li Ming feigned indifference.

From the start, Tan Qingqing had been all defiance and attitude. Li Ming couldn’t resist knocking her down a peg.

"Inmate 6725! Spit it out! Don’t waste the warden’s time!" Deputy Warden Two snapped when Tan Qingqing hesitated.

"It’s... Warden, I... I don’t want to work. I’ve never done physical labor in my life! Warden, can’t you exempt me from this?" Tan Qingqing stammered when it became clear Li Ming wouldn’t indulge her.

Before Li Ming could respond, Deputy Warden Two cut in.

"No work? Don’t want to work? Should’ve thought of that before committing a crime! Everyone in prison works—no exceptions! Doesn’t matter who you were outside. Do well, and the warden might help reduce your sentence. Want out early? Then work! Refuse? Keep dreaming! You’ll work till your term’s up! Now get back to it! Slack off, and it’s solitary for you!"

The deputy’s tirade left Tan Qingqing cowering. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined prison would be this harsh. She’d thought she could tough it out—it wasn’t like she’d be here forever. But now, even a single day felt unbearable.

Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes.

Seeing Tan Qingqing reduced to silent sobbing, Li Ming silently applauded the deputy’s performance before patting her shoulder.

"Alright, Deputy, I’ll take her from here. A little ‘ideological education’ might do her good. You carry on." Li Ming fought back a grin as he gave the order.

"Yes, Warden! If she gives you trouble, just send her back. I’ve handled plenty like her—guarantee she’ll be working faster than anyone in a few days!" the deputy declared confidently.

Tan Qingqing’s spirits lifted at the thought of leaving with Li Ming—only to plummet again at the deputy’s words. That guard was terrifying, nothing like a woman should be! Once she got out, she’d make sure that deputy paid!

Unaware she’d just made Tan Qingqing’s revenge list, Deputy Warden Two shot a warning glare before returning to supervise the inmates.

...