He Didn't Wear It

Li Ming helped Wang Xin tidy up the bedding and checked his own attire once more to ensure everything was in order before stepping out of the cell.

First, he headed to the factory area to inform the second-in-command officer about granting Wang Xin a day off. While there, he took the opportunity to check on Tan Qingqing and see if she was still holding up.

From a distance, Li Ming could see Tan Qingqing's beautiful face twisted in exhaustion. Assembly line work was relentless—one task after another, leaving no room for rest, grinding down both the will and the body.

She had been at it since morning, and even though Li Ming had taken her out for a short break earlier, it had done little to alleviate the strain for someone like her, a pampered young lady who had never lifted a finger for manual labor.

The monotony of the repetitive tasks was torture for someone of her background.

Tan Qingqing mechanically picked up another piece of clothing, her eyes vacant with fatigue. She was filled with regret—not for refusing to reveal the name of that influential figure to Li Ming, but for her own stupidity.

Li Ming didn’t even know who she was looking for! Why had she been so stubborn? She could’ve just made up a name or borrowed an official’s identity to deceive him. Instead, she had foolishly dug in her heels.

She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come—she was too frustrated with herself.

Li Ming watched her from afar but made no move to approach. If his skills hadn’t been enough to extract the name earlier, Tan Qingqing likely still had no intention of revealing it now.

She needed more time. When exhaustion finally broke her, she would come to him.

After observing for a while, Li Ming instructed the second-in-command officer to notify him immediately if Tan Qingqing reached her limit and asked for him.

The officer nodded in acknowledgment, committing the order to memory. But inwardly, she couldn’t help speculating—Tan Qingqing had just arrived in prison, yet she was stunningly beautiful and, from what she’d heard, still untouched. Had the warden taken a liking to her?

But then again, rumors suggested that Deputy Warden Lin Xi and Li Ming shared a close relationship. Would the warden really risk that for a prisoner? In terms of looks and figure, Deputy Warden Lin was no less impressive than Tan Qingqing. Unless… he had some peculiar fascination with prisoners?

The thought startled her, and she quickly dismissed it. She had worked hard to earn her position as an officer—it was best to just follow the warden’s orders. After all, the warden outranked the deputy warden.

Unaware of the officer’s mental turmoil, Li Ming arrived at the administrative building and took the elevator straight to Lin Xi’s office.

Knock, knock, knock!

Li Ming rapped on the door.

Xia Hong was the one who answered, while Lin Xi sat at her desk, engrossed in some paperwork.

"Warden, perfect timing! We were just about to look for you," Xia Hong said with a gentle smile as she closed the door behind him.

"Look for me? What’s up?" Li Ming asked, surprised.

He had come to Lin Xi’s office for two reasons—first, to check on the progress of the prison’s female talent competition, and second, to inform Lin Xi that he’d be driving Wang Keyan back to the city that evening. But before he could even speak, Xia Hong gave him a knowing, amused look.

"Good news! You’re going to be a judge!" Xia Hong explained with a grin.

"The number of participants this time is much higher than usual, so we’re holding preliminary rounds to weed out the less serious contenders. Lin Xi and I just discussed it—we want you to be the judge for the preliminaries. If you think a performance is good, they advance to the next round. If not, they’re out."

"Since the number of sentence reductions is limited, past competitions didn’t attract much participation. Those who trained usually got some benefit. But this time, thanks to our prison’s handsome warden, the inmates are signing up in droves, eager to perform for you. That’s causing an imbalance in rewards."

"If some put in a lot of effort but end up with nothing, they might start sabotaging other teams, and things could get messy."

Lin Xi picked up where Xia Hong left off.

"Exactly. To prevent casual participants from fighting over rewards, we’re having you judge the first round. No rewards at this stage—just a chance for the inmates to show off in front of their handsome warden while we filter out the weaker acts. Two birds with one stone!"

"Oh, and you also get to enjoy watching beautiful inmates dance for you. Three birds with one stone—lucky you!"

Lin Xi shot Li Ming a sidelong glance, imagining how thrilled this little rogue must be. So many beauties performing just for him—it was practically imperial treatment.

After hearing their explanation, Li Ming scratched his head awkwardly.

Was his charm really that powerful? Had he single-handedly inspired the entire prison to dance for him? That couldn’t be right…

"Ahem… Whatever you say. I’m fine with it. I don’t have much to do anyway. Just let me know when the competition starts."

Satisfied with his agreement, Lin Xi nodded and handed him a thick stack of documents from her desk.

"Here’s the list of participating teams. Look through it when you have time—consider it a way to get to know the inmates better."

"The longer you stay here, the more you’ll realize that despite the large number of prisoners, each has their own distinct traits. You’ll eventually recognize about 70-80% of them."

"But…" Lin Xi suddenly turned serious, her eyes narrowing as she fixed Li Ming with a dangerous glare.

"Don’t you dare get any ideas about these inmates! Remember your position! You know the consequences. I don’t want to see Uncle Li having to bail you out of prison someday. And I won’t let you off easy either!"

Her warning was stern, though she didn’t actually believe Li Ming would be foolish enough to cross that line. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Li Ming’s heart skipped a beat at her words. He quickly took the files and pretended to study them, forcing a confident tone.

"Pfft! As if I’d need you to remind me. Relax! Even if you didn’t stop me, my old man would personally throw me in jail—no bailing out!"

Despite his bravado, he had no real confidence. Internally, he groaned—it wasn’t that he wanted to get involved with inmates, but how could he refuse? Who would’ve thought that in this science-driven world, such an absurd system existed?

Dad, if you’re mad, blame the system! Blame the mysterious force controlling me! None of this was my idea!

Lin Xi rolled her eyes at his response.

"Hmph! You’d better mean that. Most of our inmates are serious offenders—some even on death row. If any of them suddenly turn up pregnant, you’re the only man in this prison. You’ll be the one holding the bag!"

She hadn’t thought too deeply about it—just a casual joke.

But for Li Ming…

The sky might as well have collapsed.

He hadn’t used protection.