The female prison guard was stunned upon hearing this, only then noticing the cold, wet sensation on her face. She reached up to touch it—it was drool!
"Ahhhh! Warden—!" She frantically wiped her face with her sleeve, looking utterly distressed.
Not only had she been caught slacking off by the warden, but he’d also seen her drooling in her sleep, lost in a steamy dream. Even worse, she’d imagined him as the male lead—and she’d even touched him… groped him…
Where was a hole in the ground when she needed one? She wanted to disappear! What should she do? Someone help, this was urgent!!!
"What’s your name?" Li Ming couldn’t help but find her panicked expression amusing.
"Warden… My name is Ye Mei, like the ‘berry’ in strawberry."
Hearing the warden ask for her name, Ye Mei thought to herself, "I’m done for! I’ve been singled out! Am I going to get disciplined? Ugh! I shouldn’t have stayed up binge-watching those short dramas—now I’m really in trouble!"
"Oh! Ye Mei! That’s a nice name. You don’t look very old—how long have you been working here?" Li Ming couldn’t resist teasing her a little, seeing her innocent expression.
"I just started two months ago. I worked so hard to pass the exam and get this job. Warden, please go easy on me! I’ll never slack off again! Waaah…"
"Go easy on you? Well… maybe." Li Ming chuckled.
"Really?! Thank you, Warden! You’re the best!" Ye Mei’s face instantly brightened. Who knew the warden wasn’t just handsome but also so easygoing?
"Hey, I haven’t stated my condition yet. Don’t celebrate too soon."
"Oh! Then go ahead, Warden! Tell me!"
Li Ming thought for a moment. He didn’t actually want to make things difficult for her, and he had other matters to attend to soon. So he asked,
"Do you have any talents? Perform something for me, and I’ll pretend I never saw you slacking off."
"Huh? A talent? Um… can I sing a song?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Ahem!" Ye Mei cleared her throat, then made sure the door was tightly shut. She racked her brain for lyrics but couldn’t remember any at first.
Then, inspiration struck. A melody slowly escaped her lips:
"They throw mud at me~ I use it to grow lotuses~
They throw stones at me~ I use them to build a little house~
Ohhh ohhh ohhh~
Ohhh ohhh ohhh~
I won’t dodge~ My eyes only see flowers~"
Li Ming couldn’t help but laugh and wave his hand to cut her off.
"Alright, alright, stop singing. I’ll let you off."
"Yay! Thank you, Warden!" Ye Mei jumped for joy. Good thing she didn’t just watch short dramas but also kept up with internet memes—they came in handy after all!
"Tch, I’m leaving now. I need to go into the cellblock. Don’t fall asleep again—remember to open the door for me!" Li Ming reminded her.
"Yes, Warden! Mission accepted!" Ye Mei grinned and saluted.
Li Ming shook his head and left the monitoring room, soon arriving at the entrance of the cellblock.
This time, before he could even raise his hand, the door automatically slid open.
Li Ming gave the security camera a thumbs-up and then walked steadily into the cellblock.
At night, correctional officers were on duty in each cellblock, sleeping in the break rooms near the entrances.
As soon as Li Ming entered Cellblock 1, one of the officers spotted him and hurried over.
"Warden? What brings you here so late?" The officer looked at him in confusion.
Prisoners were still human—they slept at night, so incidents were rare. This was the first time she’d seen the warden casually strolling through the cellblock after hours.
"Hmm… I need to go to Cellblock 2. Open the passage for me." Li Ming naturally didn’t explain further and simply gave the order.
"Oh! Yes, Warden!" The officer saluted, took out her keys, and unlocked the connecting door.
Li Ming didn’t let the officer follow him and walked alone to the end, entering Cellblock 2.
The officer in Cellblock 2 noticed him immediately and approached with a flashlight in hand.
"Warden? What are you…?"
The second officer looked surprised but also brimming with curiosity. Her mind raced—here comes the gossip! The warden sneaking into the women’s cellblock late at night? Was it a moral collapse or a twisted human nature?
Meeting the officer’s scandal-hungry gaze, Li Ming raised an eyebrow and whispered,
"Take me to… Tan Qingqing’s cell. Number 6725, the solitary one."
The second officer grew even more excited and nodded, replying in a hushed voice, "Warden, 6725 is all the way at the back. Let’s walk carefully so we don’t wake the others—their mouths aren’t exactly tight-lipped. Wouldn’t want rumors damaging your reputation!"
She winked meaningfully at Li Ming.
"Wait, what? What are you implying? I just need to ask her something. That look in your eyes is way off!" Li Ming could tell exactly what she was thinking. The gossip mill never stopped with women!
The officer quickly wiped the nosy expression off her face.
"I wasn’t implying anything! Sorry, Warden!" She thought, Darn it! I gave myself away!
"Ahem! Just lead the way." Li Ming rolled his eyes. This officer’s mind was definitely in the gutter.
Following the officer’s guidance, Li Ming headed deeper into the cellblock. They passed Wang Xin’s cell along the way, but Li Ming showed no reaction and continued forward.
He already had a plan in mind—though not the most polished, it was the only option he had left.
When they reached Tan Qingqing’s cell, the officer shone the flashlight through the observation window. Tan Qingqing was fast asleep.
A full day of labor had exhausted her. Her body ached all over—she’d never done this kind of work before. By the end of the day, she barely felt like her limbs belonged to her. She had cried the whole time while working, and if the officer hadn’t been supervising, the other inmates would’ve slapped her silly for being so delicate.
Even without physical blows, she hadn’t escaped their taunts. During meals, they’d mocked her with snide remarks until she was too upset to eat, her stomach already full of anger.
By the time she finally made it back to her cell to sleep, she hadn’t even bothered washing her face before collapsing onto the bed. If not for the thought that she just had to endure a little longer before she could get out, she wouldn’t have survived the day.
Li Ming took the flashlight from the officer and watched as she unlocked the cell door. Tan Qingqing, still deep in sleep, didn’t stir at all, completely unaware that two people now stood beside her bunk.
Li Ming shone the light directly onto her face. Even in sleep, her delicate features were marred by two faint tear tracks, her brows furrowed as if trapped in a nightmare.
What he didn’t know was that his guess was spot-on—in her dream, Tan Qingqing was surrounded by a mountain of laundry, crying as she worked endlessly, feeling like the task would never end.
She regretted everything. If only she hadn’t been so ambitious, if only she hadn’t tried to "go big or go home," she wouldn’t be suffering like this now…
…
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
