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…
…
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
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!
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
