Li Ming paid no attention to Wang Xin's peculiar gaze. He waited until the second officer and Wang Xin had placed Tan Qingqing's bedding and personal belongings into her cell before addressing the second officer.
"Second Officer, you may go rest now. I’d like to speak with them alone. I’ll call for you when I’m ready to leave."
"Yes, Warden! I’ll return to the guardroom then." The second officer saluted and walked back down the corridor.
Li Ming waited until the second officer was out of sight before stepping back into the cell.
Tan Qingqing had already collapsed onto the bed, having been dragged there by the second officer and Wang Xin.
Leaning closer, Li Ming saw that Tan Qingqing had cried herself to sleep, overwhelmed by grief from the earlier ordeal and exhausted from the day’s labor.
He shook his head, pitying her. She was at the prime of her life—she should have been outside, enjoying freedom and living fully. Instead, she lay in a gloomy prison cell, facing a staggering 25-year sentence.
No amount of money could change her circumstances. In this sunless prison, wealth was as worthless as scrap paper.
A flicker of guilt crossed Li Ming’s mind, but he quickly dismissed it. She had brought this upon herself.
Wang Xin, having finished arranging her own bedding, sidled up to Li Ming and nudged him with a finger as she gazed at the pitiable Tan Qingqing.
"What happened to her? Did our dear warden bully this pretty girl into such a state?" Wang Xin whispered with a playful grin.
"She’s struggling to accept reality. I didn’t do anything to her. Keep an eye on her these next few days, and notify the officers if anything seems off. I’m worried she might do something drastic," Li Ming replied with a wry smile.
"Aye-aye, Warden! Your orders shall be carried out!" Wang Xin blinked mischievously, her fingers trailing up to his shoulder.
Li Ming tensed, quickly glancing toward the cell door.
Tan Qingqing was fast asleep, but if the second officer suddenly returned and caught them, it would be disastrous.
"Hey, cut it out!" Li Ming hissed cautiously.
"Huh? You called me here, and it wasn’t for this? You really just wanted me to watch over her?" Wang Xin feigned surprise. Had she misunderstood him again?
"Ahem! Of course not… There are too many people in the block right now! If anything gets out, the whole prison will know by tomorrow. Do I look that reckless?" Li Ming lowered his voice, leaning closer to her ear.
"Tch! What’s there to fear? Just keep quiet… She’s dead asleep—she won’t wake up! Don’t men like you love this kind of thrill? Don’t say I never gave you a chance~"
"Hey, no—ahem!" Li Ming scrambled back, putting distance between them before he lost control and made an irreversible mistake.
Wang Xin giggled at his flustered reaction.
She hadn’t planned on doing anything serious—just teasing him. But seeing him so shy and nervous only stoked her interest further.
Instead of backing off, she pressed closer, resting against his shoulder.
The faint fragrance wafting from Wang Xin made Li Ming sigh inwardly. A mature woman truly was something else—impossible to resist!
But he hadn’t forgotten his original purpose. Finally, he pulled out a small pill from his pocket—emergency contraception—and handed it to Wang Xin under her curious gaze.
"You recognize this, right? I went out of my way to get it for you. We were too caught up last time and didn’t use protection. Take it now, and you won’t have to worry."
As he spoke, he popped the pill from its packaging and offered it to her.
But instead of taking it, Wang Xin gave him a reproachful look, then parted her lips slightly with a soft "Ah~"
Suppressing a sigh, Li Ming placed the pill directly into her mouth.
She swallowed it with a slight movement of her lips, then licked them, still staring at him expectantly.
Their eyes met, and the ever-perceptive Wang Xin broke the silence in a hushed voice.
"Now that I’ve taken the pill you went through so much trouble to get… let’s not waste it, okay~?"
Li Ming gulped before answering in a commanding whisper.
"Then… you’re not allowed to make a sound."
Wang Xin nodded with a sultry smile.
"Yes, Warden!"
……
The cell fell into silence.
Stimulated by the thrill of their surroundings, their encounter reached its conclusion swiftly. Li Ming remained wary of Tan Qingqing suddenly waking up.
Once satisfied, he calmly exited the cell.
Wang Xin felt no reluctance—only contentment. In over a decade, today had been her happiest day.
Li Ming passed the guard post, exchanging a casual nod with the officer on duty before stepping out of the block with an unreadable expression.
All his earlier worries had vanished, replaced by a deep, indulgent satisfaction.
Returning to his office, he freshened up thoroughly.
Now lying in bed, Li Ming mulled over his next steps when his phone buzzed with a message.
He picked it up casually, only to freeze at the familiar name on the screen.
Tan Chengcheng!
Opening the message, he found only a brief line:
"Warden, let’s meet. You choose the time. I’ll be waiting at Tianyi Villa. No matter how long it takes."
……
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
