Chapter Forty-Four: Tug of War

As the only violent cell in the entire detention center, this room had seen countless tough men. Those who tried to rely on brute force to fight the rest of the cell usually ended up in a most miserable state. After all, the violent cell was meant for the most dangerous criminals—unruly, hardened thugs for whom devising cruel tricks was as natural as eating or drinking.

Moreover, Chen Hongxu’s sudden attack was mostly due to surprise; it failed to instill fear and instead incited the inmates’ rage. Of course, the cross-dresser among them was the weakest, and many in the cell secretly thought they could have achieved the same as Chen Hongxu had they tried.

Watching the other inmates pull out sharpened weapons—like toothbrushes and chopsticks—from beneath their bedding, Chen Hongxu smiled broadly, beckoned with a raised finger, and gestured for them to come.

It was destined to be an unsettled night at the detention center. The police, already instructed in advance, withdrew early and let the prisoners do as they pleased. Chen Hongxu’s continuous screams echoed from the violent cell, wailing like banshees, piercing through several walls and reaching the ears of a few officers who were slacking off from their rounds and playing cards.

“Third Brother, that high schooler looks so frail—what if the scum in the violent cell kill him? I’m afraid we’ll have a lot to answer for.” More than an hour had passed. Though Chen Hongxu’s cries were no longer as harrowing as at first, they now came in broken gasps, sounding like he was on the verge of death. One officer, staring at three bombs in his hand of cards, couldn’t help but speak up.

“It’s fine, nothing will happen. The Bear King, who just got transferred in today, will keep things in check.” Third Brother answered carelessly, and the others, recalling the arrangement with Bear King, fell silent.

If they really wanted to kill that high schooler, there were countless ways. There was no need to sacrifice one of their own—after all, accidents like “hide and seek” had happened before.

…

The next morning, Third Brother, who was in charge of this section, came to inspect the results, full of confidence. When he opened the door, he found all the inmates curled up on the ground, their fates uncertain. Chen Hongxu, who had only arrived the night before, lay alone on a cement bed built for ten, eyes open and smiling cheerfully at him.

“What happened here? What’s going on?” Third Brother roared in anger.

“Reporting, Officer, last night they saw I was new and wanted to teach me a game of tug-of-war. Who would have thought both sides were so evenly matched? In the end, everyone was exhausted.” Chen Hongxu grinned, making no move to get up. After all, though detained here, he wasn’t really a criminal; things like morning drills had nothing to do with him.

Suppressing a sense of unease, Third Brother scanned the cell as if searching for someone. Soon, his face darkened. Following a trail of blood on the wall, his gaze fell to its terminus—a burly man, even curled up, looked imposing. His body was perfectly still, lying on his side.

“Bear King?” Third Brother didn’t approach. His eyes snapped back to Chen Hongxu with disbelief. “You killed someone?”

It was obvious—even though Bear King was lying on his side, to someone with Third Brother’s training, the signs of death were unmistakable: not even the faintest rise and fall of breath.

“Reporting, last night one of the prisoners suddenly went berserk and rammed into the wall. I shouted for a long time, but no officers came to check. By then, he was already deranged, and I, being so weak, couldn’t stop him.” Chen Hongxu’s eyes sparkled with a mocking smile.

The truth was, when he first entered the cell, he’d suspected something was off with Bear King. Though Bear King hadn’t attacked him during the brawl, Chen Hongxu wasn’t one to let someone go simply because they didn’t get their hands dirty.

Once he’d dealt with the other inmates, Chen Hongxu coerced and cajoled the so-called police “helper,” Bear King, into confessing the real reason for his arrival. Bear King had planned to wait until Chen Hongxu had been tormented by the inmates before offering a way out—of course, the only way being a forced confession.

If that had been all, Chen Hongxu wouldn’t have killed him. But Bear King, seeing Chen Hongxu lost in thought, picked up a fallen chopstick and drove it viciously toward Chen Hongxu’s eye. Had it struck true, it would have gone straight through his brain, leaving no chance of survival.

But the difference in strength was enormous. Even distracted, Chen Hongxu was not someone a petty thug could take advantage of.

“No need to explain—it was you who killed him.” Third Brother glared murderously at Chen Hongxu, darted out of the cell, and locked the iron door behind him, clearly planning to call in others to execute Chen Hongxu on the spot.

“Who am I? Where am I? Weapon?” Chen Hongxu suddenly blurted out a series of odd words.

“Playing dumb won’t save you now.” Third Brother’s steps slowed as he walked away. After a dozen paces, something seemed to click in his mind. He shuddered, turned back to the cell, and stared hard at Chen Hongxu. “You’re ruthless. This isn’t over.”

Indeed, Third Brother realized what Chen Hongxu meant. Their side had planned to use questionable means for collecting evidence. They’d already been under heavy pressure when detaining Chen Hongxu, and transferring him to the violent cell without cause was wholly against the rules. Most importantly, it was the mention of a “weapon” that stung—if the higher-ups decided Chen Hongxu was immovable as a stone, they’d simply have Bear King deal with him and throw a scapegoat to placate the opposition, chalking it up to an “unforeseeable conflict between temporary staff and prisoners.”

But if they now used Bear King’s death as an excuse to shoot Chen Hongxu, it would be a clear breach of protocol—a game outside the rules. The consequences would be unpredictable; no one knew if the other side would use the same logic against any of their own people.

Watching Chen Hongxu’s ever-present smile, Third Brother could only swallow his frustration. The thought of having to write a report on the accidental death of borrowed inmate Bear King made him grit his teeth in fury.

He now realized that the rumor from headquarters about Li Tianpeng being beaten half to death was no exaggeration; if anything, the young man before him had shown restraint.

A tough nut to crack, indeed.

…

Director Gong, feeling much the same, slammed the phone down on his desk and cursed furiously, “Useless fools, all of you. Incapable of accomplishing anything but always making things worse.”

Director Gong had just received a call from Third Brother and learned everything had gone awry—even their own operative, Bear King, was dead. But the loss of Bear King stirred not a ripple in his heart. What truly unsettled him was a message from an old comrade in the provincial government: yesterday, a woman in a green dress had swept through, and every top-ranking provincial leader had cleared their schedules to await her visit.

There was another unexpected turn—public opinion had completely reversed.

The Xue family had gone all out. As a major enterprise spanning several provinces, their influence ran deep; they had connections everywhere. None of the local bigwigs cared about the standing of HJ City’s leaders. Overnight, the news that Chen Hongxu had been framed spread far and wide.

“High schooler involved in gang wars, slaughtered a dozen or more?” Such sensational headlines drew endless ridicule, with even so-called experts publishing research papers questioning the plausibility of the case.

Of course, the main reason was the Xue family’s deep pockets and willingness to spend indiscriminately—offering double the price for expert testimony, and even paying internet trolls more than their usual rate.

What baffled Director Gong most was that the incident in HJ City had drawn the attention of top officials in Beijing. Although it wasn’t certain if the news was true, there was rarely smoke without fire.

…

Meanwhile, a business van with Beijing AG6xxx plates slowly rolled into HJ City. Fan Caobao, who should have arrived long before, sat with dark circles under his eyes, staring bitterly at the woman sitting beside him, who rested with her eyes closed.