Chapter 23: The Shrew’s Grievance Falls on Deaf Ears; The Eldest Sister Teaches You a Lesson in Manners

Jia Zhang spent her first night in the detention center on the cold floor right next to the toilet.

Soaked to the bone, shivering, and famished, she reeked of the foul stench of the latrine. The other inmates in the cell seemed to have completely forgotten her existence, chatting and sleeping as if she weren't there at all. "Sister Knife," in particular, lay on the "good bed" that Jia Zhang had been coveting, wrapped comfortably in a blanket without even sparing her a glance.

Curled up in a corner, Jia Zhang trembled uncontrollably. Never in her life had she suffered such humiliation! The degradation of being held down in a water bucket, the biting cold and physical pain, and the overwhelming terror rising from the depths of her heart kept her awake all night. But above all, there was resentment!

She hated Sister Knife, she hated everyone in the cell, but most of all, she hated Chen Mo! If it weren't for Chen Mo, how could she have ended up in this godforsaken place? If it weren't for Chen Mo, she would still be at home, eating the hot meals Qin Huairu prepared and cracking melon seeds while watching the world go by!

"Chen Mo... you wretch... even if I become a ghost, I won't let you off!" she cursed viciously in her mind.

At the same time, she was calculating how to take revenge on Sister Knife. A direct confrontation was out of the question; that woman was as tough as a man, and her own flab was no match for her. She would have to resort to underhanded tactics!

Reporting her! Yes! As soon as the guard came tomorrow, she would file a complaint! She would tell them everything—how they had bullied her yesterday! She would make the police officers deal with them!

With this plan settled in her mind, Jia Zhang finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

Early the next morning, just as the sky began to gray, the iron door of the cell creaked open.

"Get up! Everyone up! Out for fresh air, then breakfast!" a young female guard’s voice rang out at the doorway.

Everyone scrambled up nimbly and lined up to head out. Jia Zhang also scrambled up from the floor, seeing the female guard as if she were a savior. She rushed forward desperately, grabbed the guard’s arm, and burst into loud, wailing sobs.

"Officer! Officer, you have to stand up for me!"

The guard was startled and frowned, trying to pull her arm away. "What are you doing? Speak properly!"

"I can't speak properly! They’re going to beat me to death!" Jia Zhang pointed at Sister Knife and the others in the cell, beginning to embellish her story with dramatic flair. "It’s her! As soon as I arrived yesterday, she stole my things and beat me! Several of them ganged up on an old woman like me! They even shoved my head into the toilet! Look, my clothes are still wet!"

As she spoke, she wept, painting her ordeal as tragically as possible and casting herself as a pathetic old woman bullied by prison tyrants. Sister Knife and the others stood not far away, watching her performance coldly, their faces devoid of any emotion.

The guard had worked here for several years; she had seen plenty of these "newcomer complaints." She patiently listened to Jia Zhang’s wailing, then walked into the cell, took a perfunctory look around, and called Sister Knife over for questioning.

"Is what she said true?"

Sister Knife put on an innocent expression and shrugged. "Reporting to the guard, absolutely not. Seeing she was new, we were actually taking care of her. She wasn't careful herself and fell into the toilet bucket while getting up at night."

"You’re lying!" Jia Zhang shrieked. "You’re slandering me! You were the ones who pushed me in!"

"We pushed you? Why would we do that?" Sister Knife looked baffled. "Ma'am, you need evidence for such claims. We all saw you fall in yourself."

"Yes! We all saw it!" the other inmates immediately chimed in.

"You! You’re all ganging up to bully me!" Jia Zhang trembled with rage.

The guard watched the farce before her, knowing the truth as clearly as a mirror. But she couldn't be bothered to dig deeper. In a place like this, it was common for veterans to bully newcomers; as long as no one died and nothing major happened, they usually turned a blind eye. If the water was too clear, there would be no fish, and being too strict only invited trouble.

"Enough! Stop the squabbling!" the guard barked impatiently. She warned Sister Knife, "Regardless of what happened, no bullying newcomers in the future! You’re all under the same roof, so learn to cooperate and focus on your rehabilitation! Another time, and I’ll add time to your sentence!"

The words were toothless, as good as not saying anything at all. She then turned to Jia Zhang. "And you, since you’re here, follow the rules! Don't stir up trouble all day long! Go wash your face, change into dry clothes, and get ready to eat!"

With that, the guard turned and left, not taking Jia Zhang’s "grievances" seriously at all.

Jia Zhang was completely stunned. She had assumed that as soon as she complained, the police would immediately arrest Sister Knife and the others to vent her anger. She never expected it to end with just a few airy words. This was completely different from what she had imagined!

She stood there blankly until everyone had left the cell for the courtyard, and only then did it hit her. When she returned to the cell, looking utterly dejected, she found Sister Knife sitting on her bunk, looking at her with a mocking smile.

"Did you enjoy reporting us?"

Jia Zhang looked at the scarred face and felt a chill rise in her, causing her to instinctively step back. "What... what do you want? The guard said no bullying newcomers!" She tried to use the guard's words as a shield.

"Right, the guard did say that." Sister Knife nodded, then slowly climbed down from the bed and walked toward her, step by step. The other inmates in the cell blocked the door with practiced coordination, wearing malicious smiles.

"The guard also said we should ‘cooperate and help each other.’"

Sister Knife walked up to Jia Zhang and patted her chubby cheeks—the motion like someone slapping a pig's head. "We saw you didn't sleep well last night, and the floor was too cold. So, we decided to help you 'get your blood flowing' to keep you warm."

"You... don't come over here!" Jia Zhang’s legs went weak with fear, and she turned to run, but the door was already blocked.

"Running? Where do you think you're going?" A tall, thin woman grabbed her hair and dragged her back.

"Sisters, today, let's teach this 'heroic' grandma what 'rules' are!"

At a wave from Sister Knife, the women swarmed her. They dragged Jia Zhang into a blind spot of the security camera and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks. They were careful, striking only the fleshy parts where bruises wouldn't be easily seen—her stomach, back, and thighs.

"Ah! Stop! I was wrong! I won't dare do it again!"

Jia Zhang’s screams echoed through the cell, but soon her mouth was stuffed with a filthy rag. She could only emit muffled, pathetic wails.

This "blood-flow exercise" lasted for over ten minutes. When the women finally stopped, Jia Zhang lay on the floor like a pile of mud, racked with pain, unable to move a single finger. She was battered and bruised, her hair disheveled, and her prison uniform torn to shreds; she looked a hundred times more wretched than the day before.

Sister Knife squatted down and pulled the rag from her mouth. "Now, do you still want to report us?"

Jia Zhang looked at her, her eyes filled with terror and despair. She shook her head desperately, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"No... I wouldn't dare... never again..."

She finally understood. Here, the guard’s words were nothing but hot air; fists were the only truth!

"Very good." Sister Knife nodded in satisfaction. "Remember, next time, it won't be this simple." She stood up and said to the others, "Let's go, time to eat. Leave her, let her reflect on things here."

The group left, laughing and chatting as if nothing had happened. Jia Zhang was left all alone, lying on the cold floor like a dead dog, feeling the waves of excruciating pain and the bone-deep chill.

She regretted it. She shouldn't have taken the blame for Bang Geng.

She wanted to go home.