Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

"Ring ring... Ring ring..." A series of urgent ringing sounds rang out, and the prisoners seemed to be sprang out of their blankets as if they had springs attached to their bodies.

In the cells of the detention center, such scenes play out every day. After all, it's different here from outside. You have to queue up for everything, from washing your face and brushing your teeth to defecating and urinating. If anyone is a step behind, they will have to bear the consequences of falling behind.

The inmates in the first cell folded their blankets into neat "tofu blocks" and then lined them up in a row on the communal sleeping platform. After everyone had finished washing up, a shout came from outside the iron gate:

"Cell 1, meal service!"

Upon hearing the deliveryman's words, "Station Leader" Geng Dacheng immediately replied, "Received!" Then, the staff on duty went to the "dog hole" under the iron gate to receive the breakfast.

The food hadn't arrived yet, but everyone had already lined up in order of their beds. This formation determined the order in which they would eat. Needless to say, the cell leader, Geng Dacheng, would be the first to eat, while Cheng Dong would be the last.

The duty officer carried a large bag of cornbread in his left hand and a large plastic bucket in his right. The bucket contained not any big fish or meat, but a salty soup of radishes and cabbage without a trace of oil.

The breakfasts couldn't even be described as "simple." In Cheng Dong's opinion, these things were no different from pig feed back home, but even so, not everyone could afford them.

The first few "management" members had already received enough food, but the food became increasingly bland and watery as they went on. By the time the duty officer reached the people with small faces and Cheng Dong, the soup was almost gone.

Seeing that there was only enough food for one person, the duty officer looked troubled. Just as he was thinking about how to divide the food between Cheng Dong and "Palm Face", "Big Wart" with a face full of fat suddenly jumped in front of the three of them.

He snatched the plastic bucket from the duty officer and poured all the soup into the "palm-sized" bowl.

"Thank you, Brother Wart!"

"Small Face" was overjoyed, bowing and scraping as he thanked him profusely, while "Big Wart" didn't even glance at him. He moved to Cheng Dong, palm up, and handed him the cornbread, then yelled, "What are you staring at? Take the cornbread!"

Knowing that "Big Wart" was deliberately provoking him, Cheng Dong was not intimidated at all. Instead, he looked directly at the other person and slowly extended his right hand.

Seeing this, "Big Warts" gave a wicked smile, kneaded the cornbread for a while, and then threw a handful of yellowish-brown crumbs into Cheng Dong's bowl.

The cell was unusually quiet; everyone knew something big was about to happen. They all put down their chopsticks and stared silently at "Big Wart" and Cheng Dong.

The atmosphere was tense to the extreme, but Cheng Dong remained quite calm. He silently picked up the bowl, tilted his head back, and poured all the cornbread crumbs into his mouth.

After a period of vigorous chewing, Cheng Dong's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed the food.

Seeing that his attempt to incite trouble had failed, "Big Wart's" gaze suddenly turned fierce. Just as he was about to say something, Geng Dacheng, who was keeping watch at the iron gate, suddenly shouted, "Time for exercise is over! Hurry up and clear out the dishes!"

Geng Dacheng wasn't up to any good ideas. He clearly saw Warden Lu walk to the iron gate and deliberately called out to remind "Big Wart." They were very good at this cover-up tactic.

A few seconds later, the small rectangular window above the cell's iron door was opened, and then Warden Lu's voice came through: "Lao Chengdong! Come in for questioning!"

Cheng Dong answered "Here," and then walked to the cell door under the watchful eyes of "Big Wart" and the others, before sticking his hands out of the rectangular window.

Once the handcuffs were on, the iron gate opened immediately, and Cheng Dong left with Warden Lu.

No sooner had Cheng Dong left than "Big Monkey" kicked the empty rice bucket aside, gritting his teeth and roaring, "Hmph! You might escape the first day of the month, but you can't escape the fifteenth! Just wait and see how I deal with you when I get back!"

Everyone present could see that a battle between Cheng Dong and "Big Monkey" was inevitable, and people like "Palm Face," who loved watching the drama unfold, directly sided with the latter. He secretly informed on others, fanned the flames, and seemed eager to create chaos.

In the corridor, Warden Lu asked Cheng Dong with a suspicious look, "We still haven't been able to contact your family using the phone number you gave me yesterday. Hey, I'm telling you, did you give me a fake number?"

"How is that possible!" Cheng Dong frowned and immediately replied, "Did you call the landline and cell phone? Nobody answered? And could you at least let me make the call myself?"

"If you can't get through, you can't get through! Do you think this is some kind of place where you can just make a phone call whenever you want?"

After leaving Cheng Dong speechless, Officer Lu softened his tone and said, seeing Cheng Dong hanging his head and not speaking, "Okay, I'll help you with a phone application later. Now I'll take you to the call center."

"Thank you so much, Instructor Lu! I will remember your great kindness. When I get out, I will definitely..."

Before Cheng Dong could finish expressing his gratitude, he was interrupted by Warden Lu's wave of his hand. This strange old man wasn't buying Cheng Dong's act at all, and instead mocked him, "Stop, stop, stop talking nonsense here. That truckload of tobacco you resold is worth at least fifty thousand yuan! Do you think you can get out of here so easily?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Dong felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He touched his nose nervously and said, "Warden Lu, the officer who interrogated me yesterday said that what I did could get me two years in prison. If I can't contact my brother, I'm completely finished!"

"What? You still expect your brother to bail you out? During this crackdown, I advise you to give up on that idea! If you hadn't gotten involved in this kind of business back then, would you be begging and pleading now? In the end, it's all because you're blinded by money..."

Lu, the warden, went on and on, while Cheng Dong smacked his lips, not daring to utter a word. What the other party said was not wrong. Who told him to be blinded by greed and do such a damn thing!

While they were talking, the two arrived at the door of the call center. There weren't many phones inside, but there were quite a few people in line. After waiting for a long time, it was finally Cheng Dong's turn.

A police officer on duty led Cheng Dong to the phone. Before he dialed, the officer specifically instructed him: "Let me make this clear beforehand. Regardless of whether the call connects or not, you only have 5 minutes. If you exceed 5 minutes, you will have to wait for the next round. Also, once the call connects, you cannot talk about anything related to the case. Just tell me where you are and what you have done."

Cheng Dong nodded and took the receiver from the other person. He swallowed hard and then dialed his brother and sister-in-law's landline, but no one answered. So he dialed his brother's cell phone, which rang for a long time before a voice finally came through.

"Hey! Who are you?! Why are you hitting me so early in the morning?"

A voluptuous, half-naked, glamorous woman was complaining to the mobile phone. At that moment, she was lying next to Lao Chengxi, who was still fast asleep.

"Listen to me! This is Dongzi! Give the phone to my brother right now, I need to talk to him urgently!" Cheng Dong shouted loudly, no longer caring about anything else.

The woman was about to say something when Lao Chengxi, who had suddenly woken up, shoved her aside. He snatched the phone and launched into a tirade: "Second brother! You still know how to make phone calls? Tell me! Where the hell have you been? Get your ass back here right now!"

Despite working tirelessly all night, Lao Chengxi's mind was still clear. He wanted to take the initiative to prevent his own brother from bringing up that kind of issue with him.

Cheng Dong had no time to accuse the other man of womanizing; his only thought was to ask his brother for help. He gripped the microphone tightly and spoke rapidly, "Brother, listen to me! I'm in the Qinhan Road Detention Center in northern Shaanxi... Hey? Brother, hello... hello..."

Before he could finish explaining the situation, a crackling sound of signal interference came from the phone. A few seconds later, he heard the busy tone of the call being disconnected. Cheng Dong was both anxious and angry. If the call center officer hadn't been there, he would have smashed the phone.

Cheng Dong took a deep breath, preparing to redial, but the operator stopped him. "You've almost exceeded five minutes. I'll give you one more chance. If you still can't get through, you'll have to submit a new report!"

The police officer on duty has seen too many cases of suspects being rejected by their families and refusing to answer the phone. Giving Cheng Dong another chance to call back is also giving Lao Lu face.

Cheng Dong hurriedly pressed the redial button, while Lao Chengxi on the other end of the line was also anxiously dialing. It seemed that this call would not go through no matter what.

A minute later, Cheng Dong was kicked out of the call center by the call center officer. And Lao Chengxi? Naked, he ran to the window and made over a dozen calls, only to hear busy signals. The boss, seething with anger, had nowhere to vent his frustration. He slapped the voluptuous woman's buttocks several times. The woman dared not resist, letting out a few screams before obediently spreading her legs and lying flat…