Chapter 69: Zoo

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Daxiong had been in prison for over three months, with about another month of procedures to go before his case would be tried.

At 11:30 AM, the Dragon City Police Bureau's Criminal Case Detention Center served lunch on schedule. In Cell 106, more than thirty suspects were already sitting on the sleeping platforms in formation, waiting for someone to serve food.

The Criminal Case Detention Center was very different from a formal prison because it held suspects awaiting trial. The management system was relatively much stricter, for example, no family visits were allowed, and no outdoor exercise activities were permitted. In short, once people entered here, before their formal trial results came out, suspects had almost no possibility of leaving this cell except for judicial questioning.

More than thirty people were confined in a room of only forty to fifty square meters, staying there for four or five months, and they had to constantly worry about their trial results, so the people here all had somewhat distorted mindsets. Especially suspects who had committed serious crimes - they were filled with countless negative emotions, and their eyes all looked rather strange.

At mealtime, Daxiong held his bowl, squatting early at the cell door, ready to receive the suspects' meals through the feeding port.

Daxiong was intellectually disabled and had difficulty speaking. Combined with his introverted personality, these three-plus months since he came in had probably been more painful than what other ordinary suspects would experience in three years. Because this was a small society filled with evil - any suspect picked out would be someone who had broken the law outside. They weren't good people, so one could imagine what Daxiong's experience here was like.

Bullying! Almost everyone in the detention center bullied this young man with congenital defects. He did all the dirty and tiring work, and in their spare time, they would make fun of him.

Daxiong squatted at the cell door, dutifully receiving meals for more than thirty people before finally taking his own small plastic bowl, getting a little food, and squatting in the most corner position of the room to eat.

During meals, familiar suspects chatted in low voices with each other, but no one talked to Daxiong. He squatted alone in the corner, strictly following the detention center rules: no noise while eating, no loud talking.

Daxiong had a big appetite, and one portion of food couldn't satisfy him at all, so he ate very slowly, as if reluctant to wolf it down, breaking up the rock-hard steamed buns and putting them in the soup, drinking carefully.

After lunch, following the rules, the suspects began to lie down on the platforms, preparing for their afternoon nap.

Daxiong hugged his legs with both arms, squatting in a corner, constantly yawning.

A prisoner walked over and said to him, looking down: "You're on duty again this afternoon!"

Daxiong looked up at him: "Big... Big Brother, I'm too tired... I've been on night duty for several days in a row."

"Bang!"

The prisoner went up with a kick to Daxiong's head and cursed: "Why do you talk so much?"

Daxiong's head was kicked dizzy, but he just pressed his lips together looking at the other person, only nodding without arguing back.

In the Criminal Case Detention Center, during sleeping hours, two to three prisoners had to be on duty, because the police officers couldn't stay in the cells watching the suspects all the time. So the suspects had to monitor each other to prevent serious offenders from committing suicide, or those with explosive mental states from hurting others, or causing other troubles.

Daxiong had been on duty for many consecutive days. He always took the third shift at night, from 2 AM until morning, and he also had to be on duty during the afternoon nap. So his only sleeping time each day was during the first half of the night.

Daxiong could endure the physical exhaustion because he had grown up this way. But the mental exhaustion had already pushed him to the edge of mental breakdown.

The case of taking the fall for accidental homicide, his parents' selective abandonment, his confusion about the future, and various experiences in the cell - Daxiong had to bear all of these alone. He didn't even have anyone to talk to.

At noon, Daxiong was on duty with another person. They each sat in a corner of the room, not disturbing each other.

Daxiong leaned his head against the cold wall and naturally thought of Third Sister again, thought of the days joking around with Dog Six, and his little iron box where he secretly saved money.

Thinking of these things, a smile inexplicably appeared at the corners of Daxiong's mouth. There were too few things in this world that he could miss and be happy about, so he could only carefully, meticulously replay these memories over and over.

Perhaps because he was too tired, or perhaps because after extreme mental suppression and fatigue, people instinctively need to self-adjust, Daxiong fell asleep with his head against the wall, and before long started snoring.

After 12 o'clock, creaking footsteps sounded on the platform, and a prisoner walked to Daxiong's side, looked down at him, and slowly raised his arm.

Diagonally opposite, the suspect who was also on afternoon duty watched this scene and grinned meaningfully.

"Slap!!!"

An extremely crisp slapping sound rang out, and Daxiong was suddenly awakened from his sleep. He had been completely defenseless, and the slap left him both dazed and frightened.

"Who told you to sleep, huh?!" The prisoner bent down, pointing at Daxiong and cursing: "What if the officers come by for inspection and see you sleeping? Are you trying to cause trouble for me?!"

Daxiong looked at him with shock and anger: "I... I've been on duty for so long, I... I'm too tired, I couldn't control it."

"Talking back? Fuck your mother, you think you're still at home, doing whatever you want? This is a detention center, people here are animals, and you're trying to negotiate with me?!" The prisoner habitually raised his foot, aiming a kick at Daxiong's head.

"Bang!"

In his shock and anger, Daxiong suddenly stood up, just raising his arm once, and directly knocked the prisoner down.

How much noise would an adult's weight make falling on the hollow sleeping platform?

"Thud!"

A dull sound rang out, spreading throughout the quiet detention corridor.

All other prisoners in the cell woke up, and the highest-ranking brother in the cell asked drowsily: "What's going on?"

"He fell asleep on duty and hit me."

"You son of a dog, you idiot, don't want to stay here properly, is that it?" The cell's big brother sat up and shouted: "Beat him up!"

"Whoosh!"

More than ten prisoners in the cell rushed over and started beating Daxiong while surrounding him.

Daxiong leaned against the corner, relying purely on his weight and strength, instantly knocked down three people. His fighting was like a bear - if you punch him, he might not feel much, but if he punches you, it's basically like being hit with a hammer.

Although Daxiong was brave, he couldn't fight alone. The prisoners swarmed him and knocked him down.

There was an extremely ironic phenomenon here - many of those participating in beating Daxiong were also victims of bullying themselves, with very low status in the cell, but at this moment they all had bloodshot eyes as they participated in beating Daxiong. No one knew what deep grudge existed between them.

The fight in the cell quickly alerted the officers, and soon the alarm in the detention corridor went off.

......

In the urban area.

Xu Hu suddenly called Tang Baiqing: "I have some information, come over right away."

At the same time.

Su Tianyu was at home, happily preparing New Year's gifts for visiting relatives and friends: "Second Uncle, should we send something to the Bai family too?"

"Sure, give Bai Dabiao a pair of bright red underwear. If I remember correctly, it's his zodiac year," Su Zhengcai replied very politely.