Chapter Twenty-Five: Quarrel

  "If you don't ask, how would you know I won't say?"

  The old man looked at Qin Feng with a mixture of laughter and tears, but in his heart, he had a hint of competitiveness. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, it's time to let you off, go back to sleep!"

  "Good!" Qin Feng nodded crisply, without saying a single extra word, and turned around to leave.

  It's unclear whether it was his natural disposition or the hardships he had endured, but Qin Feng had always been very patient. Although he was anxious about his sister's whereabouts, Qin Feng knew that as long as this old man didn't permit it, he wouldn't be able to leave this prison.

  Moreover, Qin Feng didn't know what the old man was thinking, and instead of asking him directly, it's better to let him speak out himself. Sometimes having a strong curiosity isn't necessarily a good thing.

  After returning to the cell, people in the same cell were envious of Qin Feng's treatment.

  Everyone knows that Qin Feng's work today allows him to go out and take a stroll from time to time, which is usually only available to short-term prisoners. Unexpectedly, it fell on the head of this newcomer who had just entered the prison.

  Of course, considering that Lao Da Li is still in solitary confinement and seems to have a good relationship with Qin Feng, plus Qin Feng is tall and handsome, no one dares to express their dissatisfaction in the cell.

  The next morning, when Qin Feng went out to exercise, he was called over by the old farmer again. Since there were no water pipes on the vegetable field side, Qin Feng's task for the morning was to use a carrying pole to fetch water and irrigate the land, busily working until noon.

  Although the station queue was hard, it was always much stronger than the output. Watching Qin Feng sweating behind the iron wire fence made many other young people feel balanced in their hearts.

  This kind of life is far from being as comfortable as helping in the kitchen, some people are even relieved that they didn't get chosen themselves, and their envy and admiration for Qin Feng have subsided a lot.

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  "Director, I don't understand."

  The people's hearts were calm, but in the office, there were different opinions. Li Fan was currently in the director's office, and he, who usually looked like an intellectual, almost slapped the table with Hu Baoguo.

  "What's wrong with that? Old Xia is getting older, what's wrong with finding someone to help him out?"

  Hu Baoguo, who had always been hot-tempered, surprisingly smiled and handed a cigarette to Captain Li, saying: "Qin Feng's temper is too heavy, finding an old man to grind with might not be a bad thing for him. Little Li, I also understand psychology!"

  "What...what kind of logic is this?"

  Li Fan was so angry that he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. He pushed away the cigarette and said in a bad mood: "Qin Feng is a murderer who has been imprisoned, I suspect that his mind is extremely distorted and he has a tendency to escape!

  "Director, I request to replace him with a prisoner who has a shorter sentence and is closer to his release date."

  "You also know I'm the department head?"

  Hu Baoguo put his feet up on the office desk, rolled his eyes and said: "I disagree. If Qin Feng gets into trouble, I'll take responsibility. You little brat, stop lecturing me here!"

  "Director, you... this is unreasonable." Li Fan said angrily: "I will report it to the higher-ups!"

  Hu Baoguo waved his hand indifferently and said, "Whatever, I'm not even fifty yet, just thinking of changing places. You go find your teacher to help me move to a new place, I'll give up a month's salary, buy a bottle of Maotai to show respect to the old man!"

  Hu Baoguo knew that Li Fan's teacher was a professor at the Public Security University before being transferred to the Provincial Prison Administration Bureau as deputy director, which happened to be his immediate superior.

  If it weren't for their relationship, the hot-tempered Hu would not have bothered to waste words with Li Fan. He was likely to slap him in the face with his big ears, as he usually dealt with those disobedient old soldiers in the army.

  Of course, Hu Baoguo is not afraid of Li Fan making trouble. The old leader who participated in the Vietnam War more than a decade ago has entered the high-level military commission and may not be afraid of that deputy director if it's about relationships.

  "You...... you......"

  When encountering such a rogue, Li Fan was also at a loss and could only slam the door heavily, as for skipping levels to report, he just said it casually, otherwise even if Hu Baoguo was transferred away, he would still be unable to mix in within the system.

  In the early 1990s, human rule was still more important than the rule of law at times. As the head of a certain institution, Hu Baoguo wanted to insist on something that Li Fan couldn't change no matter how hard he tried. After arguing several times, Li Fan also had no choice but to give up.

  Qin Feng naturally did not know about the conflict between Shao and Zhongdui because of himself, he spent most of his time every day except for sleeping, busy in the vegetable field.

  The original old farmer Xia Lao Tou has thoroughly become a absentee landlord, plowing the land, sowing seeds, watering and other farm work have all been handed over to Qin Feng. Even when there is really nothing to do, he simply lets Qin Feng catch insects, saying that he is afraid of being eaten by insects and damaging the crops.

  Qin Feng has always been very calm, if not for the fact that he had once run away and was caught by his own hands, the old man would have thought he was a model worker in labor reform.

  "Qin Feng, I said you just beat up that old man and he'll come back, right?"

  Some people are laughing at Qin Feng, but others are sympathizing with him. However, Li Tianyuan's idea is too unreliable. Of course, if you're not afraid of being locked up and punished, it might be worth considering.

  "Beat him? I'm already lucky he didn't beat me."

  Qin Feng rolled his eyes upon hearing this, he wasn't one to not think of making things difficult for the old man, several times while working, he pretended to lose balance and tried to bump into him, but unexpectedly the old man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, not only did Qin Feng fail to succeed, but almost sprained his waist instead.

  "Li Lao Da, I'll take a nap. Tomorrow at four plus, let me go help with the kitchen work, I really can't hold on any longer."

  Qin Feng lazily waved his hand and fell back onto the bed, he had some kung fu skills but was still young after all. After a day of farm work, every time he returned to the dormitory, he just wanted to sleep, not even bothering to speak.

  "Ah, Qin Feng, for you..." Li Tianyuan leaned over to Qin Feng's bedside and handed him two boiled eggs.

  "Li Lao Da, stealing again?"

  Qin Feng didn't stand on ceremony, took the egg and tapped it lightly, peeled off the skin and swallowed it in three or two mouthfuls. He was growing up at that time, high protein things were never too much.

  "Where did it go? I saved this myself."

  Li Tianyuan called Qu Ge over, and he didn't mince words. Ever since seeing Qin Feng's low-key demeanor, Li Tianyuan unconsciously learned from him, and the bullying incidents decreased significantly compared to before.

  "Hey, Qin Feng, I've been practicing this horse stance for over half a month now, shouldn't you teach me something else?"

  After seeing Qin Feng eat the egg, Li Tianyu smiled with a thick face. In Li Tianyu's heart, only he knew about Qin Feng's escape in the entire prison. This secret known to only two people made him unconsciously closer to Qin Feng.

  Qin Feng shook his head and said: "Li Lao Da, after you can stand for an hour, I'll teach you other things..."

  For Baguazhang, stake work is a very important foundation. You should know that hitting someone doesn't just rely on the fists; the source of power lies in the legs.

  Qin Feng secretly learned the Bajiquan when he was standing in front of the stake for two years, and after the stake work had some achievements, he naturally felt that the movements that were not practiced before could be connected.

  So he wasn't just trying to placate Li Tianyuan, if he could master this skill, going out and fighting with others again, his combat effectiveness might not improve much, but if he was surrounded by people, retreating whole would be no problem.

  "Alright, you're a man of your word!"

  After hearing Qin Feng's words, a smile appeared on Li Tianyuan's face. In his opinion, it would only take half a month to squat for five minutes, and with two more months of effort, he could definitely hold out for half an hour.

  Li Tianyuan did not expect that even if he was willing to suffer, in the more than a year left in the juvenile detention center, he still couldn't last an hour, and until the day of his release, he still hadn't learned any other moves from Qin Feng's hands.

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  Before dawn, Qin Feng was taken to the General Kitchen by the instructor. After more than half a month of busy work in the vegetable field, he finally upgraded and was assigned to help with cooking for the first time.

  "Lao Xia, didn't you say you were going to wash the dishes?"

  Because all the instructors in the dormitory called Lao Xia, Qin Feng also shouted like this. He took a look at the pile of vegetables placed in front of the water pool and asked: "Is that all?"

  These vegetables piled on the ground, some are grown in their own vegetable garden, and some are bought from the surrounding market. At that time, it was not popular to use pesticides, except for some soil, they were relatively fresh.

  "What dish should I wash? This job is still not easy?"

  Lao Xia waved his hand to stop Qin Feng's movement, and carried all the green vegetables on the ground into the water pool, turned on the faucet to rinse them once, then picked them up into a nearby basket.

  "Lao Xia, is this what we usually eat?"

  Watching Lao Xia's movements, Qin Feng stared with wide eyes. He clearly saw that the cabbage was covered in mud and even had a large green worm crawling on it.

  "Not dirty, not messy, ate without getting sick, where did all those nonsense come from?"

  The old man glared at Qin Feng with a bad temper, poured a basin of warm water on the ground, and threw in a piece of soap that was almost used up by the pool. He said, "Young man, use your index finger and middle finger to pick it up. If you can't pick it up, don't eat breakfast!"