Life at Stanley Prison remained the same. Every day basically revolved around the same three points.
Work, get off work, eat, wash up, sleep.
Boring and utterly uneventful.
Only occasionally did conflicts erupt between inmates in certain cells or among gang members.
In the bathhouse, the toilets, or some corner where no one could see clearly.
There were always whispers, curses, and the sounds of arguments or fights.
But Song Ren's cell had become much quieter for various reasons.
A new cellmate had arrived, a gang underling.
He had no backing, so naturally, Fierce Ghost's men ordered him around.
A Hu would join in from time to time, bullying the newcomer to pass the boring days of his sentence.
Unlike this new cellmate, Chan Ka Lok had no backing in Stanley either and appeared to be the weakest of the lot, yet no one targeted him.
He looked timid and fearful, as though he was afraid of everything, but he was very perceptive.
He had recognized the situation he faced early on and spent every day currying favor with Song Ren.
Serving him tea and water, getting his food, and folding his blankets.
Like a loyal servant from ancient times, which left Song Ren feeling somewhat awkward.
He had reminded him several times, "A Lok, you don't need to humble yourself this much."
But A Lok was happy to do it. His timid appearance was merely a protective shell.
He was intelligent and had a clear understanding of himself.
In Stanley Prison, with his refined and scholarly build, he had to cling to someone powerful if he wanted to avoid being bullied.
And Song Ren was currently the person in the entire prison block whom outsiders feared the most.
They lived in the same cell, and after spending some time with him, A Lok had sensed Song Ren's restrained nature.
So he had displayed the attitude of being Song Ren's willing foot soldier from the very beginning. To establish that image, he had lowered himself as much as possible.
However, he was not deliberately putting on this act for Song Ren. He was doing it for everyone else to see.
That way, they would not come looking for trouble with him.
The only regret was that Brother Ren's sentence was too short.
Although it was somewhat despicable to think this way, it would have been great if Brother Ren had a life sentence like him...
He knew that Brother Ren understood him, because Song Ren had never said anything about it or made things difficult for him like the others did.
So he became even more grateful for this silent protection and naturally became happy to serve as Song Ren's foot soldier.
The prison-block cafeteria at noon.
A Lok returned with the food and placed a prepared portion in front of Song Ren, then asked proactively:
"Brother Ren, what are you thinking about? You look pretty distracted."
"Nothing." Song Ren merely smiled and said no more.
A month was almost up. Song Ren was considering how to deal with A Ji of Zhong Yi Xin. He absolutely could not let A Ji leave before him.
It was just that Zhong Yi Xin's people had kept a much lower profile lately.
The killer A Ji might have been concerned about his approaching release date. He had never caused Song Ren any trouble, which left Song Ren with no excuse to make a move.
Starting trouble intentionally and being dragged into trouble passively would result in completely different punishments.
Song Ren had thought A Ji would be unable to hold back, but now that his sentence was about to end, there had been no movement at all. This left him somewhat disappointed.
"A Ren."
"Brother Ren."
"Brother Ren."
Fierce Ghost sat across from them with two underlings. After greeting them, he leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"A Ren, tell A Lok to be careful lately. Someone in the block has put out word that they want a bounty on him. It seems someone is planning to deal with him."
A Lok heard some of it as well. He froze briefly, then forced out a smile. "Stop joking, Brother Ghost. I only know you guys here in Stanley."
Yau Kong Ngau returned with his food and sat beside Song Ren. "Brother Ren, is something wrong?"
Song Ren nodded at him, then turned and asked, "A Lok, did you offend someone?"
A Lok's expression turned ugly. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head.
"No. I've been following behind you, Brother Ren, all this time. I've been very careful. No one's come to bully me, and I never take the initiative to provoke anyone."
Song Ren took a bite of his steamed bun. "Hmm. In that case, you may have caused trouble outside, and they've chased you in here."
"..." The color drained from A Lok's face.
Yau Kong Ngau had more or less understood. He asked, "A Lok, who did you offend outside? You were given a life sentence, and they still won't let you go?"
A Lok's expression shifted between light and dark. After a long while, he gritted his teeth and spat out a name: "Fok Siu Tong!"
Crash!
Yau Kong Ngau abruptly stood up. For the first time in front of Song Ren, the usually calm man revealed a violent temper.
His pupils seemed to be filled with frost. "Who?"
A Lok froze as well. Was he asking who I had offended? Surely he wasn't asking who had offended him? Why was he reacting so strongly?
Even so, he answered truthfully. "The chairman of Fok's Bank, Fok Siu Tong."
Song Ren noticed that Yau Kong Ngau's reaction to the name was unusually intense. His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, and his eyes were filled with blazing fury.
He thought back to the story of Raging Fire Case and finally remembered.
The incident that had set off the chain of events leading to Yau Kong Ngau's former elite serious-crimes unit being convicted of coercive interrogation and negligent homicide was the kidnapping of Fok Siu Tong.
At the time, because Fok Siu Tong was a tycoon's kidnapping victim, the case had an enormous social impact.
The entire team had come under constant pressure from their superiors, who had even hinted that they could do whatever was necessary.
As a result, Yau Kong Ngau's elite team had subjected Cola, one of the suspects in Fok Siu Tong's kidnapping, to a brutal interrogation.
In the end, they had accidentally beaten the suspect, Cola, to death.
The consequences had been extremely troublesome.
But they had indeed obtained valuable clues from Cola in the shortest possible time, and another team of officers had ultimately used those clues to rescue Fok Siu Tong.
However, afterward, Cola's people had taken every officer who had acted that night to court.
Once the incident was exposed, its nature was extremely serious. The superior who had promised to take responsibility for them immediately denied everything, treating his promises to them like so much garbage.
Even Fok Siu Tong, the man they had rescued, had made sarcastic remarks in court.
At the time, the tycoon Fok Siu Tong had truly behaved with cold ingratitude. That had dealt the heaviest blow to the elite serious-crimes team.
After all, Fok Siu Tong had enormous social influence. If he had been willing to help, Yau Kong Ngau's elite police team would never have fallen into such a state.
That was why Yau Kong Ngau had reacted so strongly to the name.
During these past few years at Stanley Prison, things had become much more comfortable after Song Ren arrived.
But at other times, especially when he had first entered, he had practically been tortured until he wished he were dead.
It had caused the hatred in his heart to build and fester continuously.
He wanted revenge—furious, vicious revenge!
Before you continue