The First Day

"Name?"

"Benjamin."

"Take off your clothes. Place your hands on your head and squat down. Then, jump."

After Yang Yi undressed, his mouth and hair were inspected. After that, he jumped up like a frog a few times. The guard responsible for inspecting Yang Yi then loudly instructed, "Alright, you can go now."

After leaving the medical examination room, he rejoiced by taking a deep breath. At this moment, a guard who was standing outside blankly said, "Please sign your name on this personal item document."

Everything Yang Yi owned had been passed to Danny. The only personal item he had were the clothes he was wearing. Thus he directly signed the name Benjamin Park on the document without even reviewing it.

After putting on the prison uniform, he then picked up his blanket. With that, he was now a member of the notorious Pelican Bay.

Yang Yi's uniform was blue because he wasn't convicted of a felony. Only those who were convicted of a felony wore orange uniforms in Pelican Bay.

On the blue uniform Yang Yi was wearing, there was a white stripe on the left side which had the number 3387 on it.

With a rather worn blanket in hand, Yang Yi followed the guard towards his cell. After passing through two metal doors, they finally entered the area where the cells were located.

The ceiling was made up of wire mesh while both sides were made up of iron grills. Behind those grills were the eyes of inmates filled with indifference. In a depressing place like prison, Yang Yi's heart was feeling eerie being watched by so many pairs of eyes. However, he also remembered Danny's advice.

If you don't want to be bullied in prison, you will have to act tough.

Being tough didn't mean he needed to go around causing trouble, instead he should at the very least not look like a meek sheep that anyone could bully. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was human nature. Although being tough didn't necessarily mean he could fight off an equally tough group of organised man, at the very least it wouldn't reach a point where anyone would just walk all over him.

Yang Yi raised his head and tried to appear as tough as possible. Instead of glaring at the inmates, he raises his head, straightened his chest and pursed his lips. He was giving off the impression of a very capable fighting cock while walking in front of the guard.

"Stop here and face the cell."

Yang Yi stopped to face the cell. He stood motionlessly there holding on to his blanket.

When Yang Yi looked inside, there was already someone inside. It was a white man in his thirties. Sitting on his bed, the man only took a glance at Yang Yi before lowering his head again.

"Open the door for cell 356."

After the guard spoke over a walkie-talkie on his chest, the iron door in front of Yang Yi unlocked and opened after a beep.

"Get in."

Yang Yi took a step inside the cell and the guard spoke loudly over the walkie-talkie, "Close the door for cell 356."

After the iron door closed, Yang Yi remained motionless.

Yang Yi wasn't too concerned about his own safety. Although his cellmate wasn't too friendly, the prison wouldn't arrange someone violent for a newcomer who was here due to a misdemeanour. Because of that, his cellmate might be unfriendly but he wouldn't pick a fight with him.

As there were only two beds in the cell, Yang Yi naturally put his blanket on the empty bed. After he was done, he sat on the bed and spoke in a friendly tone, "Hi, I'm Benjamin."

Yang Yi's cellmate raised his head slowly and gave him a frosty look. His cellmate no longer paid him any further attention after he lowered his head again.

Yang Yi had never expected a warm welcome to begin with, so he began to inspect the cell where he was going to live for some time.

There were two beds fixed to the wall and the bed's two legs were firmly fixed to the ground. Other than a toilet, there wasn't even a table or chair in the cell. The ceiling light was enclosed by wire mesh. The spacing in the wire mesh was small enough that no one could even squeeze their finger inside.

He wasn't here to have a good time and he didn't expect any good treatment. Thus far, everything was within his expectations.

Yang Yi was here for a purpose. Thus, he didn't feel any pain after losing his freedom to be imprisoned here. On the contrary, he felt very safe here. Now that he was in prison, he was also isolated from the danger he was facing outside.

Yang Yi was sitting quietly thinking about how he could find Zhang Yong quickly. After sometime, he believed he had come up with a plan and hadn't left out any possible issues after going through all the possible scenarios. He would have to put the plan into action soon.

He was bored even though only a bit of time had passed. The white man was still sitting on his bed motionlessly.

Not only was it boring, Yang Yi was also stuck with a dull cellmate. He was sure his life in the future would be full of boredom. It might not be too bad having a dull cellmate though. At least, no one was going to bother him.

Time seemed to pass slowly when there was nothing to do. Too bad Yang Yi didn't have a watch with him to monitor the time. He ended up lying on the bed soon after entering the cell.

After some time had passed, the white man finally spoke.

"What crime did you commit to end up here?"

Although Yang Yi didn't expect to be asked this question, he reacted quickly by answering, "Drunk driving, a hit and run and deliberately causing harm to others."

"How many years are you being sentenced to?"

"Five years."

"Is this your first time in prison?"

"Yes."

The white man didn't lift his head up while speaking. He only raised his head after Yang Yi's last reply and took a glance at him, "The rule in this cell is not to bother me. Don't even make any noise when you go to toilet. Understand?"

"I understand."

The man lowered his head again and replied "Excellent."

After a few simple sentences, there was no further movements or noises from the man. Yang Yi couldn't help asking, "I will follow the rule. My name is Benjamin. Can you at least tell me your name?"

"Chris."

Yang Yi gave a friendly smile, "Hi Chris. It's nice to meet you."

Chris coldly replied, "What's nice. It would be nice if I wasn't here. There's also nothing nice about getting to know you."

After finishing his sentence, he sat on the bed motionless again. Yang Yi frowned, the conversation wasn't worth enough to start a fight with Chris. So, he just laid back down on the bed.

Everything seemed very calm. As long as Yang Yi could find Zhang Yong, his life in prison wouldn't be too tough.

Just when Yang Yi started thinking about what he would be able to learn here in the future, a bell suddenly rang. When Chris heard the bell, he immediately stood up to stand behind the iron door.

Yang Yi unconsciously asked, "What's happening?"

"Meal time."

After answering Yang Yi in a single sentence indifferently, Chris sourly continued, "Stand here. Make sure you eat quietly. Also, don't look around like a newborn or it's going to be bad for you."