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Chapter 462 The New Labor Reform Prisoners

Chen Ergou followed Qi Cheng, touring the "cells."

He was immediately astonished to discover that the living conditions here were surprisingly good!

Qi Cheng's cell was a quad, with four straw mats laid out for them to sleep on the ground. Interestingly, next to each of their sleeping spots were changes of clothes—cotton, not hemp.

This was absolutely inconceivable...

Chen Ergou was utterly flabbergasted by this discovery. Even in normal years, peasants could only afford hemp clothes, never cotton. Sometimes, an entire family would share just one decent set of hemp clothes, worn by whoever went out.

How could prisoners here have cotton clothes, and even two sets for changing?

Was this some kind of sick joke?

Chen Ergou couldn't help but blurt out, "Where did you get these cotton clothes?"

Qi Cheng said, "The Heavenly Lord gave them to us."

Qi Cheng turned around and bowed deeply to a piece of paper pasted on the wall.

It turned out that a portrait of Dao Xuan Tian Zun was affixed to the cell wall. These were uniformly printed by the Gao Family Village Bookstore and distributed everywhere, with priority given to crucial places like prisons, which required "thought reform." Almost every cell had one.

Qi Cheng explained, "Ergou, this is Dao Xuan Tian Zun. He's an immortal who punishes evil and promotes good. He brings Divine Punishment upon the wicked, but blesses the kind... Everything we eat and wear now comes from Dao Xuan Tian Zun."

Chen Ergou was far from convinced, assuming he was spouting nonsense.

However, just then, he suddenly felt as if the eyes of Dao Xuan Tian Zun in the portrait had subtly shifted.

"Whoa!" Chen Ergou jumped, startled. "Brother Qi Cheng... his eyes moved, his eyes moved!"

"Blessings be upon us," Qi Cheng replied calmly. "What's so strange about that?"

He even sounded a little pleased as he continued, "Before, when my sins were grave, the Heavenly Lord's eyes never moved. But lately, I've been working hard and reforming myself diligently, and my sins have grown lighter. Now, the Heavenly Lord occasionally glances my way. This proves that he sees all my changes."

He had no idea that the Heavenly Lord had only recently gained the "Co-sensing" ability; it hadn't existed before!

Chen Ergou's heart was still thumping wildly, but when he looked closely again, the Heavenly Lord's eyes were still. He couldn't tell if what he'd seen was real or merely his imagination, so he reluctantly set the thought aside for now.

Still, after that, he dared not show any disrespect to the Heavenly Lord!

One might not believe in gods or Buddhas, but one must not be disrespectful.

"Clack-clack-clack-clack..."

The sound of a wooden stick striking a hollow bamboo resonated suddenly above the entire prison.

The moment Chen Ergou heard that sound, the first thought that flashed through his mind was, "It's time for battle."

Typically, whenever bandits attacked, the militia groups in various small villages and towns would use the sound of hollow bamboo to raise an alarm. As soon as the bamboo sounded, the village militia would immediately grab their farm tools and prepare for combat.

As Chen Ergou was a bandit himself, every time he heard that sound, it meant "the other side is resisting," which invariably led to a fight.

He cried out, instinctively reaching for a weapon, only to remember he was a prisoner now, with no weapons at his disposal.

Qi Cheng, beside him, meanwhile, had his eyes light up. He said cheerfully, "It's mealtime! Come on, let's go eat."

"Huh?" Chen Ergou mumbled.

He instinctively rubbed his stomach. Alright, he really was quite hungry. After surrendering to the officials in Yan'an, they had been given a couple of symbolic mouthfuls of dry rations before being led through Huanglong Mountain to this place. Having gnawed on those meager bits of food throughout the journey, it would be a lie to say he wasn't starving.

"They give you food here?" Chen Ergou asked.

"Of course they do," Qi Cheng said. "Otherwise, I would have starved to death long ago."

"That's true," Chen Ergou conceded.

Chen Ergou didn't think much of the meal, figuring it would just be a few mouthfuls of watery gruel—not enough to fill him, but enough to keep him from starving.

He followed Qi Cheng towards the dining hall. From every cell, people emerged—both veteran labor reform prisoners and newly surrendered bandits—a vast throng of tens of thousands, all heading toward the dining hall. At the entrance, these labor reform prisoners voluntarily formed long queues.

He and Qi Cheng had arrived quickly, so they were near the front of the line. Looking ahead, he saw large groups of women carrying huge pots and basins in the dining hall.

Chen Ergou didn't even need to see to guess: those large basins would be filled with gruel as thin as snot. Not enough to fill him, definitely not enough.

To his surprise, when he reached the front, he saw the large basins were filled with steamed white flour buns, a basin overflowing with them.

Chen Ergou was utterly dumbfounded, his entire body stiff. This... this was the kind of food only a landlord's young master could afford, wasn't it? Ordinary people ate coarse grain buns; how could anything be this refined here?

Seeing the buns, Qi Cheng seemed to understand something. "It looks like today's work will require a lot of strength, so they're giving us better food."

The woman serving the food confirmed, "That's right! I overheard the warden talking earlier. All the men are to go out for heavy labor today, laying some kind of railway, I heard. They say it involves moving very heavy wood and iron, so everyone gets good food today to ensure they have the strength."

She grabbed two buns and handed them to Qi Cheng, then waved at Chen Ergou. "Come get your buns, why are you just standing there?"

Chen Ergou was still bewildered. "Are these really for me?"

"Could it be fake?" the woman retorted. "I heard three thousand new people arrived today; are you one of them? Newcomers just don't know the rules. Not only are these buns real, but if you're not full, you can get more. But don't waste them, and don't take too much. If you're caught wasting food, you'll be punished with hunger tomorrow."

Chen Ergou felt a bit like an ignorant country bumpkin being mocked by the locals. This irritated him slightly, but with two white flour buns offered before him, even his proud head had to bow. He obediently reached out and took the buns, then dutifully added, "Thank you, big sister. Two won't fill me up; could I have another?"

The woman actually handed him another one.

With a bun clutched in each hand and another delicate white flour bun in his mouth, he felt an inexplicable urge to cry.

"Eat quickly!"

Zhong Gaoliang appeared on the distant wall, surrounded by a large group of prison guards. Security measures at the prison had improved significantly, especially with three thousand new labor reform prisoners arriving today; the guards had doubled the security.

Cheng Xu and a thousand militia members also hadn't left; they were still helping Zhong Gaoliang secure the prison.

Zhong Gaoliang bellowed, "Everyone eat quickly! Finish within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, then all able-bodied men assemble at the prison's main gate. Your task today is to lay railway tracks. Don't worry, though it's tiring work, it's much easier than fighting a battle."