Volume 1, Chapter 374 – Entering Prison

Hao Fei’s situation was far simpler and clearer than Shi Lan’s.

He had been caught in the act of kidnapping. Under the normal process, Hao Fei should have gone in for at least three to five years.

But Xiao Teng chose not to pursue the matter, offered forgiveness, even spoke a few good words on Hao Fei’s behalf, and with the lawyer’s defense, those three to five years became three to five months.

Shi Lan’s problem, however, was somewhat troublesome.

Its complexity exceeded Qi Pingxia’s expectations.

…

The human trafficking ring that had been caught ultimately implicated more than ten additional people.

And even that was not the whole of it. There were clearly other people behind them pulling the strings, anonymously hiring very influential lawyers for them in an attempt to reduce their sentences.

Fortunately, internationally, the handling of stateless persons was relatively lenient. Out of humanitarian concern, the judge did not impose a heavy sentence.

In the end, Shi Lan was sentenced to one year and three months, but she would not have to take part in prison labor.

Shi Lan did not feel much resistance to that result.

After two hearings and a swift conclusion to the case, Shi Lan saw Qi Pingxia again.

“I’m sorry. In the end, I still couldn’t clear you completely.”

“There’s no need to apologize. You’ve already helped me a great deal.”

Shi Lan shook her head and thanked her.

“You don’t need to thank me. Zhang Guang put in a lot of effort on this too. Otherwise, the result might have been even worse.”

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Hearing Qi Pingxia say that, Shi Lan felt a trace of pressure. She had seen for herself how capable the lawyer Zhang Guang had hired for her was during those two hearings. A lawyer of that caliber would not come cheap.

“As for your identification papers, I’ve already taken care of them for you. I’ve also spoken with the court, so this matter won’t leave a criminal record on you.”

“Serve your sentence with peace of mind. I’ll try to help you get a reduction. At most, in a little over half a year, you’ll be out.”

“I know people in the women’s section at the prison. They’ll look after you.”

After comforting Shi Lan a little, Qi Pingxia changed the subject and talked about the human trafficking ring.

Even though those people had pushed many of the matters onto the two dead men, each of them still faced at least ten years in prison.

“There are bigger fish behind them. I’m going to keep investigating this.”

Recalling the conversation she had overheard in the room at the time, Shi Lan said, “There seemed to be someone called Long-ge.”

“Long-ge? Do you have any other information?” Qi Pingxia’s eyes sharpened.

Shi Lan shook her head.

“There was nothing about this person in their statements, but I’ll keep an eye out.”

Not long after Qi Pingxia left, Zhang Guang came by again.

Shi Lan was about to go to prison. If he did not come in these next few days, visiting her later would not be so easy.

Zhang Guang was clearly unhappy with the fact that Shi Lan still had to serve time, but he had no power to change the court’s decision.

The only thing he could do was improve Shi Lan’s quality of life in prison.

All Shi Lan could do in response was quietly remember it and repay it little by little in the future. They had only met by chance, yet Zhang Guang had already done everything he possibly could.

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…

Prison life arrived even faster than Shi Lan had imagined. Five days after the court handed down its judgment, she was already sitting in a prison transport van bound for Yunhai Prison.

The scenery outside the window flew backward in a blur, changing from tall buildings into barren hills, until the van finally came to a slow stop on a hillside.

Following behind the prison guards, Shi Lan stepped through the black iron gates.

Her shoulder-length brown hair was cut short, and the physical inspection before entering prison left Shi Lan with an inexplicable sense of humiliation.

Overall, her first impression of this place was very poor.

But that was only natural. After all, her identity now was that of a prisoner.

…

After receiving her daily necessities, Shi Lan was assigned to a cell.

It was a six-person cell, though at present there were only three other people besides her.

One looked a little over thirty and slept on the top bunk. The other two seemed about the same age, around forty.

But life in prison wore people down so badly that judging someone’s age by appearance alone was not accurate.

“Tsk tsk, a little cutie just arrived.”

The speaker was the woman in her early thirties. She sized Shi Lan up from head to toe and unconsciously licked her lips. Her overly heated gaze made Shi Lan somewhat uncomfortable.

“Mixed-race? What’d you come in for?”

Shi Lan did not answer. She swept her eyes around, found a lower bunk in the corner, and set down what she was carrying.

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The other two were clearly not very interested in Shi Lan. They turned over on their bunks and went back to sleep.

The woman from the top bunk flipped herself down, took two steps to Shi Lan’s side, and plopped herself down on the edge of her bed.

Shi Lan took two steps back and lowered her head slightly. The woman before her had an ordinary face and wore only a tank top, but her curves were astonishing. It was just that her gaze was far too aggressive.

“What’d you do?”

As she spoke, the woman reached a hand toward Shi Lan.

Clang clang.

Outside, a female prison guard carrying a baton knocked on the iron bars.

“Behave yourselves. If I catch any of you bullying her, it’ll be three days in solitary at the very least. Especially you, Song Run.”

“If you’re really that desperate, I can file an application and send you to the men’s section to have fun for a couple of days!”

“Got it, Officer.”

Song Run gave an embarrassed smile and withdrew her hand.

“If anything happens, just shout. The duty room isn’t far from here.”

The prison guard said that to Shi Lan, then turned and left.

Clearly, this prison guard was the acquaintance Qi Pingxia had mentioned. The reason Shi Lan had been assigned to this cell was definitely deliberate as well.

“So how exactly did you end up here? I don’t think your frame’s even finished growing yet. Stealing?”

Song Run blinked and showed no sign at all of getting up from Shi Lan’s bed.

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“Excessive self-defense.”

“Excessive self-defense? How long’d you get?”

“One year and three months.”

“That short?!”

Song Run found it hard to believe. The two lying not far away also rolled over, clearly surprised.

This prison held nearly six hundred inmates, with fewer than two hundred women. The men’s section held more than four hundred male prisoners.

Murder, fraud, robbery, rape—every kind of crime was represented. More than half were serious offenders, most serving at least ten years. There were quite a few life sentences as well, and even the shortest were probably three to five years.

By comparison, Shi Lan’s sentence of just over a year seemed almost negligible.

With a sentence that short, ordinarily a regular detention center should have been enough. There was no need to transfer her to a prison for serious offenders like this.

“Excessive self-defense… somebody died, right?”

“Mm.”

“Then that’s not strange.”

Song Run briskly got to her feet, helped Shi Lan make up the bed, then climbed back onto the top bunk.

After a while, she poked her head down from above and gave a grin.

“If you get scared at night, you can ask me to sleep with you.”