Chapter 387: Flipping the Table

Bang!

Chen Chen Guanlou had just stepped out the door of his office when a heavy object slammed to the ground behind him.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. He didn't pause his steps and went back to his own office.

But his ears were sharp, and not a sound from Warden Lei's side escaped him. It was truly irritating, so he simply left the Heaven Prison and went for a stroll on the street.

The moment he stepped out of the Heaven Prison, Warden Lei walked out of the office, his steps clearly hurried—he seemed to have run a few paces.

Warden Lei summoned all his fury and bellowed, "Chen Chen Guanlou, don't get too cocky."

Chen Chen Guanlou heard it, but he didn't care. He had already melted into the crowd, lost in the bustle of the human world.

The other jailers and clerks all ducked behind their doors. Chen Chen Guanlou could afford to snub Warden Lei, but they didn't have such a solid backer. They still had to keep their heads down—at the very least, they had to put on a good show of deference, so no one could catch them out.

Lu Lu Datou said excitedly, "My Brother Chen is really something."

"How old are you? How old is Chen Zhang Yuli? Can you actually bring yourself to call him 'brother'?"

"What do you know! Brotherhood isn't measured by age, it's measured by strength. Tell me, shouldn't I call him brother?" Lu Lu Datou expounded on his reasoning while preening, glancing around every which way—like a peacock fanning its tail.

Subordinates love two things most. The first is money—lots and lots of money. The second is watching their superior get roasted. The thrill is like a stimulant; you're buzzing with energy all day. And gossip like this lasts and stays hot—even three or five years later, it won't feel stale.

Right now, everyone was watching Warden Lei's humiliation. Three or five years from now, this anecdote would still be passed around among the jailers, brought up from time to time.

Xu Xu Fugui, speaking as a man who'd been around, offered his assessment: "Impulsive, far too impulsive. Young people just can't keep their cool. Warden Lei is still a superior, after all—you have to give him some face. Little Chen throwing his weight around in the Jia-ranked prison—I'd say that's about enough. The prisoners in there aren't Wang Yang-level bandits; they can't take much rough handling, and they can't afford to die either. Sigh, I said it back then: young people still need seasoning, they can't shoulder heavy burdens, sooner or later something will go wrong. But nobody listened to me."

Lu Lu Datou secretly rolled his eyes. He didn't fire back directly, only saying, "Brother Chen landed the jailer post at such a young age—he must have something extraordinary about him. Even without the Hou Fu backing him, he could still climb up on his own ability. I know plenty of people are jealous of Brother Chen. Useless! Ask yourselves: are your brains half as sharp as Brother Chen's? Do you have the guts to stand up for a dead jailer? Cowards, the lot of you."

"Say what you want to say, but how can you call people names?" Xu Xu Fugui was unhappy. "Lu Lu Datou, your work attitude has always been a problem. I didn't want to say it, but you should have some self-awareness. Don't go looking for trouble."

Lu Lu Datou let out a sheepish chuckle and said nothing.

Xu Xu Fugui started nagging again: "Don't think that just because you've taken Chen Chen Guanlou as your brother and he's backing you, you can do whatever you want. Trash like you will never make it to the table. Your Brother Chen might start despising you tomorrow—think you're an embarrassment to him."

Lu Lu Datou clenched his fists. If the timing had been right, or if he'd been a few years younger, those fists would already have landed on Xu Xu Fugui's face.

For now, Lu Lu Datou swallowed his anger and said with a grin: "If my brother ever does despise me, wouldn't that be just what Xu Zhang Yuli wants? Then you could push me around however you like. You'd be over the moon, wouldn't you?"

"Vulgar! I'm not as dirty-minded as you think." Xu Xu Fugui struck the pose of a gentleman, his eyes making no effort to hide his disgust for Lu Lu Datou. A rotten egg—only Chen Chen Guanlou would treasure him. What taste is that? The guy Lu Lu Datou is rotten to the core, what's there to look after? And looking after him once or twice is about enough—why keep it up? His arm reaches pretty far.

Lu Lu Datou had simply given up on himself, lying flat—go ahead and scold him, he wouldn't change a bit, and if he did, you win. "Yes, yes, yes, Xu Zhang Yuli is the most fair, fair and selfless. In my view, the warden post should have been yours all along."

Xu Xu Fugui:...

Lu Lu Datou had finally said something that sounded good.

With his seniority, being warden would be more than enough.

But the people above never considered their lot—the warden was always picked from outside. They'd rather pick a lowlife like Warden Lei than choose him.

Wasn't it all about backers and background?

If only he could bring himself to spend the money, maybe he too could...

Forget it, forget it. The people above have bottomless appetites—you can never feed them enough. The money he'd painstakingly saved up couldn't be thrown into a bottomless pit.

What if, after serving out two years as warden, he got kicked out—where could he go? He couldn't exactly come back and be a jailer again.

Xu Xu Fugui shook the messy thoughts out of his head and focused on hiding behind the door to watch Warden Lei's humiliation.

Warden Lei seemed to realize his situation too—he'd become a joke, being publicly executed.

Outrageous.

It was all Chen Chen Guanlou's fault.

Chen Chen Guanlou had become the Heaven Prison's troublemaker, refusing to be disciplined. Talk about keeping to your place and following the rules—as warden, he didn't even have the right to inquire into the prisons below. What kind of rules were those?

Taking advantage of Chen Chen Guanlou's absence, Warden Lei's eyes darted. He called the squad leaders of the Jia-ranked prison into the office for a talk.

Xiao Jin was nervous, anxious, but his conviction was firm. He'd made up his mind: no matter what Warden Lei said, he'd only follow Chen Chen Guanlou's orders. At the same time, he quietly sent someone to the street to bring Chen Chen Guanlou back to take charge.

Shi Hong wore an attitude of giving no one any face—you say what you want, he drifts off in his own world, nothing touches his heart.

Wu Bantou Wu's eyes rolled about—he seemed to be calculating how much benefit he could squeeze out of this incident. Should he take the chance to play a little trick, fish in troubled waters? If Warden Lei forced him to pick a side, how should he declare his stance?

Wu Bantou Wang was the calmest, puffing on his long-stemmed pipe like an old farmer. No matter what the higher-ups did, he'd just stick to his own way—meet all changes with constancy.

"Speak up, speak up, everyone say what's on your mind. Chen Zhang Yuli has stirred up such a ruckus—have any of you gone down to the Jia-ranked prison these past few days? What does it look like down there? Someone's about to die, aren't they?" Warden Lei opened, his manner still fairly pleasant, striking a pose of being ready to listen to his subordinates' opinions. But not a single person bought it.

The atmosphere was terribly awkward.

The flesh on Warden Lei's cheeks twitched uncontrollably twice. His fury shot to the heavens, yet he chose to restrain himself as much as possible. He immediately snorted coldly: "No one's talking? Fine. Then I'll call names. Shi Hong, you speak."

Shi Hong looked a bit blank, glanced up and around: "Speak about what?"

Warden Lei's eyes bulged, murder in them: "Speak about what? You tell me! I told you to speak! Shi Hong, do you still want to be squad leader?"

"My squad leader post was appointed by Little Fan Da Ren himself, and Little Fan Da Ren is now at the Ministry of Justice. If Lord Lei wants to dismiss me, you'd better have a word with Little Fan Da Ren first."

"How dare you!"