At the same time.
Pingshan Prison.
Greasy Yan Chou, with his messy hair, sat smoking by the iron bars.
In the entire Pingshan Prison, he was the only one who could enjoy a solitary cell, undisturbed.
However, before this, Yan Chou had taken in another person to share the cell, named Xue Kai, who had been released two months ago.
He was a bit absent-minded at the moment, staring out the window.
“Brother Chou, I feel like something is off with you today. You keep looking out the window. Are you feeling a bit anxious about getting out in a few days?”
A prison guard stood outside the cell, greeting Yan Chou with a smile.
Yan Chou snapped back to attention and smiled at the guard outside.
The guard comforted him, “You’ve been locked up here for over ten years. The outside world has changed a lot. Even for you, Brother Chou, it’s normal to feel a little out of sorts and anxious.”
Little did this guard know what the prescient Yan Chou was thinking.
Yan Chou tossed his cigarette butt, stood up to stretch, and touched the fat on his belly. He asked the guard,
“Have I become too decadent lately? How can someone gain weight while in prison?”
The guard burst into laughter, “Others might not be able to, but you’re different, Brother Chou.”
“I’ll be out in a week. My son and daughter-in-law are waiting for me outside. I need to make a good impression on them.”
After speaking, Yan Chou bent down and actually started doing push-ups on his bed.
The guard was taken aback, “Isn’t it a bit late to start exercising and losing weight now?”
“Others can’t, but I can,” Yan Chou said with effort.
The guard watched Yan Chou exercise with great interest.
At first, Yan Chou lay on the ground, struggling to hold himself up, unable to do many push-ups for a long time.
Normal overweight people get more tired as they go on, giving up in minutes.
But Yan Chou was truly different. It seemed he wasn’t exercising, but rather “adapting.”
From struggling at the beginning to gradually finding his rhythm, he finally managed to do fifty push-ups per minute with his over two-hundred-pound body!
It’s worth noting that an average adult male would be doing well to manage thirty-five push-ups per minute.
And that’s without mentioning the extra hundred pounds of fat Yan Chou was carrying!
This was not scientific!
The guard, snapping back to reality, realized the cigarette he was holding had burned down to the filter and almost scorched his lips.
He quickly threw away the butt and exclaimed in astonishment,
“Brother Chou, take it easy! You should progress gradually when you start exercising. Don’t injure yourself trying to see your son!”
But Yan Chou didn’t listen to the well-meaning advice and continued for another ten minutes.
Finally, with a grunt, he pushed himself up from the ground.
Yan Chou stood up, drenched in sweat, his prison uniform soaked.
He took off his shirt, wiped the sweat from his face and body, and threw it aside.
“Do I look thinner?” Yan Chou asked with a smile.
The guard stared blankly at Yan Chou. He vaguely felt that Yan Chou did indeed look a bit thinner.
But…
This wasn’t scientific!
How could someone lose weight just by doing push-ups for a few minutes?
But then the guard remembered, was Yan Chou an ordinary person?
Everything that happened to Yan Chou couldn’t be explained by science in the first place.
So the guard quickly said, “Brother Chou, give me your dirty clothes. I’ll go get you a clean set.”
“No need. Washing clothes is also a form of exercise,” Yan Chou paused and said, “However, I’d like to go out for a walk tonight.”
The guard showed a troubled expression, “This…”
“Consider it a chance for fortune-telling,” Yan Chou held up a finger. “I’ll be leaving soon, and you won’t be able to find me if you want a reading then. Don’t worry, I just want to look at the moon, I won’t cause any trouble.”
The prison had already given Yan Chou considerable preferential treatment. Letting him go out for a walk late at night was indeed against the rules.
But Yan Chou wasn’t wrong. On one hand, he was about to be released, so there was no reason to cause trouble.
On the other hand, once he left, the guard wouldn’t be able to find anyone to tell his fortune.
So the young guard gritted his teeth and agreed.
He led Yan Chou to the lawn where prisoners usually exercised. Yan Chou stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the moon.
He just stood there, doing nothing.
This continued for half an hour.
Seeing that Yan Chou had no other intentions, the guard felt relieved and stood by, smoking.
Finally, after admiring the moon, Yan Chou greeted the guard and returned to his cell.
And as agreed, he gave the guard a fortune reading.
A distant relative of the guard had no children and was nearing his end, with a million-dollar fortune with no one to leave it to.
Yan Chou told the guard to take two months off, find an excuse to accompany the old man, and once their relationship deepened, the inheritance would naturally fall to the guard.
Upon receiving the answer, the guard was overjoyed and profusely thanked Yan Chou.
But in the end, he couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Chou, the moon tonight isn’t perfectly round, nor is it particularly bright. What was there to admire?”
Yan Chou smiled mysteriously, “Tonight is a crucial day in my son’s life. I’m unsure if he can pull through, and I feel uneasy, so I wanted to go out and look at the moon.”
“I see.”
The guard comforted him, “Speaking of sons, I have a daughter. She should be around your son’s age…”
Yan Chou replied, “My son already has a partner.”
“Ah, it’s never a bad thing for young people to have more friends!”
“Get lost.”
“Ahem, Brother Chou, when our great nephew becomes single, remember to contact me. My daughter is as beautiful as a flower, and she’s a returned overseas student!”
Yan Chou rolled his eyes and shook his head helplessly. Judging by the guard’s appearance, he could guess his daughter wasn’t particularly attractive.
His own son already had plenty of romantic entanglements; his daughter wouldn’t be next in line!
Speaking of romantic entanglements.
Yan Chou couldn’t help but worry again.
Yan Shouyi’s romantic fate originally involved three connections.
One of them, Yan Shouyi had personally severed.
But even so, there were still two more connections waiting for him.
Yan Chou knew that Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong had already secretly pledged themselves to each other.
But what about that other girl?
Could Yan Shouyi make a choice?
“It’s a pity we’re not in the old society anymore. Otherwise, as a father, I wouldn’t mind my son marrying a few more…” Yan Chou muttered to himself.
Immediately after, he counted on his fingers, a relaxed smile appearing on his face:
“Among the魑魅魍魉, only ‘魅’ remains. It seems that brat has some ability. Bai Shi Xi is doomed tonight!”
“Lin Zitong should be about to set off for Ping’an Building. Speaking of which, Lü Jingsheng is quite a useful pawn.”
“Just now, while admiring the moon, I saw a wooden bird in the distance. Xue Kai has also arrived at Ping’an Building.”
“It’s about time for me, as a father, to make an appearance and protect my cub.”