Yang Yi was considering whether or not he should enter the felony section of the prison. Although it was still within the same building, the prison was actually divided into two zones: A and B.
Firstly, he would need to find out what the difference in treatment was between the felony section and the light offender section. Yang Yi was in zone A and he could only make connections with inmates in zone A. He would have to move to zone B instead if Zhang Yong was actually in that zone.
“Chris, can you tell me if there is any difference between the two zones besides the fact that the felony section is more heavily guarded?”
“There is. Felons won’t get assigned any work. If those from the light offender section are well-behaved, they will get assigned work such as cooking, taking care of the prison’s vegetable farm, mowing the lawn, doing laundry and any other type of miscellaneous things.”
“So, only the light offender section can get work assignments?”
“Yes. Moreover, time passes faster when you’re working.”
Yang Yi was rushed into prison because he was a substitute. Thus, a lot of the procedures were simplified and some of them were completely ignored. This caused him to be ignorant of the privileges an inmate could have.
As such, Yang Yi took advantage of Chris’s willingness to give out information.
“Are there any other differences? Please explain it all.”
Chris gave Yang Yi a strange look but he still answered, “Other than that, felons don’t get to make phone calls and they don’t get any visitation rights. Also, felons will most likely get sent into solitary confinement if they commit any wrongdoings. Actually there are a lot of felons locked up in solitary confinement. Beyond that, the differences aren’t that great. It’s natural that those who are serving life sentences get stricter treatment.”
Yang Yi asked in surprise, “I can make phone calls?”
Chris nodded, “Yes. You will have to apply for a an account with the prison. You can make a phone call if the person you are calling is willing to pay for it or if there is credit in your account.”
Yang Yi nodded happily, “Wonderful! That’s wonderful.”
Chris suddenly said, “Oh, there is a shop in the light offender section too but not in the felony section. You will be able to buy stuff there as long as you have money.”
Yang Yi asked with interest, “There’s a shop here? What does the shop sell?
“There are food, drinks and some clothes. You can’t wear the clothes in prison though. That’s all they have but the items sold there are expensive.”
“Do you have cigarettes?”
“I don’t. The prison doesn’t allow smoking. Most inmates smoke, though. So, cigarettes are actually hard currency here. You understand what that means right? You can treat them like money. You can’t find them in the store though. There are specific people who smuggle cigarettes here. Oh, the cigarettes are expensive! Not just expensive, they’re very expensive!”
Yang Yi interest was piqued, “How expensive are they?”
“The most common cigarette brands will cost about twenty dollars a pack here. In the felony section, sometimes it can go up to fifty dollars a pack.”
A pack of tax free cigarettes was sold for five to six dollars a pack outside. A price of twenty dollars a pack in prison seemed to be somewhat acceptable. As for fifty dollars a pack, it was an astronomical amount even for most Americans, even more so when it came to these poor inmates.
Yang Yi would definitely have to carry some since cigarettes were hard currency here. So, Yang Yi asked with interest, “Where can I buy cigarettes?”
“You can get it from Buddy. He has everything except for weapons.”
“You mean like what that fella used today?”
“Yes. Those are weapons made in prison. Anything sharp can be used as weapon. Of course, a knife would be very valuable. Buddy is the prison’s businessman. As such, he can’t get involved in causing harm to the other inmates. So he sells everything except for weapons.”
Yang Yi lowered his and started thinking. After some time, he looked at Chris and asked, “Do you have a weapon? You do have one don’t you?”
Chris immediately looked at Yang Yi warily. He then slowly shook his head, “I don’t have a weapon. I would be heavily penalized if the guard found a weapon. I don’t want my phone call and visitation rights revoked. So, I won’t keep a weapon.”
Yang Yi had started to think about how he could obtain a weapon of his own now that the Boxing King wanted to mess with him. The Boxing King would definitely be a capable fighter since he was an authentic boxer. Not only was Yang Yi physically smaller, he had only scratched the surface of the skills he learned during his crash course. Under such circumstances, he would need a weapon to enhance his fighting capability by a few levels.
Seeing that Yang Yi had immersed himself in his thoughts, Chris said after a moment of silence, “Dude, I don’t want to be an idiot who blathers too much but you have offended the Boxing King. Although you're ferocious, it’s still best for you to be careful. He will definitely kill you.”
Yang Yi was surprised not because the Boxing King would kill him but rather because Chris had actually said he was ferocious.
“I’m ferocious?”
“Of course, you actually caused a fella to lose an eye.”
Yang Yi nodded before asking, “How do you think the Boxing King will deal with me? What method does he usually use?”
Chris hesitated again before he answered, “He has a lot of underlings. Unless you hide in your cell forever, he will definitely have an opportunity to send someone to stab you. He might just want you hurt but these type of things are unpredictable. The stabbing might end up killing you.”
Yang Yi nodded in acknowledgement, “That’s reasonable. So, where would he usually take action?”
“It could be during meal time, bath time, free activity or any other time were there is contact with the other inmates. Also, it’s possible it could happen during a cage fight but those are quite rare in the light offender section. Cage fights happen mostly in the felony section.”
“What do you mean? There are even cage fights here? Is it like the ones in the UFC? 1
“Yes. The cage fights are approved by the guards. Two inmates are placed in a cell and they fight until a winner is determined. Of course, you will have to bribe the guarde first for such a fight to happen. At times, the guards might even arrange a fight and take bets.”
Yang Yi felt unpleasantly cold, “Fuck! This is truly a dark place!”
“This is prison! Fortunately, cage fights are rare in the light offender section. The inmates in this section serve short sentences and they will usually be out after a few years. So unless something extraordinary happens, you won’t get involved in a cage fight. However, it’s not the same in the felony section. Everyone there is practically serving a life sentence. Those inmates won’t be released from prison and they won’t get sentenced to the death penalty, so it makes no difference to them even when their sentence is increased.”
Yang Yi sighed and said in a mocking tone, “Dude, it’s really an injustice to the citizens that they abolished the death penalty. What a joke!”
Chris shared the same thought, “I feel the same as well. So, it’s best you don’t get sent to the felony section. There are a lot of scum on this side of the prison but the other side is the real hell.”
Yang Yi was considering whether or not he should enter the felony section of the prison. Although it was still within the same building, the prison was actually divided into two zones: A and B.
Firstly, he would need to find out what the difference in treatment was between the felony section and the light offender section. Yang Yi was in zone A and he could only make connections with inmates in zone A. He would have to move to zone B instead if Zhang Yong was actually in that zone.
“Chris, can you tell me if there is any difference between the two zones besides the fact that the felony section is more heavily guarded?”
“There is. Felons won’t get assigned any work. If those from the light offender section are well-behaved, they will get assigned work such as cooking, taking care of the prison’s vegetable farm, mowing the lawn, doing laundry and any other type of miscellaneous things.”
“So, only the light offender section can get work assignments?”
“Yes. Moreover, time passes faster when you’re working.”
Yang Yi was rushed into prison because he was a substitute. Thus, a lot of the procedures were simplified and some of them were completely ignored. This caused him to be ignorant of the privileges an inmate could have.
As such, Yang Yi took advantage of Chris’s willingness to give out information.
“Are there any other differences? Please explain it all.”
Chris gave Yang Yi a strange look but he still answered, “Other than that, felons don’t get to make phone calls and they don’t get any visitation rights. Also, felons will most likely get sent into solitary confinement if they commit any wrongdoings. Actually there are a lot of felons locked up in solitary confinement. Beyond that, the differences aren’t that great. It’s natural that those who are serving life sentences get stricter treatment.”
Yang Yi asked in surprise, “I can make phone calls?”
Chris nodded, “Yes. You will have to apply for a an account with the prison. You can make a phone call if the person you are calling is willing to pay for it or if there is credit in your account.”
Yang Yi nodded happily, “Wonderful! That’s wonderful.”
Chris suddenly said, “Oh, there is a shop in the light offender section too but not in the felony section. You will be able to buy stuff there as long as you have money.”
Yang Yi asked with interest, “There’s a shop here? What does the shop sell?
“There are food, drinks and some clothes. You can’t wear the clothes in prison though. That’s all they have but the items sold there are expensive.”
“Do you have cigarettes?”
“I don’t. The prison doesn’t allow smoking. Most inmates smoke, though. So, cigarettes are actually hard currency here. You understand what that means right? You can treat them like money. You can’t find them in the store though. There are specific people who smuggle cigarettes here. Oh, the cigarettes are expensive! Not just expensive, they’re very expensive!”
Yang Yi interest was piqued, “How expensive are they?”
“The most common cigarette brands will cost about twenty dollars a pack here. In the felony section, sometimes it can go up to fifty dollars a pack.”
A pack of tax free cigarettes was sold for five to six dollars a pack outside. A price of twenty dollars a pack in prison seemed to be somewhat acceptable. As for fifty dollars a pack, it was an astronomical amount even for most Americans, even more so when it came to these poor inmates.
Yang Yi would definitely have to carry some since cigarettes were hard currency here. So, Yang Yi asked with interest, “Where can I buy cigarettes?”
“You can get it from Buddy. He has everything except for weapons.”
“You mean like what that fella used today?”
“Yes. Those are weapons made in prison. Anything sharp can be used as weapon. Of course, a knife would be very valuable. Buddy is the prison’s businessman. As such, he can’t get involved in causing harm to the other inmates. So he sells everything except for weapons.”
Yang Yi lowered his and started thinking. After some time, he looked at Chris and asked, “Do you have a weapon? You do have one don’t you?”
Chris immediately looked at Yang Yi warily. He then slowly shook his head, “I don’t have a weapon. I would be heavily penalized if the guard found a weapon. I don’t want my phone call and visitation rights revoked. So, I won’t keep a weapon.”
Yang Yi had started to think about how he could obtain a weapon of his own now that the Boxing King wanted to mess with him. The Boxing King would definitely be a capable fighter since he was an authentic boxer. Not only was Yang Yi physically smaller, he had only scratched the surface of the skills he learned during his crash course. Under such circumstances, he would need a weapon to enhance his fighting capability by a few levels.
Seeing that Yang Yi had immersed himself in his thoughts, Chris said after a moment of silence, “Dude, I don’t want to be an idiot who blathers too much but you have offended the Boxing King. Although you're ferocious, it’s still best for you to be careful. He will definitely kill you.”
Yang Yi was surprised not because the Boxing King would kill him but rather because Chris had actually said he was ferocious.
“I’m ferocious?”
“Of course, you actually caused a fella to lose an eye.”
Yang Yi nodded before asking, “How do you think the Boxing King will deal with me? What method does he usually use?”
Chris hesitated again before he answered, “He has a lot of underlings. Unless you hide in your cell forever, he will definitely have an opportunity to send someone to stab you. He might just want you hurt but these type of things are unpredictable. The stabbing might end up killing you.”
Yang Yi nodded in acknowledgement, “That’s reasonable. So, where would he usually take action?”
“It could be during meal time, bath time, free activity or any other time were there is contact with the other inmates. Also, it’s possible it could happen during a cage fight but those are quite rare in the light offender section. Cage fights happen mostly in the felony section.”
“What do you mean? There are even cage fights here? Is it like the ones in the UFC? 1
“Yes. The cage fights are approved by the guards. Two inmates are placed in a cell and they fight until a winner is determined. Of course, you will have to bribe the guarde first for such a fight to happen. At times, the guards might even arrange a fight and take bets.”
Yang Yi felt unpleasantly cold, “Fuck! This is truly a dark place!”
“This is prison! Fortunately, cage fights are rare in the light offender section. The inmates in this section serve short sentences and they will usually be out after a few years. So unless something extraordinary happens, you won’t get involved in a cage fight. However, it’s not the same in the felony section. Everyone there is practically serving a life sentence. Those inmates won’t be released from prison and they won’t get sentenced to the death penalty, so it makes no difference to them even when their sentence is increased.”
Yang Yi sighed and said in a mocking tone, “Dude, it’s really an injustice to the citizens that they abolished the death penalty. What a joke!”
Chris shared the same thought, “I feel the same as well. So, it’s best you don’t get sent to the felony section. There are a lot of scum on this side of the prison but the other side is the real hell.”
