“What?” Zou Yang doubted his own ears for a moment. He even subconsciously tilted his head, aiming his right ear at Lü Ze: “What did you say?”

“Administrative detention for three days,” Lü Ze said.

Zou Yang stared at Lü Ze, taking several seconds to fully process this six-word sentence.

Fan Jun was given administrative detention for three days.

Three days.

That had to be the lightest possible penalty for administrative detention.

Zou Yang breathed a slight sigh of relief, but… why?

“Why?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“He injured someone,” Lü Ze said.

The group of guys fell silent, and Lü Ze didn’t say anything more. Everyone stood in silence together.

“Why did he hit someone? Who did he hit, big bro?” Zou Yang really couldn’t hold back anymore. “Are you a tube of toothpaste? You only say a sentence if we squeeze you?”

Lü Ze frowned, looking at him but still not speaking.

Liu Wenrui poked Zou Yang in the back, grabbed his clothes, and pulled him back a bit. Then he asked Lü Ze, “Bro, do you know exactly what happened?”

“He kicked someone and cracked their rib,” Lü Ze said, his brow furrowed. “It was Sun Xulei’s dad.”

“Sun Xulei?” Liu Wenrui looked around at the guys.

“The kid who ran in here yelling for help the other day,” Zou Yang said.

The group fell silent again. Lü Ze turned and walked back into the training hall; he still had students taking a class. Zou Yang suppressed the urge to blow up at him.

“Where’s Uncle Lü?” Zhang Chuanlong yelled toward Lü Ze’s retreating back.

Lü Ze turned his head, glanced at them, and walked back out. Keeping his voice low, he said, “He went to bring him some things. He’ll be back in a bit.”

After Lü Ze went back to teaching, the group of guys stood dazed in the courtyard for a moment.

Zou Yang saw a kid’s head poke out from outside the courtyard gate and quickly pull back in.

“That’s Sun Xulei.” He immediately dashed out after him.

Sun Xulei hadn’t left; he was leaning against the wall just outside the courtyard gate.

Seeing Zou Yang come out, he shrank to the side and raised an arm to protect his head, calling out to him: “Brother Yang.”

“I’m not going to hit you,” Zou Yang asked. “What happened?”

“It was yesterday…” Sun Xulei said in a low voice. “My dad was beating me. Brother Fan and Brother Si tried to stop him. My dad attacked Brother Fan, and then… Brother Fan kicked him… and then the police came…”

“One kick and his rib cracked? Did he go to the hospital to get his injuries verified?” Zou Yang pressed.

Fan Jun’s kick must have been pretty brutal…

“Yeah.” Sun Xulei nodded, wiping his face forcefully. “It’s all my fault.”

Zou Yang looked at him: “It’s not your fault.”

“Brother Fan always protects me, so my dad hates him to death,” Sun Xulei said. “He said he wants to send him to prison.”

“Relax,” Zou Yang said. “Fan Jun won’t go to prison. What about your dad?”

“He got detained too,” Sun Xulei lifted his head, his eyes lighting up as he said this. “Detained for seven days!”

“Mm.” Zou Yang finally managed to sort the situation out a bit. “What are you doing here?”

“I was across the street. I saw you guys, so I came over,” Sun Xulei said. “I know you’re Brother Fan’s friends, so… this whole thing happened because of me… I just wanted to come explain.”

“Got it.” Zou Yang frowned and sighed.

When he returned to the courtyard to wait for Uncle Lü and Laoma, Zou Yang saw that Xiaobai was still sticking its tongue out, grinning at him.

“Good boy, Xiaobai.” He praised Xiaobai from two meters away.

Xiaobai instantly got excited, panting and taking a step forward. The iron chain around its neck pulled taut with a loud clank.

It looked quite pitiful.

While Fan Jun was in the detention center, his dog had also lost its freedom.

But that sudden noise nearly scared Zou Yang’s heartbeat up to two hundred.

Liu Wenrui, however, walked over very cheerfully: “Xiaobai, Xiaobai, I’m your Uncle Wenrui. Come here, give me a sniff, memorize my scent…”

While he was teasing the dog, Lü Ze came out of the training hall; it seemed his class was over.

“Does what happened between them count as a mutual brawl?” Zou Yang immediately started asking questions again. “That piece of trash threw the first punch, right? Shouldn’t it be considered self-defense for him?”

“Come inside to talk.” Lü Ze glanced back at the students in the training hall, then turned and walked into the kitchen.

The group of guys had no choice but to follow him inside.

“It was excessive self-defense,” Lü Ze said, leaning against the dining table. “When he kicked Sun the Fifth, Sun the Fifth’s attack on him had already stopped. If he had rushed over with the intent to hit Sun Xulei… well, he claimed he was just running over to pull his son away, and there were no security cameras in that spot…”

Hearing this made Zou Yang feel extremely stifled, but he didn’t know what to say. Given Fan Jun’s personality, he wouldn’t have thrown that kick—and such a heavy one—for no reason when it was already unnecessary.

There had to be another reason.

“Considering Sun the Fifth’s actions, Fan Jun received a lenient penalty…” Lü Ze frowned, finishing his sentence with a sigh. “I don’t know what’s been wrong with him lately. His temper has been so explosive…”

“His temper is big?!” Zou Yang’s anger instantly flared out of control, and he shouted, “He’s endured enough! Who wouldn’t have a bit of a temper?!”

Lü Ze looked at him: “It seems he’s been influenced by you, then.”

“Bro, don’t add fuel to the fire,” Liu Wenrui said.

“He really only started acting like this recently…” Lü Ze didn’t get to finish before Zou Yang cut him off.

“So what if he was influenced by me?” Zou Yang said. “Who do you think you are to him, that you get to manage his temper?”

“And who are you to him?” Lü Ze raised his voice.

“Do you even need to ask? I’m his friend! What,” Zou Yang sneered, “are you unable to think of that because you don’t have any friends yourself?”

Lü Ze slammed his hand on the table and glared at him.

“Xiao Yang?” Laoma‘s voice came from behind.

“Auntie…” Liu Wenrui and the others immediately greeted Laoma loudly, breaking up the tense atmosphere.

Probably because they were afraid Lü Ze might kick Zou Yang into a cracked rib too.
Saving Zou Yang from deep waters and scorching fire.

Zou Yang swept a glance at Lü Ze and turned his head.

Laoma and Uncle Lü came in together; they had probably run into each other on the way.

“Mom,” he greeted. “Uncle Lü.”

“Ah, Xiao Yang is here… what’s going on now?” Uncle Lü looked at Lü Ze. “You speak less!”

Lü Ze didn’t say anything more. He walked around from behind the table and left the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” Laoma pulled on Zou Yang’s sleeve. “Why were you fighting?”

“Relieving boredom,” Zou Yang said.

“Have a seat,” Uncle Lü ushered the group of guys, taking drinks out of the fridge. “It’s fine, Fan Jun is fine. I just went to see him and came back. Everything is perfectly fine. He’ll be out in a couple of days.”

Zou Yang sat down in a chair silently.

“Uncle,” Li Zhiyue asked, “if he got a lenient penalty, why is it still three days?”

“It’s lenient because the Fifth was at fault first, and domestic violence is a severe offense,” Uncle Lü said. “I asked around too. He was bare-handed, he didn’t use a weapon. That kick Jun-er gave him… was essentially unnecessary. Once he kicked him, it became excessive defense, but the circumstances were considered relatively minor…”

“Is that Sun guy really that fragile?” Liu Wenrui said. “Fan Jun kicked Zou Yang for ten minutes straight and he was fine. How did one kick crack his rib? Shouldn’t they check if he has osteoporosis?”

“That’s different,” Uncle Lü sighed. “That’s why they also said he should have been fully aware of the force and consequences of throwing that kick…”

Zou Yang hadn’t spoken the entire time, just listening to the others pressing Uncle Lü for details.

In short, the matter was already settled. This Sun the Fifth refused to settle out of court; he insisted that Fan Jun go to the detention center. And Fan Jun also refused to settle—detention it is, then.

Zou Yang didn’t listen closely to the rest. He just felt his brain buzzing.

After a long silence, he finally asked one question: “Where is the detention center?”

“Over by the Municipal Bureau,” Uncle Lü said. “Not too far.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang nodded.

“There’s nothing else to do now, just waiting for the time to pass,” Uncle Lü said. “This is already the first day, so it’ll go by fast.”

“Mm,” Zou Yang responded.

“Xiao Yang-ah,” Laoma patted his hand. “You boys head back first. There’s nothing else to do here right now. Just come over when Jun-er gets out.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang stood up. “We’ll get going first then.”

As the group walked out of the kitchen, Zou Yang heard Xiaobai’s voice—a soft, high-pitched whining.

He turned his head to look. Xiaobai was straining against the iron chain, wagging its tail desperately at him, its whole body twisting along with it.

“This dog…” He hesitated, stepping back into the kitchen. “…and that cat…”

“Since Fan Jun isn’t here, we were afraid others wouldn’t be able to control it, so we tied it up,” Uncle Lü said. “Lü Ze will take it out for walks. And I’ll go over morning and night to feed that little cat in his room.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang stood still, still looking at Xiaobai.

“Let us walk him, Uncle,” Liu Wenrui said. “We have nothing else to do anyway.”

Zou Yang shot him a look.

“That’s what you meant, right,” Liu Wenrui whispered.

“That… works too,” Uncle Lü said. “Just don’t let go of the leash.”

“Got it, Uncle.” Zhang Chuanlong immediately grabbed the leash sitting by the door and enthusiastically walked over.

Xiaobai had a very good temperament, and since it was usually petted by all sorts of strangers at the mall anyway, Zhang Chuanlong had absolutely no trouble leashing it.

It just didn’t really listen to Zhang Chuanlong’s commands. The moment the leash was on, it immediately charged straight toward Zou Yang.

“He wants you,” Zhang Chuanlong said.

“I…” Zou Yang raised his hand with great difficulty. He felt his shoulders were so stiff they were about to pop. Fortunately, excited as Xiaobai was, it had a good sense of boundaries and didn’t even touch his hand.

He took the leash Zhang Chuanlong handed him: “Let’s go, Xiaobai, time to… go poop.”

---

The ringing in his ears hadn’t stopped.

It had changed from a sharp, high-pitched tone into a monotonous, muffled buzzing.

Fan Jun sat on the bed board, staring at the floor.

He wasn’t quite sure how long he had been in here; he just felt it had been a long time since his life was so regulated and rule-bound.

Time became exceptionally blurry in this kind of state.

He was very sleepy; it felt like he could fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

But he didn’t dare close his eyes. It was his right ear that was ringing. In this state, he could barely hear any sounds from the outside world; he had to rely solely on his eyes.

Once he closed his eyes, his world would disappear.

This room wasn’t full. Including him, there were five people in total.

Right now was rest time. They couldn’t walk around freely, but they could chat.

Everyone sat on their own beds, occasionally chatting back and forth.

The topics were very boring, and very shallow.
Why did you get brought in?
How many days?
Theft, gambling, drunk driving, carrying restricted knives…

Fan Jun had never clearly seen the faces of the other four people. Only occasionally, when he saw someone moving out of the corner of his eye and felt they were talking to him, would he turn his head to glance at their mouths.

The older man in the bed across from him moved, and Fan Jun looked up at him.

Reading his lips, he was talking to him.

Came in for fighting?

“Mm,” Fan Jun replied.

I knew it had to be fighting. You look like someone not to be messed with.
The older man turned his head and said to a man in the adjacent bunk.

Fan Jun’s gaze dropped back down to the floor in front of him.

He wondered how Uncle Lü and the others were doing right now.
He wondered if Zou Yang had tried to book a class with him…
Sister Shan and he probably both knew by now. Maybe Sister Shan would reconcile with Uncle Lü because of this… If that really happened, it would be the only good thing to come out of this.

The older man in the bed across from him stood up, and Fan Jun raised his head.

“Time to eat,” the older man said.

At this distance, Fan Jun could faintly hear his voice.

Dinner time arrived, and the few of them sat around the table in the middle of the room.

He could see the food on the table: steamed buns, vegetables, and soup.

Yet even at such a close distance, in this enclosed environment, Fan Jun couldn’t even smell the aroma.

His sense of smell was also disappearing.

“Thank you, I don’t want to eat,” Fan Jun said.

“You’ll be out in another two days,” the older man said. “Nothing to worry about. Just take a few bites.”

Fan Jun shook his head.

He couldn’t force it down.

The continuous ringing in his ears blurred his senses. He didn’t want to move at all; his fingertips were cold, and his mind was a chaotic blank slate.

After dinner, the group returned to their own beds and started watching TV.

The TV program was fixed on the news channel.

Fan Jun stared blankly at the TV screen until it went black.

Lights out strictly at ten o’clock.

The lights in the room stayed on. Lying in bed, Fan Jun could turn his head and see the clock on the wall. He stared at the second hand, circle after circle…

---

What are the living conditions in a detention center like?
“The laborers, when they finish work at noon or dusk… stand outside the counter… signifier… signified…”

What does the inside of a detention center look like?
“Constructing meaning through a system of differences… class symbols…”

What is daily life like in a detention center?
“So what was Lu Xun trying to express… textual symbols… hierarchies…”

How’s the food in a detention center?
“Right, this isn’t just a prop… spatial symbols…”

Inside the detention center.
Inside the detention center.
Detention center.

…Zou Yang hadn’t paid attention to a single thing being taught in this class.

In this class, he was being taught about the detention center.

“We can go pick him up at 8:30 tomorrow morning, right?” Liu Wenrui whispered beside him.

“Mm.” Zou Yang scrolled on his phone.

“Are you going?” Liu Wenrui asked.

“Mm.” Zou Yang glanced at the professor at the podium.

“Should the few of us go together?” Liu Wenrui asked again.

“I’ll go by myself,” Zou Yang said. “Are we all going to collectively skip class for this messy business?”

“It’s a large English lecture. If we skip, we skip,” Liu Wenrui said.

“Don’t,” Zou Yang said. “Don’t make a fuss out of it.”

---

Zou Yang and Lü Ze sat in the backseat of Uncle Lü’s small minivan. Uncle Lü was driving, and Laoma was in the passenger seat. The four of them remained silent the entire way.

The atmosphere was very awkward, but Zou Yang was actually in a pretty good mood.

No matter what, Fan Jun would be out in a bit.

“Let’s just park here,” Uncle Lü said.

“Alright,” Laoma said.

As soon as the car came to a steady stop, Zou Yang hurried out.

Not far away was a large, grayish-black iron gate. Next to it was a sign that read “No. 1 Detention Center.”

Fan Jun’s release time was 9:00 AM; they had arrived twenty minutes early.

Laoma had originally wanted to follow the customs she had asked around about—bringing a new set of clothes, getting some pomelo leaves, and so on—but Zou Yang stopped her.

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” Zou Yang said. “If we’re really going to do all that, we might as well light a string of firecrackers.”

A little past 9:00, the iron gates opened.

Uncle Lü was the first to jog over there.

Zou Yang originally wanted to run after him too, but he hesitated, then slowed his pace, falling behind Laoma. He glanced back over his shoulder; Lü Ze was standing by the car, not moving.

Fan Jun walked out from inside the iron gates.

Zou Yang stopped in his tracks, pushed up his glasses, and stared at Fan Jun’s face.

Fan Jun wasn’t wearing a hat, so he could see his face clearly. In just three days, his chin had visibly sharpened, but his spirits seemed okay.

He hugged Uncle Lü and even smiled at Laoma.

Then, his gaze swept over toward this direction.

Zou Yang smiled and waved his arm at him.

Fan Jun waved his arm back, smiling very earnestly.

“Why did you all come?” Fan Jun asked when he walked up to him.

“We were free anyway,” Zou Yang said.

“No class?” Fan Jun asked.

“Skipped it,” Zou Yang looked at him.

And then he didn’t know what else to say.

“Get in the car, get in the car,” Uncle Lü came over, patted Fan Jun on the back, and handed him a hat. “Let’s not stand around here. We can talk when we get back.”

They didn’t talk much in the car either. Uncle Lü and Laoma still sat in the front, while the three of them squeezed into the backseat. None of them were small; they were packed together as tightly as cookies in a tin.

Zou Yang leaned against the door. He could feel Fan Jun leaning toward his side. He glanced at Lü Ze, who had turned his whole body sideways to press against the other door; miraculously, the two of them weren’t even touching each other.

Why make yourself suffer like this! Zou Yang sighed, wedged between Fan Jun and the car door.

Not long after the car drove into Nanzhouping, Fan Jun said, “Uncle, let’s stop here.”

“What’s wrong?” Uncle Lü asked.

“I’ll walk for a bit,” Fan Jun said.

“Ah, okay, okay,” Uncle Lü agreed, slowly pulling the car over to the side of the road. “Walking is good. Take a stroll and get some fresh air.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun replied.

Zou Yang opened the car door and stepped out first, followed by Fan Jun.

“You…” Fan Jun looked at him.

“I’ll walk for a bit too,” Zou Yang called into the car, then closed the door.

After the car drove away, the two of them stood silently by the side of the road.

Suddenly, they kind of didn’t know what to say.

“Where,” Zou Yang looked around; it was a place he hadn’t been to before, “is this?”

“…Nanzhouping,” Fan Jun replied.