Chapter 8: Escape Theory Studies

  It turned out that these people had been hungry for a day and couldn't sleep, listening to me and Geng Ling discussing the escape plan, they all gathered around to listen, seeing me mention stealing keys, Wu Yin finally couldn't help but speak up.

  "I looked at him unexpectedly and said: 'You're not going to be released in a year, why are you taking this risk with us?'"

  "That's still a year from now, you think I want to stay here?"

  I said: "Those who are barely like you can also make do, and if there are any brothers with shorter sentences than this, don't join in, it's not worth it."

  Qī Xiǎo Huán said: "No, Lóng Gē just said it well, escaping on one's own and being released are two different things. I still have less than a year left, but I'm willing to follow everyone!" Qī Xiǎo Huán said with grievance, "Mainly because I was wronged, I didn't even hold hands with her, how can that be considered collaboration?"

  I exchanged a glance with Geng Ling, and I asked: "Is there anyone present who is unwilling? If so, we will not force it."

  Nobody speaks.

  "Alright, since that's the case, this matter is settled then. I won't say those hypocritical words that men usually say. In short, I will ensure that every single one of us gets out alive." I counted again, including myself, there are eighteen people in total.

  "Wu Yin said: 'Now there are more people, Dragon Brother, you arrange tasks for everyone.'"

  I rubbed my head and said: "Let me think for a moment - where did I just get to?"

  "Stealing keys."

  "Right, the top priority is to steal the key on Geng Lian's ankle chain. Can you handle this?"

  Wu Ying's face turned difficult and she said: "Stealing is no problem, but I have to know who has the key first."

  Yu Manli said: "Dragon brother, you say we go ask Liu Si, will she tell us?"

  "I waved my hand and said, 'This mustn't be let her know.'"

  Wu Yingdao said: "Right, I think Liu Si is willing to give us medicine at most because he sympathizes with Geng Ling. This person has always been relatively fair."

  "I said: 'Then we can't let her know.' Sympathy is not equal to betrayal, this kind of person often has a strong sense of principle, whether they are friend or foe is still unclear."

  "What happened after you stole the key?"

  "I said: 'This matter can be delayed for a while, and at the same time give Geng Ling a few days to recover from his injuries. The most important thing is to think about how so many of us can escape.'"

  Geng Ling said: "This also needs to be thought out slowly, and must be carefully planned."

  I looked at the door of our cell and said, "Suppose we start running right now, this door is the first problem to be solved." Although the cell door was not locked, it was inserted from the outside every day after the prisoners entered the house.

  Wu Ying walked to the door and observed for a while before saying: "This is easy to handle, as long as there's an iron wire, we can use it to pry the door open."

  I nodded: "Tomorrow when everyone is working, pay attention and pick up anything that can be used, but be careful not to let others discover it. Also, observe how many guards there are here, their post positions. Let's sleep for now."

  A group of people were so excited about being involved in such a top-secret matter that they couldn't stop whispering to each other even after going to bed.

  I was worried that the next day I would be found out, but unexpectedly these guys acted as if nothing was wrong in front of outsiders, and it was me who seemed a bit absent-minded... When I went to work, my mind replayed all the prison break classics I had seen before. First, there was "The Shawshank Redemption", where the protagonist used a poster of Rita Hayworth as cover for his escape plan, which lasted for many years. He used a small hammer hidden in the Bible as a tool and persisted in digging every day, scattering the excavated soil evenly on the grass during recess... But this plan is not very feasible, first of all, it's hard to get a poster, even if Liu would help me, I don't know who to ask for, because I don't know who in our country could make people hang his portrait on the wall without arousing suspicion. Can't hang Xiao Lan's, can I?

  Then, I want to say that digging holes is not an easy job either. Strictly speaking, this belongs to a technical job. If you don't know two tomb robbers with more than ten years of experience, it's impossible to get through. The hole can't be dug with just a shovel and pickaxe. It's easy to bury yourself if you dig poorly. I'm particularly untalented in this aspect. I remember during the tree-planting festival in high school, I dug a hole for the tree and ended up digging a cave-in... Finally, I don't have ten years of time to wait - in another month, my old man will be out of prison!

  So "The Shawshank Redemption" was ruthlessly passed by me, the charm of a classic lies in its inability to be replicated, let's just let it remain classic!

  When it comes to authoritative information about prison breaks, the American TV series "Prison Break" is still the one. Michael gets a tattoo of the prison map on his body and intentionally commits a crime to get inside, where he then unfolds a series of high-tech and intelligent activities. He first uses his good looks to seduce the prison doctor, then takes advantage of his identity to frequently enter and exit the medical room, laying down favorable conditions for his future escape. Moreover, Michael is not only handsome but also a genius, with ideas bursting out like urine, able to turn a screw or a bag of toothpaste into an escape tool. In the end, all the fugitives follow his instructions.

  Upon further consideration, the difficulty level has increased. There is no map of the prison, and the "beautiful man plan" is not reliable either. Even if the female guards here have a strange taste and like me, I don't have the intelligence to play with screws or understand maps... so even "Prison Break" can't provide theoretical support. If I want to escape, I can only rely on walking the unique road of Longyang... As I was doing my work, I suddenly discovered that our female guard, who looked bored and listless, secretly turned around and took out a small copper mirror to admire herself, then took out a small powder box to touch up her makeup. I couldn't help but laugh - here are all prisoners, who is she making herself up for? It seems that women's love of beauty is indeed an innate nature. Suddenly, I had an idea and whispered in Geng Lian's ear: "Want to know who has your key? You should do this..."

  Geng Ling's face turned red as she listened and said, "Really have to be like this?"

  I gazed at him steadily and patted him: "For freedom, you won't mind this little sacrifice, oh?"

  Geng Ling lowered her head and hesitated for a moment, her neck turning red before she muttered: "It's just a bit more difficult."

  "It's nothing difficult, even kids can do it."

  "...but I'm not a kid."

  I smiled and said: "Just consider it a sacrifice for the sake of our eighteen brothers."

  Geng Ling sighed and said, "I'll give it a try."

  After a while, Geng Ling finally said with a red face in a low voice: "I succeeded."

  I suddenly cried out: "Ah, what smell is so pungent?"

  The woman picked up her powder box and glared at me, saying: "What are you yelling about?"

  I pointed at Geng Ling and shouted: "Report to Officer Cui, he has wet his pants."

  All the prisoners focused their attention on him, and Geng Ling wished he could bury his head in the ground. The female guard walked over, covering her nose from a distance, staring at Geng Ling and saying: "What's wrong with you?"

  Geng Ling shook her wet pants and said innocently: "I couldn't hold it in for a moment..."

  That woman guard waved her hand in disgust and pointed outside: "Go change your pants!"

  Geng Ling said: "I'm wearing foot shackles and can't change."

  "You scoundrel." The woman guard cursed and said: "You wait, I'll call someone over."

  She left not long after and brought in another guard, I gave Wu Yin a signal with my eyes, Wu Yin nodded knowingly, the guard took out a brass key from his waist, but suddenly hesitated: "The officer ordered that this person's shackles cannot be opened casually." The female guard who came earlier impatiently said: "He only has one arm left, what can he do? You don't have to smell that stench either." The female guard holding the key was at a loss, wanting to unlock Geng Ling but being put off by the smell, finally threw the key to me and shouted: "You, take him to change his pants!"

  I nodded repeatedly, leading Geng Ling out, Wu Yin and the others stared at the key for two eyes, gave me a thumbs up. I smiled and mouthed to him: "Recognize this person."

  The weakness of women is really interesting, it's said that they can endure more than 7 times the pain, but can't stand a smelly pair of pants. The living conditions in the male prison camp are simple, but each person has been given several sets of clothes to change into, and there's even a strict rule that you must change every two days. This isn't because they care about our health, but rather it's decided by women's innate love of cleanliness.

  Two guards escorted us back to the cell, and two of them stood at the door, saying to me: "You go help him change his pants, hurry up." Then the two of them started chatting casually outside the door.

  As I entered, I helped Ge Ling open the shackles. He changed his pants on one side, and I stared at the key in a daze. This small thing was entrusted with great responsibility, and now it was easily in my hands. Thinking of returning it again made me feel reluctant. I was stunned for a while, and suddenly I started rummaging around the house like a headless fly.

  "What are you doing?"

  I didn't have time to bother with him because I suddenly thought of a scene from "Prison Break": Michael made a mold of the key on soap, then poured molten plastic toothbrushes into it to create a replica. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to make a mold instead of letting Wu Yin risk stealing it back?

  I looked around, but saw nothing that could be used, and couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Unintentionally, I lifted up the edge of the kang bed mat, and suddenly felt overjoyed - underneath the mat was a large amount of yellow dry mud! I carefully placed the F-shaped key on the mud, jumped onto the bed, and stomped down hard with my foot. When I picked up the key again, there was a clear impression... The two guards outside saw that we hadn't come out for half a day and impatiently said: "Hurry up, how long does it take to change your pants?"

  Geng Ling also understood what I meant at this time, and her eyes showed joy. She casually replied: "I'm not just one hand, am I?"

  I wiped the key clean, locked the shackles on him again, and then went out. The guard carefully checked it and saw that there was no problem, put the key back in his waist and left.

  On the way back to the workshop, Geng Ling saw that the guard was a great distance away from us and couldn't help but ask me in a low voice: "Now that we have the mold, what do you plan on using as the key?"

  He stunned me with one sentence - in the Daughter State, there is no such thing as a plastic toothbrush, and... my lighter was also confiscated.

  The final escape process is definitely beyond your imagination, really.

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