The first official day on the job.
Gong Xiaohua got up early when the sky was barely bright. She put on her coarse cloth shorts and practiced boxing with Dad Gong in the yard.
Gong Xiaonan, on the other hand, had to be rousted out of bed every day by his mother wielding a feather duster.
Dad Gong was so annoyed he felt like grabbing the boy and throwing him back into his mother's belly to be remade.
The family's three meals a day were all prepared by Gong's Mother. After the three of them finished one or two sets of boxing, changed their clothes, and washed themselves up, Gong’s Mother would have breakfast ready too.
What the family of four ate at one meal was what another family might eat in a day. They were all strapping people with hearty appetites, and Gong's Mother was willing to spend on food.
Gong Xiaohua's first goal now was to gain literacy.
Her second goal was to lose some of the excess weight on her body. She really was too fat, to the point where it affected her health.
Seeing her daughter voluntarily start controlling her diet delighted Madam Gong. She ordered the family's two other members not to secretly entice Gong Xiaohua to eat snacks.
Her daughter was already 15 years old, a marriageable age, yet no suitors had come calling. Although in her eyes her daughter was perfect in every way, most men today preferred slender and fair-skinned women.
She felt her daughter was wonderful but couldn't support her forever. If Gong Xiaohua didn't change her figure soon, all the good men might be snapped up.
In the past Madam Gong had also urged her daughter to control her diet somewhat, but her daughter had been such a staunch eater back then.
Now that her daughter was voluntarily asking to lose weight and becoming beauty-conscious, this old mother felt extremely gratified.
If Gong Xiaohua knew her old mother was thinking about finding her a husband sooner, she might not want to lose weight so fast.
After Gong Xiaohua finished eating what Gong’s Mother had prepared for her, she suppressed her desire to keep eating, put down her chopsticks and bowl, and mentally told herself, “Control yourself!”
“Flower, today is your first day. I’ve already talked to the Prison Chief Lin. Go find him when you get there to sign in,” said Dad Gong as he ate.
“I understand, Father,” replied Gong Xiaohua with some difficulty, swallowing the saliva pooling in her mouth.
Seeing his daughter looking so starving, the doting Dad Gong couldn't help but say, “Flower, if you really want to eat more, then go ahead. I think you look thinner recently. Eating a bit more should be fine.”
“Old man, if you don't want to eat then don't eat,” scolded Madam Gong, rolling her eyes at Dad Gong.
Dad Gong promptly shut his mouth and quietly picked up his rice bowl again to obediently finish his meal.
“Father, Mother, I won't eat anymore. Please slowly enjoy your meal. I'm going to get going first,” said Gong Xiaohua.
Then she swiftly ran back to her room, tucked the primer 《Initial Literacy》 into her bosom, and headed out the door.
It would take about 40 minutes to walk from home to the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry also had dormitories for employees to rest. Because the original owner disliked the long distance, she often just stayed in the dorms.
But for her the distance wasn't an issue at all now, so she didn't plan on staying in the dorms and would return home every day instead.
Gong Xiaohua jogged all the way to the Ministry. She arrived at the side entrance specially opened for on-duty staff.
By now people were already trickling in and out.
Gong Xiaohua stood at the entrance, pondering how she would go down to the dungeons later, when she suddenly felt a pat on her back.
"Flower?" said a feminine voice.
She turned around to see an emancipated woman of small stature whose face was almost sickeningly pale. The woman wore prison guard clothes like hers, with the character "prison" emblazoned on the chest.
"Flower, it really is you! I haven't seen you for over a month. Have your injuries healed?" asked the young woman.
"Mostly better, though my head injury was somewhat severe. I've forgotten some things recently and came today to sign back in for duty. I was just about to head to the dungeons but don't know the way," replied Gong Xiaohua.
"Come on, sister will take you there," offered the woman.
"Thank you for your trouble. May I ask how to address you, Sister?"
"You really can't remember?" said the incredulous young woman.
"No, I don't remember."
"I heard from the other sisters in prison last time that you had amnesia but I didn't believe it then. Now I truly do!"
"You used to call me Sister Fang. Just keep calling me that from now on."
"Alright, Sister Fang," said Gong Xiaohua as she followed Sister Fang inside through the side entrance.
As they walked, Sister Fang introduced the various divisions.
"Our Ministry of Justice has five divisions: Capture and Arrest, Autumn Trials, Demotions, Prisons, and Confiscations and Fines. We belong to the Prison Division."
Thanks to Sister Fang's introductions along the way, Gong Xiaohua came to understand the basic layout as well as roles and responsibilities of each division.
They arrived at the northernmost part of the Ministry. This was where the dungeons were located, literally underground. To reach them required passing through a long corridor with towering walls on both sides.
At the end of the corridor was an open area. Right in the middle were two stone houses, one for the use of Prison Chief Lin and one for storing documents and miscellaneous items.
To the left and right of the open area were the entrances leading down to the men's and women's dungeons, respectively, each guarded by two prison guards.
The men's and women's dungeons were both under the charge of Prison Chief Lin. The various guards below all called him Chief.
There was a guard posted about every 50 meters or so all the way here.
Security was already so tight outside; it could be imagined the dungeons below were even more heavily guarded.
For people to be able to stealthily access the dungeons at will, they'd have to be insiders.
No wonder after she was attacked last time, the official said there was no need to investigate further. He had probably realized something shifty was going on.
Sister Fang took Gong Xiaohua to the dungeons to find Prison Chief Lin.
When they arrived outside the stone house, it wasn't shift rotation time yet. Upon seeing Gong Xiaohua, some of the male guards who had arrived early couldn't help but tease her.
"Yo, little Flower! You look thinner after not seeing you for a month, and prettier than before. Has your ma found you a little husband yet? If not, shall us brothers reluctantly take you home as a wife?"
They all burst into raucous laughter after this.
"Oh shush! Watch your mouths, everyone. Flower, ignore them," chided Sister Fang.
Gong Xiaohua thought to herself, back in the army there were plenty of crude men. When they got together they would make coarse jokes all the time, until she joined in the fun too. This bit of teasing didn't faze her one bit.
"Flower, come on, pay them no heed. They couldn't land you even if they tried!"
"Oh really? We heard Flower still has her sights set on that Staff Officer Li from the Capture and Arrest Division. Now he's real pedigree as the young master of an eminent household! Flower sure has lofty ambitions."
Another round of uproarious laughter followed, hahahaha...
"What's with all the noise? Don't you all have work to prepare for? Shift rotation is starting soon. Scram, all of you!" barked Prison Chief Lin, emerging from the stone house.
The laughter instantly died down as if it hadn't occurred. Everyone deferentially shouted "Yes Chief!" before scattering away.
Prison Chief Lin gave Gong Xiaohua a glance and turned around with his hands behind his back. "Lass, follow me," he said.
"Yes Chief," replied Gong Xiaohua as she trailed behind Prison Chief Lin.
After winding through several cell blocks, it was just as she had predicted. There were guards posted every few cells down here.
After about 10 minutes of walking, Prison Chief Lin came to a stop.
There were a few tables around them where four or five male guards were seated. Not far away another guard was punishing a prisoner, at the moment furiously lashing him with a long whip.
That prisoner's whole body was covered in wounds, not a single good patch of skin left. He didn't make a peep and kept his head lowered motionlessly. It was unclear whether he still lived.
Behind the guard were walls lined with all kinds of horrific torture devices that sent chills down one's spine.
She knew ancient punishments were cruel but that was just hearsay.
After walking through here, she was truly shocked by the ancient dungeons.
The endless gloom and dampness, the moans echoing all year round, it was harrowing.
Even more terrifying were the water dungeons where the fetid water reeked and rats could be seen crawling over the prisoners' bodies.
This allowed Gong Xiaohua to witness up close the might and severity of feudal rulers.
"Chief," the clerks greeted Prison Chief Lin as they stood.
"Mm," he murmured.
"Many prisoners may arrive tomorrow. Lass, help Wang Dachui out with logistics here in the men's dungeon the next couple days until we get through the busy period. Afterwards you can go back working in the women's dungeon."
He said this not only to Gong Xiaohua but the other male guards as well.
"Yes Chief," replied Gong Xiaohua.
And so on her first day of work, Gong Xiaohua ended up spending it following Wang Dachui, a man even less brawny than herself, helping out with logistics.
