Chapter 3 Release From Prison

Three years later The gates to the S City Women’s Prison opened, and soon a woman walked out of them slowly. She was ridiculously thin. Although she was wearing the same white dress she wore when she entered the prison three years ago, it now looked like a sack when worn over her shoulders. She walked very slowly, taking one step at a time as she headed toward the counter more than a hundred meters away. She held a black plastic bag that contained thirty-one bucks and fifty cents, as well as her ID. It was a scorching hot summer, and there was a visible heat wave above the stone road she walked on. It was at least thirty-three or -four degrees celsius out there that day, but the woman was so dehydrated that she did not produce even a drop of sweat as she walked under the hot sun. There were black and blue bruises all over her pale skin. There was even a scar about three centimeters long on her face, more precisely her forehead near her hairline. It was extremely irritating to look at. The bus arrived, and the woman boarded it. She carefully took a dollar coin out of the black plastic bag and put it into the bus’ coin box. There were not that many people on the bus, and the driver barely gave her a glance before pulling back his disgusted gaze… Anyone who boarded the bus here had to be a convict from the prison, and no criminal was any good. The woman did not seem to notice the driver’s gaze at all. She walked to the seats at the very back of the bus and chose the corner seat, trying to stay as low profile as possible. The bus went on its way, and as it proceeded, she looked outside the window… A lot had changed in three years. Her lips curved slightly… Of course, a lot changed in three years. That went for the outside world, but it went even more so for her. The bus drove to a more developed part of town, and she suddenly gave a jolt… Where was she supposed to go now that she had left the prison? In her daze, she realized a pressing fact of reality—she had nowhere to go. She opened the black plastic bag. All she had left was thirty bucks and a half. She carefully counted it three times… What was she supposed to do now? Not far from the roadside, there was a “hiring” sign that caught her attention. “Sir, I wanna get down. Please open the door for me.” The three years she spent in jail had washed away all of her pride, and she always sounded timid when she spoke to others. The driver complained like crazy as he opened the bus door. She thanked him and got off the bus. She then walked up to the large recruitment sign and looked at it for a while. Her gaze fell upon the word “cleaner” as well as “one meal and boarding provided”. She did not have a home, a file, or any qualifications, but she did have a prison record… They probably would not hire her even for the position of a cleaner. However… The woman gripped the thirty bucks and a half she had left and clenched her teeth, walking into the nightclub called East Emperor International Entertainment Center. Jane shuddered as soon as she went in; the cool air-conditioning made her shiver with cold. … “Name,” the other person said impatiently. “Jane Dunn,” she said in her hoarse voice slowly. The flashy-looking woman who was recording Jane’s particulars was so shocked to hear her that she shuddered and nearly dropped her pen. The interviewer asked crossly, “Why is your voice so grating?” The three years she spent in prison had made Jane accustomed to keeping her head down, so although the woman had called her voice unpleasant to her face, she merely replied slowly and gently, as though nothing would ever faze her. “I inhaled too much smoke.” The flashy woman was slightly surprised, turning her investigative gaze onto Jane’s face. “Was it a fire?” “Yes, it was.” Jane calmly lowered her eyes at that. ...Rather than a fire, it was more like arson. The flashy woman noticed that Jane had no intention of explaining further, and that Jane was not a particularly exciting person either. She let the topic slide, but she frowned slightly and clicked her tongue. “This won’t do. East Emperor isn’t your run-of-the-mill entertainment facility, and we have a high-class clientele too.” She swept her gaze over Jane again, making no attempt to hide her disgust. She clearly had a very low regard for Jane, dressed in her sack-like dress. Jane must have been wearing that dress for way too long, too, because the white fabric was even yellowing. East Emperor was not somewhere your average Joe could afford to go, so even the regular attendants had to have decent features and curvy bodies. How did someone like Jane even have the nerve to come for a job interview. The flashy woman stood up and waved her hand, rejecting Jane firmly. “No, someone like you won’t do. You can’t even be an attendant.” With that, she turned to leave. “I’m here to be a cleaner.” The hoarse voice spoke up dully in the tiny office, successfully stopping the woman in her tracks. She paused and turned around, raising a brow as she appraised Jane from head to toe again. Suspiciously, she said, “I’ve never seen a woman in her twenties willing to lower her head and take the tough job of a cleaner.” Even the youngest cleaning lady they had here was in her forties. This girl may have a scar on her forehead and a stick-thin body, but she was still only twenty. They had plenty of twenty-year-olds here— all of them models and hostesses! Oh, and some attendants too, of course. They just did not have any twenty-years-old cleaners. The woman thought that this unassuming girl would immediately pour out her sob story, talking about how difficult her life was and how hard it was to survive. If the girl really tried to sell her all that nonsense, she would have chased her out in an instant. Life was tough, huh? Ha, there were so many such stories here at East Emperor that they would form enough books to fill a library if they were written down on paper. Who cared about the life of a stranger they just met? To her surprise, the girl with the unbearably hoarse voice said slowly, “I would gladly sell my body if I could. Before I came here, I took a good look at myself and realized that I’m not qualified for that, so all I can sell is my labor. I’ll just do what I can.” ...She was just Convict No. 926. After she went into and returned from a place like that, what dignity did she have left to speak of? There was the flash of self-deprecating humor in Jane’s eyes. The flashy woman was slightly surprised, and she appraised Jane from top to bottom once more. She then walked back to her office and picked up a pen, ready to fill in the form. “Jane Dunn, was it? Dunn with two n’s?” “That’s right.” “I’m surprised.” The woman examined Jane again. “It’s a sweet name. Your parents must really love you.” Jane’s eyes were as dead as still water… Did they love her? Yes, they did. If she had not been so despicable as to kill Rosaline Summers and bring disaster upon the family, then yes, they probably loved her. Very much so. “I don’t have any family,” Jane said calmly. The flashy woman frowned and glanced at Jane, but she did not enquire any further. She stood up and said, “Alright, then make a copy of your ID.” The woman got up from her chair and walked to the door with her fifteen-centimeter heels before she suddenly stopped and turned around, warning Jane, “Jane, do you know why I made an exception and hired you?” She did not expect an answer, so she continued, “It’s because you said one thing right. If you could sell your body, then you would, but if you can’t, then you would just do what you could. “Many people twice your age still can’t understand that. They are so hype-focused and stop at nothing to make sales, thinking that they’re fighting for the top when it’s only their heads in the clouds. They never actually know where they really stand. “You’re willing to look at yourself honestly and understand what you’re capable of. I believe that someone who knows what they can do would also know what they can’t do.” At that point, the flashy woman narrowed her eyes. “East Emperor isn’t your regular entertainment center, Jane.” Jane answered as slowly as ever. “I know. I have an unpleasant voice, so I won’t say anything unnecessary.” That included the things she should not be blabbing about. The flashy woman nodded, satisfied. Usually, she never gave the newbies advice like this. If they dared to come to East Emperor, they had to be mentally prepared. To think she made an exception for this cleaner. Although the woman had a high enough position at East Emperor, she still could not afford to offend any of the rich and powerful people in this melting pot of a city. ...Anyone who joined East Emperor had to learn the ‘rules’. That meant what they should and should not say, what they should and should not do. “Um, Miss Manager…” Jane stammered. “I don’t have anywhere to stay.” The flashy woman said, “Just call me Alora from now on.” She then pulled out her phone and made a call. “Ken, come over here. I just hired a new cleaner, take her to the dorms.” After that, she hung up and said offhandedly to Jane, “Come to work tomorrow.” With that, she left Jane alone here. Jane looked at the appointment form in her hand and heaved a secret sigh of relief… At least she did not have to sleep on the streets tonight.