“The three great taboos? They sound rather interesting. Could you tell me about them in detail?” Qin Hao asked.
Yao Fei smiled at him. “I can, but these are classified secrets. I can’t tell you for free.”
“But I’m penniless.” Qin Hao spread his hands.
Yao Fei gave a delicate laughter. “What I want isn’t money.”
“Then what is it…”
“Your sincerity.” Yao Fei glanced at him.
Qin Hao thought for a moment before saying, “How about I perform a magic trick for you?”
“You know magic?” Yao Fei’s eyes lit up.
Qin Hao smiled, took out his pocket notebook, and handed it to her. “Please write your name on it.”
Yao Fei looked at him, then wrote her name on it.
Qin Hao tore off the note, folded it in half, and held it out to her mouth. “Bite down.”
Yao Fei nodded, opened her small cherry-like mouth, and bit down on the note.
Qin Hao wrote his own name on another note, folded it in half as well, and held it between his teeth.
Yao Fei looked at him in confusion.
Qin Hao smiled faintly, then quickly leaned toward her and touched the two notes together.
“Mmph!” Yao Fei cried out in surprise, widening her beautiful eyes as she looked at him. Just now, their lips had nearly touched.
Qin Hao smiled at her and pointed at the note in her mouth.
Yao Fei froze for a moment, then understood and removed the note from her mouth.
At Qin Hao’s gesture, she opened the note.
The next instant, her beautiful eyes widened abruptly. She stared at the two words on the note in utter astonishment:
Qin Hao!
“The one in your mouth… could it be…” She looked at the note, then at Qin Hao, her eyes filled with wonder.
Qin Hao smiled faintly, removed the note from his mouth, and unfolded it. Written clearly on it were:
Yao Fei!
The notes bearing their names had actually been exchanged.
“How… how did you do that?” Yao Fei asked in astonishment.
Qin Hao smiled at her. “Naturally, I switched them from your mouth.”
Yao Fei’s cheeks flushed. “No, you didn’t. You never even touched me.”
Qin Hao smiled faintly. “My sincerity has been demonstrated. Now it’s your turn.”
Seeing that he refused to explain, Yao Fei could only suppress her curiosity and slowly began:
“The three great taboos are as follows. First, you must never offend the warden. The warden’s strength is extraordinary, and she has a very bad temper. If you offend her, you absolutely won’t meet a pleasant end. It’s best to keep your distance from her.”
Qin Hao asked, “What counts as offending her?”
“You didn’t do something outrageous, did you?” Yao Fei asked tentatively.
“Not exactly. I only took her sofa and mattress.” Qin Hao answered.
“That…” Yao Fei was utterly stunned. “The sofa might be understandable, but you took her mattress. Where is she supposed to sleep?”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe she has a spare?” Qin Hao shrugged.
“Would you keep a spare mattress at home?” Yao Fei countered.
Qin Hao shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t.”
Yao Fei glanced at him. “Should I stay farther away from you, so I won’t end up covered in blood when the time comes?”
Qin Hao chuckled. “Then tell me about the other two taboos.”
“Second, don’t set your sights on a prisoner.”
“How should I interpret that?” Qin Hao asked.
“Let me give you two examples. Once, a guard abused his authority for personal gain and tried to extort benefits from a prisoner. In the end, the guard and that prisoner became cellmates.” Yao Fei continued, “Another guard lusted after a female prisoner, so the warden threw him into the female prisoner’s prison cell. You can imagine what happened to him. In any case, he howled for several days and nights before finally dying.”
Qin Hao nodded. “Understood. What about the third?”
“Third…” Yao Fei glanced around, lowered her voice, and said, “On the last day of every month, you must never sing at midnight.”
Qin Hao furrowed his brow. “The first two are easy to understand, but what does the third mean?”
Yao Fei shook her head. “I can only tell you this much. I can’t say anything more specific. In short, just don’t violate these taboos.”
“What if I do?”
Yao Fei looked at him. “Then you can only hope to meet again in your next life.”
Qin Hao sighed softly. “I’m considering a serious question.”
“What?”
“Should I return the sofa and mattress to the warden?” Qin Hao asked with a frown.
Pfft!
Unable to hold back her laughter at his words, Yao Fei said, “Forget it. The warden must have given them to you. No one here can take her things from her.”
Qin Hao smiled. “That puts my mind at ease.”
Yao Fei gave him a sweet smile and asked, “Can you perform another magic trick for me?”
“I can, but I can’t do it for free.” Qin Hao threw her own words back at her.
“You really have no sense of propriety, do you?” Yao Fei chided.
Qin Hao shrugged. “This has nothing to do with propriety. Equal exchange is the principle, and I don’t think you want to take advantage of me either, do you?”
“You’re flattering me!” Yao Fei said coquettishly.
Qin Hao smiled. “Are you willing, then?”
“Hurry up and perform it. I’ll give you your reward afterward.” Yao Fei urged him.
Qin Hao nodded and gently placed his hand beside her cheek.
“What… what are you trying to do?” Yao Fei’s cheeks flushed as she hurriedly asked.
Qin Hao did not answer. Instead, he casually removed the hair tie from her head.
“I’m borrowing your hair tie.” He spoke to Yao Fei, then slipped it around his own hand.
“You can check whether the hair tie is around my hand.”
Yao Fei hurriedly looked at his hand. Indeed, the hair tie was stretched tightly around his palm.
“Please hold out your hand.” Qin Hao said to her.
Yao Fei extended her fair, tender hand toward him.
Qin Hao smiled at her and took her small hand.
“You!” Yao Fei hurriedly looked at him.
At that moment, Qin Hao’s hand trembled slightly, and the hair tie originally around his palm suddenly slipped onto Yao Fei’s hand.
“Ah! How did you do that?” Yao Fei exclaimed, her eyes wide.
Qin Hao smiled but did not answer.
Yao Fei looked at him, then at her own hand, her face filled with astonishment.
Just as she was about to question Qin Hao further, her communicator suddenly rang.
Her expression turned serious. She said to Qin Hao, “I have to return to my post. See you next time.”
“All right.” Qin Hao nodded. “Remember, don’t forget my reward.”
Yao Fei rolled her eyes at him, stood up, and quickly left.
A while later, Qin Hao’s communicator vibrated slightly, indicating that a message had arrived.
Qin Hao opened the message and saw a photograph of Yao Fei lying on a beach, revealing a pair of fair, slender, beautiful legs.
It turned out this was the reward she had mentioned.
Qin Hao shook his head and chuckled.
However, at that moment, a familiar voice came from behind him:
“Is it nice?”