"Barbecue is no big deal. My dad often grills for us on the balcony."
It was already a new week at kindergarten. While Xixi excitedly told her friends about her weekend trip to Tingshan with her parents, the tall and sturdy Chen Shiyun pretended to be dismissive, asserting her presence: "He can roast big chicken legs! I can eat two!"
"You guys are so lucky!" The quiet, poetry-reciting boy Nan Zhaoyu hugged his knees and muttered, "My mom always says no to too much junk food, so she won't let me eat this or that."
After a week of practice, Yang Luoqi had gradually changed from her initial shyness. She now shared her feelings with her close friends: "My mom won't let me eat barbecue either. She says I have to eat more veggies so I don't get fat."
Unintentionally, her words stung the slightly chubby girl Lan Xin nearby. But Lan Xin wasn't one to hold grudges—she didn't even notice. Her attention was entirely on the delicious food Xixi was describing.
"My dad made lots of veggies too, wrapped in shiny white paper and grilled, plus big eggplants—so fragrant!" As Xixi spoke, she suddenly remembered something. Her big eyes sparkled as she looked at Chen Shiyun and said, "Oh, and there were marshmallows too! The ones Chen Shiyun brought for us today—my dad grilled them!"
"Marshmallows can be grilled?" Chen Shiyun, realizing that even standing up couldn't make her the center of attention, deflated and sat back down, asking in surprise.
Marshmallows? Barbecue? The connection made the other kids perk up and look at Xixi.
"Yeah! They were so tasty!" Recalling it, Xixi couldn't help licking her lips with her little pink tongue. "My dad melted the marshmallows on the grill, then sandwiched them between two cookies with chocolate—sticky, sweet, and super delicious!"
Hearing this, the kids' mouths started watering uncontrollably.
Lan Xin couldn't hold back. She swallowed a big gulp of saliva, patted her round little belly, and pouted, "Oh no, I just ate, but I feel hungry again!"
Luckily, she didn't have to suffer much longer.
"Kids, time to get in bed for your nap!" Teacher Mu walked in, clapping her hands with a gentle smile, cutting off the little ones' discussion.
...
The story of *Prison Break* was getting more and more thrilling, especially after the appearance of its iconic character—T-Bag.
Unlike other novels where readers had to rely on imagination, Yang Yi's *Prison Break* was filled with rich illustrations. In this chapter, one illustration featured T-Bag!
Yang Yi had sketched the character almost like a portrait of Robert Knepper's portrayal: a gaunt-faced, sharp-cheekboned villain with messy, straw-like hair, a trimmed yet somewhat sexy stubble on his chin, and a pair of terrifying eyes!
Those eyes weren't fierce, but they were sinister. You could see a murky gleam in them, laced with mockery, as if everyone and everything in the world were under his twisted control...
This character sparked huge debate in the book's comment section. Most readers immediately expressed their disgust.
After all, T-Bag was imprisoned for multiple crimes, including pedophilia, rape, and murder. Thinking about his past deeds sent chills down readers' spines.
What made it even more nauseating was his introduction. The book described: "Behind him followed a man with meticulously styled hair, wearing a coy, disdainful smile that only women might have. He clung to T-Bag like a little bird, his fingers tightly pinching the corner of T-Bag's stretched-out pants pocket, following step by step."
Though it described T-Bag's male lover, it also reflected his twisted personality. In prison, he used men to satisfy his desires!
Seeing this, the comment section practically exploded. Most active commenters were trashing the character and trashing Yang Yi!
"This is disgusting! Why write a character like this? I'm about to throw up my last meal!"
"Can't you just focus on Michael rescuing his brother and them happily reuniting outside prison? Why add all this crap to gross us out?"
"I just want to know how many chapters this T-Bag will survive in this book. If he shows up again, I'm done—I'll drop it!"
"Do you really need to dumb down the side characters this much? With T-Bag's small build, someone in prison could snap him like a twig. How does he get to be the boss?"
"I think Yang Yi's lost his mind, writing such a disgusting character. Boss, since he's only been around a few chapters, just delete him!"
"WTF, I've always hated rapists, and he's a pervert who likes men. Why is the protagonist even talking to him? Is he going to team up with him later?"
"Looks like it. Let me guess: the protagonist is forced to cooperate with T-Bag and even has to offer up his own 'little flower.' Haha, the author's brain-dead!"
Amid the one-sided criticism, a few people came to defend the story.
"The author has a reason for creating this character. Why are you all yelling?"
"Yang Yi: Here, take the pen—you write it!"
"I don't see a problem with T-Bag. Prisons are full of perverts like him. Did you expect all inmates in a maximum-security prison to be innocent little flowers?"
"Yang Yi's skill is growing. His character-building is getting better. Go ahead and curse—the more you curse, the more it proves T-Bag is a well-crafted character."
"T-Bag, mob boss Abruzzi, and the protagonist's deadweight roommate Sucre—you might find them annoying, but they're all plausible types in prison. They're also necessary for the plot, creating conflicts to cause trouble for the protagonist. Escaping prison isn't supposed to be smooth sailing!"
But readers with stubborn opinions didn't care about the author's internal logic. They judged this "world" through their own biases.
"Creating trouble isn't done like this. Writing a pervert to disgust readers? Even writing some ruthless thugs beating up the protagonist would make more sense! Why a pervert?"
"The most hated people in prison are rapists. Someone like T-Bag would've been beaten to death in real life! I say the setup is flawed. We're not cursing T-Bag—we're cursing the author! Defenders, read this clearly!"
"Author, if you keep writing T-Bag and don't let Lincoln escape soon, we'll stop subscribing. What kind of garbage book is this? It's infuriating!"
"The protagonist is so smart—why can't he scheme to kill T-Bag or tell the warden? He's got a good relationship with the warden!"
"Can't read this anymore. It's lowering my IQ. I'm out. Goodbye!"
But Yang Yi never read the comment section. *Prison Break* continued updating as planned, unshaken.
Meanwhile, as the story deepened, *Prison Break* grew more thrilling. The comment section was full of curses, but that couldn't stop its explosive popularity.
This was destined to be a record-breaking, phenomenal novel!