"Tell him...it's all my fault, I didn't raise him well..."

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly covered her mouth, and her shoulders began to tremble violently.

Su Jianguo took the lunchbox and gently patted his wife's back. He felt sorry for her, seeing her so upset.

Time was running out.

Su Jianguo hurriedly rode his bicycle away from home with the dumplings.

The prison's iron gates slammed shut behind him.

Su Jianguo carried his lunchbox and followed the prison guard through the long corridor.

Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, and prying eyes were cast from the cells on either side.

"arrive."

The prison guard stopped in front of the third iron gate, his keychain rattling.

"Twenty minutes."

The meeting room was smaller than I had imagined, containing only an iron table and two chairs.

There was a solid iron fence in the middle.

Su Mingde was already sitting opposite him, his hands shackled and his right foot tied with a heavy iron ball.

He looked even more haggard than when we met a few days ago, with sunken eyes and high cheekbones, like a skeleton covered in human skin.

The gunshot wound on his right arm was bandaged with yellowed gauze, with faint traces of blood seeping out.

Su Jianguo sat down opposite him and placed his lunchbox on the table.

Neither of them spoke; only the faint hum of the incandescent bulb overhead could be heard.

"Dumplings made by your mom."

In the end, Su Jianguo spoke first.

"Pork and cabbage filling."

The prison guard took the lunchbox and used chopsticks to poke open each one to check it.

Steam rose from the torn dumpling skin, carrying a familiar aroma.

Su Mingde's eyes suddenly lit up for a moment, then quickly dimmed again.

"She...she still remembers..."

His voice was very hoarse.

"Eat it while it's hot."

Su Jianguo did not answer, but instead pushed the lunchbox over.

Su Mingde mechanically grabbed a dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth.

The chewing motion was slow, as if confirming something.

When he got to the third one, he suddenly stopped eating.

"Is it...is it the old cabbage from our field?"

He looked up.

"Does Mom still remember what I like to eat?"

Su Jianguo nodded.

She said you love eating the cabbage you grow yourself, and that the cabbage you grow yourself is sweet.

Su Mingde's shoulders began to tremble, and the shackles made a soft clinking sound.

He grabbed dumplings and stuffed them into his mouth, one after another, swallowing them with tears mixed with the dumplings, choking him and causing him to cough.

"Eat slowly."

Su Jianguo subconsciously reached out his hand, then put it down.

"dad..."

Su Mingde suddenly looked up, his face streaked with tears.

"I...I remember now...that winter I had a fever, and Mom chopped up the last half of a cabbage and made twelve dumplings...and I ate them all..."

His voice was filled with immense pain.

"You...you just drink soup made from cabbage stalks..."

Su Jianguo remained silent.

That was during the Three Years of Natural Disasters.

The snow was particularly heavy that year, and only one cabbage remained in our house.

Su Mingde had a persistent high fever, and Wang Xiulan stayed by his side for three days and three nights. In the end, she used the little white flour she had left to make dumplings for her son.

But at this moment, the same taste of dumplings became the last meal before their farewell.

"Dad, I was wrong..."

Su Mingde suddenly broke down, slamming his forehead heavily against the iron table.

"I shouldn't have listened to Liu Meijuan... I shouldn't have argued with my family... and I especially shouldn't have..."

His confession was interrupted by violent sobbing, his face covered in snot and tears.

The prison guard frowned and stepped forward, but Su Jianguo raised his hand to stop him.

"What's the point of saying all this now?"

Su Jianguo's voice was calm, but his eyes were churning with hidden currents.

There were only three dumplings left in the lunchbox.

Su Mingde stared at them blankly, then suddenly said softly.

"Mom's dumplings...are still so delicious..."

Su Jianguo remained silent.

"Time is up."

Finally, the prison guard made a cold announcement.

It's time for the final meeting.

Su Mingde suddenly grabbed the iron fence, his expression agitated.

"Dad, I regret it. I shouldn't have gotten back together with Liu Meijuan in the first place. It would have been so much better if I had just stayed and worked honestly at the neighborhood office. I shouldn't have listened to Liu Meijuan... Dad..."

Upon seeing Su Mingde's agitated state, the prison guards immediately stepped forward to stop him and take Su Mingde away.

Su Mingde gripped the railing tightly.

"Dad! Tell Mom...tell her..."

His voice suddenly choked up.

After thinking it over, Su Mingde finally let go of her hand helplessly.

"Forget it... don't let her come..."

Su Jianguo stood up, leaving the lunchbox on the table.

As he turned around, he heard suppressed sobs behind him, and the heavy echo of a lunchbox rolling to the ground.

...

Su Jianguo had just returned home not long ago.

There was a rapid knocking at the door from outside the courtyard.

He turned around and opened the courtyard gate, where two uniformed police officers stood at the bottom of the steps.

"Comrade Su."

The older police officer took off his hat.

"Please come with us immediately; we need a family member to identify the body."

Wang Xiulan rushed out of the house upon hearing the noise, her face deathly pale.

"What remains? My son..."

"Execution complete."

The police officer's voice was low.

"According to regulations, a signature from an immediate family member is required for confirmation."

Su Jianguo pressed down on his wife's trembling shoulders.

"You wait at home, I'll take the third child."

Police cars drove through the gradually darkening streets with sirens blaring.

Su Mingfu sat in the back row, silently shedding tears.

Su Jianguo remained expressionless.

The police car arrived at the forensic center.

When I opened the door, a blast of cold air mixed with the smell of disinfectant hit me.

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