In the suburban women's prison, Jia Zhangshi was packing her clothes. She had been here for three years, and today was finally the day she would be released. She didn't want to stay a moment longer and was eager to go home.
Is there no other way? This place is simply not fit for human habitation.
Now, Jia Zhangshi weighs less than 100 jin (50 catties), her face is full of wrinkles, and half of her hair has turned white. Only her triangular eyes can vaguely reveal her former self.
If it were someone you know well, they might not even recognize her.
When she first came in, Jia Zhangshi was fearless and thought that this place was like home, where everyone would give in to her. She never wanted to do any dirty or tiring work and argued with her team leader every day.
But reality taught her a lesson. The cell leader not only dared to beat her, but also ganged up on her and beat her until she peed on herself before they stopped her.
After being beaten, she learned her lesson and started tattling, complaining to the wardens.
To Jia Zhangshi's utter surprise, the discipline not only failed to help her, but after listening to the group leader's opinion, it also said that she was disobedient and directly locked her in solitary confinement, and even put a cross brace on her as punishment.
Is that cross brace for people to wear?
He can't sleep, he can't stand, and he can't straighten his back. He's always stuck in a half-squatting position. Even when he goes to the toilet, he needs someone to help him take off his pants.
After being punished for a week, Jia Zhangshi finally became completely obedient and never dared to talk back or complain again.
Because of her past record of tattling, she incurred the wrath of the team leader, and from then on, she took on all the dirty and tiring work assigned by the team.
In such an environment, and with food always plentiful, especially this year, things have gotten even worse, which is why she has aged so quickly.
"Zhang Xiaohua, are you ready? Your son is here to pick you up."
"Alright, alright, Instructor Li, I'm coming right now."
Upon hearing that her son had arrived, Madam Jia was overjoyed. Once she stepped out of this gate, she could go home again and be the retired emperor.
The two left the cell and, after passing through a line of gunners' checks, finally arrived at the main gate.
"Zhang Xiaohua, this is your release certificate. After you get out, you must behave yourself and not commit any more crimes. I hope you will never come back."
"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Instructor Li."
Jia Zhangshi received the release certificate and, filled with immense excitement, quickly walked out the door.
Outside the gate, Jia Dongxu, who had been waiting for a long time, smiled happily when he saw Jia Zhangshi walking in.
"Mom, you've suffered these past few years. Your son is coming to take you home."
Because he could visit his mother in prison every year, Jia Dongxu wasn't too surprised when he saw her; he simply offered some words of comfort.
"Son, Mom is finally out, sob sob sob..."
Upon seeing Jia Dongxu, Jia Zhangshi finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears, as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances she had held for so many years.
Seeing his mother like this, Jia Dongxu knew that she must have suffered a lot in the past few years. He could only take her package and let her cry it out, which might make her feel a little better.
After they finished crying, the two prepared to leave when Jia Zhangshi's stomach started growling again, so she couldn't help but ask.
"Dongxu! You know life inside isn't good. Did you bring Mom anything nice to eat? If not, could you buy her a roast chicken?"
As if awakened by the words "roast chicken," Jia Zhangshi's stomach began to rumble incessantly after she finished speaking.
Hearing his mother's request, Jia Dongxu felt a chill run down his spine. His mother really dared to say that. In this year of famine, where was he supposed to buy roast chicken?
However, in order to appease Jia Zhangshi and lure her home first, he had no choice but to tell a lie.
"Mom, let's go home to eat! I've already arranged for Huairu to buy meat. As long as we're home, you can eat whatever you want."
"Really? You can't lie to Mom. If I don't get to eat when we get home, don't blame me for getting angry."
Although Jia Zhangshi was in prison, she was aware of the famine that was raging outside, so she found it hard to believe her son's words.
As Mr. Zhou Shuren once said, if you tell one lie, you have to tell several more to cover it up.
Now Jia Dongxu is also facing this situation, caught in a dilemma, but he has decided to continue making things up.
"Don't worry! I've been saving up meat coupons for months. When you get home, we won't eat any of them; we'll save them all for you."
Jia Zhangshi was skeptical of her son's words, but no matter what, she still had some hope. After all, since entering prison, she had forgotten what meat tasted like.
"I'll trust you this once, let's go!"
With the belief that they could eat meat as soon as they got home, Jia Zhangshi forced herself to endure her hunger, and the two walked towards the place where they would board the vehicle.
Upon arriving at the boarding point, after only two miles, Jia Zhangshi was already seeing stars and her face was covered in sweat, which showed just how weak she was.
The two waited for twenty minutes before the bus arrived. After boarding, the bus slowly made its way into the city.
At 10 a.m., a large number of people had already gathered at the entrance of the courtyard house.
The men were watching the chess game, the women were chatting, and the children were running around.
While everyone appeared to be chatting and joking, their real purpose was the same: to see what Jia Zhangshi would look like when she "returned as a queen."
Tiger, who lives in the backyard, is eight years old this year and knows a little bit about things. He is currently blocking the way of Banggeng and his sister.
"Banggeng, I heard your grandma's getting out of prison today. What? Are you two siblings planning to come and welcome her?"
Six-year-old Banggeng looked bewildered and quietly asked, "Do I have a grandma?"
This cannot be blamed on him. He was only 3 years old when Jia Zhangshi was arrested, and had long forgotten the existence of his grandmother.
"How come you don't have a grandma? You not only have a grandma, but your grandma was a convict."
Tiger said smugly.
These were things he overheard adults talking about. Although he didn't know what a labor camp prisoner was, he sensed from the adults' tone that they weren't good people.
"Can those convicts eat it?"
Banggeng asked, puzzled.
For a child, nothing is more tempting than food, especially these days.
“Inmates can’t eat, but inmates are honorable! Your grandma is very honorable, and she’s going home soon. Just think, having an inmate grandma like that is a great honor.”
Tiger said this in a serious tone, but it was all nonsense.
He was going to teach Banggeng a lesson, since Banggeng always boasted and ate all the meat in the house by himself.
Meanwhile, the completely unaware Bang Geng was still foolishly thanking him.
"Thank you, Brother Tiger. I had no idea my grandma was so amazing!
Having achieved his goal, Tiger quietly ran to the side to play with the other children.
As for the Banggeng siblings?
There was a convict's grandmother; who would want to play with them?
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