Death Row Inmate

"Suspect Guo Jianjun, male, Han Chinese, thirty-three years old, born November 11, 1975. Suspected of organizing and leading **; intentional homicide; intentional assault; intentional arson; intentional robbery; intentional **, illegal possession of firearms; intentional explosion; intentional **, intentional **, illegal possession of drugs; smuggling; indecent assault of women; coercion, organizing **; illegal gambling; extortion; bribery; illegal detention; disrupting financial order. The above twenty-one charges, with witness and physical evidence complete, have been tried publicly and found guilty. After deliberation by the collegiate bench, this court hereby pronounces sentence."

At this point, the judge looked around, saw the assembled audience stand up, then lowered his head to the judgment in his hand and read: "The suspect, Guo Jianjun, is sentenced to death and deprived of political rights for life. This judgment is final and not subject to appeal. Execution is immediate. GD Province High People's Court, April 4, 2008. Court adjourned!"

In the solemn and majestic courtroom, the audience immediately burst into warm applause and cheers. Someone shouted, "Eliminating a scourge for the people!" The judges on the presiding bench withdrew in order.

The defendant in the dock, dressed in a prison uniform and with a shaved head, was escorted out by two armed police officers, their hands gripping his arms. He wore heavy handcuffs and shackles on his hands and feet, which dragged on the ground with a clanking sound.

His steps were slow and heavy. Although he had been sentenced to death and was to be executed immediately, he did not have the listless demeanor of a condemned man facing death. Instead, the corners of his mouth were turned up, and a faint smile lingered on his lips.

As he reached the doorway, the bright sunlight shone on his shaven head. Guo Jianjun stopped, took a deep breath, and felt a warmth spread through him, a sudden sense of rebirth. The cold handcuffs in his hands seemed to gain a touch of warmth. His gaze fell upon the crowd of onlookers surrounding him.

"Is this Guo Jianjun? He doesn't look like a bad person! How could such a young man go astray?" An elderly woman with white hair, perhaps due to her age, couldn't see clearly and stared intently at Guo Jianjun, trying to get a good look at the notorious villain who had made a name for himself throughout the province. Others craned their necks, and the flashes from reporters' cameras crackled incessantly. Unfortunately, the cordon of armed police prevented them from getting any closer.

Guo Jianjun bowed deeply in the direction of the elderly woman. The white-haired elder called out, "Child, remember to be a good person in your next life!"

Guo Jianjun smiled, and the armed police behind him pushed him forward. Stumbling, he stepped down the stairs. A waiting prison transport vehicle had its rear door open. Several armed police officers shoved him inside and followed him in. The vehicle door closed, and the siren wailed. Under the watchful eyes of the public, a convoy of several vehicles sped out of the court gates.

The convoy drove towards the outskirts. A middle-aged officer, with the insignia of two bars and one star on his uniform, sized up Guo Jianjun, who was opposite him. By today's standards, he was a good-looking young man. If not for his attire, no one would have guessed he was a notorious death-row inmate. What could have driven such a person to this point?

Watching the street scenes flash by the car window, Guo Jianjun seemed to sense the officer's gaze. He turned and smiled at the officer, "Brother! Can I have a cigarette?"

The middle-aged officer had handled such missions many times, but this man's expression and behavior were not those of someone about to face death. He immediately became vigilant, scrutinizing the prisoner opposite him. The armed police soldiers on either side also stared at him, their fingers resting on the triggers.

Guo Jianjun shook his head with a wry smile. "This isn't some Hong Kong or Taiwanese police thriller. Are you afraid I'll escape? Or that someone will try to hijack the prison transport? I'm like this, is that even possible? This is the Communist Party's domain. There aren't many people in China who would dare do something like this..."

But no matter what he said, the armed police remained silent, closely watching his every move.

"Sigh! It's just a cigarette! Why so tense?" Guo Jianjun's eyes swept over their epaulets and collar insignia, then turned to the window. He sighed, "Back in the day, I was a soldier too. I carried a gun, earned commendations, received awards, shed blood and sweat!" After speaking, he fell silent, his gaze lost as he looked out the window, as if recalling something.

The officer and several soldiers were somewhat surprised by his words. The officer's vigilant expression softened, and the soldiers' fingers unconsciously moved away from the triggers.

The officer sized up Guo Jianjun's physique, paused, and finally asked, "You were a soldier too? Armed Police or People's Liberation Army?"

"The latter," Guo Jianjun replied with a smile, turning his head. After a slight hesitation, the officer reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and carefully handed it to Guo Jianjun. The latter said thank you, held the cigarette between his fingers, put it in his mouth, and took a deep puff before exhaling.

Meeting the officer's questioning gaze, Guo Jianjun slowly said, "I enlisted in '93, as an infantryman, and served on the border for three years. After being discharged, I returned to my rural hometown. My parents were there, and I had no siblings. But when I returned, I discovered that my father had passed away the year I enlisted due to illness, unable to afford treatment. Not wanting to burden me with worries while I was in the army, he had instructed my mother not to tell me. When I got home, my father was gone, and my mother was bedridden with illness. Grief aside, those still alive had to go on living, and my mother's illness needed treatment. But my discharge pay and savings amounted to less than three thousand yuan. After taking my mother for various examinations in the city and buying some medicine, the money was nearly gone. With the help of comrades and villagers, we managed to raise some funds for my mother's hospitalization. However, the hospitalization costs were too high for us rural folk, and we couldn't afford it. I had to entrust my mother to a comrade in the city and go south to work, hoping to earn enough money for my mother's medical treatment." As he spoke, the cigarette he had smoked halfway burned down to the filter, scorching his hand and falling onto the car.

A foot in a leather shoe reached out and stepped on the cigarette butt. The officer took out another cigarette, lit it, and handed it to Guo Jianjun, saying, "Continue!"

"Thanks!" Guo Jianjun waved his cuffed hands, brought his mouth close, and took a deep drag. He continued, "After arriving in the city, a fellow villager helped me find a job as a laborer on a construction site. I carried bricks and cement up and down buildings every day. Eight hundred yuan a month, with food and lodging provided, and wages paid every six months. Although it was hard and tiring, it was nothing for someone like me who came from the infantry. At that time, eight hundred yuan a month was enough for our rural family's income for half a year. Ha! Six months later, the houses on the construction site were completed. When it was time to get paid, the boss disappeared. All the workers were migrant laborers from out of town. In this unfamiliar place, where could we go to claim our wages? We tried to report it to the local government, but they said there was nothing they could do. After a few more visits, they wouldn't even let us into the government building. In the end, we had to let it go. My mother's illness still required money, and I had no skills, so I found another construction site and continued to work hard. Hey! And I encountered the same problem again – working without getting paid."

"Why didn't you complain?" the officer asked, frowning. The young armed police soldiers were also drawn into the death-row inmate's story, staring at him curiously. They never imagined that the notorious Guo Jianjun had done such work.

"Complain?" Guo Jianjun took a drag of his cigarette and sneered, "Brother, you've been in the army too long. It wasn't like this back then. It didn't matter who you complained to; it was useless. Now it's different. Even the Prime Minister comes to collect wages for migrant workers, which is why there's the concept of complaining. Back then! Try it yourself."

The middle-aged officer's expression became slightly awkward. He took the cigarette butt from the prisoner, threw it down, and extinguished it. He lit another and asked briefly, "And then?"

"Hmph! Then? My mother's condition worsened, and she urgently needed money for surgery. My comrade, to pay for my mother's treatment, even sold his own house. Houses were cheap back then! It only sold for tens of thousands of yuan. Now it would be worth ten times that. Eventually, the money from selling the house was almost gone. I was desperate. It was at this time that I ran into the boss who owed me wages. When I tried to demand my wages, he called a group of people and beat me up. With my body covered in injuries, I also got angry. I contacted a few of my former comrades, told them what happened, and wanted revenge. Ha! They were indeed brothers who had faced life and death together on the border. They all came. After discussing it, we kidnapped that boss and extorted a million yuan from him, threatening him that if he reported it, we would kill his entire family. That boss was also timid and didn't report it." Guo Jianjun chuckled.

"As a former soldier, how could you do something like this, breaking the law?" the officer shook his head.

"Unfortunately, the money came too late. My mother passed away before she could receive it," Guo Jianjun's voice lowered. Then, he looked at the officer agitatedly, "What if I'm a former soldier? If it were the Anti-Japanese War era, I would unhesitatingly shed my blood and sweat for the country. They all say protect the family and defend the country, protect the family and defend the country, but I can't even protect my own parents. What's the point of adhering to the soldier's creed? Go and see now, who is enjoying themselves in those places of debauchery? Is it the ordinary soldiers who protect the family and defend the country, or the ordinary people!"

"Is this your reason for betraying the country and harming national interests? Have you forgotten the words in your soldier's oath... that national and ethnic interests are paramount?" The officer also became agitated. The armed police soldiers in the compartment stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. This was the first time they had encountered such a situation during a mission.

"Harming national interests, perhaps! But you say I betrayed the country, that's too strong. I ask you to retract that statement. Guo Jianjun has dared to do anything these years, except betraying the country, something only traitors would do. I can bear any charge, but I would never bear the charge of being a traitor. If I were to die with that charge on me, I would truly die with regrets." Guo Jianjun stared at the officer opposite him and sneered.

The officer also sneered, "Dealing in drugs with foreign powers, smuggling arms, and harming Chinese people. What's the difference between that and treason?"

"Heh! What do you know?" Guo Jianjun threw away the cigarette butt and reached out again, shouting, "Give me another cigarette. Damn it! Today in court, I admitted to all my crimes. I didn't expect to have to argue with you here."

"Guo Jianjun, I'm all ears. Let's hear what you have to say!" The officer said, personally stuffing a lit cigarette into his mouth.

Guo Jianjun took the cigarette, which was more than half smoked, out of his mouth, gave the officer a sideways glance, and exhaled a cloud of smoke. "If I don't do these things, others will. But my doing them is different from others doing them. As long as I, Guo Jianjun, am in GD Province, this is my territory. Foreign underground forces will not get in. Do you think those foreigners blown up in 'Hualian Villa' were tourists? They were liaisons coming to develop the Chinese drug market. Since drugs cannot be banned in the short term, I will control this business. Only when it is truly under my control can I ensure that drugs do not spread in GD Province. Do you think the country doesn't know about all the bad things I've done? If I had truly betrayed the country, would I be waiting here to be sentenced to death? What you see on the surface is enough to get me killed more than ten times over. Unfortunately! I was tricked in the 'Hualian Villa' incident. The international impact was too great! Now that I'm dead, I'm afraid some people will be secretly smiling."

Several armed police soldiers didn't quite understand what Guo Jianjun meant by his words. The middle-aged officer, however, regained his composure. He stared at Guo Jianjun thoughtfully for a moment and slowly asked, "Do you regret reaching this point?"

"Regret?" Guo Jianjun laughed heartily, "Can life be full of regrets? Is regret useful? Anyone who walks this path knows that what goes around comes around, sooner or later. At worst, in eighteen years, I'll be a good man again."

"In eighteen years, you'll be a good man again?" The officer couldn't help but laugh, "Have you been reading too many wuxia novels?"

"Heh! Not too many, not too few. By the way, let me recommend a place to read novels. Qidian Chinese Network. Check it out when you have time; there are many novels there." Guo Jianjun said.

The middle-aged officer said "Oh," and shook his head, "Thank you! I'm not very interested in reading novels."

The prison transport vehicle began to bump, clearly indicating they had reached the outskirts and were not far from their destination. Guo Jianjun glanced at the armed police soldier sitting in the innermost corner. That soldier had worn a black hood the entire time and had never taken it off. He asked the officer, "Will that brother be the one to send me off later?"

The officer nodded and said nothing more. Guo Jianjun, however, shouted to the armed police soldier wearing the black hood, "Brother! Please! Be steady later and give me a quick end." But no one responded, possibly because they were nearing their destination.

As he faced death, Guo Jianjun leaned his head against the car wall, swaying with the vehicle, filled with emotion. Yesterday's prosperity seemed like a dream, with beautiful women in his arms, but in an instant, it was like passing smoke. A line from an old song came to mind, and he hummed it softly, "Last night's, last night's stars, have fallen, vanished into the distant galaxy, I want to remember, but I've already forgotten..."

The vehicle slowed down and stopped abruptly.

Guo Jianjun was dragged out of the vehicle. He looked up at the sky, which had become overcast, with faint flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. After the police and armed police conferred, they pushed him to the designated execution site.

The executioner loaded the bullet, the dark muzzle aimed at the prisoner, and his finger hovered over the trigger. Just as he was about to pull it, a loud clap of thunder exploded from above. Guo Jianjun, who had closed his eyes, suddenly opened them and looked up. A purple bolt of lightning struck down from above. He felt his whole body go numb, and gradually lost consciousness. Before his consciousness faded, he asked himself, "Do I really deserve death, to be struck by lightning?"

The charred, smoking body of the death-row inmate instantly collapsed. The police and armed police present were all stunned. The commander, regaining his senses, called for the forensic doctor to examine the body. After a while, the forensic doctor stood up and shook his head, "He's dead!"

Standing before the now indistinct corpse, the commander looked at the camera in front of him and thought to himself, "Thank goodness it was recorded, otherwise it would be hard to explain." He then took the executioner's gun, aimed it at the corpse's heart, and fired, muttering, "You were executed according to law, not by lightning!"

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