The criminal suspect, Guo Jianjun, male, Han ethnicity, 33 years old, was born on November 11, 1975. He is suspected of organizing and leading the HSH crime; intentional homicide; intentional assault; intentional arson; intentional robbery; intentional trading and illegal possession of firearms; intentional explosion; rape; smuggling; indecent assault on women; coercion and organization of prostitution; illegal gambling; extortion; bribery; illegal detention; and disruption of financial order. All the charges are supported by solid evidence and witnesses. After a public trial, the charges were confirmed. After the collegial panel's deliberation, I now pronounce the verdict.
At this point, the judge looked around and saw the audience standing up. He then lowered his head to read the judgment in his hand: "The criminal suspect, Guo Jianjun, is sentenced to death and deprived of political rights for life. This judgment is final and cannot be appealed. It shall be executed immediately. G Province Higher People's Court, April 4, 2008. Court dismissed!"
In the solemn courtroom, the audience immediately burst into enthusiastic applause and cheers. Someone shouted, "A menace to the people has been eliminated!" The judges on the main bench left the bench one by one.
In the defendant's seat below the bench, the defendant, wearing prison clothes and a shaved head, was escorted out by two armed police officers with guns. His hands and feet were shackled with heavy handcuffs and leg irons, making a clanging sound as he was dragged along.
Although he had been sentenced to death and was about to be executed, he did not show the usual listlessness of a condemned prisoner. Instead, a faint smile lingered on his lips. As he reached the door, the bright sunlight shone on his bald head. Guo Jianjun stopped, took a deep breath, felt a warmth in his heart, and suddenly had a sense of rebirth. The cold handcuffs in his hand seemed to have a hint of warmth. His eyes fell on the surrounding crowd of onlookers.
"Is this Guo Jianjun? He doesn't look like a bad person! How could such a young man not follow the right path?" An elderly woman with white hair, perhaps due to her age, couldn't see clearly and stared hard at Guo Jianjun, trying to get a good look at this notorious criminal who had committed all kinds of evil deeds throughout the province. Others were also crowding around. The flashes of the reporters' cameras went off non-stop. Unfortunately, the armed police surrounding them wouldn't let them get close.
Guo Jianjun bowed deeply in the direction of the elderly woman. The white-haired woman shouted, "Child, remember to be a good person in your next life!"
Guo Jianjun smiled and the armed police officer behind him gave him a push. He staggered and stepped down the stairs. The prison van that had been waiting for a long time had its rear door open. Several armed police officers pushed him into the back of the van and got in as well. The door closed and the siren sounded. In the gaze of the onlookers, the convoy of several vehicles roared out of the court gate.
The convoy headed towards the suburbs. An armed police officer in his mid-40s with two stars on his shoulder insignia sized up the man opposite him. In today's terms, he was a rather handsome young man. If it weren't for his current appearance, no one would have guessed that this person was a notorious criminal condemned to death. What could have led such a person to this point?
Looking out the window at the passing street scenes, Guo Jianjun seemed to sense the gaze from the other side and turned around, smiling at the officer and saying, "Brother! Can you give me a cigarette?"
The middle-aged officer, who had carried out many such tasks before, found that this man's expression and behavior did not seem like those of a person about to die. He immediately became vigilant and scrutinized the prisoner. The armed police officers on both sides also stared at him intently, their fingers touching the triggers of their guns.
Guo Jianjun shook his head with a wry smile and said, "This isn't a Hong Kong or Taiwanese police and gangster movie. Do you really think I can escape? Or are you afraid someone will hijack the prison van? I'm in this situation. How could that be possible? This is the land of the Communist Party. In China, not many people dare to do such things..."
But no matter what he said, the armed police remained silent, closely watching his every move.
"Hey! It's just a cigarette. Why so tense?" Guo Jianjun's eyes swept over the shoulder badges and collar flowers of the few people, then turned to the window and sighed, "Back in the day, I was a soldier too. I carried a gun, received honors, got awards, bled and sweated!" After that, he fell silent, his eyes lost in the distance, as if lost in thought.
The officer and the several soldiers were all a bit surprised at his words. The officer's vigilant expression eased, and the soldier's finger unconsciously moved away from the trigger.
The officer sized up Guo Jianjun from head to toe, paused for a moment, and finally asked, "You were a soldier? A member of the People's Armed Police or the People's Liberation Army?"
"The latter," Guo Jianjun turned his head and smiled. The officer hesitated slightly, then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled out one, lit it, and carefully handed it to Guo Jianjun. The latter said thanks, took the cigarette between his fingers, and deeply inhaled before exhaling.
Facing the officer's inquiring gaze, Guo Jianjun slowly said, "I joined the army in 1993, as an infantryman. I spent three years on the border. After being discharged, I returned to my rural hometown. There were only my mother and father at home, no brothers or sisters. But when I came back, I found out that my father had passed away due to illness and lack of money for treatment in the second year of my military service. Because he hoped I would do well in the army and didn't want me to have a mental burden, he didn't tell me before he died. After returning home, my father was gone, and my mother was ill and bedridden. Grief was grief, but the living still had to live. My mother's illness still needed treatment. But the money I had from my discharge pay and savings was less than three thousand yuan. After taking my mother to the city for various examinations and buying some medicine, the money was almost gone. With the help of my comrades-in-arms and fellow villagers, I managed to raise some money to get my mother hospitalized. But the hospitalization expenses were too high for us rural people to afford. So I had to entrust my mother to a comrade-in-arms in the city and went south to work, hoping to earn some money to treat her."
At this point, the cigarette he had been smoking for a while had burned down to the butt, and it burned his hand and fell onto the car.
A foot in leather shoes stretched over and stamped out the cigarette butt. The officer took out another cigarette, lit it, and handed it to Guo Jianjun, saying, "Go on!"
"Thanks!" Guo Jianjun waved his cuffed hands and brought his mouth close to the cigarette, taking a deep drag. He continued, "After arriving in this city, a fellow villager helped me find a job as a laborer on a construction site. I carried bricks and cement up and down the buildings every day. Eight hundred yuan a month, with food and accommodation provided, and the salary was paid every six months. Although it was hard and tiring, for someone like me who was an infantryman, it was nothing. You know, eight hundred yuan a month back then was enough for a rural family's income for half a year. Haha! After six months, the building on the site was completed. But when it was time to get paid, the boss disappeared. All the workers were from other places and didn't know anyone here. Where could we go to get our wages? We went to the local government for help, but they said there was nothing they could do. After going several more times, they wouldn't even let us in. In the end, we had to give up. My mother's illness was still waiting for money, and I had no skills, so I had to find another construction site and continue to do manual labor. Hey! But I encountered the same situation of working but not getting paid again."
"Why didn't you complain?" the officer frowned. The young soldiers were also attracted by the story of this death row inmate and stared at him curiously. They never expected that the famous Guo Jianjun had done such work.
"Complain?" Guo Jianjun took a drag on the cigarette and sneered, "Brother, you've been in the army for too long. Back then, it wasn't like now. No matter who you complained to, it was no use. Now, there's a way to complain because even the Premier of the country has come to help migrant workers get their wages. But back then! You try it and see."
The middle-aged officer's face showed a hint of embarrassment. He took the cigarette butt from the prisoner's hand, threw it down and stamped it out. He lit another one and handed it over, asking briefly, "Then what?"
"Humph! Then what?" My mother's condition worsened and she urgently needed money for an operation. My comrade-in-arms sold his own house to help me pay for my mother's medical treatment. Back then, houses were cheap! He only got a few tens of thousands of yuan for it. If it were now, the price would have been ten times higher. Eventually, the money from selling the house was almost all spent. I was pushed to my limit. Just then, I ran into the boss who owed me wages. I tried to get my wages back but instead, he had a group of people beat me up. Dragging my injuries, I was furious. I contacted a few of my former comrades-in-arms and told them what had happened, asking for revenge. Ha! They were indeed the brothers who had fought side by side on the border. They all came. After discussing, we kidnapped that boss and got a million yuan from him. We threatened him that if he reported it, we would kill his entire family. That boss was timid and didn't report it. "Guo Jianjun laughed.
"How could a military man do such a law-breaking thing?" The officer shook his head.
"It's too late. I got the money, but my mother passed away before I could give it to her." Guo Jianjun's voice dropped. Suddenly, he looked at the officer and said excitedly, "What does it matter if I'm a military man? If it were the Anti-Japanese War era, I would have sacrificed my life for the country without hesitation. Everyone talks about protecting the country and the people, but I couldn't even protect my own parents. What's the point of holding onto the military man's belief? Go and see who's enjoying themselves in those places of luxury and debauchery. Are they the ordinary soldiers who protect the country and the people, or the ordinary civilians?"
"Is this your reason for betraying the country and harming its interests? Have you forgotten the words in your military oath... that the interests of the country and the nation are above all else?" The officer also became agitated. The armed police soldiers in the carriage were a bit stunned, it was the first time they had encountered such a situation during their mission.
"Maybe I have harmed the country's interests, but to say I betrayed the country is too harsh. Please take back those words. I, Guo Jianjun, have done many things over the years, but I have never dared to do what only traitors would do. I can bear any sin, but I dare not bear the sin of being a traitor. If I have to die with this sin on my head, I won't be able to rest in peace." Guo Jianjun stared coldly at the officer.
The armed police soldiers didn't quite understand what Guo Jianjun meant. The middle-aged officer calmed down and thought for a moment, then said slowly, "Don't you regret taking this path?"
"Regret?" Guo Jianjun laughed. "Can one regret in life? Is regret useful? People who are in this line know that sooner or later, you have to pay. It's just a matter of time. At most, eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again."
"Eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again?" The officer couldn't help but laugh. "Have you read too many martial arts novels?"
"Haha! Not too many, not too few. By the way, I'll introduce you to a place to read novels. Qidian Chinese Literature, go and have a look when you have time. There are a lot of novels there." Guo Jianjun said.
The middle-aged officer said, "Oh, thank you! I'll go and have a look when I have time."
The prison van jolted, clearly it had reached the outskirts. They were not far from the destination. Guo Jianjun glanced at the armed police soldier sitting in the far corner. That soldier had been wearing a black hood from the beginning and never took it off. He asked the officer, "Who will send me on my way later?"
The officer nodded but said nothing. Guo Jianjun shouted at the armed police soldier wearing the black hood, "Brother! Please! Be steady with your hand later and give me a quick death." But no one responded. Maybe they were almost at the destination.
As he was about to die, Guo Jianjun leaned his head against the wall of the van and swayed with it, feeling very emotional. Yesterday's prosperity was like a dream, with beautiful women in his arms, but in the blink of an eye, it was all like smoke. An old song came to mind and he hummed it softly: "Last night's, last night's stars have fallen, vanished in the distant Milky Way. I want to remember, but I've already forgotten..."
The car slowed down and came to a sudden stop.
Guo Jianjun was dragged out of the car. He looked up at the sky, which had become overcast with dark clouds, and there was a hint of lightning and thunder. After the police and the armed police negotiated, they pushed him to the designated execution site.
The executioner loaded a bullet into the chamber, aiming the black gun barrel at the prisoner. His finger was about to pull the trigger when a sudden clap of thunder rang out. Guo Jianjun, who had closed his eyes, opened them wide and looked up at the sky. A purple lightning bolt struck down from above, and he felt his whole body go numb before losing consciousness. Before his mind faded away, he asked himself, "Am I really so deserving of death that I have to be struck by lightning?"
The prisoner's body instantly turned black and began to smoke. The police and armed police on the scene were all stunned. After the commander came to his senses, he called the forensic doctor over to check. A moment later, the doctor stood up and shook his head, saying, "He's dead!"
Standing in front of the already indistinct corpse, the commander looked at the camera in front of him and thought to himself, "Fortunately, it was captured. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain." Then he took the executioner's gun and fired a shot at the heart of the corpse. "Bang!" He muttered, "You were lawfully executed by a gunshot, not by lightning." (I'm completely ignorant of the law. The legal plot in the above story is purely fictional and should not be taken seriously.)