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as the mid-autumn festival approaches, shanghai prison has begun to arrange a new round of inmates to meet with their relatives and guardians. on the eve of every festival, what inmates look forward to most is the care that comes through the prison walls. a letter from home, with less than a thousand words, carries the deep affection between relatives.

wang ji, 54, was sentenced to life imprisonment for contract fraud and entered prison on october 19, 2021. while serving his sentence in qingpu prison, he missed his mother the most. as the mid-autumn festival was approaching, he wanted to go back to his childhood, when the whole family would have a reunion dinner, and he and his brothers and sisters would gather around his mother to listen to her stories, and then watch the moon together, and then taste the moon cakes, taro, edamame, persimmons, pomegranates, green radishes that had been prepared long ago... these seemingly ordinary details of life have now become a luxury for wang ji. as the mid-autumn festival was approaching, he could only say to his mother remotely, "dear mom, happy mid-autumn festival," separated by a big wall.

since entering prison, wang ji has abided by prison rules and regulations and worked hard to reform. wang guangyu, the police officer in charge of wang ji in the sixth ward of qingpu prison, told reporters that wang ji received higher education when he was young, actively participated in various cultural activities in the prison and the prison area, and once won the third prize in the prison mother's day essay contest. in the execution of property penalties, wang ji actively fulfilled the property penalty according to his actual situation. "at present, wang ji hopes to reform through his own efforts, obtain a commutation of sentence as soon as possible, and reunite with his family as soon as possible." wang guangyu said.

[the following is wang ji’s own account]

whenever i think of my elderly mother, who got up late at night because she missed me, and wrote me a letter under the lamp, my heart aches. for so many years, i miss my mother all the time. i really want to tell her: "mom, this unfilial son you raised has never written to me, not because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't dare."

since i was imprisoned, i have not had the courage to write to my mother. i am afraid that a letter will be torn open again like a scar, breaking the original peace in the family, making the already severely damaged family worse, and hurting my mother's heart even more.

i know that after i went to jail, my mother couldn't hold her head up in front of relatives and friends, and she also suffered from physical pain. i remember that three days after i went to jail, my mother fell ill and her health deteriorated sharply. the neighbors all knew that i had committed a crime. children younger than me were ridiculed by their classmates at school, laughing at the fact that there was a criminal in the family who was in prison.

this is the most painful thing for me. i committed a crime alone, but my family has to suffer psychological punishment together. in fact, they should not blame themselves for the crime i committed, let alone be sad about my imprisonment, because as parents, they raised me up, and my mother always educated me with philosophical and easy-to-understand language.

during the college entrance examination, other parents told their children to "do well in the exam". they didn't know how much psychological pressure these three words put on their children. but my mother said, "son, relax. no matter how many points you get, you are still a good son of your mother". i always remember that before the college entrance examination, i felt half less stressed when i heard my mother say this. i felt relaxed and got good results in the college entrance examination. i think half of the credit should go to my mother. she has fulfilled her responsibilities as a guardian.

however, when a child grows up, he is no longer under the control of his mother. when i was 16, i left my hometown to go to college, then went to work, got married and had children. to outsiders, my life and career were independent, and i could make my own decisions on everything, big or small. of course, i had to take responsibility for the crimes i committed.

i have been serving my sentence in qingpu prison for nearly three years. with the help of prison police, i have received psychological counseling and educational reform, learned policies, regulations and prison rules and discipline, and gradually figured out some principles that had been stuck in my head in the past. understanding these principles is like being reborn. who else can i share this feeling with except my mother?

the mid-autumn festival is approaching, and i want to tell my mother that the environment here is clean, hygienic, peaceful and tranquil. after the education and help of the prison police, i realized that i should be responsible for my own behavior, recognize the crimes i have committed and the harm they have caused to society, and actively confess, repent and atone for my sins. here, there is management, education, help and care from government police officers, and a systematic reform plan is implemented for each prisoner.

in this reform environment, i have also achieved some results. on the prison group study day, i was designated by the police officer in charge as a patriotic story teller. i told patriotic stories to other prisoners every week and actively participated in education and reform. although i am clumsy, i can wash clothes, tidy up my room, and even mend clothes in the prison area. i want to tell my mother: "when you see me now, you will definitely praise me for being more capable than when i was a child."

through labor, i have learned more about how hard it is to earn wealth, how to respect other people's wealth, and how not to appropriate other people's wealth. as a person with higher education, i especially cannot do this. the police officers also noticed the change in my thinking, so i raised my confession and repentance level from level 4 to level 3. i secretly vowed that these reform achievements are just the starting point. in the future, i will definitely turn my sentence into a semester, do better on the road of reform, and make myself proud of my mother again.

i hope that mom can take good care of herself. let us look forward to the mid-autumn festival night, when your children and grandchildren will gather around you, enjoy the moon together, listen to your stories together, and taste the moon cakes, taro, edamame, pomegranate, green radish that mom prepared for us...

(wang ji is a pseudonym)