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whenever a festival comes, what inmates look forward to most is the care that penetrates the high walls. a letter from home carries the deep family affection.

a few days before the mid-autumn festival, shanghai qingpu prison held a mid-autumn festival evening party for inmates, and the atmosphere was very good. inmate chen fei took the initiative to sing a song "the bright moon sends my love across the thousand miles" on stage and received a big gift bag.

before being imprisoned, 52-year-old chen fei was a key member of the company. he got addicted to gambling and lost all his savings. he also extended his evil hands to the company's loans, which led to the case. chen fei was imprisoned on october 19, 2021 for the crime of embezzlement and began serving a five-year sentence.

inside qingpu prison. all pictures in this article are provided by qingpu prison

"chen fei has a deep understanding of his crime and tries to dig out the root cause of his crime from the depths of his mind." in the opinion of yao qiwei, the police officer in charge, chen fei has performed well in the prison area, winning unanimous praise from police officers and other inmates, and is polite when interacting with other inmates. in addition, in the cultural construction of the prison area, as a literature lover, chen fei often contributes articles to share and exchange with other inmates, actively participates in the reading interest group, and becomes the study committee member of the prison area reading group.

on the mid-autumn festival, chen fei missed his family whom he had not seen for a long time. "in the cycle of a year, the mid-autumn festival, a time for family reunion, has arrived as scheduled. i am even more concerned about my parents."

the following is chen fei’s own statement:

in the past, i accidentally got into the bad habit of gambling. it only took me half a year to go from being curious to liking it and then becoming addicted to it. in that half a year, i not only spent all my savings, but also spent all the money i could borrow. in the end, i couldn't extricate myself. when i extended my evil hand to the company for a loan, the crime was exposed. not only did i go to jail, bringing shame to my family, but i also had to bear hundreds of thousands of yuan in debt, and my life was ruined from then on.

after serving my sentence in qingpu prison, i was used to being lazy on weekdays and could not adapt to the neatness, strict discipline and cleanliness here. i was just wasting my time every day. it was not until i received a divorce court document last year that i was pushed to the brink of collapse.

inmates undergoing reform in qingpu prison

with resentment and anger, i despaired of life and resisted reform. at the lowest point in my life, qingpu prison did not give up on me, especially my supervisor, who talked to me many times and guided me to face my problems in a targeted way. the prison district contacted my family in time and persuaded my wife, who had cut off contact with me, to come and talk to me face to face.

what touched me most was that the police officer in charge also reminded me: "a person can lose everything, but must not lose faith; a person can ignore everything, but must stick to kindness, which is the bottom line of being human." these words were like a lighthouse rising in my heart, allowing me to clear the fog on the road of life, find my goal, and gradually recover from the decline.

everyone says that i am a different person now compared to last year. with the help of the police officers’ daily education, i have realized from the bottom of my heart that i ignored the law in the past and hurt the society and my family. how to "break out of the cocoon" behind the high walls is your own business. breaking out of the cocoon in prison is a kind of suffering. suffering itself is not worth elaborating, but thinking about why suffering occurs and how to face suffering correctly are the most important.

now, i have truly changed from "i have to change" to "i want to change", and my mentality has improved a lot. everyone says that i have changed, i smile more, i am more sunny, and i feel more fulfilled. seeing these changes in me, the police officer is happier than i am.

life is a journey of adversity. i like this sentence very much: "the sufferings and hardships you have endured will eventually become a beam of light to illuminate your future path." i will turn the wait for reunion into motivation to move forward, hold my head high, face the beam of light, and walk firmly until the day i emerge as a butterfly. mid-autumn festival, i want to wish my family a happy mid-autumn festival!

(chen fei is a pseudonym)