Hearing this, I couldn't help but become intrigued. After some pleading from me, he narrated this story to us which he had heard from others.
It happened many years ago when this place was not the Juvenile Delinquent Management Center but a women's maximum-security prison for those sentenced to death but not executed. Each inmate wore heavy shackles on their wrists and ankles, clanking as they walked.
The prisoners rose with the sun and returned at sunset, leading a simple yet content life, for just being alive was reason enough to be deeply grateful.
That is until a prisoner named Xiao Wang came along and disrupted this peaceful existence.
At night, she would scream like a madwoman, "Give me back my daughter!" "I will kill all of you!" "None of you will die a good death!" making it impossible for anyone else to sleep peacefully.
In the beginning, she just screamed crazily. But later, she started hitting people and even severely injured a cellmate, leading to her being given the 'privilege' of living alone.
The prison had three floors. Since it housed maximum-security prisoners, the population was small and even the first floor was not fully occupied.
The second floor served as a storage area, while the third floor was seldom visited by anyone, except for routine cleaning.
One afternoon, Xiao Wang was assigned to clean the third floor. After she and another person went up, they found the empty corridor somewhat frightening. Despite it being broad daylight, perhaps due to the lack of human presence, the place felt eerie and occasional drafts made it unsettling.
Dragging their heavy chains and holding brooms, they swept the corridor floor, the clanking noise with every step echoing uncomfortably in the desolate third floor.
As people often cleaned here, the two quickly finished the corridor and started on the cells, one by one.
The two divided their tasks, each taking a side.
When Xiao Wang came to cell 309 at the far end, she struggled to push the door open. Seeing the thick dust everywhere, she frowned, wondering, "Don't people clean here often? Why is it so dirty?"
Without dwelling on it too long, she began to clean as that was her assignment for the day.
Halfway through the cleaning, she noticed a doll quietly resting in the corner of a bed. Perhaps it was a woman's fondness for dolls, or perhaps it was the memory of her daughter, but she set down the broom, walked over, picked up the doll, and dusted it off before holding it close.
She held onto the doll for a long time before finally setting it down in a clean spot and resumed cleaning. The moment she put it down, she thought she heard the doll laugh.
This cell was so dirty that it took a great deal of effort to clean it up. She casually closed the door behind her as she left, remembering to take the doll with her.
Her cleaning partner was named Xiao Lin. Xiao Lin had finished her side much earlier and was waiting in the corridor for Xiao Wang to be done. It wasn't out of camaraderie that Xiao Lin wanted to go down together, but rather fear of being scolded by the guards for slacking off.
Here, who didn't want to behave well and hope for leniency? The day a sentence was reduced was the day hope was born to leave this place, even if by then one might be very old. But as long as there was hope for release, one would strive desperately.
Seeing Xiao Wang drag his heavy steps over, Xiao Lin even hurried him along. When he saw the cloth doll, Xiao Lin's face lit up with joy as he snatched it away and gently stroked it.
At this moment, Xiao Wang seemed to go mad, desperately trying to snatch the cloth doll back, all the while screaming, "Give my daughter back to me now, or I'll kill you."
Xiao Lin let go of the doll upon witnessing Xiao Wang's crazed lunge, sneering disdainfully. It's just a cloth doll. Is it really worth going so mad over? I was just looking at it; I didn't want it.
After Xiao Wang reclaimed the cloth doll, he paid no more attention to Xiao Lin, clutching it tightly to his chest, continuously caressing it, and muttering, "Child, don't be afraid, mom is here, no one can hurt you."
Both descended the stairs one after another. The prison guard, curious about the cloth doll, wondered how such a thing could be found here. After inquiring, he learned from Xiao Wang that it was found in cell No. 309 on the third floor.
The prison guard sneered, thinking to himself that it was just a broken doll and that Xiao Wang was lying. Having worked here for many years, he had never heard of a third floor having a No. 309.
Seeing it as just a doll, the guard did not take it away, allowing Xiao Wang to hold it as he returned to his cell.
That night, the patrolling guard found it odd that Xiao Wang, who usually made a lot of noise every night, was unusually quiet. This abnormal behavior took some getting used to.
Approaching Xiao Wang's cell, the guard saw Xiao Wang holding the doll and whispering something. Out of curiosity, he called out to her, asking what she was doing. Xiao Wang looked at the guard, bowed her head towards the cloth doll, and said, "Be good, listen to mommy; I'm going to talk to that lady for a moment."
Xiao Wang lifted her head, greeting the guard with a smile and saying she was having a heart-to-heart with her daughter.
The guard couldn't help but laugh. Talking to a cloth doll must be a first. But upon looking at the doll, he recoiled in shock, rubbing his eyes before looking again. He hadn't seen wrong: the cloth doll was grinning, endlessly blinking at him…
Frightened, the guard turned and ran. A cloth doll grinning—it was just too eerie.
The guard's report was not taken seriously by the leadership; they said it was due to her working under too much pressure and that a few days of rest would cure her. However, the guard fell seriously ill over the following days and indeed took some time off before submitting a transfer request that was processed a week later.
Ever since obtaining the cloth doll, Xiao Wang never let it leave her side, always carrying it with her. The guards also tried to take the doll away, but each attempt was met with loud protests so they eventually allowed her to keep holding it, as it didn't interfere with the daily labor.
But the good times didn't last. One day during labor, she got into an altercation with a felon, who in a fit of rage, snatched her cloth doll away and ripped it apart.
Seeing this, Xiao Wang, as if mad, lunged at the felon, scratching and biting. No one could restrain her, until finally she used the handcuffs on her wrists to strangle him half to death, leaving him bloody and battered. Upon examination, it was found he suffered from severe blood loss, serious lack of oxygen to the brain, and a major concussion.
Due to the serious incident occurring during her sentence, the court sentenced Xiao Wang to death.
During the execution, there was a very humane provision: as long as it wasn't too excessive, a small request from the condemned could be granted.