Shen Wenbo dreamed of returning home and talking with his wife and son.
When I woke up, the sun shone through the iron window, and there were incomprehensible voices all around.
At 7 o'clock in the morning, more than 1,000 prisoners rushed out of the seven cells and lined up in the yard to receive water and wash. After that, they fired or cooked food to find a squat wall root in the shade, until 4:30 p.m. Black still night.
On June 30, this was the 510th day that Shen Wenbo spent in the Madagascar prison. Also trapped together were 8 Chinese crew members, 4 Bangladesh crew members, and 2 Myanmar crew members, all from the Chinese cargo ship FLYING. Illegal entry was sentenced to 5 years.
In prison, they experienced riots, were pointed at by gunmen, and were bitten by cockroaches, mice, and wood lice everywhere. The most unbearable thing was the torment in their hearts.
Beginning in mid-May, Madagascar (hereinafter referred to as "Malaysia")'s new crown epidemic worsened. As of June 30, local time, a total of 2,214 people had been diagnosed in the country. The crew were in Tamatave, the epidemic centre, which was completely blocked and the hospital was overcrowded. On June 12, a group of doctors wearing protective clothing came to the prison to disinfect the prison first, and then to test the new inmates with symptoms in cell 7 and segregate 25 of them to cell 1-the crew Was transferred to cell 3 with more than 80 people. After they asked the embassy for help, the prison responded that dengue fever appeared in room 7. However, some prison guards told them privately that 3 prisoners and 3 policemen had been infected with the new crown.
The trapped crew were worried, and they were caught by the virus before their freedom.
Prison years
Shen Wenbo still remembers going to prison on the first day.
It was February 6, 2019, the second day of the new year. Early in the morning, their 15 crew members were called off by three police officers, packed with two pickups, and sent to prison.
The compound in front of me, a run-down refugee camp, several bungalows scattered, prisoners in ragged clothes, some bare feet, some cooking in a fire, staring at them.
The crew were stunned, slammed the prison door, shouted to see the warden, and to contact the embassy. More and more prisoners came around.
When the police saw it, they climbed up to the wall with a gun and scolded them to disperse. The prisoners dispersed, and they were also terrified and dared not make trouble again.
In the afternoon of that day, the person in charge of the prison summoned them to the playground for a meeting and let them obey the management. As a punishment, some crew members were locked in the worst-case cells that night, and were uniformly assigned to houses 1, 2, and 3 the next day.
Of the 7 cells, house 1 is a "VIP cell". It is ventilated and relatively cool. It only houses more than 20 people. It is detained by rich "related" prisoners. 2. Houses 3, 3 and 7 are medium-sized cells. One room has more than 100 people and needs to pay MYR 20,000 to move in. Each of the other three cells was divided into three floors, and more than 300 people lived. They were all prisoners who had no money. They took turns to sleep at night.
Most of the cells are only more than 50 square meters, and there are no beds. The prisoners sleep on straw mats or on the concrete floor.
The crew spent money to buy cushions and mattresses, tipped the prisoner, and the space was slightly larger. Unexpectedly, some of the prisoners were dissatisfied. They sang and screamed at them, and the two sides almost started to fight.
Tamatave has high temperatures throughout the year and a hot and humid climate. In the cell, the heat was mixed with sweat and smell, the cockroaches were walking on the ground, the gecko was crawling on top of the head, and the mouse jumped on the body, frightening them and yelling, causing a burst of laughter.
Shen Wenbo lived in the No. 2 house for more than a month. His body was bitten by wood lice, and he had prickly heat. He asked the warden to plead for help before he was transferred to the No. 1 house. Sailor Li Yiyin was bitten by a poisonous insect, leaving a black scar after the blisters, and the pain was unbearable. Other crew members also developed symptoms such as skin ulceration, purulence, and diarrhea.
During the day, they let the wind out in the yard, watching the Malaysian prisoners play football and basketball, occasionally play chess and cards, and rarely speak, because their moods are depressed.
To contact the outside world, at first it was only possible to secretly borrow a police phone, MYR 5,000 (equivalent to about 10 yuan), which can be played for 5 minutes, and then 10,000 MYR for two hours. In September last year, the embassy came forward to coordinate and the prison only allowed them to use mobile phones. They asked the local Chinese restaurant owner to buy a second-hand mobile phone for sharing. Prison guards helped to keep it. They can use it for 3 and a half hours a day. This year, it will be used every other day.
Chinese restaurants give them meals every day, two dishes, a bottle of mineral water, and sometimes some daily necessities and medicine. The owner of the ship costs out for meals, and the boss often complains that the shipowner owes money and cannot contact anyone.
The other inmates in the prison, who had no money, could only eat relief meals, a little cassava, or rice with boiled beans; if they had a little money, ask the police to buy rice and vegetables and cook in a stove.
The crew found that when looking for the police to buy things, there was often one box less for a cigarette and only half a bottle of Coke in hand. Sometimes the police reached out and asked for money, 5,000 or 10,000 ringgits, and when they arrived, they shouted “friend, friend” enthusiastically. There were also crew members who were fooled and bought two 1,000-yuan mobile phones for prison guards, so that they could "go out for activities."
Losing money is common, and some police will investigate in secret and find the thief and swallow the money. Sailor chief Meng Fanyi once lost 175 thousand ringgits. After the police found the thief, the warden had to go 30,000, and the two policemen asked for 20,000 each... Only 80,000 remained in his hand.
In July last year, there was a riot in prison. The prison guard punished a prisoner who smoked marijuana. The prisoner jumped the wall and fled back to the cell. The police advised him to come out and not listen. His dozens of followers followed him. The next morning, more than 20 policemen held guns and drove all the prisoners back to their cells.
Pointed at the gun by the police, the crew were terrified and followed the crowd to the cell. The violent prisoner threw a stone at the police, who fired and fired, penetrated the palm of an innocent prisoner, and finally grabbed the gang and beat him with blood.
There are also mentally ill prisoners in the prison, howling every night, robbing clothes to wear; sheep lunatics spit foam and pee on people; some prisoners are said to have AIDS, the crew dare not come close. There were also prisoners who were sick or killed, and they lay in the door of the sanitary room, surrounded by flies.
In May, two more prisoners died, and the crew panicked.
The new crown epidemic spread to Madagascar on March 20, and the number of confirmed cases continued to rise.
In the prison, the prison guards put on disposable masks, family members forbidden visits, and house 7 is specially vacated to hold new prisoners. Occasionally, people spray disinfection on garbage bins and sewage ditches... But the crew still worry that the prison guards enter and leave the prison every day. He often takes off his mask and gathers to chat; new inmates rely on other inmates to deliver food and water, and still have contact; some inmates will go out to work as laborers, and they are not allowed to bring the virus in.
The crew wanted to go out for isolation. The embassy suggested that they hire a lawyer to submit an application for bail. Looking for the owner of the ship, Yang Jianfeng, there was no progress. He could only apply to the warden to find a room for isolation, but was not approved. In the end, it cost 2,000 yuan (RMB) and all the crew were transferred to house 1.
By mid-May, Tamatav had his first deaths, and the number of diagnosed surged. The government requisitioned three places to treat asymptomatic patients.
The crew members had fevers one after another. Two of them had a high fever for more than ten days. They could not eat any food.
The mobile phone is no longer used, they can only write letters, the restaurant owner who asked for the meal to forward to the family, the family asked the embassy for help. The embassy asked the doctor to go to prison to see the crew and prescribed some medicine, which gradually improved. Under the coordination of the embassy, the crew re-used their mobile phones, but only for a while at a time.
Shen Wenbo later heard that the two deceased prisoners died of stomach problems rather than new coronary pneumonia. But the prison guard privately revealed that someone was diagnosed in the prison and several prison guards did not come to work for several days.
The China-Africa Online WeChat public account also disclosed that at the end of May, a nucleic acid test of a prisoner in Tamatave prison was positive.
At the beginning of June, two new inmates developed severe symptoms of new coronary pneumonia and were taken to the hospital. The crew were frightened by this. In addition to washing and eating, they did not leave the prison cell and wore a mask while sleeping.
They dare not tell their family what their situation is, worrying about whether they can reunite with them before they die.
Dangerous navigation
Everything stems from that voyage.
On August 3, 2018, Shen Wenbo boarded the FLYING ship from Hong Kong. Before embarking on the ship, he checked the information on the ship information network. This is an old ship built in 1997. It is 97 meters long and 17 meters wide. It is not very large among cargo ships. The shipowner is Fuzhou Minfeng Shipping Co., Ltd., and the actual controller is Hong Kong Lianhua International Trading Co., Ltd.
Previously, he posted a resume on the shipping online, Dalian Huashang Shipping Co., Ltd. sent him to the ship, the position of first officer, monthly salary of 13,000 yuan. This is the first time he has been a first officer for 10 years.
In the first two months after boarding the ship, FLYING shipped scrap iron from Hong Kong to Vietnam, and then loaded cassava back to Dongguan, and traveled between the three places-the main route in the past two years.
Until October 2, they received an order from the shipowner to go to Singapore to refuel, then went to Madagascar to install wood, and returned after 3 months.
"Suddenly received instructions to run other routes, this is very common." Shen Wenbo said, the crew must obey the captain's instructions after boarding the ship, the owner of the timber did not say, they did not ask.
On October 7, FLYING sailed from Singapore to Madagascar. The 17 people on board, except for the captain and the owner's representative, mostly boarded the ship for the first time.
Chief engineer Cai Yongjun and sailor chief Meng Fanyi who were in their fifties wanted to work for a few more years to earn some money for retirement; chef Chen Xudong first boarded the ship. He was a decoration designer and wanted to go out of the sea; The milk powder money has been on the ship for 9 months. He does not want to go to Africa, but the contract period has not expired, the company has not found a replacement, and he is not allowed to disembark...
In the next 20 days, FLYING crossed the Indian Ocean diagonally. The weather was very good and calm. The crew worked three shifts and worked 8 hours a day. At rest, watch movies, play games, play cards, fish, or run and exercise on the deck.
On October 26th, FLYING broke down in the waters off the northeast of Madagascar. There are more than 20 nautical miles from the land. When the weather is clear, you can see the land, islands, and mountains. The sea water is very clear. Whales will swim to the side of the boat to play. When a school of fish comes, the crew come out to fish. They have caught a big shark. .
Before arrival, the captain sent an email to ask about the voyage order and loading plan. The shipowner replied that the company hadn't negotiated, letting and other news.
Shen Wenbo has also encountered this situation before. On one occasion, when palm husk was loaded from India to Japan, there was no new product after unloading, so I had to float in Japan's territorial waters and was expelled by the Japanese Coast Guard with VHF shouts. Another time I went to Canada and planned to load food. The ship arrived and the cargo was not negotiated. After drifting for more than 20 days, the modified coke was shipped to the United States.
A week later, in early November, an off-white boat approached them, claiming to be the Malaysian Navy, and asked to stop for inspection.
The captain reported to the shipowner that the shipowner said that the identity of the other party could not be determined, and that the ship would blackmail and blackmail, "just drive away."
The boat did not catch up for more than an hour. Shen Wenbo felt a little strange: the ship was in the open sea at the time, "We have never received a ship inspection in the open sea".
Some crew members suspected it was a pirate ship. Cai Yongjun had encountered pirates. That was when he transported sugar to Somalia in 2006. At two o'clock in the middle of the night, the two speedboats had been chasing their ships. They shouted that they would shoot without stopping. After stopping the ship, eight pirates came up and forced the ship to Somalia to anchor. Fortunately, the owner of the sugar was the local smuggling leader. The crew had not been abused. After being hijacked for 46 days, the company paid for the matter.
In order to prevent pirates from boarding the ship, the company organizes anti-piracy drills every month, pulling barbed wire, fire water guns, and hiding safety cabins.
FLYING continues to sail in the deep sea more than 100 nautical miles from Malaysia. The southwestern ocean current blew, and the ship automatically moved in the direction of Malaysia. Every time it was fifty or sixty nautical miles away from the island, they drove away.
By the end of November, one morning, a gray-green biplane hovered over the ship, making a buzzing sound. The crew waved curiously at the plane. They saw the plane with a flash of light and flew away two or three minutes later.
Shen Wenbo began to be suspicious. The loading time at the port has been postponed and cancelled repeatedly, and the AIS ship automatic identification system was turned off as soon as the ship arrived in Malaysian waters, which did not comply with the 24-hour AIS (unless entering the pirate area) regulations of the International Shipping Convention. In addition, he also encountered law enforcement ships and military aircraft. He was worried about the voyage, so he wrote a statement saying that he was a legal crew member and would never do anything illegal. He asked to enter the port to see the document procedures, and other crew members also signed .
The shipowner replied to them that the cargo owner responsible for loading in Malaysia is going through the formalities, "the voyage is absolutely legal", and the formalities will not enter the port again.
The boat continued to float for half a month. On December 15th, the crew received an order to return home, and the crew were excited. Unexpectedly, the next night, I received an order to turn back to Madagascar, and drove the boat to the designated location, merged with the escort boat, and the agent would then board the boat.
Shen Wenbo noticed that there was a problem. He called the crew to a meeting and asked the shipowner to show the voyage order, agency information, cargo information and other materials. After being rejected, he proposed to leave and the shipowner approved it.
Captain Yu Tiancai apparently also found a problem, but he still acted according to the instructions and secretly asked the shipowner to sign a "Personal Interest Protection Agreement", which stated that if he broke the law, was detained or imprisoned, the shipowner monthly To pay him a salary of 22,000 yuan, if the legal stain is left, another 300,000 yuan will be compensated.
On the morning of December 17, 2018, the ship arrived at the designated location, where he could vaguely see the rolling hills on the shore. Shen Wenbo later recalled that it might be within 12 nautical miles of Malaysia. The escort boat did not show up, the owner let him continue to wait, he "closely contact".
At this time, a large arrest net was gathering towards them.
Sea chase
Another ship approached, claiming to be the Malaysian Navy, and asked to stop the ship for inspection. The time is around two in the morning on December 18, 2018.
The owner ordered to leave, FLYING turned away, and the boat was catching up all the way with a slightly faster speed.
When Shen Wenbo was awakened by the captain and set sail, he and the captain, the representative of the shipowner, and the second officer stayed on the bridge, nervous and frightened, praying not to be caught up. The shipowner comforted them, "will send a helicopter to rescue you."
After about 4 hours of escape along the coastline of Ma Island, the two ships were less than 500 meters apart. The Ma Jun issued a warning and would shoot without stopping the boat.
Dense gunshots cut through the night, and the bridge glass was smashed instantly. Shen Wenbo fled to the bathroom on the second floor, where there were steel plates, which were safer.
The sleeping crew was awakened and ran out in panic. Frightened at the sight of this situation, he went straight to the bathroom and cabin to hide.
The second officer who fled to the corner of the second floor was hit in the ass by the fragments of bullets that penetrated the watertight door. The shipowner's representative's left leg was hit by a bullet, leaving a wound on the stomach where the bullet had wiped. He thought to himself, that's it, this time he will die in the Indian Ocean.
Immediately afterwards, the bazooka hit the ship, and sirens sounded. Fu Weigang just went to the cabin to check, and saw that the first floor of the glass shattered and was very scared.
The shooting lasted an hour or two. After a pause, the water drooped down the deck, and the crew thought it was raining heavily. Several bold leaning around looked around and found that a high-pressure water gun was spraying at the boat.
The electrical circuit on the ship shorted out quickly, the steering gear failed, and the ship lost control. Seeing this, the captain raised his hand and surrendered, shouting at the boat: "Don't shoot, let's get out."
The crew raised their hands and lined up on the deck. It was only after Shen Wenbo discovered that they were chased by a tug, and a dozen soldiers in camouflage uniforms were pointing their guns at them.
After the water diversion ladder was placed, five soldiers boarded the ship, some bare feet. They searched the mobile phone and cash on the crew, let them squat down on the bow, and then went to the living area to search. When they came out, they wore the sneakers of the crew. The cell phone, computer, cash, clothes, etc. in the crew room were also taken away, stuffed into the bag, and roped down to the tug.
On the same day, FLYING was dragged by the tugboat towards the port of Malaysia, and arrived at the port of Tamatave in the early morning of December 20. "Life is saved." The crew breathed a sigh of relief.
After arriving at the port, dozens of Malaysian government officials boarded the ship for inspection, asked the captain for information about the shipowner, the purpose of the voyage, etc., as well as video recordings by local reporters.
After that, the crew were trapped on the ship and took turns to the police station for interrogation, and the two policemen stood at the stairway of the ship.
The reason for the trapping, the Malaysian soldiers told them when they boarded the ship-FLYING smuggled mahogany to Malaysia from 2015 to 2016. The Malaysian side suspected that it was also smuggled this time. The ship received the information before the ship arrived. Law enforcement ship and military aircraft.
The crew were stunned. Most of them boarded the ship in 2018. They didn't understand the history of the ship and the status of the shipowner's company. They didn't know that they wanted to pull the rare redwood this time. Only the captain and the representative of the owner have worked on this ship for 4 years.
A crew member who had worked on FLYING revealed in an interview with Caixin that Yang Jianfeng bought the ship in 2014. The ship was named MIN FENG at that time and was smuggled into Malaysia a few times between 2015 and 2016, without legal procedures. , No entry to the port, only loading at the anchorage. In 2016, the mahogany was seized by the Hong Kong Customs. In 2017, he transformed the painting of the ship and renamed it FLYING.
After being questioned by the crew, the captain admitted that he had been to Malaysia for three times before loading the redwood. is fake. At that time, the cargo was detained, but neither the crew nor the owner was held accountable. He speculated that "the power behind the Redwood (smuggling) group is very strong."
Two family members who went to visit Malaysia in April last year also saw photos of the MIN FENG ship hanging from the sea on the local Chinese mobile phone in 2015. At that time, the hull was mainly blue, while FLYING was mainly red and black.
Yang Jianfeng told the crew that the formalities were not all because the Malaysian partner had deceived him. The formalities had to be formalized only when the ship arrived at the loading site, but they were arrested before they arrived.
In an interview with Peng Mei News, Yang Jianfeng admitted that FLYING was pulling redwoods, but ordinary redwoods, not endangered species. When asked if he had been to Malaysia in 2015 and 2016, he first denied it, and then Matsuki said he went there to pull fish. The reporter repeatedly asked if he had smuggled Mahogany to Malaysia. He smiled and said, "I really don't know."
The shipowner's representative and second officer who were injured in the shooting were taken to the hospital by traffic boat that day, and returned to the ship half a month later. On January 17, 2019, the two were taken away by lawyers and police, and secretly returned to China in the name of going abroad for treatment.
This gave other crew members hope. They feel that the shipowner’s representative is the most responsible of all the crew members. “He can go home and we can go home.”
Unexpectedly, 20 days later, they were waiting for jail-two crew members escaped angered the Malaysian government, causing the other crew members to be imprisoned.
Difficult to call for help
15 crew members are waiting for the shipowner to rescue.
The shipowner found a local lawyer and first told them that he could return to China before the Spring Festival, but later he could return after the first trial.
The Chinese Embassy in Madagascar sent a consul to assist in handling this matter. On several occasions, he visited the crew to see the crew, demanding that the Malaysian side handle the case fairly, and guarantee the safety and legal rights and interests of the crew; urge the shipowner to take the responsibility of the first responsible person and hire a lawyer, At the same time, it guarantees the crew's life and drug needs in prison.
In March 2019, the Malaysian court ruled in the first instance that 17 crew members were sentenced to five years in jail for illegal entry and refusal of obedience. Each person was fined 52.5 million Madagascar francs; the captain and the representative of the shipowner were sentenced to 6 months in prison for the crime of escape.
The crew is difficult to accept. The shipowner argued that the lawyer took the money and ran away.
Shen Wenbo felt unfair. Before he was arrested, he had resigned and was sentenced. Ma Guo arrested them in the name of suspected smuggling of mahogany and convicted of illegal entry after finding no evidence on board. Shen Wenbo believes that the illegal entry is the cargo ship itself, which should be borne by the shipowner and the captain. The crew members all have a crew certificate, which should not be considered illegal entry in accordance with international maritime laws.
In addition, the ship entered Malaysia without reporting in advance, “That’s the captain’s problem, not our crew’s problem.” The crew’s testimony in court and the evidence submitted were not accepted. The sentence was not supported by sufficient evidence, and they did not know situation.
The crew's family went to Fuzhou to find the shipowner Yang Jianfeng and his wife. The first two times, Yang warmly received them and said that he was trying his best to rescue them. They could return home at the latest in July and August. At the request of his family, he repaid his salary in January and February 2019. It has not been sent since March.
After that, he kept telling the crew that while negotiating with Malaysia, Malaysia did not open conditions and no one came out to approach him.
Before the second trial in August last year, his family went to Fuzhou for the third time to find him, but Yang avoided it. The family members turned to the local government and the public security bureau for help.
It was also since then that Yang Jianfeng's attitude changed drastically, and he often did not answer the phone or return to WeChat.
As of November 2019, the second instance upheld the original verdict. Ma Guo issued an arrest warrant for the two crew members who fled to China. However, they are still safe in the country.
Yang Jianfeng showed up in his family, letting the crew not care about the result, saying that Ma has given the plan and he has accepted it. He will sign the document next Wednesday. Waiting for Wednesday, he said that it was changed to next week, the end of the month, next month... The release date in his mouth continued to be postponed, the reason is that the Malaysian government wanted an astronomical price, the two sides did not negotiate and need to renew negotiation.
The crew felt deceived, sent letters of help online, wrote letters to the embassy, and filed an appeal. There has been little news so far.
The family members continue to reflect the situation to the relevant departments, and went to Madagascar to visit the prison, and also sent a report letter to the General Administration of Customs, requesting to investigate the historical records of FLYING's entry and exit, thoroughly investigate their smuggling situation, and hold shipowners accountable.
All the imaginable methods have been done, "but no one can help". They couldn't understand why the owner of the ship, who was the first person in charge of the ship, had not received any sanctions and no one had investigated him. Only the embassy urged the shipowner to go to Malaysia to negotiate in person. Yang Jianfeng dared not go and wanted to find a local to do it, but he did not dare to give money first, fearing being pitted, but not giving money to the other party, and the guarantor could not find... Things are deadlocked.
The family has consulted a maritime lawyer. The lawyer suggested to sue the shipowner for wages. Other compensation is difficult because there is little evidence and the parties are in prison.
The embassy suggested that they hire a local lawyer from Malaysia to fight the lawsuit.
"We are so poor, how can we go to Malaysia to hire a lawyer?" A crew member's family said that most of the crew members came from rural areas such as Shandong, Jilin, and Jiangsu. The family was already in a poor situation. Nowadays, the loss of the pillars is even worse. . They have no choice but to keep looking for the shipowner and the media for help.
They hope that the relevant government departments such as labor, maritime affairs, and public security will provide some help to help urge the shipowners, and also hope that a maritime lawyer will help them fight the lawsuit.
On June 11, Yang Jianfeng told Peng Mei News that he had asked a lawyer to apply for bail for the crew. "This time the embassy is directly involved in some things, there should be no problem."
However, Shen Wenbo told reporters that night, Yang had always tweeted that there was no lawyer phone. After the reporter interviewed, he sent one. They called and the other party said they didn't know and hung up. They found that this phone call was actually the one Yang Jianfeng mentioned earlier who disappeared after taking money without doing anything.
Looking forward to going home
Shen Wenbo watched a movie because a plane crashed and a man landed on a desert island. In order to go home, he ate live fish and crabs and tried every means to keep himself alive. Two years later, he returned home as he wished, but his beloved wife had already been married.
"I think this ending is not good at all." The 34-year-old Shen Wenbo felt the cruelty of reality and his own inability for the first time.
When they were first arrested, the crew once concealed their family members, fearing that they were worried, and felt that they could go back soon.
After imprisonment, chef Chen Xudong had an angina pectoris and wrote a suicide note to his family; Chief Engineer Cai Yongjun "many times wanted to escape from prison and wanted to commit suicide"; a girlfriend of a Burmese crew member broke up, and the young man cried and shaved his head.
Xu Zejin, the big officer, lost more than 20 pounds. He missed his daughter's wedding and felt particularly guilty. His wife works in the factory canteen, 2,000 yuan per month, to provide for her daughter to study, but also to borrow money to repay the mortgage.
The three-tube wheel Fu Weigang deceived his mother to watch the boat in Madagascar, and the boat was sold to return. Every time he talked to his mother, he had to control his emotions, fearing being detected. After a while, the mother asked his brother, "Your brother has been here for a long time."
More than ten years ago, Meng Fanyi failed to do business, owed huge debts, made money alone to pay off debts, and worked a lot of temporary workers. He heard that the crew made money, and only then passed the seafarer certificate in 2016. He felt that he was a little grass, and he had too much help to survive.
When he was hit by this fateful year, he felt uncomfortable. "I didn't break the law, I didn't feel shameful, I just felt wronged." Sometimes, he would sit in the chapel outside the prison for a while, praying to go home as soon as possible.
"My wife said she wouldn't do it until I went back. She couldn't hold it anymore." 36-year-old Li Yiyin cried on the phone. His wife worked in the chicken killing farm in the county. From five to eight, every day, he had to put tens of thousands of killed chickens to the designated position, and he was too tired to lift his arms. The daughter cried and asked him when he would come back. He said that he would be soon, and waited a few days for his father.
In prison, he woke up two or three times a night, and often had headaches during the day, as if he had depression. He said he never wanted to run a boat again after he was released from prison. He just wanted to open a small restaurant and stay with his family and children.
Shen Wenbo originally had a bright future. After finishing work on this boat, and then board a boat as first officer, his salary will rise to 26,000. Before the accident, he and his wife had just bought a house in the city and planned to buy a car in a year or two.
Today, everyone's pressure falls on his wife. She went to the mall to work, earn a monthly salary of 2,000 yuan, and pay a monthly mortgage of 3,000 yuan. She also had to send some living expenses to her husband. My parents-in-law just had surgery and could not work, and now my younger son can't afford the money for kindergarten.
She rarely complains to her husband, but Shen Wenbo would rather she chatter as much as she used to. Grandma died, two sons were born, and his father was injured and operated on. He was not at home; family members' birthdays and holidays were often unable to send blessings because there was no signal on board. Shen Wenbo felt that he owed his family too much.
The day before his birthday this year, his mother told him to cook two eggs to eat, "Can you cook in prison?"
"Yes." Both choked.
When the time limit for using his mobile phone reached, he hung up the phone in a hurry, not knowing how long the mother over the phone cried.
Two sons made him a birthday cake with mud in the courtyard. He remembered that before leaving home, the eldest son hugged him and cried. He teased his son.
"You can beat me at home every day, don't leave."
Recently, Shen Wenbo dreamed of his family again. In the dream, his wife had red clouds on his face, and the two children pulled her long skirt and walked towards him. He comforted himself, and was close to returning home for another day.
Surging News senior reporter Zhu Ying intern Liu Yuxiu
(This article is from Surging News, for more original information, please download the "surging news" APP)