697
1921
As Sugar explored the winding streets of her new Anqing home that all seemed to lead to the Yangtze River, she marveled at the frenetic activity all around her.
Suddenly, an Australian woman not much older than Sugar stopped her.
“Please sign my petition,” the woman asked Sugar. “We’re demanding the government sharpen the executioner’s blade.”
Sugar recoiled in horror. “I’d never sign such an awful thing.”
“No, no, you don’t understand,” the woman pleaded. “Last week when they executed a criminal in the square, it took 16 chops to kill the man.”
Sugar quickly signed it and walked away.