Chapter 22: Cuffed and Taken Away

The man with bleached-yellow hair had a cigarette dangling from his lips, his plaid shirt left unbuttoned save for a single fastener. He carried himself with an arrogant, swaggering air—the quintessential portrait of a small-time thug begging for a beating. The villagers stared at these hooligans with eyes full of rage, yet no one dared to speak.

The man spat a glob of phlegm onto the ground and tossed his cigarette butt aside, his patience wearing thin. "I’ll give you all one more chance. Who wrote the petition, and who delivered it to the county? Just point them out, and I won’t make things difficult for you today."

"Otherwise..." A sinister glint flashed in his eyes. "Otherwise, you know the consequences. Last time it was cutting off your water and electricity, smearing the place with filth... this time, I can’t guarantee whether your houses might suddenly catch fire, or whether some of you might end up with a broken leg for no reason at all."

At these words, the villagers’ faces paled, their eyes filled with panic. Without a word, their gazes converged on a middle-aged man in the center of the crowd wearing black-rimmed glasses. This man was Xu Lisan, the village schoolteacher, a man who had spent years buried in books.

Seeing the eyes of the villagers upon him, Xu Lisan gritted his teeth, straightened his posture, and stepped out from the crowd. His expression shifted from fear to righteous indignation, his demeanor suddenly bold and unflinching.

"I am the one who wrote the petition, and I am the one who sent it to the county," he declared. "You lot are nothing but parasites, ruining our land and daring to strut around here like tyrants. If the county can't handle you, I’ll take it to the prefecture. If that doesn't work, I’ll go to the provincial capital. Sooner or later, I will see you scum brought to justice."

"Oh, ho!" The yellow-haired man let out a mocking laugh and slammed his heavy steel pipe against a nearby metal fence, producing a piercing shriek. "Four-eyes, have you lost your mind? You dare threaten me? I don't think you know how to write the word 'death'."

He shouted to his lackeys behind him, "Boys, take this four-eyed freak away. I’m going to teach him a lesson about how to behave today."

Xu Lisan’s expression tightened. "You are neither the procuratorate nor the public security bureau. By what right do you intend to take me?"

The yellow-haired man burst into raucous laughter, revealing a set of stained yellow teeth. "By what right? By the right that this steel pipe in my hand can end your life. Take him!"

As the lackeys moved forward to grab him, He Shinian, who had been observing from the sidelines, realized the situation was spiraling. He set down his DV camera, leaving it to record automatically, and stepped forward. "Stop."

His voice was resonant and powerful, filled with an authoritative presence. The thugs, just about to pounce, halted and instinctively turned to look. The yellow-haired man looked He Shinian up and down, unimpressed by the lone figure. "Kid, who are you?"

He Shinian ignored the question and countered, "I’d like to ask you the same. Who are you, and by what right are you arresting people? You are committing a crime."

The thugs froze for a moment, then broke into laughter, looking at He Shinian as if he were an utter fool.

"Kid, you look like a stranger. Not from this village, are you? If you’re smart, get lost. Otherwise, the weapon in my hand doesn't have eyes."

A voice called out from the crowd, "Lad, I saw you this morning." It was the elderly man who had been selling sweet potatoes. "Lad, go away quickly. This isn’t your business. They wouldn't dare do anything serious to us—at most, they'll just intimidate us. But you’re an outsider; be careful they don't target you."

He Shinian gave the old man a look of gratitude. "Everyone, don't worry. You haven't committed any crimes or broken any laws. No one has the right to take you away."

Seeing He Shinian’s unyielding stance, the yellow-haired man grew angry. "Kid, do you even know who I am? You have the guts to meddle in my business, but I suggest you find out who 'Yellow-Hair' is before you do. I’ll say it one last time: this is none of your business, so get out while you can."

He Shinian turned to him. "I don't care who you are, nor do I want to know. My answer remains the same: as long as I am here, none of you will take a single villager away."

"Kid, it looks like you prefer the hard way. Boys, get him! Give this punk a taste of reality."

As he finished speaking, the thugs swarmed forward. He Shinian did not flinch; his eyes darkened. "So, you want to fight?"

Having served in the military, He Shinian feared no one, not even when faced with armed thugs. However, as a civil servant, he knew that violence was a crude tool of last resort, to be used only when all other methods failed.

"Meddling in my business? I’m going to beat you today so you know that in Nanping Town, I am not someone you want to mess with." He charged toward He Shinian, brandishing his weapon.

Just then, a Mitsubishi off-road vehicle roared toward them from the distance, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust. With a sharp screech of brakes, it skidded to a halt before the crowd.

The door opened, and several men emerged. The man in the lead, lean and tall, was Li Zhaoyang, the man Wu Yunqiu had just appointed that morning to oversee the work in Nanping Town. Li Zhaoyang was a section-level official whose number was in the government directory, and He Shinian had memorized it. Upon arriving and seeing the dire situation, he had immediately called Li Zhaoyang, identified himself, and requested police backup. Li Zhaoyang had wasted no time in rushing to the scene, though he had only contacted the local police station upon getting into his car, so they were still a step behind.

Seeing He Shinian surrounded by the thugs, Li Zhaoyang shouted, "Who are you people? Move aside! Do you have any idea who he is?"

Before Li Zhaoyang could continue, He Shinian shook his head to stop him. Li Zhaoyang understood, shut his mouth, and pushed through the crowd to He Shinian’s side, asking in a low voice, "Secretary He, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. When will the officers from the police station arrive?"

"I’ve already notified them; they’ll be here any second."

Upon hearing the mention of the police, the thugs’ expressions faltered, and they glanced nervously at their leader. The yellow-haired man looked at Li Zhaoyang and the familiar Mitsubishi, struggling to recall where he had seen them, but he did not dare make another move.

Moments later, three police cruisers arrived with sirens wailing, coming to a halt before the crowd. Several officers in uniform, wearing helmets and carrying batons, stepped out. The man in the lead was Cao Jigang, the chief of the local police station.

Seeing Cao Jigang, the yellow-haired man and his crew paled with panic. They might not have recognized Li Zhaoyang, but they were all too familiar with Cao Jigang.

"Mayor Li, what happened here?" Cao Jigang asked as he approached them.

Li Zhaoyang gestured toward the thugs. "These men have been intimidating the villagers and attempting to assault and detain them. Handle them as you see fit."

"Understood!" Cao Jigang replied. His eyes turned sharp as he looked at the thugs. "Yellow-Hair, you again? Cuff them all and take them to the station for questioning."

The thugs felt a surge of panic, though they made no move to run. They were so accustomed to the police station that they had become numb to it. The yellow-haired man had been acting on orders from above to ferret out the petitioners, but he had never expected to hit such a hard wall.

"Officer, we were just joking around with our village friends! It’s all just a big misunderstanding today, surely there's no need to go to the station?"

"Hmph!" Cao Jigang scoffed. "Yellow-Hair, spare me the nonsense. Since when do people joke around with steel pipes and machetes?"

The yellow-haired man was left speechless.

"Confiscate their weapons, cuff them, and take them away."