Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Then, the two police officers "invited" him to go to the police station together.

Yes, it's "please" not "grab".

Before figuring out Zhang Dabiao's identity and background, the two police officers didn't want to go too far.

Although Zhang Dabiao did indeed single-handedly cause the entire hospital to fight, even if he was spreading rumors or talking nonsense based on "feudal superstition," he didn't actually do anything.

He was also beaten and hospitalized; he was a victim.

So they decided to play it safe and go back to report to the director before making a decision.

The station chief was under pressure after receiving the call from above, but the two grassroots police officers weren't?

Just bring the person back safely, isn't that enough?

So Zhang Dabiao, his head wrapped up like an Indian, sat in the sidecar motorcycle and went to Jiaodaokou Police Station with the two police officers.

Along the way, the young policeman kept trying to get information out of him.

"Comrade Zhang Dabiao, what brand of cigarettes are you carrying?"

"Officer, you can call me Da Biao, or Sang... or Biaozi, it's fine too."

I almost misspoke and said "25-year-old nickname, Sang Biao".

"I don't know what brand of cigarettes this is. My dad left it to me. He knows a lot of people, and whenever he goes out to help with chores, the host family will give him a small gift."

"I don't know what brand it is. My dad said someone gave it to him as a gift, but he was hesitant to accept it. In the end, after much back and forth, he bought it for 19 yuan, which was ridiculously expensive." [This explanation should be acceptable, right? Spending 19 yuan on cigarettes... wouldn't that be considered money laundering?]

Zhang Dabiao figured it out: he'd play dumb and pin the blame on Zhang Banxian whenever something happened. After all, Zhang Banxian was dead and there was no way to confront him, and everyone knew the old man was a fake Taoist priest; he'd go out every few days and bring back a lot of stuff, no less than that idiot cook Shazhu or the projectionist Xu Fugui.

Of course, Zhang Bansian was also frequently reported and sent to the neighborhood office for "education and training" and to sweep the streets, which he had become accustomed to.

These days, fortune tellers come into contact with just as many people from all walks of life as cooks and projectionists.

"So, what other good cigarettes do you have at home?"

"Zhonghua cigarettes, the white-box hard-pack ones, I'll bring them out next time as a gift for my two elder brothers!"

I just didn't have any Coke with me, otherwise I would have at least said, "Brother, please have an ice-cold Coke!"

The young policeman waved his hands frantically, while the older officer nearly slammed on the brakes in a panic.

White-box hard-pack Zhonghua cigarettes!

What else is there to say?!

Is this something we two grassroots police officers can afford to smoke?

Still showing filial piety? Still acting as an elder brother?

You idiot, are you trying to kill us both?

What grudge do you hold against me?

"Um, we're not big shots, we're police officers... No need for Zhonghua cigarettes, it's too wasteful. Da Biao... you should keep them for yourself."

"Do you know who gave these cigarettes to your father?"

"I don't know, he never tells me."

The two police officers thought about it and realized it made sense.

The person who can deliver specially supplied cigarettes must be someone of extremely high status. If I were to tell this to my idiot son, and he were to spread the word, wouldn't he be seen as a leader of feudal superstition?

That would make things even more serious.

Keeping it from your family is what you call professional ethics.

So the two police officers simply stopped probing and quickly took him to the station.

Let the director have a headache.

------------

"Director, this is all we know and have deduced."

Two police officers stood in the station chief's office, and on the table were two cigarettes, the very ones Zhang Dabiao had handed over.

He had already been taken to another room to give a statement, which would later be compared with the statements of the beasts. Meanwhile, the two police officers took advantage of this break to report to their station chief.

"Are you saying that Zhang Dabiao's deceased father, Zhang Banxian, did some favors for a high-ranking official, which is why the official gave Zhang Banxian a special supply of cigarettes, and that's how Zhang Dabiao got access to them?"

"And his family even has a special supply of Zhonghua cigarettes, which means that the high-ranking officials who asked Zhang Bansian for favors are far more than just one person?"

"Filtered cigarettes are not a rare commodity in the Zhang family, so Zhang Dabiao doesn't care at all."

"These two cigarettes aren't exactly high-quality, yet they cost 19 yuan a pack, that's 95 cents each? A 1-yuan lighter is just a trinket, you can just lose it and forget about it, do you still have any at home?"

"Furthermore, because it involves matters related to feudal superstition, his identity is kept secret, and Zhang Dabiao doesn't know about it either."

Director Chen's brows were furrowed into a deep frown!

The two police officers nodded: "Yes, Chief, that's our deduction."

Director Chen stared at the two cigarettes without looking up, and asked quietly, "But now the street office and the steel rolling mill are putting pressure on us. Although we're not in the same system, but..."

He just wanted his two subordinates to help him come up with ideas and share some of the pressure.

Director Yang of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill is a division-level cadre (county-level cadre, a mid-level cadre in the national cadre system; according to research, the prototype is tentatively Sijiucheng Third Steel Rolling Mill, a municipal state-owned enterprise, so we'll follow this standard; otherwise, there are different interpretations, some say deputy director-general, some say director-general... it's all messed up, so we'll just use division-level cadre as the standard, and he'll be promoted one level when the factory is merged and expanded later).

Chen Guangliang, the director of Jiaodaokou Police Station, was only a section chief (a street-level police station, not comparable to the municipal bureau), not even as good as the head of the security department of their steel rolling mill.

Furthermore, because the subdistrict office is a key subdistrict of a municipality (two municipalities in 60, Beijing and Shanghai), Director Wang is also at the deputy division level, which Chen Guangliang still cannot compare to. It's not easy to offend either of them.

Factory Director Yang called and specifically asked him to "protect" the deaf old woman Yi Zhonghai and He Yuzhu. What could he do?

If he doesn't handle it, then the security department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill will take over, because most of the people involved are workers in the factory.

But if you have this ability, why didn't you take it over earlier?

The surrounding residents reported the incident to him, so he couldn't just ignore it, could he?

The older police officer hesitated for a moment before saying carefully, "Chief Chen, this is what I think: we should not take sides in this matter, and we should handle it officially."

"Um?"

"The steel mill wants to label Zhang Dabiao as engaging in feudal superstition, talking nonsense, slander, and defamation. This is actually the easiest thing to deal with."

"Even if Zhang Dabiao is superstitious, he's only 16 years old. Like his father, he's primarily educated. There are precedents for this in the neighborhood office and our office."

"He didn't cheat anyone out of money, he didn't lie, or he told half the truth and the other half needs to be verified later, and he was even beaten up without fighting back."

"Ultimately, he is a victim. Not only is he a child, but he also has an intellectual disability, so education is the only way to help him."

Zhang and the young policeman both nodded. In this day and age, as long as feudal superstition doesn't have a big impact, the most they'll do is fine someone and make them sweep the streets. It's not a big deal.

We can't possibly sentence this unfortunate kid to prison, can we? He only said a few words and cursed a little; he really didn't commit such a serious crime.

As for the accusations of talking nonsense, slander, and defamation... let's not even mention that half of what he said has been found to be true. Even if it were all false, so what—he's still a child! So what if he says something reckless when he's been pushed to the limit?

If you weren't after his house and job, would you have driven this idiot to this state?

Most importantly, they were also afraid that if the sentence was too harsh, would those "clients" of Zhang Bansian jump out to stand up for Comrade Zhang?

Then it will be like gods fighting, and mortals will suffer.

"What about the deaf old woman, Yi Zhonghai, and Sha Zhu and the others?" This is the most difficult part.

A young police officer suggested: "Why don't we put everyone together, with our police station, the street office, and their steel mill's security department all involved, for a fair, just, and transparent three-way trial? Otherwise, something bad will happen in their compound before the Lunar New Year."

"We primarily rely on persuasion and mediation. If a matter needs to be dealt with, we will try to mediate. Even if someone requests it, as long as everyone agrees, there will be no favoritism or abuse of power or heavy sentences in our office."

"If someone disagrees with the mediation result and wants to report it to higher authorities, that's their right. Let's just follow the normal procedures. There's no need for us to rush ahead and offend people."

Chen was weighing the pros and cons, and finally glared at the young policeman and pointed at him with his finger: "Little Li—you, you always have so many tricks up your sleeve."

Then he picked up the cigarettes on the table, lit one for himself, and handed the other to the two of them, and they both smoked.

I savored it carefully...

Good smoke!

"Special offer, that's right!"

The two policemen also shared a cigarette, the older one clicking his tongue in praise, "That's the taste! This must be a special supply!"

The young police officer silently complained to himself—

[You talk like you've actually smoked it...]

"Then let's do as Xiao Li says, a joint trial by all three parties!"

------------

Then, in a large conference hall, everyone arrived, staring at each other with wide eyes.

Director Wang of the Subdistrict Office, Section Chief Xie of the Security Department of the Steel Rolling Mill, and two police officers, Chief Chen and Chief Jia of the Police Station;

Zhang Dabiao, Xu Damao, Xu Fugui, Yan Jiecheng, Yan Bugui, the deaf old woman, Yi Zhonghai, Shazhu Yushui, Jia Dongxu, Jia Zhangshi, Lou Xiao'e, Lou Bancheng...

Everyone glared angrily at Zhang Dabiao, who was dressed as an Indian.

Zhang Dabiao was stunned. The course of events was so clear and obvious, why were so many people still needed to attend the meeting?

Why the hell did they make such a big deal out of this?

This world is just a giant makeshift operation—

As for?

Did I break some heavenly law?