My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

As they were talking, Chief Gu was already ashen-faced, his legs trembling like leaves. He had already recognized the man called Director Liang as the head of the county bureau. As for the other man, Deputy Director Guo, he had never even seen him before, but judging from Director Liang's respectful attitude, he was probably the deputy director of the city bureau. Today, they were here to arrest him. A town police station chief had alarmed the deputy director of the city bureau, who personally led a team to deal with him—how much power did that require? His mind was buzzing as he tried to figure out how to greet him when he saw Director Liang, his face grim, stride towards him.

Director Gu took a deep breath, forced himself to stand upright, put his legs together, raised his hand in salute, and said respectfully with a slightly weak and trembling voice, "Director Liang, hello, I..."

Director Liang's face darkened. Before he could finish speaking, he glared at him angrily and shouted, "Good my foot! I received complaints from the public that you didn't follow procedures, arbitrarily handcuffed people, favored your relatives, and condoned extortion. Today, I'm here specifically to investigate and supervise this matter. Director Gu, tell me yourself, can you still wear this police uniform?"

These words caused an uproar at the scene. The villagers who were watching stared wide-eyed, and the discussion exploded like a pot boiling over.

"My God, Director Gu has really bitten off more than he can chew. This time, it's the county bureau chief and the city bureau deputy chief!"

"It seems that this guy surnamed Gu is in big trouble today. After all these years of being arrogant, someone has finally come to teach him a lesson."

"The Gu family is finished. Didn't you hear what the bureau chief said? They're going to investigate and supervise this case. Old Gu can't escape now."

Director Gu's face had already turned ashen, and he froze instantly. He stammered, "Director Liang, I...I...I was wrong..."

"Hmph, this isn't over yet!" Director Liang glanced at Su Ming not far away and, seeing that Su Ming's hands were still cuffed, shouted at Chief Gu, "Remove the handcuffs first."

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll unlock it right away." Director Gu trembled as he pulled out the handcuff key.

This time, Su Ming did not refuse and took the initiative to extend his hands so that the other party could remove the handcuffs.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all a misunderstanding, young man." Director Gu hurriedly pleaded with Su Ming beside him in a low voice, "Please talk to your brother-in-law, I'll treat you to dinner later, and ask him to let me go..."

"Director Gu, what are you doing?" Director Liang snapped at him irritably, "Get out of here!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Director Gu quickly stepped aside.

He turned his head and glared at the burly man who was trying to extort money, sighing with deep resentment, "You've ruined me."

Seeing this, the burly man who had been trying to extort money was also terrified, his face turning pale and his lips turning purple.

He scrambled to his feet and rushed to Director Liang, kneeling down with a thud. He cried out, his voice trembling with sobs and despair: "Director, this has nothing to do with my uncle! They killed my dog ​​first, that's why I called the police. This has absolutely nothing to do with my uncle! You can't put the blame on him! Although I asked for more money, it's a fact that they killed my dog. I had two dogs that I'd raised for over three years, and they're both dead. I'm innocent! My uncle is even more innocent."

Director Gu trembled with rage, glaring hatefully at his precious nephew, and gritted his teeth as he hissed, "Shut up! You have no right to interrupt here. Haven't you harmed me enough already?"

Director Liang glanced at Director Gu and coldly retorted, "I think you're the one who should shut up. You have no right to give orders here."

Director Gu was so choked up that his face turned red. He had no choice but to shut his mouth, his hands hanging down at his sides, clenched into fists, with the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

Director Liang turned around and approached the burly man who had tried to extort money. His anger subsided slightly, replaced by a calm expression. He smiled and nodded at the man, his tone even softening: "Don't be nervous. Speak slowly and tell us the truth. Rest assured, we won't wrong an innocent person, nor will we let a bad person go free. Tell us everything you saw and experienced. Don't be nervous, explain it clearly and calmly."

Upon hearing this, the burly man who had been trying to extort money paused for a moment, then looked at Director Liang's gentle face, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind: This Director Liang was probably going to secretly help his uncle out. After all, his uncle had boasted to him that he had very good connections at the higher-ups, was very familiar with the leaders of the county bureau, and that the higher-ups actually appreciated him quite a bit.

Thinking of this, the burly man who had been trying to extort money immediately smiled, as if he had grasped a lifeline. He pointed at Su Ming with a smug look on his face and accused him with a tearful voice, "It was this kid who beat my two dogs to death! Both dogs are dead, it's so tragic, I raised them for three years, and they're gone just like that!"

Director Liang nodded, and continued calmly, "Oh, was your dog on a leash?"

The burly man, who was trying to extort money, answered matter-of-factly, his tone carrying an air of "Is that even a question?": "No, why would I leash my dog? In the countryside, who leashes their dog? It's perfectly normal. Dogs are for guarding the house; how can they guard the house if they're leashed?"

Su Ming, standing to the side, chimed in with a laugh, his voice soft but clear: "That's right, it's normal for dogs to be off-leash in the countryside, I admit that. But a dog that bites someone should be killed, and not only do they not have to pay compensation, they also have to apologize to the person they bit! Uncle, you just say your dog is dead, why don't you tell me what your dog did? Your dog bit someone, and I can't even fight back?"

The burly man, indignant, his face flushed red, pointed at Su Ming and Dr. Hou, his voice shrill and loud: "Who knows if you two came into the village to steal? My dog ​​is for guarding against thieves. If it saw you and mistook you for thieves, it's nobody's fault but its own. If you hadn't come into the village, would the dog have bitten you? Don't you think that makes sense?"

Director Liang quickly interrupted him, his voice suddenly becoming stern, and shouted, "Don't speculate about things that haven't happened. You have no evidence to prove that anyone wanted to steal anything. You can't just say things like that; you'll be held responsible if you're wrong."

The burly man who had tried to extort money shrank back at the shout and nodded, saying, "Fine, fine. Even if my dog ​​bit them, they can't kill it. If they kill it, they have to pay compensation. That's a matter of course. This principle applies everywhere."

Su Ming sneered, counting off the points on his fingers one by one: "Logically speaking, we acted in self-defense, so we don't need to pay this money. On the contrary, we can even ask you for compensation for emotional distress. Your dog not only frightened us, but it also tore Dr. Hou's pants. Look at those two big holes in the pant leg, did you pretend you didn't see them? Our Dr. Hou, out of kindness, didn't want to make things too complicated, so he paid you five thousand yuan, hoping to settle things peacefully. Who knew you would take advantage of us, and seeing that we were easy to talk to, you're now demanding ten thousand yuan. What is this if not extortion?"