We asked you to make an anti-corruption film, but you made one in the name of the people!

The next morning, when Lin Mo arrived at the office, Xiao Chen had already printed out the screenshots of the trending topics and placed them on his desk.

"Director Lin," Xiao Chen's expression was subtle, "your meal made it to seven trending topics."

Lin Mo picked up the screenshot and glanced at it: "Seven?"

"Yes, Lin Mo's new drama, Zhao Liying and Lin Mo's collaboration, Fan Wei's comeback, Aruna playing a villain again, Zhang Yi, Lei Jiayin and Ma Li, Lin Mo—seven in total."

Lin Mo put down the screenshot: "Let's make it official."

"Now?"

"Now."

Xiao Chen turned and left. Ten minutes later, the official Weibo account of the Supreme People's Procuratorate posted a message.

"@Supreme People's Procuratorate: #FilmArticleTwenty# is jointly produced by @Supreme People's Procuratorate, @Supreme People's Court, and @Ministry of Public Security, and directed by @LinMo. The film focuses on the legitimate defense system and tells a story about the rule of law and justice. It features a stellar cast including @FanWei, @LeiJiayin, @MaLi, @ZhaoLiying, @XuYajun, @ZhangYi, @GaoYe, and @Aruna. The law cannot yield to illegality."

The comments section exploded again.

"Article 20!!! Article 20 of the Criminal Law!! Legitimate self-defense!!"

"This title is brilliant; the law itself is the main character."

"The law cannot yield to illegality—I've remembered that."

"The Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, and the Ministry of Public Security have joined forces! Director Lin, are you trying to make a film about the Constitution?!"

"The Yongcheng case is still trending on social media, and Director Lin's film is already explaining self-defense—I'm speechless at the speed."

Lin Mo: You guys are arguing online, I'll just make a movie and show you the answer.

"I absolutely do not believe that anyone else could pass censorship with this subject matter, but Director Lin—I do."

"Because he always managed to cross the line of approval so tightly, whether it was anti-corruption, anti-fraud, or anti-organized crime."

"Can't wait! I definitely have to see this in theaters!"

......

During the last week of filming for "Dying to Survive," Shanghai was as hot as a sauna.

Wen Muye had been working three consecutive all-nighters, and his eyes were bloodshot, but he was getting more and more energetic.

He was crouching in front of the monitor, watching Xu Zheng perform his final courtroom scene.

Xu Zheng stood in the dock, his expression unreadable, a mixture of crying and laughing. When the judge asked him if he had anything else to say, he remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I have nothing to say. I just want to ask, what did those patients do wrong?"

The entire shed was so quiet that you could hear the hum of the lighting equipment.

Wen Muye called out a sound effect card, then stood up and clapped twice.

"Brother Zheng, this one's done."

Xu Zheng stepped down from the defendant's seat, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and said nothing.

Wang Chuanjun handed Xu Zheng a bottle of water, which he took and drank half of. Then, looking at Wen Muye, he said, "Director, thank you for your hard work."

Fumino paused for a moment, then nodded.

Next to her, Han Jianu was sitting next to the monitor scrolling through her phone when she suddenly exclaimed "Ah!"

"What's wrong?" Fumino was tidying up the storyboard.

"Director Lin is trending again." Han Jianu handed over her phone, and the screen showed the hashtag #LinMoNewDrama#, followed by the word "hot".

Wen Muye took it and flipped through it a few times: Fan Wei, Xu Yajun, Zhang Yi, Zhao Liying, Lei Jiayin, Ma Li, Aruna, Gao Ye, all of them were on the list.

The film, titled "Article 20," is a joint production of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Supreme People's Court, and the Ministry of Public Security.

Wen Muye looked up at Han Jianu: "Director Lin is going to film the entire criminal law genre on the theme of self-defense."

Han Jianu was already typing: "Director Lin! I saw it trending! 'Article 20'! You're so fast!"

Lin Mo replied: "The script is finished, filming starts next week. How's it going on your end?"

"We're filming the last courtroom scene right now, and we'll wrap up in three or four days!" Han Jianu typed, then added, "Director Lin, could you take me on your next project? I'd like to learn from you."

"Finish editing the footage you have now; Director Wen needs you."

Han Jianu smiled as she read the reply.

Wang Chuanjun, who was flipping through the script next to him, looked up and asked, "Director Lin's new film has been officially announced?"

"It's official." Han Jianu held up her phone to show him. "A collaboration of three companies, a self-defense themed film, and the cast is amazing—Fan Wei, Zhao Liying, and Lei Jiayin are all in it."

Wang Chuanjun took the phone and scrolled through it, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth: "Director Lin's filming speed is faster than my role-changing speed. I just finished playing Lü Shouyi, and he's already started the next one."

"Brother Chuanjun, you acted so well this time," Han Jianu said earnestly. "I cried along with Lu Shouyi during his final crying scene while standing behind the monitor."

Wang Chuanjun was silent for a while before speaking, his voice much softer than before: "Before filming this movie, I played villains for several years—Manager Lu, and others. All the scripts that came my way were for bad guys. I thought I could only play bad guys for the rest of my life. Director Lin said to me, 'Wang Chuanjun, why don't you play Lü Shouyi?' I said, 'Don't I look like a good guy?' Director Lin said, 'You can't judge a good guy by his face, you can judge him by his eyes.'"

Han Jianu nodded without saying anything.

Wen Muye poked his head out from behind the monitor and interjected, "Teacher Wang, after this show airs, the scripts asking you to play good guys will pile up like a mountain."

Wang Chuanjun chuckled but didn't reply.

......

Two days before filming began for "Article 20", a meeting was held in the Ministry of Public Security building.

The conference room was small, with a dozen or so people sitting on either side of a long table.

On the Ministry of Public Security's side were Director Wang and Sun Jianguo.

On the Supreme People's Procuratorate side, it's Procurator Zhao and Lao Han.

A vice president of the Supreme People's Court arrived. His surname was Shen. He was in his fifties, his hair was neatly combed, and he was wearing a dark gray suit.

Lin Mo sat at the end of the long table, with a printed script spread out in front of him.

Director Wang spoke first: "Today is a meeting between the three parties. The project 'Article 20' deals with the theme of legitimate self-defense, and the director is Lin Mo. Have you all read the scripts?"

Zhao Jian nodded, and Vice Dean Shen also nodded. They opened the script, turned to a page in the middle, and pointed to it with their finger: "Xiao Lin, I've been reading this script all night. There's one sentence that I've read over and over again."

"Please speak."

Vice Dean Shen cleared his throat and read aloud: "The law cannot yield to illegality."

He put down the script, looked up at Lin Mo, and asked, "Did you write this line?"

"Yes."

Vice President Shen paused for two seconds, then said something that silenced the entire room: "Good, well said. I've worked in the court system for decades, and I've studied the self-defense clause over and over again, but no one has ever been able to explain it so clearly in just eight words—'The law cannot yield to illegality.' Director Lin, your words are more useful than a hundred judicial interpretations we could issue."

Lin Mo didn't reply.

Zhao Jian put down his teacup and added, "Prosecutor Shen, when Xiao Lin wrote that line in the script, I was also thinking about it—'The law cannot yield to illegality.' Was that too blunt? But then I realized it's the truth. Why don't ordinary people believe in the law? Because they feel the law is yielding to illegality. How do we get them to believe? We tell them—the law will not yield."

Director Wang leaned back in his chair, his expression serious: "We also encounter this problem when the police are handling cases. Where is the line between excessive self-defense and legitimate self-defense? Even the grassroots police officers don't understand it. I watched the scene in the script where Han Ming makes the decision not to prosecute—a prosecutor under pressure to determine that a case that was considered intentional injury was legitimate self-defense. If this process is clearly filmed, it will be the best way to popularize the law."

Vice President Shen took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and looked at Lin Mo. His tone became serious: "Lin, after this movie is released, the judicial practice of legitimate self-defense may change because of what you said. The law cannot yield to illegality—I plan to quote these eight words at an internal meeting of the Supreme People's Court. Of course, I will specify that it is yours."

"Yes, Dean Shen!"