146 Village Tyrant

  No wonder Wang Zhijun had no news all along, it turned out he was arrested. Liu Ziguang hastily asked: "What happened?"

  "It's all because of this wall."

  Liu Ziguang only then noticed this wall, which was a shared wall between the Wang family and their neighbors, newly built, with no plaster on top, tall and flat, incomparable to the Wang family's low and yellow mud wall, but it was precisely because of this wall that the originally rectangular courtyard of the Wang family became even narrower.

  Liu Ziguang somewhat understood and asked: "How come your two families share a wall but don't even leave a passageway in between?"

  Wang said, "Originally, there was a passageway between the two houses. Last month, old Zhu from next door built a house and forcibly extended the wall to our side, occupying our family's homestead. Coincidentally, my second brother returned from the city after being injured and couldn't bear it, so he got into an argument with them. In the end, they started fighting and injured someone, which is why they were taken away by the police."

  Wang Zhijun's mother added: "His brother, my second child is innocent. The four brothers of the old Zhu family next door are all notorious rascals. Four people beat up my second child alone, and in the end they even turned around and accused him of intentionally hurting someone. They were taken to the yamen and thrown into prison, but there's been no news until now... My poor child, the wound on his arm hasn't healed yet..."

  As he spoke, he wiped away tears with his sleeve. Wang Zhijun's father said sternly: "Old lady, don't talk nonsense. The second child really did hit someone, and the government will not wrong a good person. You must believe in the organization."

  "Who doesn't know that Zhu Jiaolao San is familiar with the people from the local police station? They drink and gamble together every day. Our second child won't be able to get out of this, he'll have to serve a long sentence for sure... poor thing, he hasn't even gotten married yet..."

  The old father also became impatient, took off his old glasses and rubbed his nose bridge, letting out a deep sigh.

  "Wang's sister said quietly: 'My husband and I are substitute teachers at the village-run primary school, we don't fight or scold people. My parents are also honest rural people who have never had a conflict with our neighbors. The Zhu family bullies men and women, does evil things, and is arrogant because they're used to it. If it were just me, I would have tolerated it, but this time my second brother was at home and happened to run into them causing trouble at our house, pushing my father down. That's when my brother couldn't help but take action.'"

  Liu Ziguang said: "I know Zhijun's temper, he won't take action unless he is forced to a dead end, but the Zhu family is too bullying."

  Ma Chao and Zhang Jun both remained silent, their fists clenched tightly in anger, wishing they could immediately go next door and give the Zhu family a good beating to avenge Zhi Jun.

  The courtyard fell silent again. After a while, Wang Zhijun's mother wiped away her tears and stood up: "It's time for lunch, don't leave, I'll slaughter a chicken for you to eat."

  Liu Ziguang and others quickly stood up: "Auntie, don't bother, just deal with it casually."

  Even so, Wang Danni still killed a small rooster, stir-fried some eggs, and added some freshly picked vegetables, peppers, and cucumbers from the field to make a table of dishes. When Wang Dajie returned home, she called her husband to accompany the guests and brought out a bottle of homemade millet wine to entertain them.

  According to rural rules, women are not allowed to sit at the table. So Wang Dage and his son-in-law accompanied Liu Ziguang and the three of them ate and drank together. During the meal, both sides made a toast to each other, and Liu Ziguang once again learned about Wang Zhijun's family situation.

  Wang Zhijun's father was the principal of the town's primary school, his daughter and son-in-law were substitute teachers, his son returned from the army and stayed in the city to work as a security guard. The two mu of land at home relied solely on Wang Dama to cultivate it. The annual income of the whole family was only a few thousand yuan, and their lives were very simple.

  The Zhu family next door was different, the four brothers were not good people, they had been the village's second-rate sons since childhood, fighting and stealing chickens and dogs was a common occurrence, but the more this kind of person, the more they got away with it, plus in Zhuyang Village, those surnamed Zhu were wealthy families, while those surnamed Wang were poor families, so the four Zhu brothers were lawless in the village.

  Zhu family built a new house, and the wall was built to encroach on Wang's family homestead. Such disputes over homesteads and graves are common in rural areas. Whoever has more men and stronger fists gets the advantage. Rural people don't like to go through official channels, they'd rather settle things privately. For minor matters, if it can be tolerated, it will be tolerated.

  Old Wang is the principal of a primary school and can be considered an intellectual. He made several phone calls to report the case, but the rural police station didn't send anyone to handle it. On the contrary, they provoked the Zhu brothers, who ran to Old Wang's house, pushing and shoving, scolding and cursing, and happened to meet Wang Zhijun, who had returned home to recover from his injuries.

  Wang Zhijun was a hot-blooded man who couldn't swallow this insult, so he fought with the Zhu brothers. His fractured injury hadn't healed yet, but he still managed to beat up the four Zhu brothers single-handedly, causing them to flee in disarray. However, the response from the local police station was extremely swift, and a police car arrived within an hour, taking Wang Zhijun away.

  After Zhi Jun was captured, the Zhu brothers returned triumphantly, rushed into the Wang family's house, and scolded loudly. They also slaughtered the two small shell-less pigs that had not yet grown up before stopping.

  "Is this frame actually in the Zhu family's courtyard or our own?" Liu Ziguang suddenly asked.

  "It was in our own courtyard, they came to stir up trouble and even beat up my dad." His brother-in-law replied. He was a bespectacled, weak-looking scholar, thin as a bean sprout.

  "What exactly were the Zhu brothers hurt with? How badly were they injured?" Liu Ziguang asked his second question.

  "They got into a fight, so they must have gotten hurt, but it's definitely not serious. The four of them all ran away on their own."

  "When hitting, didn't Zhijun move?"

  "No, absolutely not!" my brother-in-law said firmly.

  Everyone stopped their chopsticks, listening carefully to Liu Ziguang and his brother-in-law's conversation. Even Wang Daigne in the kitchen, who was fanning the fire, stopped moving and perked up her ears to listen. They all keenly sensed that this friend from the city would provide some help.

  "One last question, how many days was Zhi Jun detained? Where was he detained?"

  "I've asked around and he's been locked up in the local police station for twenty days now."

  "Rubbish!" Liu Ziguang slammed his hand on the table. "The four Zhu brothers came to our house to beat people up, and Zhijun only fought back to protect his family, without using any deadly weapons. It can only be considered self-defense. What's the reason for arresting him? Even if he was arrested, there should be a reason. Either detain him for 15 days for disturbing public order or detain him for 14 days for criminal offenses. If the case is serious, send it directly to the detention center and transfer it to the procuratorate. How can they just quietly lock him up in the police station?"

  After hearing his analysis, it really made sense. The Wang family suddenly looked at Liu Ziguang with new eyes. This big brother is knowledgeable about the law!

  "Alright, after dinner I'll go to the local police station and ask for an explanation. We're not afraid of going through official channels, even if it means taking the case all the way to the county or city level." Liu Ziguang said with a pat on his chest.

  Wang Danni was overjoyed and her eyes welled up with tears. She hastily called out to her daughter, "Dahai, quickly go kill another chicken!"

  "Eldest sister, eldest lady, it's not too late for us to kill the chicken when we come back." Liu Ziguang said with a smile.

  ……

  After dinner, Ma Chao drove, with his brother-in-law sitting in the front row, taking Liu Ziguang and others to the rural police station to handle affairs.

  The police station is next to the township government, an ancient-style building with golden glazed tiles on which are mounted red and blue alternating police lights. At the entrance hang two signs, one reading "Dahetou Township Police Station" and the other "Dahetou Township Security Defense Team". Inside the large iron gate are parked two unlicensed vans and several mud-splattered motorcycles.

  The Jetta stopped at the entrance, and several people got out of the car and walked in. The police station was empty, and when they entered the office building, the corridor was empty except for the open bathroom door, all other doors were closed.

  "Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" Liu Ziguang shouted twice, but no one responded. He found the door with a duty room sign on it and knocked several times, still no one answered.

  Helpless, he had to go up to the second floor first. The door of the dormitory was closed tightly, and a thunderous snore came from inside. Just as Liu Ziguang was about to knock on the door, his brother-in-law suddenly pulled his sleeve and pointed to the end of the corridor: "Zhijun is locked in there."

  At the end of the corridor was a detention room, with a solid anti-theft door locked tightly. My brother-in-law had been there once when he sent bedding to Wang Zhijun, but later they were no longer allowed to visit. However, the meal money still had to be paid, 28 yuan and 5 jiao per day, and it was unknown what Wang Zhijun was fed.

  Liu Ziguang walked directly over and knocked on the iron gate: "Zhijun, are you in there?"

  Inside came out a surprised shout: "Liu Ge, is it you? How did you come?"

  "You rascal, something's happened at home and you didn't even say a word, the brothers all wanted to kill you, I'm here to bail you out, once we get out, you'll have to treat us to a few drinks."

  Just as they were talking, the door of the director's office suddenly opened and a red-faced big man walked out, holding a stainless steel boss cup in his hand, with an angry face: "What are you doing!"

  Liu Ziguang took a glance at the red-faced big man's attire, a light blue police undershirt was worn outside his pants, and there were no epaulets on his shoulders. Underneath his dark blue police trousers were a pair of black canvas loafers.

  It was probably because he was startled awake from a deep sleep, the man's face was filled with rage, staring at Liu Ziguang and others, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light, as if he would take them down at any moment if they didn't satisfy him. Liu Ziguang looked him up and down several times, asking: "Are you the captain?"

  The red-faced man was temporarily stunned by his aura, and with Liu Ziguang's Jiangbei accent, he couldn't figure out the other party's bottom line, so he restrained his anger and replied: "My surname is Zhu, I am the director of the Dahexiang Police Station, who are you?"

  Liu Ziguang pulled out a pack of Chinese cigarettes, but didn't offer any to the director. He put one in his mouth and Ma Chao helped him light it. After exhaling a puff of smoke, Liu Ziguang finally spoke up: "I'm a friend of Wang Zhijun's. I'd like to ask Director Zhu, what crime did Wang Zhijun commit that you had to arrest him? And why was he detained beyond the legal time limit? When it was time to transfer him to the detention center, you transferred him. When it was time to hand him over to the procuratorate, you handed him over. What's the point of keeping him locked up in the police station?"

  Zhu was enraged by his attitude and words, and the strong wine he had just drunk at noon surged up again. He excitedly pointed at Liu Ziguang with his thick fingers: "What are you, take out your ID card, if you can't explain clearly, don't think about leaving."

  His brother-in-law was frightened, and Liu Ziguang actually took this attitude to deal with the police station chief. Isn't this a hindrance? He quickly went quietly to pull Liu Ziguang's sleeve, hinting him to calm down.

  Liu Ziguang remained unmoved, coldly smiling and saying: "Zhu Shouzhang, do you know the five prohibitions of public security? Drinking during work hours or wearing a uniform, do you believe me that with just one phone call I can make you take off your clothes?"

  Zhu Zong suddenly inhaled a breath of cool air, thinking to himself that this kid is not simple and might have some background. At this time, several young people wearing casual clothes came up from downstairs and asked: "Whose white Jetta is parked at the entrance?"

  "Our carriage."

  Zhu Zong's subconscious glance outside, from the second floor, just happened to see the Jetta car parked at the entrance, covered in mud, with a very ordinary private car license plate, unable to discern any signs of power or prestige.

  Zhu's experience is very old-fashioned, and with this Jetta car, he can analyze the level of these people. They're just pretending to be something they're not, thinking that a few boastful words can intimidate themselves. Humph, this time they'll have to retreat in defeat.

  Zhu's gaze swept over them, and the young team members of the Dahai Township Security Defense Team immediately understood, furrowing their brows and rubbing their fists, ready to come over and capture these reckless guys.

  But they were wrong, this time Liu Ziguang was not pretending to be a pig eating a tiger, he was already holding his mobile phone and talking:

  "Song Ju, yes, it's like this, otherwise you can talk to him about it."

  Saying so, Liu Ziguang smiled and handed his mobile phone to Zhu Suo, "Old Song from the Municipal Bureau wants to talk to you."

  Zhu was somewhat perplexed, but still took over the phone and shouted loudly: "I'm Zhu Gangjian, where are you?"

  A deep and powerful voice came from the phone: "I am Song Jianfeng, Deputy Director of Jiangbei City Public Security Bureau. I want to speak with your leader."

  Zhu was furious: "If you're the director, I'm the director's father! Stop pretending to be clever, or else I'll find out your number and have you arrested!"

  After finishing speaking, he directly threw his mobile phone aside and yelled at his subordinates to go and catch people.

  Ma Chao and Zhang Jun's nerves were stretched taut, waiting for Liu Ziguang to give the order, but instead Liu Ziguang smiled warmly and cooperatively took out his ID card for inspection.

  The joint defense team members didn't even look at his ID, directly twisting his arm and putting on handcuffs. Liu Ziguang didn't get angry either, smiling as he put on the handcuffs, with a pitiful gaze towards Zhu Suo.

  It seems like something is off, Zhu thought to himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out what was wrong. In Daheshang Village, besides the village head, it's just him, so what else could be the problem?

  Suddenly, the office phone rang urgently. Director Zhu walked in to take a look at the caller ID and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. It was the county public security bureau's office number.