"Director Wu, Uncle Zhongshan," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile, bringing the two men back to their senses. "When Han Fusheng returns in a little while, I'll ask him some questions. You two can listen in, okay?"
Wu Feng wanted to refuse immediately, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to say it and instead looked at Zhong Shan.
"Okay, you're not allowed to scare people!" Zhong Shan hesitated for a long time before nodding in agreement.
Wu Feng's mouth gaped open in astonishment. Had Zhong Shan lost his mind? Was this Zhong Shan, the director of Huaxiang Police Station?
In truth, Zhong Shan didn't want things to turn out this way, nor did he want to believe the so-called legend of the Earth God appearing in dreams. After Zhao Laoguang's death, Xu Zhengyang was seen in a dream by the Earth God, who relayed a message to Zhao Laoguang's family. After that incident, Zhong Shan merely considered it an inexplicable coincidence; there were many inexplicable things in the world, and no need to delve too deeply. However, just a few days later, the Han Dashan family was haunted by ghosts entering their home in the middle of the night, and rumors spread that the Earth God was punishing the Han Dashan family for avenging Xu Zhengyang's family. And the Han Dashan family actually went to the dilapidated Earth God temple to offer sacrifices and burn incense as an apology. If all of this was considered rumors and unbelievable, then Han Dashan's decision to pay for the reconstruction of the Earth God temple in the west of the village was concrete proof that the incidents of the Earth God and ghosts disturbing the door in the middle of the night were indeed true!
Furthermore, it is said that Xu Zhengyang was later appeared in a dream by the local earth god, who sent a message to the family of Wang Zhu, who had died in Wangjia Village.
These events made Zhong Shan, the director of Huaxiang Police Station and also a native of Shuanghe Village, hesitate, and even believe.
Hearing Xu Zhengyang say all this today, Zhong Shan was even more astonished. If... this really was that land god who shouldn't even exist in the first place appearing in Xu Zhengyang's dream again, then... then... it's too unbelievable! A similarly absurd thought suddenly came to Zhong Shan's mind: if there really is a land god, if the land god and Xu Zhengyang really have some kind of close relationship, then... we could make a big deal out of it!
Xu Zhengyang's expression remained calm, but inwardly he breathed a long sigh of relief. It was good that Zhong Shan had this attitude!
He was genuinely afraid that Zhong Shan would completely ignore this behavior, which others would consider almost unreasonable, and that would make things difficult...
Footsteps sounded outside. Looking out through the open door, one could see Han Dashan and his lame son Han Fusheng walking into the courtyard, followed by his eldest daughter-in-law Huaixiu, and then Wang Yue and another policeman.
Xu Zhengyang blinked and squinted...
Volume 1 Land Chapter 31 Do you know who I am?
Under normal circumstances, no one wants to see the police come to their door.
This is a somewhat contradictory, yet undeniably real, phenomenon. On the one hand, everyone knows that the police are dedicated to fighting criminals and evildoers, and are therefore welcome; on the other hand, everyone knows that when the police come to your door, it's mostly to investigate a case, and nobody wants to be involved in any case, whether they are the defendant or the plaintiff, the perpetrator or the victim—nobody wants to be associated with any of those labels.
Han Dashan was already puzzled by the uninvited police officers, and the fact that Xu Zhengyang also came along only made him more confused.
It is said that you should ask his second son, Han Fusheng, for some information. What information could you possibly get from this lame son?
Damn it, could it be that my lame son got caught soliciting prostitutes? Han Dashan knew that although his lame son was young, he was extremely lecherous, probably because of his low self-esteem or inability to find a partner. He spent all his time at home watching porn online and when he went out, he would spend money recklessly to find prostitutes...
But what does this have to do with Xu Zhengyang? Why did he come to the door with the police?
And he was with Zhong Shan!
Han Dashan knew Zhong Shan. Although they were from the same village, their relationship wasn't good. The reason was simply that Han Dashan wasn't a good person to begin with, while Zhong Shan had always been an incorruptible, upright, and righteous policeman.
So after entering the house, Han Dashan spoke politely and then took out a cigarette and offered one to everyone present, regardless of whether they smoked or not. Only then did he ask with a puzzled look what his son had done wrong.
Wu Feng and Zhong Shan both shook their heads. Wu Feng said expressionlessly, "Nothing, just looking into the situation." Then Wu Feng turned his gaze to Xu Zhengyang, a young man who Wu Feng found extremely strange, so strange that he couldn't see through him. Previously, he had given the impression of an ordinary rural hoodlum, with a feigned honest smile, cunning eyes, and occasional pitiful expressions… but suddenly, when talking about the Earth God, which seemed like a fantasy to others, his expression was so composed, so calm, even… giving the impression that he was somewhat superior to others.
Confidence, yes, a powerful kind of confidence! Wu Feng made this judgment in his mind.
"Uncle Dashan, there are some things I need to talk to Fusheng about. If I've done anything to upset you, please don't take it to heart." Xu Zhengyang sat on the sofa, his body hunched over, a cigarette between his left index and middle fingers, supporting his chin, the cigarette holder right next to his mouth, and he said with a half-smile, his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing. Just say what you want to say. I can't control this brat anymore!" Han Dashan waved his hand and said magnanimously.
"Dad!" Han Fusheng said indignantly, "Who does Xu Zhengyang think he is? Let him talk to me? What gives him the right?"
Han Dashan slapped his son hard across the face and yelled, "Shut up! Damn it, if you hadn't caused trouble, would the police have come knocking on our door?"
"What happened to me?" Han Fusheng muttered, but his voice lacked confidence. He was still wondering why Guo Tian had boasted so much, yet Xu Zhengyang had not only not been arrested by the police, but had even come to his door with them.
"Fusheng, I know everything you and Guo Tian talked about," Xu Zhengyang said calmly, squinting at Han Fusheng.
Han Fusheng was stunned for a moment, his heart began to race. He felt as if the cold glint in Xu Zhengyang's narrowed eyes pierced his heart. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to say, "What do you know? What did I say to Guo Tian?"
Xu Zhengyang smiled, his expression quickly returning to calm. His narrowed eyelids lowered, seemingly too lazy to look at Han Fusheng anymore. Instead, he stared at the ashtray on the coffee table, holding a cigarette between his left fingers and thumb, gently tapping the ash with his index finger. He muttered to himself, "Han Erquezi... You should know what kind of person I, Xu Zhengyang, am, and what kind of temper I have, right?"
Han Fusheng froze, a chill ran down his spine, and his right eyelid twitched violently a few times.
Han Dashan frowned, his eyes flashing with anger. No matter how good a relationship Xu Zhengyang had with that so-called local deity, or how powerful that deity was, calling my son Han Erquezi (Han the Cripple) to my face was simply going too far! It was a slap in the face to Han Dashan! Although his anger was burning, in front of the police, Han Dashan suppressed it, glaring at Xu Zhengyang with a furrowed brow. Han Dashan's wife was equally displeased; the forced smile on her face froze, and she stared at Xu Zhengyang sitting beside her in disbelief.
Zhong Shan and Wu Feng were also stunned. Xu Zhengyang... was too much of a scoundrel.
How can you call someone by their nickname in front of their parents, especially mentioning their physical defect? There's a saying: "Don't hit someone in the face, don't insult someone by revealing their shortcomings." Going too far like that is unacceptable.
Xu Zhengyang seemed completely unconcerned about the expressions and gazes of everyone in the room. He squinted, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and looked up at Han Fusheng with disdain, saying, "Let's not talk about Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao's matter for now... Actually, we're neighbors, we see each other all the time, and I really don't want our two families to have any grudges. But Han Erquezi, you actually conspired with Guo Tian to scheme against me and plot against me... I'm very angry. I remember yesterday when I left the village, you greeted me, and I still considered you a brother. I politely told you that I was going to the capital to pick up Rouyue..."
"A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative! You're helping outsiders harm me, what grudge do I have against you?"
"After I found out about this, I was thinking about whether to break Guo Tian's arm and leg to teach him a lesson, but that's not a good idea, it's illegal, and I'm really worried. Even if I deal with Guo Tian, how should I treat you? You can't treat relatives differently, right?"
At this point, Xu Zhengyang stopped, narrowed his eyes, and stared calmly at Han Fusheng.
Han Fusheng, looking embarrassed and terrified, tried to deny it, saying, "I...I don't know what you're talking about."
Xu Zhengyang narrowed his eyes, a slight smile appearing on his face. He then raised an eyebrow and turned to Han Dashan, saying, "Uncle Dashan, actually, I didn't know about what Fusheng and Guo Tian were secretly plotting. But last night, on my way back from Beijing, the Earth God appeared to me in a dream..."
Han Dashan's body visibly trembled. After a moment of stunned silence, he slapped Han Fusheng across the head and roared, "You brat, what did you do?"
"Father, I... I really didn't..."
“Fusheng, we can’t do something against our conscience! Heaven is watching what people do. The gods in the village’s west temple are watching our house every day. Why don’t you remember what happened last time when that dead ghost Wang Zhu came to our house and made trouble?” Han Dashan’s wife was almost crying.
Just then, Zhong Shan suddenly said, "Fusheng, you are still young. You probably don't know that falsely accusing or slandering others, especially filing a false police report, is a crime..."
"I, I..." Han Fusheng's face turned bright red, and he stammered, unable to speak.
“I’m not afraid of you and Guo Tian plotting against me. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!” Xu Zhengyang said slowly. “But you and Guo Tian conspired against Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, trying to get them imprisoned. That’s going too far. You cripple, do you still want to live peacefully in the village? You’ll be the talk of the town when you go out!”
"No, no, you're talking nonsense!" Han Fusheng's eyes widened, and he hurriedly shook his head, saying, "I don't know anything about Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, I really don't know anything. I was just drinking with Guo Tian when I said a few words about you. He bragged that his uncle is the director of the town's police station, and it would be a piece of cake for him to deal with you... So, so I asked him for help... I wanted to get you arrested and suffer a bit."
Wu Feng and Zhong Shan both showed expressions of sudden realization, and then looked at Xu Zhengyang with astonishment.
Goodness gracious, is it really true that a local deity appears in a dream?
Han Dashan, listening from the side, was furious. He felt that his crippled son had completely disgraced him! How could he do such a thing? Knowing full well that Xu Zhengyang had an extraordinary relationship with the deity in the village's local temple, he was still foolish enough to want to take revenge on Xu Zhengyang... Besides, what exactly did he want to take revenge on? Did he have any grudge against our family? We're lucky enough that he doesn't hold a grudge against us!
Thinking of this, Han Dashan was furious. Ignoring his son's limp, he kicked his son to the ground and then started slapping him repeatedly.
The beating made Han Fusheng cry out in pain, and only then did the people in the room come to their senses. Wang Yue and another policeman quickly stepped forward and pulled Han Dashan away.
Han Dashan continued to curse and vent his anger.
Han Dashan's wife, however, disregarded her own son's feelings and instead held Xu Zhengyang's hand, repeatedly apologizing on his behalf.
Xu Zhengyang, however, paid no attention to these things. He frowned and worried. Damn it, if Han Fusheng really didn't know that Guo Tian had framed Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, then we'd be missing a crucial witness! It seems that Guo Tian is still somewhat shrewd in his actions and words; at least he didn't tell Han Fusheng everything.
"Do we still need to arrest Xu Zhengyang and take him to your station?" Zhong Shan asked, looking at Wu Feng with a hint of schadenfreude.
Wu Feng shook his head, pointed at Han Fusheng, and said to Xu Zhengyang, "You can sue him now."
"The misunderstanding will be cleared up." Xu Zhengyang shook his head. He was not in the mood to take revenge on Han Fusheng. Once things were cleared up, that was enough. He had to give Han Dashan some face. Firstly, his father worked in their factory, and Han Dashan had been nice to their family recently. Secondly, as the saying goes, they were all neighbors who would see each other all the time. There was no need to make things worse. It's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester.
Zhong Shan waved his hand dismissively and said, "Zhengyang is quite magnanimous. I think we should let it go; it's not a big deal."
Wu Feng nodded with a wry smile.
The Han couple were deeply moved and quickly pulled Han Fusheng to bow and apologize to Xu Zhengyang, with Han Dashan even forcing him to kneel down. Han Fusheng looked unwilling, while Xu Zhengyang quickly stopped him, saying, "What are you doing? I'm still young. Making people kneel like this will shorten my lifespan."
After the repeated occurrences of the dream message from the local earth god, Han Dashan had decided that he had to maintain a good relationship with Xu Zhengyang and absolutely could not allow him to harbor any resentment towards him.
Now that the matter had been clarified, Wu Feng and Zhong Shan saw no need to stay at Han Dashan's house any longer, so they got up to say goodbye.
Xu Zhengyang suddenly said, "Uncle Zhongshan, um, police officer... I have something to report to you!"
"What's up?" Wu Feng asked, turning his head.
"You should believe that the Earth God really did appear to me in a dream, right?" Xu Zhengyang asked.
Wu Feng looked embarrassed. He couldn't accept the reality of this, so he didn't know how to nod or say anything.
Xu Zhengyang could see Wu Feng's expression, so he had no choice but to say to Zhong Shan, "Uncle, Gang Chuan and Zhang Hao were framed by Guo Tian and his uncle. Actually, the theft at Haigang Construction Company and the beating of the gatekeeper were all done by Guo Tian..."
Zhong Shan turned to look at Wu Feng, both of them looking incredulous. Was he kidding? Who would steal their own family's money?
"This..." Wu Feng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "What? You want me to write a report saying that even the local deity said that Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao are innocent and have been wronged?"
"That's nonsense. The higher-ups will investigate and find out. You should stay out of it." Zhong Shan patted Xu Zhengyang on the shoulder, then turned to Wu Feng and said, "Your Futou Town Police Station did a good job!" With that, he snorted and walked out first.
As Wu Feng walked out, he shook his head and smiled wryly, complaining, "Old Zhong, your temper... sigh!"
The light rain was still falling outside, splashing tiny water droplets on the cement floor. The air was fresh and damp, and the breeze felt refreshing and comfortable.
After leaving Han Dashan's house, I heard Han Dashan's rough cursing coming from the yard behind me, followed by Han Fusheng's cries of pain and pleas for mercy, and Han Dashan's wife's attempts to stop him. I guessed that Han Dashan was disciplining his good-for-nothing lame son.
Xu Zhengyang sighed, thought for a moment, took out his phone and phone book, found Zhong Zhijun's number, and dialed it.
Judging from Wu Feng and Zhong Shan's tone, it seemed that Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao's matter wouldn't be so easily resolved. Xu Zhengyang knew nothing about these things, and he couldn't very well have Zhong Shan take him to the city to meet certain leaders and then tell them a modern-day fairy tale, could he? So… he should first call Zhong Zhijun to see if he knew anyone at the Fuxin District Public Security Bureau, hoping to prevent anyone from accepting bribes from Shen Qun and Guo Haigang and interfering. Otherwise, once the case was settled there, it would be troublesome.
Chen Chaojiang is a cautionary tale!
Volume One, Land, Chapter 32: Ordinary People as worthless as weeds?
Things in this world rarely go as planned.
Even though Xu Zhengyang holds the position of the local god and can use his supernatural abilities and the local record in his hand to know everything that happens in the entire township, this cannot be used as evidence in court to determine the basis for the public security department's judgment in criminal cases.
Zhong Shan trusted him, was willing to help, and followed the proper procedures, reporting what he knew to his superiors.
Wu Feng was skeptical, so during a meeting at the Public Security Bureau, he launched a scathing attack on Shen Qun, the director of the Futou Town Police Station, who was his colleague there. He accused Shen Qun of handling cases hastily, using excessive force, and resorting to torture to extract confessions. Otherwise, why would Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao suddenly recant their confessions and resolutely deny their crimes?
Their actions weren't entirely without merit; at least they prompted higher authorities to reconsider and not immediately initiate legal proceedings to prosecute Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, leading to their sentencing. Instead, they were temporarily detained in a detention center.
The situation seemed to have taken a turn for the better, as the Fuxin District Public Security Bureau had taken over the case, leaving the Futou Town Police Station, which was below it, to investigate.
However, just as Xu Zhengyang had known beforehand, Shen Qun and Guo Haigang had taken precautions and bribed several police officers in the criminal investigation team of the public security bureau in charge of the case with their connections and money.
To be honest, this kind of case is not considered a big deal by the Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Criminal Investigation Team, and no one would care much about it.
So, under the "identification" of the suspects Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, the stolen 30,000 yuan in cash was found in the ash pit on the west side of the power plant in Futou Town, along with a flashlight, wrench, murder weapon (a wooden stick and a knife), and the suspects' mask, shoes, and gloves... They're quite professional, repeat offenders!
The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable!
Under normal circumstances, there would be no need to investigate such cases further; the legal process would be initiated directly, with prosecution in court, sentencing, and the criminals imprisoned.
Wu Feng went to the Fuxin District Public Security Bureau again that day to raise questions, saying that according to his information, there were other hidden circumstances in the case, but no new clues had yet emerged, making it necessary to reinvestigate the case. He emphasized that if a case were closed now, how would the police, as law enforcement agencies, face public scrutiny and explain themselves to the victim's family if problems arose later?
Zhong Shan even went to the county public security bureau and slammed his fist on the table and cursed at the bureau chief, who was also his old comrade-in-arms and superior!
County police chief Zhao Qing was indignant. "What does this have to do with me? What's the point of you getting angry with me?" However, Zhao Qing didn't pay much attention to Zhong Shan's temper. He knew his comrade-in-arms' personality too well. Otherwise, he wouldn't still be hovering around the position of police station chief. Even so, he still had his comrade-in-arms, the bureau chief, sticking his neck and helping him. Otherwise, Zhong Shan wouldn't even be able to become a station chief.
Helpless, Zhao Qing agreed to report the matter to his superiors again and allowed the Huaxiang Police Station to conduct a private investigation into the case.
Although they had clearly expressed their stance, Zhong Shan and Wu Feng both knew that the case was essentially closed, with little chance of overturning it. The reason was simple: neither Wu Feng nor Zhong Shan could find new witnesses or evidence, or apprehend the real suspect.
However, inexplicably, the case was once again shelved, pending further investigation...
Unbeknownst to them, this case was like a time bomb, attracting the attention of some leaders in the Fuxin District Public Security Bureau, the Municipal Bureau, and even the Municipal Government. They were engaged in open and covert struggles to seize the initiative in detonating this bomb in order to achieve their own goals.
Wu Feng and Zhong Shan, completely unaware of the situation, were unwittingly made pawns, and then resentfully excluded from the sidelines. Amidst the undercurrents, Cao Gangchuan and Zhang Hao, two insignificant figures like blades of grass, could only helplessly curse and grumble in the detention center, waiting for the day they would see the light of day again.
Both sides are vying for dominance, proceeding cautiously. One side is waiting for an opportunity, while the other is doing its utmost to protect its own interests.