Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 932 - 508 The Eve of Negotiations

Chapter 932: Chapter 508 The Eve of Negotiations

Cattle farm.

Less than ten minutes after Yan Fei made a call to Zhou Dalian’s family, someone from Zhou Dalian’s family arrived.

The visitor was one of Zhou Dalian’s cousins, named Zhou Shiliang, who worked in the local township government. This person was somewhat influential in normal times, but when faced with a situation like that incited by the village secretary, stirring up the entire village collectively, he had no solution.

Unless it was someone lawless like Yan Fei with all kinds of bizarre methods, there really was no good way to handle situations that could potentially escalate into mass incidents.

Since he had come, he would not arrive empty-handed; he brought plenty of cigarettes, alcohol, and gifts, which was to be expected.

Naturally, the customary pleasantries were exchanged, but the main topic of discussion was where to arrange the meal. As for whom Yan Fei wanted to invite to dine with the guests, that wasn’t something he could interfere with — since Yan Fei had been entrusted as the mediator, all they had to do on their end was to fully cooperate with Yan Fei and wait for the outcome.

Truthfully, in their hearts, if someone like Yan Fei took charge and still couldn’t resolve the matter, they feared Zhou Dalian would be truly doomed. If Zhou Dalian ended up in jail, that would be only the beginning; considering how tenacious the village secretary was, it was likely he would unearth some of Zhou Dalian’s dark history, digging up past transgressions to ensure Zhou Dalian couldn’t live it down.

Some might not quite understand this concept of ’mediation’ in rural townships.

Take this case for instance, Zhou Dalian had indeed broken the law by assaulting someone, and should be punished accordingly. Additionally, the young man he beat admitted to damaging the street lights, and there were plenty of witnesses at the time of the fight, so the punishment should be meted out accordingly.

In theory that is true; but in practice, in a small town like Sancha River, mediation is a tradition. People put more faith in this tradition than in the law.

To give a clearer example, consider the case of someone killing a cattle thief in the countryside. According to the law, it’s a life for a life, and even a twenty-year sentence would be considered reasonable given certain circumstances. But in Sancha River or in the traditional mindset of most places, if a cattle thief is killed, it’s deserved, and any legal punishment of the killer would be incomprehensible.

If most people cannot understand this, it could lead to negative influences. Some might even think that since beating a thief is illegal anyway, they should just watch from the side the next time it doesn’t happen to them.

For thieves, it would be laughable. They know theft is governed by law and anyone who assaults them also breaks the law, so they might as well keep stealing—after all, it’s just a few days in detention at most. It’s not a big deal, as if nobody has ever been to jail before — often, thieves are far more afraid of public action than the law because, while they might get a lighter sentence for being sneaky, if they’re beaten up, it’s not just a few days in bed. Worse, it could cost them their life.

Given the minimal police force in local districts, without the power of the people, it would be impossible to maintain good security. Even if the police officers worked themselves to death, they could not truly keep the peace.

Considering such impacts, the local approach to dealing with criminals like cattle thieves is often to make a loud noise but little rain, to minimize serious issues and dismiss minor ones. In the end, both parties are considered unlucky, with the assaulting party compensating with some money to resolve the matter.

Take Zhou Dalian’s case: since both parties were ’well-known,’ the affair had significant repercussions. Everyone, whether they should know or not, had heard about it, and all were waiting for the outcome.

Although Zhou Dalian was generally unpopular, this time the young man he assaulted had started by damaging public property, this gave Zhou Dalian an edge. If Zhou Dalian ended up in prison because of this, and his dark past were dredged up resulting in a multi-year sentence, there would be plenty who wouldn’t accept it.

Moreover, the village secretary, who got the entire village agitated over his child damaging the street lights, they saw it merely as a child playing in the street and accidentally damaging a few lights, which had nothing to do with Zhou Dalian — after all, the villagers didn’t use that street at night, most students lived in school dorms, and those who didn’t carried flashlights anyway.

If the village secretary’s side ’won’ this time, then for the whole village, breaking a few lights would indeed be trivialized.

"Damaging some public property isn’t any real issue" — this kind of attitude is unacceptable for the people in the township. Today you smash a few lights, in a few days you steal some wire, and then what, will you come to the township government next for a spot of vandalism? This slide in conduct would not be tolerated.

The extent of the influence matters. If today’s youth faces no punishment for destroying streetlights, or gets off lightly with a mere fine, it would be a tacit encouragement to those who are up to no good — it wouldn’t be surprising if, in a few days, not a single streetlight remained on the streets, something anyone could predict.

Some issues are tough to tackle for this very reason. People trust their own basic understanding more and if this understanding is overruled, the aftermath could be something nobody wants to see — just like the well-known incident of whether to help or not, when the judge said "if you didn’t hit her, why did you go help her?" The consequences of this are still problematic to this day.

As for breaking a leg, to the people of Sancha River town, it really wasn’t a big deal — it’s your fault for starting trouble, after all. It’s just a matter of having a broken leg set, slathered with some ointment, and lying down for a few months. Perhaps by lying down for a while, that troublemaker could change his ways and start living more peaceably!