Chapter 12

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As Xu Yan had nothing more to say, the middle-aged police officer quickly said, "That's it. For the damages caused, this is a civil and economic dispute between you, and you should resolve it yourselves. We, the police, will not get involved. If you can't reach an agreement, take it to court, but no fighting. Injuring someone carries legal consequences—so, that's it. Resolve it yourselves. If there's nothing else, we're leaving."

The middle-aged police officer spoke quickly, as if reciting, and after finishing, he waved his hand, and the three police officers turned to leave. But at that moment, someone shouted, "Officer, don't go yet! We still have something to say!" The person speaking was the bald, muscular man.

The police officer was about to leave, but upon hearing the bald man's call, he stopped, glared at the man, and said impatiently, "What else do you have?"

The muscular man bowed and said, "Comrade Officer, I accuse these two young men of maliciously damaging my family heirloom, causing me significant economic loss! I request that your public security bureau intervene in this matter."

The police officer frowned and looked at the man, "Zhao Lao Liu... Uh, I'm telling you, don't always stir up trouble for no reason! Do you think the police are your personal servants? You can't just demand intervention whenever you want. You keep causing us trouble, and if you anger me, I'll deal with you!"

The muscular man grinned and said, "Comrade Officer, what can I do? Us ordinary people can't handle these bad guys who damage property, so we have to ask the people's police to uphold justice—please, the government must help us!"

"Be serious, and stop grinning at me!"

The police officer glared at him, and the man immediately put on a serious face, bowing repeatedly, "Comrade Officer, Comrade Officer, please help us get justice! The people's police serve the people, and the people love the police!"

"Hmph, I'll deal with you scoundrels sooner or later!"

The police officer's attitude was stern, and his words seemed harsh, but there was a strange undercurrent in their exchange that Xu Yan and Liu Yang, being inexperienced, couldn't quite understand. A more perceptive person would have seen through it.

Sure enough, the leading police officer turned to Xu Yan, frowning and looking reluctant to get involved, "Someone has accused you of damaging private property. You two, come with us to the police station to sort this out."

Xu Yan and Liu Yang nodded in agreement, even though the police officer didn't say it, they hoped to resolve the matter at the police station. In the police station, with the police present, it was better than being beaten on the street.

"Alright, get in the car—also, bring a few witnesses from the scene. You guys, the car can't fit everyone, so find your own way to Chang'an Road Police Station."

Riding in the police car, Xu Yan and Liu Yang slowly entered the police station.

The Chang'an Road Police Station was located in a large courtyard at the intersection of Chang'an Road, with a sign outside reading "Jincheng Public Security Bureau Xinjiang Branch Chang'an Road Police Station." The car drove directly into the courtyard, and the police officers led Liu Yang and Xu Yan inside. Both were first-timers at a government law enforcement agency and felt a bit intimidated, moving cautiously. In contrast, the two men who had beaten them seemed much more at ease, walking in confidently without needing directions. Occasionally, they would greet a uniformed police officer or auxiliary police officer, "Brother, you're on duty today?"

"Hey, isn't that Lao Liu? What brings you in again?"

"Ha, ran into a couple of clueless kids, caused a bit of trouble. Brother, have a cigarette."

The two fraudsters were warmly greeting the police officers, leaving Xu Yan and Liu Yang stunned. Even if they were inexperienced, they could now see that something was wrong. But before they could figure it out, a tall young police officer who had brought them in came over, "Come on, let's go upstairs. We need to take your statements."

The two were led upstairs and separated into different rooms. It wasn't the intimidating interrogation room they had seen on TV, just a regular office with a few desks. The police officer asked Xu Yan to sit down, and Xu Yan glanced at the nameplate on the desk, learning that the tall officer was Liu Biyun, a third-level police inspector.

The so-called "taking statements" was a polite way of saying "taking confessions and making records." The matter was not complicated, and Inspector Liu, who had been at the scene, knew the details. He simply asked Xu Yan some routine questions: "What's your name?" "Where are you from? Who are your family members?" "Show me your ID."

"Have you ever been in trouble before? What do you mean by 'trouble'? I mean, have you ever been detained, arrested, or sentenced by the police? No, right?"

"What's your companion's name? Liu Yang? What's your relationship? Classmates, right? Where do you study?"

After asking the questions, Inspector Liu began writing the record. Xu Yan sat there, looking around idly: this was the famous police station? It didn't seem special at all. The room had a few desks, with folders and nameplates on them, and everything was neatly arranged—nothing like the sinister, bloodstained scenes in the movies. It looked no different from a teacher's office at school.

Inspector Liu finished the record quickly and looked up, handing it to Xu Yan, "Take a look. If you have no objections, sign it."

Xu Yan took the record and quickly scanned it. It described the events of the day, mostly accurately, but there were two points he disagreed with: "Inspector Liu, everything you wrote is correct, but I have two objections: you wrote that 'my companion Liu Yang accidentally bumped into Zhao Liu,' but that's not what happened. Zhao Liu actually came over and deliberately bumped into us. I dodged, and he hit my companion Liu Yang."

Inspector Liu took out a nail clipper from the drawer, clipping his nails while casually saying, "Who bumped into whom, you say your version, he says his. It's all a mess now. Since you want to change it, let's say 'my companion Liu Yang and Zhao Liu had a physical collision.' Changing too much would make the record messy—what's the second point you want to change?"

Xu Yan didn't understand the nuances, but since the police officer said so, he had to agree, though he added, "Also, Zhao Lao Liu and his companion beat us, and you haven't recorded that."

"Heh, you say Zhao Liu beat you, but Zhao Liu says you beat him. He claims a rib is broken and is demanding a medical examination—since you want to change it, I'll add a line."

Inspector Liu wrote a line and handed the record back to Xu Yan. Xu Yan saw that it said both sides had a physical altercation after the argument. He thought, "We were beaten, but it's now 'both sides had a physical altercation.' But I don't understand police terminology, and if I keep asking for changes, I might anger the police, so I silently handed the record back."

"Is everything okay? If so, sign it. Here, copy this: 'The above record is what I said, and it matches what I said.' Sign, date, and fingerprint, use your thumb with ink..."

Following Inspector Liu's instructions, Xu Yan signed and fingerprinted the record like a puppet. Inspector Liu put away the record, "Alright, wait here. I'll report to the leadership and see how to handle this."

Xu Yan felt something was off and looked at the officer pleadingly, "Inspector Liu, what will happen with this matter?"

Looking at the young, innocent college student, Inspector Liu's eyes showed a hint of sympathy. He had been a police officer for many years and could guess what had happened even without seeing it. Zhao Liu and his gang were well-known troublemakers in the area, often causing minor offenses. They had been in and out of the police station multiple times, and the officers were familiar with them. Of course, these people often had connections, or they would have been dealt with long ago. Earlier, Deputy Chief Wang had pulled him aside and instructed him to "take care" of the record, which clearly meant the station was leaning towards Zhao Liu's side.

It was strange that Zhao Liu, a notorious figure, would go to such lengths to extort money from two college students. These students looked like they came from ordinary families; even if they were squeezed dry, how much could they possibly get?

Inspector Liu whispered, "Do you have any friends or acquaintances in the bureau? If so, call them and ask them to speak to our leadership." He then left without another word—since they had no connection, he could only help so much.

Xu Yan sat there in a daze. From the officer's sympathetic tone, he could tell that the situation was more serious than he thought. But his family wasn't from Jincheng, so how could they find someone with influence to speak to the police chief?

Xu Yan didn't know how long he sat there in a daze when he heard the door creak. He looked up to see Inspector Liu returning. He no longer had the record, and his brow was furrowed, as if he had encountered a difficult problem.

Xu Yan quickly asked, "Inspector Liu, what did the leadership say?"

Inspector Liu frowned and didn't speak for a moment. He then took out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer, opened it, and looked up at Xu Yan, "Want one?"

Xu Yan, not in the mood for smoking, politely declined, "Thank you, I don't smoke—Inspector Liu, what did the leadership say?"

Inspector Liu put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. In the smoke, he didn't look at Xu Yan but at the glowing tip of his cigarette, saying slowly, "Xu Yan, this matter is quite troublesome. The leadership said that the other side has witnesses and evidence, and the situation is not in your favor. Legally, you two damaged their antique and are primarily responsible, so you need to compensate them. You heard what they said—the antique is worth 80,000 yuan, and they have appraisal certificates and other evidence..."

Seeing Xu Yan's pale face and blank expression, Liu Biyun paused and exhaled a puff of smoke, "Of course, considering you two are students and can't afford that much, and the other side also has some fault, our leadership has negotiated with them, and they agreed to reduce the compensation to 50,000 yuan—this is the mediation opinion of our station."

Xu Yan's face was blank, and he said bitterly, "50,000 yuan... where do we get that much money?"

Inspector Liu looked at him sympathetically and patted his shoulder, "We are only responsible for mediation, and we can't handle other matters—think about it carefully. I'll be out for a moment."

After leaving, Liu Biyun sighed. He had subtly hinted to Xu Yan that the police station was only responsible for mediation, which was a civil coordination measure without legal enforcement. For such a large civil dispute, only a court judgment had legal enforcement, so Xu Yan could refuse to pay, and the police station wouldn't take any action.

But unfortunately, for the inexperienced Xu Yan, this well-intentioned hint was wasted. Xu Yan, seeing the police station as an official judicial body, believed he had to comply with their decision.

Inspector Liu left, took a puff of his cigarette, and saw his leader, Deputy Chief Wang, standing in the office corridor looking at the scenery. He walked over, offered a cigarette, and said, "Deputy Chief Wang, what's going on today? Why are Zhao Liu and his gang bothering two college students? Extorting 50,000 yuan? These poor students, isn't this a matter of life and death?

If these two poor students can't handle it and do something drastic, like jumping off a building or committing suicide, won't we be the ones to suffer? Why are we getting involved in this?"

Deputy Chief Wang smoked silently, clearly not happy with the situation. He stubbed out his cigarette on the window and turned to Liu Biyun, "Liu, can you be a bit quieter? Do you think I want to get involved in this mess? It's because Deputy Chief Zhang from the bureau ordered it!"

"Damn, Zhang Erbaizi, his hands are too dirty. He's even extorting college students for a few ten thousand yuan? That's too low."

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