Carrying a Jurassic on me-Chapter 1323 - 645: On the Street

Shang Jin was able to be the spokesperson elected by everyone and even managed to establish a good relationship with the newly arrived Officer Xu. In terms of interpersonal dealings and eloquence, he had his own set of skills.

At least he beat around the bush for quite a while, compelling Xu Changsheng to admit a fact reluctantly, that sometimes slightly over-the-line actions can be far more effective than wielding the big stick of the law.

This was a fact, not something you could deny and expect to disappear.

Take the current situation of cattle theft in the countryside for example. Are all the local police stations inactive? Certainly not. Are there few cattle thieves caught? The number isn’t small either. But has the number of cattle thieves decreased? Without any specifically compiled statistics, rumors alone would make people feel that the number definitely hasn’t shrunk.

Why then are there fewer cases of cattle theft in Sancha River Township?

Apart from the initial effective organization of the militia, everyone in Sancha River Township had to acknowledge one thing. When Boss Yan first took action, any thief he caught was either injured or maimed, a great deterrent to those contemplating crime in Sancha River Township.

Getting caught for stealing a cow usually just meant serving a sentence, at worst, a beating, and after serving time, one would just return to whatever they were doing. However, those caught by Boss Yan would, after getting out, probably remember how miserable it was to be caught by him, especially those who, once out, had the will but not the strength to commit more crimes.

Thankfully, Sancha River Township is only the size of a palm. Those cattle thieves aren’t stupid—if the risk of ’starting work’ here is high, then they’d just go elsewhere. Not every place has folks as ruthless and merciless as those in Sancha River Township; not everywhere would beat a caught thief half to death.

For most thieves, or those planning to become thieves, understanding the local customs of a place is a must—this is more important than how active the local police station is. After all, each station only has a few officers, and with a township containing at least a hundred small villages, they can’t look after everything. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel-com

Then Shang Jin gave Officer Xu a very simple example, and that example was Shanglin Village.

Back when cattle thefts in Sancha River Township were frequent, Shanglin Village never lost a cow. The only incident of cattle theft happened many years ago. It wasn’t a successful theft, but an attempt—they were caught in the act.

At that time, the villagers were alerted, and they collectively pursued the thief, leaving him no escape. In the end, the thief had no choice but to abandon the nearly stolen cattle. Unfortunately, even so, he didn’t manage to get away... Later, Blacksmith Yan brought Yan Fei to watch the commotion, quietly telling him while pointing to the dying thief, "See that? If people find out you can do magic, you’ll end up worse off than him..."

Back then, the villagers were even praised by the township for killing the thief. Since then, there hadn’t been reports of any thieves visiting Shanglin Village—businesspeople need to calculate costs, and thieves do the same. If one risks their life for stealing cattle, who would do it?

The example shared by Shang Jin is on record at the police station, leaving Xu Changsheng no choice but to believe it. Then Shang Jin asked a question, "What would have happened if the cattle thief had been brought to the police station unharmed for processing?"

At that moment, Xu Changsheng could have argued that if the cattle thief had been delivered to the police station, it would have been normal to sentence him to ten or twenty years—the stern Strike Hard campaign was in full swing at that time. Even attempted cattle theft wouldn’t have been let off lightly. The numbers executed back then were many, and viewed today, some of those cases weren’t even major.

But Xu Changsheng already understood Shang Jin’s point and didn’t voice this retort.

What would be the point? If the thief currently lying in the hospital were alive and well in the police station, at most he’d be detained for a few days—people don’t carry much cash on them during the New Year period, and a thief’s target has to avoid most people anyway. In cases where not much money is stolen, the law doesn’t really have a basis to sentence.

Watching Xu Changsheng finish his tea and begin chewing the leaves, Shang Jin didn’t offer to refill his cup, just sitting there waiting for him.

Xu Changsheng was in deep conflict.

He understood Shang Jin’s point completely, which was to get him to wrap up the case quickly. With the evidence at hand, the conditions were met for a swift conclusion: the case was clear, and the cause of death for the deceased thief was proven. Although the proof came from the local health clinic and lacked authority, it was enough since the villagers accepted it.

Closing the case like this did seem somewhat hazy, but it was what everyone in the township, from top to bottom, hoped for. If he proceeded in this way, his role as the chief would be much smoother in the future—he dared not claim that the whole township would support him, but at least incidents like the one at the bus station, where someone called to give a statement escaped by climbing a wall, would be much less likely to happen.

But what if he insisted on dealing with it strictly? Without going into detail—if next time he called someone to make a statement, probably eight out of ten would be preparing to escape by climbing a wall. He’d have to keep an eye on the remaining two to prevent them from running away.

This was no exaggeration; the villagers’ way of thinking was simple—if you don’t speak for us, why should we listen to you? After all, we haven’t broken the law, right?

Seeing Xu Changsheng tangled in thought and not coming around, Shang Jin simply finished the last bit of boiled water in his cup, stood up, and said, "Old Xu, how about we take a stroll on the street?"

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