Chapter 578: There

Experience shows that traveling is indeed a good way to relax one's mood.

Of course, this doesn't refer to the kind of travel that feels like rushing to catch a train, but rather a travel where you truly don't think about anything, playing however you want every day.

In any case, Zhou Yi's feeling is that it's really good to have money; there's no need to consider too much, you rest when you want to rest, and you play when you want to play.

And when Zhou Yi first came to Yueya Lake in Luzhou, he felt refreshed, especially that Gourmet City, which, like a piece of rat droppings embedded in an emerald, had a rather unique aesthetic.

This Gourmet City is very famous; after all, it is the only place like it by the side of Yueya Lake, and it can be described as making a fortune every day.

It is just a pity that these days, for Public Interest Litigation, especially Public Interest Litigation regarding environmental protection and the like, only organs or social organizations stipulated by law can initiate it.

Individuals cannot do this.

But the problem arises right here: if these groups stipulated by law do not initiate a Lawsuit, then that means there is no environmental Public Interest Litigation...

Most classically, perhaps many locals don't really know, as early as 1996, Liaoning Province tried to set up an environmental court, but the awkward part was that many years passed, and there was no rice to put in the pot...

This issue could not be discussed, so the two quickly changed the subject.

Going out for a honeymoon is naturally very happy, but the topics the two discussed always seemed so strange to outsiders.

After playing at Yueya Lake for half a day, the two decided to find a place to forage; since they had come here, naturally they couldn't go to the Gourmet City.

Zhou Yi searched for a while and soon found a farmhouse restaurant, about ten kilometers away from Yueya Lake, inside a tourist village.

Seeing that Zhou Yi seemed a bit tired, Zhou Xinran on the side smiled and said: "Alright, I'll drive. You didn't sleep well last night either, you're weak..."

Damn it, hearing this, Zhou Yi was immediately dissatisfied; no man is willing to admit defeat in this regard, especially in front of his own wife!

So Zhou Mouren, with dark circles under his eyes, walked toward the passenger seat while saying: "How am I weak? I am so vigorous and lively; we are familiar, but you can't slander me, you know?"

"I just slept a bit late last night..."

Zhou Xinran laughed and said: "Fine, fine, fine, I know you're very strong, okay? Don't push yourself next time; an ox can be worked to death."

Leaving behind these words, Zhou Xinran started the car and set off, while only Zhou Mouren stared with wide eyes, deciding that tonight he must let her know his prowess!

The village is called Jing Village; anyway, according to online reviews, the scenery here is quite good, and although the farmhouse restaurant is a bit of a trap, overall it is still acceptable.

After all, these days, as long as you come out to play, you definitely have to let people make money.

It's just that there are quite a few twists and turns on the road here, and Zhou Yi felt a bit scared sitting in the passenger seat.

"Xinran, drive slower. You have to watch out for people suddenly rushing out on these roads, be careful." Zhou Yi thought for a moment and reminded her from the side.

Zhou Xinran nodded and started to lower the speed, but it was already too late!

No sooner said than done, only a "Bang!" was heard, and immediately, one saw something in front fly out.

Fortunately, Zhou Xinran is not a female driver in the strict sense, and she stepped on the brake very promptly.

"Hit something, quite white, definitely not a person." Zhou Yi said while getting out of the car.

He felt a bit unlucky; or is it that as long as he comes out with Zhou Xinran, driving will definitely lead to an accident?

Otherwise, it makes no sense; they were almost at that village, and yet they could still have an accident.

But as long as they didn't hit a person, then actually everything is fine.

Zhou Xinran was also a bit worried, but after getting out of the car and taking a look, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a sheep. Are there people herding sheep on the road in this place?" Zhou Xinran said very strangely.

Zhou Yi heard this and said: "You're inexperienced, aren't you? In some places, seeing animals like sheep or cattle on the road is a common occurrence."

"Haven't you heard? Someone drove to that, where was it, hit someone's local livestock, and then the owner of the livestock very enthusiastically invited him to eat meat, and afterwards very enthusiastically drove him to the train station..."

As he spoke, Zhou Yi looked at an old man who had appeared from nowhere in front, and immediately shook his head, saying: "This is indeed not a very suitable time to tell these jokes."

Having hit and killed someone's sheep, and because it was indeed due to Zhou Xinran not controlling her speed well, then one must compensate as one should; there is nothing to say about that.

This is different from when he, Zhou Yi, hit someone else's dog before.

That old man walked over, looked at the sheep that had already stopped breathing, and then walked toward Zhou Yi.

"Why do I feel like he seems very angry..." Zhou Xinran said with some hesitation.

Zhou Yi had already taken a pack of cigarettes out of his bosom and said: "We hit and killed someone's sheep, so they are definitely unhappy; it's fine."

However, before Zhou Yi could go up to offer a cigarette, the old man opposite had already spoken: "Driving so fast, are you looking for death? Are you trying to go to heaven? You young people, look at what you've done to my sheep!"

Zhou Yi heard this and accompanied it with a smile on his face, took out a cigarette and handed it over, saying: "Old man, I'm really sorry, it is indeed our problem, so we will compensate however we should."

The old man opposite heard this and became even angrier: "Hit and killed my sheep and just paying some money will do? Huh? Do you know how much heart and blood I spent raising these sheep?"

"This is indeed our problem. Whatever you say, old man, we will do, alright? After all, you see the sheep is already dead, there must be a way to solve it, right?"

Zhou Xinran stepped forward and accompanied it with a smile.

"Ten thousand yuan! Don't you have money? Pay up!"

The smile on Zhou Yi's face froze; it wasn't that it was anything, but this old man was quite daring to ask.

A sheep nowadays, one hundred jin, even if calculated according to the retail price in the Jingzhou market, there is no way it could sell for ten thousand yuan.

Having money is one thing, but this kind of thing... it's just that you can't describe the feeling.

"Old man, even if this sheep of yours grew for a few more years, it wouldn't sell for ten thousand yuan, right? This price..." Zhou Xinran on the side spoke up.

Her personality is relatively more direct; we are willing to compensate, but that doesn't mean we can be treated as suckers.

Little did they know, the old man opposite roared very loudly: "Can't sell for ten thousand? This sheep of mine is a female... oh no, it's a ewe. If it had produced lambs in the future, let alone ten thousand, I could sell it for twenty or thirty thousand. Letting you pay ten thousand is already being cheap to you, okay!"

"Not paying, right? Fine, I'll call the police!"

For a moment, Zhou Yi felt he didn't know what to say. Can the value of a sheep these days be calculated like this?

Then does this mean that in the future, if one accidentally breaks someone's fertilized egg, one would have to compensate for countless chickens?

"No, old man, it can't be calculated like this. It is indeed wrong for us to have hit and killed the sheep, and we should compensate as we should, but you like this..."

Seeing that what Zhou Yi was saying seemed like it was going to lead to an argument with that old man, Zhou Xinran quickly stepped forward and said: "Old man, ten thousand is a bit much. How about this, eight thousand, old man, what do you think? Just treat it as us buying it."

Saying this, Zhou Xinran looked at Zhou Yi and smiled: "Just treat it as us buying it back to eat ourselves. When we get to the farmhouse restaurant later, we'll have them make a whole roasted lamb."

Spending eight thousand to buy an ordinary sheep doesn't seem that cost-effective, but that's not how the account is calculated.

After all, this is not that kind of buying and selling behavior; it should be considered a Tort compensation, so it cannot be calculated that way.

Moreover, this kind of behavior actually has a bad influence; otherwise, if one day you see someone else's sheep on the road and want to buy it, they might not sell it.

Then you drive over and hit the sheep to death, and then pay money to buy it—would you say this behavior is appropriate?

Zhou Yi also recalled a question that Fang Dazhuang often discussed after getting drunk: that is, in our daily lives, if you soil someone else's clothes or shoes and they ask you to compensate at the original price, can you take their things away?

If we follow the understanding of normal people, of course you can, right? If I compensate you at the original price, doesn't that mean I have bought your things?

But this way of thinking is not legal thinking.

According to Fang Dazhuang's explanation at the time, the compensation you give the other party is compensation for soiling their clothes; remember, this is called tort damage compensation, not a sale.

Although it seems a bit unreasonable to compensate at the original price, you must remember that the amount of this compensation is decided by your own negotiation; if you are willing to pay that much, then it's no use complaining anywhere else.

If you want to take it away, you have to make it clear beforehand.

Zhou Xinran, of course, also remembered what Fang Dazhuang had said before, so she had specifically said just now that this would count as us buying it.

The old man opposite said directly: "No way, ten thousand yuan, not a cent less, and why are you guys suddenly eating roast whole lamb? What, you still want to take my sheep away?"

Zhou Xinran said upon hearing this: "Ah? Sir, didn't I just say it? Let's count it as us buying the sheep. Look, eight thousand yuan—three thousand counts as compensation for you, and the remaining five thousand counts as the money for us to buy the sheep. Isn't this okay?"

"No! What, are you saying that if you hit and kill someone on the street one day, you'll take the corpse away after paying them money?" the old man shouted there as well.

Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran looked at each other, then said: "Then you should call the police and let the police come and see what they say. Originally, we were considering things for your sake to resolve this matter, but it seems you don't want to."

Honestly, no matter how you put it, eight thousand yuan in compensation is definitely enough, and it's even quite a bit more.

But the result is that he insists on ten thousand, not to mention that the sheep cannot be taken away.

Moreover, strictly speaking, this old man is the vulnerable party; if the police come, I can directly call a Lawyer to handle it. As long as it's not a hit-and-run, the rest can just be dragged out slowly.

In a word, take the legal route; you go sue, and see how much the Court awards in damages.

But this is an ideal state; life won't be like this.

Opposite, Qin Daye became furious upon hearing this: "Calling the police, right? Fine, you two don't move. I'm calling the police right now. You hit and killed my sheep and you're still acting like you're in the right!"

"I'm telling you, look at what that is above your heads—that's Monitoring. There is a Camera here, don't you think about running!"

Zhou Yi looked up and, holy crap, there really was a Camera. Is this a coincidence?

However, he still said: "Don't worry, we won't run. We'll just wait here. Let's see what the police officers say when they arrive."

It is also possible that the police officers will come and try to smooth things over; after all, this kind of thing is really hard to say.

You haven't seen some of the outrageous behaviors in Mediation cases.

A man has been married to his wife for several years, but it turns out the child he raised for years isn't his; this situation definitely leads to divorce.

However, the mediator, under the woman's tearful plea, urges the man not to divorce, saying that although this child isn't yours, you've raised them for several years and must have feelings, after all, they call you 'Dad' every day.

You might as well just raise them as your own biological son; those people who adopt children or have blended families don't they raise the children as their own anyway?

Sounds a bit outrageous, right? But these are real events in reality...

After waiting here for quite a while, a police car finally drove over, and then two police officers got out and walked over.

Police officer Lao Wen started getting a headache while still a few steps away: "Xiao Liu, look over there, is that Qin Heli again? This is the fourth time this month, right?"

The apprentice beside him, Xiao Liu, nodded: "Fourth time. We've told him many times not to herd sheep by the highway, but he just won't listen."

Lao Wen looked up at the Monitoring and shook his head: "It's not that simple. Forget it, let's go understand the situation first."

As police, they actually hate smoothing things over too, and more importantly, they really find it hard to handle those previous matters; it's not just about smoothing things over.

"Old Qin, you're the one who called the police, right? What's going on?" Lao Wen walked over and asked.

Qin Daye stood up immediately upon hearing this and said: "Alright, the police are here. You two just wait. Officer Wen, these two young people, they hit and killed my sheep, and they're still acting like they're in the right, refusing to pay!"

At this age, paired with those rather tattered clothes, plus that pitiful look, it can be said that as long as you take a Photo and post it, you will definitely receive one-sided support.

As for who is reasonable and who is not, the Keyboard Warriors on the internet won't reason with you. Anyway, you're so rich, so what if you pay ten thousand for hitting and killing someone's sheep!

Lao Wen waved his hand and said: "You stop talking for a moment. Young man, what's going on?"

Zhou Yi pointed at the dead sheep in front of him and said: "Officer, my wife and I were driving past here, and he was herding sheep on the road. We accidentally hit and killed one."

"But we didn't say we wouldn't compensate. It's him who opened his mouth asking for ten thousand yuan. Our intention was to give eight thousand—three thousand counts as compensation, and five thousand counts as the money to buy the sheep. But he won't do it. Since we are at fault, there will definitely be compensation, but it is absolutely impossible to pay this much!"

"Not to mention that his sheep got onto the highway, so he himself also bears a portion of the responsibility."

Lao Wen looked at Zhou Yi with surprise; or rather, this was the first time among all the cases he had handled that someone had explained all these points so clearly.

Compensation is compensation, but the pure compensation money definitely cannot exceed the selling price of the sheep, because there is also the calculation of residual value.

The price of that dead sheep is the residual value.

Lao Wen himself is quite knowledgeable in this area because he has seen many cases of this type, and he has also seen many people who don't understand this, coming up and saying how much to compensate, calculating directly based on the selling price, and then wanting to take the sheep away—that's when they lose their standing.

This is also why they say it's hard to handle, because in situations where the compensation amount has already been negotiated, there's nothing more they can do.

Not to mention that they can only offer Mediation.

Thinking this to himself, Lao Wen turned to look at Qin Daye: "Qin Heli, you tell me, why don't you agree?"

Qin Daye said directly: "Of course I don't agree. This sheep of mine could still have had babies in the future..."

"Enough!" Lao Wen stopped him: "If you're going to calculate it that way, I won't bother with you. Do whatever you want. The compensation this young man is offering is very reasonable!"

"What's the matter, are you addicted to doing this? Huh? Three sheep hit and killed in one month, and you're still herding sheep by the highway? And you just happen to be herding them under this Monitoring?"

Lao Wen is clear about these things; it's just that for one reason or another, he hadn't said it before.

Ah? Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran looked at the old man in front of them. They didn't expect this old man to be playing such a crafty game. But then again, doing this really does seem to have higher returns than selling the sheep directly.

The compensation money is enough to buy a sheep and then some, plus the dead sheep on the ground—this in-and-out is quite something.

Seeing his thoughts exposed, Qin Daye still glared and said: "What are you talking about? I look after these sheep like I look after children, getting up early and staying up late. How could I possibly be thinking of letting others hit them to death?"

Both sides were at a stalemate. No matter what, Qin Daye just wouldn't budge—it had to be ten thousand yuan!

Finally, Lao Wen lost his temper: "Nine thousand yuan, the young man takes the sheep. Old Qin, if you agree, we'll settle this through Mediation; if you don't agree, we won't care anymore."

"How can you not care? He hit and killed my sheep! You are the police..."

"We are the police, that's correct, but this is not within our jurisdiction. If you want someone to pay you money, go file a Lawsuit at the Court!" Lao Wen said there.

Turning his head, Lao Wen looked at Zhou Yi again and said:

"Young man, look at it this way. After all, I can see you aren't locals, and it's better to avoid trouble than to invite it."

This felt a bit like trying to smooth things over, but Lao Wen had no choice; he had to respond when a report was made, yet he couldn't just leave while the conflict remained unresolved.

Because if they left, the others would just call the police again, and they would still have to come back.

Zhou Yi looked at Zhou Xinran, nodded, and said, "That's fine, nine thousand it is. We'll just accept our bad luck. Mostly, I don't want to get hung up on this at this time."

For one, it's embarrassing to bicker with an old shepherd, and for another, we are on our honeymoon; ending up in Court would be a scene too beautiful to imagine.

Fortunately, it was a compromise price.

Unfortunately, he agreed, but Qin Daye still did not!

"No way! I've never heard of someone hitting someone's sheep to death and then being allowed to take it away. What's next? If he hits my dog to death one day, does he get to take it away to eat dog meat too?"

Lao Wen felt a headache coming on and looked at Zhou Yi again. Zhou Yi waved his hand directly and said, "Comrade, this is already my bottom line. I cannot meet his demands."

"Alright, since neither of you is satisfied, I'm done with it. Old Qin, if you aren't satisfied, then you'll have to find a way yourself!"

After saying this, Lao Wen shut his mouth. He didn't leave, though; he just stood there watching.

Zhou Yi shook his head and started calling the Traffic Police Team. Although there were police officers present, he wouldn't feel at ease without the traffic police.

The traffic police arrived faster than expected. It was a young guy who, after clarifying the situation and exchanging a look with Lao Wen, also started to get a headache.

Fortunately, his work was relatively easy: take photos, then go back to check the Monitoring and determine the accident liability.

Once the traffic police were finished, Zhou Yi stepped forward and said, "Comrade, can we leave now? We haven't eaten yet today."

The traffic police officer was silent for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded and said, "You can leave, but after the Responsibility Determination Certificate is issued later, you will still need to be called to the Traffic Police Team to resolve this matter."

"I have no problem with that. You already have my contact information and personal details, so we'll be going now."

After saying this, Zhou Yi prepared to take Zhou Xinran into the car and leave.

The collision in the front wasn't serious, and Zhou Yi didn't want to report it to insurance; he would just go back and get it repaired later.

Qin Daye had been talking the whole time, but unfortunately, no one was paying him any mind. Seeing that Zhou Yi and the other were about to leave, he suddenly grew anxious.

"Wait, don't you leave! What is this? You're all bullying an old man, right? You hit my sheep to death and want to leave without paying?"

As he spoke, the old man moved to the front of the car with a speed inconsistent with his age and laid directly across the hood.

"You can't leave! You're bullying people, aren't you? Let me tell you, don't even think about leaving today without paying. If you want to leave, then just run me over! Come on, run me over and then you can leave!"

As for the Responsibility Determination, he didn't care about that at all; in any case, they weren't leaving without paying money.

Zhou Yi heard this and looked at Lao Wen beside him, saying, "Comrade, you aren't going to do anything about him acting like this?"

Lao Wen's headache worsened. What kind of bad karma was this, really.

"Old Qin, Old Qin, get down! It's dangerous. Don't be like that. They aren't refusing to pay; it's just that you're asking for too much. Get down!"

Words were useless, so finally, Lao Wen stepped forward and physically pulled Qin Daye down.

During this, Qin Daye kept struggling, but there was nothing Lao Wen could do. Was he supposed to use a grappling hold on this old man?

Are you kidding? At that age, if something happened, and then people came to make a scene every day, no one could handle that.

When people get old, sometimes they really can do whatever they want.

There are some classic scenarios, like when a tenant's lease expires but they refuse to move out. Do you think that once you win the lawsuit, the enforcement bureau can just clear the property in a minute?

If it's a young person, it's one thing, but with someone older, you'll understand what "trouble" really means.

Zhou Yi took the opportunity to slip away quickly. Even though he was a cheater, he was a bit helpless when faced with someone who would just act recklessly regardless of anything.

A perfectly good day, and it ended up like this. Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran looked at each other, and Zhou Xinran said, "Why do I have a premonition that going on a honeymoon with you means I'm destined to visit a Court?"

Zhou Yi gave a bitter smile; he felt as if the power of the system grandson had been activated again.

After Zhou Yi and the other left, Qin Daye started arguing with Lao Wen again, feeling that this policeman was biased toward the others.

After arguing for a long time with no result, Qin Daye started making a phone call. The moment the call connected, his tone became very pitiful: "Hey, son, where are you? The sheep I raised were hit to death by someone, and that person just ran away without paying a single cent!"

"And these police, they don't care at all. There's clearly Monitoring, yet they still blocked me and let them run away. Why am I so unlucky? How am I supposed to live like this..."

A voice came from the phone: "There's such a thing? Dad, don't worry, I'll be back immediately. Wait there. If such a thing really happened, there's definitely a way to solve it."

Hanging up the phone, Qin Daye looked at Lao Wen in front of him and said, "Alright, you just wait for me. My son is a reporter; I'll have your business reported tomorrow!"

Today's update is still one chapter. It's confirmed that I've caught the virus today; my parents and I at home all have fevers. My brain feels muddled, my temperature is at 38.5, and my whole body aches as if I've been beaten up. I barely managed to write this chapter... I'm going to take some fever reducer and get some sleep. I hope I feel better tomorrow.

(End of chapter)