Chapter 22: Black smoke billows from the ancestral tomb of the Lao Cheng family

Lin Dongfan's head isn't made of iron; a beer bottle strike left him seeing stars, his mind went blank, and blood seeped from his hairline.

What the hell are you doing!

Jian Sining rushed forward in uncontrollable anger and shoved the attacker aside.

The assailant was Cheng Shaojun.

This guy is a show‑off street racer who grew up playing with Li Hengbo. His father, Cheng Dao, is the director of Nanzhou City's Housing and Urban‑Rural Development Bureau and also heads the Demolition Office.

Get lost! Stop meddling!

Cheng Shaojun shoved Jian Sining, who was in front of him, to the side.

Holding a broken beer bottle, he pointed it at Lin Dongfan and shouted, "Don't know how to kneel? Li Hengbo knelt before—do the same, kneel now! Or I'll kill you today."

!!!

Lin Dongfan's head was still dazed; a drop of blood trickled down his forehead into his eye, instantly blurring his vision.

He shook his head hard twice.

He grabbed a tissue to wipe the blood from his eye, then finally saw Cheng Shaojun's face. It was truly unexpected to run into this lunatic in the provincial capital.

I've called the police—put the bottle down!

Jian Sining wanted to step forward to stop him, but didn't dare get too close.

Cheng Shaojun ignored Jian Sining's roar and kept the broken bottle pointed at the cornered Lin Dongfan, shouting, "I give you three seconds! Three! Two……"

Smack!

Before he could finish counting,

Lin Dongfan lifted the plate of spicy frog from the table, smashing it—plate and all—into Cheng Shaojun's face. The red, spicy broth smeared over him, and the plate shattered on the floor.

Damn!

The stinging chili oil splashed into his eyes, burning so badly Cheng Shaojun couldn't open them.

He tossed the broken bottle aside, then fumbled blindly across the table for a tissue to wipe his eyes, found none, and knocked over several dishes instead.

Lin Dongfan seized the chance to pull Jian Sining to the side.

Jian Sining didn't want to miss the chance to control the scene: "I've already called the police—first restrain him!" As she spoke she lunged to subdue Cheng Shaojun, but Lin Dongfan grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Lin Dongfan looked glum: "He has a history of mental illness."

Do you know each other?

As soon as the words left her mouth, Jian Sining realized she'd asked a pointless question—if they didn't know each other, how would Lin Dongfan know this guy was a lunatic?

There's a small clinic next door; let me take you there to get bandaged.

Jian Sining pulled Lin Dongfan and they hurried off.

Lin Dongfan pressed his hand to the wound on his head; earlier, when his head was foggy, he felt no pain. Now that he's clear‑headed, the pain keeps growing stronger.

Fortunately the wound isn't big and isn't bleeding much.

The clinic doctor cleaned the wound, disinfected it, applied medicine, and simply bandaged it—stopping the bleeding. The fee was paid by Jian Sining, just over a hundred yuan.

By the time the two left the clinic, Cheng Shaojun had already been taken away by police.

Lin Dongfan and Jian Sining were also summoned to the police station to give statements; Lin Dongfan roughly outlined what had happened and Cheng Shaojun's background.

The police officer, somewhat surprised, asked Lin Dongfan, "According to you, does Cheng Shaojun suffer from mental illness?"

It's a history of mental illness!

Jian Sining, who comes from a legal background, angrily zeroed in on the details and corrected the officer's improper wording before Lin Dongfan could speak.

One character makes a huge difference.

"Having mental illness" — those four words mainly refer to the present.

"Having a history of mental illness" — those five words mainly refer to the past, indicating a past episode of mental illness, not that one is currently ill.

Considering Cheng Shaojun's father is a vice‑ministerial‑level official,

they feared the police might show favoritism.

Jian Sining flashed her ID again: "We're from the Provincial Procuratorate's Anti‑Corruption Bureau—don't try to pull a fast one on me! Although Cheng Shaojun has a history of mental illness, I doubt he was in an episode when he attacked; he didn't lash out indiscriminately but specifically targeted my senior fellow student!"

The investigating officer chuckled nervously: "Don't get so worked up."

"I request a psychiatric evaluation of Cheng Shaojun to determine whether he had full criminal responsibility at the time of the offense!" Jian Sining pressed on relentlessly.

The investigating officer was at a loss: "This… we'll consider it."

"Besides, my senior fellow student's injury is to the head; it may look fine now, but that doesn't mean there's nothing wrong—we need to wait until his condition stabilizes before conducting an injury assessment."

Jian Sining conducted herself like Lin Dongfan's defense lawyer, flashing a bright smile that left the officer across from her glum and speechless.

The officer glanced at Lin Dongfan's head and his condition.

The more he looked, the more glum he became.

"This looks like a trivial matter; if we wait a bit longer the wound will heal. Do we really need both a psychiatric evaluation and an injury assessment?"

Such a tiny thing, and you're making it so complicated!

Considering the anti‑corruption bureau folks aren't to be trifled with, the officer reluctantly conceded: "Fine. Do the injury assessment whenever you want. You may leave now."

Senior fellow student, let's go.

Jian Sining treated Lin Dongfan like an invalid, helping him up.

Stepping out of the police station gates, the hitherto silent Lin Dongfan finally burst out laughing: "You're sharp‑tongued—you should be a lawyer, not waste time taking the civil service exam."

Senior fellow student, you don't get how these provincial‑capital people fold at the slightest hint of authority. If we hadn't stood firm today, believe me they'd have let Cheng Shaojun go.

Jian Sining burned with righteous indignation.

Lin Dongfan shrugged: "Cheng Shaojun's father Cheng Dao may be vice‑ministerial, but he's based in Nanzhou, not the provincial capital, so the local police don't need to worry so much."

Once you reach vice‑ministerial level, how could the province lack connections? It'd be weird if they didn't pull strings.

Jian Sining wore a look of firm conviction.

Looking at her like this, she seems to have personally experienced quite a few cases of officials covering for each other.

Lin Dongfan asked puzzledly: "You took the civil service exam three years just to get into the Anti-Corruption Bureau—is it all just to swat flies and hit tigers?"

"My brother was bullied at school and fell to his death. Because the perpetrator was the son of some leader, the Faction people said my brother committed suicide by jumping. At that time I swore I would personally catch that corrupt official."

Recalling the scene of her brother's fatal fall, Jiang Sining lowered her head and wiped away tears.

Lin Dongfan gently patted her shoulder, at a loss for how to comfort her; now he understood why she was eager to handle big cases and advance.

If she kept staying in the unit doing odd jobs, she wouldn't even have the qualifications to handle cases.

Then she would never be able to catch corrupt officials in her lifetime.

Lin Dongfan thought carefully, then gave her a reassuring pill: "After Bureau Chief Leng returns, I will recommend you to him. But I can't guarantee he'll definitely use you; I'll do my best."

"Hmm."

Jiang Sining burst into tears then smiled, thinking that heaven does not betray those who strive; she had finally made it out, and as long as her senior brother agreed to recommend her, there should be no problem.

At the same time……

At the police station, the officer was on the phone with Cheng Shaojun's father, Cheng Dao.

Cheng Dao sat in the office of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau in Nanzhou City.

After hearing the report, Cheng Dao's face was filled with incredulous shock: "The Lin Dongfan beaten by my son is from the Anti-Corruption Bureau? You guys didn't get it wrong, did you?"

"That's right, they showed their credentials."

"Then how is my son doing now?"

"Chili oil got into his eyes; he rinsed them a moment ago but still can't open them. He says he can't see; you'd better send a family member over to take him to the hospital."

"Please take care of my son for now; I'll send someone right away."

After hanging up, Cheng Dao, face full of worry, patted his forehead, propped it up and pondered; he was utterly depressed and completely at a loss.

Now Chu Jinsong and Xiao Yunce are locked in a life-and-death struggle.

Chu Jinsong actually transferred his son-in-law Lin Dongfan to the provincial Anti-Corruption Bureau; the scheming here is obvious even to a toe, clearly a move to lay out a counterattack.

All these years I've been following Xiao Yunce, eating off his coattails, naturally putting myself at the forefront of the storm.

At this critical juncture, that good-for-nothing idiot son, instead of picking on anyone else, actually smashed a wine bottle onto Lin Dongfan's head; wherever there's a hornet's nest, he just goes and stabs it.

The ancestral grave of my old Cheng family is emitting black smoke!

The more he thought about it, the more Cheng Dao felt like strangling that idiot son with his own hands—but if he really did that, even the coffins of his ancestors wouldn't be able to hold it down.

"What sin have I committed!"

To live a few more years, Cheng Dao dared not delay another moment; he grabbed the key from the drawer and hurried home.