Translator: Lonelytree
However, the villagers didn’t have time to hesitate for long because the police soon arrived.
The road between Xing An Town and Taoyuan Village was paved, so it was very convenient. The police took only twenty minutes to arrive. The police came and went straight to Xiao Lingyu’s house.
When they saw the crowd, the police asked sternly, “Who called the police?”
“It’s me!” Xiao Lingyu stood up and said, “Officer, I was the one who called the police. This woman set fire to my land in the middle of the night!” Xiao Lingyu pointed at Zhang Xiaolan, who was still lying on the ground.
The police officer saw Xiao Lingyu and smiled, “Oh, it’s you guys again!” It was this same officer who came last time when the Chen Family came to make a scene.
Xiao Lingyu said a little embarrassedly, “Officer Li, I’m really sorry to trouble you guys again.”
Li Xing said, “This is no problem. This is our duty. However,” He looked at Xiao Lingyu and asked suspiciously, “Why is this woman lying on the ground?”
Xiao Lingyu answered truthfully, “She was just beaten by her husband!”
“Her husband beat her?” Li Xing looked around and saw Xiao Chengcai standing separately from the crowd. He guessed that this person was the husband.
“This person set fire to my family’s land and caused my family to lose more than 100,000. Uncle Chengcai was very angry when he heard that. In his anger, he beat his wife. We didn’t get the chance to stop him.”
“Help her get up first!” Li Xing frowned and said, “Although it’s summer, it’s still late at night. We don’t want her to catch a cold.” After he said that, a few village women went to help Zhang Xiaolan up.
However, when the villagers touched her, Zhang Xiaolan cried out in pain and started to curse her husband again.
Li Xing frowned when he saw Zhang Xiaolan’s red, swollen, and bruised face. Li Xing asked Xiao Lingyu directly, “What’s going on?”
Li Xing knew that it had to be the Xiao Family’s land that was burned. Which family’s land could be so expensive?
Xiao Lingyu said, “Officer Li, my family grows strawberries on a few Mu of land. It is harvest season for strawberries. I was afraid that something might happen, so I installed surveillance cameras around the strawberry field.
“Tonight, as usual, I checked the surveillance. I was shocked because I saw a figure sneakily walking toward my strawberry field with something in her hand. Not long after, a big fire broke out in the field. Fortunately, with the help of the villagers, the fire was quickly put out, or else the losses would be more serious. As for the culprit…”
Xiao Lingyu glanced at Zhang Xiaolan. “In order to find the clues, I replayed the video. I knew the culprit was trying to escape the scene, so I ran to stop her. I caught her red-handed.”
“Officer, that is not true.” Xiao Chengcai immediately defended. “My family’s land is close to Xiao Lingyu’s land. Our land is deserted because we haven’t had anything to plant in half a year.
“But recently, my wife wanted to redevelop it. It’s too troublesome to hoe the patch of land, so we decide to burn the weeds instead. It is a complete accident that the fire spread to Xiao Lingyu’s field. My wife didn’t do it on purpose.” Xiao Chengcai pleaded with Xiao Lingyu again, “Lingyu, your Auntie Zhang really didn’t mean to do this on purpose. Our lands are adjacent to each other, and it is unfortunate that this happens. However, this is an accident. We can settle this among ourselves, so we don’t need to trouble the police.”
Xiao Lingyu didn’t say anything, but Officer Li Xing had something to say.
He sternly asked, “She was just burning the weeds. But why is she doing it in the middle of the night? She’s an adult. Does she not know burning weeds will easily lead to a fire?
“Since we’ve been called here, there is no settling in private. I’m telling you directly that arson is a serious crime. The severity of the punishment will be determined according to the damage caused by the fire.
“According to the country’s criminal law, the penalty for arson is as follows: anyone who endangers public safety through arson without causing serious consequences shall be sentenced to three to ten years of imprisonment.
“If the arson causes serious injury, death, or serious public or private property damage, the offender shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment, or death.
“If the crime of arson is committed by negligence, the offender shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years;
“If the damage is minor, the offender shall be sentenced to imprisonment not more than three years.”
The villagers were stunned. They gasped, “Is it that serious?”
Officer Li looked at Xiao Chengcai, then swept a glance at Zhang Xiaolan, who was so frightened that her entire body was about to go limp. Her entire body was trembling. Office Li said, “From the looks of it, this is an intentional arson. Moreover, you’ve caused another party serious property losses. You will be punished with imprisonment of more than three years.”
Zhang Xiaolan had just been helped up from the ground. When she heard this, she fell with a thud. She muttered, “I don’t want to go to jail, I don’t want to go to jail. I… I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Xiao Chengcai looked at her and was so angry that his entire face turned green. His hands were clenched into fists.
He looked at Xiao Lingyu and said through gritted teeth, “Xiao Lingyu, are you really so heartless that you don’t care about the camaraderie between neighbors and the village’s reputation anymore?”
Hearing this, Xiao Lingyu’s face darkened. Then, she chuckled mirthlessly. “Uncle Chengcai, are you seriously calling me heartless? Why didn’t you stop Auntie Zhang when she tried to set fire to my field then?
“When Auntie Zhang committed arson, why didn’t she think of the consequences? She caused me to lose hundreds of thousands! Who is the heartless one?
“She burned down my property, so why can’t I call the police? I am obliged to forgive you instead?
“If you were me and someone set fire to your property and caused a huge loss, would you be willing to forgive the arsonist?
“Besides, regardless of whether Auntie Zhang is intentional or not, it is a fact that she has committed a crime.
“This is no longer an issue of heartlessness or forgiveness. If you want to beg for forgiveness, sure. Ask these police officers. See if they’re willing to forgive the criminal.”
Officer Li said, “As police officers, we will definitely not let any criminal go. We will never condone any crime.”
“Uncle Chengcai, you heard that, right? This is arson, a crime. It’s not a question of whether I forgive the culprit or not.
“Let’s say I forgive the culprit, but what will that change? The police will still take the culprit away. Besides, why should I forgive someone who doesn’t admit her mistakes, who doesn’t apologize, and who keeps saying I’m framing her?”
Xiao Lingyu said with a sharp tone, “And to bring up the matters of the village’s reputation… This is just an assumption. Someone in our village committed a crime and we decided not to have her face the law? Do you want the whole village to harbor a criminal?
“In that case, we might as well start going around starting a fire to anyone’s house that we don’t like. After all, we’re going to protect arsonists anyway.
“Let the whole world burn. After all, we have to forgive these arsonists because we’re from the same village, right?”
Only Xiao Chengcai knew how to use the village reputation as leverage? Hah!
“Then, I think we shouldn’t be called Taoyuan Village but the Arsonist’s Village. We’ll be so famous because of it.”
Xiao Lingyu’s words enlightened everyone present. She was right.
Zhang Xiaolan set fire to things and caused Xiao Lingyu to lose hundreds of thousands. It was impossible for news of such magnitude not to spread. If the other villages found out that they had decided to forgive the criminal and harbor her, Taoyuan Village’s reputation would go down the drain too.
Therefore, they had to make Zhang Xiaolan face the law to save the village’s reputation.
When the villagers thought of this, they immediately rebuked Xiao Chengcai, “Xiao Chengcai, you make no sense! You’ve burned down Lingyu’s strawberry field and caused her family to lose hundreds of thousands. Now, you still want them to forgive your wife? Are you crazy?”
“Xiao Chengcai, does this mean that arson is a forgivable crime to you? In that case, tomorrow, we’ll send people over to burn your house down instead! Let’s see if you’ll forgive them then!”
