Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

”Get your Miao Dahai out here to face us, now!” the young man demanded, arguing illogically and acting aggressively. ”If you don’t hand him over, we’ll teach you a lesson.”

Dong Sanshu saw the arrogant young men and shouted toward the fields, ”Everyone, hurry over! Some little punks from who-knows-where have shown up in our village to cause trouble! This is completely out of line...”

Dong Sanshu’s voice was booming. Villagers began to gather, still holding tools like shovels and hammers. In just a minute or two, they had formed a tight circle around the young men.

These young men had never seen such a display of force. They were, after all, just youths acting on a hot-headed rush of passion, doing foolish things without thinking.

”You... you... you’re trying to resist?” the same young man yelled from behind the protection of his companions. The veins on his neck bulged as he screamed himself hoarse.

Zheng Delin, who was standing at the very back, watched the scene with a deep frown. ’I never expected the people of Nianqiao Village to be so united.’

’No wonder Wang Dadan and Li Siming failed every single time.’

’With this kind of support from the masses, Miao Dahai can really do whatever he wants and fear no one. But I’ve weathered real storms. A little ripple like this won’t turn into a tidal wave.’

’These villagers might be able to intimidate those young men, but they can’t scare me.’

”Everyone, calm down. I have something to say.” Zheng Delin walked past the young men to the front and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. ”This is an official order from our department to take Miao Dahai into custody. We are only here for Miao Dahai, not you villagers. If you obstruct us or shelter him, you will be treated as accomplices, and we will arrest you all as well.”

Hearing this, and seeing how authoritative Zheng Delin appeared, some of the villagers began to feel afraid.

Just then, Hua Yusen pushed his way to the front of the crowd. ”What law has Miao Dahai broken?” he demanded. ”What evidence do you have? Showing up to arrest someone so rashly... you’re clearly just trying to pull one over on us common folk.”

Hearing Hua Yusen, the villagers’ spirits were rekindled. They began to shout, ”Where’s the evidence? Evidence! Evidence! Evidence...”

The unified chant was deafening, and even Zheng Delin’s expression soured. ’It looks like this won’t be resolved peacefully today!’

”Our department doesn’t need evidence to arrest people!” one of the young men in the back shouted. He was one of Zheng Delin’s usual lackeys and, seeing his boss being put on the spot by Hua Yusen, wanted to be the first to jump in and curry favor.

But his attempt to curry favor backfired spectacularly. Even the highest authority in the land needs to come up with some kind of trumped-up charge to arrest someone.

”And who gave you that power? To arrest someone without any evidence?” Hua Yusen sneered. ”Unless you can give us a proper explanation today, no one is laying a hand on Miao Dahai.”

Wu Dazhu went a step further, snatching the slip of paper from Zheng Delin’s hand. He passed it to Dong Sanshu. ”You, read it out loud for everyone! Let’s all hear what kind of person wrote this piece of paper that they think is the law of the land! Do you really think this is still the old days, where you bureaucrats could just say the word and it was done? I’ll tell you what, this is a new era! You think you can arrest ordinary people without evidence? Not a chance!”

By now, everyone from Nianqiao Village had arrived. They surrounded Zheng Delin and his thirty or forty young men, trapping them completely.

Zheng Delin and his young men had rushed over and hadn’t even had lunch; their stomachs were GROWLING with hunger. Not only did they receive no hospitality upon arriving in Nianqiao Village, but it now seemed their plan to use the villagers to get to Miao Dahai was also a complete bust.

”You... you’re refusing to comply?” Zheng Delin asked, a hint of fear in his voice as he retreated a few steps.

’Who the hell is he to talk about compliance? And who the hell is this Zheng Delin anyway? Is it non-compliance just because he says so?’

Seeing how things were going, Zheng Delin thought, ’If this keeps up, I won’t get anything done today!’

So, Zheng Delin forced a smile, his aggressive demeanor from moments ago vanishing.

”Everyone, please, calm down. We just came here to ask Miao Dahai a few questions and understand the situation. The young men misspoke earlier. Please, folks, don’t be angry.” Zheng Delin was a pragmatic man who knew when to yield. He quickly cupped his hands in a gesture of apology to the villagers.

’This time, I was too reckless.’

’Wang Dadan and Li Siming are no fools, yet they failed every time they tried. It wasn’t for lack of effort on their part. The people of Nianqiao Village are just too shrewd. Or rather, they’re governed so tightly they’re like a solid block of iron—truly difficult to deal with.’

’I’ve also had such smooth sailing lately. Everywhere I go, I’m met with warm welcomes and utter respect. I assumed it would be the same here in Nianqiao Village—that these people would be afraid of me. But I never expected to bring these young men here only to find that the villagers aren’t scared in the slightest.’

Seeing that Zheng Delin was finally talking like a reasonable person, the villagers slowly began to calm down.

Just then, Miao Dahai appeared, walking over from the distance with a shovel slung over his shoulder. He’d already been notified about the situation and had rushed over, concerned. ”It’s the middle of the workday, folks,” he said. ”Everyone, get back to the fields! Our production quotas are high this year, and we can’t afford any delays!”