Jiang Lin turned around and saw Cheng Ruzhou rushing over. Instinctively, instead of stopping him, she lunged forward to shield Dabao and Xiaobao in her arms.

At the same time, Cheng Fuwan saw this and screamed in terror, “Big Brother—”

Yan Runzhi also saw it, turning pale with fright and freezing in place.

Reminded by his younger brother, Cheng Fugui instinctively turned sideways and raised his arm to block.

A knife came down hard on his right forearm with a splatter of blood.

Cheng Fugui screamed in pain and pushed Cheng Ruzhou away with all his might. Cheng Fuwan, stunned for a moment, tried to stop Cheng Ruzhou but was kicked to the ground.

Cheng Ruzhou wanted to continue attacking Cheng Fugui, but his knife slipped from his blood-soaked hand and fell to the ground.

Seeing Cheng Fugui trying to escape, Cheng Ruzhou pounced, pinning him face down and biting his ear.

“Ah—” Cheng Fugui screamed in agony.

“I’ll kill you!” Cheng Fuwan picked up the knife and swung it at Cheng Ruzhou, but Jiang Lin, who had rushed over, knocked it away with a stick.

Yan Runzhi, on the other side, clutched Dabao and Xiaobao tightly while staring unblinkingly at Cheng Ruzhou and Cheng Fugui.

Cheng Fuwan pushed Jiang Lin aside and went to hit Cheng Ruzhou, who seemed impervious to pain, holding onto Cheng Fugui and biting his ear hard.

Everything happened in an instant.

Secretary Zhao had already reached the gate.

Hearing the chaos and screams from the yard, he had no idea what was happening.

Cheng Fujun and Cheng Fulian, who had followed him outside, quickly turned back to ask what was going on.

At that moment, someone shouted, “Someone’s been attacked!”

Cheng Yunzhi immediately rushed back inside.

Secretary Zhao, though startled, quickly regained his composure, having seen many crises during his years in the movement.

Cheng Fujun shouted for the security officer, and they charged back into the yard while others shielded Secretary Zhao.

It was work time, so only some elderly and children were watching the commotion.

They screamed and ran outside, crowding at the gate with Cheng Fujun and the others.

By the time the security officer and his team rushed in, Cheng Fugui’s ear had been half-bitten off by Cheng Ruzhou.

Cheng Fuwan was frantically hitting Cheng Ruzhou, while Cheng Yunzhi was shielding his nephew with his own body.

Cheng Fujun pulled Cheng Fuwan away, and Cheng Fulian dragged Cheng Yunzhi aside.

The security officer then knocked Cheng Ruzhou unconscious with a blow to the back of his head, finally rescuing Cheng Fugui.

“Barefoot doctor! Barefoot doctor!” Cheng Fuwan, with red eyes, quickly picked up Cheng Fugui.

His arm was bleeding profusely, with bone visible. It mustn’t be crippled!

He glared with bloodshot eyes at Cheng Yunzhi and the others, screaming, “Just you wait, I’ll kill you all!”

Jiang Lin quickly went to check on Cheng Ruzhou.

Fortunately, the security officer had controlled his strength.

She forced Cheng Ruzhou’s mouth open and pried out the ear, throwing it on the ground in disgust.

Cheng Fulian shouted, “The ear, the ear! Quickly, maybe it can be reattached!”

Cheng Fuwan, enraged, yelled, “Where’s Captain Wang? Is he here yet? Arrest Cheng Ruzhou immediately and execute him on the spot!” Wang Fakui, the militia captain of the commune, had the authority to execute rioters on the spot.

With Secretary Zhao in the countryside and someone attacking with a knife, an execution would be justified.

Jiang Lin saw one of Secretary Zhao’s secretaries peeking around and scolded, “Secretary Zhao hasn’t spoken yet, who do you think you are? You’ve been bullying the cadres in Shuikuai Village, and now you want to bully the county revolutionary committee too? How dare you!”

“You, you shrew, spouting nonsense! Didn’t you see him attacking with a knife?”

“With so many people around, why didn’t he attack anyone else but went straight for your brother? Why? It’s because your brother colluded with puppet soldiers to sell opium years ago and held a grudge after my uncle whipped and imprisoned him! Your brother’s personal vendetta ruined my brother’s family and drove him mad, only remembering your brother. Doesn’t this explain everything?”

Jiang Lin was repeating what Yan Runzhi had told her, which wasn’t a secret.

By saying this, she diverted attention, making people think about why Cheng Ruzhou attacked Cheng Fugui instead of just focusing on the attack itself, thus preventing Cheng Fuwan from solely targeting Cheng Ruzhou.

She continued, “Our family was falsely accused of being counter-revolutionaries, definitely due to your scheming and framing! Everyone here has been deceived by you!”

Cheng Fuwan was initially terrified and furious, wanting to beat Cheng Ruzhou to death to vent his anger.

He didn’t expect Jiang Lin to hold on to past grievances and bring them up.

He immediately shouted, “You woman, how can you randomly slander good people?”

Jiang Lin ignored him and said, “We suspect that Cheng Fugui and his brothers took personal revenge back then and request the government to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

Years ago, during the land reform and anti-rightist campaigns, policies were indeed in place, and later reversals of these policies were also standard.

According to these policies, Cheng Yi might have been targeted during the land reform, with Cheng Fugui merely adding fuel to the fire.

However, Jiang Lin was now implicating him because it was reasonable to find a scapegoat for the Cheng family’s past injustices, which aligned with the common psychological need to assign blame.

Cheng Fuwan was hopping mad, accusing Jiang Lin of slandering and spouting nonsense.

At this point, Secretary Zhao pushed through the crowd and approached, his face stern. “Comrade Jiang Lin, regarding this issue, the county revolutionary committee will investigate.”

Many rightists had been severely persecuted back then and had returned to work in recent years without anyone taking responsibility.

Even Secretary Zhao himself had been sent down to farm for three years.

Thus, he didn’t necessarily believe that the Cheng family’s problems were all due to Cheng Fugui; Cheng Fugui didn’t have that much power back then.

Jiang Lin didn’t need him to believe her; she just needed to voice this perspective in such a setting.

Any viewpoint, once expressed, would find believers.

Moreover, many people felt guilty after the case was reversed and needed to find a balance.

Believing that Cheng Fugui was the culprit would make them feel better.

It also diverted attention from Cheng Ruzhou, making people initially think he was retaliating out of provocation rather than acting out of sheer madness.

The reversal meeting in the evening still took place but was low-key and brief.

They announced the reversal documents, had the village elders speak about the Cheng family’s past deeds to restore their reputation, and discussed the return of property.

They also arranged for two staff members from the county cultural center to handle follow-up work.

Cheng Fugui’s nephews and nieces demanded that Cheng Ruzhou be arrested, insisting that even if he wasn’t executed, he should be imprisoned.

Secretary Zhao organized an on-site meeting to discuss the issue of Cheng Ruzhou injuring others.

Although Cheng Fugui’s life wasn’t in danger, the injuries to his arm and ear could significantly impact his future career.

Being older, he had been planning to leverage connections to secure a county-level position in another county, but this injury would undoubtedly hinder his promotion prospects.

Given this, Cheng Fugui wouldn’t let the matter rest, and Secretary Zhao had to handle it seriously.

The meeting included brigade cadres like Cheng Fujun, educated youth like Sun Qinghui, and some respected elders from the village.

Secretary Zhao made a few opening remarks and then invited them to share their views.

Those close to Cheng Fugui demanded Cheng Ruzhou be arrested, saying, “How can we live peacefully with such a madman around? We’d be on edge all the time!”

Zeng Hongjie countered, “It’s not that simple. Some people are constantly mad and attack everyone they see, and those should be locked up.

But some are fine most of the time and only react to specific triggers.

Why arrest them? When I was training in the provincial capital, I saw someone who was normal unless he saw his stepfather, then he’d go berserk. He never hurt an innocent person.”

Jiang Lin added, “Secretary Zhao, my older brother is just like that. He plays with Dabao and Xiaobao every day and has never hurt anyone.”

Sun Qinghui said, “Secretary Zhao, we believe Cheng Ruzhou isn’t mad or stupid.

He’s just mentally regressed to a six- or seven-year-old child.

He’s polite and can take care of himself, just like sensible children.

Have you ever seen a madman who doesn’t relieve themselves anywhere? Knowing shame and self-care distinguishes sanity from madness.”

Cheng Fugui’s family immediately retorted, “If he’s not mad and he attacked someone, he should be executed even more!”

Sun Qinghui responded, “He’s just like a six- or seven-year-old child. There must have been something Secretary Cheng did to trigger such a reaction in him.”

Secretary Zhao nodded slightly, indicating they should continue.

Old Granny Shang and several other elders, who supported not arresting Cheng Ruzhou, also attended the meeting.

She said, “I’m old, I’ve seen more years than most, and I’ve watched this child grow up. He was a kind child, often sharing noodles with other kids.”

Cheng Fugui’s family continued to make a fuss, but Secretary Zhao silenced them and indicated for others to continue.

The opinions of brigade cadres like Cheng Fujun and Cheng Fulian were crucial.

Given that Jiang Lin and Cheng Yunzhi had cooperated well with them, not reclaiming their courtyard and resolving significant issues, they reciprocated by agreeing that Cheng Ruzhou, being harmless most of the time, didn’t need to be arrested.

Seeing the general consensus, Secretary Zhao felt relieved.

He could tell Shuikuai Village wanted to treat this as an ordinary conflict among common folk, minimizing the issue.

He didn’t want to escalate it either, especially since it would be a joke to arrest someone as a criminal right after reversing the Cheng family’s unjust treatment.

Finally, they concluded that Cheng Ruzhou, being mentally equivalent to a six-year-old and unable to control himself under specific triggers, should be closely supervised by his family to prevent recurrence.

Cheng Fugui’s injury would be treated as a work-related injury, with follow-up submitted to the county revolutionary committee.

Before leaving, Secretary Zhao told Jiang Lin, “Comrade Jiang, if Cheng Ruzhou injures anyone again in the future, there will be no leniency.”

Jiang Lin reassured Secretary Zhao, “Please rest assured, Secretary. We will keep a close watch on him.”

With that, Secretary Zhao and his team departed.

Jiang Lin then thanked Cheng Fujun, Sun Qinghui, and the others for defending Cheng Ruzhou.

She appreciated their support, acknowledging the favor they did for her and Cheng Ruzhou.

Sun Qinghui quietly remarked, “Jiang Lin, now we need to see his condition when he wakes up.”

If Cheng Ruzhou remained violent, they would have to take measures.

Jiang Lin nodded and quickly bid farewell, taking Yan Runzhi and Dabao and Xiaobao home.

At the door, Jiang Lin reminded Dabao and Xiaobao not to play with their older brother for now.

Dabao, nervous, asked, “Mom, they said older brother is crazy, is it true?” He used to get angry when other children called his older brother stupid, but now he was starting to believe it.

Jiang Lin shook her head. “Of course not. He’s just sick, like when your stomach hurts, but his pain is in his mind and heart.”

Xiaobao asked, “Will he get better?”

Jiang Lin rubbed his head. “Of course, he will. We must never say he’s sick, alright?”

Dabao and Xiaobao nodded. “We won’t say it.”

Jiang Lin sent Yan Runzhi with Dabao and Xiaobao to the main room and then went to check on Cheng Ruzhou in the west wing.

After the incident, Cheng Yunzhi had settled him there, fearing he might scare the children if he stayed in the main room.

Cheng Yunzhi had already cleaned him up thoroughly and treated his wounds.

Cheng Ruzhou was now sleeping peacefully like a child.

Jiang Lin quietly asked, “Dad, earlier it seemed like he only recognized Cheng Fugui. He didn’t recognize anyone else and went straight for him.”

Cheng Yunzhi nodded. “He’s been holding a grudge in his heart.”

Jiang Lin added, “At the meeting, they agreed this can’t happen again. If he wakes up and still can’t control himself…”

Cheng Yunzhi reassured her, “Don’t worry. Wen Sheng will be fine when he wakes up. If that bastard hadn’t come to our house today, Wen Sheng wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”

As they talked, Cheng Ruzhou suddenly woke up.

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin cautiously called out, “Wen Sheng?”

Hearing her voice, his previously empty gaze slowly focused on her, softening.

Seeing this, Jiang Lin sighed in relief.

“Mom—” he cried loudly, crawling up to hug her tightly. “They took you away, and I chased and chased…”

Jiang Lin patted his back and stroked his head. “No, the bad people are gone. You drove them away; they will never come back.”

“Really?” He seemed to have forgotten everything that happened earlier. “Did I really drive them away?”

Jiang Lin nodded firmly. “Yes, you drove them away. They will never come back.

You don’t have to be afraid or worry, and you don’t need to think about fighting them anymore.

Now Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, and Dongsheng are here to protect me. No one will ever hurt me again.”