He Was Actually a Law Nerd?!

"Brother Biaozi, I heard the inspection team is coming. The village secretary told us to keep our heads down and stop causing trouble. If we cut off the water source now and get caught, what then?!"

The villager speaking was tall and thin. As he hunched over to sabotage the water pipes, he asked uncertainly.

"What can they do if they catch us?! Forget some inspection team—even if the Jade Emperor himself came, I wouldn't be scared!" Biaozi leaned his bloated body against a tree, his face full of disdain. "Besides, how many leaders have come through here? Which one ever solved anything?! As long as our village doesn't back down, it won't matter who comes!"

"Brother Biao is right!"

Several people chimed in, holding their hoes.

They had to do it, whether they wanted to or not!

After all, they had already taken two hundred yuan in labor fees.

They had no idea that a mysterious person had contacted Biaozi the night before and offered him one hundred thousand yuan to cause trouble.

One hundred thousand yuan was no small amount. Even if they made trouble in Bright Village countless times, they might not be able to squeeze that much money out of them.

Biaozi was immediately tempted. He had the other party pay a deposit first to make sure this was not a scam before gathering his brothers to mess with the water source.

Before doing it, he sent someone to Bright Village to spread the word. He planned to stir up trouble first, then cut off the water source when the time was right...

Hehehe, let's see how those outsiders could keep filming their show properly after that!

Especially that idiot who had tried to play hero that day.

If he didn't teach him a lesson, he wouldn't know how formidable Biaozi was!

At that thought, a sinister smile curled Biaozi's lips. Just as he was about to urge them to hurry up, he suddenly noticed a red light shining over.

"Who?! Who's there?!"

Speaking in his local accent, he abruptly straightened up and turned with a fierce glare. Then he saw Xie Chen walking over with his hands in his pockets, his lazy stride accompanied by a slightly off-key voice.

"Yo, you guys keeping busy?"

Biaozi immediately became wary. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just came to see how the water source situation was going," Xie Chen said, glancing ahead. "You cut the pipes directly? Not bad. Must be pretty hard to repair them, huh?"

A cameraman followed behind him, deliberately pointing the lens over there.

Back when town officials had come to mediate, they had also brought people from the television station to report on it. There had been reporters and cameramen everywhere. Biaozi had seen it all before, and it had never stopped him from acting like a scoundrel.

Now, seeing Xie Chen and the cameraman, he merely took it as empty intimidation and did not take them seriously at all.

"That's right, we're making sure it can't be fixed!" Biaozi said arrogantly. "The water pipes are in our village. We can handle them however we want."

Xie Chen raised his brows. "So you're deliberately sabotaging them?"

Biaozi sneered. "Yeah, I'm sabotaging them. What are you gonna do about it?! Even the cops can't do anything to me. Go ahead and report me wherever you want!"

"Under the Water Law of the People's Republic of China, water resources belong to the state, and no organization or individual may appropriate them," Xie Chen said, his expression turning serious. "In other words, no matter which village a water resource is located in, it belongs to the state. Your village may use it, but you have no right to destroy communal water pipelines."

Biaozi could not understand the technical terms. Just as he was about to interrupt, Xie Chen continued.

"From a civil law perspective, this involves neighboring rights. When both parties share the same water source, each party may use it freely, but may not affect the neighboring party's water use as a result. Land-use rights holders may not use any illegal means to reduce a neighboring party's water supply. Furthermore, natural water sources to which neighboring parties are all entitled should follow their naturally formed flow. If one party arbitrarily blocks or monopolizes the water source, affecting another party's production or daily life, the other party may request that the obstruction be removed, and may seek compensation for any resulting damages."

Biaozi was a little dazed. "What? What the hell are you talking about?!"

The cameraman captured the entire scene on the livestream. The fans had gone from righteous indignation to complete dumbfoundedness, and the comments began pouring in.

[Holy shit, who would've thought Xie Chen was actually a law nerd?]

[Xie Chen must be making this up, right? I remember reports saying his university grades were terrible, that he failed multiple classes and nearly didn't graduate. How could a lousy student like him memorize legal provisions like this?!]

[As a graduate student in law, I can responsibly tell everyone that the statutes Xie Chen cited are completely accurate and highly relevant. For someone outside the legal profession in the entertainment industry to popularize the law in this way is genuinely commendable!]

[That neighboring village is going too far. Aren't they way too overbearing?! Cutting off someone's water is basically cutting off their lifeline, yet they're acting so justified.]

[When is the inspection team getting here?! If no one steps in soon, the villagers of Bright Village won't even be able to eat!]

[I seriously want to rush in and beat that Biaozi guy to a pulp. My teeth are itching with rage!]

[Ugh, I'm from the countryside too. Fighting won't solve anything. So many murder cases happen because of disputes over homesteads or water sources. People get arrested, but the conflict still remains, and it can even worsen!]

[...]

Biaozi came back to his senses, picked up his hoe, and brandished it menacingly. "Stop spouting that nonsense at me. I don't know the law! Anyway, the water source is in our village, so we make the rules!"

"Fine, admitting you don't understand the law is good enough!" Xie Chen looked toward the cameraman. "You got all of that on record, right? If we want to establish the crime of damaging public property, the chain of evidence can't be incomplete."

"Evidence?! A crime?!" At those words, Biaozi's expression turned vicious again. "Who told you to record this?! Grab it from them!"

The television reporters had always come to mediate; no one had ever wanted to send him to jail.

And that idiot had just rattled off a whole lot of things that sounded pretty serious. What if it really became evidence...

No. He absolutely could not let these two get away today!

The brothers following Biaozi raised their hoes at his shout and charged at Xie Chen and the cameraman.

Xie Chen did not dodge at all. He slowly curled his lips into a smile. "You were the ones who attacked first."

When he saw the camera get knocked to the ground, he added, "Destruction of private property..."

The footage cut off abruptly. The livestream froze for a moment before the comments exploded.

[What's going on?! Why did it cut out?! What are those people going to do?! Xie Chen and the cameraman are in serious danger!]

[Call the police! Where's the production crew?! Where's the director?! Why did they let those two go there alone?!]

[Those villagers have weapons in their hands! What if someone gets killed?!]

[...]

The comments were in utter chaos, and Director Li was frantic as well. When he and Huo Wenye raced to the "crime scene," they were stunned by the sight before them.

Th-This, this, this... how many was he fighting by himself?!

The cameraman was hiding behind a large tree in the distance. Only when he saw Director Li and the staff arrive did he dare stick his head out. "Director, I'm over here! That was way too dangerous! Thank goodness for Brother Xie Chen!"

Hearing someone call his name, Xie Chen finally turned around amid the village thugs sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain.

He flashed a row of gleaming white teeth and tilted his head, looking utterly harmless. "You're here?"

"A little early, aren't you?"

I wasn't done having fun yet!