Before entering the police station, Xia Zhiyi genuinely believed that this was just a minor incident for the day, and that he could return to his unit after giving his statement.
Xiao Yang thought so too.
After all, who would end up in the police station twice on the same day they're filming a TV show, right?
Then, the two quickly finished giving their statements and walked out the door, but less than fifteen minutes later, they were asked to come back again.
Xiao Yang sat in the chair, his gaze somewhat vacant, watching the boy talking to several adults in uniform. After a long while, he slowly turned to the photographer beside him and asked, "You... you didn't film everything that just happened, did you?"
After entering the police station, Xia Zhiyi's live stream was paused so as not to disrupt the work there.
However, it was turned on again when I left the police station.
It's paused again now.
Hearing Xiao Yang's words, the photographer was silent for a moment. "Try to think positively. Our Teacher Xia did something heroic."
Xiao Yang: "... I know, but..."
His phone rang at that moment. Xiao Yang glanced at the group of people still talking on the other end, hesitated for a moment, got up, went out the door, and answered the call.
" Xiao Yang..."
Xiao Yang: "... Director Gong."
Whether it was his imagination or not, Xiao Yang felt that Director Gong's voice on the phone sounded a little different than usual.
However, his tone sounded relatively calm.
Director Gong: "I already know about the situation on your end. Are you still at the police station?"
Xiao Yang nodded, then belatedly realized what he meant and said, "Um, just now... just now Teacher Xia... uh, caught..."
The situation was a little complicated. Xiao Yang organized his words, but fortunately, Director Gong was very patient and waited for him to explain.
Xiao Yang: "It's like this, Teacher Xia just stopped a man from committing domestic violence and prevented him and his mother from selling their child to someone from out of town. Then the man became agitated and attacked her with a knife. Teacher Xia probably knocked him unconscious for safety reasons, which caused some misunderstanding."
It's actually just the locals' subconscious protectiveness. Before understanding the situation, it's understandable that they would be wary of unfamiliar faces like these people and try to stop or even physically assault them.
However, the matter had only just begun when Xia Zhiyi kicked a nearby tree, snapping it in half. This shocked everyone and allowed them to "calmly" go to the nearby police station to seek justice and clear up the misunderstanding.
After figuring out the situation, those people probably didn't dare to stay with Xia Zhiyi, this "ruthless person," and hurriedly dispersed. Only that family was taken to the interrogation room for further investigation.
The only problem is that... Xia Zhiyi's kick was caught on camera by a photographer who was completely unprepared, and it's estimated that all the viewers in the live stream saw it.
Xiao Yang: " Director Gong, how's the situation online right now?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
Standing at the door, Xiao Yang could only feel the heat wave on his face after leaving the electric fan. After standing there for only a short while, his back was already soaked with sweat.
It's hot and dry, but not exactly irritating.
Although I was caught off guard and could imagine the extra work that might come, for some reason, when I turned my head and saw the boy inside the room, and thought about his decisive kick not long ago, I felt... a little excited.
While waiting for Director Gong to speak, Xiao Yang couldn't help but think, "Human nature really is to admire the strong, isn't it?"
He could no longer treat Xia Zhiyi as a child who had just graduated from high school. Even though he was a few years older than her, Xia Zhiyi was far more capable than him.
So impressive was this young boy that Xiao Yang couldn't possibly see things from the perspective of an older person.
They even felt a great deal of security from the other party because of their overwhelming strength.
Xiao Yang couldn't help but say to Director Gong on the other end of the phone, " Director Gong, we were all terrified when it happened. When I saw that person rushing towards us with a kitchen knife, my mind went completely blank, but... but Teacher Xia was so calm, she seemed more reliable than an adult like me, simply..."
"So cool!"
Director Gong: "... I know. Now... never mind, I'll talk to Xia Zhiyi about the details when you get back. People are already discussing it online. Don't rush to start the live stream after you've dealt with this; come back to me first."
He paused, then changed his mind. "Ah, no, we should meet up with the others first, otherwise they'll start speculating again."
Director Gong: "I've had someone keep an eye on the online sentiment. As for Xia Zhiyi... you don't need to talk to him too much. He's just a kid who's barely an adult. The production team can handle those messy things."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang knew that Director Gong had already begun handling the matter, and that the remaining issues would have to be discussed with Xia Zhiyi in person after she returned. He quickly hung up the phone.
He had just hung up the phone and was about to go back to sitting with his colleagues in the fan-cooled room when he saw someone emerge from the next room with documents. Seeing him, the person strode over with a clear purpose. "You're from the production crew, right? I heard you filmed what just happened and uploaded it online?"
His expression was very serious.
Coupled with the fact that he was wearing a very neat uniform, Xiao Yang recalled his past dealings with officials when he was involved in similar matters, and felt inexplicably guilty.
To put it bluntly, they originally came to promote other villages and towns, hoping to boost their economy, but it seems they messed things up.
Therefore, Xiao Yang felt a little uneasy when facing this person in uniform.
However, he still explained in a low voice, "It wasn't uploaded to the internet, it was... we were live-streaming at the time, and we didn't expect this accident to happen, so it was accidentally filmed."
One is subjective, the other is objective; they shouldn't be confused, or things will get complicated if things become unclear.
Just as the man was about to speak again, the group of people who had finished talking with Xia Zhiyi walked over. One of them cheerfully spoke first, " Lao Wu, what are you doing?"
Then, the middle-aged policeman smiled and took over the conversation, not giving the other person a chance to continue speaking. Instead, he thanked Xiao Yang and said that they would investigate the matter seriously and inform the program team of the results.
Then, the crew was led by a young policeman back to the market to reunite with the others.
Xia Zhiyi thoughtfully, "I always feel like I'm being treated like something extraordinary."
Xiao Yang: "... Seeing that uniform, even if they're acquaintances, they'd probably restrain any thoughts they might have."
Xiao Yang paused for a moment, then continued, "Anyway, it's great that I didn't have to go to the police station three times a day."
Xia Zhiyi choked up.