Chapter 257 Chapter 251 Justice Cost
“What else is there to research?”
“What is a good order? What is good law? Is there no benevolent law in our legal system? Why can’t we stop the curse?”
“Because there is no extraordinary person among us who can formulate good laws.”
“So, the power to establish laws rests entirely in his hands?”
“We can discuss this properly.”
“And then?”
“Promote it nationwide, strive not to attract her attention, and coordinate with him to conduct public trials. As long as the public trials can proceed smoothly, she will have no place to escape.”
Months ago, everyone present had seen the plan written by George… in which he described the implementation of good laws, expressing his “ambitious” hope to transform Huaxia into a country of integrity, starting from the upper echelons, with everyone speaking honestly to reduce communication costs.
Only trustworthy people can receive stronger order protection and distinguish lies.
This was an unprecedented reform, and the stability-seeking bureaucrats instinctively resisted. They had been doing well, with economic development and national revitalization gradually, but now they had to turn and enter an unknown path.
“But the so-called good laws are all drafted by him alone. We will be like the villagers of Tongshan, forced to abide by the laws he established… Are they a couple working together? If the hard line doesn’t work, they’ll take the soft approach?”
“Impossible. He has said otherwise; he cannot lie.”
“George can’t lie. Who can prove that? Only she and George can prove it. How can such a strong person not tell a lie?”
“Hesitating, we don’t have much time. Sooner or later, she will discover George’s existence. By then, if we haven’t executed our plan, she will definitely invade our homeland without hesitation.”
“We could have avoided this mess if you hadn’t always pushed the masses to the edge of danger…”
The debates in the conference room never ceased, and they ultimately had to inform George that they were still discussing this issue.
George didn’t pay much attention; he took Little Ji back to aid poverty alleviation.
He also planned to visit Shanfeng County on the way for a study tour. Although the natural conditions there were similarly harsh, they had achieved good results and lifted themselves out of poverty.
George had led a study tour once before, but this time he intended to take only Little Ji to have a look.
He pulled Little Ji, who was reluctant to leave the city.
After a day and night, George flew, took a car from the province to a parking lot in the city, and drove his own second-hand Wuling van to carry Little Ji from a secondary highway into the rural dirt roads, heading toward the impoverished, barren mountainous areas.
The van rattled as it drove. Little Ji sat in the passenger seat, browsing short videos on George’s phone to pass the time. Annoying monkey laughter echoed intermittently inside the van.
George focused on the road ahead.
He heard Little Ji’s voice beside him: “Brother, she… is so pitiful.”
Hearing her utter the word “pitiful” was unprecedented.
George had an inkling that Little Ji was truly about to embark on the path of kindness. He suppressed his excitement and asked, “What video?”
“A woman with a mental illness, chained by a rusty iron chain… The comments say she might be a trafficked woman, and coincidentally, it’s in Shanfeng County,” Little Ji said. “Now that you’re a civil servant, could you go check it out?”
“Of course.”
After an hour’s drive, following the clues from the short video, George easily found the destination.
The other party claimed that he and she were a married couple, and she suffered from mental illness, which put a great burden on the family. They had no choice but to chain her up, with their eldest son as a witness.
George took out 1,000 yuan as a donation on the spot. After donating, he suddenly asked, “She can’t be someone you paid to introduce, right?”
“Not… How could I have trafficked her?”
George reluctantly nodded, his expression suddenly turning cold as he turned and left.
“Brother, is he lying?”
“Yes, how do you know?”
“You frowned.” Little Ji said, “Can we hurry up and rescue her? She looks like she’s living like a pig.”
“Of course.” George also wanted to nurture the kindness blossoming in her heart.
As a Paladin, George naturally chose to call the police first.
Before calling, George hesitated. He felt this situation often indicated a breakdown of order, harboring filth and grime. So, he used his connections and spoke with the county head, who had personally welcomed him during his previous study tour…
…
…
A few days later, while the conference room was once again heated in discussion.
Suddenly, a rapid knock echoed at the conference room door.
A male secretary, holding a laptop, placed it on the table. He used a projector to display on the screen the trending topic “Shanfeng County woman giving birth to eight children,” scrolling down.
It was news about human trafficking.
To put it bluntly, everyone present had heard or seen too much about such matters. This particular case, being sensational enough, was perfectly normal to trend.
The participants looked at the male secretary, wondering what urgent matter had arisen.
The male secretary scrolled down with his middle finger.
A photo appeared on the screen.
George with dyed black hair was crouched down in an ant-like crowd, cradling a filthy woman. Surrounding him were people trying to pull him away, and one young man, with red face, was brutally smashing a stick onto his head.
The elder’s face darkened as he asked immediately: “Has this photo spread to the outside internet?”
“This is a recent hotspot on the internet,” the male secretary said. “The photo has already circulated online.”
“What about Zhihu?”
“Yes, it’s there too.”
Someone shivered.
As a member of the working leadership group, everyone knew that Zhihu was one of the places she frequently visited. If she saw this image and recognized George’s face…
If she were to hold some desecration ceremony to strengthen her curse, perhaps only Tongshan Village in all of Huaxia could withstand it.
“Shut it down, shut it all down!” someone exclaimed: “Don’t let her see this picture.”
“Calm down! Listen to the communication expert.”
“I disagree with brutally shutting it down,” the communication expert said. “The tighter and faster we cover this up, the more it will attract her attention. We can shut down Huaxia’s internet, but can we shut down the entire internet? It’s already too late.”
“By the time public opinion ferments, it’ll be even later! Can you guarantee how often she logs into Huaxia’s net? Hurry!”
Minutes flew by in chaos.
“Last month she logged on once every month, the previous month averaged once every two days, this month her online frequency has increased by 37%, showing an upward trend…”
Imagine one day the demoness Ji Ma, while idly surfing the internet, stumbling upon the nationwide news discussion. She clicks in and, scrolling down, a side profile of her “ex-husband” catches her eye.
He couldn’t bear to think about it any further.
“No matter what, delete this photo immediately!”
“Will deleting it instead cause the netizens to spread it?”
“I suggest just letting it be. Based on my understanding of her, when she goes online, she’s likely just like young netizens, not diving into details, enjoying reading news comments instead of the news itself…”
The conference room fell into an intense debate.
Someone couldn’t help but ask, “How did he get himself into this mess?”
“He previously took people to Shanfeng County for a study tour. This time, he went back to arrange another visit—if he had gotten results earlier, would he still need to continue being a poverty alleviation worker and go tour that ghost town?”
“If he hadn’t been sent into the poverty alleviation program in the first place, nothing would have happened!”
After the meeting, the elder was fuming, tightly pursing his lips, and personally called George.
Why was his method of handling issues so immature?
…
…
At the city hospital.
In a high-end ward, there were only two people.
George lay on the hospital bed, with a decorative bandage wrapped around his head.
Little Ji squeezed George’s hand and said, “I’m sorry; it’s my fault for being too impulsive.”
“It’s okay; righteous indignation is commendable, but you need to grow up and learn a lot.”
That day, George had attempted to resolve the issue through order, but the staff informed him they were a married couple and that the wife had a mental illness. However, George knew they were lying, and Little Ji realized it too.
She was furious, wanting to sneak out that night to solve this matter on her own.
George stopped her, and Little Ji said some extreme words. Thus, George decided to take a risk…
His phone rang. George picked up his cracked phone and said, “Here comes the reprimand.”
He then pressed the answer button and briefly explained the setbacks he encountered while trying to follow the rules.
“Sorry, I encountered unfortunate events while taking risks. Please let me explain.
“I wanted to directly yank off the chain and run with the victim into the car. But several unexpected incidents occurred. Someone revealed my background to the captors, who had already colluded with the local family… meaning the clan…
“Of course, I successfully rescued the individual. However, almost the whole village came out to catch me. I couldn’t show any inhuman traits, so I just ran, managing to reach the car smoothly…
“Unfortunately, the car was too old, and someone crashed into the back of my Wuling, stalling the vehicle. I couldn’t just fly away, so I had to act like an ordinary person and carry her away…
“Even more unfortunately, I ran into an investigative journalist who had come to report. He had a camera and found a good angle, so I tried hard to bury my face down…
After a long exchange, the elder said: “Such things happening at crucial moments are tough. Take care of yourself.”
After ending the call.
Little Ji looked at George, her eyes filled with tears: “I don’t want to say sorry anymore; saying it again makes me seem… like a green tea.”
“It’s fine,” George said. “He was just angry, angry to the point of forgetting that I can detect lies. I guess this incident might actually provoke those above to resolve to fully hunt down the demoness.”
A smile finally appeared on Little Ji’s face as she said, “Brother George, you’re amazing. Can we throw all those bad people into a dungeon until they die?”
George said, “I just hope the law can be implemented.”
Little Ji was still somewhat dissatisfied, feeling it wasn’t enough. If George hadn’t forbidden it, she would have planned to borrow Ji Ma’s curse power to vent her anger.
However, she also felt for the first time the joy of doing good deeds.
After a few days, the calm returned.
Despite the higher-ups repeatedly urging George to hastily establish the so-called “Good Law to Protect the Masses” plan.
George decided to take Little Ji himself to deal with the aftermath.
“If it’s merely to satisfy my desire to save people, and after saving them, I no longer care, how is that different from a lawless rogue?”
Matters grew increasingly serious. The rescued women were indeed suffering from severe mental issues. Although he personally delivered her to her parents’ home, her parents frowned upon receiving this burden, expressing that they were financially constrained and found it challenging to care for a patient with no self-care ability.
George understood greatly. While he sarcastically deemed himself a benevolent judge, he withdrew a significant sum of money to pretend that he had done something good.
Later, he demanded a thorough investigation and called for the complete eradication of all guilty parties in the local system.
With the assistance of extraordinary powers, arrests were made swiftly, uncovering “collapsing-type corruption” in the area. Many trafficked women were rescued, and this time, the law had to hold many accountable.
Consequently, the police station faced aggression from hundreds of villagers. The city even had to dispatch armed forces to maintain order.
George was busy. He enacted laws, and under the influence of legal power, the strength of lawbreakers diminished while the power of law enforcers increased, momentarily halting the riot-like siege.
However, days later, the county government’s entrance was filled with wailing women clutching children.
Because many families’ pillars had been taken away, making it difficult for them to make a living, they demanded at least some accountability.
George had to run around, accompanying city officials to mediate conflicts, distributing cash, spending a lot of money. It took nearly a month to wrap everything up.
And Little Ji had long lost her initial sense of justice and joy, now filled with endless disappointment.
When George finally finished his work, she said to him: “I feel like we are doing something meaningless.”
“Tell me your understanding.”
“It seems like everything ended satisfactorily, but it was all achieved by spending a lot of money. Ultimately, it still returned to you,” Little Ji said. “Money comes from taxes, and while many people are cheering and feeling relieved online, if you raise their taxes, they definitely won’t be happy and will find excuses to refuse.”
“And it doesn’t address the root cause; as long as the rural areas below still have no order, still follow the family with more sons deciding everything, and are still so poor, this environment will give rise to such events…”
“And do people really want to give every crazy person a good treatment? What they say casually doesn’t count; it needs to be real money.”
George interrupted: “What do you think then?”
“I… I think the cost of justice is too high. It seems like the previous method of muddling through has some merit too.” Little Ji shrank her neck: “Is what I’m saying inappropriate?”
“You are absolutely correct,” George rarely agreed: “Many times, justice is often discounted due to cost issues.”
Little Ji hung her head in frustration: “What’s the point then?”
“Discounted justice is still justice,” George was optimistic: “We cannot give up on pursuing goodness because of that.”
“And her?”
“I will strive to lower the cost of executing her brand of justice,” George said. “Eventually, her judgment will be decided by humanity.”
“Achoo!”
Ji Ma sneezed: “Which guy is talking bad about me again?”
As she spoke, she sensed someone calling her name while saying bad things, so she waved her hand and casually cast some curses.
She was scrolling on her phone, where the characters “Shanfeng County woman giving birth to eight children” appeared on the screen.
