Chapter 154: Causing an Uproar!
Courtyard of the police station.
The police car entered the back gate and stopped the car in the courtyard.
It was very messy and noisy. There were robbers who had just been arrested and were being prepared to transfer to another station, and people, who were arrested for drunken rioting the previous night, being released.
“Superintendent Song?” An old policeman looked over.
Superintendent Song said, “Old Zhao, is there any empty spare room?”
Old Zhao nodded, “There is. Eh, you arrested someone personally?”
Superintendent Song looked at Zhang Ye beside him, “This person is a bit special. He’s a public figure, so I personally led the team.”
“Alright, then hand it to me. I’ll bring him there. Is there a need for handcuffs? What crime did he commit?” Old Zhao looked quizzically at Zhang Ye. Typically, when a public figure was brought to their station, they had to be a bit more careful. After all, a public figure had a lot more fans and the public attention on it was greater. Sometimes there were even reporters, so it was not a simple thing to handle.
With some thought, Superintendent Song said, “He is suspected of intentionally causing bodily harm. Also the matter is a bit serious, so handcuff him, just in case.”
“Alright.” Old Zhao accepted the order.
Zhang Ye looked at them, “Have you investigated properly? Handcuffing me?”
“How we investigate is our matter!” A policeman said from behind, “Let’s go!”
Zhang Ye did not resist, “Alright, I sure want to see how you do your investigations!”
“You sure have lots of nonsense to say! Are you going?” The policemen were a bit unhappy from seeing him so unyielding despite being in the police station.
In a small dark room.
A remanding cell used to temporarily imprison people in the police station.
Zhang Ye walked in. Taking a few looks around, there was a table in the room. Bottles of finished mineral water were scattered on the ground. Other than that, there was nothing else. The room wasn’t too big, and the environment was not that clean. There was a faint moist smell to it that was slightly pungent.
Superintendent Song said to Old Zhao, “I’m handing him over to you. I’ll go to the hospital to check on the victim’s injuries. The hospital’s assessment report should be out soon.”
“Alright, be rest assured, ” Old Zhao said.
Only then did Superintendent Song leave with an old policeman.
A junior policeman left behind asked, “Brother Zhao, where should we secure him to?”
After some pondering, Old Zhao pointed to a heating pipe, “Old place.”
“Alright.” The junior policeman lowered his head to cuff Zhang Ye’s ankle and then, with a clank, cuffed it to the heating pipe.
Zhang Ye moved his foot around, and he was still sneering.
Old Zhao said to the junior policeman, “Go check his record.” Then he said to Zhang Ye, “Comrade, we are just doing business accordingly. Before we finish our investigations, it might be tough on you.” As Zhang Ye was a public figure, and seemed somewhat famous, they did not dare to be violent.
The junior policeman went to check and not long later, he came back with a surprised look. He was even holding a copy of a document, “Brother Zhao, take a look. This…”
“What’s the matter?” Old Zhao looked it over.
The junior policeman was very surprised, “This person has no prior record. However, the Guimen police station has a record of his. Two burglars had entered his neighbor’s house and were wielding knives. Back then, to protect a young girl from the neighbor’s house, he even fought with the criminals himself and even subdued them. The records even said he was slashed by the criminals and was injured.”
“Oh? There was such a thing?” Old Zhao was a bit surprised. He looked at Zhang Ye and gave him a thumbs up, “Two knife-wielding criminals… I can’t even handle that!”
Zhang Ye said nonchalantly, “You can’t hide from what you meet.”
The attitude the junior police gave to Zhang Ye also changed. He said softly, “Old Zhao, seeing this record, the matter this time is likely because he was acting bravely for a just cause. When I was checking the case, I heard people from Records say that. This Zhang Ye is quite famous in Beijing. Do you remember the news on television talking about a celebrity dissipating all his wealth to save a fan? That celebrity seems to be him. He used all his cash and even borrowed money just to pay the surgery fee for his fan. From these two matters, this person’s character and personality…is impeccable!”
Old Zhao was also in a dilemma, “Superintendent Song has already gone to investigate. We can’t be sure before the investigations are done. However…” Looking at Zhang Ye, “Wrap a cloth in Teacher Zhang’s handcuffs, so that we don’t scuff his ankle.”
“Alright, I’ll do it.” The junior policeman found a piece of cloth and squatted by Zhang Ye’s foot and wrapped it around the handcuffs. He even brought a bottle of mineral water to Zhang Ye. For a person who had fought two knife-wielding criminals to save a young girl and a person who was willing to dissipate his wealth to save a fan, they only felt respect. So their attitude was a lot kinder.
Zhang Ye did not stand on ceremony as he drank a mouthful of water. After capping the bottle, he asked, “When can I go?”
Old Zhao said, “We still need to investigate and receive the injury report. The fastest would be within 24 hours. If it’s slower, we might need to transfer you to a branch for police custody.”
Zhang Ye narrowed his eyes, “Police custody?”
Old Zhao shrugged, “It’s not up to us.”
At this moment, a policewoman came in, “Where’s Teacher Zhang? Aiyah! It’s really Teacher Zhang? I heard that they brought you here. I never expected it to be true!” She took out a book and a pen, “I’m one of your biggest fans! I love your poems to death! Especially the modern poems! It’s completely… Can you give me an autograph?” However, thinking of Zhang Ye’s present situation, she turned awkward. “Sorry, I was also too excited. This setting is really too… Heh!” When she saw the handcuff by Zhang Ye’s foot, she raged, “Who cuffed Teacher Zhang?”
Old Zhao said helplessly, “It was instructed by Superintendent Song.”
The policewoman’s expression changed, “How can this be!?”
“It’s not my intention. Go talk to Superintendent Song about it.” Old Zhao raised his right hand.
However, Zhang Ye said, “It’s okay. Give me the book. I’ll give you an autograph.”
The policewoman quickly handed it over, “Thank you, thank you.”
Zhang Ye signed his name and handed the book back to her, “I should thank you for liking my works.”
The policewoman asked Old Zhao, “Brother Zhao, what happened to Teacher Zhang? Are you sure you didn’t arrest the wrong person?”
Old Zhao said, “I also don’t know the details. I heard he beat someone up, and it was not light either.”
The policewoman immediately knew it was trouble, but she could not help in any way. “Teacher Zhang, it’s almost noon. I’ll bring you your meal in a while!”
The junior policeman blinked, “It seems unnecessary. Usually the people in the small dark room just receive some bread…”
The policewoman leered at him, “Can’t I use my own money to buy something from a restaurant? Can’t I bring the food box to Teacher Zhang myself?”
The junior policeman said with a wry smile, “Fine, as Sis Lei wishes. You don’t have to do it. I’ll buy in a while. Alright, Sis Lei?”
The policewoman said, “That’s more like it.”
Zhang Ye immediately said, “There’s no need to be so troublesome. Thank you. I’ll be fine eating what others eat.”
The policewoman waved her hand, “That won’t do. My parents watch your ‘Lecture Room’ every day. They also know about you paying the surgery fees for your fan. They’re all full of praise for you every day. If my parents know I did not treat you well, they will tear me apart.”
……
At the same time.
A rumor spread on the internet!
“Something big has happened! None of you know yet, right?”
“What’s the matter?”
“My wife and I, who received two live tickets of ‘Lecture Room’ from a friend, went to the television station to watch the live recording. In the end, we saw a few policemen from the police station come to make an arrest. The moment that Teacher Zhang Ye finished recording, he was brought away by the police. I even watched them board the police car with my own eyes!”
“Threadstarter, please take notice. Do not create rumors!”
“That’s right. Teacher Zhang is such a nice person. Why would he be arrested?”
“The threadstarter didn’t create rumors. I was present there, too. Zhang Ye was really arrested. I even happened to hear that Zhang Ye had intentionally caused bodily harm!”
“What?”
“Is that true?”
“Teacher Zhang got into big trouble!”
“It can’t be? Then will ‘Lecture Room’ still carry on broadcasting? It can’t be halted, right?”
Back then, there were too many people in the recording studio, so there was no way of keeping this news under wraps. In the blink of an eye, the news proliferated. As for the actual reason for why Zhang Ye was arrested, most were still unsure. Hence there was some erroneous information as people speculated. Some said Zhang Ye murdered someone, while some said Zhang Ye had put on airs and beat up a colleague. There was all sorts of talk on Weibo.
Not long later, the news appeared on several internet portals.
Although Zhang Ye was not that famous, and it was just a small piece of text in the entertainment news section, the title was very eye-catching, “Famous ‘Lecture Room’ Lecturer, Zhang Ye, Taken in for Questioning by Police”!
Finally, someone in the know revealed what was going on. It could be seen that this insider was an employee of the Beijing Television Station.
“Something very infuriating happened today. This is because I witnessed a very disgusting matter. The television station’s Leader’s son came to the unit to take liberties with a woman. When he was prevented from doing so, that person did not heed the warning and even wanted to beat someone up. And that someone was a 50+ year old comrade. When Teacher Zhang Ye saw this, he sprung forward and protected the old comrade and the woman who was taken liberty of. He was kicked more than ten times before he barely managed to subdue the villain. But in the end, it was Zhang Ye who was arrested. As for who the Leader is, it’s not my place to say, but this matter really makes one feel coldness! Isn’t this confusing right from wrong? I want to ask what is wrong with this society! All the witnesses in the station can testify for Teacher Zhang Ye. All of them said Teacher Zhang was acting as a Good Samaritan, and it was also in self-defense. After all, the other party was too brutal in his attacks, so Teacher Zhang had no choice but to fight back. However, the police did not even listen to anyone’s words. They disregarded what anyone said and just arrested him! I dare to guarantee that someone is working the police behind the scenes, and might even have used personal relationships! Anyone who has a little conscience and sense of justice, please push this thread to the top! Let even more people see it! Rescue Teacher Zhang!”
“Propping!”
“Holy shit! So insidious!”
“Supporting Teacher Zhang!”
“Let that bunch of people die!”
The number of hits for the thread quickly soared!
Many people replied to the thread in anger as they demanded for Zhang Ye’s release!
However, in less than half an hour, this thread was deleted by the administrator of the forum. The reason for deleting the thread was, “spreading unhealthy information”.
This move ignited the fumes of anger in even more people!
“The thread was deleted?”
“What does it mean, ‘unhealthy information’?”
“This is infuriating! I’m really angry!”
“There must be someone behind the scenes! Someone is trying to push Teacher Zhang Ye to his death!”
“Could it be done by the television station’s departmental Leader the threadstarter mentioned? To have such a high position, he must have some interpersonal connections in the media circles. It’s nothing to get them to delete the thread!”
“His son was being a hooligan and even tried to beat someone up, and to think he thinks he is being reasonable?
“I never liked Zhang Ye before. I felt like he does not know how to restrain himself and that he dares to even curse his Leader. There are some problems with that. But today, I support Zhang Ye. Well beaten! This sort of person should be beaten to death!”
Very quickly, the negative comments were also deleted. Not a single one was left!
Threads that reprimanded Zhang Ye for beating someone or that he deserved being arrested remained undeleted!
When everyone saw this, they were furious. This was wiping out any negative opinions on the person behind the scenes? Only negative comments about Zhang Ye were left behind? Using this censoring method to enforce a narrative about Zhang Ye’s battery matter? No one was allowed to comment or question?
F**k!
You are crazy!