Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Upon arriving at the Intermediate People's Court, Director Chen knocked on the Jia family's door, and the neighbors all gathered around.

Director Chen didn't offer much explanation, but simply announced the results.

"Bang Geng was instigated by Jia Zhangshi to steal. Because the amount was huge and he was instigated to commit the crime, and considering that he is only 6 years old, he was given criticism and education, family discipline, and community supervision as punishment."

(In the first episode of the original drama, Bang Geng was in the 5th or 6th grade of elementary school in 65. Since he didn't go to junior high school, he must have been around 11 or 12 years old, which means he was born no earlier than 53. Qin Huairu married into the family in 52, which is exactly the same as the timeline. This book tentatively states that Bang Geng was born in 53, so he would be around 6 years old now in the early 60s, not yet 7 years old.)

Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Bang Geng wouldn't go to jail or be sent to a juvenile detention center.

Exactly, he's just a child, only in first grade. We can't possibly send him to a juvenile detention center, can we?

Even though a clear Criminal Law had not yet been promulgated at that time (my country's first Criminal Law was passed in 1979), judicial practice and legal theory generally held that young children had no ability to recognize or control their own behavior and did not have criminal responsibility.

The national policy is to "educate, reform, and rehabilitate" wayward youths, especially young children. Punishing an ignorant child is inconsistent with socialist moral standards and judicial principles.

Police officers, teachers, or neighborhood committee directors will give the child a serious reprimand and educate him, telling him in the simplest terms that "stealing is a bad behavior."

This process, though serious, aims to make them recognize their mistakes, not to punish them.

The child's parents (especially the father) will be severely criticized and deemed "lax in discipline" and "undeniably responsible." The parents may need to make a self-criticism at their workplace or neighborhood committee and promise to strictly discipline the child.

If the child is already in kindergarten or primary school, the teacher will be aware of this and will provide more attention and guidance in daily life.

The neighborhood committee members, especially the older women, will play a crucial role. They will closely monitor the child and family, engaging in discussions and educating the community, creating strong community oversight and public pressure, all aimed at "saving the child and helping the family."

Anyway, the "bang geng" (a type of slang term for a type of slang) is quite famous in Nanluoguxiang.

The title of thief is practically cemented on him.

But—the instigators are not so easily let off the hook.

"Jia Zhangshi instigated minors to steal, corrupting teenagers and disrupting social order."

"After investigation, it was decided that he would be sent to the Tuanhe Farm in the southern suburbs of Daxing District for one year of labor reform."

The decision was made decisively, leaving no time for anyone to react.

Jia Dongxu collapsed to the ground, he hadn't expected the punishment to be so severe.

"In addition, all stolen goods must be returned. If they have been damaged or consumed, they must be converted into cash according to their actual value."

"He will be fined 10 yuan and ordered to pay 10 yuan in compensation."

Before everyone could react, Zhang Dabiao started rambling, "I don't want the things they stole; I'm afraid they're not clean."

"Last time, Teacher Yan calculated it for me, and it came to 48.5 yuan in total. He directly converted it into cash for me."

"There's also a quilt and a blanket, which were peed on by their dog, so I don't want them anymore."

"Give me a new one."

He didn't have the time or inclination to wash it slowly.

Qin Huairu's vision went black, and she slid down and sat on the ground.

"Zhang Dabiao, you're trying to kill the Jia family!"

Not to mention the 48.5 yuan, which we couldn't afford to pay anyway, there's also the 10 yuan fine and 10 yuan compensation.

But a quilt and a cotton quilt? In those days, cotton was rarer than meat. Not only was it expensive, but the key question was where to get cotton coupons and cloth coupons?

In 60, in some areas, the annual cloth ration was only 1.2 feet per person. The cloth ration for a quilt and the quilt cover might require the whole family to save up cloth rations for a long time, not to mention cotton rations. A quilt and a blanket would require more than 10 jin of cotton rations, right?

Where can I find that money?

Even if the Jia family were willing to compensate, they simply couldn't afford it.

At this moment, Yan Bugui suddenly muttered, "The other day, the neighbor's Sun family's child got married and they spent a whole 12 yuan on new cotton quilts!"

「这加起来就60块5毛了！还有一个10块钱的赔偿？再加10斤棉花票，至少10尺布票，10斤肉票，还得搭上一些工业券……啧啧啧啧……」

"70.5 yuan?"

Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu were completely dumbfounded.

Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, and the others couldn't hold back any longer and stood up to rebuke Zhang Dabiao: "Zhang Dabiao, are you pushing the Jia family to their doom?!"

"Do you have no humanity left? Do you have no compassion? I've made the decision. You write a letter of understanding to the Jia family, and I'll have them hold a banquet in the courtyard to apologize to you. That will be the end of it."

"Brother Da Biao, my mom is getting old, she can't handle working on the farm. She's your third aunt, please forgive her this time for the sake of our family."

"Brother Da Biao, we didn't throw any of that stuff away. We only ate five jin of meat. We'll give it all back to you, and we'll even give you another five jin of meat, okay? I'll wash your bedding, okay? I promise I'll wash it spotless! We really can't afford to pay for this!"

"Zhang Dabiao, are you even a man? Because of your report, the Jia family is going to be ruined! How can you be so heartless?!"

"Da Biao, be forgiving when you can. Everyone has difficult times, there's no need to make such a big deal out of it."

"Hmm, Zhang Dabiao, I have to say something about this. We're neighbors, the Jia family can just make up for what they owe you. There's no need to push your neighbor to the brink. What do you think..."

"Dad, come back! Don't worry about it!"

"...?"

……

The entire courtyard was noisy, but Zhang Dabiao remained unmoved. He sat on the covered walkway and lit a cigarette. Yan Jiecheng quickly lit it for him, and Zhang Dabiao didn't even have a chance to find a match.

A 16-year-old, third-grade elementary school student, always has a cigarette in his mouth...

But he's 1.7 meters tall, so the scene is quite disjointed.

"This matter was decided by the police station according to laws and regulations. Do you think you know more about the law than the police station?"

"Why don't you conduct the interrogation?"

"What kind of nonsense is this! Oh, it's fine if they scheme against me, it's fine if they steal from me, it's fine if they rob me, but you all just sit back and do nothing."

"Now that the verdict is in, you all jump out to act like big shots and moral exemplars?"

"Jia Zhangshi has broken the law, you understand? This isn't just some petty squabble between neighbors, she's broken the law, you know?!"

"Are you above the law?"

"Stand up for me? Who the hell do you all think you are?!"

"I only listen to the police station in this matter!"

"Zhang Dabiao, you..."

"I only listen to the police station!"

"The Jia family is so..."

"I only listen to the police station!"

No matter who pleaded for him, Zhang Dabiao remained there, legs crossed, only saying, "I'll listen to the police station."

What's there to explain? You can't explain it to beasts.

If even the police station is "willing" and "acceptable" to release Jia Zhangshi, then Zhang Dabiao has no choice but to accept his fate.

What else is there to say?

Fortunately, Director Chen was very upright and explained to everyone: "Jia Zhangshi's instigation of minors to commit crimes is more serious than Jia Zhangshi's direct theft."

"If the family members are not satisfied with the police station's decision, they can appeal to the court."

"However, the police station's decision is one year of labor reform. If the court intervenes, and the amount involved is huge, it could very well be more than three years in prison."

"So whether or not to appeal is a decision for you, the family."