We asked you to make an anti-corruption film, but you made one in the name of the people!

Lin Mo had been back from Shanghai for less than a week when something happened online.

It's not a celebrity scandal, it's a surveillance video.

The video shows a small supermarket, around 11 p.m., where a woman in a red dress is arranging goods behind the checkout counter.

The glass door was pushed open, and a bald man walked in, swaying unsteadily; he was clearly drunk.

He said a few words to the woman, who shook her head. Suddenly, the bald man grabbed the woman from behind the cashier and shoved her to the ground.

What followed was a scene that no one could watch calmly.

The woman shouted for about two minutes until her voice was hoarse, but there was no one else in the store or on the street.

Then a man burst in—the woman's husband.

He was stunned for a second when he saw the scene on the ground, then rushed into the back kitchen and grabbed a cleaver.

Upon seeing the knife, the bald man released his grip and stepped back.

The woman's husband slashed his neck with a knife.

The bald man fell down, blood splattering everywhere.

The woman huddled next to the cashier, trembling. The man stood there for a few seconds with the knife in his hand, then dropped it. He knelt down and hugged the woman, and neither of them spoke.

The surveillance video ends here, lasting four minutes and twelve seconds.

The video was first posted by a local social media account with the title: "Wife was bullied, husband fought back with a knife and killed the perpetrator. Does this count as self-defense?"

It was sent out around 9 p.m.

By 11 o'clock, the number of views had exceeded 30 million.

By the next morning, the number of views had exceeded 200 million.

The comment section exploded.

"Is that even a question? Of course it's self-defense! I would have done the same!"

"The bald guy asked for his own death; he deserved to die."

"It would be heartbreaking if the law convicted this husband."

But some people said, "Wait, calm down. The bald man had already let go and was backing away. If you attacked him at that moment, wouldn't that be considered excessive self-defense? Wouldn't that be considered intentional homicide?"

This comment was attacked with insults over 3,000 times.

"They're bullying your own wife, and you're still going to stay calm? Are you even going to calculate how many steps they've taken back?"

"Does the law protect bad people?"

"As a lawyer, let me say this: If the bald man stops his attack and retreats, the necessity and urgency of self-defense will indeed decrease. In this situation, continuing to fight back is easily considered excessive self-defense in judicial practice."

"Get lost! What kind of bullshit lawyer are you!"

"Don't use legal provisions to suppress the feelings of ordinary people. If your wife was being bullied, would you go and chop her up?"

"I'll chop."

+1.

+10086.

For three consecutive days, the same hashtag appeared on the trending search list: #Is it legitimate self-defense if a husband kills his wife in self-defense?# followed by the word "hot".

Major media outlets followed up with reports.

But what truly made this incident go viral was a statement from the local police.

The report was issued on the morning of the third day after the incident.

The report stated that the suspect, Li, has been criminally detained in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.

The mere mention of the suspect ignited a firestorm across the internet.

"A crime? What crime did he commit? Protecting his wife is a crime?"

"Holy crap, which bastard wrote this report?"

"You ignored the bald man when he was bullying women, but you arrested her husband when he came to protect his family?"

"Where's the prosecutor's office? The prosecutor's office should say something!"

The incident occurred in Yongcheng, a small city in a southern province.

The local municipal procuratorate was caught off guard by netizens.

The official WeChat account of Yongcheng City Procuratorate is updated very infrequently, posting only a few times a month, and the content is mostly about legal knowledge and the spirit of meetings.

After the incident, the number of comments under the latest Weibo post jumped from dozens to tens of thousands, all of them questioning the poster.

"Whose interests are you, the prosecutor's office, protecting?"

When will the husband be released?

Don't you recognize the words "self-defense"?

The chief prosecutor of Yongcheng City Procuratorate is surnamed Zhou. He is in his early fifties and has worked in the local political and legal system for more than ten years. He has seen all kinds of cases.

But being bombarded with tens of thousands of comments at the same time was something he had never experienced before.

He convened the procuratorial committee immediately.

The meeting was heated, with two factions: one faction believed that the bald man had stopped the attack and retreated, and that the husband's counterattack had exceeded the necessary limits, constituting excessive self-defense, and should be prosecuted for intentional injury resulting in death.

Another viewpoint argues that the entire process should not be viewed in isolation. The scene the husband saw when he rushed into the store would have a tremendous psychological impact on anyone. Under such extreme emotions, he should not be expected to make a perfect judgment, and it was considered legitimate self-defense.

Neither side could convince the other.

Chief Prosecutor Zhou reviewed the case materials again, remained silent for a long time, and finally said, "Proceed according to procedure and conduct supplementary investigations. No matter how much public pressure there is, the case must be handled according to the law."

However, the online interpretation of the phrase "handle according to law" is simply "keep him locked up."

The public outcry not only failed to subside, but instead intensified.

The Yongcheng City Procuratorate couldn't withstand the pressure and reported the matter to the Provincial Procuratorate.

Even the provincial procuratorate was unsure—the nuances of this case were too delicate; it wasn't a simple matter of right or wrong, but rather a rift between legal provisions and the people's basic sense of justice.

So it was reported again.

The materials were eventually sent to the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Yanjing, the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Zhang Jianzheng was sitting behind his desk, with a thick stack of case files spread out in front of him.

He turned a couple of pages, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Zhao Jian sat on the sofa, the teacup in front of him steaming, and neither of them spoke.

After a long while, Prosecutor Zhang spoke.

"Old Zhao, why do you think the people are dissatisfied with this case?"

Prosecutor Zhao thought for a moment: "Because ordinary people don't read the legal statutes; they only care about whether the person deserves to die. The bald man deserved to die, so the person who killed him is a hero. As for whether the timing of the killing was too early or too late, or whether an extra blow was made—ordinary people don't care."

Zhang Jian nodded: "I don't care, but it makes sense. Legal principles and human sentiments shouldn't be opposed to each other."

He stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Prosecutor Zhao.

"We've said a thousand times in the documents that the people should feel fairness and justice in every judicial case, but in this case—what did the people feel? Their intuition told them that this person shouldn't have been arrested, but the law arrested him, and they no longer trust us."

Zhao Jian didn't respond; he knew Zhang Jian was still talking.

"The Yongcheng City Procuratorate did nothing wrong. According to existing judicial interpretations and past precedents, there is a basis for classifying similar situations as excessive self-defense. But they overlooked one thing—the law is not just a set of rules; the law also has a human element." Prosecutor Zhang turned to look at Prosecutor Zhao. "Where exactly are the boundaries of legitimate self-defense? This is a question that not only ordinary people don't understand, but also the grassroots procuratorates don't understand. It's not that they are unprofessional; it's that the current judicial interpretations are too general. What constitutes an ongoing unlawful infringement? What does it mean to clearly exceed the necessary limits? Without clear standards, those handling cases lack confidence."

He paused, then asked a question that surprised Prosecutor Zhao.

"Old Zhao, do you think this issue could be clearly explained in a movie?"

Zhao, the prosecutor, paused for a moment, then came to his senses: "Prosecutor Zhang, you want Xiao Lin to take the photos?"

"He has the ability." Prosecutor Zhang sat down again, picked up his teacup and took a sip. "He can explain anti-corruption clearly, anti-fraud clearly, and the fight against organized crime clearly. Self-defense—he can explain that clearly too."

Zhao Jian didn't answer immediately; his mind was already racing.

The subject of self-defense is more challenging than previous themes like anti-corruption, anti-fraud, and anti-organized crime.

Those stories feature good guys catching bad guys, which makes ordinary people feel relieved.

Self-defense is when a good person kills a bad person—but the good person can also be sentenced.

The line here is very thin; even a slight deviation can lead to misleading the audience.

"Prosecutor Zhang, the appropriate level of censorship for this subject matter..." Prosecutor Zhao asked cautiously.

"The scope is not the issue." Prosecutor Zhang put down his teacup, his tone calm. "The direction is to let the people know that the law protects good people—as long as the direction is right, I'll take responsibility for the scope."

Zhao Jian stood up: "Zhang Jian, I'll go find Lin Mo right now."

When Zhao Jian returned to his office, the first thing he did was call Lin Mo.

"Kobayashi, where are you?"

"Prosecutor Zhao, I'm in my office, what's up?"

Come to my place.

Lin Mo hung up the phone, straightened his shirt collar, and went upstairs.

He is the deputy director of the publicity department, and his office is right next to Lao Han's.

The deputy director has a much heavier workload than a staff member—briefings, documents, meetings, coordination. After handling administrative matters each day, he has very little time left to think about creative work.

But as soon as the call came, he knew—there was work to be done again.

The door to Prosecutor Zhao's office was open. When Lin Mo knocked and went in, Prosecutor Zhao was standing by the window looking at his phone.

"Prosecutor Zhao, you wanted to see me?"

"Sit down." Zhao Jian pointed to the sofa and sat down on the single chair opposite him. He picked up the tablet computer from the coffee table, opened a video, and handed it to Lin Mo.

Have you seen this case?

Lin Mo took the tablet.

The screen displayed the surveillance video from the small supermarket. He nodded: "I've seen it. It's causing quite a stir online."

"Prosecutor Zhang just called me over." Prosecutor Zhao leaned back in his chair, his voice lowered. "This case is not just a criminal case; it reflects a larger problem—there is a gap between the public's understanding of legitimate self-defense and the standards for recognition by our judicial organs, and the gap is not small."

Lin Mo didn't respond, waiting for Prosecutor Zhao to continue.

"The Yongcheng City Procuratorate followed the procedures, but the people don't accept it. They feel that the husband shouldn't have been arrested. Prosecutor Zhang's point is—this issue can't be explained clearly just by issuing documents, holding lectures, and putting up posters." Prosecutor Zhao looked at Lin Mo, "We need to use methods that the people like to see."

Lin Mo already knew what was going on.

"Prosecutor Zhao, do you want me to make a film about legitimate self-defense?"

"Yes." Prosecutor Zhao nodded. "Whether it's a movie or a TV series, you decide. But the core is just one thing—to clearly explain the concept of legitimate self-defense, when it counts as legitimate self-defense, when it doesn't, and why it doesn't count, so that the public can understand it and that those handling cases at the grassroots level can have confidence."

Lin Mo remained silent for a while.

justifiable defense.

Images were already flashing through his mind.

The previous life's "Article 20", that Spring Festival film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Lei Jiayin.

The title is taken from Article 20 of the Criminal Law—the clause concerning legitimate self-defense.

The film tells the story of a group of grassroots prosecutors who, while handling a case involving suspected intentional injury, re-examine the legal boundaries of legitimate self-defense and ultimately withstand pressure to decide not to prosecute.

After the movie was released, it sparked a nationwide discussion about legitimate self-defense.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate specifically mentioned the statement "the law cannot yield to illegality" in its work report to the Two Sessions.

"Prosecutor Zhao," Lin Mo looked up, "I'll direct this film."

Zhao Jian looked at him, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth: "How do you plan to film it?"

Lin Mo thought for a moment and said, "It's not about the moment the knife was struck, but what happened afterward. How the police investigated, how the prosecutor handled it, how the court ruled—if all these processes are clearly documented, the public will know that the law isn't a one-size-fits-all approach; it's about weighing and considering every step. They don't believe in the law because they don't know how it works."

After listening, Prosecutor Zhao remained silent for several seconds, then stood up, walked to his desk, and picked up the phone.

"Prosecutor Zhang, I've spoken with Xiao Lin. His approach is—film the investigation process, not the crime scene; film the legal reasoning, not the emotional outburst."

After hearing something said on the other end of the phone, Prosecutor Zhao hummed twice and then hung up.

He turned to look at Lin Mo: "Prosecutor Zhang said that you should go ahead and do it. Also—" He paused, "Prosecutor Zhang also mentioned that the Supreme People's Court might also be paying attention to this project. The standards for determining legitimate self-defense are a source of confusion not only for the procuratorate but also for the courts. If the courts are also willing to participate, this film will be a collaboration between the three parties, making it even more significant."

Lin Mo felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Supreme People's Court.

The three companies joined forces.

The entire political and legal system is focused on the issue of legitimate self-defense.

"Prosecutor Zhao, give me a few days. I'll start by writing an outline."

"Go ahead." Inspector Zhao sat back down in his chair. "If you need anything, just come find me."

Lin Mo returned to his office and closed the door.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

The images flashed through my mind frame by frame.

In the previous life of "Article 20", the protagonist Han Ming was a grassroots prosecutor. When he was handling a case of legitimate self-defense, he faced pressure from all sides - his superiors were urging him to close the case, public opinion was calling for the release of the person, and his colleagues advised him not to take it too seriously.

He struggled between the law and reality, but ultimately chose to stand on the side of justice.

The core line is: "The law cannot yield to illegality."

This sentence was originally from the Supreme People's Procuratorate's work report in my previous life; no one has said it in this world yet.

Lin Mo opened his eyes and created a new document.

He typed a line as the title—"Article Twenty".