The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Chen Shi slept on a makeshift bed on the floor upstairs. The old tile-roofed house was infested with rats, which rolled around on the floor and scurried back and forth over the blankets. Chen Shi was afraid to sleep, fearing that if he fell asleep, a rat would bite his face.

Chen Shi didn't sleep all night and got up early at dawn.

Wang Yanhong got up to use the restroom and saw Chen Shi sitting in the main room, looking exhausted, so she knew he hadn't slept well.

"Go to my room and sleep. I'll make breakfast and wake you up when it's ready."

She managed to get through the night, but what would happen if her parents woke up and saw her sleeping in Wang Yanhong's room?

"Fine, I'll make breakfast with you."

Wang Yanhong knew that Chen Shi was afraid his parents would misunderstand if they saw this, so she didn't insist, and the two of them started a fire together to make breakfast.

Her parents only got up after breakfast was prepared.

After breakfast, the two returned to Fushan Town together.

In the blink of an eye, it's December, and 2009 is counting down.

Chen Shi received a call from his brother Chen Xing, informing him that they had returned and asking him to come back.

Two months ago, my sister-in-law gave birth to a baby boy in another city, and he hasn't met him yet.

I'm so happy for my brother; he has a son and a daughter, making a perfect family.

He prepared a red envelope containing 500 yuan for his nephew.

He rushed home after get off work on Friday, and by the time he got home it was already dark.

My little niece ran over and exclaimed, "Uncle's back!"

Chen Shi picked up his little niece and kissed her.

Chen Xing took out a cigarette and handed one to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi asked, "Brother, when did you get back?"

"I've been back for a few days now. I went to the village to get a certificate for your nephew's household registration, but the village head refused to issue one, saying that we had exceeded the birth limit and he couldn't issue one."

To get a certificate, you have to pay a fine of 10,000 yuan to the family planning commission. Only after you have the fine receipt will they issue the certificate.

He looked at Chen Shi and said, "Now that you've been transferred back to the police station, the police station is responsible for your household registration. Can you think of a way to register your household directly, bypassing the village level?"

Xu Linlin is in charge of the household registration process; I'll ask her when I get to work.

"Brother, don't worry, I'll figure something out. Let's postpone the residency application for now."

Chen Xing still believed in his younger brother. Being a police officer at the police station was just a matter of getting a household registration; it shouldn't be too difficult.

The fine of 10,000 yuan is not that he can't afford it, it's just too expensive. It would take him half a year to save more than 10,000 yuan, which means he would work for nothing for half a year.

If my brother hadn't been at the police station, I would have accepted the 10,000 yuan fine. But since someone was at the police station, it's embarrassing to pay a 10,000 yuan fine.

In fact, when something happens in the countryside, most people's first instinct is to seek connections.

If you can't find a connection, then you have to go through the proper procedures; just do what needs to be done.

When Chen Xing returned, he didn't want to trouble his younger brother, who was now a police officer at the local police station. The village chief should at least give him some face, but to his surprise, the village chief handled things strictly by the book and didn't give him any face at all.

He also secretly delivered a pack of cigarettes and two bottles of liquor to the village head's house, but the head refused to accept them. He then had his wife chase after him and return them to him.

Chen Shi stayed at home for a day and even considered asking the village chief to pull some strings. But even if he got the village's certificate, who knew what kind of certificate the police station would refuse?

To get things done in one go, just go directly to Xu Linlin and ask about the specifics. Maybe she'll handle it for you?

His sister-in-law came out carrying her little nephew. Chen Shi stepped forward, took the little nephew from him, and the chubby-faced boy smiled at him.

My sister-in-law complained from the side, "I told you to come back a long time ago to give gifts and get the birth certificate, but you thought it was too far and wanted to save on travel expenses. Now the baby is born, but they won't give you the certificate, so you can't register the child's birth. What will happen to your child's schooling in the future?"

Chen Xing snorted coldly: "You think that if you come back and give them some gifts, they'll give you a birth permit?"

The village chief's son studied with me when he was a child. I beat him up, and he holds a grudge, so he deliberately makes things difficult for me. Do you understand?

Seeing that his brother and sister-in-law were about to argue, Chen Shi quickly said, "Brother, sister-in-law, don't worry about this. I'll take care of the matter of my nephew's household registration."

The baby is less than two months old and has several years before starting school, so registering the household registration can't be rushed. I'll ask around when I get back to work to find out what specific procedures are required.

Chen Xing saw that his younger brother said he would take care of it and didn't say anything. His sister-in-law also shut up. It was just a matter of registering a household. The police station had people, and it was a very simple matter. Even if the village chief didn't issue a certificate, he could still register the household.

Chen Shi gave the prepared red envelope to his sister-in-law, and after having breakfast on Sunday, he returned to Fushan Town.

On Monday, Chen Shi went to the administrative office and brought Xu Linlin a cup of milk tea.

She pushed open the door and went in with a smile, saying, "Good morning, Sister Xu. I bought breakfast and brought you a cup of milk tea."

"How much is it? I'll give it to you."

"I'm treating you to drinks, why are you asking for money? Talking about money with me is just being formal."

Xu Linlin smiled broadly: "Thank you. When are you and Yan Hong getting married? I'll give you a big red envelope."

"We should be giving you the big red envelope; after all, you're the one who introduced us."

"Just remember that," Xu Linlin said with a charming smile, her mature beauty making her even more alluring.

Chen Shi really wanted to go up and kiss her, but he suppressed his racing heart and changed the subject.

"Sister Xu, I have a question. What procedures are required for registering a child born outside the one-child policy?"

Xu Linlin looked at Chen Shi: "Why are you asking this? Someone in my family has had an extra child and needs to register the birth. They came to you."

"My brother had a daughter as his first child, and now he has a son as his second child. This is considered an over-birth. He's coming back to register his household registration, and he asked me to inquire about it."

After hearing this, Xu Linlin's smile faded and she became serious.

"The regulations on registering births in violation of the one-child policy are very strict. You need a birth permit issued by the family planning commission, or a certificate from the village stating that the first child has a disability, before you can register the child."

Chen Shi knew that Xu Linlin didn't want to take responsibility. She could get her household registration processed, but if it was discovered or someone reported her, she would be out of a job.

It's not worth risking her job to help you with something; it's not worth the risk.

It hasn't been easy for her to get to where she is now. Rumors from the police station suggest she's Wang Jianchuan's mistress, which is very likely true. Their relationship is unusual; they always seem very serious when they meet at the police station. The more serious they are, the more suspicious it seems.

Chen Shi nodded, not wanting to make things difficult for Xu Linlin.

"Thank you, Sister Xu, I understand."

Chen Shi walked out of the office and promised his brother and sister-in-law that he would pay the 10,000 yuan fine for having too many children.

The situation is somewhat complicated. You don't know anyone at the family planning commission, and even if you did, they wouldn't issue you a birth permit without you paying money, which is against the rules.

Unless you have something useful that makes it worthwhile for someone to risk breaking the rules.

It's even more impossible to find the village head. The two families have always had conflicts. When my brother was in school, he got into a fight with the village head's son and broke his son's hand.

He received 5,000 yuan in compensation. Later, his son tried to join the army through connections, but because of his broken hand, it was discovered that he couldn't go.

The village chief harbored a grudge against his family ever since, and would make things difficult for them whenever possible.

This is against the rules; don't even think about asking him to issue a certificate.

Even if you follow the normal procedures, he won't give you a ticket. He doesn't respect a police officer from a local police station.

Chen Shi realized that he had acted impulsively. He was now in a difficult position. If he failed to get things done, what would his brother and sister-in-law think?

You should be careful what you say. No matter who you're talking to, only say half of what you mean. Don't say anything absolute, or you'll end up in a mess.

Chen Shi felt overwhelmed; this was something he, a mere police officer, couldn't handle.

I'll save a thousand each month, and when I have ten thousand, I'll secretly pay the fine for having too many children. Then I'll say that I got someone to handle it, so I can save face in front of my brother and sister-in-law.

It seems that this is the only way to do it now.