175: Unusual school bullying

“A particularly tricky case? How tricky is it that I have to go back? Can’t anyone else handle it?” Zhou Yun asked.

Old Zhuang’s voice came from the phone: “It’s a school bullying case, but not an ordinary one. How should I put it? You’ll see when you come back.”

A school bullying case? Zhou Yun thought for a moment and said, “Alright then, I’ll go back and take a look.”

His role at the law firm was precisely that of a fallback; he handled cases that others found difficult to resolve or inconvenient to get involved in.

Although he didn’t know the specifics of this so-called school bullying case, the fact that Old Zhuang considered it tricky meant it must be quite unusual.

He could only send a private message to the netizen on the short video platform to apologize, and then Zhou Yun boarded the high-speed train back to Jinghai.

Around 1 PM that day, the high-speed train arrived at Jinghai Station, and Zhou Yun walked out, carrying his bag and dragging his suitcase.

As expected, Xiao Duan was already waiting outside.

“Director Zhou is back! I heard you had a lot of fun on your trip?” Xiao Duan asked with a smile.

Zhou Yun also smiled and said, “It was alright, just not entirely satisfying.”

There was no other way; like the person who wields the hammer, he wouldn't easily initiate a conflict until he had absolute certainty.

Xiao Duan… Xiao Duan didn’t know what to say. If this wasn’t satisfying, then what would be satisfying for him?

Arriving at the parking lot, he opened the car door and got in. As soon as Zhou Yun sat down, Xiao Duan on the side had already handed over the case file.

A professional assistant must know the Director’s habits, and Xiao Duan knew very well that what Director Zhou wanted to see most right now was the case file.

Zhou Yun smiled, took the file, and began to read, while Xiao Duan next to him started explaining.

“Director Zhou, this case was initially handled by Director Liang from our firm, but after he took it on, he found it quite difficult. It’s not about public opinion; this case hasn’t spread online yet.”

“The main reason is that the case is very complex, so he transferred it to the Director, and the Director considered it and then contacted you.”

Zhou Yun looked at the file in his hand and nodded: “You’re right, this case is indeed quite unusual.”

Before coming, he thought it might be a case of self-defense in school bullying, where Old Zhuang found it tricky because he wanted to argue for a not-guilty verdict based on legitimate self-defense.

If it really were that situation, it would indeed be tricky. In his previous life, he had also seen some TV shows and novels; legitimate self-defense is already difficult to define, and it’s even more complicated when minors are involved.

However, this case was not that simple.

The case occurred in Fengxian County, under Jinghai City, the same Fengxian County where he had sued the Court.

Fifth High School in the county was considered a rather poor middle school, basically a very chaotic one. Generally, students who graduated from there either dropped out or went to vocational schools or technical colleges.

There were four students in the school who, because they knew some ruffians from outside, often bullied others.

It basically involved hitting, scolding, and demanding money, but some descriptions in the case file piqued Zhou Yun's interest.

The file stated that these individuals would film themselves hitting and scolding other students, and then force the other students to watch these videos.

Many adults don’t quite understand this situation. In fact, it’s similar to when we were in school, and those ruffians would often talk about where they fought, who they cut with a knife, or how they beat someone up.

They would say these things to increase their “legendary status,” using these deeds to show how formidable they were.

And now, due to the development of smartphones, what used to be conveyed by word of mouth has changed; now it’s all about making videos.

Just like those bullying videos online, where a group of people surround and beat a child, specifically filming it to show off.

What we see online are the ones that trend, but there are many more bullying videos that we don't see.

Of course, that’s not the main point. The main point is that on the day of the incident, those few people did not lay a hand; they were just cursing and shoving.

However, the victim of the bullying pulled out a switchblade from hisPregnant and swung and slashed wildly, resulting in two people being seriously injured and two lightly injured.

He was then detained by the local Public Security Bureau on charges of intentional injury.

Seeing that Zhou Yun had already closed the case file and was resting with his eyes closed, Xiao Duan spoke again: “Director Zhou, you’ve finished reading, right? This case is different from the school bullying cases we’ve dealt with before.”

Zhou Yun nodded: “Yes, it’s different. It’s indeed quite troublesome.”

Tricky? Of course, it’s tricky. From the case file, it’s clear that this student, Guo Zihao, had prepared a switchblade beforehand, which indicates criminal intent.

And then, when the incident happened, those few people didn’t lay a hand, which makes it even more difficult to handle.

“Then, Director Zhou, do you want to take this case? The student’s parents are both working in Jinghai, and the child has always been looked after by his grandparents. In this situation…”

Hearing this, Zhou Yun immediately opened his eyes and smiled: “Xiao Duan, I didn’t expect you to be a persuader. Are you that confident in me?”

“Of course!” Xiao Duan chuckled: “Anyway, I just feel that only you can solve this case now.”

Zhou Yun clasped his hands behind his head and smiled: “I’m just a person, but given the current situation, I do have some different views.”

“Firstly, there’s the ‘soft violence’ behavior in bullying. I believe this is a very typical example of soft violence!”

Many people have heard the term “soft violence,” but in the criminal context, its origin is the “Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving the Implementation of ‘Soft Violence’” jointly issued by the “Two Highs” (Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate), the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice.

What is soft violence? It’s simple: violence without physical contact.

This opinion was introduced in 2019, at the time to combat debt collection methods used in predatory lending.

Because the state had repeatedly issued strict prohibitions, those debt collection teams dared not use violent means and instead resorted to various methods such as “blocking keyholes,” “hanging banners,” “setting off firecrackers,” and “playing funeral music.”

And in school bullying, while direct physical assault certainly makes many people feel angry, in reality, anyone who has experienced it knows that similar “soft violence” is equally disgusting!

Moreover, compared to direct physical violence, “soft violence” is actually more common in school bullying and more covert. Many times, it’s very difficult to assert your rights.

For example, if they isolate you, what can you say? If you tell the teacher, the teacher will think you’re not sociable.

Zhou Yun briefly explained, then said: “Secondly, I believe some criminal acts have continuity and cannot simply be considered non-criminal just because there was no physical contact at that moment.”

“Of course, these are just some of my current thoughts. How to proceed specifically will require obtaining more information.”

“I’ll take this case!”

A relevant task had already appeared on his task panel: “Use legal means to satisfy the student involved, Guo Zihao, and make Guo Zihao satisfied!”

The system had already given the task, so what he had to do next was to get it done!