Chapter 8 — My Neighbors Think I'm a Fat Goat

The judge took this case very seriously and announced right in court that he approved my request. The city's most powerful judicial psychiatric evaluation center, appointed by the court, conducted a week-long closed evaluation of Luu Le. When the judge announced this decision, I clearly saw Liu Cuong's hand on the table suddenly clench into a fist. As for Luu Le, her "eyes were dull" and her eyelids twitched uncontrollably. I know, I bet right. They're scared. 11 One week of inspection is as long as a century. Cao Minh is even more stressed than me, every day at home surfing legal news and researching cases related to psychiatric assessment. On the contrary, I am very calm. I believe in science, I also believe in justice. The day the assessment results are released, the court opens again. In court, the expert from the appraisal center read the dozens of pages of appraisal report right at the trial. The report's conclusions are clear and strong. "The person assessed Luu Le, during the time of committing the act of destroying other people's property, had clear consciousness, consistent logic, and had full capacity to bear criminal responsibility and civil act capacity." “The associated psychiatric symptoms demonstrated by this individual, through multiple professional tests and observations, were found to be ‘feigned,’ not consistent with the diagnostic criteria of any type of mental disorder.” The two words "pretend" are like two resounding, aggressive slaps on the faces of Luu Le and Luu Cuong. Luu Cuong suddenly stood up from his seat, pointed at the expert and shouted: "You guys talk nonsense! You slander! My sister is really sick!" The judge's gavel slammed down hard. "Keep order! Guardian of the defendant, please control your emotions! Otherwise I will ask you to leave the courtroom!" Liu Cuong was forced back to his seat by the court police, his face as gray as ashes. As for Luu Le on the defendant's bench, the woman who always played the role of "patient", finally collapsed. She no longer pretended to be dazed, she raised her head, looked at me with extremely resentful eyes, and let out a hysterical scream. "It's you! It's all your fault! Tran Thu! Even if I become a ghost, I won't forgive you!" Her performance, here, is completely over. The final verdict was made very quickly. Liu Le was sentenced to eight months in prison for intentionally destroying property. At the same time, the court ruled that she must compensate me for all car repair costs and mental damages, a total of forty-three thousand yuan. Liu Cuong, on suspicion of obstructing judicial justice and colluding with doctors to falsify medical records, was prosecuted in another case. The doctor who issued the fake certificate to his sister was also suspended by the hospital and had his medical license revoked. The chaos finally subsided. When I stepped out of the court, the sun was beautiful. Cao Minh held my arm tightly, his eye sockets were slightly red. “Wife, we won.” I nodded, feeling strangely calm. This victory doesn't make me feel too much joy. It only makes me more certain that rules and laws are the strongest shield to protect ordinary people like us. Yielding and compromising are always respected, only in return is bullying gaining momentum. Only when you dare to take up arms and defend your limits will this world treat you kindly. Later, I heard that Luu Le's hot pot restaurant had been completely transferred. The new owner is an honest person, renovated the restaurant, changed it to a family restaurant, the prices are fair, children and the elderly are not fooled, business is very prosperous. Liu Qiang was also sentenced for giving false testimony. The two brothers paid a worthy price for their greed and calculation. My life also restored peace as before. It's just that sometimes, when I park my car in that parking lot that was once sprayed with paint, I will still remember Luu Le's fierce face. But I no longer feel afraid. Because I know, when darkness comes, the only thing you need to do is let yourself become a beam of light. 12 Life seems to be back on track, but the mark is different

This feeling left in my heart has never disappeared. I started to ponder. Why could someone like Luu Le easily win the approval of his neighbors at first? Why did Cao Minh, my closest husband, choose peace and harmony from the beginning? I discovered that most of us are bound by an invisible "love society" rule. We are afraid of conflict, afraid of isolation, afraid of being labeled "difficult to talk to" or "calculating". So we would rather sacrifice our own interests to maintain a kind of false harmony. But people like Luu Le see through this point, so they dare to be so unrestrained. They take advantage of our honesty and weakness as capital for their bad behavior. Thinking through this, I decided to do something. I wrote the entire process of this incident, from the customer being hacked and slashed, to collecting evidence, and then being confronted in court, all in one article.