Chapter 103: Why didn't we have to make things public before!

Manager Xu frowned and pondered for a long time before asking, "Are you sure we really have to show him? We have never shown these to owners before, and it's always been fine."

This was Manager Xu's line of thinking; he had been transferred from the headquarters and had worked at other branch offices before, priding himself on having rich experience in the property management industry.

Therefore, he was very curious, as this matter didn't feel right no matter how he thought about it; the residential buildings under this developer were all managed by their own Property Management, and the oldest small residential district was nearly ten years old.

In all this time, there had never been anything that needed to be made public.

Moreover, the owners didn't seem to have filed any lawsuits over this issue, though they had gathered together to cause trouble for the Property Management a few times, and conflicts had even occurred.

Originally, Manager Xu felt that owners causing trouble together was annoying enough, but now he found that this kind of lawsuit seemed even more headache-inducing.

Zhong Chu, the Company Lawyer, felt his blood pressure rising upon hearing this; he forcibly calmed himself down before saying, "Manager Xu, this... this matter cannot be viewed this way; you cannot say that just because it has always been like this before, it is correct..."

"Since we have now reached the Court, we must speak of the law, right? We must follow what the law stipulates; otherwise, it definitely won't work."

Zhong Chu was a typical product of a small-town test-taker, having been a top student at Handong University of Political Science and Law, but after graduation, he chose not to develop his career in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen, but instead chose to stay in Jingzhou City.

After many ups and downs, he was now a Lawyer at the Property Management Company; of course, he was not a Lawyer specifically serving the Property Management Company of Yuefu Residential Quarter.

He had signed a contract with the headquarters, and when the branch offices below needed legal support, they would ask them to help.

He had never dealt with the people here at Yuefu Residential Quarter before, and as a result, he felt something was a bit off the very first time.

This Manager Xu, who was responsible for property security, seemed to not really understand the law...

In fact, apart from those who were legal professionals, one would not truly evaluate whether a person understood the law.

Because the way everyone understood the law was through the internet, through videos, and through those short, flat, and fast explanations, and not many people would actually sit down and gnaw through a thick professional law book.

The consequence of this was that some people only had a half-baked understanding of the law.

But actually, being a Legal Blind is fine; the most terrifying ones are these people with half-baked knowledge, as they often ask questions that make people laugh or cry when they look for a Lawyer.

It is comparable to saying "Baidu says this and that" in front of a doctor.

Manager Xu was very unhappy upon hearing this and said, "Then the law can't be unreasonable, right? So many things, just because someone asks to see them, we have to show them? Who could possibly produce all that? Isn't this clearly just revenge!"

"Manager Xu, if you say it like that..."

Poor Lawyer Zhong still wanted to refute, but Manager Xue, who was behind him, spoke up: "No need to drag out this useless talk. Making it public is absolutely impossible. Let's think about how to achieve Mediation instead."

"Lao Xu, later I will give Zhou Yi a call and ask him to come out so we can have a meal. Anything can be laid out on the table; there is no need to make such a big deal out of it."

This was Manager Xue's line of thinking; if they went to a Lawsuit, let alone making all these things public, even if they only made half of it public, his Property Management would be paralyzed.

Why? Because they were short-staffed, and they had never done it before...

Why do those formal Property Management Companies often have debt problems? Because if you follow the standards, at the very least, the number of staff must be high, and all kinds of services require money.

But this Property Management belonging to their own developer was originally set up to make money!

To make money, there are two points: increasing revenue and cutting costs.

Increasing revenue means collecting more money, and cutting costs means spending less money, providing fewer services, and hiring fewer people; naturally, one can cut costs.

Most importantly, a lot of the money collected simply cannot be made public...

Take the simplest Elevator Card for example; if you really followed what was said in there and had to publish the cost of the entire Elevator Card system and the cost of every single card, wouldn't that be a joke...

Anyone who knows the industry a little bit knows how much the cost of this thing is...

So it is best to think about how to achieve Mediation.

Manager Xue felt that he and Zhou Yi were on good terms, although things were a bit awkward because of that matter with Xu Yufeng, and he had also been tricked by Song Xiaofei regarding the parking.

But after he gifted the Elevator Card, there really wasn't any problem.

The man even came specifically to pay the Property Fee that day!

To Manager Xue, anyone who can pay money is a good owner, and one who pays voluntarily without asking any extra questions is simply the most conscientious owner!

Often people still want to ask for an invoice, but look at Zhou Yi, paying money obediently without ever having any nonsense.

And now, because of you, Manager Xu, everything is a mess!

Manager Xu had a dark face and nodded reluctantly, only saying in his mouth: "There are so many owners in the Small Residential District, why is he the only one who can..."

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the Chairman's office, looking at the reinforced concrete city outside the window, the people under his feet were like ants.

Zhou Yi said into the phone: "Invite me to dinner? Manager Xue, the relationship between us doesn't seem to have reached that level yet, right? If I remember correctly, just two days ago your Property Management wouldn't even let me enter the Small Residential District."

"First you turned down my water pressure, then you cut off my electricity, and now you are calling to say you want to have a meal?"

Manager Xue smiled upon hearing this: "Mr. Zhou, I think there must be some misunderstanding. How about this, why don't you come over and we can talk in detail? It's really hard to say over the phone."

"Forget it, Manager Xue, let's skip the meal. That's all."

Listening to the dial tone coming from the receiver, Manager Xue was also very helpless; on one hand, he felt Manager Xu was truly a pig-teammate, and on the other, he felt Zhou Yi was a bit unappreciative.

I was so polite to you before; you said to pay compensation, so I paid it, and I even gave you the Elevator Card, but now you won't even agree to such a small matter!

"Lawyer Zhong, there should be Pre-trial Mediation for this. You think of a way first to see how we can avoid showing these things, okay? I have other things to do, so I'll go first; let's keep in touch by phone."

Watching Manager Xue leave after dropping that sentence, Zhong Chu looked at the pile of materials in front of him, a bit unable to react.

Did I not hear this Manager Xue correctly? He said let me think of a way to avoid showing them?

What does he think the law is? And even if one had to find a reason not to show them, you, the Property Manager, should be discussing it with me.

You haven't said anything, and you just want me to think about it on my own?

At this moment, Lawyer Zhong suddenly wanted to run away; the two managers of this Property Management Company both seemed to not understand the law...

Manager Xu left the Property Management Office, and he felt very uncomfortable; with such a large Small Residential District and so many owners, no one had ever come to apply for any Right to Know, so why was he being singled out!

The reason for filing the Lawsuit like this was clearly to make things difficult for him, so since that was the case, then let it be difficult.

After thinking about it, he made another phone call to start giving instructions.

"Yes, that's right, that black Audi, just that license plate. As long as you see it, make him wait outside; don't let him in. Make him wait twenty or thirty minutes every time."

"Don't worry about whether he is carrying anything; anyway, his license plate number isn't in the system. Just block him. Go ahead and call the police; see if the police will care about him when they come."

"Alright, you send Lao Liang to do it. He doesn't recognize anything, and he's so old; if that kid makes the old man angry, you'll see what happens!"

Lao Liang was a security guard who had only been hired recently; he was already over sixty this year, hard of hearing, and in poor health.

If the old man gets anxious and lies down there, even if it isn't shit, it will be shit.

In any case, he couldn't let the other party be comfortable; in Manager Xu's eyes, Property Management were the managers of the Small Residential District, and the owners were there to be managed by them.

And someone like Zhou Yi who refused to be managed was a thorn in their side, someone who needed to be dealt with properly!

It was just that things weren't like that anymore; back in the day, if an owner dared to go against them, what were the security guards for? Were they really responsible for protecting the owners?

However, in the evening, Manager Xu received a phone call.

"What? You're saying that Zhou Yi never came back at all?"

"If he didn't come back, where could he have gone..."

The person on the other end said: "Manager Xu, I heard that owner is a rich man; I reckon he probably has other houses in Jingzhou."

"Even if he doesn't have a house, staying in a hotel for a month or two is nothing. Look at us here..."

Upon hearing this, Manager Xu immediately realized the situation, then said quite irritably: "Alright, let's leave it at that for now; we'll talk when he gets back."

The only way Property Management could make things disgusting for people was within the Small Residential District; once they left the Small Residential District, there was nothing they could do.

Once an owner truly stopped living in the Small Residential District and still wanted to cause trouble, Property Management would truly have a headache.

Hanging up the phone, Manager Xu almost wanted to smash his phone, but thinking that he would have to buy a new one if he smashed it, he decided against it.

He used to be able to manipulate those owners at will, and this first time encountering one he couldn't manipulate made Manager Xu unable to accept it.

However, regardless of whether Manager Xu could accept it or not, time would not stop.

The next morning, at 8:30, at the entrance of the Guangming District Court.

Zhou Yi looked behind Lawyer Fang and asked curiously: "Hey, where's that little rookie? Why didn't she come with you?"

Lawyer Fang said casually: "She's at the firm; I let her go do some consultations on her own today."

Pausing, Lawyer Fang seemed a bit strange as he said: "And I feel like she doesn't seem very willing to follow me—well, not exactly unwilling, but every time we're in the coffee shop, she seems very uncomfortable..."

"No way!" Zhou Yi teased: "A big Lawyer like you, is it a loss for a little rookie to follow you? If she thinks the coffee shop is no good, we can just change to another one."

"That's true." Lawyer Fang nodded.

Just then, a voice rang out from the side: "Hey young man, it's you again!"

Zhou Yi turned to look, and it was an older woman who looked a bit familiar.

"You are... have we met?"

The older woman said happily: "Of course we've met! Young man, I remember that day you were scolded really harshly by that... that woman right here at the entrance of the Court. After you left, I even said a few words."

Oh... Zhou Yi understood; this was one of the older women who had been watching the spectacle that day.

"It's not that I'm complaining, young man, but because I live nearby, I come over to listen in every day when I have nothing to do. How come I feel like the number of times you've come to the Court is almost catching up to mine..."

"I've seen you here so many times..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi could only smile and say: "There's no other way, ma'am; when it's time to file a Lawsuit, one can only file a Lawsuit."

Yet unexpectedly, the older woman nodded upon hearing this and said: "That is indeed true. In this world, there are always many people we cannot reason with, and who require the police or even the Court to reason with them!"

"So there really is no other way."

Hmm... hmm? Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang, who was eavesdropping on the side, were both stunned.

This feeling was just like someone going to a village to conduct an interview, only for an old farmer grazing in the fields to open his mouth and say: "Capital comes into this world dripping from head to toe, from every pore, with blood and dirt."

The older woman was a master indeed!

Thus, the two of them soon started chatting enthusiastically with the older woman. During the conversation, they learned that the older woman's surname was Su, she was almost sixty this year, and after retiring with nothing to do, she had stumbled into a love for the law.

So she spent all day listening in at the Court, saying she really liked the atmosphere during the sentencing.

And the older woman was also a teacher before she retired...

After talking about what happened back then, Su Dama also gave a bitter smile, saying that she hadn't realized at all that the woman was a teacher back then.

"Actually, in this society, one must never view an individual through the halo of their profession. You can say how a group is as a whole, but you cannot assume every single person within that group is a good person."

The things Su Dama said were quite interesting, making Zhou Yi nod repeatedly.

Wudaokou Vocational and Technical College and Wujiaochang Secretarial Vocational and Technical College are both top-tier universities in the country; logically, the students there should have extremely high quality.

But even so, shocking events still inevitably occur.

One should analyze specific issues specifically, treating people and matters as they are, rather than attacking entire regions or groups.

People are not just black or white; binary thinking is never acceptable.

Having chatted happily with Su Dama, the Court opened. Bidding farewell to Su Dama, Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang went into the Court together.

It was the familiar Mediation Room; not long after, Manager Xue and Manager Xu had both entered.

Of course, there was also Division Chief Zhong, who had dark circles under his eyes.

It was just that no one noticed that when he saw Lawyer Fang, Division Chief Zhong's pupils shrank.

It was like the reaction of an animal encountering its natural predator...

"Everyone is here, so let's begin. Mr. Zhou, what is the situation on your side?"

The mediator looked toward Zhou Yi's side and said.

Zhou Yi was very composed now: "Hello, the situation on our side is very simple. Take a look, many things in here require them to be made public."

"However, I haven't found any public disclosures at Property Management, so there's no other way; I have no choice but to take legal action to have Property Management disclose these things."

"And I believe other owners in the Small Residential District also want to know this information. At the very least, as owners, we need to know how the Small Residential District's money is collected and how it is spent!"

The mediator, who was the presiding judge, nodded and looked to the side: "Manager Xue, I have roughly looked at the demands inside; what do you have to say?"

Just as Manager Xue was about to speak, Manager Xu unexpectedly interjected: "Just because you request it, we have to show it? Which law stipulates that we must show it!"

"How come everything was fine before, and now it absolutely must be shown!"

Huh? Not only Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang, but even Manager Xue and Division Chief Zhong looked over in unison. Do you even know what you are saying?