Chapter 227: Manager Zhao, Don't Go!

"Hey, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, what is this? Don't go, come back, this can all be discussed!"

Lao Huang hurried to get up and give chase; the situation was truly too far from what he had imagined.

Coming out for a Mediation, that is for both sides to talk to each other; if you feel my conditions are unacceptable, then you can make demands.

How could he just walk away like that!

Manager Zhao also stood up; he did not know whether he should go to persuade him to stay, because it was agreed that he would play the bad cop.

But now that the audience was about to leave, what was the point of playing the bad cop?

Zhou Yi and the other two were not walking fast, and Lao Huang soon caught up, saying helplessly, "Mr. Zhou, don't be so impulsive. Look, Manager Zhao is actually very sincere."

"Let's avoid a Lawsuit if we can."

Zhou Yi turned around and looked at Lao Huang, saying, "Lawyer Huang, can you blame us? Tell me about that Manager Zhao; the moment he sat down, he said I infringed upon his Company's Right of Reputation and that if I didn't accept Mediation, he would file a Lawsuit."

"Since things have reached that point, I certainly have nothing left to say. We'll just see each other in Court."

"Mr. Zhou, Manager Zhao was just speaking in a moment of anger, just a moment of anger," Lao Huang said hurriedly.

Why is this young man so hot-headed...

After this round of persuasion, he finally managed to hold Zhou Yi back.

"Fine, fine, fine, then let's go back and talk."

Returning to the Travel Agency office and sitting down again, Lawyer Huang spoke up, "Mr. Zhou, actually Manager Zhao is indeed sincere, but you are asking for a bit too much."

"Not to mention the Return One Compensate Three, you also want Mental Damage Compensation. There has never been such a precedent before, and we didn't really do anything, the tour guide just cursed a few times."

Zhou Yi did not speak, and Lawyer Fang, who had been sitting next to Zhou Yi like a clay sculpture or a wooden carving, suddenly spoke.

"Lawyer Huang, first I must clarify with you: that tour guide didn't just curse a few times, and before the cursing, she had already been acting sarcastically for a long time."

"Secondly, whether it is Return One Compensate Three or Mental Damage Compensation, both have a basis in law, and our claim does not exceed the scope stipulated by law!"

Manager Zhao finally could not help but speak up, "But, but you can't just target us for money; there is also the Ground Handling Agency, this problem was mainly caused by them..."

As he spoke, Manager Zhao was about to explain to Zhou Yi once again how the tourism industry operates.

However, Lawyer Fang spoke again: "Manager Zhao, right? I would like to ask, with whom did Mr. Zhou's parents sign the contract?"

"It was our Company, but the service provider was not our Company. You should go find them..."

"Wait a moment, Manager Zhao. Since Mr. Zhou's parents signed the contract with you, why should we go find the Ground Handling Agency?"

"What is the relationship between you and the Ground Handling Agency?"

Lawyer Fang continued to speak, unhurried and calm.

Debate is an art; this is Lawyer Fang's motto.

In this art, it is not about who has the loudest voice, nor who can talk the most, but whether you can hit the point!

For those who start repeating the same circular arguments after the Debate begins, honestly, anyone would be too lazy to debate with them.

At the very least, your argument must be reasonable.

And what Lawyer Fang is best at is weaving his web layer by layer, letting you fall into it as you speak.

Of course, this is limited to when the other party is willing to be reasonable; if they are not willing to be reasonable, Lawyer Fang naturally has ways to be unreasonable.

Having been a Lawyer for so many years and reaching the top of the industry, Lawyer Fang has never been a pedantic person.

"We have a partnership with the Ground Handling Agency; it's mainly because a Travel Agency cannot solicit customers in other regions, we have no choice..." Manager Zhao explained again.

For some reason, when talking to this slightly bald Lawyer, he could not help but want to explain himself.

"Manager Zhao, look, you said it yourself: you have a partnership with the Ground Handling Agency, which means there is a contract, right?"

"So if the Ground Handling Agency has a problem, shouldn't it be you who goes to discuss the Breach of Contract with them? The order of things cannot be messed up!"

"If my side is willing, we can indeed add the Ground Handling Agency as a third party without independent claims, but we don't have to."

"So tell me, why should we go find the Ground Handling Agency or the tour guide?" Lawyer Fang said, looking at Manager Zhao.

Manager Zhao was suddenly speechless.

It was Lao Huang on the side who, seeing this, hurriedly said, "That... Lawyer Fang, is it? Actually, Manager Zhao and his team are having a very hard time right now."

Hearing this, Lawyer Fang smiled and closed his eyes again to rest his mind.

Zhou Yi, who was beside him, spoke up: "There are many people in this world having a hard time. You were very quick to take the money back then, and now that there is a Breach of Contract, you start talking about having a hard time?"

Here it comes, here it comes, that feeling again. Zhou Xinran wanted to knock on the table; these two were starting to sing in harmony again, one responsible for legal Debate, the other responsible for issues outside the law, such as playing the victim or acting shamelessly.

The key was that this coordination seemed even better than before; previously they still needed to exchange glances, but now, it was tacit to the extreme.

"No, Mr. Zhou, listen to my explanation. The whole industry is like this now, everyone is pushing Shopping Tours, we really have no choice."

Manager Zhao spoke again, the expression on his face very unpleasant.

"Manager Zhao, don't use the industry as an excuse. The industry is the industry, and individuals are individuals. A Breach of Contract is a Breach of Contract. If you couldn't do it, you should have informed me back then that there was no such thing as a Pure Play Tour."

"You should have made it clear that even a Pure Play Tour includes shopping, instead of promoting it to us back then by saying a Pure Play Tour is just for playing."

This was the point Zhou Yi wanted to make. Admittedly, the tourism industry does have problems, just like the courier industry.

But actually, it is still different from the courier industry.

And even in the courier industry, things should be done as they should be done, let alone the tourism industry.

Manager Zhao was silent for a long while before saying, "Mr. Zhou, then I will speak directly. We can provide compensation, but we can only compensate three thousand yuan. After all, your parents visited quite a few attractions, and there were travel expenses."

"That's right, Mr. Zhou. At the very least, travel expenses and food and lodging should be deducted; these were indeed provided." Lao Huang also said from the side.

Lawyer Fang opened his eyes and spoke again: "However, your Travel Agency's contract does not separate these out individually."

"You charge a package fee, so I can view the entire trip as one service, as one product."

"Therefore, likewise, after consumer fraud occurs, the claim is naturally based on the overall cost."

Here one can see what the two sides will focus on when debating a case, a civil contract dispute case.

What Lawyer Fang grasped was the point that their contract treated the entire service as a whole; the round-trip airfare and food and lodging expenses were not separated individually.

Moreover, there were some unilateral clauses, such as that in the event of any unexpected situation, all fees would not be refunded.

Fang Dazhuang seized upon this: what you provided is a single service, not multiple services split apart, and this point is reflected in the contract.

This is also a problem with the Travel Agency itself; in fact, many travel agencies have detailed regulations regarding this kind of Pure Play Tour.

Of course, according to his experience, the Court should not fully support this claim, because in practice, judgments for Return One Compensate Three are very conservative.

It is highly probable there will be no Return One Compensate Three, but rather a refund, plus some discretionary compensation.

Why is the judgment like this? Here we must talk about some principles followed in civil judgments, which are the basic principles of Civil Law.

I will not elaborate on the specific situation here.

Of course, in Mediation, none of that matters.

Poor Lao Huang is now somewhat speechless; he and President Zhao can be considered to have tried hard, but the other side talks about the law, while they talk about reality.

The other side started talking about reality, and they started talking about the law again.

Unfortunately, they were soundly defeated on both fronts.

The two people opposite were truly aggressive; President Zhao felt he really couldn't take it anymore. He had been starting businesses since he was in his twenties and had suffered indignities before, but he had never been humiliated like this!

Those two opposite seemed to really think he didn't dare to file a Lawsuit, and felt they had him cornered!

"Then there is no need to talk. Mr. Zhou, I am sincerely trying to reach a Mediation, but you, on the other hand, seem to have no sincerity at all. Since that's the case, then forget it."

"I have already signed a contract with Lawyer Huang here. Since it has come to this, isn't it just a Lawsuit? I will accompany you to the end!"

"Lawyer Huang, go back and prepare to sue him for infringing on my Company's Right of Reputation!"

While speaking, President Zhao had already taken out the contract signed earlier.

His original intention wasn't to express anything in particular, just to strengthen his tone: you want to have a Lawsuit, I accept.

Anyway, I have already hired a Lawyer, so let's go.

However, in that brief moment, Fang Dazhuang saw it.

Fang Dazhuang has very sharp eyes; don't let the gold-rimmed glasses fool you, when he needs good eyesight, it is exceptionally good!

He caught a glimpse of the contract's content at a glance—not all of it, just some key places at the bottom.

For a Lawyer like Fang Dazhuang who has "read countless contracts," he has seen every type of contract.

An Agency Contract is even more familiar than familiar, and due to occupational habit, one must first look at the seal.

Then he discovered that there was no official seal of a law firm on this contract.

Oh no, wait, this doesn't seem to be an Agency Contract at all.

Zhou Yi nodded and said: "Alright, President Zhao, since we cannot reach an agreement, let's see each other in Court."

"As for you wanting to sue me for infringing on your Company's Right of Reputation, this is your legal right."

As he spoke, Zhou Yi looked at Fang Dazhuang, signaling for the other party to prepare to leave, but discovered that Fang Dazhuang was looking at him, then at the Lawyer Huang opposite, with a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

Although he didn't say it out loud, Zhou Yi had already seen it; what Fang Dazhuang wanted to say was: Zhou Yi, you really are toxic!

What is the situation here? Why am I toxic again?

The Lao Huang opposite now has nothing to say. President Zhao, what is your situation? Didn't we agree well before coming here not to fall out, that we were going to have a Mediation!

He especially wanted to say: President Zhao, don't do it, you will lose!

Even if you are playing the bad cop, you don't do it like this; you've already flipped the table, so how can we still talk.

And you want me to file a Lawsuit, what am I supposed to file it with...

He wanted to persuade both sides to sit down and talk again, but even though he was eloquent, he didn't know what to say.

Full of worries, he wondered which Lawyer friend he should ask for help this time.

That's right, the contract he signed was not an Agency Contract, just a Service Contract.

So of course he could also subcontract this out, finding a certified Lawyer to help with the Lawsuit.

At that time, the Court will not examine the situation of the agency contract between you, it will only examine whether the corresponding agent is qualified!

Of course, a Lawyer cannot just go to court directly; before appearing in court, the law firm needs to send a Lawyer Appearance Letter to the court. Without this thing, the procedures are still incomplete.

So that is why it is said that our shortage of lawyers is large; now, whether it is an agent or a Defense Attorney, the identity requirements are very high.

Basically, they are all lawyers.

This means his income will be greatly reduced; Lao Huang only does this as a last resort.

Everyone stood up to leave, but just then, Fang Dazhuang spoke up: "President Zhao, Lawyer Huang, please wait a moment."

Huh? President Zhao looked back. What is this for? This is my territory!

"Sorry President Zhao, don't misunderstand. Lawyer Huang, may I ask, at which law firm are you practicing?" Fang Dazhuang asked.

Lao Huang's heart sank, but he still said: "Lawyer Fang, this question doesn't seem to be something I must answer."

"Of course, Lawyer Huang can choose not to say, but President Zhao, I just saw that contract of yours, it doesn't seem to be an Agency Contract."

"Did you sign this privately with Lawyer Huang?"

President Zhao took out the contract again and said hesitantly: "Yes, is there a problem?"

Fang Dazhuang smiled upon hearing this: "Actually, it's not a big deal. President Zhao, you might not know, but lawyers cannot sign this kind of contract in their personal capacity."

"So I am very curious about this Lawyer Huang; he is violating the Lawyer Law by doing this."

"Then why didn't he sign the contract normally?"

Now that it was mentioned, President Zhao also felt a bit strange. He looked at the contract in his hand and said: "Lao Huang, what's going on? Which law firm are you at? You can't violate regulations just to make more money."

At this moment, Lao Huang really wanted to go up and cover President Zhao's mouth!

If this matter hadn't been exposed, it would actually be fine, but once it is put out in the open, then it's a trap.

Why is it called a gray area? Just because it is inherently irregular.

"President Zhao, you should wait a moment. I have roughly figured it out; this Lawyer Huang, he shouldn't be a lawyer, right?"

Otherwise, there is no reason for there to be a problem with this matter.

"Of course, you can deny it, but it doesn't matter. I have already called the police; in a moment you can explain it to the police officers."

"I believe once it's explained clearly, there shouldn't be any issues."

What the hell? They even called the police? By the way, is impersonating a Lawyer a crime?

General Manager Zhao looked completely bewildered; he was naturally well-versed in the affairs of the tourism industry, but when it came to the legal profession, he was clueless.

Don't assume that a boss understands everything...

Hearing this, Lao Huang's face turned pale instantly, and he pointed at Fang Dazhuang, unable to speak for a long time.

In fact, let alone him, Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran standing nearby hadn't quite reacted yet either.

We seem to have come for Mediation, but since the Mediation didn't succeed, it looks like we're about to send the opposing party's Lawyer to prison.

Oh, it seems they aren't a Lawyer, never mind, it's about the same...

The second update for today is here. In fact, I don't know why it's so late either.. Tomorrow is May 15th, I have to travel tomorrow, so I can only say I'll try my best to give everyone more chances to enter the lucky draw.

Thanks to Linggan Hua K, Book Friend 152, Book Friend 2022, Feimaowuyu, 190hhh, Juejiang de Lei, Chengzi, brother Xiao Shufu, Fengxinyoumi, and Dipingxian; thank you brothers for your tips.

(End of this chapter)