Chapter 270: Shocking! Two Men Actually in a Cafe

Sure enough, even though it had been a while, Lawyer Fang was still that same Lawyer Fang.

As soon as he spoke, he made people feel that the vibe was just right.

"It seems that in the face of this kind of situation, among crimes like Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble and Intentional Injury, one should choose the heavier one to sentence?" Zhou Yi said subconsciously.

He actually didn't know much about these things; it was mainly from that time he was being extorted, when he called Lawyer Fang, and the other party gave him a brief introduction on what crime should be applied when there is an imaginative concurrence of crimes like Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble and Intentional Injury.

Right, so this was actually a process of review...

Basically, the Supreme People's Court has a provision in Article 7 of the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble," which states that if an act of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble simultaneously meets the Constitutive Elements of the crime of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble, Intentional Homicide, Intentional Injury, or the Crime of Intentional Destruction of Property, it shall be convicted and punished according to the heavier crime.

This is why there are places where many people in real life don't understand; hey, you say he clearly smashed someone's car on purpose, it should be the Crime of Intentional Destruction of Property.

Or, he clearly beat someone and caused injury, but in the end, it is the crime of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble.

The reason is very simple, because without overlapping circumstances, the crime of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble is always under five years, while Intentional Injury, if there are no circumstances of Serious Injury or above, is always under three years.

The two of them walked and talked like this, all the way to the car.

He didn't take Lawyer Fang home, but headed straight for the Old Place Cafe.

As a confidant, no one knew better than Zhou Yi what Lawyer Fang needed most right now.

That mouthful of "spiritual food" was absolutely indispensable.

There is indeed coffee abroad, but it is rare to be able to buy authentic aged vinegar abroad.

And as it happened, Zhou Mouren had managed to buy some this time.

"Dong Shu, two coffees please."

Dong Shu, who was busy behind the counter, looked up upon hearing this and immediately smiled.

"Teacher Fang is back? Was the trip smooth?"

"It was fairly smooth, it can be considered settling a lingering wish; in life, one still has to seize the present," Lawyer Fang laughed.

Zhou Yi didn't quite understand what the two were talking about, but he didn't ask, because he felt that if Lawyer Fang was willing to tell him, he would certainly say so; otherwise, asking would be a waste of breath.

So he took out that bottle of vinegar directly.

Lawyer Fang's eyes began to shine, and he took the vinegar and coffee and started to get to it.

At this moment, Lawyer Fang was the same as when he was in Court; just as pure.

Zhou Yi didn't speak either, and Lawyer Fang had already picked up the coffee and started drinking.

"Refreshing! Without this mouthful, I feel like I have no energy to fight a lawsuit."

After finishing it, Lawyer Fang finally smiled.

"Zhou Yi, you must be very curious about why I was in such a rush to go abroad, right?"

Zhou Yi also smiled upon hearing this: "Curious, certainly curious, but if you don't say it, I won't ask."

"Actually, it's not really a big deal."

Lawyer Fang walked to the glass window with his coffee, looked at the bustling traffic outside, and said with a hint of nostalgia: "You must also be very curious, at my age, why I am still alone all day, how come I have no wife or children, right."

Of course he was curious about this too, but there was no need to say it now.

"That's certainly not the case, I got married very early, but, because of some things, my ex-wife insisted on going abroad, and as for me, I didn't want to go, so we separated; fortunately, we didn't have children yet..."

Actually, the story is very cliché; for someone of Lawyer Fang's age, when he was young, it was exactly the era when "the moon abroad is particularly round, and the air abroad is very fresh and sweet."

Many young friends today really don't know how serious the situation was in that era; everything abroad was wonderful—note, here it says everything!

Many people who grew up reading certain magazines know very clearly that what was said about domestic affairs in them was all bad, and what was said about foreign countries—about rescuing animals, about the mayor of the Big Apple only taking a one-dollar salary, and so on...

Because the only window many people had to contact the outside was through these, and these windows would only show them these things, which led to that consequence.

Lawyer Fang's ex-wife was naturally like that too.

Both husband and wife studied law, in the same university class, and a man like Lawyer Fang was also a prominent figure back in school.

Naturally, the ex-wife took the initiative to pursue him; well, with the woman chasing the man, they easily got together.

Then it was very natural to graduate and get married.

"Actually, when she was first with me, she struggled alongside me; on this point, I really owe her, so this time when she said she had something she needed my help with, I went."

"But later on, as time went by, she wanted to go abroad."

Lawyer Fang's ex-wife believed that foreign law was the only true law, so she had to immigrate.

And Lawyer Fang did not agree; actually, Zhou Yi already knew this when he heard it here.

Lawyer Fang is a different kind of person, the kind who thinks, "If you think the rule of law here is not good, then you should work hard to build it, rather than criticizing it every day and then just running away"; that is how he thinks, and that is how he acts.

This was an ideal he had had since his university days.

So the two divorced, the ex-wife immigrated, and Lawyer Fang returned to Jingzhou.

A very melodramatic affair, but in that era, there were quite a few, though most were the other half unable to resist the other party and following them to immigrate.

"So Lawyer Fang, since that divorce, you haven't found anyone else?"

Zhou Mouren was enjoying the gossip to the extreme; sure enough, the essence of humanity, besides being a broken record, is gossip.

Listening to other people's gossip brings a strange sense of stimulation.

"Find someone else for what? Getting married once was already so much trouble for me; finding another one, isn't that just asking for trouble?" Lawyer Fang said casually.

"If I have that time, wouldn't it be better to fight a few more lawsuits?"

Uh... Zhou Yi immediately shut his mouth; Lawyer Fang was too pure, pure to the point of having no sex life... probably, who knows.

"Alright, that's it for my business; I probably won't go out again in the future. Let's talk about your business; the trouble you're causing now is getting bigger and bigger."

Facing Lawyer Fang's teasing, Zhou Yi laughed: "So Lawyer Fang thinks this lawsuit is too big? Don't want to fight it?"

"When have you ever seen a brothel girl refuse a guest? When I fight a lawsuit, I never care who the other party is!"

Zhou Yi smiled, then asked: "By the way, Lawyer Fang, you see, in this activity of his, they often say things like you are the luckiest, or that one of your friends also participated and succeeded in bargaining; does this count as False Propaganda?"

"If it can be proven that these are fake, then of course it is False Propaganda. Why, do you want to use your Company's Employees to prove it like before?"

Lawyer Fang saw through it at a glance; this kid was learning quite fast.

"That's right, Lawyer Fang. Look, I knew before that every time we open the activity to start bargaining, it always says you are the luckiest one. But if we have so many employees from the Company bargain at the same time, then a bunch of people will be the luckiest at once. How is this for evidence?"

"Never mind how the evidence is for now; this method is still quite good. I estimate that even Pinduoduo itself wouldn't expect someone to conduct an experiment like this."

The smile on Lawyer Fang's face grew thicker.

Many companies nowadays mention algorithms and Big Data at every turn, as if they only end up being the scapegoats because of these things.

But aren't algorithms created by themselves?

It's just a pity that with the support of Big Data, it is very difficult to obtain a complete piece of evidence.

However, no matter how much Big Data is Big Data, it is still just data. When your sample size is large, Big Data and algorithms will present a result that makes people want to laugh at that moment.

For example, the previous Big Data Price Discrimination.

Moreover, a Lawsuit is only a means, and it does not mean there are no other ways besides a Lawsuit.

Pinduoduo has always been evasive regarding these inductive remarks. Zhou Yi wanted to play this way before; he was very curious whether, if so many people did it at the same time, a situation would arise where someone is clearly still bargaining, yet they give another person a reminder that they have already successfully bargained.

Just thinking about it makes this experiment feel very interesting.

"Alright, just do as you think, and I will solve the legal issues!"

After finishing the serious business, the two fell into casual chatting again, but compared to the serious business, this kind of chatting was a bit criminal.

The guy sitting nearby was an internet author who originally wanted to type in this coffee shop, but as soon as he sat down, he heard the two men at the next table talking constantly.

Talking about things like "the identification standards for Slight Injury and Serious Injury," or "under what circumstances is homicide not subject to Criminal Case liability," and other inexplicable topics, which almost made the guy want to call the police!

Can normal people chat about these topics?

…………

Modu, a magical city.

Shanghai Xunmeng Company, which is the name of the operating company for Pinduoduo, is located within the International Center Building in the Ningchang District of Shanghai.

From being looked down upon by the Four Great Thieves at the time of its founding to rapidly seizing the sinking market with a viral marketing style and becoming a giant, Mengxun Company only took a few short years.

The current Mengxun Company is long past what it was before.

And at this moment, Manager Han is on the phone.

"Yes, Tian Zong, I don't know why either, but he actually still filed a Lawsuit. We received a Summons today, and the demand is the Right to Know, asking us to disclose the specific bargaining rules."

"Right, oh I understand, okay, I will go arrange it immediately."

Hanging up the phone, Manager Han's face was very gloomy. That person named Zhou Yi really has something wrong with him!

Yes, he did indeed confront quite a few big companies before, but this time, they believe they have no problems at all, and it was even confirmed by the Legal Department!

The mobile phone had already been successfully bargained for; under such circumstances, the other party has no reason or purpose to initiate Litigation.

What for? Whether we disclose it or not, does it have half a cent to do with you?

Even if you win the lawsuit, so what? You won't get a single cent!

This is also something that colleagues in the Legal Department find hard to understand; when people do things, there must be a motive.

Or is it that the other party thinks they can gain more benefits by doing this?

Unable to understand, Manager Han had already been cursing in the office for a long time.

But now, since the other party has filed a Lawsuit, it means they have already torn off the mask.

And since they have torn off the mask, there are plenty of ways to deal with it.

Pinduoduo has been involved in quite a few Litigation cases so far, but very few have been lost!

So after cursing, Manager Han quickly began to make arrangements. For a company of such a large scale, if you expect it to be completely law-abiding when facing certain things, that is impossible.

Under-the-table tactics are also tactics!

…………

Inside Yuefu Residential Quarter, Zhou Yi is pondering his subsequent plan.

The system's funds shouldn't go to waste; they must be used to provide benefits for the cuties at the Company.

So how to reasonably and legally fleece the system is a problem that needs to be considered.

But before he even started, he discovered that some strange news had already appeared on the internet.

"Does such a lawsuit have any meaning? This is purely for the sake of heat, isn't it? Isn't this wasting judicial resources?"

"All internet companies are wrong, and only you are right, is that it? You have to force all internet companies to die before you're satisfied, right? If our economy didn't have these internet companies, think about what the situation would be like. Stop while you're ahead!"

What situation? Zhou Yi began to look at these reports one by one; they were all written by some inexplicable Self-Media.

And the main content inside was exactly about him suing Pinduoduo.

But the Case Filing had only just happened not long ago, and they already knew the news?

And they opened their mouths to say he was obsessed for the sake of heat. The person's activity already gave you a mobile phone, what else do you want? Things that come for free, if you have them, fine; if not, forget it. Is it worth it to go and sue others?

"I really don't understand the thoughts of this Up Master. I was always his loyal fan before, but slowly I discovered that he has now become someone who is serious just for the sake of being serious."

"This activity doesn't force you; if you don't like it, you don't have to participate, right? You participated, and they gave you a mobile phone. You don't want it yourself, and then you go and sue others. Is doing this really right?"

"Don't talk about whether it's serious or not. It's just an activity to give out benefits. Things that come for free, what else do you want?"

Seeing the later parts, Zhou Yi's brows furrowed. These reports almost all appeared suddenly.

Someone said that A Yi from Jingzhou sued Pinduoduo, and then these reports appeared.

Basically, they were all saying that he, A Yi, had even abandoned his persona for the sake of heat.

Like the ones above, they linked together all the big companies that he, Zhou Yi, had confronted during this period.

"Dreamland, let's forget about that one, it's foreign. Let's talk about domestic ones. Those courier companies were fined, right? Chengdu, Ah Huang and Xiao Lan were fined, right? Those companies in the tourism industry were also fined, right?"

"You tell me yourself, how many companies have you already caused problems for? Let's not talk about anything else, do you know how important the courier industry is to the development of our country's economy?"

"They were fined, you're happy, and then people just directly raise the price of couriers. Look at how many people will curse you!"

"And there's Chengdu, Ah Huang and Xiao Lan. They provided such convenient services, good heavens, you have to force people to the point where they can't survive, right?"

"I advise everyone here to be vigilant against people who use the guise of being 'serious' to do those things of a 'walking 500,000'. He is so serious, spending money and filing lawsuits, what exactly is he after?"

"Everyone, think about it carefully!"

A throat-soothing chapter in the morning, so I won't open a separate chapter; I'll just answer questions directly. Some book friends say that large companies disdain using underhanded tactics. I... let me put it this way: let's just talk about the case in the book right now. That Lawyer who filed the lawsuit—I looked through the materials before, and their lawsuit has been postponed several times; it seems they are still waiting for the court hearing now. Let's not even talk about anything else; that Lawyer said themself that in over six years of practice, they hadn't had a single complaint, but ever since they filed this case, the complaints have come one after another. Every time they get a complaint, they have to write statements and do all sorts of things, not to mention the rest. Large companies disdain using underhanded tactics? What are you thinking?

Thanks to Wenchidage, and another new brother; thanks to both brothers for the tips. I got up late, so the first chapter is also late, but it doesn't matter; there are still many updates today.

(End of this chapter)