Chapter 305: System, you don't want to... be like this, right!

Chu Lan was, after all, a high-level public relations manager, and she had seen many people who came right out and "stated their bottom line" like this, but most were just trying to scare people.

It was just that... looking at the calm-faced Zhou Yi before her, Chu Lan was a bit hesitant now; if it was this person, then these words might not necessarily be just to scare people.

Fortunately, the public relations department had conducted a detailed analysis of this President Zhou's personality; the other party belonged to the type who would eat soft but not hard—if you discussed things with him properly, there would always be a result.

Moreover, Chu Lan also had her own considerations; after all, when a person does something, they must have some purpose.

Either for money, or for something else.

And many precedents showed that this President Zhou was not just doing it for money; there was a high possibility it was to vent his anger!

On this point, Chu Lan had already watched many of the other party's videos; although many things in videos were actually packaged and were a persona, at the very least, it counted as a channel to understand the other party.

Since it was to vent this anger, then just letting the other party vent this anger would do.

And Chu Lan also had her own ideas; she felt she could persuade him from several aspects.

"President Zhou, look, we aren't enemies; we can discuss anything properly. There really is no need to go to Court over such a small matter. You are also a relatively well-known Up Master now; it's unnecessary," Chu Lan said with a smiling face.

One does not strike a person who is smiling—this was Zhou Yi's consistent practice; if you have a good attitude toward me, I will have a good attitude toward you, but a good attitude does not necessarily mean I must agree to your demands; matters of principle will not change.

Just like those customer service representatives who have a very good attitude when encountering problems, I also learn from them—my attitude is also good, but if the demands are not met, then I cannot agree.

Therefore, Zhou Yi said quickly: "Manager Chu, discussion is certainly possible, but my demands will not change."

What do you think I filed a Lawsuit for? It's precisely because I was made uncomfortable that I filed it; why would I withdraw the Lawsuit if my demands are not met?

But it's fine; looking at the situation, Qiyi Company is doing quite well here and seems to be getting its act together.

Chu Lan picked up her coffee, took a sip, and continued: "But President Zhou, that thing you mentioned... asking us to delete the terms directly, that is not realistic, truly not realistic."

"And since you have already filed a Lawsuit, and your Lawyer is Teacher Fang Dazhuang, he must have told you that the Paid Advanced On-Demand model actually doesn't have any problems."

Zhou Yi didn't speak; Fang Dazhuang had indeed said that. Actually, if viewed purely from a legal perspective, you cannot say the Paid Advanced On-Demand model is illegal, because as an exploration of a business model, it doesn't have a problem in itself.

Even if many people criticize these companies for being crazy about money, that won't do; one thing is one thing, another is another. Since we are talking about the law, then everything must be viewed according to the law!

The premise is that it stated clearly during promotion that the Golden Member early access is only partial early access!

And in this Lawsuit, why it is said the other party committed a Tort is also very simple: because your Paid Advanced On-Demand was added by yourselves, and it was done without my consent.

Most importantly, your definition of the boundaries of rights in the Golden Member promotional language is extremely vague, leading those of us who opened a Golden Member account to understand that with this membership, I can watch all your shows.

Yes, it was those fifty-three words when opening the membership—the fifty-three words that Fang Dazhuang felt were solid after reading them!

Either you explicitly point out that opening a membership doesn't allow you to watch all shows, only some; the point lies here.

Seeing that Zhou Yi didn't speak, Chu Lan felt confident, because the facts were indeed so.

Before coming, she had also conducted a detailed discussion with the company's Legal Department; the company launching Paid Advanced On-Demand already meant this service had no problems.

The problem lay in the conflict with the Golden Member early access.

And what many people complained about—that it could only be unlocked one episode at a time—would be very uncomfortable here.

"President Zhou, you also think so, right? That's why I said you really don't need to file a Lawsuit. You are also the boss of a company now; naturally, you know that a company must prioritize profitability."

"Otherwise, with so many Employees in a company, where would their salaries and bonuses come from? So, everything is open to discussion."

Public relations, that's how it is; they rarely say those definitive words, always saying everything is open to discussion, but after you discuss with them, you find that they came with a purpose, and if the purpose isn't reached, it's impossible for the discussion to succeed.

Chu Lan was still talking, talking until her mouth was dry; just now she had truly analyzed this Lawsuit from all aspects—from economic costs, from venting anger, from the impact on the company, and so on.

However, what made her a bit surprised was that this Mr. Zhou still had no expression at all.

Seeing that Chu Lan seemed to have stopped there, Zhou Yi finally opened his mouth: "Manager Chu, you are a good person, so I let you say so much, but now, I still have the same words as before: does your Company agree to my demands? If you agree, I will withdraw the Lawsuit; if you don't agree, then let's continue the Lawsuit!"

What the hell?

Chu Lan stared at the man in front of her with wide eyes; I said so much just now, and it turns out you didn't listen to a single word!

You had this demand before I spoke, and you still have this demand after I spoke, so wasn't I just wasting my breath?

"No, President Zhou, didn't you understand what I said just now? This Litigation, including your subsequent behavior of making videos, is unnecessary!"

"If you want to vent your anger, you can; the Company can cooperate with you on promotion, even the Company publicly apologizing to you is fine. Why must you be so stubborn about this?"

Chu Lan's voice was a bit loud when she said these things.

She was a high-level public relations manager, that was true, but she didn't know why, this man in front of her just had a certain trait, a trait that made her directly angry.

Truth be told, from the time Zhou Mouren faced Xu Yufeng and was trembling with rage after a few words, to now, facing all kinds of nonsense and remaining unmoved, he had truly evolved.

In fact, Zhou Mouren hadn't really been listening; he was thinking about a problem: when a company hires a public relations manager, under the condition that other requirements are similar, they really do look for those with higher looks.

At the very least, look at now, even if he didn't want to listen, looking at a beautiful woman was also excellent, even if it was of no use.

Therefore, facing Chu Lan's words now, Zhou Yi just smiled casually: "Why would I be able to vent my anger just because your company says they will apologize to me? Does this have anything to do with whether I am being stubborn?"

In the past, these companies all thought he, Zhou Yi, wouldn't accept because of money, because he wanted to become a well-known Up Master; now, they all think that as long as they say some soft words, he, Zhou Yi, will accept.

What are you thinking?

Accepting because of soft words—that basically only happens in personal situations.

For example, that Up Master on the internet who slandered him.

Otherwise, when facing a company, unless they can meet his demands, he will absolutely not accept Mediation!

Xiao Lan is like this, Ah Huang is also like this.

Chu Lan fell silent; facing a guy who was impervious to reason, she felt a bit helpless.

After thinking for a while, Chu Lan stood up, took out her phone, and dialed: "Hello, Lan, Zhou Yi just won't agree; he says he must have his demands met, otherwise he will absolutely not withdraw the Lawsuit."

"I said it, I said a whole basket of nice words, it's useless; the person just won't agree."

"Okay, Lan."

Chu Lan walked over with the phone and said: "President Zhou, our company's Lan wants to say a few words to you."

"Is it someone who can make decisions?" Zhou Yi asked casually.

"Yes!"

Then there's no problem. Zhou Yi took the phone, turned on the speakerphone, and soon a voice came from the phone.

"Mr. Zhou, I am also quite busy, so let's get straight to the point. Look, you filed a Lawsuit against our company, you must have a purpose, right? What is it for? Can you tell me?"

Zhou Yi was a bit silent; he was hesitating whether he should state his purpose.

He couldn't very well say that Zhou Mouren just wanted to let your Company receive an education.

"If you don't say it, that's fine too. I can roughly guess it. Fame and fortune are one aspect; the other is that 'stickler' persona of yours. You just feel that our Company is doing something wrong, and you want to retaliate against the Company, right?"

Zhou Yi wanted to applaud; this Manager had some skills, being able to see through it at a glance.

Why was he holding his breath and wanting to fight this Lawsuit against them to the end? It was just to let you big companies know that there are always some sticklers in this world, always some people who present facts and reason!

But he didn't. You are right, but whether I agree or not is a different matter.

Beside him, Chu Lan didn't speak, just watching Zhou Yi's reaction. As far as she was concerned, she believed this so-called retaliatory mentality was a mentality that was fundamentally useless.

Because what can you do even if you retaliate!

Manager Lan on the phone said again: "So you will definitely make a video, and you might even go to report us to the Market Supervision Department. I believe you will definitely do that."

"But, Manager Chu must have told you, and that Lawyer Fang must have told you too, that our Paid Advanced On-Demand model has no problems. So here, even if you go to report it, the result might not go as you wish, right!"

"And the most important point, Mr. Zhou, even if you could win the Lawsuit, that would only determine that one or two of our clauses are invalid."

Manager Lan didn't say the words that followed, but Zhou Yi had already understood.

It was nothing more than saying that even if you go to the Market Supervision Department to report this matter, there might not be a result, because the Paid Advanced On-Demand method really isn't that illegal.

And you, one person being a stickler, that is useless.

You can win this Lawsuit, and you can post videos to discuss it and stir up heat, but it doesn't matter; our Company is still that same Company!

We'll just pay you a little money, change the contract slightly, and it'll be fine.

Whether Paid Advanced On-Demand should exist is decided by the market; later on, people will have long forgotten about this matter.

Who would still remember such a case with a pitifully small Litigation amount?

Even if it were brought up, people would at most curse once, and it would be fine.

This was also the thinking of the Chengdu Company before, and even Ah Huang and Xiao Lan thought the same.

You can file a Lawsuit; this is your right and your freedom. We will fight the Lawsuit as we should. If we lose, we pay some money, offer an apology, it doesn't matter.

It's just that no one expected before that the "Big Daddy" had really been paying attention to this issue for a long time and had prepared for a long time to step in and clean things up, but it required multi-faceted investigations.

As a result, no one expected that a handsome guy would put the evidence directly into their hands. There was nothing to hesitate about; with one blow, several companies were severely damaged.

Fortunately, they could still survive.

Tao Video, that was purely courting death. What the state wants is stability, yet you were there repeatedly stirring up trouble. Who do you think you are?

Being taken down from the entire internet is not unjust at all.

But here, Qiyi Company said, you can go and report it, but we really haven't violated the law much. False Propaganda regarding membership? We have it in our clauses; this is something that needs to be argued in court.

You, one person, succeeding as a stickler doesn't count for much; if you win, you win.

They don't feel it's anything.

This is the biggest difference between being a stickler with a big company and being a stickler with an ordinary person.

Manager Lan on the phone was still saying: "Mr. Zhou, please think about it carefully. There's no need, really no need."

Chu Lan also nodded. Why use her phone here? The answer is to prevent the other party from recording.

If the other party secretly recorded it and sent the recording out, that would be simple.

Because Chu Lan said at the very beginning of the talk that this was a private negotiation and recording was not allowed.

You, a stickler, we already said no recording, yet you recorded it, and then you sent it out—what kind of stickler are you?

Not to mention your follower count; when the view count goes up and there are more people cursing, let alone the Right of Reputation, I'm afraid you'll get yourself into trouble too.

In the Imperial Capital, inside the Company, Manager Lan took a sip of water; he was also a bit tired from talking.

"Mr. Zhou, please consider it carefully. For such a small matter, it's really not worth it."

Zhou Yi didn't speak. He felt that his heart, which had been completely calm since his Legal Aid against Pinduoduo, had ripples again.

These big companies—every time he thought he had seen their bottom line, he discovered that this wasn't a bottom line at all.

Their bottom line could break the lower limit of your imagination every time.

Indeed, it wasn't explicitly stated, and just as Chu Lan said, this recording, if taken out, would actually be useless.

But that feeling of "you, one person, being a stickler is useless" was directly reflected in the words.

Yes, in this situation, his being a stickler alone really seemed to be of no use.

Even if he posted a video later and caused public opinion, in a situation where the Paid Advanced On-Demand model itself is not illegal, it is indeed very difficult to have an impact on them.

But, why?

It is clearly you who did wrong, but for us to seek Legal Aid, we have to pay all kinds of costs: time, money, and so on.

As a result, after paying so much, the impact on you is actually close to zero?

This world shouldn't be like this!

System, you wouldn't want to... wait, holy crap, System Grandpa... System Grandpa has finally manifested again!

And in front of Zhou Yi, the long-lost System once again manifested three lines of text!

Option 1: Forget it, forget it, it's not worth it; just make their clauses invalid.

Option 2: Go to their door, fight your way from the first floor of the Company to the top floor, and let everyone see your strength!

Option 3: Since others think that one person seeking Legal Aid is useless and think that one person's Breach of Contract penalty is nothing, then let everyone sue together.

Seeing these three lines of text, a smile suddenly appeared on Zhou Yi's face, which had already been flushed with anger.

Qiyi Company is indeed capable. Let's just say, I still like your original unyielding appearance; this is really good!

…………

PS: Not targeting any reality, everyone please don't talk nonsense, okay!

Today's first update, and there is one more chapter. Speaking of the case itself, this is really interesting. I carefully studied the judgments for the same issue: one is Qiyi, one is Goose... By comparison, Goose won very thoroughly. Anyway, it's quite interesting. I won't say much more here; those interested can go and study it. They were all about the issue of Paid Advanced On-Demand. At the time, someone filing a Lawsuit was quite a lively affair. However, as stated in the text, it had no effect.

The reason why Paid Advanced On-Demand was cancelled later was purely because this thing itself affected their paid base, and it was also criticized by state media, but it still persisted for more than two years.

Thanks to Chuancheng Chunjie, Keneng Shi Zhi Mao, You Yige Xinshou Dage, Dang De Xuezi, Feimaowuyu, Shuyou 2022, and Yeyue Liuguang; thank you brothers for your tips, thank you.

(End of this chapter)