Chapter 323: Knock on the blackboard: In Criminal Law, three is a very mysterious number

"Tell me in detail, what happened?" Zhou Yi's expression became serious.

Chu Lan was doing this for him, so if a problem arose, he certainly had to help out.

"It's like this, President Zhou. After I came back from work today, I found that the door lock wouldn't open, so I found the landlady and a locksmith to change the lock..."

Chu Lan briefly explained what she had encountered. Although she couldn't be entirely certain that it was that Manager Ge who did it, upon careful reflection, no one else had any reason to do such a thing.

As she was speaking, Chu Lan added, "President Zhou, my phone is ringing. It's that agent calling. Let me answer it first."

"Mm, remember to record it!"

Chu Lan connected Manager Ge's call, and a voice quickly sounded: "Ms. Chu, I've inquired clearly now. That house was viewed by you on behalf of your boss, so you should tell him that this agency fee must be paid!"

"Otherwise, I don't know what might happen."

"So you were the one who blocked my door lock today, right?" Chu Lan said.

"I don't know what you're talking about. In any case, the Civil Code has provisions; you definitely skipped the agent. I find it strange—can't we be reasonable in this world anymore!"

After a lot of nonsense, Chu Lan hung up the phone. The other party likely had some preparation; as soon as the blocked lock was mentioned on the call, he directly denied it, saying he didn't know anything.

But just from this attitude, Chu Lan could now be certain that it was absolutely this guy who did it!

Soon, she dialed Zhou Yi's number again.

"Alright, I understand. It's that agent, right? I'll think of a way. You be careful today."

Putting down his phone, Zhou Yi punched the bed!

He felt a surge of anger in his heart. In other industries, one would compare three different options, so why was the real estate industry different? Why was it that in the agency industry, once you've been shown a property, you must choose them?

Now that he had chosen a different agent and the agency fee was paid as usual, he still ended up being targeted and intimidated with such low-class tactics.

Zhou Yi felt that the other party was likely just trying to scare people; if you asked him to do anything else, he might not have the guts.

But this matter really needed to be resolved quickly, after all, the reason was because he, Zhou Mouren, wanted to buy a house.

How hard is it to buy a house? He racked his brains trying to avoid the pitfalls of real estate, such as unfinished buildings, only to fall into the pit of the agency.

It was truly infuriating. He had a feeling that this money for buying a house was like a big piece of fatty meat, and everyone in the chain, from top to bottom, wanted to come over and take a bite!

Nowadays, even an agent who showed you a place once forces you to pay an agency fee. Fine, they want to talk about the Civil Code and the law, right? Then let's talk about the law properly.

It was indeed getting late, but it didn't matter. He made a call to Lawyer Fang and hung up after five seconds.

After finishing this, he returned to the living room and looked at Wang Wucheng, saying, "Mr. Wang, I have something to take care of and need to go out, but I can introduce a lawyer to you. She is a good friend of mine, and her standards are absolutely beyond reproach!"

Wang Wucheng stood up immediately and said gratefully, "Then thank you, President Zhou. I'm really troubling you. What is that lawyer's name?"

"Her surname is Zhou, her name is Zhou Xinran. I'll give you her phone number and address now. She should be off work by now; you go over tomorrow, and I'll notify her for you."

Wang Wucheng left after profuse thanks, and Zhou Yi went downstairs to drive to the cafe.

After all, it was just a marriage lawsuit; Zhou Cainiao's level was absolutely capable of handling it, and Lawyer Fang wouldn't even bother looking at such things.

He drove all the way to the Old Place Cafe and greeted Dong Shu, only to find that Lawyer Fang and Zhou Xinran had already arrived.

"Hey, you two are quite fast this time!" Zhou Mouren said with a smile as he sat down and picked up his coffee.

Zhou Xinran didn't speak, and Lawyer Fang looked casual: "We're off work anyway, idle is idle. By the way, no need to pay the consultation fee today."

What? Zhou Yi almost jumped up. Lawyer Fang actually didn't want a consultation fee? Had he changed his nature?

Unfortunately, before he could say that, Lawyer Fang continued: "Let's go get a meal tonight, my treat."

Zhou Yi sat back down firmly; Lawyer Fang was still that same Lawyer Fang, no mistake.

"So, what matter do you want to consult about today?"

Zhou Yi hurriedly told him about Chu Lan's situation, and only at the end did he say, "Lawyer Fang, I know about the Crime of Intentional Destruction of Property. Over five thousand yuan is a large amount, enough to get someone locked up."

"But how do you count this door lock? Reporting it to the police doesn't seem to have much effect."

Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble is indeed quite good, but... good is good, but in reality, it is very rare to directly charge someone with Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble for such behavior.

This label is basically used in another aspect, an aspect that is inconvenient to talk about.

"I tell you to be serious in normal times, but you aren't. Did you forget what I said before? In Criminal Law, three is a mysterious number."

"Many charges are related to the number three, like the Theft case you sent that... that guy who stole takeout to prison for. So why did you forget? For intentional destruction of public or private property, if it happens three or more times, it can also be identified as the Crime of Intentional Destruction of Property."

Zhou Yi was stunned upon hearing this; Lawyer Fang seemed to have really said that.

However, thinking about it carefully, it seemed that not only in Criminal Law, but in Civil Law, three was also a mysterious number.

"So, as long as I secure the evidence, if he dares to come three times, then I can directly call the police to arrest him, right?"

Lawyer Fang leaned back and nodded: "Anyway, it's not your first time doing this."

*Cough cough*... Zhou Yi suddenly changed the subject: "By the way, Xinran, one of my neighbors seems to be getting a divorce, but they are a bit confused about the Bride Price, dowry, and the house, and want to ask... want to consult you on what to do."

Zhou Cainiao had been playing a minor role on the side, listening to these two "criminally-minded" men chatting about strange things, and didn't expect there to be something for her.

Before she could say anything, Lawyer Fang on the side said eagerly: "Divorce? Are they going to court? Did one side cheat or what? Did they fight? Was there any fault?"

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran were both looking at him with strange expressions.

"Cough cough, well, isn't it because the Civil Code has made some amendments to the clauses regarding marriage and family? It's my occupational disease, occupational disease. Don't mind me, you guys continue."

How could they continue? Zhou Yi shrugged and gave Wang Wucheng's contact information to Zhou Xinran.

The rest was the daily routine: eating, drinking, and continuing to chat about some very "criminal" topics.

…………

The next morning, as soon as Chu Lan arrived at the Company to clock in, before she could even sit down, she was called back home by Zhou Yi, because Zhou Mouren intended to start securing evidence.

"The other party's current mindset is probably that they realize they can't get the money, so they are definitely planning revenge. So they might come back later. Installing Monitoring is better than being sorry."

It really was better to be safe than sorry. Zhou Yi wasn't Lawyer Fang, who wanted to send people to prison at every turn. He just felt that these three opportunities were equivalent to giving the other party a chance; if they continued to act willfully, then everything would be handled according to the law.

But before that, the necessary Notice must be given.

Although it's true that this thing isn't strictly necessary, Zhou Yi's way of doing things now felt quite airtight.

Installing Monitoring in a rented apartment required contacting the landlord for consent, and the Property Management also needed to be notified. As for the neighbors on both sides, that was easy.

Monitoring cannot be installed just anywhere. If your Monitoring includes the neighbor's door in its range, then sorry, that belongs to illegal behavior, because other people's Privacy Rights also need to be respected.

However, if your Camera is only pointed at your own door, the stairwell, and doesn't capture people entering or leaving other people's homes, then that is still acceptable.

Why do many people installing Monitoring Cameras nowadays cause resentment among neighbors? The reason is simple: most of the ones used now are those 360-degree Cameras, which are almost without blind spots.

Being able to see clearly who is entering or leaving other people's homes—it would be strange if that didn't cause resentment.

But the necessary Notice must still be given; in this regard, the landlady aunt has already given her guarantee, saying it's no problem, as she has been an old neighbor of these two households for many years, and she will go talk to them; in any case, she cannot have trouble happen in her house.

That settled it, so in the next few hours, Chu Lan watched helplessly as this President Zhou began installing the Monitoring with great familiarity; not only that, he also found some document on his phone, modified the content, and then had her go print it out.

Only after reading it did she know it was a Notice.

It was to say, warning the person who dripped glue into the door lock: do not say you were not warned!

Soon the Monitoring was installed and the Notice was posted; Zhou Yi clapped his hands and said, "Alright, Little Chu, pay attention to your safety when coming and going these few days; if the other party doesn't come, that would be for the best, as we don't necessarily have to look for trouble."

"But if he does it again, don't make a scene; keep this evidence safe, and after the other party has come more than three times, notify me."

Chu Lan nodded in a daze; she felt that President Zhou was truly too skilled at doing this, as if he had done it many times before.

Work finished, Zhou Mouren went home to continue packing; tomorrow he would pay the money and could get the keys directly, and he prepared to call a few friends to help.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to spend money; in fact, many people know after moving that hiring people from a moving Company to do the work costs a fixed amount.

But calling friends to help is uncertain; afterwards, one must arrange a big meal, drinking and eating meat, and this meal alone is not something that can be settled with the little money it would take to hire movers.

Yet Zhou Yi was still willing to call friends; this was also a good opportunity to have fun with friends.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

And by the morning of the next day, Wang Wucheng arrived at the law firm, feeling a bit uneasy; come to think of it, this was his first time looking for a Lawyer.

He didn't dare tell his parents at home, because when he first found Xia Ziyan, his parents didn't quite agree; in the words of Wang Wucheng's mother, this girl was not easy to get along with and was muddle-headed.

Whether man or woman, when looking for a partner, one must remember one thing: do not look for those who are muddle-headed.

At the time, he still felt his mother was wrong, but now it seems, sigh...

His parents respected his opinion, so they paid when they should pay and put in effort when they should put in effort; as a result, now he is the one who has to propose divorce; this is probably what it means to be alive.

Entering the law firm and saying he was looking for Zhou Xinran Lawyer, he was then taken to the largest office, where a man with not much hair and wearing gold-rimmed glasses was sitting inside.

And beside him was a girl with an excellent figure and appearance.

"Hello, I am Zhou Xinran!" Zhou Cainiao stepped forward and said: "This is my teacher, Fang Xujing, a Lawyer; he has nothing to do, so he came over to listen."

Wang Wucheng naturally had no objections, and soon began his consultation.

"Lawyer Zhou, you see, the situation now is like this: the Bride Price was 300,000, not to mention the five gold items, which probably cost another 70,000 or 80,000; the car was bought before marriage, and the house was bought after marriage, but her name is on it."

"Now, about 200,000 of the Bride Price is in her mother's hands, saying it's to help her hold onto it, but actually it's said to be compensation; only 100,000 was brought back, and the dowry is 20,000, all in her hands..."

Wang Wucheng kept talking, and Zhou Xinran's brows furrowed.

"You said the house was bought after marriage, and the other party's name is on the property deed, right?" Zhou Xinran asked.

Wang Wucheng nodded: "I said I wanted to buy it before marriage, but she checked somewhere—it seems it was online—saying it couldn't be bought before marriage, that if it was bought before marriage it would be my pre-marital personal property or something, so it had to be bought after marriage and then both names added..."

Speaking to this point, Wang Wucheng couldn't help but want to curse himself; at the time, he really didn't think about anything, just wanting to live a stable life with Xia Ziyan forever, thinking divorce was definitely impossible.

And the result? He didn't care about these moves that were clearly calculated.

Zhou Xinran couldn't help but say: "What were you thinking at the time? People were considering all sorts of 'what if we divorce' property divisions, and you didn't care at all?"

"At that time, she said this was to see my attitude, to give her a guarantee; after all, she married over, and if I treat her badly in the future, she would have a guarantee..."

Zhou Xinran didn't speak; her family conditions were indeed quite good, but even without family support, she could still stand on her own in society.

In any case, Zhou Cainiao always felt that whether man or woman, the greatest guarantee is oneself, not things like houses, cars, or Bride Price.

As long as she can earn money herself, then even if she meets the wrong person and divorces, it's nothing; life can still go on prosperously.

But these words certainly couldn't be said randomly; she had already sent two blind date partners to jail, and at least in this blind date circle, others avoided her when they saw her.

At this moment, Fang Dazhuang, who had been watching and seemed to be holding back very uncomfortably, spoke up.

"Young man, how long have you been married? Do you have children, what is the state of your relationship, whose fault is it that you want to divorce? Who paid for the house, you two, or your parents?"

After asking, he looked at Zhou Xinran and said: "Don't ask the client those useless things."

Zhou Xinran shrugged; this was her old habit.

Married for about nine months, no children, the relationship can only be described as barely passable, the reason for divorce is incompatibility of personality, and the money for the house was paid by the man's parents.

This was Wang Wucheng's answer.

Hearing this, Fang Dazhuang immediately laughed: "Young man, you're lucky; if it were before the Civil Code was promulgated, according to the previous Marriage Law, not to mention anything else, this house of yours would really be hard to handle."

Buying a house after marriage, and having her name on it.

Hearing this, Wang Wucheng asked curiously: "This... Teacher Fang, right? I looked on Baidu, and she also said before that buying a house before marriage and adding a name after marriage is useless; if adding a name is useless, what exactly is the situation with this Real Estate Ownership Certificate?"

"And I saw online that for a house bought with a loan before marriage, even if you don't add a name, the part of the mortgage paid together after marriage is also considered Joint Property; does adding a name or not have any meaning?"

This was the part Wang Wucheng found difficult to understand after spending half a day on Baidu yesterday.

There were too many claims online, opinions varied, and many were hanging up the sign of a Lawyer; some said adding a name to the certificate was useless, others said it was useful; anyway, after checking for half a day, he was directly confused.

Fang Dazhuang smiled upon hearing this and didn't speak, but Zhou Xinran on the side said: "Your question is quite interesting; if I were to answer it clearly for you, I could write a thesis."

"To clarify this issue, you must first distinguish the difference between Property Right and Creditor's Right!"

Today's noon throat-soothing chapter is here; I stayed up too late last night, and today I feel all kinds of uncomfortable after waking up.

Regardless, let's do one chapter first.

Thanks to another novice big brother, Wenchidage, wfei big brother, Suiyuren, and the interest-driven god-drawing dog big brother; thanks to the brothers for the tips, thank you.

(End of this chapter)