Chapter 358: Not Many Left Either (Happy Qixi Festival to all the singles)

"Hey, Lawyer Fang is here. Good morning, Lawyer Fang. I heard you've been quite keen on divorce cases lately?"

It was just as Fang Dazhuang had entered the Intermediate Court's Case Filing Hall that someone greeted him.

The lawyer circle in Jingzhou City is very large, yet also very small.

Those who should know Fang Dazhuang basically all do, and even if they don't, they have certainly heard of this name.

There were other lawyers there greeting Fang Dazhuang as well, and even the Court staff were greeting him.

Fang Dazhuang nodded with a smile upon hearing this, said nothing, and just walked straight ahead, carrying a huge bag in his hand.

Beside him, a girl dressed in professional attire, looking very capable and free-spirited, was holding a massive leather bag.

That bag was truly huge and truly heavy, causing the expressions of the crowd nearby to shift; those in the know realized this was evidence being carried, while those who didn't might have thought they were here to blow up the Court...

The girl was none other than Zhou Xinran. When Fang Dazhuang went out today, he discovered there was too much evidence to carry, so he used the "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" method at the firm; unfortunately, Zhou Cainiao was once again drafted into service.

At this moment, while shuffling forward, she said, "Lawyer Fang, wouldn't it have been fine just to call Zhou Yi? I'm just a weak girl..."

Fang Dazhuang replied without turning his head, "I've never heard of a weak girl having a 'Mengnan Zhou' alt account. What does this explain? It explains that you, Xinran, have such thoughts deep down, you know."

"Also, stop acting. The stuff you're carrying isn't heavy at all, alright!"

Zhou Xinran immediately shut her mouth. The truly heavy things were all with Fang Dazhuang; she really didn't have much.

Seeing this situation, a young intern lawyer nearby asked suspiciously, "Master, who is that? Such a powerful aura; how come it feels like everyone knows him?"

A middle-aged lawyer beside him glanced over and said, "You don't know him? You must have at least heard the name Fang Xujing."

The young intern lawyer was stunned: "He is Fang Xujing? The one who keeps turning Civil Litigation into Criminal Case? I heard he even came to our school to give a lecture before, but he hasn't been back in the last few years."

The young lawyer did not graduate from Handong University, but from a Political and Legal University in a neighboring province, and after hearing this name, he understood why this person's aura was so imposing.

Although many in their batch of students had never met the man, legends about him were constantly circulating in the world.

Things like "As long as the opposing party goes in, my client wins" or "Prison is a good place, they never work overtime"—anyway, it made people feel a bit scared just hearing it.

The young intern lawyer looked at the slightly balding Fang Dazhuang and made up his mind: he should learn from Fang Dazhuang!

When the Case Filing Hall staff saw Fang Dazhuang sit down, they also joked, "Lawyer Fang, you've been turning civil cases into Criminal Private Prosecution so often lately, you aren't here to do it again, are you?"

Fang Dazhuang hurriedly waved his hand and said, "You guys, all you know is how to joke all day. This time, I'm not here for a divorce case."

The staff smiled and said nothing. Coming to the Intermediate Court meant it certainly wasn't an ordinary case; a divorce case wouldn't need to come to the Intermediate Court.

"This time it's a Public Interest Litigation case. The client is the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee, and I'm just a worker," Fang Dazhuang said, also wearing a smile.

"Hmm, it's actually a Public Interest Litigation of a tort nature initiated by the Consumer Protection Committee? That's not common here in Handong!" the staff said.

It was indeed not very common. Previously, Public Interest Litigation in Handong was mostly initiated by the procuratorial organs. The Consumer Protection Committee, or the Consumer Association... emmm, they really didn't show their faces much.

"Then who is the Defendant?" the staff asked casually.

"Oh, just those mobile phone Manufacturers we use in our daily lives now, both domestic and foreign."

Hearing this, the staff suddenly felt that something was wrong. Looking at the massive bags beside this man and woman, they suddenly thought of the legends circulating in the Guangming District Court.

Legend has it there is one surnamed Zhou and one surnamed Fang, and the two of them often increase the Court's workload.

Anyway, this year, judges from both the Civil Division and Criminal Division of the Guangming District Court have been hospitalized...

And for the staff at the Intermediate Court, this was just a legend. Sometimes when eating with the others, they would even mock them, saying things like "Look at you poor laborers..."

But now... they really wanted to say "don't come over," but that wouldn't be appropriate.

They could only bite the bullet and ask, "How many are there?"

"Not many!" Fang Dazhuang chuckled, putting down the huge bag in his hand with a *thud*.

Before the staff could let out a sigh of relief, they heard the next sentence.

"Adding domestic and foreign ones together, just a few dozen, really not many."

The staff looked at this bald man with a blank expression. Legend had it that this bald man was a combat expert.

They stopped talking and decided to just do what had to be done. They took the Indictment and started reading. *Damn*, seeing that long list of names, they knew this was basically suing every mobile phone Manufacturer of note on the market, both domestic and foreign.

When the Consumer Protection Committee contacted Zhou Yi before, they had asked if they could only sue the big mobile phone Manufacturers and let the small ones go.

This is what many people think nowadays—the law doesn't punish the masses, right? We don't need to kill the chicken; we can just kill the monkey to show the chickens.

However, Zhou Yi refused.

In his words, since we're already here and the atmosphere has been built up to this point, we might as well sue them all; otherwise, it would be better not to sue at all.

What "killing this to show that"? If we kill them all, wouldn't it be even more satisfying?

Once the other side considered it, it seemed to make sense. Anyway, we don't have to pay, and the evidence is already prepared by them, so let's just sue.

The reason why many people think the Consumer Association is useless is mainly because it's just a social organization responsible for coordination. Like now, they could actually summon the corresponding mobile phone Manufacturers to discuss this issue.

Of course, your summons is different from the summons of someone's real father or godfather; the effect is worlds apart.

Because you have no law enforcement power, you have no administrative authority. It is indeed the Market Supervision Department that is responsible for coordination work, but... if they aren't "kin," it's useless.

So after careful thought, they felt there was nothing wrong with it; this was the atmosphere they wanted.

If they want to sue, then let them sue. The staff looked at that pile of evidence and immediately started calling for backup.

"Uh, Lawyer Fang, we'll review this first. It'll probably take two or three days. You go back first, and we'll notify you when there's a result. How about that?"

That was certainly no problem. Fang Dazhuang nodded and left the Intermediate Court, still looking calm and composed with Zhou Xinran.

Following the primary-level Court, the Political and Legal System welcomed another victim...

Zhou Yi didn't put the fact that he went to apply for Public Interest Litigation in his first video, so not many people knew about it.

So now, the major mobile phone Manufacturers were still thinking about how to contact Zhou Yi and find a way to solve this problem.

This is the reason for the difference in perspective; no one would believe that an internet celebrity could actually be selfless!

Even if you do a hundred things that look selfless, in the eyes of a profit-oriented Company, you must have other thoughts, you must be doing it for some purpose.

Our main contradiction is still the contradiction between you as an individual and us!

However, Zhou Mouren really is a "selfless" person. To him, the main contradiction is that you are unscrupulously pre-installing software that cannot be uninstalled, infringing upon our rights.

If this were in the past, it would require a struggle. Now, it must also be handled through Legal Aid according to the law; there is no way to reconcile it directly. If the Consumer Protection Committee mediates, who cares about you?

Just like those companies before, why did the other side still not intend to change even when Zhou Yi had already filed a lawsuit, and even had so many people file lawsuits? The reason is simple: at this time, it is about interests, not about who is right and who is wrong!

Only children distinguish between right and wrong; adults only talk about interests. This saying was very popular on the internet before.

Why change? Isn't it fine to just drag it out? Dragging it out for a day means money for a day. Making money, after all, is nothing to be ashamed of.

If it weren't for their biological father and godfather both taking action to give them a few big slaps and a few kicks, they wouldn't have changed no matter what was said!

It was just that when Manager Lan intended to contact Zhou Yi again, she discovered that the other side had blocked her.

This truly left Manager Lan bewildered. Was the other side really planning to be serious for everyone's sake?

However, he had clearly just been caught in a huge wave of internet backlash two days ago, with people saying that he, A Yi, had money but wouldn't donate. Although few people scolded him directly, he was still caught in a storm of public opinion.

A normal person encountering such a thing would be furious no matter what, right? I did a good deed and was still scolded by others.

At the very least, this good deed would definitely not be done again.

As it turned out, the person seemed completely unaffected...

She switched to other mobile numbers to call, but he would answer the first one, and after that, it was a block—constant blocking.

All three of Manager Lan's mobile numbers were completely blocked.

Not to mention that these customer service managers and public relations managers were all trying to find ways, the matter itself did not have much impact on the major mobile phone manufacturers.

The reason is still the one mentioned before: it doesn't matter if the other side sues; just drag it out, and if you lose, you lose.

They are truly sitting securely on the fishing platform!

There is even less need to worry about public opinion; there are plenty of ways to lower the heat, especially with domestic mobile phones—many times, you just can't talk about it.

Some people seem to never understand the phrase "analyze specific situations specifically." If you tell them where there is a problem, they will directly expand the interpretation of this sentence, and then slap a label on you.

Time passed slowly, and Zhou Yi did not release any news, so much so that the heat of the whole incident seemed to have died down.

It was as if this video had never been released.

And today, inside Oupian Company, President Kang arrived at the company as usual. For them, the matter was already considered over.

The other side seemed to have only posted a video, so that didn't matter; let them post whatever they wanted. Pre-installing a lot of software that basically cannot be uninstalled is something almost all mobile phone manufacturers do.

President Kang had said when chatting with friends before:

"Everyone does it, so it's equivalent to nothing being wrong. If that A Yi wants to be serious, then let him be serious."

The math is easy to calculate. If a certain game is to be placed at the forefront of pre-installed software, even if you count a few cents for every mobile phone sold, you can calculate how huge the profit inside is!

Who would easily give up such a huge profit? If it could be uninstalled, then the fees couldn't be charged so casually.

Everyone knows that monopoly is the most profitable...

As a result, just after entering the company, the company's legal counsel said at the door: "President Kang, President Kang, we received a summons from the Court today."

"Oh, who is suing us again?" President Kang looked natural.

For many companies now, it would be strange not to have a few lawsuits. There will always be this or that dissatisfaction. Being sued is no big deal, really no big deal; just handle it as it comes.

"President Kang, this is a summons sent by the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court. It is a Public Interest Litigation, and the Plaintiff is the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee..."

What? President Kang stopped, turned his head, and said with a look of surprise: "The Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee is suing us? And it's a Public Interest Litigation?"

"Why are they suing us?"

"President Kang, they are filing the lawsuit on the grounds that our pre-installed software cannot be uninstalled..."

President Kang paced back and forth a few steps, his face suddenly turning very bad, and he shouted: "But everyone in the market does it this way! With such huge interests involved, look at which company doesn't do it. Why are they only suing us? Are they trying to go against us?"

"Damn it, if they have the ability, go and sue all the companies!"

The legal assistant was silent for a moment before saying: "President Kang, I just asked other friends. This time, the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee really did sue all the mobile phone manufacturers. Domestic and foreign, as long as they are reputable and have some sales volume in the country, they sued them all."

"And, and the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee's account also posted a message..."

Sued everyone? This is a bit insane!

President Kang picked up the phone handed over by the legal assistant and started to look. Sure enough, the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee had posted a message at eight o'clock this morning, and this message immediately caused a sensation!

"The Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee has filed a Public Interest Litigation regarding mobile phone pre-installed software with the Jingzhou Intermediate People's Court a week ago. The case has now been filed. We advise some manufacturers: money can be made, but you cannot lose your conscience!"

Looking at it, it feels full of righteousness... Others don't care, but the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee is very happy. This is probably the time they have spoken the loudest recently.

With this message released, Zhou Yi's video, which had already lost its heat, was dug out again.

In fact, the relationship of rights and obligations between merchants and consumers is very clear!

You absolutely cannot say that just because you, the merchant, are under the banner of our convenience and speed, you can install some inexplicable software for us and not let us uninstall it.

Is this for our convenience and speed, or for you to make money?

Anyway, after this message was released, the Handong Provincial Consumer Protection Committee seemed to have been placed on a pedestal overnight!

"Support the Handong Consumer Protection Committee! Well done, they really should be disciplined!"

"There are so many inexplicable software programs on my phone that can't be uninstalled; I've wanted to sue them for a long time."

"Tough, so tough! This is exactly the kind of Consumer Association we need right now!"

The big guys on the internet aren't stupid either. As long as this matter can succeed, it is obviously beneficial to everyone. Even if this benefit is not big, it certainly makes life more convenient.

But for a problem that even a fool can see, there are still many experts and scholars there telling you a bunch of nonsense, trying to prove that feeding you excrement is for your own good.

Are you saying these experts and scholars don't understand this?

Without the development of mobile phone manufacturers, could you buy so many cheap and easy-to-use smartphones?

This is some of the topics that appeared on the internet after the Consumer Protection Committee announced that it would file a Public Interest Litigation.

The core is: on one side, it only occupies a small part of the memory, while on the other side, it involves mobile phones and even greater development. For our own convenience, should we let development stagnate?

…………

Shenzhen, Zhong Le hugged a cardboard box and walked out of the company. What is reality? This is reality.

Everyone says Lao Zhou might ask for leave today. Heh, that's impossible. The throat-soothing seal has arrived. There's really no need to go out on Qixi; it's a waste of money. Damn, buying flowers has gone up in price so much... so just obediently go to work.

Thanks to another new big brother, big brother Xiao Shufu, Pig Skin Great Demon, Yu Ren Zhen, Uncrowned King fei, thanks to these brothers for their tips, thank you.

(End of this chapter)