Chapter 437: Listen to Me, Thank You

The senior brother looked at Li Xia in front of him and said, "I've already asked around; that girl is the secretary to the boss of Tenda. You, well, you'd better stop thinking about it."

Upon hearing this, Li Xia became anxious: "What's wrong, Senior Brother? She's a secretary, not a girlfriend. Why should I stop thinking about it?"

The senior brother laughed heartily upon hearing this: "A boss's female secretary—do you really think she could be a good person? Listen to me, stop thinking about it."

Li Xia fell silent, though he really wanted to say that the girl named Weiwei looked like a good person.

This was actually the reason for Zhou Yi's earlier concerns. After all, because of various TV dramas, novels, and certain reports, people generally default to assuming that good-looking female secretaries around those bosses are "secretaries" in the, well, you know, sense.

The kind of secretary who handles things when there is work, and... the other thing when there isn't.

However, Zhou Mouren didn't know about these things at the moment; he was busy preparing his new video.

In fact, after A Mei was caught, his video was already mostly done. It was another case of "seeking a hammer and getting hammered"—Dong Shuqin was in, and A Mei was in too.

But after communicating with Lao Yang from the Propaganda Department, the other party told him to wait a while.

Because the situation involving A Mei's case was quite complex; just up to now, the Jingzhou City Public Security Bureau had already arrested no fewer than fifty people!

And there might be more to come.

Therefore, they asked Zhou Yi to wait until all these people were caught, at which point the Jingzhou City Public Security Department would once again vigorously promote it with him!

This was all solid merit—a drug-related case—and according to Lao Yang, they had found a great many diet pills in their warehouse.

Anyway, Zhou Yi had chatted with Lawyer Fang at the time, asking him how this case might be judged and how many years it would carry.

As it turned out, Lawyer Fang had said that in this situation, it would already be a stroke of luck if A Mei and the main suspects in her team could even make it to prison.

At the time, Zhou Yi didn't quite understand, but he soon realized.

There is only one situation where a crime is very serious but one doesn't have to go to prison, which is the one opposed by many legal experts: the Immediate Execution of Death Penalty...

Even a suspended death penalty requires being sent to prison. Among all punishments, only the Immediate Execution of Death Penalty means staying in the Detention House until death—truly staying until death.

Once the Supreme People's Court's death penalty review comes down, one can have a final good meal.

It sounds cruel, but Lawyer Fang would sneer every time he heard those who advocated for the abolition of the death penalty.

According to him, from the time he was in university until he worked in Modu, he had debated with those "abolitionists" countless times. He truly held in contempt the claims that the death penalty was too cruel or violated humanitarianism!

His view was very simple: if they ever encountered those major Criminal Cases themselves, they would absolutely be jumping up and down demanding the other party die...

So this meant that the main suspects in A Mei's team, as well as A Mei herself, theoretically had the possibility of receiving the Death Penalty, as this was, after all, a drug-related case.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to judicial news knows just how great the intensity of our country's crackdown on anti-drug work is!

It's just that Lawyer Fang also said this was a theoretical possibility; after all, this was different from the traditional drug-related cases, and the harm was not quite as great.

Zhou Yi himself was also moved; he said that this whole affair—he had originally just thought that since you asked me to investigate, I would investigate, but in the end, it turned into such a big deal...

Lao Song was already busy to the point of madness. The Jingzhou City Public Security Bureau had launched a "satellite" this time; taking a diet pill and actually testing positive for drugs was simply mind-boggling!

Fortunately, the net had now been cast. He was now absolutely certain that the persistent A Yi was a good person; he would get into a fight with anyone who dared to say he wasn't!

At this moment, long sighs and groans were coming from both the Zhonglou Police Station and the Guangmingfeng Police Station.

The people in both stations, whether it was Lao Zhou or the leaders, were all numb.

They were insiders; although the case was still in the investigation stage, most of the work had been completed, and the Procuratorate had already intervened in advance, preparing for Review and Prosecution.

So they had some understanding of the situation, and especially after knowing it was related to Zhou Yi, they really had the urge to bang their heads against a wall.

Such a great opportunity! Although even if they had received the report, it would still have to be reported up for the anti-drug colleagues to handle, but being able to report it was still an opportunity.

It was like that feeling for anglers who had been "air-force" (catching nothing) for a long time, suddenly catching a huge fish, only for it to get away.

Even thirty years later, lying in bed, they would suddenly sit up and slap their thighs hard, saying, "Why did we let it get away back then..."

Online, people began to dig deep into A Mei's series of previous behaviors, and many people found the account named "Liangzai Zhou" and its comments.

"I'm actually very suspicious; is there a possibility that this Liangzai Zhou is A Yi? Everyone knows this guy's surname is Zhou. Do you think he opened another alt account?"

Someone put forward this point of view, and soon others agreed, because there was really a high possibility!

This guy had a record of using alt accounts to fish online and then being persistent.

So this time, if it really was A Yi, that would be too terrifying!

Of course, some people also expressed that this was just a coincidence.

And no matter how fancy the topics people discussed were, no one spoke a word for A Mei!

Including her previous fans, those sycophants, or even many experts and scholars, no one dared to help say half a word.

It was still the same reason: in our country, there are some things you cannot touch!

No matter how big the news is, when the heat passes, that's just how it is. Perhaps it will only become a topic of conversation for many people after tea and dinner.

At this moment, Zhou Yi finally received notification that the case had entered the Review and Prosecution stage, and the Public Security Bureau would soon announce the entire situation of the case.

What he needed to do was the same as before: cooperate with the relevant departments for publicity.

Likewise, what he could get was some material that others simply couldn't obtain.

Lao Yang sent the relevant content over, and after Zhou Yi sent a copy to his staff, he began to watch it.

As soon as the material was opened, it was solid content: A Mei was there crying bitterly, saying that she had no idea there were drug ingredients in those diet pills...

"I didn't know, I didn't know anything. I was just, just helping to promote the goods; I really didn't know anything."

This was clearly being frightened by the situation.

Because she had always thought that at most, she would be discovered by market regulation and fined a little money, which was nothing.

The profit of this thing was really too huge, so huge that one simply couldn't let go.

After all, these days are not like the early days of reform and opening up. When you discover that a certain thing has huge profits, you feel like you've discovered a business opportunity, then you have to carefully consider whether this thing is "criminal" or not.

Who would have thought that this would suddenly turn into the Crime of Drug Trafficking? This crime has no ceiling, and the sentencing mainly depends on one thing: weight, and it is calculated in grams...

The video also revealed the reason why she attacked A Yi, saying it was to increase traffic and make her diet products sell better.

Zhou Yi didn't know what to say; anyway, looking at the video, the police officer in charge of the interrogation at the time also didn't quite know what to say.

If you say these people are stupid, they could actually come up with such a "criminal" method.

But if you say they are smart, they actually dared to make such a big mess, and even wanted to make it even bigger.

Time once again arrived at the afternoon; the Company Self-Media Studio was working on a video, and after Zhou Mouren conveyed the central idea, he came out to begin his afternoon coffee time.

It was the same Lao Difang, at the same old time, as Fang Dazhuang entered the coffee shop with Zhou Xinran.

After chatting about some idle matters, Fang Dazhuang spoke up: "Dong Shuqin's Lawyer has already contacted me; there are no conditions whatsoever—apologies, compensation, whatever needs to be done, will be done."

This time it was Zhou Mouren's turn to be surprised: "There are no conditions? Does she mean that if she apologizes, I must forgive her?"

Fang Dazhuang shook his head and said: "No, it's just that feeling of 'whatever you, A Yi, want is fine, as long as you let me go'."

"Whether it's the two cases filed previously or this Crime of False Accusation case, the attitude is the same."

"She even said that if you don't grant a letter of forgiveness, that's fine too, no problem; she will pay the compensation and offer the apology, and she guarantees it will be very sincere."

Zhou Yi was a bit stunned hearing this; what was going on again, why did she suddenly turn cowardly?

She hadn't been cowardly before when she was already in the Detention House, and had even argued with him that an apology required forgiveness.

What was going on now?

Fang Dazhuang didn't speak, and Zhou Xinran beside him said with a helpless expression: "What else could it be, that Dong Shuqin was scared by you."

That's right, Dong Shuqin was truly scared.

Just a while ago, she was such a big internet celebrity, voicing her support online and saying she wanted to help speak up for herself.

As a result, she was arrested in the blink of an eye, and after finding a lawyer online to consult, she was told there was a possibility of the Death Penalty...

This directly terrified Dong Shuqin; thinking about it carefully, compared to the Death Penalty, going to prison seemed acceptable, and she didn't want to stay in the Detention House until she died...

Consequently, she accepted everything completely, which left Dong Shuqin's father a bit bewildered.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi was also a bit flustered; she was scared just like that?

However... it seems that when facing the Death Penalty, basically everyone will be afraid; regardless of anything else, there are very few people who can see through life and death.

Fang Dazhuang sighed at this moment and said: "You say, what a mess this is; originally I wanted to set the stage to properly Debate, who could have imagined it would turn out like this? I prepared so many arguments, and now it can't be done."

As he spoke, a look of regret appeared on Fang Dazhuang's face.

A wave of operations directly scared someone so much they didn't even dare to Debate; this is not good.

"Then what do you mean..."

"I mean in the future, for these kinds of things, it's best we wait until the Civil Dispute Debate is finished before doing anything else; otherwise, you say, this perfectly fine civil lawsuit, before we even get to debate, the other party is already gone—that doesn't make for a comfortable night's sleep, right?"

Regarding this quirk of Fang Dazhuang's, Zhou Mouren expressed his agreement.

"Indeed, one thing at a time; even if the person is gone, before they are gone, you still have to finish the Debate..."

Watching the two men in front of him start chuckling away, Zhou Xinran fell into a state of confusion once again.

Do you hear what these people are saying?

This is so insane; the person might be sentenced to the Death Penalty, hey, and you two are still thinking about finishing the Debate?

Fortunately, I, Zhou Xinran, am still a righteous Lawyer.

"How can you two be so cruel? Putting aside the fact that the person might be gone, actually, Mediation would have been fine too; that would also count as us winning, right?"

Zhou Yi and Fang Dazhuang: "..."

This kind of thing, it seems hard to put aside and not talk about...

Time passed in these exchanges that were quite "criminal," and the video was finished.

Zhou Yi sat in front of the computer at home and began the voiceover.

"Dear viewers, hello everyone, I am your old friend A Yi; that's right, I have finally found suitable material."

"Everyone already knows the result; that's right, it's the matter of A Mei being arrested. The story is like this..."

Zhou Yi really started from the very beginning, talking about the dispute with Dong Shuqin over a parking space, then suing the other party, the other party's Small Essay, A Mei coming forward to confront him, and coincidentally an Employee at the Company having problems after consuming weight-loss products...

One by one, piece by piece, it was truly explained clearly.

However, the pacing of the video remained very fast, because Zhou Yi knew that everyone did not want to watch those trivial details.

"Everyone already knows the situation with the person who occupied the parking space; didn't everyone say before that I, A Yi, was arrested? It was because of her, but after the investigation, I am fine."

"As a result, she went in because of the Crime of False Accusation..."

"Everyone says this Liangzai Zhou is me; actually, everyone guessed right, after all, I am definitely a handsome guy, right?"

"She said if I have the ability, I should take it for testing; then I must take it for testing, otherwise I'd be letting her down!"

"To tell the truth, originally I had found out that this weight-loss product was a 'three-no' product, and I wanted to test it and then report it, letting the 'daddy' of market regulation punish them severely, but who could have imagined it would turn out like this..."

Zhou Yi also spoke about the situation where the testing company called the police after discovering drug components, and then the anti-drug authorities came to the door.

"Up to now, the Jingzhou City Public Security Bureau has already dismantled the entire network, found their warehouse, and arrested over seventy people..."

This had to be said, and this part needed to be described in detail; it's publicity work, after all.

"I can swear, this is really not my problem; you tell me, who would have thought that one could encounter such a thing in this lifetime..."

Eating diet pills and testing positive for drugs—a normal person wouldn't think of this.

However, this time it was truly a large-scale operation; Handong Province gave it a code name: Hundred-Day Action!

"Now, the whole country has begun the crackdown on these irregular weight-loss products; everyone must keep their eyes peeled. Weight loss is just about moving your legs and controlling your mouth; if you really want to take medicine, you must purchase it through regular channels!"

If there hadn't been this case, then this last sentence would have had no lethality.

Regular channels are not recognized; people think they are expensive, think they are ineffective, and believe in micro-merchants and internet celebrities.

But now that there is this case, there is really nothing to say; and to be honest, diet pills are not as good as you imagine, that you can get thin just by eating them.

"Even for medicine, you have to follow the basic laws; the fat you've worked so hard to accumulate over so many years, there's no reason it can be gotten rid of in a short time with a few pills. Don't hold onto fantasies; eating so much and not moving, yet still wanting to lose weight—this is just lying to yourself."

After checking that there were no problems, he sent it to the Company, and the Company uploaded it to all major platforms simultaneously.

The hot topics online these past few days had already turned into the news about the ban on betel nuts, with all kinds of discussions—you finish your act, and I take the stage.

And at this moment, Zhou Mouren's video exploded.

For the masses online, they definitely hope to have fresh gossip to eat every day.

As a result, after A Yi's video was uploaded, they discovered that the dead hot topic had come back to life.

Many people, including Yuan Jie and Guan Yan, who are viewers of Zhou Mouren, were dumbfounded after watching the entire video.

So... the root of this matter was still caused by you, this "old six"?

No, that can't be said; they were arrested because they committed crimes, and A Yi merely discovered this situation.

But joking aside, after this video was released, many people who had been buying diet pills indiscriminately from micro-merchants and other places became a bit scared.

Being found to have a positive drug test by the Police Station is not as simple as you imagine, even if it is said not to be a crime!

What is even more speechless is that that Liangzai Zhou is actually A Yi himself!

Damn, this guy is a bit perverted now; he uses a burner account to fish online at every turn, although everyone agrees with the result...

It's just that the scale of this game was huge; dozens of people were arrested for suspected Crime of Drug Trafficking or Crime of Illegal Possession of Drugs, and you don't even need to think to know they are in for a "criminal" time.

However, many people fell silent when they saw the end.

In Guang City, Yuan Jie looked at the sentence A Yi said in the video, then looked at her own little belly; what's wrong with that, so what if I've gained weight, did I eat your family's rice!

Looking at the video, the already dense barrage became even denser at this moment.

"You successfully shattered my fantasy, A Yi; I've decided not to give you a coin this time!"

"Still reminding me? Listen to me, thank you, your coin is gone."

"Calling yourself a 'Liangzai' (handsome guy), we Cantonese don't even have that saying... I have never seen such a shameless person!"

Inside the Detention House, A Mei was doubting her life.

It wasn't for any other reason; she had already accepted her fate after being arrested for so many days, but the key was that she learned from the Lawyer that the person who argued with her online was actually A Yi.

And the other party really went to get tested.

If there were a regret pill, she absolutely, absolutely would not have posted that comment to chase clout; what does it matter to her whether the other party occupies a parking space or not, sigh...

You see, some criminals, they will always find excuses for themselves, and even if they regret, they regret other things.

Life finally returned to normal; Fang Xiaoying and Wu Qiuling actually had nothing going on, but Huo Pengfei started beating his chest and stamping his feet again after learning about this.

Why can't he encounter such things himself?

Tenda is still that Tenda; because the boss was serious and successfully sent so many people in, the Company decided to hold a two-day team-building event to celebrate.

That's right, the time is still Monday and Tuesday, which left other companies in Jingzhou speechless; what, are you guys not planning to live anymore, we still want to live!

Originally there are only five workdays a week, now two days are taken for team-building, and salaries are paid as usual; not to mention other companies, the employees of nearby companies are extremely jealous.

Before, everyone was the same, all involved in the rat race and it was fine, but now, Tenda—damn it—they have already done this, and looking at us again, still in this pathetic state, damn it, I quit!

One minute later... forget it, forget it, still have to work.

…………

Time spent working hard always passes quickly; in a daze, Zhou Mouren, sitting in the office, realized it was already June.

Jingzhou had already started to become hot.

As the weather got hot, the girls on the street also started dressing more coolly.

Many Employees in the Company also started to become restless; their work is easy now, their income is decent, so the matter of finding a significant other and exploring the mysteries of the body was naturally put on the agenda.

And at this time, Zhou Yi was chatting with Chu Lan, because the Director suggested whether Tenda should hold a mixer with other companies.

"General Manager Zhou, you see our company has many single employees, so I think it is very necessary to hold one!" said Chu Lan, who was dressed in professional attire.

A mixer, huh... Zhou Yi thought of that so-called mixer when he was at his previous company.

It was supposed to be an opportunity for single men and women to get to know and understand each other, but it was forced into a matchmaking convention: Do you have a car? Do you have a house? Do you have savings?

In any case, Zhou Mouren at that time fled in panic under these three questions.

You could say there is nothing wrong with people asking that; after all, they have plans to get married, and the economic foundation is considered a very important indicator.

But... Zhou Mouren at that time had not yet come into contact with so many dark sides of society, so he couldn't accept it being so direct.

Of course, he can't accept it now either...

However, this suggestion is quite good; Zhou Yi nodded and said: "Fine, you submit a plan and I will approve it; if it should be held, it must be held, you can't stay single."

Staying single won't do; look at those "single dogs," one person eats and the whole family is not hungry; these are the kind of people who give the boss attitude.

So they must be made to find a partner early; after being crushed by the three mountains of houses, cars, and money, only then will they feel at ease in the rat race, go crazy with 996, and get their boss a boss's wife next year...

Oh right, he doesn't have a boss's wife yet, so that's fine...

Chu Lan nodded and turned to leave.

Zhou Mouren shook his head; this Public Relations Director's figure is getting better and better, making him a bit unsure of where to look.

Summer has truly arrived.

Work was over, but Zhou Yi didn't want to go home; there was only him alone when he returned home.

This season is the season for beer and barbecue, so he simply made a call to Fang Dazhuang.

"Go?"

"Go!"

Half an hour later, at a barbecue stall near Guangming Peak Residential Quarter, the trio had already started drinking.

After a few glasses of wine, Fang Dazhuang started talking freely again; those people like A Mei had already been sentenced, the most serious being death with reprieve, and A Mei got life imprisonment.

It could be considered not much different from the estimate.

When one drinks too much, the desire to talk becomes very strong; Fang Dazhuang has seen too many strange and bizarre cases in his life, and whatever he casually talks about are cases that leave people dumbfounded.

For example, stealing manhole covers.

This can also be considered a relatively classic meme in the country, but few people know that the matter of stealing manhole covers sounds like nothing, but in fact, the nature of it is very serious!

"This... can also be serious, Fang Dazhuang? How much is a manhole cover worth, or did someone steal it three times?" Zhou Yi asked there with a thick tongue.

Fang Dazhuang laughed and said: "You forgot that sentence again, Criminal Law Volume Twelve, every volume has your name; there is a crime in the Criminal Law called what, it's called Crime of Damaging Traffic Facilities!"

"A manhole cover, when it is on a public road, is considered a component of road traffic facilities; if you steal this manhole cover, it is enough to cause some vehicles to have problems, so would you say it involves the Crime of Damaging Traffic Facilities?"

Fang Dazhuang explained the situation, and Zhou Yi felt cold sweat breaking out.

Goodness, it really is a new bit of prison-entry trivia every day, isn't it? And the key point is this Crime of Damaging Traffic Facilities; if it doesn't cause Serious Consequences, it's three to ten years...

In other words, if you steal it, you could be looking at a three-year starting point; this is much harsher than any Theft.

Furthermore, Fang Dazhuang wasn't talking nonsense; the Supreme People's Court has a clear Judicial Interpretation... such behavior is treated as the Crime of Damaging Traffic Facilities...

Zhou Yi felt indignant at this and asked, "Then what about inside a Small Residential District? Surely things inside a Small Residential District aren't traffic facilities?"

"If you steal this thing, it could potentially cause someone to fall and get hurt. Would you say that constitutes the crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means?"

Zhou Yi cupped his hands: "I have nothing to say!"

Another bit of prison-entry trivia. Every time I drink with Fang Dazhuang, I gain new knowledge. I feel like each of us is constantly hovering between what is a crime and what is not...

I drank a bit too much during this meal, so the next day, Zhou Mouren didn't go to the Company.

Meanwhile, Quan Longtian had already announced the mixer at a meeting.

This wasn't actually proposed by Chu Lan alone; it was proposed by several neighboring companies together. After all, they are all in the same place, seeing each other constantly.

Upon hearing this news, a chorus of ghost-wailing and wolf-howling erupted in the Company. You have to know, there is an outsourced customer service company next door, and if there's one thing they have, it's plenty of girls...

The mixer was set for this weekend. There was no choice; they had to accommodate the other companies. According to General Manager Quan, setting it on a Monday would have been best, but unfortunately, if they did that, the others wouldn't play with Tenda.

"Hey, hey, Old Yuan, did you hear? Our Company is going to have a mixer with the companies next door, did you know?" a young man with quite a few pimples on his face asked there, full of eagerness.

Yuan Jianhua, sitting nearby, glanced at the guy and replied: "I know. What does that have to do with me? I'm getting married."

"No, I mean you have experience. Can you teach me a few tricks?" the pimply youth asked hurriedly.

His name is Cao Zhongbo. He came to Tenda at basically the same time as Yuan Jianhua. His income is decent now, but because of his appearance, he is usually quite introverted, so he can't find any girls.

"There's nothing to teach, Cao. You have to know, being able to be at Tenda already puts us ahead of many people. What you need is to be a bit more confident. Don't always have that sleazy look, you know?"

The female colleagues in our Company have high standards; it's a bit easier with the other companies.

Cao Zhongbo nodded. That made sense. It's just a few pimples, after all!

Time quickly arrived at the weekend. This company event was voluntary, and anyone with a partner was strictly forbidden!

This was Chu Lan's suggestion, and it was then approved by Zhou Yi.

Anyway, it's basically clear who is single and who isn't, because there's no need to pretend at Tenda.

If you have a partner and still go to a mixer, it's not illegal, but Zhou Mouren doesn't like it!

You say you want to make more friends... Sorry, everyone is an adult; who doesn't know what you're trying to do? If you want to make friends, go make them yourself; why participate in this mixer?

So, it's better to be straightforward and just ban it to save the trouble.

Cao Zhongbo got up early and spent a great deal of effort grooming himself.

His hairstyle was set, but there was really nothing to be done about the pimples on his face. This thing varies from person to person; some people just can't get rid of them, so it has to stay that way.

However, he has some savings now, so he shouldn't be unable to find even one girl.

Old Yuan said that Tenda Employees are very popular now.

No need to go to the Company; Zhou Mouren simply found a hotel as the venue for the mixer. Everyone eats, drinks, and has fun—how great is that? Why make it feel like a matchmaking session?

Of course, those inexplicable little games definitely couldn't be included...

However, after the mixer started, Cao Zhongbo began to get nervous again. So many people, so many girls...

And his pimples really did affect the impression he made; many girls would subconsciously dodge away after seeing them.

It made Cao Zhongbo think he shouldn't have come.

Just then, a girl walked over and said: "Are you an Employee of Tenda?"

"Ah, yes, I am."

"Hello, hello, my name is Cao Zhongbo."

"Hello, my name is Fan Bing."

I didn't expect what Old Yuan said to be true; our Tenda Employees are indeed attractive!

The time for the mixer was still very short; everyone's main goal was to get to know each other.

As for whether it can be successful, that depends on your own development.

Cao Zhongbo left his contact information; he felt everything was going smoothly!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Fang Xiaoying and Wu Qiuling, who did not attend the mixer, swiped their cards to enter the subway. They planned to find a place to hang out.

A long chapter of over seven thousand characters. Good night, everyone. Thanks to Brother Manbo, Feimaowuyu, Another Newbie, and Wenchidage. Thanks to the brothers for the tips, thank you.

A chapter of over seven thousand characters; I'll do two chapters like this tomorrow!

Recommending a seedling: King of Prediction.

(End of chapter)