Chapter 507: That's Just How We Do Things

Director Xu was truly caught off guard; he had truly never encountered anyone with this kind of attitude during mediation.

Because of certain reasons, Director Xu had previously come into contact with those who caused trouble.

But even for those who caused trouble, there was always a traceable pattern to what they did.

Either they would argue with you, the kind that gets red-faced and neck-thick, cursing your whole family, or they would cry poverty and play the victim; in short, you could always guess.

But like these two in front of him, suggesting legal channels, and when the result was a direct lawsuit, then being told it was a bit difficult to handle, they actually turned and left!

What the hell are they thinking?

The presiding judge hurriedly said, "You two, wait a moment, wait a moment. This is mediation, and Director Xu didn't mean it that way..."

Just thinking about it felt exhausting. If this were an ordinary person, they wouldn't bother with it if things couldn't be settled, just go ahead and hold the court session.

Zhou Yi turned his head to look at the judge and said, "Waiting is certainly fine, but he said it was difficult to handle. Look, he is so troubled, we also have to consider others, right?"

Hearing this, Director Xu was almost angered to death. On the surface, every sentence was for his own consideration, but the meaning expressed was very wrong.

The presiding judge couldn't even respond and could only look at Director Xu; you brought this on yourself, you have to say something yourself.

Director Xu didn't speak, and Yang Yuxia on the side hurriedly said with a smile, "Um, Mr. Zhou, and Lawyer Fang, our Director Xu is also a bit anxious..."

"If you're anxious, let's stop talking. Really, I'm truly worried for you. Look, you feel troubled and you're anxious; there's really no need for such trouble, right?" Zhou Yi said with a sincere face.

"Let's do what we must do: hold the court session, issue the judgment, and follow the law. There's no need to make it so difficult, really."

Yang Yuxia wanted to hit someone. The things this man said could anger someone to death, but you couldn't even say there was a problem with his words.

Because it was indeed their side that was "putting on airs." A small county like L County is basically a microcosm of many small places.

An ordinary person suing their maintenance center for compensation is something that seems outrageous to people like them.

There was no reason; they just felt it was outrageous, so whether in previous communication or mediation, they were "putting on airs."

As a result, they encountered someone like Zhou Yi who didn't play by the rules at all.

He wasn't from this place anyway; if he offended them, he offended them, and nothing could possibly happen.

Moreover, when it comes to offending these units, Lawyer Fang has offended more than Zhou Yi, and he is still alive and kicking, often getting into verbal battles with his peers.

Zhou Yi had only one thought: if you want to mediate, then mediate properly. Get your attitude straight; don't try to mediate while still wanting to put on airs. What are you thinking?

Even an illiterate person knows that these days, if you apologize, you have to lower your posture.

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, seeing that the other party still had no reaction, he immediately said to the judge, "Since that's the case, Judge Liu, we'll be leaving first."

Director Xu held back for a long time, and seeing that the two were really about to leave, he finally opened his mouth and said, "That... Mr. Zhou, right? About this difficulty... why don't you say what requirements would make you agree to withdraw the lawsuit?"

The key is withdrawing the lawsuit. Whether it is Civil Litigation or Administrative Litigation, many units nowadays don't like it. After all, these lawsuits are public, and it's never a good reputation to be known by others.

Here we go again. Why do some people always think that the claims in an Indictment are written blindly?

Lawyer Fang's Indictment is never written randomly. How much money should be compensated, every item has a name, and this time was no exception.

The car repair cost nearly eighty thousand, but considering that Zhou Yi himself didn't pay full attention while driving, he also bore part of the responsibility. Therefore, he didn't ask for everything, but asked for eighty percent of the repair costs.

But looking at their attitude now, they seem to think this is also an exorbitant demand.

Therefore, Zhou Yi said directly, "Director Xu, my claims have already been written in the Indictment. If you agree, we will mediate; if you don't, then forget it."

Hearing this, Director Xu subconsciously said, "It's not that we don't agree, Judge Liu, you also know that there is no precedent for this. Our funds are all planned, it's impossible to take out that much to compensate, it's impossible!"

They were all thinking about suppressing the matter first and solving it internally, then there would be nothing more to it.

Opposite him, Zhou Yi nodded after listening and said, "Look, Director Xu, Judge Liu, isn't that clear now? If we had said this earlier, we would have figured it out long ago."

Figured it out? Judge Liu was stunned; how was this figured out?

"So Director Xu, we'll see you in court. I can understand if you can't agree, really, I especially understand you all, it's not easy for everyone... Then we'll be leaving now, Judge Liu, sorry for the trouble."

This time, Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang did not linger. One could tell from a single sentence that the other party was unlikely to agree, so there was no need for mediation.

Judge Liu stopped talking. He did want to mediate, but if he spoke again now, it wouldn't be good.

Director Xu stood there stunned for a long time, then suddenly said, "Look at that, Judge Liu, look at their attitude. Are they here to solve the problem?"

Yang Yuxia didn't say a word on the side. The events of the past few days had already caused problems with her inherent worldview. Someone actually dared to sue them!

Over the years, she had indeed seen some things on the internet, but she always felt they were fake. Such things couldn't possibly happen; how could anyone dare to sue them?

But now, she knew, someone really dared to do it!

Director Wang at the unit learned the news, and after hearing those words, he was dumbfounded.

"The other party really has this attitude? Leaving directly at the slightest disagreement? What are they thinking? Do they really have to fight this lawsuit with us?" Director Wang said there.

Director Xu gave a bitter smile and said, "They are from Jingzhou, they don't care about these things at all."

Director Wang shook his head and said, "Alright, I'll go report it and see what the leaders think. This matter can't be hidden."

"However, even if there is compensation, there must be conditions. He cannot disclose it on his side; he must sign a confidentiality agreement and absolutely cannot talk nonsense!"

Director Xu nodded repeatedly upon hearing this; this was certain.

Director Wang went to report. The maintenance center was under the jurisdiction of the Highway Bureau, so now that they had become a Defendant, they naturally had to report it.

Zhou Yi naturally didn't know the other party's thoughts. He had already sent the footage from these past few days to his Self-Media Studio to have it produced well.

In Lawyer Fang's words, this is a very representative case!

And likewise, if road facility maintenance is being carried out, if no warning signs or anything are placed, then one can also go to the construction unit to demand compensation.

These all have clear regulations.

Lawyer Fang came, Zhou Xinran went back; that was truly refreshing.

To be honest, many married men would have such thoughts: if it weren't for reproduction, men would be more comfortable being with other men...

You don't have to consider this or that; you say what you have to say, do what you have to do, and don't have to rack your brains to guess the other party's thoughts...

That day, the two of them went to drink, and it was so comfortable.

The court date was soon, as the case wasn't very complicated, so the Summary Procedure was applied for the trial. It was just that the National Day holiday was coming, and the Court would not hold sessions during the National Day.

So they had to wait until after National Day.

Today is October 1st. Zhou Yi and Lawyer Fang packed their things to prepare to return to Jingzhou, and then received a call from Director Xu.

"Director Xu? What is your plan this time? I said before, if you agree to the demands in the Indictment, I will withdraw the Lawsuit; if you don't agree, then we'll go to court. Let's just do what we have to do."

"What? You agree? Oh, if you agree, I can certainly withdraw the Lawsuit. Wait, there are conditions?"

Director Xu's voice came over the phone: "Mr. Zhou, our situation is truly special. Please understand; after all, whether we truly need to bear responsibility is uncertain."

"It's just that we don't want the trouble, so after discussion, we decided to agree to the compensation. However, you must sign an agreement not to leak this matter!"

"We understand you, and we hope you can understand us..."

Cannot leak it? Zhou Yi was actually not surprised when he heard this condition.

If he were a normal person, he probably would have agreed, but he was still an internet celebrity, and this stuff was meant to be posted online for everyone to see together.

"Director Xu, I won't agree to this request of yours. This isn't a question of understanding or not; we don't have any personal friendship. Since we are talking about the law, then let's only talk about the law. The law doesn't say that if I agree to Mediation, I must agree to your conditions, right!"

"Besides, in other places, they even specifically livestream trials for cases like this. What's wrong? Is it shameful if people here find out?"

It really is a small temple... *cough cough*, Lawyer Fang had already talked about this these past few days; there have been precedents, even in the Imperial Capital, where they livestream the court hearings directly.

Yet here, Mediation still requires all sorts of compliance regarding not leaking information.

Director Xu was truly getting a bit angry. They considered that making this result was already a huge step back; it was something that had never happened before, and it was already good enough that they could decide to pay compensation.

And yet, the other party wasn't even willing to sign this!

"No, Mr. Zhou, you're being unreasonable like this. We've already agreed to pay money, so why do you still want to expose it? If you're like this, our compensation is off the table!"

Truly, in Director Xu's view, this was too lacking in decorum. In this day and age, isn't it the default for everyone? If you don't agree, you expose it; if you agree, then everyone lives in peace.

But you want both the money and the exposure—that is too lacking in decorum!

"What? The compensation is off the table? That's great... *cough cough*, I mean, there's no need to trouble ourselves. Let's just go to court. That's it, Director Xu, sleep early."

Bang! Beep beep beep... Director Xu held his phone and stood there stunned. He felt like he must have misheard; the other party seemed especially happy when he said the words "the compensation is off the table."

He... he was actually very happy!

No, what is wrong with this day and age? Is there anyone who likes going to court this much?

On Zhou Yi's side, he put down the phone. Lawyer Fang was still waiting for this Lawsuit to make him feel satisfied; he had actually felt a bit reluctant when he heard they agreed to Mediation.

After all, it isn't easy to find another case that can make Lawyer Fang feel satisfied.

And so it was said; who stipulated that agreeing to pay money means you can't expose it? These are two different matters, alright? Anyway, others might not know, but for him, Zhou Mouren, doing things is just like this.

If he doesn't accept, he doesn't accept. If Mediation is mandatory, then what is the judge for?

There's no way to talk anymore, so they can only go to court. The nursing center naturally has to find an agent, and it has to be a professional agent.

If the case is won, it can still be justified; after all, one can say the other party was looking for trouble. In this day and age, if the other party insists on suing you, what else can you do?

L County naturally has a Law Firm. Don't look at it as a small place; it's small but complete, with everything.

Naturally, a Lawyer was found.

"Lawyer Yang, this is the situation of the entire case. Take a look." Director Xu sat in the office and said to the man in front of him.

Lawyer Yang, whose full name is Yang Yuan, is also a somewhat famous Lawyer in the county because he does quite well and has a high win rate.

He belongs to the tough characters of L County. In the view of Director Xu and the others, with Lawyer Yang taking the lead, it would definitely be stable under normal circumstances.

Yang Yuan took the Copy of the Complaint and began to look at it carefully, but just as he started reading, he felt something was wrong. Zhou Yi and Fang Xujing—why did these two names feel so familiar?

Especially the latter name; it was too familiar. Where had he heard it before?

He raised his head and swept a glance at the television nearby, and suddenly he remembered. Holy crap, isn't this that big Lawyer who sued all the major television Manufacturers?

He isn't considered a law-major graduate, barely having a license, so he wasn't that clear about these big shots in the industry, but he had heard the name Fang Xujing.

But how could such a big Lawyer come to such a small county to fight a lawsuit? And it's a lawsuit like this!

Seeing Yang Yuan's expression change drastically, Director Xu on the opposite side asked curiously: "What's wrong, Lawyer Yang? Is the chance of winning high?"

Facing such a client, a Lawyer naturally couldn't spout off about regulations or say they couldn't make promises easily, so he could only say: "This case is really hard to fight."

"Look at this name, the opposing Lawyer—that is an extremely famous big Lawyer in the industry! And this Zhou Yi, he is also a big internet celebrity famous online for being a stickler for details!"

"The two of them, they just rely on this to make programs!"

What? Director Xu was stunned. It has such a background?

Especially since this was said by Yang Yuan, who in their perception was already a very impressive Lawyer!

Yang Yuan found the two men's affairs on his phone and handed it to Director Xu opposite him, saying: "Director Xu, you take a look first. You'll know once you see it."

Director Xu took it and read it slowly. The more he read, the more shocked he became. He had previously felt that the two people on the other side had some issues, but he didn't expect they really weren't normal people!

Who could do such a thing if they were normal? And then counter-recharge one million?

"It's too late, the talks have already broken down, and the court hearing is about to start. I was also wondering why they wouldn't agree to confidentiality; it turns out they were just counting on this to make money!" Director Xu said with a bitter smile.

"Lawyer Yang, now I can only rely on you. That Fang Xujing is indeed a big Lawyer, but that's just a big reputation. Who knows what his real level is, right?"

Yang Yuan nodded. That did make some sense. He had fought many lawsuits in this L County and won quite a few, so he couldn't be scared off, right?

Besides, it's just a lawsuit; at most, he loses.

Today's first update is here.

(End of this chapter)