Chapter 542: Admit Your Mistakes When You're Wrong, and Stand at Attention When You're Being Punished

To be honest, Zhou Yi had seen things like mislabeled prices on the internet before.

Sometimes when a promotion is running, a whole batch of prices might be set incorrectly, and the consequence is...

For example, something that was supposed to sell for ninety-nine ends up being nine point nine; there are actually many such cases, and there are people who specifically watch for them, rushing to "shear the sheep" once discovered.

As for Zhou Yi himself, he didn't really have an opinion on this kind of price-labeling behavior; the kind of malicious "sheep-shearing" that drives a shop directly to bankruptcy is definitely wrong.

But, if you say a shop mislabeled a price, and then someone bought it, and the shop just wants them to return the goods without wanting to bear any responsibility themselves, that is also wrong.

If you go out to do business, you must admit it when you are wrong and stand at attention when you are being beaten; you can't just say you made a mistake, refuse to bear any responsibility, and still feel like you are in the right.

Moreover, in this day and age of internet marketing, people are fighting tooth and nail for that little bit of traffic, and some merchants use such methods to increase their popularity.

They sell a bunch of things, then arrange for someone to film a video and shed some tears, crying about how their shop is going bankrupt; once this narrative is set, those who bought the items will naturally be subjected to all kinds of Internet Violence.

If you don't return the goods, it means you were always trying to take advantage...

He just didn't expect that his own parents would encounter such a thing, and that it would escalate to the Court because of it!

"Before, your mom said their gold rings and bracelets and such were selling very cheaply, and we thought they were having a promotion, so we bought them. But then the next day, the shop's customer service contacted us and said the price was labeled wrong, asking us to cancel the order."

"Your mom was going to cancel it, but the way they were talking there, it felt like they were implying we were intentionally trying to take advantage, so I didn't agree at the time."

"Then they kept calling, one moment saying they would compensate us five hundred, the next saying if we didn't cancel they would sue us. Your mom and I felt that we hadn't done anything wrong; we bought something normally, and if they say it's wrong, it's wrong?"

"Even if they compensate five hundred, we don't care for it; if they don't ship, they are supposed to pay five hundred anyway. Who would have thought that today, the Court in our Lincheng called me, saying I was being sued, asking if I was home, and that they wanted to deliver a Summons..."

Father Zhou was rambling on the phone and seemed a bit nervous; it was clear that this inexplicable Litigation had indeed made his parents a little afraid.

To put it in modern terms, what kind of decent person goes to Court every day? People like Father Zhou and Mother Zhou have never stepped through the doors of a Court in their entire lives.

As for intentionally taking advantage... in this day and age, people compare prices at three different shops when buying things. If buying something cheap can be called intentionally taking advantage, then they should just stop running marketing campaigns altogether.

Moreover, internet marketing is very different from physical store marketing; sometimes the prices in internet marketing can be low to a mind-boggling degree.

Everyone knows that they are using low-price marketing to gather traffic.

Zhou Yi also knew that someone like his mother, after learning how to buy things online, really looks for cheap deals everywhere.

To put it bluntly, Pinduoduo captured the mindset of people like Mother Zhou, which is how it achieved its success today.

Zhou Yi thought for a moment and said, "Alright Dad, it's just being a Defendant, no need to worry. You and Mom stay at home; I'll be over in a bit."

His parents were at the Yuefu Residential Quarter right now, and as for why it was the Lincheng Court, it was because the Company called Afu had filed the Lawsuit at the Lincheng Court.

For Civil Litigation, it is generally required to file the Lawsuit at the Court in the Defendant's place of residence.

After hanging up the phone, Huo Pengfei, who was nearby, spoke up: "General Manager Zhou, is there something wrong with your parents? I heard it sounded like they were being sued?"

Actually, there was something Huo Pengfei didn't say out loud: who is the bold person who dared to sue General Manager Zhou's parents...

Zhou Yi smiled upon hearing this and said, "It's nothing major, just a small matter. I'll go find out about it first; there's nothing you can do about my parents' affairs, so get back to your work."

He went downstairs and drove straight to the Yuefu Residential Quarter; his parking space was rented by the young lady Xiao Xu, and the remaining one was empty most of the time.

Of course, if someone can't find a parking space temporarily and parks for a while, that's certainly no problem—it's good to be accommodating—but one cannot treat this parking space as their own.

Song Xiaofei would basically go check on it every few days, and if he found any car daring to park there for a long time, he would call and ask the other party to move the car.

If they didn't move it, Song Xiaofei naturally had other ways...

So, after a few times like that, Zhou Yi's parking space was basically empty on weekdays.

Is it a waste? Of course it's not a waste; Zhou Yi still comes back occasionally.

After parking in the basement, he went upstairs to open the door; his parents were sitting in the living room chatting.

"Xiao Yi, the Court has already sent me those materials; they are all on my phone," Father Zhou said hurriedly.

After getting past the initial stage of nervousness, they were a bit better now, because it seemed their son had been involved in quite a few Lawsuits over the past two years.

The young lady who usually came back with him seemed to be a Lawyer too, so they weren't as scared anymore.

They just felt a bit embarrassed; after all, in their mindset, being sued felt like a particularly bad thing.

Zhou Yi took the phone, tapped on the Indictment, and started reading. The other party's demand was to rescind the contract on the grounds that the price was significantly wrong and that the contract was based on a Major Misunderstanding.

Having hung around with Lawyer Fang for so long, Zhou Yi was quite clear about the various situations in which a contract could be rescinded, and Major Misunderstanding was indeed one of them.

It's just that... Zhou Yi wasn't sure if the situation his parents encountered counted as a Major Misunderstanding.

Mother Zhou hesitated for a moment before asking, "Xiao Yi, look... look at what we should do about this? Should we just cancel the order to save ourselves the trouble?"

Zhou Yi pondered for a moment after hearing this and said, "Mom, it's hard for me to say, but there's no need to worry about this."

Looking at what the Indictment said, his mother had bought ten pieces of jewelry in total; it was said the original price should have been over two hundred and forty thousand, but they only spent around forty thousand.

"By the way, Mom, send me your chat history."

Mother Zhou quickly sent a screenshot of the chat history. Zhou Yi clicked in to take a look; there was nothing much to say, the other party had indeed apologized, but the compensation was only the five hundred yuan stipulated by the platform.

The platform rules state that if they don't ship within forty-eight hours, they must pay five hundred; in other words, the other party didn't actually intend to pay a single cent and just wanted them to cancel the order.

Standing from the other party's perspective, this seemed understandable; after all, you bought it, then you cancel, we give you a refund, and we even give you an extra five hundred—you've already made a killing.

But that's not how things work. Why should I cancel just because you say so when I bought it fair and square? And you aren't willing to pay a single cent; the five hundred yuan is only because the rules force you to pay it.

What a joke!

However, since it had already reached the Court, Zhou Yi felt there was no need to make a big scene; if it could be settled through Mediation, then so be it.

His parents still felt that such things shouldn't be blown out of proportion; it would be embarrassing if people found out.

But for such a matter, only giving five hundred yuan is definitely not acceptable.

After thinking about it, Zhou Yi prepared to contact the case-handling judge at the Lincheng Changyi District Court to see if Mediation was possible.

But before contacting the judge, Zhou Yi thought he would first ask a professional to see if he had the right to demand compensation from the other party.

The most reliable professional was, of course, Lawyer Fang.

A call went through, and Lawyer Fang's hearty laughter rang out: "What's up, Zhou Yi? What's the matter now? Didn't you just report that testing center boss?"

"Lawyer Fang, there's a rather urgent matter. How about this, do you have time now? If you do, I'll come to your firm."

"An urgent matter? Then come on over."

Zhou Yi then hung up the phone, said a word to his parents, and immediately went downstairs to drive straight to Lawyer Fang's law firm.

The law firm was reached quickly. Going straight to the office and pushing the door open, he discovered that Zhou Xinran was there too.

Sometimes Zhou Yi speaks without thinking, like right now...

"Eh, Xinran, why are you here too?"

The moment he saw Zhou Xinran, Zhou Yi blurted out that sentence, and then Fang Dazhuang wanted to cover his face.

Zhou Xinran had originally been laughing there, but upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, she immediately became expressionless: "You mean you don't welcome me? Should I leave then?"

"No, no, I came to consult Fang Dazhuang about something. You do as you please, just do as you please."

When sitting in front of Fang Dazhuang, Fang already didn't know what to say.

"Let's not talk about other things, let's talk business. What urgent matter is it this time that you even ran over specially to ask me? Can't the people at your company handle it?" Fang Dazhuang asked with some curiosity.

Zhou Yi pulled up the materials on his phone, placed them in front of Fang Dazhuang, and said: "Take a look, my parents are being sued."

"Ah? Uncle and Aunt are being sued?"

Before Fang Dazhuang could even speak, Zhou Xinran, who was to the side, had already shouted.

"Yes, sued. The reason is Contract Major Misunderstanding. Anyway, you guys take a look first."

Fang Dazhuang picked up the phone and began to look at the materials, asking as he read: "Oh, the product is gold. There's no problem with this case; it's just a very ordinary case. How much does the other party intend to compensate?"

"They only want to compensate five hundred yuan, and this five hundred yuan is even stipulated by the platform—if they don't ship within forty-eight hours, they should compensate five hundred..." Zhou Yi shook his head and said.

"Only compensate this much? That's definitely impossible to agree to!" Fang Dazhuang's reaction here was even bigger than Zhou Yi's: "A product worth over two hundred thousand; if it weren't for this regulation, they'd be planning to compensate zero cents. I can't believe they actually thought of this!"

"Alright, Zhou Yi, what are your plans? If this case really goes to court, for your parents to win, you have to prove that the other party engaged in low-price marketing behavior."

"Are there any screenshots of those pages from when you bought the items? As long as there is evidence that can prove it slightly, that's enough."

Although he spends his days sending people to prison, Fang Dazhuang also has deep research into civil disputes.

Zhou Yi shook his head and gave a bitter smile: "Fang Dazhuang, how could my parents possibly keep evidence when buying things? They just placed the order as soon as they saw something cheap, fearing that if they ordered late, the other party would cancel the low-price promotion."

"They just saw the low price and thought the other party was having a sale, so they bought it directly. The evidence you're talking about, there isn't a single piece."

This... Fang Dazhuang rubbed his bald forehead and said: "Then I have to tell you in advance about this case: if it goes to court, it won't be easy to win. Even if I go, without this key evidence, the probability of winning is very low."

For other clients, Fang Dazhuang certainly wouldn't say this; a lawyer would never tell you the win rate of a case.

But in front of Zhou Yi, Fang Dazhuang was very casual. This case is indeed hard to win; without key evidence, it's useless whoever comes.

He, Fang Xujing, is only a lawyer, not a mage.

Although it sounds like it's indeed very hard to accept, this is the fact stipulated by law.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yi shook his head and said: "Fang Dazhuang, since even you think it's hard to win, then I definitely want to avoid a lawsuit as much as possible. My idea is, if we can mediate, let's mediate."

"However, I think five hundred in compensation is too little. Fang Dazhuang, I want to know, if we want to make them pay compensation, are there any good reasons?"

"So we can say it when mediating with the other party."

Reasons, huh... Fang Dazhuang didn't even think before saying: "There are definitely reasons. Liability for Breach of Contract, right? We've used that in lawsuits before."

There's no need to explain this in detail; one can understand it just by looking at the literal meaning: 'contracting' and 'negligence'.

Contracting is the contract, and negligence is making a mistake.

Making a mistake when concluding a contract, leading to the damage of originally expected benefits—this also requires bearing responsibility.

It's not like if the contract wasn't signed or was revoked, the responsibility doesn't exist; that's definitely not the case.

"A contract of over two hundred thousand, they should at least pay ten or twenty thousand in damages. That's why I said, that A-Fu Company or whatever is compensating way too little, way too stingy."

As long as there's a reason, Zhou Yi said quickly: "Then I'll go talk to them. By the way, Fang Dazhuang, if they don't agree and insist on going to court, what should I do?"

A lawsuit is hard to win, and if the other party insists on fighting it, that's hard to deal with just thinking about it.

"If they insist on a lawsuit, you file a counterclaim, demanding the other party bear the Liability for Breach of Contract. Do I still need to teach you this? A lawsuit without evidence will definitely be lost; what we need to do is get it back from other aspects."

Has Fang Dazhuang ever lost a lawsuit? Of course he has; which lawyer hasn't lost a lawsuit?

He just always finds a way to make up for it in other aspects.

"Mm, like that. Understood. Then when the time comes..."

"Let your Zhou Xinran go. For this kind of case, even if you lead a... *cough cough*, Xinran going up will definitely be no problem. It's a very simple case; it's just that your parents don't have sufficient evidence."

"However, if there's a contract with evidence, there's no need to revoke it, and then the other party doesn't need to pay compensation for Liability for Breach of Contract... Mm, anyway, if you make a mistake, you have to pay something."

To the side, Zhou Xinran was expressionless—it's just that she still isn't Fang Dazhuang's match right now, otherwise, she would have had another Debate on the high ground!

After chatting for a while longer and getting a definitive answer from Fang Dazhuang, Zhou Yi returned home. He prepared to contact the presiding judge in Lincheng.

For this kind of mediation matter, it still has to be handled by the presiding judge.

After getting the presiding judge's phone number from Father Zhou, Zhou Yi dialed it quickly.

At the Changyi District People's Court of Lincheng, the presiding judge of Civil Division No. 1, Lin Yu, was busy with the matter at hand when the phone rang.

"Hello, yes, I am Judge Lin. Oh, you are that Ms. Wu's son? Mediation, right? No problem. I will contact the other party. Mr. Zhou, when are you free?"

"I'm free anytime. Okay, I'll ask them and then give you a reply."

Not long after, Zhou Yi received a call: the day after tomorrow morning, the Changyi District Court will conduct the mediation.

Hurry up and mediate to end it; Zhou Yi had already made a decision. Ten thousand isn't even necessary; if they give five thousand to show some sincerity, he can agree.

Even lower, three thousand is not impossible to consider.

Anyway, just getting the matter resolved is enough.

This matter has to be resolved back in Lincheng, so on the second morning, Zhou Yi returned to Lincheng with his parents, and Zhou Cainiao as well.

The identity was naturally that of an acting Lawyer.

The second update is here, and there is still one more chapter. Someone actually slandered me saying I would sleep—that definitely won't happen. I broke my word that night, so I definitely won't break my word today.

(End of chapter)