Chapter 551: Acquaintances? Enemies! (Making up for the missed update on the 27th)

Although we repeatedly emphasize that public opinion cannot interfere with the judiciary, the fact remains that when a case is placed before the public and every detail is scrutinized from all angles, no matter how it is judged, there will be criticism.

Then one must reconsider those two principles: base it on facts, and use the law as the yardstick!

When it reaches the stage of a Court judgment, one simply follows the regulations as they are; insufficient evidence is just insufficient evidence.

It is just that the amount in controversy is too large...

In the office of Tang Pengcheng, a middle-aged man of about forty-some years sits there talking eloquently.

This case is too big; it is impossible for A-Fu Company to let their in-house legal team handle it, as the level of the in-house counsel is, after all, far inferior to these professional litigation Lawyers.

Therefore, A-Fu Company specifically retained a Lawyer from a well-known firm in Shenzhen, Lv Zuxiong!

At this moment, Tang Pengcheng speaks up: "Teacher Lv, this case can really only be entrusted to you. We are at our wits' end here; you have seen the evidence and everything else, it is just this much."

"Sigh, it is too late to say anything now, but Lawyer Lv, this case absolutely cannot be lost. If this case is lost, our Company will find it hard to bear."

Lv Zuxiong nods and says: "General Manager Tang, I will certainly do my best. As for the outcome, it is hard to say, mainly because the opposing Lawyer, that one surnamed Fang, is quite skilled."

"However, with the previous precedent from the Supreme People's Court, we still have hope regarding such a massive amount of compensation."

Lv Zuxiong is a Lawyer, but relatively speaking, he believes more in other things; he thinks that for cases like this, the things to consider are never just the law.

If the amount in controversy were only five hundred yuan, the Court would directly facilitate a Mediation.

But with over ten million, there has been no such precedent in the country yet.

A case like this is not easy to handle; one slip and it could be embarrassing, but Lv Zuxiong does not care.

After all, the person on the other side is Fang Xujing, a junior from his former university.

Although he was one year below him, back when they were in school, everyone knew Fang Xujing, but no one knew him, Lv Zuxiong.

Most importantly, during a Debate competition in university, several people on his side were left speechless by the other party.

Since he actually dared to bring up a case like this, then let's have a good clash!

After signing the contract, Lv Zuxiong left the office, and his assistant asked by his side: "Teacher Lv, do you know that Fang Xujing?"

He had just heard his mentor speak and felt as if his mentor knew the other party.

That is a big shot who is very popular right now!

Upon hearing this, Lv Zuxiong smiles and says: "Of course I know him. I once debated against him; he... is indeed very skilled, I am not just saying that."

This statement is quite interesting; he is indeed very skilled, but I have debated against him—the implication being, look, I am not bad either.

The assistant nods, feeling that they have followed the right person; they can brag about this when they go out in the future.

February 21st, less than a week left until New Year's Eve.

Zhou Yi climbs out of the hotel bed early; for some reason, he has been dreaming of a woman lately, but he cannot see her face clearly, though looking at her figure, it feels quite similar to Zhou Cainiao...

This is probably fate.

It is truly a coincidence; Lawyer Fang's legal calendar says, today is suitable for a court hearing!

This makes Zhou Yi suspect whether the Court also has such a legal calendar, otherwise, it makes no sense for it to be such a coincidence.

He is the Plaintiff for today's hearing, so he needs to go to the Court early.

A few days ago, that judge surnamed Luo even called specifically to ask if he would accept Mediation, and Zhou Yi told the other party directly that they had already talked and Mediation was impossible.

Then just wait for the hearing.

It is said that this Lawsuit will be broadcast live again, which seems to be to dampen the public opinion on the internet.

Once you have seen it with your own eyes, then the judgment made should be understandable.

Although Zhou Yi thinks it is useless, because those people on the internet value face more than anything else; even if they are wrong, it is impossible for them to admit their mistake to you...

Going downstairs, Lawyer Fang and Zhou Xinran are already waiting on the first floor.

"You're up? Let's go, it will be very lively today."

Lawyer Fang leaves behind this sentence and gets up to walk outside, and Zhou Yi quickly follows.

It will indeed be very lively today, because the internet has been arguing about this case for a long time.

The compensation of over ten million is too eye-catching, and many law professors have directly asserted that if this case is truly judged for compensation, it will definitely become a benchmark!

Even Xiao Cui and others from the market supervision department are paying attention to this case.

The rhetoric on the internet is full of gunpowder; the opposition believes that if this can be supported, then in the future, as long as everyone discovers fraudulent behavior, they can just buy a "small target" and then sit back and wait to get rich.

While those who support it believe that these companies that engage in fraud at the drop of a hat should be dealt with in this way!

Otherwise, people will act unscrupulously however they want, and in the end, every fine is just a negligible amount of money; for a company with such high annual revenue, a fine of a few hundred thousand really won't be taken seriously.

However, there are specific regulations for how much a fine should be, and the relevant departments cannot just fine at will.

And the meaning reflected in the middle is that many people default to the idea that A Yi must have thoughts of revenge.

But whether it is reflected in this specific matter depends on the evidence.

Of course, regarding the worries of the opposition, some Lawyers soon provided an explanation.

Compared to other terms like "malicious wage claiming," "malicious Litigation" is a real thing.

And once it is determined that you have engaged in "碰瓷" Legal Aid or "malicious Litigation," the Court may impose penalties, and the Defendant can also file a Counterclaim, demanding compensation for losses caused by the "malicious Litigation."

So it is really not the case that you can just file a Lawsuit whenever you want to get a "small target."

Filing a Lawsuit itself means you have to bear the obligation of an unfavorable outcome!

For example, the Litigation Fee in this case for Zhou Yi, the Notarization Fee for securing evidence, and the preservation costs for filing Pre-litigation Property Preservation are all obligations he must bear.

Once your case is investigated and deemed malicious Litigation, not only can you forget about getting that money back, but you may also face fines and compensation.

It is a pity that the people who oppose it will not listen.

"I don't care about what you all are saying; anyway, A Yi is wrong. I used to think he was the type who was serious for the sake of fairness, but now I find him disgusting; doing this has ruined his image in my heart!"

"That A-Fu Company is indeed wrong, but can he just do this?"

Isn't that so? Some people who claim to be A Yi's audience have already stood up to speak.

In their words, if a dog bites you, you can't bite the dog back; they say that the previous Counterclaim is fine, but you cannot take revenge, whether by legal means or other means.

The core point is, you A Yi are an internet celebrity famous for being pedantic, so you should do good deeds, not do this kind of thing, it's disgusting.

However, these words were retorted by Zhou Mouren's audience as soon as they came out.

Yuan Jie commented directly below:

"What do you mean? You dare to call yourself A Yi's audience? Now you've learned your lesson and say audience instead of fans, but as long as you've been watching A Yi's videos, who doesn't know what kind of person A Yi is!"

"So, A Yi must be a good person, and therefore good people must have guns pointed at them, right?"

Having watched A Yi's videos for so long, everyone has already reached a consensus, which is that we absolutely must not be that kind of pure good person.

We can donate money, we can help others, but when we are bullied, we can also retaliate, instead of saying that because we are good people, we can only endure when others bully us.

And Yuan Jie's thought is that society's requirements for good people are too high; if you do even a little something else, you will be accused, so it's better to just not be a good person.

The other party was naturally unconvinced after being retorted, so both sides argued in a mess again.

And more people entered the Court's live stream, many people were curious about how this case would be judged!

Zhou Yi and the other two arrived at the Court and walked in very low-key; the people observing this case even had to line up, because everyone wanted to go and listen.

Fang Dazhuang carried his crossbody bag, his temperament was extraordinary, giving people the feeling of a handsome middle-aged man, provided you don't look at his hair...

It's just that, one who has poetry and books in their belly has a natural elegance; even though his hair was almost gone, Fang Dazhuang still drew attention as he walked on the road; he was just that attractive.

However, as soon as the three of them found Civil Division No. 1, they saw a middle-aged man with thick hair in front of them, with a young girl beside him carrying a bag.

Who is this? Just as Zhou Yi was planning to step forward and say a few words, he saw that middle-aged man speak to Fang Dazhuang.

"It's Lawyer Fang Xujing, right? It's been a while."

Huh? Is this an acquaintance of Fang Dazhuang?

Zhou Yi immediately pulled back the step he had taken and stood in the back with Zhou Xinran to watch the show.

Fang Dazhuang really has so many acquaintances; he can meet them wherever he goes!

The assistant girl behind Lv Zuxiong looked excited; her master really knows Teacher Fang.

However, under Lv Zuxiong's bewildered gaze, the bald man in front touched the few remaining hairs on his head and said with a confused face: "Ah, it's me, you are... have we met?"

Lv Zuxiong said speechlessly: "I'm Lv Zuxiong, we were in the same school, I was one year ahead of you."

Fang Dazhuang still looked confused: "Ah? The same school? But I still can't remember... don't misunderstand, my memory is indeed not very good..."

Zhou Yi: "..." This doesn't look like an acquaintance.

The assistant girl behind Lv Zuxiong was already blushing a bit, because this was the entrance, so some people were already looking over here.

So the master doesn't know Teacher Fang, then why did he...

Lv Zuxiong's face turned dark, and his fists were already clenched.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally said: "We participated in a debate competition together back then, the debate topic was which is more important, procedural law or substantive law..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Dazhuang suddenly realized: "I remember now, you are the third speaker on the opposite side, right? It seems like you were all about to cry because of what I said..."

Zhou Yi and Zhou Xinran: "???"

After all that, they aren't acquaintances, but "enemies"!

Counting this one, the number of "enemies" of Fang Dazhuang that Zhou Yi has seen is already no less than ten.

This Fang Dazhuang is almost becoming the teacher of Xiao Lv; he can't remember who was first in the 100-meter dash, but mentions sending a bread machine back then and he remembers instantly.

He doesn't know who anyone is unless you mention the debate, and once you mention it, he remembers it clearer than anyone.

Lv Zuxiong's face turned dark: "What nonsense are you talking about? Who cried? Now I'm here to tell you, I am the agent Lawyer for A-Fu Company, understand?"

"Oh..."

Watching Fang Dazhuang's attitude, Lv Zuxiong turned around and entered the courtroom; he felt that after so many years of tempering, he already had a calm heart.

As a result, he had only seen the other party for less than two minutes before he was made to want to take action.

But he couldn't win if he took action, which made him even angrier!

This guy is really annoying, extremely annoying, because he really has never seen a guy who can offend people just by opening his mouth.

Zhou Yi has always felt that he offends many people, but actually, compared to Fang Dazhuang, he is far behind.

When Fang Dazhuang was young, that mouth never spared anyone.

Over here, Fang Dazhuang looked back at Zhou Yi and said: "Alright, it was an eighty percent win rate before, now it's one hundred percent. This Lv Zuxiong, he actually isn't suitable to be a Lawyer either."

"Especially for this kind of case that requires real combat, you must be single-minded, but he, he always thinks about external factors, thinks about higher Courts, thinks about the Supreme People's Court; this is wrong."

As he spoke, Fang Dazhuang entered the courtroom, found the Plaintiff's position, and began to take out materials one by one.

Opposite, Lv Zuxiong was doing the same work, and the assistant girl didn't dare to say a word.

She only felt that her master's back didn't seem as tall anymore.

The live streaming equipment began to be tested, and the live stream had already started.

A bunch of Netizens flooded in and were talking nonsense; Judge Luo arrived at his seat as the Presiding Judge.

The Judge and the People's Juror were also in place.

Accompanied by Judge Luo striking the Gavel, the court trial officially began.

The executives of A-Fu Company were all watching the live stream, and Xiao Cui and others were waiting for news; it can be said that this case was already the focus of the whole country!

"Do both the Plaintiff and Defendant accept Mediation?"

Both sides answered they did not accept, and the presentation of evidence and Cross-examination began.

Fang Dazhuang had a lot of evidence here, including evidence of Zhou Yi purchasing gifts for the Company's annual meeting last year, and evidence of paying out of his own pocket to buy gifts for activities held this year.

There was also the Company's survey questionnaire from the second half of this year.

Asking everyone what kind of gifts they liked best, the survey results showed that everyone liked gold very much...

This, of course, was not fake evidence; Tengda often conducts similar surveys, and they conducted many this year; the one taken out here is one of them.

So you cannot say this is fake evidence.

There was also evidence that A-Fu Company's promotions offered 50% or 40% off, which was a higher discount than other gold brand stores, and the activity intensity was greater; these were all notarized by the Notarization office.

The goal is to form an Evidence Chain, proving that Zhou Yi is a normal consumer and that his actions all have reasons and can be explained.

Lv Zuxiong began the Cross-examination one by one, but as he listened, Fang Dazhuang suddenly laughed.

Because Lv Zuxiong, targeting the promotional evidence presented by this side, said that according to common sense, no one would specifically secure evidence before purchasing something.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the Plaintiff had the idea of Litigation before placing the order, and thus the other party engaged in malicious litigation, so he requested the judge to conduct an investigation.

Once these words came out, let alone the people in the gallery, even the Netizens watching the spectacle in the livestream were a bit dizzy.

Because this logic actually seems to make some sense!

This chapter is a make-up chapter for the missed update; I sincerely apologize to everyone, what needs to be made up will be made up..

(End of this chapter)