What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Chapter 33: Chapter 31: I'm Going to Nan Shan to Report to the Penguins

Tengda Law Firm, Old Song stretched and yawned. The workload recently had been a bit too much, and he'd been getting home late every night.

Of course, as a commission-based lawyer, he was working for himself. After paying the firm's fixed fees and taxes, the rest was all his.

This was after all the tedious comparison and calculation work had been completed by the intern lawyers. Otherwise, Old Song felt he would have been exhausted to death.

He was pondering this when his phone rang, and upon checking, it was from Tang Fangjing.

"Hey, Old Tang, what's up? What? You're going to Shenzhen? What on earth would you go to Shenzhen for?"

While asking, Old Song reached for his cup to take a sip of water, then the phone call brought him a piece of news that stunned him.

"I'm going to the Nanshan District in Shenzhen to sue Tencent."

Pfft! Old Song felt he must be hallucinating from working too intensely.

You're going to Nanshan District to sue Tencent, why don't you say you're going to Longgang to sue that who's-it?

"Old Tang, you must be joking, right? Why the hell would you sue Tencent? Do you think Tencent's legal department is like the one at Bluebird Company you dealt with before? The difference is bigger than that between a person and a dog!"

Old Song was still bewildered and so his words came out all jumbled, but his meaning was clear.

"Just a little issue that I have to resolve with Tencent. That's all for now."

Listening to the dial tone on the phone, Old Song looked at the few colleagues in front of him; they had heard everything.

"Old Tang must be joking, right, Old Song? I think he just doesn't want to come, haha," said a lawyer, laughing.

Old Song came back to his senses, deciding that it couldn't possibly be true that Old Tang was actually heading to Shenzhen to do such a thing.

Tang Fangjing's name had already been buzzing around Yuefu Residential Complex, and the homeowners' committee faced opposition from many people as well.

The old men and ladies took the words in the circle of friends' posts at face value.

"Why fuss over a homeowners' committee? Didn't we live our lives just fine before without one? Stability is most important. What if the property management pulls out and no other company takes over? Then wouldn't our complex become a derelict area just like that what's-its-name complex? Look at the hell they're living in..."

There really was no remedy for this; stability is ingrained in our bones, especially in many provinces in the North.

Work must be stable, must be within the system to be considered a job; life must be more stable. Those who are always in lawsuits are surely not good people. What good person is always involved in lawsuits?

And now, everyone got a satisfactory answer. Tang Fangjing withdrew from the preparatory team, and the preparatory work was halted. As for when it would resume... who knows.

Inside the property management office, Manager Hou looked at Manager Bai in front of him and said, "So now we can't find Tang Fangjing? He's not in the complex?"

"Yes, Manager Hou, I heard he publicly announced his withdrawal from the preparatory team at the community center the day before yesterday, then went home for a bit and hasn't returned," Bai replied.

Hearing this, Manager Hou said with disdain, "He chickened out already. I thought he could hold out a bit longer. Alright, notify Old Fan, tell them not to come anymore."

The property management has plenty of ways to target a homeowner. With a little manipulation, they could make other residents turn against you.

Manager Hou had already contacted the construction team, planning to dig up some areas under the guise of repairs to inconvenience the owners.

Of course, all the proper procedures had to be followed, with all the necessary approvals secured.

Then they'd say it was all because Tang Fangjing wanted to set up a homeowners' committee, and now they couldn't proceed with the repairs; they had to wait.

The homeowners could care less about the underlying schemes. Once isolated like this...

But unexpectedly, the other party had chickened out, so there was no need for the construction team to step in. Digging up would also cost money, after all.

"Alright, Old Bai, that's all settled then. Take the money and go do whatever you need to!"

The envelope containing twenty thousand yuan was handed to Manager Bai, who nodded his head with a smile plastered across his face.

He had always looked out for General Manager Hou because Hou was very generous. Nobody is a fool these days.

After Manager Bai left the room, he thought about it and decided to take out fifteen thousand from the envelope. Then he made a phone call and summoned Kong Xiufang, who was waiting at the reception.

"Little Kong, this is for you, take it."

Kong Xiufang felt something was off as soon as she took the envelope—it didn't seem like there was ten thousand yuan inside.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke up, "Manager Bai, this... is this less than ten thousand...?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Bai's face turned stern, "Ten thousand is ten thousand. Do you only have eyes for money, is that it? We haven't even sorted things out yet, and that Tang person has already lost his nerve. Without doing anything, you dare to ask for ten thousand outright?"

Kong Xiufang said with a wronged expression, "It's not that, Manager Bai; you had initially told me ten thousand..."

Perhaps feeling he had been a bit too harsh with his words just now, Manager Bai spoke more earnestly, "I've told you before, you young people shouldn't just focus on money. Think bigger; General Manager Hou and I will remember you when there are benefits to be had. Alright, I've got other things to deal with now."

Manager Bai left, and Kong Xiufang stood there dissatisfied. The promised ten thousand was only five thousand—what a rip-off!

Having a grand vision has nothing to do with whether one is rich or not. Some bosses are very wealthy, but when it comes to paying just a few thousand or even a few hundred yuan in salary, they just have to default, leading to some tragic outcomes…

It seemed like the matter was just going to fade away. The residents of Yuefu Residential Complex would occasionally chat about Tang Fangjing, but the talk of forming a homeowners committee was never brought up again.

As for the residents who were sued, they began to gradually accept the situation under the court's mediation... Time is the biggest antidote to all hatred.

Neighbors like Old Qian were puzzled, wondering where had that young man gone?

......

In Shenzhen, Tang spent two days gathering his evidence. To find out the identity of the person who posted the article, he first had to go to the platform's location to sue the platform.

It was a necessary procedure, but after all, he was dealing with Penguin, and he had to be prepared.

Although in most cases it would proceed to mediation...

That's why you can see why it's so difficult for individuals to protect their rights against online insults and defamation.

If the public security were involved, they could easily obtain the other party's information, but as an individual, you have to just walk through the process step by step.

At the Nanshan Court, Tang patiently took a number, submitted the lawsuit materials, and then faced a long wait.

He did take the opportunity to explore Shenzhen properly while waiting. After all, it's a special zone with many local regulations different from other places. For example, the fines for illegal parking would baffle people from elsewhere—how could they be so expensive!

During this wait, the judge handling the case directly notified him of mediation after Penguin reviewed the evidence and acknowledged there was indeed serious defamation.

This step was not unexpected, and after waiting nearly a month, Tang finally obtained the personal information of the author who had written the article in the Moments.

"Kong Xiufang... I seem to have seen this name over at the property management. These people really are bold, not knowing to put up a few more layers of protection for their white gloves," Tang shook his head as he looked at the confidential information he had obtained.

Of course, it could also be that the other party never imagined that someone would go to such lengths for such a trivial matter, making a special trip to Shenzhen to file a lawsuit, a true pyrrhic victory.

But now, he needed to hurry back, or else he would run out of money for living expenses...

Fighting for rights is not about how much you earn at first; the initial investment is too much for most people to bear. The benefits of using someone else's system were truly superior.

He returned all the way to Jingzhou and first had to check in with Old Song, who had been calling him every day, eager for updates. What's there to hurry for?