What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: Everyone Breathed a Sigh of Relief

The situation was different from what they'd anticipated, and Kong Xiufang's parents suddenly became anxious.

"Tang Fangjing, right? Just wait a moment, our family is willing to apologize, willing to apologize!" Kong Xiufang's father hastily shouted out.

Who cares about the company at this time? Is it more important for their child to go to jail, or for your company to be important?

Tang Fangjing stopped at the door. If they were really willing to pay and apologize, he could accept that, after all, his mission was primarily with the property management company. A criminal lawsuit was just catching a hare by scattering straw, an incidental benefit.

General Manager Hou was now the anxious one, "What's this you're doing? Didn't we agree beforehand to let Lawyer Zhang speak? Now you're acting like this, you can pay the compensation yourselves then. What kind of people are these?"

He roared, and Kong Xiufang's father roared even louder in response.

"What kind of person am I? Damn it, if it weren't for you getting my daughter into this, would she have gotten into such trouble? Now you're playing the good guy?"

Manager Bai yelled just as fiercely, "Exactly, stop your damn acting."

Watching the situation, Old Tang suddenly didn't want to leave anymore. Even though time was precious, he now wanted to watch the commotion.

General Manager Hou was somewhat dazed by the shouting, but he still said, "Fine then, go apologize. Go ahead, and I'm telling you, if you drag the property management into this, it's equivalent to slandering the reputation of the property management, and you can expect to go to jail as well!"

As the quarreling became a complete mess, Xiao Yan turned to look at Zhang Wei, who lifted his head to gaze at the sky.

Finally, Judge Wang raised his voice and shouted, "Enough, stop the arguing, or I'll call the bailiffs!"

Under the judge's intimidation, everyone finally quieted down. General Manager Hou directly spoke up, "Lawyer Zhang, I don't have anything to do with this mess, right? You can confirm that, can't you?"

Zhang Wei didn't dare to say anything; Christ, the presiding judge was still standing right in front of him.

But his silence was taken as concurrence by General Manager Hou, who was already quick-tempered and was now completely annoyed. Everyone thought they could take advantage of him, did they? Well, they were free to try and see who would get scared.

And as long as Kong Xiufang settled the mediation, it would be alright. Her parents had already said so, it was certainly headed for mediation.

General Manager Hou left with Zhang Wei and Xiao Yan, and the room once again fell silent.

Seeing Tang Fangjing about to leave, Kong Xiufang's mother hesitated but still spoke up, "Mr. Tang, as you can see, we truly agree to the mediation and have no problem apologizing, but this money..."

"You also said that it was the property management that made my daughter do it, so what if you go and ask the property management for the money..."

"That's impossible!" Tang Fangjing shook his head, "Your daughter is an adult. She did this and took the money, so she should compensate."

Wronged? It sounds quite wronged, but who hasn't been battered by society these days? You think everything is fine, but when trouble really comes knocking, you feel wronged.

Those who commit complicity in crimes feel wronged too, but that never reduced their sentence by even a few days.

There are not so many pies falling from the sky in this world.

"However, I do have a task here. If you help with it, then you can pay less..."

He hadn't forgotten his mission; lawsuits were always a means, not an end, just like a piece of toilet paper or a pair of underwear, each has its own use.

Time is like a wild donkey that doesn't stop once it starts running.

The situation General Manager Hou hoped yet feared finally occurred.

Manager Bai and Kong Xiufang issued an apology letter at the entrance of each unit and posted it in various owners' groups and on their Moments. The letter clearly stated the property management didn't want the Residential Committee to be established in the Yuefu Residential Complex.

It even analyzed the relationship between the Residential Committee and the property management, explaining why the property management didn't want the Yuefu Residential Complex to establish one.

With the combination of the apology letter and the previous arrest at the scene, owners who were originally uninterested started to take interest. They couldn't make too much of a fuss, as everyone wanted to join the excitement.

Moreover, those were all rumors before, like how Tang Fangjing was defamed by the property management. Although some people heard the news at the time, there were still owners who didn't believe it.

Now that the people involved came out and personally apologized, there was no more room for doubt.

Of course, General Manager Hou retaliated. The lawyer's letter was posted at the entrance of each unit, claiming that these two individuals were maliciously defaming the company's reputation due to their resentment from being fired, and that the police had been notified...

In the complex, the elders were nearly convinced, then the intern lawyers like Niu Ma started explaining that a lawyer's letter wasn't worth even a piece of toilet paper...

We're not afraid to slap our own faces when we're crazy, just ask if you're scared!

General Manager Hou didn't know what to do as the preparatory group had begun to publicize assorted regulations for the owners' meeting as well as its scheduled time.

At this stage, calling in the construction team would be useless. With the situation already set in their minds, it was easy for the owners to conclude that the property management did not want the Residential Committee to be established.

The only method left was to throw a wrench into the works of the Residential Committee.

But it was a bit late to start that now, since the groundwork hadn't been laid. Fortunately, another manager from the company came through, saying he had a distant relative in the complex, named Liu Jianjun.

Capable indeed, just that he had recently become unemployed, so it was the perfect opportunity to become the director of the Residential Committee...

And most importantly, he had a grudge against that Tang, having quarreled with him before. It's even searchable online!

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As for Old Liu asking Tang Fangjing to sue, the internet didn't really report much about it...

"President Hou, they're only handing out free eggs over there, so we just have to secretly give more expensive stuff, and have everyone vote for Old Liu, and that would do it!"

President Hou thought carefully for a moment, and it seemed indeed to be the case.

"The property management won't be involved; it's that Liu Jianjun who wants to be the homeowners' committee chairman, but is he willing?"

"He's willing, President Hou. I've already asked him before. Although he's a bit odd, he still agreed."

"Alright then, go handle it!"

The time for the homeowners' meeting was getting closer.

Undercurrents stirred within the residential complex; homeowners were surprised to find that they had become the bell of the ball, with people coming to their doors offering various gifts.

All for that single vote they held in their hands.

This was indeed a novelty; they had never experienced this before. And for many people, it didn't really matter who they chose, so they would just vote for whoever gave more.

October 20, the day of the first homeowners' meeting of Yuefu Residential Complex.

It had been over three months since Old Tang started preparing for the homeowners' committee. He had used every means at his disposal.

Of course, the most intimidating tool was the criminal complaint, which not only restored his reputation but also showed the neighborhood and community his resolve.

That's why the homeowners' meeting could be called in such a short time.

Free eggs, complimentary legal consultations, and various explanations also made the name Tang Fangjing well-known among the residents.

And homeowners like Elder Zhao Ruixia became involved again after seeing hope, there aren't many who would give charcoal in snowy weather, but many are willing to add flowers to the brocade.

Following a series of procedures, the first homeowners' committee of Yuefu Residential Complex was formed. Tang Fangjing was dumbfounded looking at the list, wondering when Supervisor Liu had jumped into the fray, and how he had gotten the highest number of votes!

Within seven days of the election of the homeowners' committee, the chairman and vice-chairman needed to be selected. While the street leaders were speaking, Tang Fangjing pulled Supervisor Liu aside.

"Old Liu, what's going on with you? After all the effort I put in, you ended up with the highest votes?"

Looking at the bewildered Tang Fangjing, Supervisor Liu was very pleased, overly pleased actually.

"I thought you knew everything. The property management insisted that I take this position. What could I do? I really need the homeowners' committee's salary."

"Of course, once the homeowners' committee is established, you do what you have to do. We're all in this together, right? Some distant relative wants me to keep the property management in the complex, not looking at the big picture."

Having gone through the previous events, Old Liu now had a great perspective, no reason, it was just Tang Fangjing's influence!

Old Tang finally snapped out of his stupor. Luckily, he didn't want to be the chairman anyway; being a lawyer was his main job.

Everything proceeded as planned, electing the chairman and vice-chairman, and completing registration with the various departments. By the end of October, all was settled, the homeowners' committee was officially formed, with Old Liu as the chairman and Tang Fangjing as the vice-chairman.

Both President Hou and Tang Fangjing heaved a sigh of relief.

...

Back at Tengda Law Firm, Old Song looked at Tang Fangjing and said, "Old Tang, you've gone through so much to get this homeowners' committee up and running. What do you plan to do now?"

"Oh, what's the deal with that lawyer named Zhang Wei? These past few days, wherever he goes, he's been talking about the criminal complaint case, saying that despite whatever you do, in the end you still settled, didn't you."

Zhang Wei was of course proud. After all, a criminal complaint case for defamation was a first in Jingzhou, and he managed to resolve it smoothly. Moreover, his client didn't pay a cent in compensation. Just try to top that!

"Is that what he really said? Alright then, since it's like that, I won't hold back any longer."

Tang Fangjing shook his head, unsure how that lawyer Zhang managed to brainwash President Hou. Such a light defamation crime could be just subject to control or detention, at most a fine.

But what if it were a crime of misappropriating funds?

Kong Xiufang and Manager Bai knew quite a bit; many affairs of the community were handled by him, how much income from advertisements, parking fees, electricity and water charges, etc. They had already started divulging details during this period.

President Hou might think that's nothing significant, one or two items don't matter, but when added up, it becomes quite terrifying—that's exactly what Tang Fangjing had them do.

So now, even before financial audits had started, Tang Fangjing knew that the community's income definitely couldn't be trivial.

But the money was gone...

If President Hou had just backed down last time, apologized properly, and fully cooperated with the homeowners' committee preparation, they might not have pursued any action against him: no police report, a private refund, and the matter would've been closed.

Many companies deal with executive embezzlement in this manner, seldom opting for mutual destruction.

But now... Old Tang really wanted to take action. Since the self-filed lawsuit didn't send anyone to prison, his anger was substantial.

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