Li Dagui looked helplessly at the well-dressed young man who was standing on a stone and giving a speech in front of the dilapidated residential building.
The residential building was crowded with people, with cheers and applause erupting from time to time, and reporters around snapping photos.
He looked at the short, fat and slightly bald middle-aged man next to him. He was the deputy director of the Health Committee under the Beiguan Municipal Administration Committee, named Zhang Zhenbang.
Li Dagui felt even more helpless.
The Health Commission originally had a fixed law firm as its agent, and legal affairs were always handled by Liu Hanming Law Firm.
However, regarding this dispute, Liu Hanming's law firm responded that it was in merger negotiations with lawyer Lu Qianxing's firm, so there was a conflict of interest and they could not act as agents.
Even the letter means that it does not matter if the Health Commission terminates the long-term agency contract.
Therefore, the Health Committee found Tang-Li Law Firm, and Tang-Li Law Firm handed the case over to me.
The reason was that he had dealt with the law firm where lawyer Lu Qianxing worked many times, had fought with lawyer Lu Qianxing's apprentices, and had also been the legal aid lawyer for Sirov, an important witness in the case in which lawyer Lu Qianxing prosecuted Little Renault.
In the end, Sirov was pardoned, you did a great job.
Therefore, you have extensive experience in dealing with Lawyer Lu Qianxing and have performed well, so you are the only one who can be the attorney for this case.
Li Dagui thought about his boss talking to him seriously and giving him one, two, three reasons why he had to do this case. He felt so sad that he could not even cry.
If you are afraid, just say you are afraid. What’s the point
Lawyer Lu Qianxing is very popular now, and no one wants to compete with him. This is understandable, but there is no need to do so. Being a cannon fodder makes you look good, right
"Wow", warm applause rang out again.
The sun was very strong today. Zhang Zhenbang, deputy director of the Health Commission, who was standing next to Li Dagui, wiped the sweat off his bald head with a handkerchief and looked over there with disdain, "Show, show! Too much!"
Li Dagui was shocked. Director Zhang was not a person in the legal profession, so he naturally had no idea how terrible Lawyer Lu Qianxing was. In addition, Director Zhang was a senior official in the administrative agency. He was in a high position and had a lot of power. He was very bureaucratic and was careless about the meeting. He was very arrogant. Especially since the other party asked him to wait here, he was even more angry.
But you can't say this casually. What will happen if Lu Qianxing hears it
But, I can't shut my customers up.
Li Dagui stood quietly a little further away from Director Zhang, so as to avoid being heard by Lu Qianxing's people and thinking that he was complaining with him.
But then again, Lawyer Lu Qianxing is really putting on a show, isn't he
A huge poster has been hung on the exterior of the New Era Shopping Mall building, and it can be seen clearly from a distance. It says something like "Lawyer Lu Qianxing wants to build a fair society and a fair community, starting with the Lemonade Girl!"
On the huge poster, against the bustling background of high-rise buildings stands a little girl with patches all over her body holding a bottle of lemonade, creating a very sharp contrast.
Behind the little girl were a group of models who were not dressed very well and they all seemed to be working class.
"Let her and them become part of our fair society!" is the voice shouted by Lawyer Lu on the poster.
Let’s not talk about this for now. The little girl’s grandmother has obviously been sent to the hospital by Lawyer Lu, and I heard that she is being taken care of very well.
However, Lu Lu brought a large group of people to the little girl's house, doing all kinds of things. Isn't this just a show
Li Dagui quickly shook his head, trying to forget these thoughts. Otherwise, if he said something wrong during the negotiation, it would be a disaster.
"You two, please follow me!" A beautiful girl in a red elegant suit stood beside them and made a gesture of invitation.
Over there, the applause became more and more enthusiastic. It seemed that lawyer Lu Qianxing's speech had come to an end.
…
From the glass-walled conference room, you can see the busy men and women outside. From their dress and temperament, you can tell that they are the professional elites of this society.
Director Zhang, who was originally very arrogant, was a little less arrogant at this time. However, he was still a little impatient after waiting in the conference room for too long. He turned to Li Dagui and said, "Go and urge them!"
On the other side of Director Zhang sat a middle-aged man with a nervous look on his face. He was wearing a black uniform and had a pen in his shirt pocket.
The health supervisor who caused this dispute is called Chen Rongchang.
He was called in at short notice, and when the other party saw that Chen Rongchang was not present, he refused the meeting.
After Li Dagui's persuasion, Director Zhang called him over.
"Oh, here they come!" Zhang Zhenbang tried to urge them himself several times. Li Dagui originally wanted to pretend to go out for a walk, but he saw several figures already in front of the glass wall, and then the glass doors slid open to the left and right.
Lu Qianxing came in holding the little girl Xiuxiu's hand and came to the oval conference table. The beautiful girl in red who followed him picked up the little girl and placed her on the large leather chair.
The little girl Xiuxiu no longer had patches all over her body, but she was still dressed very simply, in a flowered dress.
When she saw Chen Rongchang, she immediately lowered her head timidly. Obviously, she was still very afraid of this middle-aged man who had kicked her stall like a ferocious monster.
"My time is precious!" Lu Ming took out a piece of white paper, glanced at Li Dagui, crossed out the number on it, and wrote a new one.
"Our time..." Zhang Zhenbang was immediately furious when he heard what the young man said. Isn't my time much more valuable than yours
Li Dagui whispered in his ear: "The lawyer on the other side charges 1,000 yuan for one minute of consultation."
After sending little Renault to the guillotine, the consulting fee of lawyer Lu Qianxing on the price list of Wang-Lu Law Firm soared from 100 yuan per minute to 1,000 yuan.
Zhang Zhenbang was stunned and opened his mouth, but he couldn't say what he wanted to say. One minute is one year's salary
Lu Ming had already pushed the white paper with numbers written on it and slid it across the smooth conference table.
"So, make a decision quickly, otherwise, I will raise the price."
Li Dagui picked up the white paper and took a look at it. He immediately gasped. There was a 7 and 4 zeros on it, which meant 70,000 yuan.
"Are you crazy?!" Zhang Zhenbang stood up suddenly, "You are a lunatic!" He turned to Li Dagui and said, "Let's go!"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Whatever. Actually, I originally offered 100,000 yuan, but I didn't expect that you would be represented by Lawyer Li Dagui. I have fought with Lawyer Li Dagui before..."
Hearing this, Li Dagui almost stood up in panic and said he didn't dare, but after all, the customer was next to him, so he still sat there with dignity and no expression on his face.
"Lawyer Li Dagui is an excellent lawyer, so I think that even if I go to court, I can probably get this price, so I gave him a 30% discount. Our time is precious, so let's not waste it in court!"
Li Dagui looked at the paper and saw that it was indeed 100,000. After he drew a line on it, it became 70,000.
"Director Zhang, don't be anxious. Listen to what the other party says." Li Dagui whispered in Zhang Zhenbang's ear.
Zhang Zhenbang snorted coldly and sat down. It turned out that these lawyers also asked for exorbitant prices
Regarding this dispute, after seeing the other party's lawyer's letter, it seems that Director Li knew this person, so he asked me to come and said that it would cost less money and be settled. There was no need to go to court and be attacked by the other party.
Director Li explained that if the amount is less than 500 yuan, he can agree to it.
Originally, I thought Director Li was too ignorant. Why did he give such a large amount of compensation
But now looking at the numbers the other party came up with, I feel that this is an absurd dream.
Li Dagui looked at Lu Ming and said, "Lawyer Lu, your client is operating a stall without a health permit, which is illegal. But for humanitarian reasons, we are willing to give Xiuxiu some condolences, but not compensation. Besides, the amount you're offering is simply impossible."
Looking at the giant opposite who was almost impossible to knock down, Li Dagui calmed down instead. As a lawyer, he still had to fulfill his duties at this time and do his best, doing whatever he could.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Why do we need a health permit to set up a stall?"
In a word, everyone present was a little confused.
Originally, everyone thought that Lawyer Lu was asking for compensation on the grounds of rough law enforcement on his side. Now, the health license was denied
Lu Ming continued: "What is a health permit? Isn't it still people who inspect the hygiene of the goods? Is there any difference between this and the operators inspecting the hygiene themselves?"
"Please note that the traditional beverages mentioned here do not involve expired products or additives."
“In fact, when a society relies on specific institutions to test whether all products are qualified or not, this society has already lost!”
"It shows that in this society, the moral bottom line has become the law. This is sad."
"Of course, I also think that testing agencies are necessary, and the more categories, the better."
"But this kind of testing and the issuance of this kind of certificate should not go against human nature."
"Take Xiuxiu for example. She and her grandmother have been selling lemonade for many years. Their stall is located at the edge of the New Times Shopping Mall. The security guards there never drive them away because they all know that the little girl has a hard life. Moreover, the lemonade made by the grandmother and granddaughter has always been clean and hygienic. Over the years, no one has had any problems after drinking their lemonade. So why does she insist on your approval? She wants your certificate? Aren't there fewer problems with products that have your certificate?"
“When our health administration showed up half a century ago, was it to get you to drive out the real conscientious vendors?”
"Why should she give you part of the money she and her grandson earned from setting up the stall after working hard for a month?"
"But, the law..." Before Li Dagui finished speaking, Lu Ming waved his hand, "Laws are made by people, especially the regulations of some institutions, which are meant to restrict specific groups of people. Are they necessarily reasonable? The regulations of the Health Commission are bullshit in my eyes."
"You!" Director Zhang was already very angry after hearing the other party's nonsense. Who knew that he would suddenly say such a thing? His face turned red with anger and he stood up, "Why are you so rude?!"
Lu Ming looked at him, "Do you believe that you will have to revise the clauses very soon after the court hearing? Many clauses will soon become bullshit!"
"You, you..." Director Zhang pointed at Lu Ming, so angry that he couldn't speak.
Lu Ming ignored him and looked at Li Dagui, "Okay, let's not talk about the health permit, let's talk about Xiuxiu's losses."
"Even if Xiuxiu doesn't have a health permit, you broke a lot of her things when you were enforcing the law..."
Li Dagui nodded: "These losses can be negotiated."
"And the harm done to the little girl..."
Li Dagui pondered: "We can talk about it."
"More importantly, they slandered the girl's products in public, saying her lemonade was unhygienic, and smashed them in public, causing damage to Xiuxiu."
"You should understand that the lemonade prepared by Xiuxiu was not expensive at first, but it was handmade with an exclusive formula, tasted good, was hygienic, and had a bit of the flavor of a time-honored brand. Although it was not expensive, it felt high-end, and there were customers from far away who came to buy it. Your law enforcement agency said it was unhygienic and smashed it on the spot. These lemonades were mixed with sewage. In the future, when people see Xiuxiu's lemonade, they will think of sewage. Will anyone buy it? Do you understand the psychology of consumers?"
Li Dagui was stunned, but he had done his homework. "Xiuxiu's lemonade may not be easy to sell for a long time in the future. The Health Committee is willing to issue a special health license to Xiuxiu and waive the management fee for ten years to make up for her losses."
Xiuxiu didn't understand anything else, but when she heard this, her big eyes blinked and she looked at Uncle Qianxing beside her. This is it, it really will be fine. A free health license is unimaginably good.
In the past, my grandma didn't want to pay, but the people from the Health Commission thought that since they were bulk drinks, they required that they be inspected and charged a fee every time they were sold. My grandma often cried because of this, and I could only play hide-and-seek with the health supervisors.
After listening to Li Dagui's words, Lu Ming shook his head and said with a smile: "Dagui, Dagui, you still don't understand."
"Let me show you a sample document!" Lu Ming stretched out his hand, and the girl in red beside him hurriedly took out a few pages of documents from her briefcase. Lu Ming pushed it and slid it in front of Li Dagui.
Li Dagui picked it up and was stunned. It turned out to be a buyout letter of intent from Huaxia Beverage Company, and the name of the second party was Xiuxiu.
It means that the Grandparents' Lemonade has a unique formula and a good taste, and can be developed into a time-honored brand. Huaxia Beverage is prepared to invest 50,000 yuan to purchase the exclusive formula, and dividends from the annual lemonade sales will be distributed to Xiuxiu and her grandchildren.
The letter of intent was signed ten days ago.
Lu Ming shook his head. "Now, the reputation of Grandparents Lemonade has been completely ruined by you. Throwing it into the sewer in public and saying it's unhygienic is a black mark that can never be erased. Huaxia Beverage has withdrawn its offer. This unprovoked disaster has caused Xiuxiu and her grandchildren to suffer long-term losses of at least 100,000 or 200,000 yuan. I am asking you for 70,000 yuan now. It's because of you, Lawyer Li Dagui, that I pushed myself to the limit!"
Director Zhang, who was standing next to Li Dagui, looked at the letter of intent and said coldly, "What nonsense! Who would believe this?"
Lu Ming frowned slightly: "Director Zhang, this is your first time, I forgive you. If you slander me for forging documents again, I will formally sue you in court for damaging my reputation. By then, it won't be a matter of 70,000 or 700,000 yuan in compensation!"
"As for whether this document is valid, we will know when we go to court!"
Li Dagui frowned and whispered something in Director Zhang's ear, and Director Zhang slowly sat down.
Lu Ming added: "The 70,000 yuan compensation will be used to set up a fund, which will be supervised by our law firm and will be responsible for the future expenses of Xiuxiu and her grandchildren, including grandma's medical treatment, Xiuxiu's future schooling and living expenses, etc., until she gets married, there should be a generous dowry..." At this point, Lu Ming looked at Xiuxiu beside him, smiled slightly, and pinched Xiuxiu's cheeks: "Little guy, the dowry is already there, study hard in the future, and thank the uncles and aunts from the Health Commission!"
Director Zhang gritted his teeth and said, "This is impossible!"
"Oh..." Lu Ming raised his head and looked at Chen Rongchang, the middle-aged man who smashed Xiuxiu's stall, and pointed at him. "There is an additional clause in the settlement agreement. This person must be dismissed from his public office."
Chen Rongchang's face turned pale immediately.
Director Zhang thought for a moment and said, "How about this, Rongchang, you should first sincerely apologize to Xiuxiu to show our sincerity."
"Okay, okay..." In front of this big leader, Chen Rongchang didn't dare to say anything more. He immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Xiuxiu: "Miss Xiuxiu, I was wrong, please forgive me!"
Xiuxiu looked at this ferocious middle-aged uncle, who now seemed like a pitiful creature. She felt that this occasion was terrible and she didn't want to sit here, but he seemed to be more afraid of something.
Not daring to say anything more, Xiuxiu hid behind Lu Ming.
Director Zhang added, "Chen Rongchang, we will fire him. As for compensation, how about 500 yuan? This includes issuing free health permits to Xiuxiu and her grandchildren."
Accustomed to being a leader, Director Zhang felt that the lawyers around him were not very helpful, so he decided to take control of the situation himself.
Li Dagui shook his head helplessly.
On the other side, Chen Rongchang's legs went limp and he slumped down in the chair. How could this be? After he apologized, he said he was going to fire him.
Moreover, it happened right in front of me.
But in the eyes of these big leaders, these lackeys like us are not human beings at all, so naturally, they will not consider their feelings.
Lu Ming looked at Zhang Zhenbang with a smile on his face. "Director Zhang, isn't this a vegetable market? 500? Well, you can go back and think about it. If there is no clear answer in three days, I will formally file a lawsuit on behalf of my client!"
Zhang Zhenbang was stunned for a moment, then he realized that he seemed to have made a fool of himself. This was not how bargaining worked here. The other party really wanted this astronomical figure in compensation.
It's crazy!
His face turned pale, and he said to Li Dagui: "Let's go!"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Director Zhang, off topic, in fact, your fees, including various taxes, etc., are ultimately used for the secondary distribution of social wealth. In fact, during the secondary distribution, instead of giving it to people like me to do projects or something, it is better to distribute it to Xiuxiu's grandparents and grandchildren who really need it and use it to save lives. Don't you think so?"
Zhang Zhenbang's face turned pale and he strode out, followed by Li Dagui.
Lu Ming smiled at Li Dagui and said, "Dagui, if my argument goes to court, do you think the judge and jury will agree with it?"
Li Dagui's heart trembled, he forced a smile, and quickly followed him out.
…
In the conference room, Lu Ming looked at Xiuxiu and said, "Alright, let's go to the newspaper for an interview. Xiuxiu, you have to put on a good show and cooperate with your uncle. If your name is Xiuxiu, you have to know how to put on a show!"
Xiuxiu lowered her head and didn't dare to speak.
The beautiful girl in red next to him felt helpless. If she hadn't known Lawyer Lu for many years, she would probably have thought that Lawyer Lu did all these things just to put on a show for his election as a councilor.
Even when Lawyer Lu sent little Renault to the guillotine, many people outside thought that Lawyer Lu was targeting little Renault with a vengeance because he had failed in his attempt to blackmail the Renault family's Tower Restaurant, and was determined to kill him. However, little Renault really deserved to die.
Now, it is obvious that Lawyer Lu is sincerely helping the grandparents and grandchildren, but it seems like he is just putting on a show because he is running for a seat in the Legislative Council.
This is how I originally understood it, and I thought Lawyer Lu was hypocritical and scary.
However, after listening to what Mr. Pan said about Lawyer Lu, he asked me, as the director of the campaign office, to help him with the election campaign.
Now, I understand Lawyer Lu a little bit. In fact, he is a very kind and gentle person at heart.
But perhaps, in this world, kind and gentle people, when standing in a high position, are destined to have many weaknesses.
Lawyer Lu doesn't want anyone to see his weaknesses, so he tries his best to disguise himself so that outsiders only see the way he wants others to see him.
People outside the circle, ordinary people, will be infected by Lawyer Lu’s declaration and will support Lawyer Lu’s proposition.
People in the industry who know a lot of inside information think that Lawyer Lu is hypocritical, cruel and terrifying.
Only those who truly know him will know how special he is.