Suite No. 2 on the top floor of the Newska Hotel was extremely lively. The long table in the banquet hall was filled with rich drinks and food. Someone was playing the harmonica, and men and women were dancing a cheerful tango-like dance.
This morning's hearing went smoothly, and Lu Ming specially gave all the accompanying personnel half a day off so that they could relax.
Suite 1 was extremely quiet.
Lu Ming was looking through several project plans of his group in his study, among which was a draft plan for the overall transfer of the Renault Building project.
For the Renault Group, whose operating conditions are not very good, getting rid of this big burden is a way to survive.
Lu Ming looked at the plan and pondered.
There was a gentle knock on the door. "Boss, this is Mayor Bucklo calling. Do you want to answer it?"
Lu Ming thought for a moment and said, "Turn around."
After a few seconds, the phone rang and Lu Ming picked up the receiver.
"Brother Qianxing, I haven't seen you for several days. Haha. Several times, I passed by your office door and wanted to go in and chat with you, but I just couldn't see you." Bucklo spoke fluent Central Plains dialect. Although this is a basic requirement for politics in Donghai, his tone of voice is almost the same as that of Central Plains people. He may even use some local slang better than Lu Ming.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "I've been busy with a case lately."
"Yes, I heard about the case of Zheng Zhongshi, the horse trainer, right?"
Lu Ming smiled: "Yes."
"Alas, this person is too outrageous. No matter what, he can't do what a kidnapper does!"
Lu Ming didn't say anything, waiting for his next words. This kind of call, taking the initiative to mention this case, would not be a waste of time.
Bucklo sighed again, "I have no choice. Tell me, I have to tell you what old Earl Van der Sar told me. Of course, Qianxing, no matter what you want to do, I will definitely stand on your side and on the side of the law! Right?"
Lu Ming smiled but still said nothing.
"But then again, in a case like this, from a legal perspective, there is still room for reconciliation, right? As long as the compensation is in place, we can withdraw the lawsuit, right?"
"Well, I don't rule out this possibility." Lu Ming smiled. "However, if he is convicted criminally, my client can still file a civil lawsuit and get a considerable amount of compensation."
"Oh, I don't quite understand these, but Zheng Zhongshi seems to have said that as long as your client is willing to withdraw the lawsuit, as long as you give a number, he will definitely satisfy it." Bucklo smiled and said, "I just have no choice but to convey a message to old Count Van der Sar. You can do whatever you have to do, okay?"
Lu Ming hung up the phone and picked up a newspaper next to him.
Just now, I saw a report about Count Van der Sar's family in this newspaper.
In the East China Sea, there are not many earl titles. Apart from the three earl titles in the duke family system, there are only two earl titles that can be inherited. One of them is the title of Earl of Nansenburg that has been passed down by the Van der Sar family.
Nansenburg is now one of the satellite towns of the East China Sea, but originally all the land in Nansenburg belonged to the Van der Sar family. It was only during the period of large-scale reclamation that the Van der Sar family gave up most of the land.
To this day, the Van der Sar family still owns an estate with more than 20,000 acres of land.
His family is relatively conservative and has never developed into the industrial and commercial fields. They live in a manor castle in the traditional territory of Nansenburg. Apart from the fields, the only modern industries they have are oil mills, flour mills and bakeries.
However, the bread of this bakery, commonly known as Old Earl's Bread, is very famous and has very good sales.
Moreover, many members of the new generation of Van der Sar's family are unwilling to be lonely. For example, the old Van der Sar's grandson is a famous playboy and often makes headlines in various gossip newspapers.
As for old Van der Sar, he has lived in Nansenburg since he was a child. If it weren't for horse racing, it would be difficult for others to see his true appearance.
His only pleasure is probably horse racing.
His favorite horse, Old Jim Warrior, has won the title of Horse of the Year for two consecutive years and won three Grade 1 races last year.
The elder Van der Sar was named Jim Van der Sar, and the racehorse was named after him.
The trainer of "Old Jim Warrior" is naturally Zheng Zhongshi, and this racehorse is also fostered in Zheng Zhongshi's stable.
However, Zheng Zhongshi said that he was frequenting high society, and he must have visited the old earl's Nansenburg Manor quite often.
But in the eyes of the Earl's family, he was of course still a groom.
However, since such a big thing had happened and the old earl came to him for help, he reluctantly greeted Bucklo anyway.
While Lu Ming was thinking, there was another knock on the study door. "Boss, a horse trainer named Zheng Zhongshi called and wanted to make an appointment to visit you. He said that Mayor Bucklo introduced him to you."
"Just say I don't have time." Lu Ming waved his hand unhappily.
This face will definitely not be given to Baclo.
Even if I gave it to him, my relationship with him would not be eased at all, and he would gain a great favor in front of the Earl's family for no reason.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Call Officer Bi Xiaoting."
Soon, Bi Xiaoting stood in front of Lu Ming's desk, her hands clasped lightly and hanging naturally on her lower abdomen. Her slender body in a red dress leaned forward slightly, and she stood in the humble yet elegant posture of an officer.
Lu Ming gestured, "Please sit down. Don't be so reserved. I am meeting you this time not as your boss, but as your representative lawyer."
"Yes." Bi Xiaoting turned around and sat on the low sofa. Her exposed calves in stockings were slightly tilted towards the boss, and her hands were placed on her knees, still very polite.
Lu Ming smiled and thought for a moment before saying, "That's right. The other party raised the possibility of reconciliation."
Bi Xiaoting immediately shook her head: "I don't want to reconcile." She was smart and knew that the boss wanted to punish that guy. How could she make the decision in such a matter
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Listen to me first. The other party may propose a shocking figure. Although we can file a civil lawsuit, the compensation amount is probably only a few thousand yuan at most. The settlement figure proposed by the other party may be tens of thousands of yuan."
Bi Xiaoting was stunned, with a hint of hesitation in her eyes, but she still said, "Boss, I don't want to reconcile."
Lu Ming waved his hand and said, "I told you, don't treat me as your boss or your rice grain manager now. I am your lawyer. Since the other party has proposed the possibility of a huge settlement, I will ask for the opinions of the parties involved and take your opinions as the main consideration. I am serious."
Bi Xiaoting shook her head: "I won't reconcile!"
Lu Ming looked at her: "What if the other party asks for a compensation of 100,000?"
"What about two hundred thousand?"
Bi Xiaoting was stunned. Is this possible? Her head was buzzing and her breathing was a little rapid. After a lot of effort, she calmed down and said, "I, I don't want to reconcile..."
Lu Ming nodded. Obviously, a compensation amount of one hundred thousand was an astronomical figure for anyone. For Bi Xiaoting, although her salary was quite high and she belonged to the real white-collar class, it was only about 2,000 yuan a year. One hundred thousand yuan was all her income for fifty years without eating or drinking. Who would not be tempted
And she was able to stay sober, feeling that she definitely didn't want to reconcile, so it was not easy for her to stay consistent with herself.
Lu Ming considered and said, "Actually, you haven't suffered any real substantial harm, so if the other party can come up with a reasonable number and agree to some of our reasonable requests, as your representative lawyer, I think it's in your best interest to accept the settlement. You should seriously consider it."
Bi Xiaoting shook her head like a rattle, "Boss, I don't agree to reconcile!"
In fact, I am currently anesthetizing myself, not thinking about the astronomical compensation I will get after the settlement. Otherwise, I am afraid that I will not be able to withstand the test from my boss.
Lu Ming was helpless: "How about this, I will propose a good number and some conditions. If the other party agrees, we will withdraw the lawsuit. This is indeed in your best interest. For example, I will prepare compensation from you of between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan. In addition, the horse of Mrs. Fifteen will also need compensation of about 100,000 yuan. I will also propose conditions for changing the owner of Zheng Zhongshi's stable. I think this punishment is enough."
With this calculation, Zheng Zhongshi would probably have to sell his house and land, and would go bankrupt and lose even his stable. In fact, I'm afraid Zheng Zhongshi would not agree to this.
Bi Xiaoting secretly looked at Lu Ming's expression. After confirming that the boss was not testing her, she thought about what the boss said and suddenly said blankly, "200,000? 300,000?"
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Okay, go ahead! If you really don't want to reconcile, you can come talk to me again."
Bi Xiaoting was still in a daze, her brain completely shut down by the huge opportunity that could suddenly make her a millionaire.
Lu Ming shook his head and the phone suddenly rang.
He asked the officer to transfer all the phone calls directly to him. Not many people had this privilege. Lu Ming picked up the phone.
Bi Xiaoting on the other side just came to her senses, hurriedly stood up, bowed deeply, and at Lu Ming's gesture, stepped out and closed the door gently.
"Uncle Jim, I want to ask me how to contact you. How did you offend that stubborn old man? He seems so angry?" Christine's funny voice came from the microphone.
Lu Ming coughed and said, "No, it has nothing to do with Count Van der Sar. It was his usual horse trainer who sent someone to kidnap one of my officers."
"Oh?" Christine frowned. "Well, in that case, I'll tell Uncle Jim to stop interfering and let you do whatever you want."
"Don't..." Lu Ming coughed. "Actually, my client wants to reconcile. If the other party offers a suitable number, I feel it will be in the best interests of my client. So, I am also prepared to talk to the other party. You tell Earl Van der Sar that I am willing to communicate openly with his trainer, but if he doesn't show sincerity, then I will definitely not be able to convince my client to reconcile."
"You're trying to extort money from me again..." Christine said disdainfully, and then, "Ah, I need to apologize to you again."
Lu Ming smiled bitterly, "You don't pay much attention to me now. I thought you would pay attention to the case I prosecuted privately. After all, it has been heard by the grand jury, and you can see the relevant materials."
A month has passed since New Year's Day, and I still haven't met Christine. The dinner plan that was supposed to be once a week was also canceled.
"You haven't been naughty lately, so why should I pay attention to you?" Christine paused and softened her tone, "I've been busy with some things lately."
Lu Ming thought for a moment and did not congratulate her on becoming a candidate for the Public Reserve. He was afraid that she was tired of hearing such polite words. What bothered her most right now was that the battle for the Public Reserve had inexplicably been dragged into her. From his understanding, she should not be keen on these things.
"Then I will reply to Uncle Jim as you said," said Christine.
Lu Ming hummed and said, "Count Van der Sar, why did I think of asking you for information about me?"
Christine snorted, "Are you pretending to be stupid?"
Lu Ming said in surprise, "Ah!" He said, "The scandal between you and me? Even Grandpa Van der Sar, a horse fanatic, knows about it? That must have a big impact on you, right? Is it okay with you? Do you want me to do something?"
When Lu Ming said the first half of the sentence, Christine's tone was a little harsh: "What scandal? How can you talk like that?!" But after listening to Lu Ming finish speaking in one breath, she was silent for a while, "I'm fine, how about you?"
"Of course it's nothing for me. In fact, I feel quite privileged. Many people are starting to be afraid of me..." Lu Ming laughed dryly.
“You…” Christine was probably really speechless, feeling angry and amused at the same time, “That’s it, I’ll ask you out for dinner some other day.”
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Well, okay. Now that you mention it, I remember that I also sent away an instructor from the police academy in the same way yesterday."
Christine made a sound on the other end, and then the microphone turned into a busy tone.