Chapter 58: During Mediation, Why Are You Talking to Me About Brotherhood?
After consulting the lawyer, Wu Qi felt much more relaxed psychologically.
If the court wanted mediation, then mediation it would be. If they wanted him to mediate, he would go, but he would simply continue dragging things out. What could they do to him?
Very soon, the matter entered the mediation stage.
Inside the court mediation room.
A rectangular long table.
Wu Qi and Zhang Xiao, as the parties being sued, sat on the left side.
Su Bai, Li Xuezhen, and Wan Henghao, as the party bringing the suit, sat on the right side.
This trial case was accepted by the Primary Court of Xihe District, Nandu.
The mediator sat in the middle position at the long table.
Before the mediation began, Zhang Xiao's gaze fell thoughtfully upon Su Bai.
Su Bai noticed it but did not say much. He knew that the other party was from Nanyuan Law Firm.
Nanyuan Law Firm was the firm where Ye Fei had worked.
When handling the second case involving Zhang Tongwei, he had sent Ye Fei of Nanyuan Law Firm into prison.
Even if the lawyers of Nanyuan Law Firm did not know him personally, they should at least have heard of Baijun Law Firm.
Facing Zhang Xiao's gaze, Su Bai looked back at him.
So what if he had sent one lawyer from their law firm into prison?
Was that sufficient reason to look at him with such a scrutinizing gaze?
Su Bai smiled and returned the look, and Zhang Xiao hurriedly withdrew his gaze.
He silently thought to himself, so this was Su Bai, the one who had sent Ye Fei into prison?
It was only before the mediation that he learned the opposing side was represented by a lawyer from Baijun Law Firm.
However, to be fair, Ye Fei herself had indeed had problems, and this was something everyone in Nanyuan Law Firm knew, which was why she had been sent into prison by the opposing party.
He himself conducted matters properly and feared no scrutiny. There were no issues with him whatsoever, and thus no great cause for concern.
Moreover, as a lawyer, he handled cases after receiving payment. Naturally it would be good if he won, but even if he lost, it would not affect his receipt of lawyer's fees.
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiao felt much more at ease and seriously prepared for the mediation.
Holding the materials in hand, the mediator looked toward Su Bai and Wan Henghao.
"Regarding the mediation matters, both sides may now begin discussion. First, please let the party preparing to file the appeal, namely Mr. Wan's side, put forward your mediation proposal."
"Alright."
Facing the mediator, Su Bai put forward the requested terms for mediation.
"With regard to our appeal request and our good faith in mediation, the mediation proposal we put forward contains the following points."
"First, we request that the sued party pay our wages, the material expenses we advanced, and the interest generated by the two years during which wages were not paid, for a total of 368,794 yuan and 75 fen."
"Second, we request that the defendant apologize to us for the long term withholding of wages."
"Third, because the sued party failed to pay wages for a prolonged period, this indirectly caused serious harm to our mental state and physical condition, and we request that the sued party compensate us for part of the medical expenses."
"The above constitute the most basic settlement requirements we have proposed."
Wu Qi: ???
He did not even want to pay the wages, and now they were also demanding that he compensate interest.
Interest was one thing, but now even medical expenses resulting from their own condition were to be compensated by him?
Were they not simply trying every possible way to take money from him?
He would not pay.
Not a single cent.
If he paid them today, then tomorrow they would come asking for this and that. What then?
This precedent absolutely could not be opened.
Wu Qi looked at Wan Henghao with a smile and once again began playing the emotional card.
"Brother Wan, you worked at Tianlan Company for so long, so you know how difficult things have been for the company."
"I have invested all my money into the company. You also know that I truly do not have money."
"Besides, the creditor rights of the company have already been transferred away, and the company no longer has anything to do with me. Can you really bear to sue me?"
"Think about the relationship we had before, the brotherhood between us. Is it really worth suing me over such a small sum of money?"
"Could you first withdraw the lawsuit?"
Wu Qi still wanted first to use the emotional card to get Wan Henghao to withdraw the suit. Once the suit was withdrawn, he could drag things out again. In any case, there would be no money, and then the matter would be regarded as resolved.
But Wan Henghao had already seen through Wu Qi long ago and directly asked in return, "If our brotherhood is so deep, then why did you refuse to repay me over such a small amount of money and force me to sue you?"
"How about we settle today? Once you repay my money, I will not sue you."
Wu Qi had not expected Wan Henghao to say such a thing and could not help becoming somewhat embarrassed and angry. He had already lowered himself, and yet they still absolutely insisted on the money?
"Fine, brother."
"You clearly do not regard me as your brother at all now. For such a small amount of money, you brought me to court. Our brotherhood is finished. Then go ahead and sue me. If you are not afraid of delay, not afraid of failing to get the money, and not afraid of losing the case, then let us meet in court."
Seeing that his attempt to play the emotional card had no effect, Wu Qi repeated the word brother again and again, kept saying he had no money, then turned around and drove away in his Mercedes Benz.
Zhang Xiao had also not expected his client to behave in such an absurd manner. He was stunned for two seconds, said nothing further, and left the mediation room with his materials.
The mediation failed.
Just as Su Bai was about to say something, Wan Henghao turned his head and asked, "Lawyer Su."
"What was the offense you mentioned earlier regarding Wu Qi?"
Su Bai: "?"
"The offense of refusing to pay remuneration. This is established under criminal law."
"Since you have made up your mind, then prepare to initiate a private prosecution. Since the mediation failed, proceeding by private prosecution will be somewhat faster than conducting a court investigation and initiating a public prosecution."
For the offense of refusing to pay remuneration, as long as there is evidence to demonstrate it, a private prosecution may be initiated.
"Alright, Lawyer Su, thank you for the trouble."
Hearing Wan Henghao's words, Su Bai nodded slightly.
In Wan Henghao's case, whether by private prosecution or by recovering the money through civil litigation, it was not especially difficult. Originally he had thought that once the litigation was initiated, Wu Qi would understand the situation and return the money.
But unexpectedly, the other party simply left and refused settlement.
Moreover, the mediation requests he had put forward were not excessive, were they?
These were benefits that Wan Henghao ought to enjoy.
But unexpectedly, the other party was so forceful and directly refused.
There was no alternative. He was a nouveau riche type after all, perhaps accustomed to withholding wages and always thinking himself a grand figure. He simply had not yet encountered anyone truly difficult.
Su Bai shook his head slightly and said nothing more.
With respect to private prosecution cases, the procedural process was much faster than in public prosecution cases. After the court accepted the case, it directly notified Wu Qi of the hearing date.
Wu Qi: Goodness, you really did sue me?
After the hearing date was determined, Su Bai also informed Wan Henghao of the hearing date and told him not to worry, but only to prepare the evidence and materials and wait calmly for the hearing.
Inside Baijun Law Firm.
Li Xuezhen handed the organized materials to Su Bai's desk.
"Lawyer Su, these are the materials you asked me to organize. They include certain relationship certifications and also some materials and personnel information concerning Tianlan Construction Co., Ltd. as it currently stands."
Su Bai picked up the materials and briefly flipped through them. Seeing that the certification materials he wanted had all been properly prepared, he nodded slightly.
The most troublesome aspect of this kind of labor contract case was the difficulty of collecting evidence, and some basic information was not especially easy to process.
Generally speaking, cooperation from law enforcement authorities was required.
Su Bai also found this quite troublesome, but the law firm had its decisive advantage.
Li Xuezhen, the strongest person in terms of connections.
For Li Xuezhen, obtaining some of the evidentiary information he wanted was merely a trivial matter.
At present, the evidence prepared was already sufficient.
Su Bai could not help praising her. "Very good, you did an excellent job. I think you are getting closer and closer to the position of partner in our law firm."
As soon as she heard the word partner, a delighted expression appeared on Li Xuezhen's small face.
Partner of Baijun Law Firm, one step further forward.
"Lawyer Su, I will work very hard!"
Li Xuezhen's expression was serious and earnest, and she had fully accepted the motivational promise Su Bai had offered.
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