Chapter 96: Aibao Bankruptcy! Dong Cheng Sentenced!
With respect to the supervision and investigation of the adjudicating personnel who handled the first instance judgment against Guo Xiaojun, the relevant departments were still conducting investigation.
Su Bai, together with Li Xuezhen, temporarily returned to Nandu.
Nandu.
Inside Baijun law Firm.
During the several days in which Su Bai took Li Xuezhen away, Baijun law Firm.
With Xu Xiang and Duan Liang handling matters, the operation of the law firm was still proceeding within a relatively normal processing state.
However.
With respect to the recent cases received in such large numbers by Baijun law Firm.
The two of them were exhausted.
It was not that the two of them could not accept the cases, the main reason was that there were only two of them.
But there were too many miscellaneous materials requiring processing and certification, as well as matters requiring running errands.
The two of them simply could not handle everything.
Xu Xiang was young and strong and could still endure somewhat, but this truly made things difficult for Duan Liang.
Duan Liang: I originally came out simply to earn more money, but now suddenly I somewhat do not want to anymore.
Why?
Because!
Originally the already shining large head was now even more shining!
Bright to an extreme degree!
Duan Liang frowned and touched his head:
“Lawyer Su, although the money you provide is not small, there are truly too many cases.”
“Xu Xiang and I simply cannot handle them.”
“Recently we have continuously been running outside handling cases, often not returning home at midnight, and the person at my home even thought that I was having an affair outside!”
“If this continues, my forehead will become even more bald!”
Even more bald?
But you are already completely bald, how much more bald can it become?
Facing Duan Liang’s complaints, Su Bai spoke: “Lawyer Duan, do not worry, the law firm will certainly resolve this problem.”
“One intern lawyer will be assigned to each of you and Lawyer Xu.”
“Would this be acceptable?”
Duan Liang touched his head and nodded: “Yes, after having intern lawyers, handling cases will become much easier.”
The workload would be reduced considerably, at least some matters would no longer require them personally to run around handling them.
“Good.”
Su Bai also knew that at present the number of cases at the law firm was indeed large, and Xu Xiang and Duan Liang indeed could not handle them.
Recruiting two intern lawyers and assigning one to each of them.
In this way their workload would be greatly reduced, and the cases could also be managed.
Su Bai handed this matter over to Li Xuezhen.
At the same time.
Seven or eight days had already passed since the conclusion of the trial of Guo Xiaojun’s case.
After the conclusion of the trial.
Luo Daxiang published on his self media account the highlights of the second instance trial of Guo Xiaojun’s case together with his commentary.
As a legal commentator with tens of millions of followers across the internet, once the video was released, the number of views immediately reached several million and continued to rise.
Moreover.
With respect to the second instance trial of Guo Xiaojun’s case, it was not only Luo Daxiang who published content, when the second instance trial of Guo Xiaojun’s case was conducted, the number of viewing instances of the live broadcast exceeded one million.
Viewing instances and the number of simultaneous viewers are not the same.
However, this number of viewing instances was also extremely astonishing.
Among the followers, there were also many followers who voluntarily reposted videos.
There were even people who sent videos to one hundred and eight media outlets that they followed.
It must be said.
Certain media outlets are now very adept at grasping key points and perceived opportunities within this matter.
Some smaller media outlets even understood that this was a good opportunity to increase traffic and wrote promotional text overnight.
Very quickly, a large number of media outlets followed and uniformly released videos to attract traffic.
The traffic attracting promotional texts of various self media outlets were as follows:
“Demanding five million yuan in compensation instead resulted in being accused by the enterprise and sentenced to five years of fixed term imprisonment, the second instance finally ushered in delayed justice!”
“He alone confronted the entire enterprise yet suffered betrayal from his wife, unexpectedly after returning he not only confronted the enterprise and brought it down, but also directly sent his wife into legal sanction: please look forward to the next episode of the returning messenger of justice!”
This truly resembled the return of a dragon king.
One could only respond with a single expression of admiration.
However.
It must be said that some smaller media outlets indeed understood how to grasp the key to traffic.
Such exaggerated titles attracted the interest of many people and allowed more people to understand the entire cause and process of the case.
On the internet, the denunciation directed toward Aibao Milk Powder enterprise was advancing continuously in an almost completely one sided trend, and many netizens posted angry comments.
What kind of enterprise is this Aibao Milk Powder? The milk powder produced by your own company harmed someone’s health, they filed a lawsuit requesting compensation, you only needed to properly negotiate the compensation amount with them, yet you accused them of extortion?
What does this mean? This is entirely a malicious accusation! If every enterprise behaved like this, how would people still be able to claim compensation?
This is ridiculous! If lawsuits were judged in this way, what legal justice would remain to be discussed?
I think everyone should boycott this Aibao Milk Powder and request that relevant enforcement units conduct investigation, and at the same time the first instance judgment should also be subjected to supervision and investigation and made public!
Yes!!!
This is simply too outrageous, someone bought milk powder and their body developed problems, and when they requested compensation they were even sent into prison, if they had not appealed again and retained a good lawyer, then their entire life would have been completely ruined!
At present only half of the people online are criticizing this Aibao Milk Powder, does the other half have no mouths? Or no hands to type?
Outrageous!!!
At the same time, many institutions testing milk powder also appeared online.
They published the relevant composition of Aibao Milk Powder.
They indicated that there was an excessive amount of a certain element within Aibao Milk Powder which would have adverse effects on infants and young children.
Once the video was released.
It rapidly spread across the internet.
Because this concerned the health of children, it attracted the attention of the entire internet, and at the same time Aibao Milk Powder also encountered boycott from the entire internet.
Very quickly, the relevant enforcement units ordered Aibao Milk Powder to suspend production.
Aibao Milk Powder’s originally planned listing was directly interrupted, and the milk powder already on the market was completely returned, and factory orders were cancelled.
At present, the entire enterprise had fallen into paralysis and was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Inside the general manager’s office.
Dong Cheng roared furiously: “What is happening? What exactly is happening!”
“Was it not already agreed that payment would be given to short video platforms to suppress trending topics?”
“How did such a large problem suddenly appear!”
Someone below reported: “Director Dong, our competitors paid more.”
“????”
Dong Cheng was so angry that he wanted to curse loudly, what did this mean?
Was this not taking advantage of a disaster to attack him?
Their Aibao Milk Powder had originally been preparing for listing, which was why he had wanted to suppress the matter concerning Guo Xiaojun.
But now that the matter had become so large, and competitors had intervened again, was this not an attempt to watch him go bankrupt?
Damn!
Someone clearly intended to target him.
Was it not merely that a certain trace element exceeded the standard, what problem was there in that?
If the body developed problems, could one not simply go to the hospital for treatment?
Now that this matter had been exposed, it had caused their Aibao Milk Powder to approach bankruptcy, and even the listing plan had disappeared.
Dong Cheng was almost furious to death.
“Very well, I understand!”
Dong Cheng frowned deeply, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed Guo Xiaojun’s telephone number again, intending to once more attempt reconciliation with Guo Xiaojun.
Previously he had arranged for others to seek reconciliation with Guo Xiaojun.
But it had been rejected.
Now he wanted to personally seek reconciliation, after all as the general manager of Aibao Milk Powder he had already personally lowered his head to reconcile, the other party could not possibly still refuse.
I have already lowered my head, what more do you want from me?
However before the call connected, his mobile telephone already broadcast:
Sorry, the number you have dialed does not exist.
“????”
Dong Cheng took a deep breath and had just prepared to find someone to continue contacting Guo Xiaojun to discuss reconciliation.
But several enforcement personnel suddenly appeared outside the office:
The enforcement personnel spoke with cold expressions:
“Are you Dong Cheng?”
“Yes, I am.”
Dong Cheng slightly frowned, still not understanding what the current situation was.
He then saw that several enforcement personnel had already produced the relevant documentary proof.
“Hello, we are enforcement personnel from the prosecution, you are now suspected of involvement in a criminal case, please come with us to cooperate with the investigation.”
Dong Cheng: ????
Today’s events had occurred in successive turns, causing Dong Cheng to feel somewhat confused.
Looking at the documentary proof produced by the prosecution’s enforcement personnel, after repeatedly confirming it, Dong Cheng’s heart suddenly sank.
Had he not already entrusted a lawyer to inform Ma Li that as long as she did not expose him he would give her a large sum of money?
What exactly was happening now?
However.
He clearly underestimated the investigative capability of the prosecution.
“Mr. Dong, please now cooperate and come with us.”
The prosecution’s enforcement personnel repeated once again, their voices carrying seriousness and authority that could not be resisted.
Dong Cheng took a deep breath, his expression appearing somewhat dim, knowing that this time he would certainly suffer serious consequences, but facing the enforcement personnel who had already come to his door, he had no other option.
He could only helplessly nod and speak:
“Very well, I will cooperate with your work.”
After speaking, he followed the prosecution’s enforcement personnel and left.
At the critical moment when Aibao Milk Powder was already suffering from public opinion pressure, the general manager being taken away by the prosecution for questioning once again stirred great waves on the internet.
“Hahaha!”
“Damn! Send him in, send them all in!”
“This person truly deserved it. I think he must have bribed that Ma Li, can anyone explain what crime this constitutes and how many years it will be sentenced to, let me be happy about it!”
“The crime of obstructing testimony, using violence, threats, bribery, or other methods to prevent a witness from testifying, or instigating others to give false testimony, shall be punished with fixed term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention. Where the circumstances are serious, fixed term imprisonment of more than three years and not more than seven years shall be imposed!”
“Generally speaking, when the prosecution takes someone away for questioning, it already possesses certain factual evidence!”
“If nothing unexpected occurs, then Dong Cheng being sent in will not be unexpected, ordinary prosecution lawyers are extremely formidable, without first rate top criminal defense lawyers one simply cannot prevail against them!”
“And since the prosecution has already possessed evidence, I think Dong Cheng will very likely receive combined punishment for the crimes of malicious accusation and obstruction of testimony, and at the minimum could receive three years of fixed term imprisonment!”
“Hahaha, only three years of fixed term imprisonment? That is too lenient for him!”
“Note! That is the minimum!”
On the internet, denunciation directed toward Aibao Milk Powder further escalated, and Dong Cheng was even turned into reaction images.
“You accuse me, shall I send you in instead?”
Became.
“Mother, I will never dare again.”
These reaction images appeared throughout major comment sections.
Aibao Milk Powder’s originally planned listing had already completely collapsed, and it had encountered resistance from major manufacturers as well as consumer groups, and at present had already reached the verge of bankruptcy.
Now that Dong Cheng had been taken into custody by the prosecution, this further added fuel to the situation.
The relevant shareholders of the enterprise were extremely resentful toward Dong Cheng.
The relevant shareholders also clearly understood that Aibao Milk Powder could no longer have any possibility of reversal.
Each of them was calculating in their own minds how to reduce their own losses.
At the same time.
Because the influence of the internet was very great, and voices questioning whether legal justice had been fair appeared.
The relevant enforcement departments conducted a comprehensive investigation into the adjudicators’ rulings in the first instance.
The conclusion reached was.
There were no violations of regulations or discipline during the adjudication process.
To put it plainly, there was a problem with the adjudication result of the presiding judge.
However, there was no problem with the adjudication process and there were no violations whatsoever.
However, with respect to this result, the public was clearly dissatisfied.
They raised doubts regarding the adjudication level of the first instance adjudicators.
In response to the public’s doubts.
The relevant departments also imposed corresponding punishment on the adjudicators in the first instance:
They were transferred away from their current positions and were no longer permitted to engage in adjudication work.
For adjudicators, this indeed constituted relatively heavy punishment.
Inside Baijun law Firm.
After learning of this matter, Li Xuezhen’s small face fell, and her expression even carried a trace of regret.
“So close, it was only just a tiny bit short.”
“What a pity.”
“It was only just a tiny bit short of sending the judge in, but why was it short by only this tiny bit.”
Li Xuezhen silently repeated this in her heart, her mind filled entirely with this thought, and her face was full of dejection.
“Lawyer Su.”
“This punishment for the adjudicators is too light.”
“I had thought that it could, I had thought that a heavier sentence could be imposed.”
Li Xuezhen nearly let the truth slip out and hurriedly corrected herself.
Su Bai let out a deep sigh, what had you thought, what exactly had you thought?
Had you thought that all the adjudicators could be sent in?
What were you thinking.
The first instance judgment clearly stated the legal basis cited and the adjudicated facts.
Moreover.
According to the investigation conducted through review and supervision, and the results that were made public.
Aibao Enterprise and the relevant adjudicators had no connection whatsoever.
How could they all be sent in.
Little Li’s mind was always engaging in wild imaginings.
Cough cough.
Su Bai coughed lightly twice and then spoke: “The first point explaining why the adjudicators in the first instance could make such a judgment is the accusation made by the prosecution.”
“At the first instance, when facing the prosecution’s accusation, Guo Xiaojun’s lawyer did not provide strong rebuttal arguments and evidence.”
“The second point is false testimony. When facing Ma Li’s false testimony in the first instance, Guo Xiaojun’s lawyer did not have a clear line of rebuttal.”
“That is why the adjudicators sentenced Guo Xiaojun to five years of fixed term imprisonment.”
“It can only be said that the adjudicators may have had a problem with the inclination of the judgment.”
“However, there was no problem whatsoever with the facts on which they relied, and the punishment imposed by the relevant enforcement departments on the adjudicators in the first instance, namely that they may no longer engage in adjudicative work, is already not light.”
“Oh, all right.”
Li Xuezhen nodded seriously and solemnly, but still could not conceal the disappointment in her heart.
Seeing this, Su Bai did not say much more, and only asked Li Xuezhen to pay greater attention to the recruitment of interns.
At present, the law firm had only four lawyers, which was too few, and they indeed could not handle all the work.
Recruiting two interns would be about right, and he could also properly act as a capitalist.
At this time, Li Xuezhen asked: “Lawyer Su, when we recruit intern lawyers, are we still offering salary?”
Su Bai: “?”
I want to be a capitalist, not an exploiter.
That question.
Do you think everyone is like you, a little rich girl whose pocket money alone is one million, and who would come running to apply even without internship wages?
Without internship wages, no one would come.
“We will offer internship wages, let us set it at 4,000. In the recruitment notice write 4,000 to 10,000, and as for the specifics, we can discuss them later.”
“Oh.”
“All right, Lawyer Su.”
Li Xuezhen nodded slightly.
Very quickly, the written judgment in Guo Xiaojun’s case was issued.
Previously, when they were still in Beidu, Su Bai had already told Guo Xiaojun that the legal fees could be paid after the written judgment was issued.
At the very moment the written judgment was issued.
Guo Xiaojun and his parents came personally to Baijun law Firm in order to express their thanks to Su Bai.
Integrity Building.
Guo Xiaojun supported his parents and entered the building, arriving at the fifth floor.
The floor occupied by Baijun law Firm.
As soon as they entered, they saw two silk banners displayed at the consultation area:
Left: One Hundred Percent Win Rate, Ace Lawyer Su!
Right: For Litigation, Baijun law Firm, Excellent!
There was also a silk banner sent by Nanyou Studio.
There were even silk banners here.
A trace of surprise appeared in Guo Xiaojun’s eyes, and he spoke softly:
“No wonder Lawyer Su could still win one against three, one can tell just from the silk banners what Lawyer Su’s legal standard and professional capability are.”
“As expected of the criminal lawyer recommended by Teacher Luo Daxiang, truly formidable!”
Standing at one side, Guo Wei adjusted his reading glasses slightly and slowly spoke:
“This Lawyer Su really is remarkable, we truly made the right choice in asking Lawyer Su to handle Xiaojun’s case. If it had been another lawyer, Xiaojun might not necessarily have been able to come out.”
“This time we must properly thank Lawyer Su.”
Liu Qing nodded at one side: “That is right, we absolutely must thank him properly.”
The three sighed with emotion for a while, and then walked into the law firm.
Inside the office.
Guo Xiaojun, Guo Wei, and Liu Qing sat directly opposite Su Bai, while Li Xuezhen sat slightly behind and to the side of Su Bai.
Su Bai had Li Xuezhen pour a cup of tea for each of them.
This tea had been obtained by Su Bai from Luo Daxiang, a full 1,500 grams (≈3.3 lb)
Afterward, Su Bai handed the written judgment to Guo Xiaojun.
Guo Xiaojun carefully looked over the written judgment twice, let out a long breath, and then said with a smile:
“Thank you, Lawyer Su. The relevant legal fees will very soon be transferred into your law firm’s account.”
“At the latest, they will arrive by tomorrow.”
Su Bai smiled: “Mm, there is no rush, and there is no need to say more words of thanks.”
He then changed the subject and asked:
“Has the compensation from Aibao Milk Powder arrived?”
At the mention of Aibao Milk Powder, Guo Xiaojun nodded heavily:
“On the third day after the judgment was rendered, they requested reconciliation with me, saying that they could increase the compensation.”
“I directly refused!”
“They maliciously accused me, and now they still want reconciliation with me. On what basis?”
“I directly said that if they did not pay, then I would apply to the court for compulsory enforcement. At that time there was already some public discussion on the internet, and they were afraid the matter would escalate, so they transferred the compensation to me in advance.”
“Now Aibao Milk Powder has encountered such major problems, their original listing plan is preparing to be cancelled, the various supply chains are in disorder, the entire internet is boycotting them, and many people who consumed this milk powder and developed problems are applying to defend their rights.”
“Aibao Milk Powder is already facing bankruptcy.”
“I am actually fortunate that these people paid me in advance, otherwise under the present circumstances, it would be difficult even to collect the money later.”
“Mm!” Su Bai nodded slightly.
When this kind of corporate conduct is exposed on the internet, and serious problems are discovered.
Given how strong the internet’s capacity for dissemination is, damage to reputation is certain.
But in the case of Aibao Milk Powder, bankruptcy can only be said to be their own problem.
Guo Xiaojun continued speaking:
“Lawyer Su, this time when you accused that woman Ma Li of the crime of false testimony, that woman even wanted to request my forgiveness in order to reduce her sentence. I directly refused!”
“Now when I look at her, I feel disgusted. Lawyer Su, I want to divorce her, what should I do?”
“Do I need to hire a lawyer and litigate a divorce case?”
Su Bai took a sip of tea and said with a smile:
“There is no need to make it so troublesome. The court’s written judgment clearly states that the other party falsely accused you by giving false testimony.”
“You may directly go to the court and submit for a divorce determination, or if you feel that you cannot handle it yourself, then hire a lawyer and have her leave with nothing.”
“In this kind of situation, the legal fees will not amount to much.”
“All right, Lawyer Su, I understand! I definitely will not let that woman benefit for nothing.”
Guo Xiaojun’s tone was filled with anger.
Su Bai could well understand Guo Xiaojun’s feelings.
After all, for a person who was properly defending his rights to be stabbed in the back by his own wife was something no one could easily accept.
The elderly couple, Guo Wei and Liu Qing, took a deep breath:
“Sigh, who could have imagined that Ma Li would actually help others harm our child!”
After hearing his parents’ words, Guo Xiaojun’s expression changed slightly.
Su Bai noticed this change in Guo Xiaojun’s expression.
He silently reflected.
It seemed that Guo Xiaojun knew the internal reason for Ma Li’s betrayal, but since the other party did not speak of it, he could not very well ask further.
However.
Through Ma Li’s earlier bank transaction records, one could roughly infer that it was very likely related to money.
Was she defrauded?
Or trapped in a romance scam?
A handsome wealthy man on the internet, a romance scam?
Su Bai shook his head slightly and did not continue guessing, after all this was the other party’s domestic matter.
Immediately afterward, the two sides continued conversing for approximately another two hours.
Guo Xiaojun stated that there was no need to worry about his employment issue, because after his situation spread on the internet, a company saw his circumstances and voluntarily expressed willingness to hire him.
Moreover, the relevant enforcement unit had already issued him a certificate of innocence.
He now belonged to the category of persons without a criminal record, and although his annual salary differed somewhat from before, with the accumulation of experience his annual salary could still rise.
With respect to this point.
Su Bai offered congratulations.
At the same time, Guo Xiaojun also mentioned another matter, namely that the prosecution had accused Dong Cheng of malicious accusation and obstruction of testimony.
“Lawyer Su, in your view, as the person behind the scenes, if Dong Cheng is prosecuted on charges of malicious accusation and obstruction of testimony, approximately how many years might he receive?”
Su Bai thought for several seconds, then smiled and said:
“According to my experience, since the prosecution has already detained Dong Cheng and initiated prosecution, then it is likely that Ma Li, in order to reduce her sentence, exposed Dong Cheng and provided a complete chain of evidentiary facts.”
“As for malicious accusation.”
“That point depends on the prosecution’s level in making the accusation, but given that the second instance litigation argumentation in your case already provided a model, that point should not be too difficult.”
“If these two are combined, he may receive five to six years of fixed term imprisonment.”
“Only five or six years, that truly lets him off too lightly!”
Guo Xiaojun’s tone carried a trace of anger.
Su Bai nodded slightly and said nothing.
To cause such a major impact on another person’s life, if the second instance had not determined innocence, then it could be said that Guo Xiaojun’s entire life would have been ruined.
From Guo Xiaojun’s perspective, Dong Cheng receiving only five or six years was indeed too light.
But since the law was structured in this way, Su Bai could not very well say much more.
After Guo Xiaojun expressed his thanks, finished discussing the relevant circumstances, and left the law firm together with Guo Wei and Liu Qing.
Su Bai let out a long breath, only then to hear Li Xuezhen ask:
“Lawyer Su.”
“I am now already an intern lawyer with six consecutive wins, after I become fully qualified, can I become a partner in our law firm?”
Su Bai: “?”
This Little Li, why did she suddenly ask this question?