What's wrong with this lawyer?!

"Yes, yes, Lawyer Tang, we do want mediation. Please, state your demands and we'll do our utmost to meet them. There's really no need to take this to court, right?" Yue Wenying said with a face full of surprise and delight.

Who said Lawyer Tang was difficult to talk to? Look, isn't he quite reasonable?

Soon Yue Wenying heard the voice of Lawyer Tang on the other end of the phone, tinged with a touch of strangeness.

"Our demands? Aren't they all in the complaint? What else is there to ask? If you can meet those demands, we'll certainly agree to mediation."

What's with people nowadays? If it's gotten to court, then surely the demands are written in the complaint, yet you still ask. What is there to ask?

The complaint?

Yue Wenying thought carefully about the demands listed inside—it was somewhat excessive; things like the newspaper admitting their mistakes, issuing a public apology through their official account, mitigating the impact with compensation, and not disabling comments!

"No, Lawyer Tang, don't you think these demands are a bit outrageous? Paying money isn't a problem for us, but publicly apologizing and admitting faults, that's not possible, Lawyer Tang."

"You know the administrative rank of our unit. Such things..."

Before long, Old Tang spoke up, "Oh, I see, it's not possible, right? Then no problem, let's just go to court, okay? There's no issue with that."

After speaking, Old Tang hung up the phone. After all that talk, the only useful piece of information was "not possible." So, if it's not possible, what's there to discuss? Just take it straight to court.

On the other end of the line, Yue Wenying was once again dumbfounded. What's wrong with these people, popping off like that and hanging up the phone mid-conversation?

I was just discussing it, we hadn't even started negotiations and you hang up without even hearing my conditions?

She quickly redialed the number.

"What else is there, Editor Yue?"

"No, Lawyer Tang, since we're considering mediation, there should be a process, right? Isn't it a bit abrupt for you to hang up like that?" Yue Wenying said hastily.

She was truly afraid that the other party would hang up again.

"What process? I've already stated my conditions, just those in the complaint. Can you fulfill them? If so, we'll go to court to sign the mediation agreement. If not, we'll proceed with getting a judgment. I don't understand what's confusing you?"

Old Tang felt he had made himself perfectly clear. It's a simple choice between two options, yet the issue persisted.

Really, in all her years working at the official media, Yue Wenying had never encountered someone like Tang Fangjing.

"Lawyer Tang, this is really... I'm just a junior editor. I don't have the authority to agree..."

"Then have someone who does have the authority to agree come over, would that be okay? If they don't have time or whatever, then let's not talk at all. Editor Yue, you need to understand something—I am the plaintiff. The decision to agree to mediation is mine to make!"

No sooner had Old Tang spoken than he hung up again, leaving Yue Wenying almost biting her teeth to pieces.

But she was helpless, truly helpless. Issuing a report was easy, but when it came to resolving the issue, she didn't have the power; it required approval from above.

Before long, Yue Wenying arrived at the director's office and waited for quite some time before the director finally returned.

"How did it go, have you been in contact with the other side?" the director asked Yue Wenying.

"There's no talking to them. The boss of that company said everything is in the hands of the lawyers, told me to talk to the lawyer, and blocked my calls. Then I called that Tang Fangjing."

"And he said, either agree to the conditions laid out in the complaint, or see you in court."

As she spoke, Yue Wenying shook her head and said, "Director, can you report this situation higher up..."

The director adjusted his glasses upon hearing this: "Yue Wenying, have you lost your mind? Agree to all their conditions, and we might as well just go to trial. They'd win without even going to court, so what's the point of mediation?"

"I'll think of something. With their attitude, a private meeting is unlikely to yield any results."

Quickly, the director moved aside and made a phone call.

Time flew to three days later. Old Tang's progress was swift; the Hai District Court had already held a session, and negotiations at the Mediation Center were even faster. They were already in talks about the details of more than two thousand accounts from Dou Shou, likely reaching a resolution soon.

Nonetheless, he still needed to make a trip to the Xi District Court today because the judge for that case had called, requesting his presence.

As a lawyer, under normal circumstances, you definitely don't want to offend the judge. After all, even Chief Justice Chen had said the right to interpret the law lies with them. Therefore, if a judge calls, you have to go if you can.

Half an hour later, Old Tang arrived at the entrance of the Xi District Court.

"Hello, ah Judge Wang, I've arrived. The mediation room on the third floor, right? Okay, I'll be right up."

He had almost guessed this was about convening mediation, but the judge had kept it close to his vest, only calling when Tang arrived at the location.

As he climbed upstairs to the mediation room and pushed the door open, he found three people already seated inside.

"Lawyer Tang is here? Come on in!" said a middle-aged man in the mediation room with a smile.

It's hard to hit a smiling face, so Old Tang, with a smile on his face, walked in.

The middle-aged man continued, "Lawyer Tang, I am the presiding judge. We've spoken over the phone. And this person here is Editor Yue Wenying, she has also spoken with you."

"And this is Director He from the newspaper."

Old Tang shook hands with the two people across from him and then sat down. He was very curious to learn what this meeting was all about.