CH 4.1

Chapter 4 (part 1)

Although Ning Wan had repeatedly stressed that it wasn't easy to do legal work for the community, Fu Zheng was still not taking it seriously. When he thought of the cases he had handled in the past, each with tens of millions of dollars riding on a successful outcome, this trivial civil dispute simply held no challenge.

Looking through the statements and evidence for Shi Xiaofang's and Liu Guizhen's case materials, he began to regret his decision to expand into the civil field. It now seemed so much more unattractive than commercial affairs, with no flat plains where a horse could gallop.

When he remembered Ning Wan's very last provocation, he couldn't help but sneer. How like a summer worm expounding on ice and snow, a frog in a well1.

He had seen people like her before. In guarding their own tiny territory, they felt that they sat upon the most precious throne in the universe, which others were constantly jealous of. Such a person doesn't know about the people pulling the strings behind the scenes. In his whole life, would he ever covet her tiny little field? What a loss to say that she had a good reputation in the community. It just went to show that the common people were startlingly easy to fool. Perhaps her two-faced, muddled solutions had won their hearts.

From an objective standpoint, though she was certainly good-looking, her narrow-minded way of haggling over every ounce did not suit her appearance at all. Feeling like three months was too long of a time to waste in this community, Fu Zheng contemplated going straight back to headquarters under the mantle of 'partner' after having successfully completed this case.

He had used a fake resume, and when she saw an inexperienced newcomer come in, to whom she was a senior, she had tried to push him out. Had she thought of him as someone with no experience, and so was exaggerating the difficulty of handling community cases to "intimidate" him?

Fu Zheng had no idea. But how hard could this case possibly be? Even if no substantial damage had been caused, it was an infringement. He could easily seek the help of the landlord, and if the landlord couldn't solve it, the Department of City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation sat behind them.

He figured that such a trivial matter would likely end simply by calling the landlord. There would be no need to contact the Department. However, upon actually contacting the property owners, he discovered that this was not the case...

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lawyer, but don't talk to me about what what the law does and doesn't stipulate. If chickens are raised in shared areas of the building, we should naturally be obliged to deal with them, but this one is being raised in a person's private apartment. Why should we care? You can't tell someone what to do in their own private property, so we don't have the right to enforce the law in this case. Even if it was in a public area, we would only be able to persuade. "

“……”

Having hit a wall with the landlord, Fu Zheng was not discouraged. He quickly made his way to the Department of City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation. It was certainly illegal to raise chickens in an apartment building, so if he put in a complaint, they must deal with it. And if Liu Guizhen, the chicken-raiser, did not cooperate, the culling of that chicken would be enforced. He didn't buy Ning Wan's 'mediation' nonsense. He believed only in following the law strictly, and the law was written in black and white. Could you still call yourself a lawyer if you went through such crooked ways?

Sure enough, upon hearing his complaint, the answer given by the department was just as expected--

"It is indeed according to regulation to cull a chicken raised within an apartment building."

Pushing up the glasses perched upon his nose, the staff member of the department gave a positive answer. However, before Fu Zheng had time to rejoice, he continued--

"However, although we have the right to enforce the law, it is extremely difficult to push forward the culling if we run into truly uncooperative residents. We live in a society ruled by law, and using violence to enforce the law is highly frowned upon. If we knock on the door, carrying culling tools, and the resident refuses to open the door, we can't just break in. Furthermore, even if the door is opened, we can't force our way inside without the resident's permission. Such things are very sensitive nowadays, and we must pay close attention."

He eyed Fu Zhang. "As a lawyer, surely you understand this truth. Just like court-ordered enforcements, not all cases can be enforced. Be it custody or support or whatever, if someone really doesn't want to, it's close to impossible to force them. Or upon meeting a difficult debtor who absolutely refuses to pay, you might as well give up. You'll never squeeze them completely."

“……”

As far as Fu Zheng was concerned, legal work in the civil field was nothing more than what is written in the law. He had never imagined that there could be so many loopholes in practice.

When he had practiced commercial law in the United States, contracts were in black and white, and cases clean and neat. When it came down to the details of implementation, his assistant lawyers took care of it. But now here he was, saddled with this grass-roots case. Who knew a simple chicken could be so difficult? It was unheard of! He was completely unaccustomed to the situation.

"That being said, I advise you to first attempt to persuade the opposing party to actively cooperate with our work," the staff member suggested, seemingly sincere.

Fu Zheng bit his lower lip. What a headache. If he was capable of persuading Liu Guizhen, why would he take the trouble to run all this way?

He had no choice but to return to the community lawyer's office.

A little puzzled, he wondered if Ning Wan's mouth was the harbinger of doom. He had run around all day, yet the solution still came back to mediation, just like she had said...

Thinking this way, he couldn't help but look about for her. At that very moment, the woman was sitting in her office, watching Fu Zheng coming and going and his back and forth on the phone, as if she had already foreseen his failure. She took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "If you really can't figure it out, don't be shy. Just call out for Teacher Ning. It's no big deal, and anyway a man should be flexible. It's not like I'm asking you to kowtow..."

Fu Zheng shot her a freezing look. Did she want him to bow his head? Impossible. Even if he had to mediate, he would solve this case by himself. Anything that could be solved with money was not a problem.

He went directly to Liu Guizhen's door. When she answered, Fu Zheng took out his wallet and removed five notes, too lazy to schmooze. He handed them to Liu Guizhen. "A live chicken is 100 yuan on the market. I will pay you 500. Will you sell it to me?"

Far better than being mocked by Ning Wan was to just solve the problem of a disturbance by straight-up buying the chicken.

Although stunned, Liu Guizhen immediately refused, "No, I really can't sell this particular chicken, it's..."

Expressionless, Fu Zheng continued to draw RMB from his wallet. "Will you sell it at one thousand?"

"It's not a question of money..."

Never in his wildest dreams had Fu Zheng thought that he would ever bargain for a chicken. "1,500. This is my last offer."

Actually, his bottom line was 5,000, but Fu Zheng was optimistic for 2,000. He had even planned so far as deciding that when the chicken had become his, he would send it to the private restaurant Gao Yuan had recommended, and have the chef make it into a stew.

Too bad he had miscalculated. Unexpectedly, not only was Liu Guizhen completely unmoved, but she even got angry. Turning, she grabbed a broom from inside her house and drove Fu Zheng out, shrieking, "No means no! All of you think that money can buy anything! Don't look down on me! Who's short one or two thousand yuan?! Even if you gave me ten thousand, I wouldn't sell that chicken! If you think that the most important thing in this world is money, then you're wrong! It's keeping your word! You're just like Shi Xiaofang! You all look down on me as a foreigner, you think we're just greedy, that you can just throw us a few coins like a dog! Get out! Never let me see your face again!"

“……”

Fu Zheng hadn't expected to be thrown out. He returned to the office sullen and not knowing what had gone wrong, but when it rains, it pours. Shi Xiaofang, pale and tired-looking, was anxiously waiting for him at the office door. When Fu Zheng entered the office, she almost ran toward him.

"Lawyer Fu, is everything settled? You promised me yesterday that you would solve the problem. Did Liu Guizhen dispose of the chicken? "

Her eager eyes shone at him. On the other side, Ning Wan was watching with great interest, her own eyes like a tigress just waiting for the right time. If he gave a negative answer, she seemed ready to pounce and bite him to death...

Fu Zheng braced himself. "I'm afraid I did not promise to close the case today. It takes time to get results in legal disputes..."

This was a well-known truth in the industry. In the United States, Fu Zheng's customers belonged to large enterprises or were privately wealthy, well-educated individuals with an excellent understanding of how the law worked. Unfortunately, in China, and especially in the rural community...

Shi Xiaofang blew up on the spot. "Can you even call yourself a man?! Are you dismissing my case as trivial or do you just not care?! From the outside you look like a fine example of a man, but you're just an embroidered pillow2!"

Shi Xiaofang was a middle-aged woman with a big voice and an impressive fighting aura. Her face changed immediately upon hearing that her demand had not been satisfied. When she got her hands on Fu Zheng, it was as if he was about to undergo a "purification of the soul"3. Fu Zheng had never experienced such a battle in his life. His eardrums hurt, and he wondered vaguely if he had gone back to a primitive time when communication relied on screaming and human civilization was still far away...

"Now, now, Auntie Shi, Fu Zheng here is just new and not too experienced. He ran up and down for you today. He's just not very good at talking, but rest assured, by tomorrow he will have solved the rooster crowing issue for you."

Finally, just as Fu Zheng was about to doubt the meaning of life under the onslaught of Shi Xiaofang's national anthem, Ning Wan stood up gracefully. Softly, she comforted Shi Xiaofang. "Auntie, did you know there's a sale at the supermarket today? You head over there first. You won't be able to get anything good if you're late."

Shi Xiaofang's anger was eased by Ning Wan's guarantee. After hearing about the sale, of which she had had no idea, she left immediately.

Only Ning Wan and Fu Zheng were left in the office.

Ning Wan's face was as rosy as a petal, but Fu Zheng was dark and livid. Until now, be they the most complicated, the most difficult and intricate of issues, even when no one else believed he could do it, he had always been able to turn defeat into victory. How could he have foreseen encountering a chicken today and suffering the greatest shame of his life?

"Did you offer money to Liu Guizhen for her chicken?"

Faced with Ning Wan's question, Fu Zheng pressed his lips together. He didn't want to answer.

Completely uncaring about his roiling emotions, Ning Wan sighed lightly and said with a heavy heart, "Fu Zheng, money can't buy happiness."

"How do you know money can't buy happiness?" Fu Zheng asked through gritted teeth.

Ning Wan shook her head, her face full of regret. "You're the man on the job, how could you still not know the circumstances of your clients? If you had just bothered to ask why Liu Guizhen was raising a chicken, you would never have wasted your money getting yelled at."