For litigants to see the enforcement judge is actually quite difficult.
The reasons are complex, but the main one is the shortage of staff in the Enforcement Bureau; court staff don't want to join the bureau, yet the cases requiring compulsory enforcement increase year by year.
There was once an enforcement judge who joked, they say there are many women taking the legal examination system, but I think that's wrong, there are almost no men...
If there is a man, oh boy, he's sure to go straight to the Enforcement Bureau.
It's unavoidable, many people imagine that enforcement judges can simply sit in the office and click around in the system to seize bank assets, movable and immovable properties—that's wishful thinking.
In modern society, buyers are not as savvy as sellers, and many debt dodgers are well-read in law, so you, the enforcement judge, must go out on field visits to enforce effectively.
Anyway, Tang Fangjing came to the Enforcement Bureau and didn't get to see the judge; it was said that the judge had gone on a field visit.
The judge's phone number was available, but the call wouldn't go through. Nine out of ten times, it was unreachable, so showing up directly to intercept the person was the best approach.
The receptionist was very polite, and naturally, so was Tang Fangjing.
"It's alright, no hurry, I'm just idling around these days, I should visit the Enforcement Bureau more often and become more familiar with this place," said Tang Fangjing with a smile.
Ah? Yang Fangqian was instantly stunned. What kind of person needs to get familiar with the Enforcement Bureau?
But she didn't think too much of it, as it's normal for litigants to visit the Enforcement Bureau over execution issues.
As a result, the next morning, Yang Fangqian saw a familiar face again.
"Good morning, is Judge Hou available today?"
He actually came again, forcing Yang Fangqian to check inside. She soon came out and said, "Judge Hou is still not in at the moment, are you going to wait?"
"Of course, I'll wait. I have nothing else to do if I go back anyway."
For three consecutive days, Tang Fangjing came to the Enforcement Bureau and waited all day, to the point that many people at the Guangming District Court Enforcement Bureau became aware of him.
Of course, Old Tang took the time each day to record some videos; all these would serve as material later on.
Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Old Tang met Judge Hou.
Facing Tang Fangjing, who was still smiling and exuding high spirits, even Judge Hou couldn't help but cough twice.
"So, Tang Fangjing, is it? Take a seat, over here, please. I've been busy these past few days, sorry to keep you waiting," said Judge Hou.
"No trouble at all, Judge Hou. I'm just getting familiar with the place, I expect I'll be dealing with it more in the future..."
Hmm... Ah? Judge Hou was somewhat taken aback; what did he mean by dealing with it more in the future?
But now was not the time to discuss other matters. Judge Hou directly said, "About your case, I remember that it was executed to completion a few days ago, is there something else?"
Tang Fangjing took out the materials and said, "There's a slight problem. Look, it says here that over five million couldn't be executed, and within that, more than eight hundred thousand were deducted due to another judgment. Don't you think there's something wrong with this case?"
A normal person, lending so much money to Hou Xiangyuan, not suing him sooner or later, why exactly did they sue for money at that time, and frankly speaking, did Hou Xiangyuan still need to borrow money?
Taking the materials, Judge Hou looked them over and replied, "Oh, this case. The court indeed examined it before, but the other party had very sufficient evidence, including the promissory note and the transfer records."
"We also specifically verified that they were not fake, and there was indeed such a loan. The party involved explained that he had a good relationship with Hou Xiangyuan, and at the time Hou was arrested, he was worried about not being able to recover the money, so he quickly filed a lawsuit."
"Moreover, there was no mediation, just a regular judgment, so when the party applied for enforcement, we had to take action on our side."
It's certain the court had scrutinized the case; there was no doubt about that. But when the evidence and facts from the other party were very sufficient, the court had no reason to suspect anything recklessly.
Perhaps because he switched professions halfway, his understanding of law was slightly different. After all, which proper lawyer is keen on getting people jailed...
"Here's what I think..."
The two huddled close and began to talk, and as they did, Old Song started to feel pretty good about the activity of putting people behind bars.
With clear thinking, Tang Fangjing had started gathering evidence.
It targeted the over eight hundred thousand in executed assets.
There had been some gains from visiting Judge Hou earlier— at least the case number was known now. With this number, it was possible to find out the timing of the lawsuit, as well as the relevant parties and the entrusted legal representative.
These could be used as evidence for filing a case. That's how courts work; they may ignore you if you rush in claiming suspicion.
But if you proceed through proper legal channels, they have to follow due process.
Two days passed in a flash, and on the morning of the third, Tang Fangjing arrived at the Guangming District Court.
"Ah comrade, we meet again. I've got another case for us."
Evidence is not easy to come by, and court investigation orders are not just handed out.
These past days had taken considerable effort, but finally a breakthrough came from the original plaintiff's litigation agent in that loan case.
That agent had been an apprentice under Li Changming, but had switched law firms later!
With this witness testimony, there would be no issues filing the case or issuing the investigation order.
...
At Shengda Law Firm, Director Wu looked at the court summons in front of him and casually said, "Old Li, take a look. Just like we guessed, they can't produce any key evidence."
Li Changming nodded as well. This case looked like it couldn't possibly be lost.
Just then his phone rang. After answering, Director Wu spoke, "Hello, President Han. Yes, I've seen the summons. It's as expected, no chance of losing."
"Alright, alright, I understand; yes, I'll be careful."
"What did President Han say?" asked Li Changming.
Director Wu almost laughed aloud, "About the party involved, someone called Ju something, they posted the case online. Probably because it involves an unfinished building, it's somewhat appealing."
"Now, the Guangming District Court seems to want to live stream the trial. Go to the Bar Association to file a report, alleging that the other side is improperly hyping up the case, to facilitate an investigation by the Bar Association!"
Why play fair in court when you can win with tricks outside the ring?
Old Tang was unaware of the other party's intentions. Otherwise, he'd surely agree, thinking 'what a coincidence, I had the same idea,' although he actually planned to use legitimate tactics...
At home, Ju Haiqing was astounded to see the heat rising on his article; he had never anticipated sparking such discussion.
In the background, many people had started to send him private messages.
"Exploiting an unfinished building project for publicity, huh? The Bar Association just passed new regulations last year, forbidding lawyers from sensationalizing cases. You're going against the wind here. Wait for the investigation!"
"You can't get execution and instead of blaming the developer, you go after the lawyer. Do you think lawyers are easy targets?"
Words like these began to scare Ju Haiqing. As a freelancer, he wasn't worried for himself, but he feared how it might influence Tang Fangjing.
Thinking this, Ju Haiqing hastily made a phone call.