46: I want to kill him!

At the entrance of the gym, the rights defenders were utterly bewildered.

They had put so much effort into defending their rights before, but it had no effect whatsoever. Yet, as soon as Lawyer Zhou stepped in, he directly sent the person to the Detention Center?

Especially Luo Zibin, who had just been wondering if Lawyer Zhou was boasting, now realized that he was serious!

Look, the Police Officers are here, ready to arrest him directly!

So Luo Zibin quickly stepped forward and said, "Lawyer Zhou, I spoke a bit loudly before. I apologize to you now. I thought you were talking nonsense just now…"

Although Lawyer Zhou said he had arranged this matter single-handedly, to be honest, not many people would believe it.

Until the Police Officers appeared, everyone was half-believing, half-doubting.

But now, the person is about to be arrested!

It feels so good, you know? Heaven knows how uncomfortable they were being dragged around before, that kind of discomfort where you couldn't see any hope at all.

The money wasn't much, but it was disgusting; they thought about it every day, like a thorn in their throat.

Zhou Yun smiled upon hearing this and said, "It's fine, it's fine. This has nothing to do with you all. I simply can't stand this kind of person, so I wanted to arrange for him to be sent in."

Ma Qihua, who had been hesitant to move aside, seemed to have thought of something after hearing this sentence and shouted, "Police Comrade, I report, I report that this lawyer… he entrapped me!"

"He tried to entrap me by opening a gym!"

"This is illegal, isn't it? He's just a lawyer…"

Huh? Hearing this, the surrounding rights defenders began to worry again. In some sense, it did seem a bit like entrapment…

However, Zhou Yun exaggeratedly said, "For someone who's a legal professional, you yourself said I'm just a lawyer. I ask you, does a lawyer have enforcement power?"

"No, right? So since I don't even have enforcement power, how could it be entrapment?"

As Zhou Yun's words fell, the rights defenders' eyes lit up. It seemed very reasonable!

This was also Zhou Yun's consistent style after becoming a Lawyer. When he communicated with clients, he would speak plainly, including when explaining things.

It's not that legal jargon is problematic; in professional settings like Court trials, legal jargon must certainly be used. However, when communicating with ordinary people, it's best to speak plainly.

Why? Because others don't understand the things you say.

Bai Juyi wrote poems so that illiterate old women could understand them. Similarly, legal professionals should also try to make ordinary people understand.

Because the criminal law is actually closely related to everyone.

So, one cannot use so-called professionalism to build a wall of isolation.

If it really gets to the point like in America, where you can't even play with the criminal law unless you're a professional Lawyer, then Lawyers would indeed be comfortable, but not everyone has the money to hire a Lawyer.

Across from him, Ma Qihua was directly choked by this sentence.

He wanted to say something more but didn't know how.

Finally, the Police Officer next to him spoke, "That's enough for you. You've been in Jinghai for so long, and you've only done these two business closure projects? And you still have the nerve to say it? Let's go."

After speaking, he didn't give Ma Qihua any chance and directly prepared to take the person away.

Zhou Yun, who was nearby, spoke, "Comrade, let me ask, when can my clients register their losses when you file a case and make an arrest here?"

This is a very crucial step, as the core of his mission this time is civil cases.

Restitution does not necessarily require registration; there is also source-tracing restitution.

But if you think about it, source-tracing restitution requires checking each account and every transfer record one by one, and then combining it with the case facts and confessions to trace the source, which is very troublesome.

Now, if you voluntarily register and provide the corresponding transfer records, the Public Security Bureau will have a much easier time.

In this situation, whose money do you think will be returned first?

It sounds unfair to those who did not defend their rights, but if you don't care about your own affairs and just expect others to do it, then you can just wait.

It will definitely be refunded in the end, but whether it can be refunded in full is hard to say, because when restitution occurs after the judgment, if the money is insufficient, it will be refunded proportionally.

As for using criminal means to deal with civil matters, it seems a bit off-topic, but just focus on whether this can achieve the goal.

The power of the Public Security Bureau is much stronger than that of the Court's Execution Bureau.

They will first freeze your accounts and assets, and the victim does not need to pay any security deposit.

You should know that if you file a lawsuit in Court and apply for preservation, you must provide a guarantee, and the amount of the guarantee must be equivalent to the amount of preservation applied for.

For example, if someone owes you one hundred thousand yuan, your Lawyer tells you when you sue that you need to prevent the other party from transferring assets, so you need to apply for pre-litigation preservation.

This is very necessary because litigation carries risks.

Then, to freeze the other party's one hundred thousand yuan, you must provide an equivalent guarantee of one hundred thousand yuan, which is very troublesome.

If you apply for preservation yourself, you have to constantly monitor the deadline. When the deadline is approaching, you need to renew the freeze in time, otherwise the preservation will be lost.

However, going through criminal channels and having the Public Security Bureau freeze it does not require any guarantee, nor do you need to worry about the deadline.

Moreover, from the investigation stage to the review for prosecution and then to the judgment, the issue of restitution is very important, and the Public Security Bureau will continuously demand that the suspects voluntarily return the stolen goods.

So, that's how civil servants should be used.

Zhou Yun asked this question, and the Police Officer in front thought for a moment and said, "Wait a moment. We will notify you when we make progress here."

Then there was no problem. Zhou Yun watched as Ma Qihua was taken away, and as he was being led downstairs, Zhou Yun even specifically waved goodbye.

Cheng Jingshu, who was nearby, spoke, "Lawyer Zhou, what do we do now?"

Zhou Yun thought for a moment and said, "You don't need to do anything. Just wait patiently. You've already given me those pieces of evidence. I'll register them for you when the time comes."

"Alright, everyone can go back for now. After this, we'll have to wait for the Public Security Bureau…"

However, Zhou Yun hadn't finished speaking when Luo Zibin, who was nearby, quickly said, "Lawyer Zhou, please wait. What do you plan to do with your gym now?"

Gym? Zhou Yun turned his head and looked around, saying, "The gym? I haven't decided yet. I'm planning to clarify things with all the previous customers and offer full refunds to anyone who wants to cancel their card."

This was originally for fishing. Now that the fish are hooked, he hasn't decided how to arrange things afterward.

Luo Zibin then said, "Then we'll just get cards and train here first. How long did you pay the rent for, half a year, right? There are four months left now, so we'll all get four-month cards."

"It'll also help you recover some funds, after all, your help to us has been immense."

Cheng Jingshu, who was nearby, also nodded and said, "Yes, I think that's a good idea. The equipment is all new."

The other rights defenders also nodded one after another. Although Lawyer Zhou always said that this was something he wanted to do himself and had nothing to do with others.

But everyone always had a heart. What he did helped them too much.

Anyway, they needed to get cards, and it didn't matter where they got them.

Hearing this, Zhou Yun still wanted to refuse, because it felt like a disguised contingent fee arrangement.

However, everyone was so enthusiastic that they directly said if he didn't agree, they would prepare to block the law firm's door every day.

Wang Shenggang had already come out and had been watching there.

Seeing this, his mood was very complicated. Some Lawyers desperately tried to make money, using various methods to get money but failing, while other Lawyers didn't want money themselves, but people blocked their doors to give them money.

The difference was truly too great.

It had been some time since he sent his ex-girlfriend to the Detention Center, and Wang Shenggang had thought a lot. Lawyer Zhou was, in some sense, his benefactor.

It wasn't about money, but that he had saved his soul.

It could be said that without Lawyer Zhou, he might have jumped into the river that night.

So he stepped forward and smiled, "If anyone wants to get a card, come find me. I'm the manager of this store now. Come on!"

"Old Wang, you…" Zhou Yun wanted to say something more, but he was interrupted by the cheers of the crowd.

A group of rights defenders happily went to the front desk to get cards. At least for Luo Zibin, he really wanted this store to continue operating.

He knew Zhou Lawyer would definitely not agree, so Luo Zibin added Wang Shenggang's WeChat, preparing to communicate with the manager after returning.

After everyone had finished getting their cards and left, Zhou Yun looked at Wang Shenggang.

Writer Wang smiled, "Lawyer Zhou, don't look at me like that. I just want to help you…"

Zhou Yun: "???"

Oh, good, a day without seeing each other feels like three autumns. This person named Wang actually dared to throw a boomerang at him!

He had previously used the excuse of helping to get his ex-girlfriend sent in, and now he was also coming to help him.

Alright, Zhou Yun quickly smiled, "Oh, it's not necessary, but I still thank you, Old Wang."

Old… Old Wang? Wang Shenggang was dumbfounded. Although I'm a bit older than you, I'm only twenty-six or twenty-seven this year. I'm already "Old Wang"?

He inexplicably thought of the stale joke about "Old Wang next door."

However, Zhou Yun wasn't finished yet and continued, "To express my gratitude to you, Old Wang, I have something to tell you."

Hearing this, Wang Shenggang suddenly had a bad premonition.

Zhou Yun said with a beaming smile, "You probably haven't been paying much attention to the Court's developments recently, have you? Your ex-girlfriend, Zeng Xiaolu, whom you personally sent in, has already been sentenced."

"She was sentenced to four years for fraud and fined fifty thousand yuan. Congratulations, you did a beautiful job!"

Why was she only sentenced to four years? Because she actively repaid and obtained understanding, and she pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, so she received a lighter sentence.

As for the fifty thousand yuan fine, it was purely because Zeng Xiaolu only had a little over fifty thousand yuan left after repaying Wang Shenggang.

Although fine penalties have various regulations in the criminal law.

However, in practice, the Court generally determines the sentence based on the suspect's financial situation.

If a suspect only has fifty thousand, it's impossible to sentence them to a fine of one hundred thousand.

Because if you sentence them to a fine of one hundred thousand and it can't be enforced, it's equivalent to the Court slapping its own face.

Zhou Yun finished speaking and left, leaving Wang Shenggang stunned, with a bewildered look on his face.

At this moment, it was as if the sound of "snowflakes fluttering, north wind howling" echoed. No, why does this guy always hit where it hurts!

And congratulations… With that mouth, he's bound to get beaten up sooner or later!

Ma Qihua was taken back and immediately began to be interrogated.

The Police Officer had just asked one question when Ma Qihua immediately spilled everything.

“All these operations were taken on by our boss, yes, he handled everything. I was just responsible for doing some specific tasks.”

“The money was all taken by the boss; not much ended up in my hands…”

It could truly be said, “The confession is all in the boss’s name,” everything was done by the boss, and the money was also taken by the boss.

Ma Qihua’s idea was simple: preferably, he wouldn’t get a criminal record. If he absolutely had to be sentenced, he would try his best to get a suspended sentence.

However, as the interrogation progressed, Ma Qihua realized the situation was getting worse and worse.

After the interrogation, the Jingnan District Public Security Bureau immediately placed him under criminal detention.

Meanwhile, in a beauty salon, Ma Qihua’s wife, Jiang Tinghe, was comfortably getting a beauty treatment.

Although Ma Qihua’s business wasn't respectable, it genuinely made money!

Just thinking about it, this method of making money was related to criminal law. Although it was rarely prosecuted for various reasons, the speed of making money in the gray area was definitely much faster than working a regular job.

Jiang Tinghe was a full-time housewife, enjoying life every day, and they had no children.

Today was like any other day; after finishing her treatment, she was about to top up her account, but when she tried to pay, she found she couldn’t.

“What’s going on? Is there no money in the card?”

Jiang Tinghe dialed her husband, preparing to ask him, but he didn’t answer after several calls.

What was he doing? With no money to pay after her treatment, Jiang Tinghe could only use her own private stash to settle the bill.

This continued until evening, when her phone rang.

“Hello, are you Ma Qihua’s family member?”

Jiang Tinghe replied, “I’m his wife. What’s wrong? What happened to my Old Ma?”

“Hello, I am from the Jingnan Branch, my surname is Li. I am informing you that your husband, Ma Qihua, is suspected of fraud and has been criminally detained by our bureau in accordance with the law.”

“If you wish to intervene early, it is recommended that you hire a lawyer. That’s all for now.”

What? Jiang Tinghe was stunned. Ma Qihua suspected of fraud and criminally detained?

“Hey, wait, what’s going on? Why was he suddenly criminally detained? Why? He didn’t commit fraud, you guys are…”

The Police Officer Li on the phone quickly interrupted her, “The case is currently in the investigation stage and cannot be disclosed to anyone. That’s all.”

This time, Police Officer Li hung up the phone directly.

Jiang Tinghe stood there stunned, breathing rapidly. She never dreamed that her husband, whom she relied on, would be suspected of fraud.

No, she had to find someone to ask.

Jiang Tinghe quickly dialed another number. Because Ma Qihua used to be a lawyer, he also knew lawyers among his friends.

The call connected, and after listening, her friend said, “Sister-in-law, I can only tell you that the situation isn’t good. Fraud cases aren’t easily filed; once they are, it’s difficult to handle.”

“You said you couldn’t pay today, so it’s 100% certain that the Public Security Bureau has frozen all of your husband’s Bank cards. If that’s not enough, your house might also be frozen.”

Criminal-civil crossover cases are all like this: it’s hard to file them, but it’s even harder to withdraw them or prove innocence.

To file the case, Zhou Yun even went so far as to open a gym himself to collect evidence, and then found a bunch of other evidence to corroborate it, forming a chain of evidence and successfully filing the case.

In such a situation, it can be said that the probability of innocence is approximately zero.

After hearing her friend’s words, Jiang Tinghe was dumbfounded: “So, does that mean my Old Ma is definitely going to jail?”

“And the money might all be confiscated? Is it that serious?”

Her friend found it inconvenient to say more, only saying, “To understand the situation in detail, you still need to apply to meet him at the Detention Center. Guessing outside is useless.”

Hearing this, Jiang Tinghe had no choice but to say, “Then I’ll entrust it to you. How do you charge? I can’t afford too much; my cards are all frozen now…”

After entrusting the lawyer, Jiang Tinghe waited at home, feeling very distraught.

She had married Ma Qihua only after he became a professional business closer, precisely because he had money.

Now that such a problem had arisen, Jiang Tinghe felt a bit restless.

Zhou Yun, of course, was unaware of all this. He systematically registered the details of the rights defenders, and then continued working on cases.

It was just a bit unfortunate that the client from a previous divorce case was dissatisfied and actually complained to the Lawyers Association!

In this day and age, anyone in service can hardly avoid complaints. No matter how good your service is, if you can’t satisfy the other party, you will be complained about.

Humans are the most complex creatures; you never know what kind of eccentric people you’ll encounter.

Jiang Qiming had already been looking for trouble, and now that he knew Zhou Yun had been complained about, he would definitely seize the opportunity to make a big deal out of it.

Zhou Yun began to think about what to do.

Time slowly passed. Inside the company, CEO Liu and others also didn’t escape. Almost the day after Ma Qihua was detained, CEO Liu was brought in.

The accounts of the entire professional business closing syndicate were also brought back for a comprehensive investigation.

The Jingnan Branch’s intention was clear: this time, they wanted to capture the entire team in one fell swoop.

And in this atmosphere, the lawyer friend hired by Jiang Tinghe finally met Ma Qihua in the Detention Center.

After only a short time apart, Ma Qihua had already become much gaunter, his head shaved bald, sitting behind the tempered glass with vacant eyes.

Friends who have frequently been incarcerated know that among prisons, Detention Centers, and lockups, the Detention Center has the worst environment.

With communal sleeping arrangements, not to mention anything else, at night, there are all sorts of strange and bizarre people sleeping next to you.

Eating, going to the toilet, working, and everything else happens in the room.

The environment itself is enough to make one collapse just thinking about it.

Many people can’t imagine it, so let’s put it this way: someone who came out of a Detention Center said, “Even if I had no place to live outside, was penniless, and ate garbage, it would still be much better than being in there.”

The environment in prisons is actually much better now, but Detention Centers are truly difficult to endure; it's the kind where days feel like years.

Especially now in summer, you can imagine how terrifying the environment is.

Moreover, the number of cells in the Detention Center is limited. Normally, a single cell houses fifteen to twenty people.

But sometimes, when the Public Security Bureau solves a major case, just wait, they can directly cram thirty people into one cell.

Ma Qihua was also entering for the first time. In just a few days, he had lost a lot of weight and was on the verge of a breakdown.

Upon seeing his lawyer friend, he cried profusely, “Please find a way to get me out on bail quickly! I really can’t take it anymore; if I stay here any longer, I’ll want to commit suicide.”

“Let my wife pay for me, and I’ll actively return the ill-gotten gains inside; I’m sure I can get bail!”

During his time in the Detention Center, the person Ma Qihua hated most was Zhou Yun.

That person told him to his face that everything was his plan, and it was all for some ridiculous notion of fairness and justice!

If it weren't for Zhou Yun, his life would have been perfectly fine!

With the help of his lawyer friend and his own active restitution, Ma Qihua’s bail application was finally approved after twenty days in the Detention Center.

Without a word, Ma Qihua hurried home. He needed to relax properly; staying in there had almost ruined him.

Just like that, two days passed. It was another morning, and Ma Qihua heard his wife Jiang Tinghe’s furious roar.

“How come the house is frozen too, Ma Qihua, what exactly did you do?!”

Jiang Tinghe had originally planned to hold on, but today she received a call saying the house was frozen, and she instantly broke down.

Ma Qihua was also stunned upon hearing this. He had originally thought he couldFight for probation (strive for a suspended sentence), but now, not only were his Bank cards frozen, but even his house was frozen. This meant the amount involved in the case was very large…

Because he had bought this house at a high price; it was a large flat.

Jinghai is the provincial capital, and houses in Jingnan District are even frighteningly expensive.

And now, the house was also going to be gone…

Jiang Tinghe continued to chatter incessantly, “Ma Qihua, say something! What exactly did you do? Why is the house frozen too? What am I going to do in the future?!”

“Marrying you was truly the worst luck in eight lifetimes. Let’s divorce!”

Ma Qihua stood there blankly, not speaking, feeling as if everything he had was suddenly gone.

Just last month, he was a well-paid professional manager. Although the profession wasn’t respectable, he had a high income, a large flat, a luxury car, and a beautiful wife he could show off.

But now, it was all gone. His Bank cards were frozen, his house was frozen, and his car was probably not far behind.

He knew best what he had done. If everything he had done before was truly considered fraud, then the amount involved would likely be astronomical…

His wife was still talking when Ma Qihua suddenly roared, “Will you shut the hell up?! What did I do? Wasn’t it all for this family?!”

“You didn’t say anything when you were spending money, and now you’re saying all this?!”

After roaring, Ma Qihua left the house directly. He wanted to drink, he wanted to get completely drunk.

By noon, Ma Qihua had drunk a lot, but he felt a fire in his heart that no amount of alcohol could extinguish.

Suddenly, he thought of that young lawyer again. It was all because of that lawyer that he had ended up in his current state.

Finally, Ma Qihua stood up and drove straight ahead. He was now completely dominated by that rage.

Tianhe Law Firm, that was the law firm where that lawyer worked.

Ma Qihua got out of his car and took a knife from his trunk. He had kept it in his car for years.

After all, what he did wasn't good, and if some crazy person wanted to fight him to the death, he had to be ready.

And now, he just wanted to kill that Zhou fellow!

Meanwhile, in the law firm upstairs, Director Ma Jingyi from the Lawyers Association was investigating Zhou Yun.