75: I took this case!

Without any hesitation, Feng Cuilan immediately made the call according to the message.

Although she didn't know if Lawyer Zhou Yun would truly help her family, she had no other options now.

It could be said that if this didn't work, she would have no choice but to desperately fight those intermediaries.

There was once a case of wage arrears where someone was owed over three thousand yuan by an intermediary.

Over three thousand yuan! For many people online, that's not even enough for one meal, but for those four thousand yuan, that man directly killed three people!

The intermediary who was stabbed to death begged for mercy before he died, saying he would give him the money, but it was already too late then.

Perhaps the intermediary couldn't understand even until his death why the other party would do such a thing for a mere three thousand yuan; it simply wasn't worth it.

If they had known the other party would fight to the death, they would never have dared to withhold such a small amount of wages…

One can only say, this is reality; money is truly not that easy to earn.

With trepidation, Feng Cuilan dialed the number, and soon a young voice answered.

“Hello, Zhentian Law Firm, how may I help you?”

Feng Cuilan cautiously said, “I, uh, Lawyer Zhou Yun told me to contact him…”

The one answering the phone at the law firm was Xiao Duan, who smiled and said, “Oh, hello, hello, you must be Ms. Feng Cuilan, Lawyer Zhou mentioned you.”

“You said in your private message that you are also in Jinghai, right? How about this, why don’t you come directly to the law firm and talk to Lawyer Zhou in person? That way, Lawyer Zhou can better understand the situation.”

Hearing this, Feng Cuilan was immediately surprised and said, “Ah? Really?”

“Of course it’s true. It’s getting late today, how about tomorrow morning? Is that okay? Yes, then come tomorrow morning. Call this number when you arrive, and I’ll come pick you up.”

“In a moment, I’ll send you a list of materials you need to bring.”

After a few more words, she hung up the phone, and a glimmer of hope appeared in Feng Cuilan’s heart. That Lawyer Zhou was now very famous online.

Soon, Feng Cuilan began preparing the corresponding materials according to the requirements sent by the other party. Actually, there wasn’t much; it was mainly contracts from previous work, or something similar, and records of wage payments.

Although she didn't know what help these things would be for the case, Feng Cuilan still prepared them all.

Time quickly came to the next day. At nine in the morning, Zhou Yun was sitting in his office drinking tea.

Now his commute to work was very convenient; he would go downstairs in the morning to eat something, then stroll all the way to the office.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Xiao Duan walked in with a nervous middle-aged woman.

“Director Zhou, this is Ms. Feng Cuilan.”

Zhou Yun smiled and nodded, “Go pour a glass of water, I’ll talk to Ms. Feng first.”

Xiao Duan went out to busy himself, and Zhou Yun looked at Feng Cuilan: “Ms. Feng, don’t be nervous. You are the consumer, and I, the lawyer, am the service provider, so relax.”

Feng Cuilan nodded, but still maintained that same expression.

After all, the person in front of her was a very famous lawyer online; normally, someone like her would never be able to hire such a lawyer.

In fact, lawyers like Zhou Yun, who are extremely skilled in criminal defense, are in high demand; money is not an issue, there are plenty of people willing to hire him.

The water was brought, and Zhou Yun said, “Alright, Ms. Feng, the private message you sent yesterday wasn’t very clear. Now, please tell me again, what exactly happened?”

Why did Zhou Yun insist on meeting in person? Because he wanted to see if what the other party said was true or false.

Every intern lawyer, from the beginning of their internship, would be repeatedly reminded by their mentors: Clients will lie to lawyers.

Each of us lies, especially on crucial issues involving ourselves; we always subconsciously hide our mistakes.

Think about it carefully: when we were students, if we had a conflict with others, in our narration to parents or teachers, we would instinctively shift the blame to the other party.

This situation isn’t a big deal normally, but when it comes to lawsuits, especially in criminal defense, it can be fatal!

There’s a saying in the legal circle: every criminal defense lawyer is only one step away from prison.

Therefore, experienced lawyers like Zhou Yun habitually question every client.

Feng Cuilan naturally didn't know these things; she began to narrate.

“My husband and I came to Jinghai to work a few months ago, and then he found some intermediary who said they would find him work.”

“It was agreed that if he worked for three full months, he would get an additional four thousand per month, but after he finished, they didn’t acknowledge it…”

Feng Cuilan's narration was a bit disjointed, but Zhou Yun still understood, or rather, he had seen too many of these tricks from unscrupulous labor intermediaries.

Many people think that labor intermediaries are still like they used to be, deliberately withholding wages and such, but that’s a simplistic view.

The devil is one foot taller than the dao; even closing a business and running away can give rise to gray areas like professional business closers. How could inherently black-hearted labor intermediaries not have progressed?

Now, one trick of labor intermediaries is to play word games.

When recruiting, they say, go to work, two hundred yuan a day.

And if you can work a certain number of days, they will give you a “stability subsidy” of a certain amount of money.

For example, if you work twenty-two days this month, then normally your salary would be four thousand four hundred.

And if you work enough days, the intermediary will give you a “stability subsidy,” for example, four thousand eight hundred a month.

What we normal people understand as a subsidy is definitely something given in addition to the salary.

And the intermediary will constantly remind you that this is an addition.

Why do intermediaries say this? Because once you start working, you realize the labor intensity is too great.

Or rather, work like this, for just over four thousand, simply cannot attract people.

At this point, you think, if I add the subsidy, I can earn eight or nine thousand a month, then that would be acceptable.

Many migrant workers haven’t earned that much money; they endure the hardship, pushing through until a certain number of days before resting.

They can't keep enduring it; they simply can't hold on.

However, if you actually complete that number of days, they will tell you that it's not an addition; it's an 'either/or' relationship.

That is to say, if your monthly salary is less than the guaranteed four thousand eight hundred, then they will pay you four thousand eight hundred.

At this point, you will feel very wronged, like a clown.

Most people silently accept it, because this is just a basic trick; on top of this trick, there will be more tricks.

So what do you do? You have no options.

Other avenues won't help you; through legal channels, you first need to find a lawyer. Not to mention anything else, you at least need to consult, you at least need to find someone to write a complaint for you and organize the evidence.

You don't earn much money to begin with, and if the lawyer's fees are low, no one is willing to take your case. You can't beat them in court, so what do you do? Just accept your bad luck.

Similar situations exist in many industries, for example, now, some places that deliver food also use similar tactics.

Feng Cuilan had reached the end of her story.

“Three months, they said they would give a subsidy of four thousand five hundred per month, but they didn’t give a single cent.”

“Lawyer Zhou, you tell me, my husband worked himself to death every day, and after three months, his back hurt so much he couldn’t straighten up, yet he was still cheated like this.”

“When he went to reason with them, they said that we misunderstood, and told us to sue wherever we wanted. My husband argued with them, and then it became physical.”

“Three of them against one, and my husband’s blows were a bit heavy, injuring one person slightly…”

Hearing this, Zhou Yun nodded and said, “Ms. Feng, I now understand the basic situation. What is your current demand?”

Feng Cuilan wiped away her tears and said, “I just hope that my husband doesn’t have to go to jail, anything else is fine, but that police officer said earlier that without a letter of understanding, the probability of probation is very low.”

“But they are demanding fifty thousand for medical expenses, which I simply cannot afford.”

Zhou Yun had already finished reviewing the relevant materials. At this point, he waved his hand and said, “It’s useless to talk about these things now. Let me tell you something: I’m taking this case!”

At this point, Zhou Yun smiled: “But there’s one thing, my solution might cause a little bit of a stir. I hope you won’t be afraid when that happens.”