Chapter 16.1 Bai Duanduan’s heart stuttered all of a sudden

Despite having joint custody of the same cat, it was clear that Bai Duanduan and Ji Lin’s relationship had not improved significantly. Bai Duanduan’s last case had suffered a failure, so she paid more attention to her current case. She went through all the materials she could prepare in every detail, and interviewed as many employees as possible.

And there was no doubt that almost every employee’s concern was –

“Lawyer Bai, we can win this case for sure, right?”

“I can’t make such a guarantee.”

Whenever they heard Bai Duanduan’s words, the response of all the employees was almost the same, “But I heard that you have prepared well. You have already figured out all the possible bargaining situations on the financial compensation for the company to dismiss us, and it is the company’s fault to dismiss us, so how come you still can’t guarantee that we can win this case?”

“This is the regulation of “Lawyer Practice Management Measures”. When lawyers undertake any case, they can’t guarantee to you the outcome of the case in an express or implied way. After all, all legal disputes are subjected to certain levels of legal risks.”

Sure enough, good medicine always tastes bitter. As soon as Bai Duanduan’s voice fell, the expressions on the faces of the employees were not very pleasing to see. After they finished talking to Bai Duanduan, one of the employees walked out of the conference room and saw Song Lianjun waiting outside, so they couldn’t help but complain.

“Brother Song, will there be any trouble with this case? My wife just gave birth to our second child and since we have no one to take care of the baby, she has to quit her job. Now the whole family is counting on me, but I am also in my forties. At this age, I don’t have any skills, and the new job is difficult to find. I have been working at Simon Paper for 19 years. If a normal company dismisses me, it should pay me 19 months of monthly salary, right? Now I’m counting on this money to cushion me for a year and a half, and then I’ll try to find another job in the meantime.”

Song Lianjun patted the other party’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, this lawyer Bai is not as professional as lawyer Du. Lawyer Du said that we will win. Just listen to what lawyer Du says.”

Once the other party heard this, he was really happy: “I told you, this Bai lawyer’s face is too tender and looks …… unlike a lawyer. Lawyer Du said we will win steadily, that’s good, that’s good.”

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Bai Duanduan was unaware of this little episode that happened outside the door. She sent away the few employees and Song Lianjun, and checked the paperwork of 300 employees back and forth, only to have the receptionist call to inform her that she had a visitor.

When she got to the conference room, she realized it was Xu Zhixin.

It had been some time since his case had ended, and his face still looked bad, but his eyes were not as dull as they had been at that time.

The first thing he said when he met Bai Duanduan was gratitude.

“Thank you, lawyer Bai. I didn’t tell you the truth, yet you were still willing to refund my legal fees and even lent me money ……” As soon as he spoke, Xu Zhixin’s eyes reddened, “Thank you for letting me know that even if I’m wrong, I still have time to pull back. This society isn’t cold, there is still warmth and kindness, and there are good people like you who are willing to accept me ……”

In Xu Zhixin’s case, eventually Ji Lin did not let him get a penny of financial compensation, and still insisted on firing him for cheating sick leave. He also reported to the hospital that his girlfriend Chen Jia Nan had issued a fake sick leave note, but that was not the end of misfortunes for him. His father also died of a serious illness not long after.

During that period of time, Xu Zhixin was at the lowest point in his life, and even thought of seeking death. In the end, Bai Duanduan found him and refunded the lawyer’s fees voluntarily, and also lent a sum of money to help him manage the funeral and get through the difficult time.

To his thanks, Bai Duanduan was very indifferent, “The lawyer’s fee I returned to you was limited. The subject of the case was not a large one, and our commission as lawyers had to be split with the firm, so I couldn’t touch the part of the money I gave to the firm, and I only returned my share.”

With all that was known about the case, Bai Duanduan had done her best with a clear conscience. She had returned her portion of the fee simply out of empathy that she also had been in such a difficult situation at one point in her life. She was desperate for help in those days, and now that she can, she wants to help others in distress.

Xu Zhixin’s eyes were tearful, “The money you lent me, wait for a while, and I will definitely return it to you!”

“There’s no rush.” Bai Duanduan smiled, in fact she did not expect to receive the money she had lent out. She decisively changed the subject, “What do you want to do next in life?”

When the topic was brought up, Xu Zhixin’s eyes lit up, “Lawyer Bai, do you still remember me telling you that I also had a few patent research in electronics and machinery during my college days? Now that I’m at the end of my rope and I can’t find any next job in the industry because I was at fault for cheating on my sick leave. I have decided to start my own business.”

Although still slim and thin looking, Xu Zhixin has changed his previous despair and bewilderment, “It’s not that I hadn’t thought about starting a business before, but I didn’t have the guts to do so. I always thought that a nine to five job would be very secure, not to mention what if the business failed? But now that I’ve been forced to a dead end, I have to fight with my back against the wall.” He gave Bai Duanduan an embarrassed look, “Or maybe it’s true that the best is yet to come. I took my business plan to several investors in the industry, and surprisingly, there was actually someone interested.”

“Jia Nan was punished by the hospital because of my misdeeds, but at least her work has not been greatly affected. She loves being a doctor and is very patient with all her patients. I’m sure that in a few more years and with her being so dedicated, someone will eventually see the good in her.”

“And what you said last time gave me a lot of inspiration. I went to meet Jia Nan’s parents, admitted my mistakes to them, and frankly explained all my current situation and intentions.” Speaking of this, Xu Zhixin’s eyes reddened a little. “It is because of me that Jia Nan was punished. No matter what, I should be responsible for the crime and should go to explain at least once. I had also prepared for the worst before meeting them, knowing that they would definitely oppose me and Jia Nan, and would not even give me a good look on the spot. But thinking that I would have to take the blame for what I had done wrong, even if it was embarrassing, I have to bear it…….”

“Unexpectedly, although they were still not enthusiastic towards me, they didn’t scold me at all. They also said that they would give me two years. If I can make a name for myself in business in two years, then I should go to meet them again.” Xu Zhixin’s voice was moved, “Although they are still dissatisfied with me and did not recognise me yet, they did not prohibit me from interacting with Jia Nan anymore. Even when my father passed away, Jia Nan’s parents came to the funeral.”

Xu Zhixin paused, “Lawyer Bai, you are right. Sometimes confessing one’s embarrassment and weakness is not as terrible as one thinks. If you take a wrong step, it is not so bad that you won’t be able to remedify it in the future. I was blinded by lard before, but now, thank you for your kindness, thanks to Jia Nan, thanks to her parents, and thanks to…”

Bai Duanduan nodded.

Although the case did not have a good outcome, perhaps for Xu Zhixin, such a heavy blow in life was not necessarily a bad thing. Some people are like the strongest grass, and they can still stand up against the wind in any adversity. If you make a mistake, if you fall down, just get up and follow the right path again with determination.

There was still so much time ahead.

There were always miracles and countless possibilities in this world.

Who knows if one’s unintentionally extended hand will change someone’s fate.

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Soon after gaining a thorough understanding of Xu Zhixin’s case, Bai Duanduan finally ushered in the first opportunity to negotiate with Simon Paper.

The meeting took place in the conference room of Simon Paper’s office building, where Bai Duanduan, Du Xinyi and Song Lianjun, as the employee representative, attended together, while the other party assigned Ji Lin and a Personnel director to accompany them.

For this negotiation, Bai Duanduan boasted that she was well prepared and had a good idea of what to expect.

Ji Lin, as always, still looked unflattering. Even if he and Bai Duanduan usually don’t look each other eye to eye and don’t bother to nod head in greetings, he can’t help but reluctantly re-add Bai Duanduan’s WeChat account for the sake of the cat. But obviously the two people don’t want to pay attention to each other, they just want to hurry and complete the negotiation process step by step.

“Here’s the proposal we listed out.” Bai Duanduan smiled and moved the information in front of Ji Lin, “I made a layoff compensation plan based on each employee’s contract version, years of service, and salary. Please take a look at it.”

She stared at Ji Lin, “If the employer has serious difficulties in its production and operation situation and must lay off its staff. Then in that situation, the employer should pay economic compensation for the number of years the retrenched person has worked in the unit. For every full year of work in the unit, an economic compensation equivalent to one month’s salary shall be paid.” Speaking of this, Bai Duanduan paused, “These are all clauses expressly stipulated in the Labor contract Law. Simon Paper’s current cost is too high due to poor domestic business conditions. Too few orders have led to the need to close down and transfer production lines, so let’s talk about the matter of the 300 employee layoffs involved in accordance with the law.”

Ji Lin only swept his eyes over the thick proposal, then he gently averted his eyes and said in an unperturbed manner, “Lawyer Bai, I think you are mistaken. Simon Paper does need to make layoffs of all 300 employees this time due to the change in business conditions, but the layoffs only involve 189 employees.”

Du Xinyi immediately saw the opportunity to steal the conversation, she frowned and said nonchalantly to Ji Lin, “Lawyer Ji, did you learn math from your language teacher? The list of employees clearly states that there are 300 employees involved, do you want to renege on the remaining 111 employees?”

Du Xinyi usually has little to no ink in negotiating professional content, so at this moment she could only rush to say some useless nonsense to show her strength and gain some sense of existence.

However, while she was aggressive and her words were full of sarcasm and confidence towards Ji Lin, there was no way for Bai Duanduan to be as optimistic as her.

Although Ji Lin was difficult, he was very professional and the way he handled the case could almost be described as simple and brutal. He didn’t like to meander and abhor wasting time. When he said he would only sack 189 employees, he would really only sack that number of employees.

But what about the remaining 111 employees? All the 300 employees had signed formal written employment contracts. There was no way Simon Paper could renege on its debt unless ……

Bai Duanduan felt a little bit of a hunch in her heart, and she had a very bad premonition.