Lu Xun once said that when one dog in the village barks, others follow without knowing why.
On a fine morning, Tang Fangjing put down his phone, ready to go to the Guangming District Court for mediation.
As a child, when I read these statements, they seemed baffling—what's all this nonsense about dogs barking and not barking. But as I grew up and had more life experiences, I came to realize that some words are indeed powerful and hit the nail on the head!
Isn't this just like the internet violence that happens nowadays? Even after countless reversals, there are still people who choose to believe in those petty online narratives.
There's even stuff like "Can't I stand up for my rights if they haven't been infringed upon?" Reading that kind of talk gives Tang Fangjing such a headache.
Shaking his head, he decided not to think about this and rather focus on getting his taxi fare back. He wondered how the boss of the real estate company reacted when he got the phone call—probably overjoyed, he guessed.
He finally arrived at the mediation room upstairs in the court, only to find that several people were already there.
Two of them looked familiar… Weren't these the agents and the manager from that storefront I visited before?
The mediator, a young woman, began, "Mr. Tang is here. Come this way, let me introduce you—this is Mr. Guo Fengqi, the president of Hua Shi Real Estate, and you might have seen these two before so I won't introduce them again."
She continued, "Mr. Guo, this is Mr. Tang. As we discussed over the phone, if there are no issues, let's give him the money first and then he can sign."
After Tang Fangjing arrived, Guo Fengqi scrutinized him, and Wang, the store manager, looked even more sullen.
As usual today, they used fake images to lure people to see the apartments, only to get a call from the company that baffled them all.
That guy from last time actually went to the court and filed a lawsuit!
Honestly, Wang had been working as a real estate agent for many years and had seen it all—there were plenty of things he had done that were far worse than using fake images and prices.
Some people argued with them, others were so angry they wanted to get physical. "I'm going to sue you," they'd say, but hardly anyone actually went through with a lawsuit or anything similar.
Just as Qi Guang had said before, there's no real loss—just taxi fare and a little time. Nobody would actually do anything about it.
So he wasn't worried at all. But then his boss called to say the company was being sued…
He was stupefied, and then the boss reprimanded him fiercely—not for using fake prices and images, but for not being able to handle such a trivial matter and letting it go to court…
Looking at Tang Fangjing across from him, Wang truly wanted to ask if the man was seriously ill. Was it necessary to make such a big deal? If you had told me you wanted to make it this big, would I not have given you the few bucks?
Tang Fangjing's demand was for fifty-three yuan in taxi fare back and forth. Guo Fengqi pulled out his phone, scanning the QR code and transferring money while speaking, "Is it just the money you want? Here, take a good look, I'm giving you sixty, an extra seven yuan!"
"To save us from all this hassle, now that you have the money, you see it right? No problems now, huh? Wasting my time!"
Tang Fangjing frowned at these stinging words, "Mr. Guo, what do you mean by saying I just want the money? Isn't this what you should be giving me? You refuse to pay and you think you're right?"
Wang, the store manager, couldn't help saying, "But our boss has given you the money now, hasn't he? What more do you want? What, should I kneel down and kowtow to you?"
"That's enough, you wanted the money and here it is, right?"
Many major conflicts in life actually start from minor issues. Trouble often stems from hasty words.
Especially when someone's words are truly aggravating.
It's like someone owes you money, and after you go through all the trouble of taking legal action to get it back, they act like you should be grateful for them paying you back!
That's right, they think, I could have chosen not to pay you back, but now that I have, shouldn't you be thanking me?
Tang Fangjing replied firmly, "Let me say it again—this is what you owe me. So using fake listings and prices to deceive people is okay with you? Do we need to have this evaluated by the market regulatory authority?"
At this, Guo Fengqi shouted back, "Watch your tone, who's deceiving anyone here?!"
Wang stood up and yelled, "Accusing us of deception? Didn't I tell you last time? Just look, which agency in Jingzhou isn't doing the same thing?"
"If you have the guts, get all the agencies in Jingzhou to switch to real listings! You think you can sue? Go ahead and sue! So many agencies do this; why don't you sue them all?"
"If you can't do it, can you shut up?"
The argument on both sides escalated so quickly that the mediator, a young lady, had only just reacted, rushing to say, "Hey, hey, stop fighting, this is the court!"
But as soon as she finished speaking, she realized that the guy across, Tang Fangjing, had frozen in place.
"Oh, uh, what did you just say? You want me to sue? Are you sure?"
What the hell, Manager Wang and the CEO Guo beside him exchanged looks. Damn it, they actually sensed a hint of joy from the guy across them...
This is crazy, we're in the middle of an argument and you're happy as hell!
However, Tang Fangjing across them didn't care about their response at all. He cheerfully said to the mediator beside him, "Well, since we have agreed, let's hurry up and sign. I've got things to do and I'm in a real rush here."
Huh? Oh... The mediator girl was also a bit dumbfounded by this reaction but nonetheless hurried to facilitate the process.
Settlement agreement signed, voluntary dismissal signed, and once everything was done, Tang Fangjing hurriedly took off.
Who would have thought, eh? Last time I spoke at length with this Manager Wang and didn't trigger any task, yet today, here I am with a new task, even if it looks a bit painful...
On the task panel, a new task had been updated.
Task Objective: Use the law to educate the real estate intermediary companies in Jingzhou City!
Task Reward: 50% completion, reward one week of lifespan
100% completion, reward six months of lifespan Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs N0velFire.ɴet
200% completion, reward twelve months of lifespan
Perhaps the system also knows this task is difficult, hence the incredibly generous rewards. A 200% completion rate and a reward of one whole year of lifespan!
Sigh, Tang Fangjing inexplicably thought of that novel from his past life titled "Starting with a Hacked Account, I Recharged One Million Instantly."
You see, why are other people's systems so awesome? If I had that much money, this task would be ridiculously easy.
Just hire a bunch of people to gather evidence willy-nilly, you could even do it with a dog in tow, there's no need for a protagonist like Zhou Yi at all!
It's just too bad I only have that little bit of money, which I still need to save up for a house...
So how can I achieve 200% completion for the task? Tang Fangjing had some ideas. Many professionals could think of the same things.
Firstly, collect sufficient evidence and lodge a complaint with the market regulation department.
With enough evidence, the market regulation department will most definitely get involved with great enthusiasm. We're not just talking about rectification and fines here; it could even trigger a major industry overhaul...
Secondly, it's about filing a lawsuit. With sufficient evidence, either sue on my own or get the consumer association to file a public interest litigation.
In any case, looking at my task situation, I'm probably going to be dealing with the consumer association a lot in the future...
So the real question is, how do I gather enough evidence? Should I just go at it alone?
Indeed, this seems to be the true nature of the system, isn't it? Risking life and limb… This is literally about risking my life.
Man, money really is a wonderful thing...
Fortunately, the system's tasks have no time limit; as long as I have enough lifespan, that's all that matters. It's still unclear whether multiple tasks can exist at the same time. Anyway, the most crucial thing for the current task is time.