Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 27 First
"The speed is quite fast."

Only half an hour after Gu Yansheng returned, Wu Sibao's men had already driven over.

They gave me a car without paying, so it seems that the meal was good and spacious.

"Go and fetch Mr. Wolfe, and tell him his beloved has arrived."

"Oh, my God." Wolf, who was summoned, saw his beloved car as soon as he went out. The feeling of getting it back made him excited.

"Gu, you actually found it back?"

"I asked someone to find it and spent 5000 US dollars. I hope it can be returned intact." Gu Yansheng spoke the truth.

Wolfe started cursing as soon as he heard this: "Are these hooligans so heartless that they actually asked for such a high price? Damn it, I won't let these people fall into my hands. Gu, I'm sorry for making you lose money."

Gu Yansheng patted Wolf's back and said nonchalantly, "Never mind that. Go check it out. Those hooligans are being rude. I still have money in my pocket. If you want to repair the car, I can still pay the bill."

Whether it will lead to financial ruin or not will depend on Wu Sibao's future performance. For now, this is at most an initial investment.

"Hahahaha." Wolf laughed and tried it for a lap, then got off the car and said, there was no problem at all.

"Not only did they wash my car, they even filled up my gas tank."

"After all, it's a $5000 service, so I'm sure you'll feel right at home. How's things going in court?"

"It's already been submitted. They have many journalistic sources, and there might be a source inside the courtroom. If they're quick, they should have known by now."

The newspapers certainly knew about it.

declare.

After finishing proofreading the daily newspaper content and sending it out for printing, the newspaper editors are ready to go off work.

However, a voice suddenly rang out from the editor-in-chief's newly opened office: "What? We're being sued?"

The editor standing opposite quickly said, "Yes, I have checked the news and it is confirmed to be true.

We were not the only ones sued. The Damei Evening News, the German Newspaper, and almost all the mainstream media in Shanghai were sued.

According to information from inside the court, we should receive the court summons the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"What? Everyone is accused?"

Editor-in-chief Liang Youwei felt that his knowledge was still insufficient. All the newspapers were sued together. This was unprecedented news.

"This is really new. I've been in this business all my life and I've never heard of anything like this. What is he suing us for?"

“That’s the content.”

The reporter pulled out a newspaper from the day of the incident and pointed to a headline: "The French deny transferring law enforcement power to the Japanese and are now suing us for defamation, demanding a serious apology, published in the newspaper."

"Isn't this what the French consulate called us to do that day?"

Liang Youwei remembered that after the incident, the consulate called him and told him about it.

"Yes, but we didn't take it seriously at the time. Who would have thought he would actually sue?"

"ridiculous."

Liang Youwei pushed the newspaper aside and scoffed, "Newspapers report hearsay, but I've never heard of a newspaper being held legally responsible for publishing something it saw. This is simply ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

"Editor-in-chief, what should we do? They have already sued us, so we must go to court, or we have to apologize now." said the editor.

"No apology! What's there to apologize for? If he wants to sue, then let him sue. I just don't believe he can win a lawsuit for such a trivial matter."

Liang Youwei waved his sleeves, very angry: "Didn't you say it? It's not just our newspaper that is being sued, it's all the newspapers in Shanghai that are being sued.

Then let's unite and not apologize. What's wrong with the French? We also have Americans, British, and Italians here. We are not afraid of them!"

"Should we just be more careful?"

The subordinate reminded him, "The lawyer the French hired is Wolfe from the Danwen Law Firm, a very experienced British lawyer.

If we go to court and he catches us, and the court orders us to apologize, we might as well apologize now and do the French a favor.

By then, both face and money will be lost, which would be too unprofitable.

Besides, we're at the mercy of the Japanese and don't have much face to begin with. We can just apologize and not even need to hire a lawyer."

"What are you talking about?" Liang Youwei frowned and pointed at the newspaper. "Is this about an apology? This is about the right to speak!
If we publish a news item today, they can ask us to apologize. But if we write about other things in France tomorrow, do we still have to send the newspaper to the French consulate for review before we can publish it?

No apology, absolutely no apology." The subordinate was speechless. "Okay, then, Editor-in-Chief, I think you should contact other newspapers and see what they mean. We can all move forward and retreat together to avoid being tricked."

This made some sense. Liang Youwei nodded, picked up the phone halfway, and then put it down again.

"No, we have to wait a little longer. We still have two days left, right? Once other newspapers get wind of the news, they'll probably want to contact us. Anyone asking now is afraid of the French. We can't be so insecure."

"What the editor said makes sense, but we are the first defendant. Wouldn't it be inappropriate not to take the initiative to contact us?"

Liang Youwei's pupils widened. "No, wait a minute, why are we the first defendants? Oh, we never get any good things, we're the first to be the bad guys, picking on the weak, right?"

"That's not the case. The court is still very strict. The specific reason is..."

The editor pointed at the newspaper and said, "Other newspapers published the content that day, which was that the French Concession handed over law enforcement power to the Japanese headquarters in Shanghai, while our content that day was that France surrendered to Japan's East Asian common theory.

They wrote about transferring law enforcement power, and we wrote about submitting to Japan.

So we are the first defendant.”

At this, the editor's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm also confused. Why is our headline different from his? Which editor wrote it? Isn't this going to make us hate him? It's so low-brow."

Liang Youwei remained silent, thinking about what happened that day, feeling a little withdrawn, and then silently looked at his subordinates.

The man felt a chill on his neck and suddenly realized, "Could it be you who wrote this? Huh? No way?

Um, editor-in-chief, remember to call the editors of other newspapers. I have something else to do. I'll be out first, hehe."

"Why are you running? What are you going out for?" Liang Youwei's voice was a little cold.

The editor shrank his neck, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile, "I'm almost done. Nothing else to do. I'll leave work first."

"Is there any professionalism at all? You're off duty at this hour?!"

Liang Youwei stabbed his finger heavily on the wooden table. "As a reporter, if all the newspapers in Shanghai are being sued for such a big news, and you don't try to make it the front page of tomorrow's news, what use do I have for you?"

The reporter suddenly realized: "I understand, I understand. I will write a manuscript right away and let you review it after it is completed."

"You're too slow to respond, I'll deduct 50 yuan from your salary!"

"Huh? Oh."

"go out."

"okay."

After walking a few steps, the reporter turned back and said, "Editor-in-chief, just these few words show me that experience is the key.

Editor-in-chief, you are so amazing. Just writing a headline can surpass all others and take first place. Not only is it recognized by the industry, but also by the legal community!

The sword never fades, a role model for our generation."

"roll!"

Bang, a flying brush hit the door frame.

Seeing his men fleeing in panic, Liang Youwei sat down, picked up the newspaper, and stared at the headline he had drafted: "France surrenders to Japan's East Asian Co-Prosperity Theory."

At that time, the purpose was to both pass the review and divert the blame to France, thereby fostering France's hatred towards Japan. Now it seems that the goal was indeed achieved, and it was achieved perfectly.

To the extent that they have stood out from the crowd and won the honorary seat of the first defendant.

"You're still sharp, why don't you keep it to yourself? I'll have to spend money to hire a lawyer again."

Liang Youwei sighed and decided to call other newspapers to check in.

After several phone calls, familiar editors from various newspapers all scolded this behavior and refused to apologize.

And we must continue to report this incident extensively until the French Concession voluntarily withdraws the lawsuit.

The verbal abuse over the phone was not enough, so in the evening, people from several major newspapers gathered together to restart the verbal battle and formulate strategies.

They also decided to raise funds to hire a law firm of the same level as Danwen Law Firm to represent them in the lawsuit.

"Herb Smith Freehills, I'm familiar with their people. They just represented Jardine Matheson in a shipping dispute with Japan a while ago. They won such a big case involving the shipping of contraband goods into Wusongkou."

"I heard about them. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

The British editor's proposal was quickly recognized by everyone. If they could win the battle even with the embargoed materials, it would mean that the other party was very good at talking and could definitely beat them to a pulp.

(End of this chapter)