What's wrong with this lawyer?!

Just one lawsuit was enough to ignite the fury of online users.

And so, those employees from the 4S shops were dragged out again and relentlessly criticized.

Making so much money, and now suddenly claiming to be broke? Who are you trying to fool!

In Modu, President Pan watched the live-stream chat filled with an endless barrage of brutal comments, remaining silent throughout.

Tang Fangjing essentially exposed these corporations' dirty laundry for all to see.

Claiming that price-fixing had no impact? Fine, let's show you how restricting minimum prices compares with market competition prices—look at how much money has been pocketed.

Are you really going to say this had no effect?

When cars are selling well, particularly when they're super popular, putting a markup is totally fair.

But then someone might argue, "What about when cars aren't selling well? If I set my own minimum price and refuse to sell below it, is that an issue?"

If a single 4S shop does that, there's no problem—that's individual behavior. But, if manufacturers step in and coordinate with regional dealers to enforce minimum prices, then there's definitely a problem.

Especially when it's the top-selling car companies collectively doing this—it's absolutely unacceptable!

Several other car company presidents also watched the live-stream. The rage spilling out from online users left them speechless.

No one had done this before, so everyone had secretly made fortunes. Even if fined a little, it wasn't a big deal. To put it bluntly, how much can fines actually hurt?

If the fines are too high, they'd be deemed illegal, and the media narrative would shift to criticizing the hostile business environment.

Honestly, fines didn't scare anyone.

But exposing this entire vertical monopoly online, combining sales figures and revenue—now that's truly terrifying.

The anger from netizens was enough to almost overthrow these corporations.

As expected, today or tomorrow, the higher-ups from these state-affiliated enterprises would have to respond. At this point, it wasn't just about paying compensation anymore.

Tang Fangjing, oh Tang Fangjing—just as he said, litigation was just the means; public legal education was the true goal.

Leadership had many concerns, but the corporate legal team alongside dealership-hired lawyers continued staunchly defending their case.

Claims like "The other side's calculations are flawed; we absolutely didn't engage in vertical monopolies" or "Even if there's a minimum price, it didn't infringe upon public interests..."

In usual circumstances, such defenses wouldn't be too surprising—both Tang and the judges had seen them countless times.

Yet now, as netizens put it, it's all so indisputable, and they're still trying to weasel out?

Some people took it a step further and posted receipts of their real-name reports—if the only thing they could do was report the case, then so be it.

President Pan's face grew darker and darker, until at one point, he even had the urge to step in and cover his legal team's mouths—could they just stop talking already?!

Even he could tell the company's legal team was endlessly rambling nonsense.

Previously, executives spoke highly of this legal team's capabilities—yet this was what they had to offer?

Apparently being "capable" meant stubbornly denying everything and continually spinning excuses?

Finally, amid netizens' furious condemnation, the trial concluded, and President Pan breathed a sigh of relief. He worried that if it had gone on much longer, he might not even get to retire peacefully...

During just that brief moment, many netizens had already filed real-name reports against him.

Whether the company ends up paying compensation was none of his concern. Strangely enough, President Pan even felt slightly envious of Fu Shaofei.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Fu Shaofei set down his phone and silently counted his blessings. How fortunate that Qiangsheng Company's lawsuit hadn't been a public welfare case back then, and the trial was held privately.

If not, with the kind of excuses their legal director had offered back then, he'd surely have been mercilessly torn apart by the public.

Across five public welfare lawsuits, Tang unveiled the data five times. By the end, netizens were practically numb.

Billions—it felt almost routine...

Finally, under pouring rain, all five cases were concluded without any surprises. The Procuratorate secured complete victories!

However, this grand event in legal education was far from over. The lawsuits brought by those piggybacking ordinary individuals were just about to begin.

It was foreseeable that overtime at the Intermediate Court would persist for quite a while—more than 20,000 vehicles involved, even calculating conservatively at 80% still meant over 16,000 lawsuits.

Although not requiring proof meant things were somewhat easier, and collective rulings could expedite the process, the workload remained immense.

Old Zhou seemed elated these days, smiling wherever he went, to the point where colleagues wondered if prolonged contact with Tang Fangjing had made him lose his mind.

The Procuratorate side was even more jubilant—these five cases effectively counted as one, and there was a strong chance they'd be selected by the Supreme Procuratorate as one of the year's top ten public welfare litigations.

The Supreme Court also issued publications recognizing the previous cases as landmark precedents. Both the High Procuratorate and Supreme Court harnessed the momentum for widespread legal education.

Netizens, meanwhile, were thoroughly enjoying their spectacle—one could say they'd won big.

Though there was one downside: companies owned by General Manager Liu, General Manager Jin, and similar figures couldn't survive anymore. Reportedly, they were boycotted by all counterparts in Handong.

There's no wall that doesn't let wind through—especially within a single sector.

If it hadn't been for them, Tang wouldn't have considered pursuing such legal awareness initiatives—how miserable.

What does it mean for losses to be catastrophic? This was it—compensation figures stretched into the billions, countless dealerships in Handong Province collapsed, and angry owners cursed that the auto industry would never recover.

Yet those gaps were quickly filled by others, and the sector ended up progressing further.

This market would inevitably generate profits. As long as there were profits to be made, there'd be no shortage of newcomers.

Non-monopolistic practices might lower earnings slightly, but they wouldn't erase profitability entirely.

Out of six automaker presidents, three ended up directly under investigation—including President Pan, who likely wouldn't see retirement.

Another grand saga had reached its conclusion, yet Old Tang quietly stayed in his office, ignoring the aftermath.

After all, this story was born from one of his whims. The rest of it, he left for others to handle. If people wouldn't even bother piggybacking—in that case, they were beyond saving.

Tang Fangjing ultimately strived for his longevity. Could he really be blamed for simply wanting to live a few billion years longer?

Fame kept growing nonetheless, and often opponents became scared instantly. He now had to choose cases where "even if they wanted to back down, they couldn't."

...

By May, Wang Jing had taken leave from Tengda to return to school for her thesis defense and to collect her diploma.

Modu was already sweltering in May. Wang Jing wiped her sweat as she headed to her advisor's office.

On the stairs, she bumped into a familiar figure.

"Senior Brother? What's… going on with you?"

Her senior stood before her with disheveled hair and eyes filled with confusion—as though he'd been tormented a hundred times over.

He shook his head and said: "I'm fine, it's just… just that the professor's been so irritable lately. I have no idea why. Wang Jing, do you know anything?"

Wang Jing quickly shook her head and replied: "No idea! How could I possibly know? Senior Brother, you love to joke—I haven't even been on campus…"

Her senior gave her a suspicious look but chose not to press the matter. Instead, he changed topics:

"You're doing quite well in the law firm now. I have a relative's case—could you take a look at it for me?"

Seeing Wang Jing's puzzled expression, he immediately elaborated: "I only study legal theory, and this case is… well…"

"How do I put this—it's incredibly complex, involving significant issues. My relative's been incarcerated for nearly seven years, and now that they've just been released, there's no one willing to take on their appeal."