Global Film Emperor

Chapter 324 Court Session

For the remaining ten days or so, Lu Ze and Li Jun studied the most likely court ruling, but to be honest, there was little room for reversal; they were certain to pay compensation, and it would definitely be substantial.

Lu Ze currently has over 21 million yuan in assets, which is probably not even enough to cover the breach of contract compensation for the artist. There's also no way to salvage the double compensation for the iced tea endorsement, which amounts to 30 million yuan. Lu Ze can't think of any other way to raise the money except by selling his property.

When Lu Ze bought the house, the Shanghai housing market was experiencing a slight downturn. It cost him over 31 million yuan. Starting in 2021, Shanghai's housing prices rebounded for a while, but not much. Now, the price of Jiuzhou Hailan Bay is around 135,000 yuan per square meter.

There is a relatively stable price difference between second-hand and new houses, especially for properties like Hailan Bay, which have only been open for a few years and whose transportation has not changed much. Lu Ze took a look at the real estate agency and found that, probably because they were in a hurry to sell, second-hand houses were about 3,000 yuan cheaper than new houses. And this was only for small houses. For large houses like Lu Ze's, which are over 260 square meters, the difference was even greater, around 4,500 yuan.

Adding to the hassle of selling quickly and dealing with all sorts of taxes and fees, Lu Ze decided to cut his losses and sell it off for 32 million. He was open to buying, but if not, he would have to lower the price further.

Now he can only be thankful that he didn't have a car hobby and chose watches, which hold their value better. Now, apart from the one Shen Jinghan gave him and the one he bought before filming "My Chief and My Regiment," which has special significance and is indeed not worth much, he has sold all the others and got more than four million, less than five million, which is already included in his current assets.

As for luxury items like clothes and pants, they really don't fetch high prices on the domestic secondhand market. They're in an awkward situation where the rich look down on them and ordinary people can't afford them. I won't go into how much they sell for, but in short, things that weren't cheap to begin with are now selling for dirt cheap.

November 27th, 6:00 AM.

"Ring ring ring ring".

This wasn't the sound of an alarm clock. Lu Ze wasn't sleeping either. He came out of the system space at 5:30, took a shower, changed his clothes, and sat on the edge of the bed smoking in silence. When he saw the caller ID, he swiped his thumb across the screen twice, organized his thoughts, and answered the call.

"mom."

"Aze, are you awake? Don't get upset. We can earn money again. Even if we live a down-to-earth life from now on, these past few years have broadened our horizons. Having more money is a burden, but having less is more relaxing. As long as you live an upright life and do things conscientiously, God will not starve you. How about Mom comes to Shanghai to be with you now?"

With the matter escalating to such an extent, how could the elderly couple not know? However, they dared not call Lu Ze too many times, fearing that he might think they were reluctant to part with the family fortune he had accumulated.

They supported Lu Ze's falling out with the company. Although they didn't know why Lu Ze had broken up with the company, they knew their son's personality well. It must have been the company that went too far, which made Lu Ze resentful. Since that was the case, the old couple didn't want their son to suffer such humiliation. If he didn't want to work, then so be it. They didn't want to hear about able-bodied, hardworking people starving to death.

The purpose of this call today is not to find out any information from Lu Ze, but simply because I am worried that Lu Ze will get stressed. Putting aside those who can't stand it and end up bankrupt or jumping off buildings, even if he develops some kind of illness, the old couple can't bear it. You know, all serious illnesses are basically related to psychological stress and stress.

"It's okay, Mom. Why did you come over? I'm pretty busy right now and don't have time to take care of you. Just stay home. Don't worry, I'm not stressed. I can handle anything. I have to go now. Bye, Mom."

After hanging up the phone, he glanced at Li Jun, who was dressed in a suit and tie, at the door, put his phone in his pocket, extinguished his cigarette, and followed him out of the bedroom.

"Your aunt must be very worried, right? Such a big thing, and everyone knows about it. After all, she's getting old, so you need to take good care of her."

"I know, once I'm done with this, I'll go home."

I grabbed the documents and keys, picked up the shoehorn from the shoe cabinet, put on my size 45 leather shoes, straightened my clothes in front of the mirror, adjusted the position of my tie, slicked my hair back meticulously, exhaled, lightly stomped my feet, and set off.

The trial was not open to the public, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the reporters. They waited outside the court early in the morning. The reporters all knew that Lu Ze drove a Porsche with the license plate "Magic A" and a good number with three eights at the end. When they saw it parked in front of the court, they rushed over instantly, almost as if they wanted to open the car door themselves.

"I didn't really have a concept of your fame before, since I've never attended any of your events. Now it seems a bit intimidating. How do we get out of the car?"

Looking at the crowded people, Li Jun shrank back, unbuckled his seatbelt, and stared at the reporters blocking the car door, unsure of what to do.

"Aunt Han has come to pick us up. Here we are." "Please make way, reporters. Please don't waste time. The court hearing is about to begin. Please don't delay us."

From a distance, Lu Ze saw Shen Jinghan leading more than a dozen strong men into the crowd. They quickly created a small space, and after Lu Ze and Li Jun got out of the car, the group of men led the two of them toward the entrance of the courthouse. Along the way, Lu Ze's eyes hurt from the flashing lights, but he showed no expression and didn't say a word. He just chewed on xylitol and entered the main gate of the courthouse.

"Brother Lu."

Compared to the questions from the reporters, the shout was as quiet as a cat's meow, but Lu Ze still managed to pinpoint the source of the sound. Turning his head, he saw her hiding behind the stone lions of the courthouse, not joining the crowd. She was wearing a long black down jacket that almost reached her feet, clinging to the stone lions, staring at him with wide eyes.

"fine."

He comforted the girl, speaking softly, unsure if she could hear him. This was the first time Lu Ze had smiled today, and he didn't force it; he seemed quite at ease.

His departure still had a certain impact on many people. At least the girl who had been with him for almost seven years was fired, Liu Bin was also fired, and Shen Jinghan took the initiative to terminate the contract. As for the penalty for breach of contract, she did not pay it. Hu Zhiguang and she were friends. Hu Zhiguang invited her to come and support the company. The penalty for breach of contract for her was set at one yuan.

Originally, Hu Zhiguang didn't expect her to be able to manage artists, but she happened to take a liking to Lu Ze and stayed at Qian Shijia. Now that Lu Ze is leaving, and she is fifty-six years old, there is no point in managing artists anymore. She terminated her contracts with the other artists under her management and chose to retire for the second time.

Accompanied by Shen Jinghan, they entered the court. The Intermediate People's Court's trials were quite fast. If they were busy, they would take on two cases a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but usually they didn't take on a single case a day.

After all, commercial disputes are also civil disputes. There is a contract, and compensation is paid accordingly. It is not as complicated as criminal cases. It is only because Lu Ze's case involved more than 10 million yuan that it was handled by a lower court. It is not as formal as it is portrayed in TV dramas.

Before entering the room to rest, Lu Ze, the defendant, met the plaintiff's lawyer, who was the deputy director of the legal department that Li Shanjun had brought into the company.

Upon seeing Lu Ze and Li Jun, he gave a cold laugh. This laugh wasn't directed at Lu Ze, but rather at Li Jun. After all, this was destined to be a defeat. With no loopholes in the contract, even the world's top business lawyers couldn't salvage the situation. The only question now was how much compensation to pay.

Once inside the room, Lu Ze didn't ask about the competence of the lawyer Zhang Xiangyang from earlier. He placed full trust in Li Jun, and simply discussed with him how to answer questions in court later.

Time passed slowly during the discussions. Soon, it was 15 minutes to 9 o'clock when the bailiffs knocked on the door and led Lu Ze, Li Jun, and Shen Jinghan out of the waiting room. They then pushed open the courthouse doors and had the three of them sit down.

Sitting in the defendant's chair for the first time was a feeling that would be absurd to describe as novel. In short, the emotions were hard to explain. The chair wasn't hard, though. As soon as Lu Ze sat down, he saw Feng Changhao and the lawyer Zhang from before enter the courtroom and take their seats.

"I never expected that we would meet under these circumstances."

Feng Changhao was unsure how to evaluate Lu Ze. Should he say he possessed the pride of an artist? Or should he be criticized for being ungrateful and unable to assess the situation? Or perhaps he had a spirit of resistance?
It's indescribable.

Lu Ze did not reply to Feng Changhao's words, but only gave him a calm smile, rested his chin on his hands, and quietly waited for the judge to arrive.

It wasn't until three men, all over forty years old, entered the courtroom—the oldest man, around fifty, sitting in the head seat—that the court finally opened the documents. He coughed once, made a fist with his right hand, took his glasses out of his case, put them on, and glanced at both sides.

"Today, the First Civil Division of the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court is holding a closed-door hearing on the commercial economic dispute case between the plaintiff, Qian Shijia Media Co., Ltd., and the defendant, Lu Ze. The panel of judges, consisting of Judge Wang Chunqiao (who is also myself) and lay judges Zhang Yumeng and Jia Gaozeng, is hereby declared in court."

"."

(End of this chapter)