Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 501 - 497: A Litany of Crimes, Vice President Wang’s Defense Crumbles

Chapter 501: Chapter 497: A Litany of Crimes, Vice President Wang’s Defense Crumbles

The pressure now fell on Vice President Wang.

He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, he was agonizing over whether to admit that the company had one set of rules on the surface and another behind closed doors.

On the other hand, if he didn’t admit it, and Zhang Wei produced evidence, he would end up in jail for perjury.

All in all, to sum it up... he was really in trouble this time!

Vice President Wang now found himself unable to make a choice, and even more afraid to speak, fearing that he might slip up and give Zhang Wei a hole to exploit.

But would Zhang Wei let him off the hook if he remained silent?

Obviously, that was impossible.

"Vice President Wang, since you’re not speaking, I’ll take it as an admission of guilt, as if you have a guilty conscience?"

Even without speaking, Zhang Wei was relentlessly twisting the knife.

These stabs were starting to make Vice President Wang’s heart ache.

"Vice President Wang, let’s continue, shall we?"

A smile appeared on Zhang Wei’s face as he walked step by step towards Vice President Wang and then raised three fingers.

"We’ve already talked about two things just now. First, there’s the deal you and your brother-in-law made over platform feature spots, which I understand, after all, who doesn’t have a moment of nepotism at work?"

"However, even with nepotism, turning the company’s interests into your own tool for granting favors, isn’t that a bit unethical? The favor is granted by you, but the company’s interests are being sacrificed. Doesn’t that make the company the big loser?"

"Vice President Wang, by sacrificing the company’s interests for the benefit of yourself and your brother-in-law, isn’t your behavior that of a blatant corporate embezzler?"

"Oh, right, Vice President Wang, once there’s a first time for such actions, there’ll be a second and a third. I’m just curious, have you opened the back door for others in exchange for sacrificing the company’s interests?"

With these words, Vice President Wang didn’t speak, and the expressions of the other Tiger Fish Company representatives in the audience seats slightly changed.

Exactly!

If you are willing to open a back door for your brother-in-law, having had that experience, wouldn’t you possibly do it for others too?

You accommodate your brother-in-law because of the connection with your sister.

So, since you’ve already done it once, doing it a second or third time doesn’t seem like too much of a problem, right?

What about others, then? They don’t have a sister as leverage. What do they have?

Could it be that they have to pay with money?

Suddenly, the glances from the people at the Tiger Fish platform towards Vice President Wang grew somewhat unfriendly.

"You..." Vice President Wang was truly grinding his teeth in anger.

He wished he could punch Zhang Wei to death, shatter Zhang Wei’s teeth, pull out Zhang Wei’s tongue, so he would stop talking.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do anything.

"Vice President Wang, is this just the first point and you can’t take it anymore?"

The witness’s reaction was so, yet Zhang Wei’s face showed a cold smile; he then moved his second finger: "Then let’s go over the second point we just discussed, your company’s double standards issue!"

"Publicly, you release announcements saying that you’ll crack down harshly on female hosts providing offline meeting opportunities for top-ranking patrons, even those in front of the rank list, yet behind the scenes you encourage all female hosts to continue offering such services to get users to gift more. The way you encourage these practices is utterly disgusting to me, perhaps, this is the ugly face of capitalists."

"One set of rules is to appease the users, the other is for profit. As long as the profit is substantial, you’d treat your public statement as mere hot air!"

"As for what? User interests, platform credibility? As long as they hinder my money-making, they’re all just hot air!"

"Vice President Wang, you truly are an exemplary lapdog and role model for capitalists!"

As Zhang Wei mocked, the gazes towards the witness stand grew increasingly hostile.

Nowadays, it’s hard to say what internet users like most.

But it’s easy to say what they hate the most: deceit, fraud, trickery!

And Vice President Wang’s actions had clearly angered everyone present.

A person full of lies and devoid of morals is the most despised.

"You..." Vice President Wang looked at Zhang Wei, his mouth wide open in anger, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

Because he had no comeback—what Zhang Wei said was all true.

"Vice President Wang, we’ve discussed two points, and I already feel that you and the Tiger Fish platform are heinously culpable. But I have to say, your real crimes are just beginning!"

Zhang Wei’s third finger wavered, and his tone became serious: "Vice President Wang, I would like to ask, has the Tiger Fish platform, in collaboration with brokerage firms and live broadcasting unions, without any industry standard documents, exploited the hosts to the extreme, even causing a situation where a host could make a million in tips, yet in the end only receive 75,000?"

Hearing this question, Vice President Wang’s expression remained unchanged.

"Lawyer Zhang, what you need to consider is why they were able to make so much money. Is it not because they were backed by our Tiger Fish platform? It’s us who provided them with this stage!" he said without any sign of panic.

"Indeed, you provided the stage, enabling them to capitalize on their strengths and earn extra money that ordinary people can hardly make. But since you’ve mentioned the stage, aren’t the fees for this stage a bit too expensive?"

Zhang Wei also gave an example: "Other people’s stage fees are for rent, charged by the day. Not to mention large stages, those small stages only cost a few hundred bucks a day, at most a few thousand. But you’re charging 500,000 for 1 million, that number is just too..."

"That’s all their own choice—they’ve already signed and agreed!"

"For the sake of live streaming, they had no choice. If they don’t agree to the live streaming terms, they can’t register to be streamers."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei also changed his wording: "But this point is indeed as you said, at least you gave them the choice to either sign and agree to be streamers or not agree and just fuck off. I won’t say more about that."

"I know, if I keep asking, you’ll use excuses like maintaining company costs and user experience to deflect my questions, so I might as well not ask you about that."

Zhang Wei’s words caused Vice President Wang’s expression to darken.

Indeed, if Zhang Wei continued to harp on the issue of the 50% revenue split, he would use excuses such as maintaining the website, user experience, and even the platform’s industry position to sidestep the issue.

But Zhang Wei had anticipated his tactics all along and didn’t even give him the chance to speak.

"Do you remember what I said just now? Your Tiger Fish platform is an accomplice, helping brokerage firms and live streaming unions to squeeze and exploit the streamers, forcing them to sign almost slave-like unfair contracts!"

"Even..."

Zhang Wei paused slightly as he reached this point and walked up to Vice President Wang.

He pointed to Zhu Pitte in the plaintiff’s seat, then looked at Vice President Wang with a smile and asked, "Vice President Wang, be honest with me."

"Did you and your brother-in-law, by offering resources such as arranging featured placements, homepage exposure, and threatening to fire them or sue them for breach of contract if they didn’t comply, coerce the female streamers contracted to the platform to provide personal sexual services for you?"

"This..." Vice President Wang’s face showed shock, and once again he was rendered speechless.

At this statement, the entire courtroom was astir yet again.

Among the jury, many were filled with anger.

The spectator gallery was also abuzz, with the majority casting scornful and hostile glances at the witness stand, while a small minority revealed looks of envy.

Having power sure is good, being able to exploit female streamers for sex, this is... enviable!

Cough, cough, wrong, it’s outrageous!

Most people sneered at such behavior, while a minority, envious due to not having the same opportunities, shifted their envy to resentment, and this resentment was even more intense than the anger of the former group.

"I... I don’t know what you’re talking about..." Vice President Wang’s eyes darted around as he denied the accusation.

"Not sure?"

Upon hearing this poor excuse, Zhang Wei couldn’t help but laugh.

"You say you’re not sure, then what is this about?" Zhang Wei asked as he took some photos out of his folder and laid them right on the overhead projector.

On the projector screen, photos appeared that seemed to be in a KTV or business club setting.

In these photos were several men, embracing several scantily-clad, seductively posed women.

The women all looked glamorous and had great figures, and a few of them seemed somewhat familiar.

But the men in the photos were even more familiar.

"Vice President Wang, I ask you, is this you?" Zhang Wei circled the man’s face in one of the photos and asked directly.

"This..."

The man in the photos was obviously none other than Vice President Wang himself.

"Vice President Wang, this should be you, right? I don’t think I’ve mistaken you."

You’ve already taken out the photos, and his face is captured, how could it be mistaken.

Zhang Wei pointed at the photo of Vice President Wang and then circled the two women being embraced by him on either side.

"Oh, by the way, I’ve made a note of the identities of these ladies too, everyone please look!"

In the last photo, red annotations had been inserted, with the names of the entertainers in the club room, and even the agencies they belonged to were added after their stage names.

"This Xiao Rabbit, debuting with an image of innocent purity, is a leading streamer promoted by Dream Illusion Company. Who would’ve thought she had actually been played by you, Vice President Wang?"

"And this Ice Fairy, always the aloof goddess in the live streaming room, never gave a smile even for gifts from regular users, but here, she lets you lay hands all over her, Vice President Wang, and still smiles so lasciviously?"

"And this one is even more high-profile, she is recognized as a goddess by the Tiger Fish platform..."

Every time Zhang Wei identified a female anchor, Vice President Wang’s complexion turned a few shades uglier.

When the former had identified all the female anchors in the photos, Vice President Wang’s face was already dark and gloomy.

"Vice President Wang, I believe this isn’t the first time you’ve gone out to have fun with female anchors, right? Aside from this time, you’ve definitely built relationships with other female anchors contracted to economic companies?"

"Don’t talk nonsense, my interactions with these women were nothing but a facade!"

Vice President Wang hurriedly denied it, how could he possibly admit to such a thing.

Once he admitted it, not to mention the damage to the company’s image, he might have to get a divorce, and being at fault, the losses would be huge.

"Is that so?"

"Of course, it was just ordinary business entertainment, those female anchors were brought along by their companies, I left as soon as the socializing was over!"

"Really? What if I have evidence?"

"What, you have evidence!"

Vice President Wang’s pupils shrank slightly, he was taken aback.

"Vice President Wang, you didn’t think I only managed to get a few photos, did you?"

Zhang Wei sneered, gesturing to Luo Xiaobu at the plaintiff’s seat, who immediately opened Zhang Wei’s laptop and began connecting it to the projection equipment to play a video.

"Director Wang, this is Xiao Rabbit, the potential new star our company has just signed."

"Director Wang, look who this is, you mentioned Ice Fairy from our company last time, and here I have brought her to you."

"Come on, Xiao Rabbit, go keep Director Wang company. If you serve Director Wang well today, on the Tiger Fish platform you’ll have whatever you ask for!"

"Ice Fairy, you too, stop putting on this cold act here; the man before you is the head of Tiger Fish platform. You should make an impression; just a word from Director Wang and the platform promotion resources will surely be yours for the taking!"

"Director Wang, here’s a toast to you."

"Director Wang, my apologies for not seeing clearly just now, I’ll drink one as an apology..."

In the video, two female anchors were almost clinging to Vice President Wang, one on each side.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing..." Vice President Wang quickly waved his hand, but then he embraced the two female anchors and started getting frisky.

And these two female anchors, although initially slightly resistant, soon let things take their course, allowing Director Wang’s actions.

The video fast-forwarded, and soon everyone in the room finished their drinks.

"So Director Wang, I’ll be relying on you for the homepage feature."

"Director Wang, please look after us for the recommendation spots next month, too."

"Easy to say!"

When the bosses of the two talent agencies received this reply, they exchanged a glance.

"Then, Director Wang, we’ll take our leave first. By the way, Xiao Rabbit, remember to take good care of Director Wang!"

"Yes, Ice, you know what to do next, I don’t need to say more, right!"

After giving their warnings, the two bosses left with their people.

In the room, only Director Wang and the two female anchors were left.

"Director Wang, our boss gave me a room card, shall we go there to rest?"

"Okay, let’s go!"

Saying this, Director Wang left the clubroom with the two women in tow.

At this point, Vice President Wang’s expression was clearly one of undisguised panic.

"Vice President Wang, I’ll ask you one last time, have you, through threats, enticement, or even abuse of authority, long been accepting sexual bribery from talent agencies, maintaining improper relations with these bribing agencies’ female anchors, and providing these companies with internal promotion resources for a long time?"

"You, you..." Vice President Wang, upon hearing the question, opened his mouth slightly but didn’t know how to respond.

"You what, Vice President Wang, dare you say no?"

Zhang Wei again intensified his tone, pressuring, "Think carefully, if you say ’no,’ the video I’m about to show won’t spare your dignity!"

As soon as these words came out, Vice President Wang’s hand turned into a claw, and his chest heaved violently.

Good gracious!

You actually have more videos!

The gaze of everyone in the courtroom was now fixed on the witness stand, all expecting Vice President Wang to confess.

Of course, several people felt it was fine even if he didn’t confess.

They didn’t want to watch the subsequent videos; they were just curious to see someone act tough for once.

"Vice President Wang, why aren’t you speaking? I am asking you a question, you know?"

"Vice President Wang, just speak, you can’t hide anymore. You have to take responsibility for your actions!"

"Vice President Wang, what are you still hiding? Hurry up, you’re wasting everyone’s time like this!"

"Vice President Wang..."

"Enough!"

Under Zhang Wei’s relentless taunting, Vice President Wang finally reached his breaking point and yelled in anger.

But after his outburst, his expression turned hesitant, and he finally clenched his teeth and admitted, "So what if I did? What does it matter if I accepted sexual bribes? They threw themselves at me; how could I, as a man, not accept?"

"Oh, so you admit it!"

Zhang Wei showed an expression of astonishment, then with a laugh he leaned toward Vice President Wang with a wicked smile, "Actually, there is no subsequent video. If you had kept denying it, saying you were just playacting with these women, I really would’ve been powerless to do anything!"

"You deceived me?"

"Yes, what about it? Who asked you to do something guilty, to have such a timid conscience that just a little deception from me would make you confess?"

"You..."

Vice President Wang’s eyes were about to burst from their sockets, and a warm rush of anger threatened to emerge from his chest.

Pfft—

Unable to contain his resentment, a hot fury boiled up, turning to blood which spurted from his mouth right there in court.

"Agh!"

As he vomited blood, Vice President Wang also let out a scream.

Because he knew, he was utterly ruined.

Not only was his career over, but also, having admitted to adultery and taking advantage of female live streamers in court, his family life was equally over.

He would definitely face an industry investigation, an internal company investigation, and his crime of commercial bribery couldn’t be avoided either.

He would not only have to pay fines, but he might even go to jail!

His life, completely ruined!

"Vice President Wang, if only you’d known this would happen, why did you do it in the first place?"

Watching Vice President Wang, his mouth spurting fresh blood, his face full of grief and anger, Zhang Wei sneered coldly, his face full of mockery.

"Vice President Wang, try to vomit the blood a bit slower. Now, I’m going to ask you one final question. Are you going to keep hiding the dirty business you conducted with your brother-in-law behind the scenes in court?"

Zhang Wei pointed at Zhu Pitte in the plaintiff’s seat and sneered coldly, "Vice President Wang, think about it—without him, would you have ended up in such a wretched state?"

"Without him, would your dirty laundry have been aired in court by me?"

"If it weren’t for him, wouldn’t your life still be on a straight track, being the head of Tiger Fish platform, the corporate vice president, freely enjoying the company of female live streamers owned by the economic company, wouldn’t that be delightful?"

Upon hearing this, Vice President Wang’s action of vomiting blood paused slightly, then he turned with a furious face to look at the plaintiff’s seat.

Indeed, as Zhang Wei said, if it weren’t for this case, for this matter, how could his life have become such a mess?

On the plaintiff’s seat, Sun Kongwen’s face changed drastically when he saw Vice President Wang’s eyes.

"Objection, the defense is trying to lead the witness!"

"Objection overruled!"

He tried to stand up and interrupt, to stop everything, but Judge Jiang didn’t give him the opportunity, immediately declaring it invalid.

"You damned bastard, if it weren’t for you, if you hadn’t bribed me back then, would I have sacrificed the company’s interests to give you the recommendation spot?"

"It’s all because of you; you were the one who took me out for the first time, had your company’s female live streamers accompany me, led me astray. Zhu Pitte, you damned bastard, it’s your fault my life turned out this way!"

"The biggest mistake of my life was getting to know your sister, then you, and letting you start a live streaming company to make money on Tiger Fish platform, it’s all your fault..."

Under Zhang Wei’s threats and temptations, Vice President Wang completely fell apart and began infighting like a dog-eat-dog.

He pointed at Zhu Pitte, his anguish turning into endless rage, and he lashed out in court.

Meanwhile, the instigator Zhang Wei, stood quietly aside, watching the spectacle unfold.

This feeling, all he could say was...

Spalasi~