Justice System: I Litigate for the Whole City

Chapter 39 : The Names on the Blank Paper

Shao Hong pulled the thick register out from beneath the case files, tapped the pen cap twice on the table before fitting it back on, and looked around the room.

”Resumed hearing. We will first examine the first set of evidence. Respondent One, your position.”

Lu Jibai stood. He did not pick up the three copies that had been submitted that morning. They still lay on the center line of the table.

”Respondent One does not recognize the authenticity of the first set of evidence,” he said. ”Three points.”

”First, these three are not originals. They are reproduced copies recovered from an off-site backup. Whether a piece of data can be used depends first on where it came from, whether anyone touched it along the way, and who touched it. Those three things are what Yunfan says.”

”Second, matching checksums only prove that the two items are the same. They do not prove that both are correct. Whether the copy in Yunfanʼs server room and the copy in Respondent Oneʼs backend are the same data must be checked against the original data.”

”Third, the original data is in Respondent Oneʼs system and is under preservation. The Applicant had an avenue to obtain it, yet instead brought a reproduced copy from a third partyʼs server room to present as evidence. Respondent One does not recognize this set.”

When he finished, he shifted his gaze away from Shao Hong and let it land on the corner of the Applicantʼs table.

[Thud. He did not touch a single figure on that page. He attacked where the page came from.]

”Recorded: Respondent One does not recognize the authenticity of the first set of evidence,” Shao Hong said. ”Applicant, your response.”

Shen Zhixia stood and set her hardcover notebook flat on the table.

”I am not asking for this reproduced copy to be admitted today.”

A short stir ran through the gallery, then died down.

”This set of evidence has only one job today,” she said. ”Please have the tribunal write this down: the original dispatch records, the original deduction records, and the generation logs for July eighteenth are in Respondent Oneʼs system, held by Respondent One, and are now under preservation.”

”That sentence wasnʼt mine today,” she said, turning to the right. ”It was said here this morning—the data is in Respondent Oneʼs backend.”

Lu Jibaiʼs pen tip paused.

”The tribunal records both statements.” Shao Hong added a line to the register. ”As to the authenticity of the first set of evidence, the tribunal will determine it after considering the preservation situation together with Respondent Oneʼs position. The Applicantʼs Application for Evidence Collection is on the record. Whether to collect the evidence will be decided separately.”

”The Applicant would add one more sentence,” Shen Zhixia said. ”If the tribunal decides to collect evidence, please also collect when this backup was generated, by whom, and where it was stored. The original is held by Respondent One. He has already confirmed that point today.”

”Respondent One does not deny holding it,” Lu Jibai said. ”Not denying possession does not amount to recognizing this reproduced copy.”

”Can the original be produced? Answer that first in this tribunal,” Shao Hong said.

”Respondent One cannot answer that here,” he said. ”The backend data is under preservation. Touching any part of it requires going through the preservation procedure.”

”Preservation exists to keep people from touching it,” Shen Zhixia said. ”Please also record this sentence: as to whose hands the original records are in, Respondent One has said it twice today.”

”Record it,” Shao Hong said. ”The tribunal will also record the phrase ʼthrough the preservation procedureʼ as stated.”

Shen Zhixia lowered her head and wrote a line in her notebook: The original is in his hands. Touching any part of it requires the preservation procedure.

”The second set of evidence will be examined together,” Shao Hong said. ”Respondent One.”

Lu Jibai turned to a new page.

”What was banned was an account,” he said. ”The account was registered by the rider under the Rider Service Agreement. The platformʼs handling of the account is the performance of the management clauses in that agreement. Handling an account and employment are two different matters.”

”What this set of evidence can prove is what Respondent One did to its own system,” he said. ”It cannot prove that these twenty people belong to Respondent One.”

”Respondent One says what was handled was an account,” Shen Zhixia said. ”Then let me first get the account matter clear.”

She opened the hardcover notebook to the page where she had copied the list by hand.

”Of these twenty accounts, two are not in the ridersʼ own names. One rider used his brother-in-lawʼs account, and one used his wifeʼs account. The money went into cards under other peopleʼs names. These two accounts were also banned on the night of the fifteenth, with exactly the same reason as the other eighteen.”

”Please let these two Applicants speak for themselves,” she said. ”Lao Chang, Xu Li—whose account, who did the work, whose card the money went into. Stand up and say it.”

Lao Chang stood. His cap brim pressed low over his brow. He touched his pocket first, then spoke. ”The account is my brother-in-lawʼs.”

”And the work?”

”I did the work.”

”Whose card did the money go into?”

”His card,” Lao Chang said. ”The account is his, the work was mine. The money went to his card, and then he transferred it to me.”

Xu Li repeated the same, saying the word ”wife” very quietly, then sat down. In the third row, two people exchanged a glance, but neither spoke.

”Respondent One,” Shen Zhixia said, turning around. ”Of the twenty accounts, two are registered to people who are not the ones doing the deliveries. When you banned these two accounts, did you do it by account or by person?”

Lu Jibai stood there, his fingers pressing the edge of the page. Two seconds passed before he answered. ”Respondent One addressed this item in the statement dated the seventh.”

”Then please also record this,” she said. ”That day, Respondent One pressed down on twenty accounts in twenty-two minutes, with the same line of reasoning. If it was by account, why were twenty accounts shut off together? If it was by person, what gave you the right to keep people from logging on the next day?”

”Registration was voluntary. Taking orders was voluntary,” she said. ”Having twenty accounts shut off together was not voluntary.”

”The hand that dispatches the work, the hand that deducts the money, the hand that pays the money, the hand that bans the account.” She counted the four off one by one. ”Respondent One says these four things belong to four different places. Whether they are one hand will be shown by the statement dated the seventh, which the tribunal will have before it.”

”Whether four hands are one is determined by evidence, not by counting them out,” Lu Jibai said.

”I wonʼt count anymore,” she said. ”Iʼll wait for that paper.”

Shao Hong held her pen over the register. ”ʼBy account or by personʼ will be merged into that statement dated the seventh and answered at the same time.”

”Record it,” Lu Jibai said. ”Respondent One will submit that statement.”

[Thud. He has agreed to hand over that paper.]

In the last row of the gallery, He Xiufen drew a line in her notebook with the tip of her pen, without looking up.

Lu Jibai turned the page back over, then pulled two sheets from his case file folder and stood.

”Respondent One submits two supplementary documents,” he said. ”Two Applicants have submitted withdrawal applications to Respondent One, requesting a stay of proceedings as to those two individuals.”

Shao Hongʼs hand stopped.

”A withdrawal application should be filed with this tribunal,” she said. ”The tribunal will take in the two documents from Respondent One and place them in a separate file.”

She took the two sheets, lined them up, looked at the handwritten signature at the bottom of the first page, then flipped through the second. The clerk took them, registered them, stamped them, and placed them in another case file cover.

”Xu Li, Luo Cheng.” Shao Hong looked up. ”Are you present?”

”Here.” The two stood up one after the other.

”Tell me yourselves. Did you withdraw or not?”

”No.” Xu Li spoke first, his voice unsteady. ”I didnʼt withdraw. On the morning of the twenty-fourth, at the station entrance, a man handed me a piece of paper to sign and said all I had to do was sign it. There was a line of text printed at the top of the page. The lower part was a big blank space. He didnʼt let me look at it a second time.”

”The lower part was blank?” Shao Hong asked.

”Blank. I asked him what it was for, and he said it was to report the matter about the account.”

”He didnʼt leave you anything?”

”Nothing,” Xu Li said. ”I asked whether I should keep a copy, and he said no, just take a picture with my phone. I took one, and later he told me to delete the photo.”

Shao Hong set down her pen and looked at Luo Cheng.

”I also signed a paper on the evening of the twenty-fourth,” Luo Cheng said. ”At the cold storage entrance, near quitting time. It was also someone from the station, saying to report the account ban matter again and that all I had to do was sign. I asked him why the paper had words at the top and was blank below, and he said blank was easier to fill in later. At that time I was thinking about having to appear in court the next day…”

He stopped, his throat moving.

”That line printed at the top of the paper—can you still recognize it?” Shen Zhixia asked.

”It looked like ʼI hereby confirm,ʼ” Luo Cheng said. ”There was no signature line drawn below. It was just blank paper.”

”The date, the time, which entrance, and who gave you the paper,” she said. ”Take your time. Say it so it goes into the record.”

He stated the items one by one. Shao Hong recorded them line by line: the morning of the twenty-fourth, station entrance, male, several sheets of paper in hand; the evening of the twenty-fourth, cold storage entrance, the same words—just sign.

”The Applicant requests a person-by-person confirmation in court,” Shen Zhixia said.

Shao Hong turned the register back to the roster page and read down from the first name. When she reached Lao Chang, he answered, ”No.” When she reached Luo Cheng, the answer came out louder than anyone elseʼs. After the last name, the twentieth ”No” landed in the room.

”Enter it into the record,” Shao Hong said. ”All twenty Applicants confirm in court that none have withdrawn. Xu Li and Luo Cheng will continue participating in these proceedings. These two documents will be retained by the tribunal.”

”The Applicant requests copies of these two documents,” Shen Zhixia said. ”To be handled with the clerk after the hearing.”

”Granted.” Shao Hong looked to the right. ”Respondent One, do you have anything further to say about these two documents?”

”Respondent One requests that todayʼs statements by the two Applicants also be entered into the record,” Lu Jibai said.

[Thud. Even the sentence that worked against him, he nailed into the record.]

Shao Hong looked at him for two seconds, then wrote down the request. ”Respondent One requests that the statements be recorded as well. The tribunal so records.”

Shen Zhixia opened the hardcover notebook flat and wrote beneath the line about the ”seventh”: two sheets of paper, two dates, one man handing them out.

”The Applicant has no further additions,” she said.

”Evidence examination ends here for today. The tribunal will notify the parties separately after deliberation.”

Lu Jibai returned the two original documents to the clerk, pressed his thumb once along the edge of the paper, and closed the case file folder. Deng Wei shut the notebook in his hand and set it on his knee. Xiao Duanʼs phone screen lit up once, then went dark. The twenty people sat without moving.

Ma Jianjun rose from the first row of the gallery and walked over to this side of the table. He reached into his inner pocket and pulled out the copy folded into quarters, set it crease-side up on the Applicantʼs table, and pressed it down with his palm.

”Until the money is in my hand, I wonʼt answer to Brother Ma.”