Chapter 77: Chapter 77: The Collective Becomes Defendants, The Owners Finally Cooperate!
Something had happened. They only thought about protecting the property’s image and the developer’s reputation, neglecting the safety and interests of the property owners. Actually, this phenomenon was not only prevalent in the Mountain and Water Garden District’s property management but was a common problem throughout the entire property industry. Normally, it was fine if no issues arose, but once there were problems, the property owners were always the last to be considered. The saying, "The customer is king," was completely ignored by them.
Regrettably, he had reviewed all the laws he had memorized but found no way to legally charge the property management.
"It looks like I’ll just have to wait for another opportunity," Qin Mu said with a sigh, shaking his head. In this incident, although the property management’s actions were disheartening, they ultimately did not break the law. However, there would be more days to come. After all, he lived in the Mountain and Water Garden District, and there would be many more days to interact with the property management.
Just then, Zhang Qingyuan suddenly came over and called him, "Xiao Qin, come over, it’s time for mahjong! We’re one short."
In the past few days, a batch of entertainment facilities had just been introduced into the retirement home, including a mahjong table, which had instantly become popular throughout the home. It directly helped Old Zhang kick his chess addiction. Now, Zhang Qingyuan no longer dragged him to play chess.
Qin Mu was caught off guard and asked involuntarily, "One short? You, me, who else?"
Zhang Qingyuan chuckled. "The other two are the belles of our retirement home. I had to queue up to get a chance to play mahjong with them. You really need to grasp this opportunity. I heard their granddaughters are very pretty!"
Several black lines appeared on Qin Mu’s forehead. So, after the last matchmaking attempt, Old Zhang still hadn’t given up. He’d even resorted to targeting the older ladies from the retirement home!
Seeing Qin Mu was not as thrilled as expected, Zhang Qingyuan hurriedly added, "Don’t worry, I understand you. They married early, their granddaughters are already forty years old, still single, well-maintained, and quite wealthy!"
Since Qin Mu had rejected a granddaughter under eighteen last time, he felt that Qin Mu preferred forty-year-olds. Open-minded as he was, he saw nothing wrong with that. A woman three years older might hold a gold brick; several decades older would be not only caring but also empathetic—much better than those young girls. Therefore, over these past few days, he had secretly kept an eye out, looking for older granddaughters in the retirement home, finally settling on his targets.
Upon hearing this, Qin Mu shuddered. He shook his head vigorously. He dared not play that round of mahjong, not at all.
「The next day.」
Qin Mu went to work as usual, arriving at the retirement home. But upon seeing Zhang Qingyuan, he now involuntarily took a detour. If he couldn’t confront him, at least he could still avoid him.
In the morning, he also received feedback from the court: the lawsuit he had submitted the day before had been accepted. The filing office had granted permission to file the case. Based on the recent court scheduling in Jin City Court, the trial was set for seven days later. The defendants were naturally the owners of the entire Building 10, Unit 2. Until the identity of the thrower was confirmed, these people would have to appear in court.
At the same time, in the Property Management Center of the Mountain and Water Garden District, He Bimin was receiving three court officials.
The three officials took out twenty-five thick subpoenas from their briefcases and handed them to He Bimin. "No need for tea," one of them said. "We’ll leave after delivering these subpoenas."
"The court has accepted the case. The hearing is in seven days. Please make sure to notify and distribute these subpoenas to these twenty-five owners promptly and ensure their attendance in court on the seventh day."
Before leaving, the three of them reiterated their instructions once more.
He Bimin nodded blankly. Holding the stack of twenty-five thick summonses, he couldn’t help but swallow hard. Qin Mu hadn’t lied to him. The summonses had really arrived! And twenty-five of them all at once!
In Building 10, Unit 2, there were thirty homeowners in total. Excluding the four lower floors and the party involved, Qin Mu, this left twenty-five homeowners collectively sued. On the summonses, the names and information of these twenty-five homeowners were clearly listed, requiring their presence in court for a trial in seven days.
While he was still in shock, his direct supervisor, the vice president of the property management company, called him.
"He Bimin!" the vice president roared. "What on earth is going on? I just received a notification. Why has an entire building been sued? The court session is in seven days! Do you realize the impact this will have on the company and the developer?! If you can’t handle this situation properly, you might as well resign!"
On the phone, the vice president was furious. Without allowing for any explanation, he blasted He Bimin with a torrent of abuse before hanging up.
He Bimin’s face turned ashen. In his heart, he cursed the thrower ten thousand times. If it weren’t for that person not coming forward, he wouldn’t be in this predicament!
A while later, he finally regained his composure, gritting his teeth. Picking up the thick stack of summonses, he walked out of the property management center.
「An hour later.」
At Mountain and Water Garden, Building 10, Unit 2, all twenty-five homeowners received the summonses personally delivered by He Bimin, causing the entire building to erupt. Everyone was collectively dumbfounded. Most of them were receiving a summons for the first time; seeing their names listed as defendants left them utterly bewildered.
The homeowners’ group chat for Building 10, Unit 2, outright exploded. Countless homeowners posted their questions:
"What does high-altitude littering have to do with me? I didn’t throw anything! Why am I a defendant now?"
"Has the court made a mistake? I was walking my child downstairs at the time!"
"Can the property management explain? I heard no one was even injured. Why has the court made us defendants?"
"This is outrageous! I’ve abided by the law all my life, and suddenly I’m a defendant?"
Everyone found the sudden arrival of the summonses unacceptable. Several people even declared they resolutely wouldn’t attend the court session.
At the property management center, watching the homeowners’ messages in the WeChat group, He Bimin grew angry as well. He directly responded aggressively in the group: "Our property management made so many calls to you, yet about ten people were uncooperative and didn’t provide information from that night! Otherwise, we would have identified the thrower long ago!"
"Since the victim hasn’t identified the thrower, who else would be sued but your entire building?"
"Our property management has consulted a professional lawyer. There’s still one last chance: if the thrower is identified before the court hearing, we can submit evidence to the court to change the defendant!"
After these messages were sent, the homeowners in the group, after a brief silence, suddenly became immensely cooperative. They began to provide proof themselves, disclosing what they were doing at 8:27 PM and who was in their homes at that time.
PS: Here’s a brief note about lawsuits, filing cases, court hearings, and judgment timelines in this book.
In reality, after a lawsuit is initiated, the defendant will receive a copy of the lawsuit within five working days and the summons within a month. Ideally, the whole process takes about two months, but it can take longer.
For the sake of not elongating the timeline in the book, we’ve shortened the durations. The setting is also Blue Star, so efficiency is higher; please, no more quibbles over this.
Moreover, the legal provisions and methods of operation used in the book are applicable in real life, and you can learn to apply them to protect your own rights.
In the future, the author will try to explain the legal provisions, accusations, and applicable scope in more detail.