"Mr. Johnny, I'm the new patrol officer. You can call me Clark. In the next period of time, I will be responsible for patrolling and maintaining public security in the nearby neighbourhoods."
"I just heard that you were in some trouble..." He looked at Johnny sitting in the wheelchair and the plaster on his body, took off his hat and sat in a seat not far from him.
"They said they have caught the murderer, but the money you lost cannot be recovered. I asked the police officer in charge, and you can prepare a lawyer to sue them and ask their family to compensate you for your...various losses." He glanced at Johnny's arm and almost couldn't help laughing.
In fact, Johnny had become a joke on this street. The case spread quickly, and people as stingy and mean as him were a minority after all, so everyone thought it was a bloody joke.
It's a joke, but it's bloody.
He actually didn't want to face Officer Clark, but he still forced himself to deal with him. "Thank you for informing me. This is good news for me, but you see, I can't afford a lawyer now."
"By the way, I want to ask, will they hire a lawyer?"
After several amendments to the federal constitution, it is stipulated that parties have the right to hire lawyers to defend themselves or assert their rights, and the federal judiciary also supports this.
But it obviously did not take care of the poor, because most of the poor could not afford a lawyer, so the federal judiciary at this time was purely a toy for the rich.
Ordinary people have no knowledge of the law and have no advantages when facing professional lawyers. Often, even if they are victims, they may be sent to jail.
Currently, the price for the federal government to hire a criminal lawyer is not cheap. Even if the case is 100% won without defense, the other party will demand at least one hundred dollars, with no upper limit. In addition, they will take at least 15% and as much as 30% of the "business commission" from the compensation awarded to Johnny by the judge.
Johnny couldn't afford a lawyer, and he hoped that the other party couldn't afford one either, so that he wouldn't have to spend extra money and could still get some compensation.
Officer Clark shook his head. "I don't know much about this matter. This is a case of the criminal investigation team. I have no right to ask about it."
He paused and said, "Besides these things, I came here today to tell you one more thing."
"Before John left..."
Before he could finish his words, Johnny interrupted him, "I already paid the money, all at once for half a year. Maybe Officer John didn't talk to you about it."
The smile on Clark's face disappeared visibly. He looked at Johnny with a somewhat unfriendly look, "This is a matter between you and John. He doesn't care about this area now."
"I'm different from John. Everyone knows he's greedy, so I only ask you to pay fifty dollars a month."
"Monthly payment."
This was actually a last resort, as John had squeezed all the merchants on this street dry before he left.
After Clark arrived and learned about the situation, he and his partner scolded John for half an hour, but they still had to find a way to collect the money.
They discussed it and decided that the only solution now was to charge less and collect it on a monthly basis, which was more likely to work.
John is indeed a greedy wild dog. The fees he collects are much higher than those of other patrol districts, but this is also related to his ruthless methods.
Clark didn't want to have a bad nickname, so they finally decided to charge fifty dollars a month for shops with busy business and thirty dollars a month for shops with average business.
What about those who don't even make a profit of 30 yuan a month?
They will kick out those incompetent people and give the shops to those who are capable and want to do business.
As a newly appointed police officer, it is crucial to know where to start and whether he can collect the cases successfully. This will determine whether Officer Clark and his partner can have the final say on this street in the future.
If he couldn't collect money from Johnny, it would be difficult to collect money from others, and they would turn against him.
Only if you can deal with Johnny, who makes the most money and is the most difficult to deal with, will these people pay you obediently.
In his heart, he cursed John, the son of a bitch, for having an affair and making them so passive, and at the same time, he was cursing Johnny.
You're fucking disabled and you still can't see the current situation clearly. He's definitely not going to be in a good mood.
Clark took a deep breath, "Johnny, you know, there are a lot of eyes watching us out there."
"Don't embarrass me, and I won't embarrass you."
"It's only fifty dollars."
The two looked at each other for a moment. Johnny pursed his lips and cursed John and Officer Clark countless times in his heart, using all kinds of dirty words, as if this would make him feel better.
Seeing the other person's eyes getting colder and colder, and more and more difficult to shake, Johnny was very angry, and his voice became a little hoarse, "I hope you are not like John who only talks big."
Officer Clark immediately smiled, "You'll see that I maintain good security here!"
Johnny gathered all the change in the money box together, and there was still a few dollars missing. Although it was all change, Officer Clark didn't care at all.
He snatched it away and held it in his hand. "You still owe me five dollars. This five dollars is my sympathy for visiting you when you were injured. I hope you can recover soon. I'm looking forward to eating the bread you made."
"Johnny, you're a smart man. I'm glad you didn't embarrass me. I'm sure I won't embarrass you either. If you have any questions, call the radio station. They can find me."
Officer Clark, who came out of the bakery, shook his belt, and his partner took out a linen bag from the car window and threw all the money into it in front of the store owners.
The shop owners who were standing in front of their own shops scolded Johnny, complaining about why he didn't stand up to the pressure, and began to prepare cash. These son-of-a-bitch vampires should go to hell!
In the afternoon, another bad news came. The court sent him the trial date and told him that the other party had hired a defense lawyer.
If he didn't hire a lawyer, he would most likely lose the lawsuit, which was originally a 100% chance of success.
Fortunately, Johnny still had some savings, about 700 or 800 yuan. He went to the bank to withdraw some money, found a more ordinary law firm, and after paying a consultation fee of 20 yuan, he got a satisfactory answer.
The lawyer told him that there was nothing controversial about the case. His apprentice had premeditated a burglary and robbery, and he was the only victim, even though the other party's lawyer was the top lawyer in LOS City.
It is also impossible to turn him from a victim into a perpetrator. The only thing the other party can do is to reduce the sentences of those young people as much as possible and strive to impose as little fine as possible.
The lawyer even told Johnny that he might be able to get more compensation because, from a professional lawyer's perspective, spending some money to gain the victim's forgiveness was the simplest and most effective way to reduce sentencing standards.
In other words, Johnny might make a small fortune.
Johnny repeatedly asked if he needed to hire a lawyer, and the other party told him, "There is absolutely no need to waste money on this, unless you hope to get more compensation, but please forgive me for being more straightforward, which may cost you more."
"Because there may be a second trial or even more, your legal fees will increase significantly, you know what I mean." This is the answer.
The lawyer's affirmative look made the uneducated Johnny feel completely relieved. After thanking the lawyer, he left the law firm.
At the same time, he also felt a little sad for wasting twenty dollars. He didn't plan to hire a lawyer anyway, so there was actually no need to consult.
The bakery business is still booming at night. It has to be said that Johnny is not just a chef who can make bread, he is also a chef who understands people's needs.
He always manages to make his bread more filling and longer-lasting, and that's his secret to making money.
The business peak was over after six in the evening.
When most people in the bakery had left and the bakery was closed, he asked his daughter to push him to the window.
As I watched the darkness begin to appear outside the window and the city in the distance become colourful, I had some inexplicable thoughts in my mind.
He didn't know how long it had been, but when his daughter came to clean the table and needed him to move, he found a small card on the table next to him.
"CRED Financial Services Consulting Company, Solve Your Financial Worries"