No matter what Ma Ming said, Meng Lei had no intention of paying back the money. He even complained that Ma Ming was unfeeling, stingy, didnāt value their friendship as classmates, and only cared about getting his money back. This directly set Ma Ming off.
"If you donāt pay me back, believe me, Iāll sue you!" In his anger, Ma Ming shot back with a harsh threat.
"Oh? Sue me? Itās just several hundred yuan. Are you sure the court will even take the case?" Meng Lei dropped all pretense, taunting him. He completely disregarded Ma Mingās threats and warnings.
He even... went ahead and blocked Ma Ming.
All subsequent messages Ma Ming sent showed up with an exclamation mark.
"Iām so furious, Iām so furious!" Ma Ming clenched his phone, trembling with rage.
He hadnāt expected...
After their fallout, Meng Lei had become so rude, blocking him just like that.
To think a debtor could be so brazenly self-righteous, even repeatedly calling him stingy!
"I must have been blind to have ever known such a scumbag!" he cursed fiercely, feeling utterly disgusted.
The money wasnāt much, but he had earned it bit by bit. It hadnāt just fallen into his lap.
He just wanted his own money back, but instead, he was met with such revolting behavior. Now, to avoid the debt, the other party had even blocked him in return.
No, I canāt just let him get away with this!
Ma Ming brooded, head down, growing angrier the more he thought about it.
This Meng Lei... heād always been a freeloader. During their college days, rumor had it that none of his dorm mates got along with him. He never bought any of the shared daily necessities, always using his roommatesā.
He was always borrowing money, often for no good reason. When borrowing, he would lay on the sweet talk, claiming heād run into difficulties and would definitely repay it soon, things like that.
Once he got the money, heād suddenly act as if nothing had happened.
Afterward, because the amounts borrowed werenāt large, the classmates who had lent him money were too embarrassed to keep hounding him for it. This kind of behavior thoroughly disgusted Ma Ming.
"Iāll ask on the forum first."
After a moment, Ma Ming took a deep breath and logged onto the forum.
In the forumās legal advice section, he posted a thread titled: "I have a friend who owes me a bit of moneyānot much, but he refuses to pay it back and has now blocked me. Can I sue him?"
In the post, he detailed the "grudges and disputes" between him and Meng Lei.
The two of them had gotten along well during their university years. But after graduation, due to work, living in different cities, and other reasons, they had almost lost contact.
This time, the dispute over the money led to a complete falling out, and Meng Lei directly blocked him.
Before long, users in the legal advice section started chiming in one by one.
First Floor: Man, I feel like the Original Poster is talking about me. I lent out several hundred yuan two years ago and still havenāt gotten it back.
Second Floor: Between trustworthy friends, lending and repaying money is actually no big deal. The worst is encountering those who are unreliable.
Third Floor: As the saying goes, "Repay what you borrow, and borrowing again is easy." Itās actually better to find out what kind of person someone is sooner rather than later.
Fourth Floor: Private lending disputes fall under civil litigation, right?
Fifth Floor: I support the Original Poster! Sue him!
Sixth Floor: I just searched online for the Original Poster. If youāre going to sue for a lending dispute, you first need to write a statement of claim. Then, bring the statement of claim, your ID card, and the original or a photocopy of the relevant evidence to the court in the defendantās registered household location, or where theyāve resided for over a year if thatās their regular place of residence.
Seventh Floor: This seems to be an issue of territorial jurisdiction. Civil dispute cases need to be filed in the court that has jurisdiction over the area.
Eighth Floor: I think evidence is the most important thing. Without it, everything is pointless.
Ninth Floor: Original Poster, do you have an IOU, receipt, or any transfer records?
Tenth Floor: Honestly, itās best to consult a professional lawyer. That would be more reliable.
Eleventh Floor...
The replies kept piling up.
Ma Ming looked at these replies, furrowing his brows. Many netizens offered advice. For example, to file a lawsuit, he would need to go to the defendantās place of household registration or permanent residence.
These types of cases differ from criminal disputes and have specific jurisdictional requirements. For instance, while he currently lived in Qianzhou, the other party was in a different city.
If he wanted to sue, the courts in the Qianzhou area would not accept the case. He had to find the correct court.
Moreover, there was the issue of evidence.
A year ago, when he had lent the money, he hadnāt thought much about it and had given cash directly.
Because he had trusted Meng Lei too much, he hadnāt insisted on an IOU. This meant... he had no evidence at all.
If it had been an electronic transfer, he could at least have found the transaction record by checking his statements.
Does that mean... I canāt sue him?
Reading comments like these, Ma Mingās expression soured.
When he had lent the money, he had never anticipated such a situation.
Actually, when friends lent money to each other, they rarely wrote IOUs or anything similar.
Writing an IOU could make the friendship seem distant and would make both parties feel awkward.
And without an IOU or other evidence, the other party could completely deny the debt.
What if... I reach out to that popular content creator?
After mulling it over, Ma Ming opened Little Station and went to the profile of a content creator he followed.
He sent a private message asking for help: "Uploader, Iām your loyal fan! I watch every single one of your videos, never missing an episode. Iāve run into a problem..."
In the private message, he described the problem he had encountered in detail.
He hoped Qin Mu could show him a clear path forward. Qin Muās fearsome reputation was well-known.