Chapter 12
Mathild gave me a call from France.
He inquired about the meeting, and I informed him that they were participating in group games. Mathild suggested that I might be a bit sensitive about it. I questioned whether he was aware of their plan, to which Mathild replied that he was not. I conveyed to Mathild my intention to take legal action soon, as we all must adhere to the investment contract drafted by him. He pleaded with me not to initiate legal proceedings during his business trip, and I agreed.
Actually, I also need some time to refresh my mind because I haven’t been involved in any legal cases since starting my business. I have helped others with their legal cases as a consultant, which has been a good experience, but facing your own case brings a different kind of pressure.
Fortunately, I have company. Remember Bali, my running partner from the story of Mr. Oliva? He’s the one who invited me to his wedding in Xinjiang. He worked for an international company handling finance and legal matters like contract review. One Saturday morning after our run, I mentioned my situation to him and asked for his opinion. He couldn’t believe how many Korean soap operas there are - he was laughing about it!
Later, he reviewed our contract in English on my phone and it became very clear that my business partner violated the contract by taking key staff members to open a similar style restaurant. He also discovered their advertising on a public food channel for their new shop, claiming it’s part of the same group. This means I have legal rights in their new shop. Bali mentioned that he had previously advised me to distance myself from Mathild when she was drunk, from his European perspective. I still didn’t want to accept this reality as a friend - maybe even a fake friend.
Bali asked me to visit his company’s lawyer, Lee, who worked at a law firm in Jinmao for more details. I quickly met with lawyer Lee, and he reviewed my documents and provided several helpful pieces of advice. He suggested that if I want to remove my legal name from any documents, I would need to obtain legal inheritance rights from partner David’s family through his current wife.
Also, a lawyer friend who offered me a part time job. He was a cop before and he encouraged me a lot. The main advice from him is to keep sure no links with any legal documents of this shop with partner SB for unknown debt as future risks.
I have been dealing with these questions in my head every day, which has been affecting my sleep. Sometimes I even wake up at 3am. To relieve the pressure, I’ve started running more and have already reached half marathon distance, then 28km, and finally 37km. Surprisingly, this situation has actually improved my legs.
I’m gathering all the information and here are my next strategies.
- Negotiate a fair deal for my departure, as my partner SB has broken the contract first.
- Prepare a legal letter for partner SB about whether he needs to stop giving fake advertising about his new restaurant belonging to the one which I am involved in.
- The staff cost needs to be clearly split, especially since he will need to pay for immigration penalties when sending our foreign staff to his new shop.
- He needs to provide medical insurance for the staff working at his new shop.
- He needs to provide the medical costs in case of a traffic accident, as he is the only one who knows which staff will be working at his new shop and he may want to use our shop to share the costs.
- Please return the company seal to me in accordance with the shareholder agreement.
- PartnerSB charges illegally cause his job in PD area.
- Partner SB approached our shop manager to act as the legal representative for his new shop. This raised concerns about potential client loss and the associated costs between the two shops.
Also.I messaged Chef Mimi to let him know that I have several important things to take care of and I won’t be able to invest in anything else. He understood. I knew it was Mathild’s plan for me to leave or negotiate. I appreciate it.
During a recent visit to another French restaurant owner, I asked for his opinion on the salary of our shop manager. He was also surprised by the monthly salary of over 25k for a dinner place with 9 tables and no Michelin stars. This French owner has received 7 records in the Michelin guide. I didn’t mention any partner’s name as it is confidential, He and his wife expressed their sympathy for my situation and always welcomed me to their beautiful terrace with nice wine after their operating hours. They also valued my professional experiences in this business and frequently sought out my opinions for their other projects. I am happy to share as a way of returning the kindness they have shown me.
At that moment, I was like the sailor standing at the bow, facing the impending storm, and making all the preparations within my ability. Now.I could be more relaxed and wait for the return of Mathild.I was ready for any kind of negotiating if you realized you broke the contract. I was fine with your choice and let`s see your attitude.