Global Lords: I Have Information System-Chapter 519 - 370: A Girl’s Nightmare, Castle Night 1

In 1335, the inquisitor Peter Guy in Toulouse judged several witches, using severe tortures until he forced them to confess to having entered into a pact with Satan, participated in a frenzied evening of demon worship, copulated with demons, ate the meat of infants, and so forth. After being forced to confess, they were burned alive.

In 597, Clara Geisler, a widow from Germany who worked as a day laborer even at the age of 67, was falsely accused of cohabiting with three devils and committing other crimes. As a result, she was arrested and put on trial. At first, Clara adamantly denied her guilt, so the judge subjected her to torture; initially, they used iron pliers to clamp her toes, but she still refused to confess. The judge claimed, "The devil made her resist and endure." Then they intensified the punishment, forcing her to confess recklessly to having copulated with many devils, resulting in the deaths of over 240 people.

At that time in Freiburg, there was a widow named Margaret, who was denounced as a witch because people envied her family property. Although she initially did not admit to being a "witch" or having committed the crime of treason against God, under continuous escalating torture, she was forced to make the following confession:

1. One night ten years ago, a man with a dark face appeared in her garden, flirting with her. She fulfilled his desires, and he was a person of cold disposition.

2. He persuaded her not to believe in God, and though she did so, she immediately felt guilty.

3. This man said his name was Black Eyebrow Forest, gave her a witch’s broom, and some witch ointment (used for practicing witchcraft).

4. She once flew a short distance in her garden at night.

5. She had, at times, used this broom to fly to Georg’s house, as well as Catherine’s and Anna’s houses.

6. Many women she did not know had also come to her house, where they ate and drank together.

It was based on such absurd confessions that the court quickly made a decision: sentencing Margaret M. to death, on March 24, 1599, by beheading with a sword, and burning her body on a pyre. The judgment concluded with: "May God forgive this poor soul spirit."

Standing at the crossroads in the center of the ancient city of Freiburg and looking south, Martin Gate stands robustly a hundred meters away. A metal plate with German inscriptions is nailed to the solid stone wall: "March 24, 1599, Margaret M., Catherine S., Anna W. were beheaded and burned, victims of the witch persecution wave. They are but representatives of many innocents in Freiburg, and this plaque commemorates the wronged souls."

It was the morning of March 24, 1599, at the cold river embankment outside Martin Gate, countless citizens gathered to watch. Margaret and the other two accused witches were executed, as the sword fell, blood splattered, and the headless bodies were sent to the crematorium 2 kilometers south of the city.

Even if we do not know this segment of history, witches remain a myth and a phenomenon retained in our lives. Think back to the "Grimm’s Fairy Tales" we read as children, published in the 19th century; those black-robed, vain, jealous, cruel, and vicious witch antagonists still carried the prejudices of the time.

Yet even though they were ruthless toward the protagonists, the outcomes for these witches were even more severe within the happy conclusions wherein princes and princesses lived happily ever after. The evil empress was forced to wear red-hot shoes and dance to death; some were thrown into barrels of poisonous snakes, had limbs cut off, or were stoned to death.

These are not fictional, but represent the ultimate fates of countless women in medieval Europe.

The Economic Daily reported that generally, frequent online shoppers pay attention to whether a product has free shipping, but charging a 1 yuan packaging fee online is quite novel.

Recently, Yonghui Cloud Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., due to charging a 1 yuan packaging fee on each order without prior consumer consent via the "YH Yonghui Life+" WeChat mini-program it operates and maintains, was deemed as "forcing consumers to purchase goods or accept services" by the Xuhui District Market Supervision Administration in Shanghai, with a confiscation of illegal gains amounting to 8059.2 yuan, accompanied by a fine of 32,236.8 yuan.

The administrative punishment decision shows that Yonghui Cloud Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. from January 1, 2021, to February 28, 2021, charged packaging fees for 201,480 orders via the "YH Yonghui Life+" WeChat mini-program, illegally gained 8059.2 yuan.

Without consent, charging a 1 yuan packaging fee, should Yonghui Supermarket be fined? Should the 1 yuan packaging fee collected be refunded by Yonghui Supermarket?

Should they be fined?

On August 10, when reporters logged into the "YH Yonghui Life+" mini-program, they found that Yonghui Cloud Innovation, for orders delivered to the door, still charges a 6 yuan delivery fee and a default, non-cancellable 1 yuan packaging fee. Competitors engaged in community fresh produce services like Dingdong Grocery and Meituan Grocery, under similar consumption amounts, not only don’t charge packaging fees but also waive delivery fees.

Chen Yinjiang, Executive Director of the Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute and Deputy Secretary-General of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, believes that the packaging fee charged by "YH Yonghui Life+" is essentially equivalent to consumers buying a plastic bag at the supermarket. "But buying a plastic bag at the supermarket checkout is usually initiated by the consumer, with choices based on the quantity of goods, big or small. ’YH Yonghui Life+’ doesn’t allow consumer choice, infringing upon the consumer’s right to information and choice." Chen Yinjiang said.

Public information shows that Yonghui Cloud Innovation was internally incubated in June 2015 as a new retail business platform under Yonghui Supermarket, with business formats including Super Species, Yonghui Life, and Yonghui Home Delivery. Currently, Yonghui Supermarket holds a 46.6% equity stake in Yonghui Cloud Innovation, making it the controlling shareholder. In March of this year, Yonghui Cloud Innovation was also reported for producing and selling non-conforming products as qualifying products by the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration, with confiscation of illegal gains amounting to 4,371.68 yuan, and a fine of 29,400 yuan.