After Vera accepted the offer of employment, she quickly packed up her things and left with Lin Qi. In truth, she did not have much—just some office supplies, such as rulers, erasers, various pens, and the tools needed for bookkeeping.
Before Lin Qi hired her, she had been working here by the hour. It sounded rather cheap, and in reality, it was. Whenever the firm had work, they would notify her, and only then would she come over to start working. She actually did not earn much each month.
Most firms used the method of "training newcomers" to increase revenue and reduce expenses. Accountants like Vera, who had already worked for some time, were usually only responsible for the final review, and that process did not take long.
The newcomers handled all the truly long-term work. Because of this, the firm did not need to offer high compensation, saving it a considerable amount of money.
When Lin Qi brought Vera back to the warehouse, Richard and the other two men had already been waiting there for a while. Each of them carried a huge backpack and looked as though they were struggling under the weight.
"You're finally here, boss..." Richard breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, carrying thousands of dollars on his back was no easy task. But leaving it on the ground... was not exactly safe either.
Sabine City's public security was limited to the city center. Outside the city center, there were far fewer patrol officers and Mounted Police, and if something happened, the police would have a hard time arriving in time.
The Warehouse District was one such place. If the three of them had not been standing together, but only one person had been there, they might have left ahead of time.
Lin Qi nodded, opened the warehouse's side door, and switched on all the lights. As he walked toward the office, he introduced Vera to everyone.
It had to be said that with an accountant among them, Richard and the other two felt slightly less anxious. At the very least, a shell company would not consider hiring a full-time accountant.
At the same time, Lin Qi explained their main business to Vera: exchanging loose change.
"My agents collect loose change from outside and bring it to me. Then other companies or individuals exchange loose change from me at a certain rate. I earn the difference. That's my main business at the moment..."
Vera listened very carefully, because this would be her primary work for some time. Lin Qi continued, "You don't need to worry about my tax issues. You know..." He glanced around the extremely shabby office and said with an ambiguous smile, "City Hall encourages microbusinesses like ours to start up, and it exempts us from taxes as well. We only need to file complete declarations. There's no need to evade taxes."
In this world, there was actually no such thing as legal or illegal tax avoidance. Ultimately, both were acts of tax evasion. Since neither was legal, why were some acts of tax evasion prosecuted while others were not?
The answer was simple. Those who were prosecuted had used methods that were too crude. Their accountants were not professional enough, they themselves were not cautious enough, and with the Federal tax system operating normally, they were bound to fall into trouble.
As for those who were not prosecuted, no one knew how much they had spent on tax evasion or how many connections they had worked through to avoid part of their taxes. Not to mention that some of them had even pushed for changes to local laws so they could evade taxes successfully.
The cost of "legally" evading taxes was too high. It was not something Lin Qi could afford at present. Combined with the tax exemptions and reductions for microbusinesses, he did not need to consider such issues at all before he came under the close scrutiny of the Federal Revenue Service.
"By the way, before I registered the company, I had already been doing similar business and had some money on hand. Can that money be included in the accounts going forward?"
Vera was slightly distracted. This was the first time she had heard of someone being so eager to pay taxes. In the past, everyone she had dealt with had tried every possible way to pay less tax. Even saving a single dollar counted as a victory to them.
This sudden reversal in attitude gave her a novel feeling. Her professional training quickly brought her back to her senses, and she pushed up her glasses slightly to conceal her momentary daze. "Of course..."
She paused briefly, then added, "I think you should have a set of invoices custom-made. The tax system will require us to provide supporting evidence. If we have a legal and complete Registered Invoice System, everything will become much simpler!"
It was only after Vera explained further that Lin Qi learned this world had no such thing as invoices. Instead, it used a kind of judicially recognized Registered Invoice System.
Any registered company could pay the Revenue Service to apply for its own registered invoices. It sounded like a very bureaucratic and complicated system, but it was not.
They only needed to submit the invoice design they had created to the Federal Revenue Service. Once the Revenue Service approved it and kept a sample on file, they could use it.
Of course, the invoices had to be printed at semiofficial printing institutions around the country that cooperated with the Federal Revenue Service. Those institutions would stamp the invoices with codes to ensure their legality.
As for how the invoices were filled out after they were received, that depended entirely on everyone's sense of responsibility.
Sometimes, Lin Qi had to admit that he liked this world. Its people not only had high standards of education and manners, but were also highly conscientious! "Wonderful! You've solved so many of my problems!" Lin Qi suddenly reached out and took Vera's hand, then quickly let go before she could react.
It looked as though he had simply made a potentially misleading gesture in a moment of excitement. Even Vera felt that Lin Qi might not have done it deliberately. Instead, she thought that if she dwelled on the matter too much, she would seem overly concerned about it.
She suppressed her baseless suspicions and smiled at Lin Qi.
"You really are my angel. Shall I treat you to dinner tonight?" He placed a chair beside Vera and sat down.
A faint, high-end fragrance spread from Lin Qi. It was not strong, but rather quiet and delicate. Even so, it constantly reminded anyone affected by it of its presence.
He had deliberately gone out to buy it the previous night. To the Middle Class, style could maximize the impression one person made on another. After briefly observing Vera, Lin Qi had purchased this light men's perfume.
The classic woody fragrance carried a hint of lively fruitiness. The strange combination instead brought out a distinctive quality in Lin Qi—a contradictory air that was also captivating.
She looked at Lin Qi, but before she had time to react, he added, "It's for our work. It's your first day on the job. Shouldn't we have a meal together to celebrate?"
Vera found that reason difficult to refute. She hesitated, and after thinking for a long while, did not give Lin Qi a definite answer. Instead, she said, "I need to tell my family first. You know, I'm married, and I have children..."
Lin Qi showed no disappointment or dejection. He simply looked at her and nodded. "No problem. I'll wait for you!" He paused, then continued, "Besides, there are some other work-related matters I'd like to discuss with you."