About to Pass and About to Arrive

Entering someone else's life rashly is not a smart choice. It's like you might feel your nasal cavity isn't so comfortable, and suddenly someone reaches out to pick your nose for you.

Regardless of whether they can hit the right spot or make you feel comfortable, your first reaction is, "This is freaking disgusting!" because they're actually using their finger to pick your nostril.

Feelings, life, and family are the same. Lin Qi watched as if Vera, who was drowning, gently hugged her and then let go, asking with concern, "Are you okay? You look terrible right now..."

Her face and lips were a little pale, as if she had been severely frightened. She looked up at Lin Qi, quickly withdrew her gaze, and began to pack her things. "I have some things to deal with. I want to ask for leave. I hope you can approve it..."

She wiped away tears while fiddling with some small personal items. Lin Qi nodded, agreeing to her request. "Of course, it's your right. And..."

Vera looked up at him, and he looked at Vera. "If you need any help, call me!"

Vera gratefully squeezed Lin Qi's arm, then quickly stood up and left. Gepu has a social engagement today, and she felt that some things were better witnessed firsthand. Maybe... she had to find an excuse to deceive herself and let life go on.

Of course, it was also possible that she was unwilling to admit the truth, and she needed to find evidence to refute herself.

After Vera left, Lin Qi waited for about three hours. Richard and the others came twice during this time. They had more and more money in their hands, and the exchange rate was getting faster and faster for everyone.

He didn't know if the other two had given Richard some benefits or something, but Richard told them why he could turn all the money into change so quickly and efficiently. This made the transactions between Lin Qi and Mr. Fox more and more frequent.

After 3:30 in the afternoon, Lin Qi told them to continue collecting and come back to exchange it tomorrow morning. He checked the money and handed it over to Mr. Fox's people, and also chatted with Mr. Fox on the phone for a while.

"Lin Qi, my friend, many people in Sabine City are now using your method to send money into the bank, you know?", Mr. Fox's words were calm, simply stating a real situation.

As Mr. Fox's money was sent to the bank faster and faster, people in Sabine City who were engaged in this industry also figured out how he did it. They also began to follow Mr. Fox's method, turning the money into change and depositing it into the bank after paying taxes.

The only difference between them and Mr. Fox was that they had no "middleman" and did not need to pay an extra 10% handling fee.

Some of his subordinates had asked this question more than once. Since everyone can do it, why does Mr. Fox still maintain a good trading relationship with Lin Qi instead of exchanging change himself, bypassing Lin Qi?

This way, he could save 10%, and the speed would be faster. Ten percent of hundreds of thousands or even millions of assets is not a small amount.

Although Mr. Fox was a little tempted, he hadn't started doing it himself like those people. He told Lin Qi about this, wanting to hear Lin Qi's opinion.

Lin Qi felt that Mr. Fox was true to his name. After a moment of contemplation, he said on the phone, "Mr. Fox, it's hard to find a mosquito in a thousand flies, but it's very easy to find a fly in a thousand mosquitoes."

"Only when we are doing it, no one will care about our behavior. We are just a minority. But when everyone joins in, they will only force some people to move."

"This will trigger a war. The only advice I can give you is..." He chuckled softly, "Don't take money from others. It won't be long before you understand why I said that."

Mr. Fox only felt a little worried after hearing this. "Then should we stop for a while?"

"No, there's no need. We're all doing legal business, why should we stop? I hope they can investigate our transactions, so that we can clear the stains on our bodies."

Lin Qi's words were actually unfinished. If the Federal Revenue Service investigated him and found nothing, it would be like providing him with a different kind of advertisement. Next, people would be more inclined to cooperate with him, but Mr. Fox didn't need to know these things.

The two said a few more unimportant words and hung up the phone. Lin Qi glanced at the phone and shook his head, then began to take over some of the work that Vera was originally supposed to handle.

Vera taught him how to register his income. The Great Empire's business types are currently very simple, so it's not complicated.

He took the money to the tax bureau to apply for a certificate and then sent it to the bank. With the tax bureau's registration certificate, the money in his hand could easily enter the bank's legal circulation system.

When Richard and the others come to him tomorrow with change to exchange, he only needs to issue a cash check. It's not safe to keep too much cash on him.

The purpose of doing this is, on the one hand, to avoid possible loopholes, and on the other hand, to improve the flow of funds between the bank and individuals. When the bank evaluates his personal credit in the future, it will be correspondingly improved.

Later that evening, he returned to the second floor of the tavern.

The sweltering summer finally arrived late, and the temperature was getting hotter and hotter. Without air conditioning or even a fan, this street-facing house was almost turning into a steamer.

As the weather gradually warmed up, more people came to consume cold drinks in the evenings, and with the female dancers performing even more energetically, the tavern was open until eleven or twelve o'clock every night before closing.

The noisy and chaotic environment was getting to Lin Qi a bit. He figured that with so much money in his hands, he could consider buying a house. Whether in terms of security or practicality, it would be far superior to this place.

Just as he was thinking about what kind of house to buy and the price, there was a knock on the door.

He turned over and sat up, grabbed a screwdriver, stood by the door, and asked in a low voice, "Who's there?"

"Police, sir, we'd like to talk to you about something!" Lin Qi casually put the screwdriver in his pocket, opened the door a crack, and saw two policemen in uniform standing outside.

One of them impatiently showed his badge and informed Lin Qi that they were from the Sabine City Police; if abbreviated, it would be...

Okay, that's an insult, Lin Qi opened the door and welcomed the two policemen in. They casually looked around and stopped at the door.

"Lin Qi?" one of the policemen asked. After Lin Qi nodded, he took out a small notebook and a pen and began to ask, "You were burglarized a few days ago?"

Lin Qi nodded again, and he also gave the specific time and the police station that dispatched the officers, which matched the information in the two policemen's hands.

"I looked at the dispatch report, and it said you lost a silver ring..."

"No, it was a gold ring, officer!" Lin Qi interrupted the policeman decisively and added, "There's also the inscription 'My beloved Catherine' on the inner circle of the ring. It was a ring I was going to give to my girlfriend."

The two policemen exchanged glances, and they could basically confirm that there were no problems on Lin Qi's side, so the kid they caught today was the problem.

In the afternoon, they had already found out Little Michael's identity and family. They didn't expect Little Michael to be the only child of the Federal Revenue Service's investigation team leader, which made the Sheriff of the precinct feel a little 棘手 (棘手: thorny/troublesome).

They had already notified other precincts and the state police of the solved burglary case, and they had also filled in Little Michael's identity information, including his photo.

This information spread quickly, and now almost the entire state police system had relevant progress information on this case.

The Police Chief Assistant of the Sabine City Police Department—who could be seen as the administrative deputy director of the police department—only first-tier cities in the Bayer Federation had a clear deputy director position, and there were only twenty first-tier cities, which did not include Sabine City.

These included the capitals of seventeen states and three special zones. Police departments in cities other than these twenty did not have the position of deputy director, but instead had a Police Chief Assistant to assist the Police Chief in handling various affairs.

The local Police Chief Assistant felt that it would be best if he could persuade Lin Qi to settle the matter privately. This wasn't to say that the people in the police department were afraid of Michael. An investigation team leader wasn't qualified to make the police department fear him, but the Police Chief Assistant wanted to avoid some conflicts.

He even hinted to the police officers that if Lin Qi was willing to drop the case, he could get some benefits to compensate for his losses. That was the purpose of the two policemen appearing here.