Confident

Seddall was a privately-owned, sole-proprietorship transportation company that had won the operating rights for public transportation in Sabine City for the next four plus four years through a bidding process a few years ago.

As for why it was an operating right of four plus four years, the explanation given to the public was that if Seddall Company did not perform well in the first four years, the contract for the subsequent four years would not be renewed.

In reality, however, this contract was tied to the federal president's term in office. Every president's inauguration and re-election was never a solitary matter; it affected the operation of the entire high-level federal government.

The ministers selected by the president would also choose their desired deputies. It was a process both complex and simple. To put it bluntly, it was an act of choosing a side.

Perhaps at first many people did not realize that becoming president could yield things other than power, but now people already knew: that thing was wealth.

Every president, every eight years, had an economic entity born around the presidential ruling power, yet the public never knew.

These consortia, which originally came into being bearing the president's name or surname, often concealed themselves within other consortia. For instance, under the previous president, Mr. Choteson, in a place invisible to the public's view, there existed just such the Mr. Choteson Group Company.

On the periphery of this group company, there was yet another consortium providing cover for it, so that most people would never directly see the name "Mr. Choteson", but rather some subsidiary under some consortium. People at the bottom could never touch the truth.

Seddall was a company that took advantage of something similar. Seddall's boss had some connections with a certain staffer in the presidential faction—the distant kind. To call it good clearly wasn't to that extent, yet to call it estranged, he could still exchange a few words with them.

Thus he had almost effortlessly secured the operating rights for Sabine City's public transportation, and in certain unseen places, he transfused blood upward to show his loyalty.

Do not look down on urban public transportation. This was a massive business. Sabine City had a total population of only seventy-six thousand, with roughly over two hundred thousand passenger-trips needing to move through the city via public transportation every day.

Assuming these people were all short-trips—meaning movement within five kilometers—with a fare of only twenty-five cents, in a single day the ticket sales alone exceeded fifty thousand, amounting to over a million in monthly operating revenue.

Perhaps when faced with this data, Seddall's boss would still brush it off by citing operating costs, such as fuel, personnel wages, wear and tear, or even initial investment.

Some people would be fooled by him, but others would not, because City Hall also provided Seddall Transportation Company with a certain amount of subsidies every year.

The so-called bidding did not mean spending money to contract the entire city's transportation plan, but rather how little money the government had to give them so that they could "hold on".

Yes, the spirit and dedication of Seddall Transportation Company were deeply touching. While knowing full well that it was unprofitable, they still minimized financial subsidies as much as possible. What was this for? This was the spirit of dedication, a spirit of burning oneself for others.

Well, the above statement was pure bullshit.

At this moment, inside Seddall's company, people from the Financial Crime Investigation Department under the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as people from the Sabine City Federal Revenue Service, gathered together. Seddall's boss had originally been rather unwilling to cooperate with their demands, until he received a phone call, after which he reluctantly began to cooperate.

He signed several agreements in front of video cameras and still cameras, and watched with his own eyes as these people dumped basket after basket of coins into a pool, fishing them out to dry.

He also watched with his own eyes as those people used rollers stained with some transparent, colorless ink to roll over one-dollar and two-dollar bills. As for what followed, his cooperation was no longer needed.

The federal upper echelons were extremely dissatisfied with the law enforcement scandal that had erupted in Sabine City. The Federal Bureau of Investigation side also began to intervene in the criminal acts here. It was said that the FBI higher-ups were also very annoyed that someone had lumped them in with the Revenue Service, even though most of the time it was indeed the Bureau of Investigation making trouble.

This also led them to decide to cooperate with the Federal Revenue Service to suppress the public uproar and scandal triggered in Sabine City. As long as they could prove that Lin Qi was guilty, then everything would be easy to handle.

First, according to convention and procedure, in a business similar to the one targeting Lin Qi and Mr. Fox, the primary element was to confirm that Lin Qi was providing necessary "ammunition" for Mr. Fox to launder himself.

His legality could be explained as exploiting legal loopholes, and the Revenue Service side could entirely formulate a local ordinance to invalidate the legality of Lin Qi's business, and then throw him into prison.

This required a complete chain of evidence—"evidence" manufactured under the witness of third parties or more, flowing into Lin Qi's hands through natural actions, and then this "evidence" being personally carried by Mr. Fox to the Revenue Service for verification. Then, the on-site investigation of the revenue sent by Mr. Fox for verification would serve as evidence of the Revenue Service flowing into the market. As long as it exceeded a certain proportion, the judge would acknowledge the entire criminal process, acknowledging the illegal transaction between Lin Qi and Mr. Fox.

In order to gather a large number of coins without alarming these people, they purposefully sought out Seddall Transportation Company. A few dollars of change every day was enough to fabricate enough evidence to impact these criminal acts.

Under such circumstances, the investigators who had been watching Richard for a few days spearheaded this transaction. He obtained five thousand dollars in change all at once, and the other party promised to be able to provide a long-term supply.

Every single day, Seddall Company required at least one armored car to send this money to the Revenue Service for registration and then redeposit it into the bank. Doing this wasn't because they had nothing better to do, but because this sum of money was truly too "much". If someone could exchange all of them for large bills, it would instead save Seddall Company extra expenses in a certain aspect.

Moreover, there were huge profits to be had in this. Calculated at one point, even if the coins were only half, which was around twenty thousand, the person in charge of this transaction could personally get at least two hundred dollars in kickbacks under the table.

It was not illegal, did not violate regulations, and involved no embezzlement; it was simply the left hand exchanging for the right, and one's own pocket suddenly had a few hundred dollars more. Why would anyone refuse?

This money was not only flowing to Lin Qi here, but flowing throughout the entire Sabine City. The anger of the Bureau of Investigation and the Revenue Service was going to scorch the entire city before it could be appeased.

Under the ultraviolet light, the dazzling fluorescence of these money seemed to turn into mocking smiles. Lin Qi lifted chemical cleaning fluid and poured it in, and soon the fluorescence on those coins began to be corroded by an invisible force.

He washed them four times back and forth before washing away all the fluorescence, but this was still worthwhile.

He wiped his hands, walked out of the warehouse, smiled at Vera who was looking back at him, and then walked over to the table and picked up the phone, "Mr. Fox, you can arrange for someone to come pick up the goods!"

After hanging up the phone, he tore off the stub of the check and gave it to Vera—the check wasn't simply just a check. Aside from those things invisible to the naked eye, it consisted of the check and a stub. When necessary, the Revenue Service would cross-check the cash check redemption reserves at the bank based on this stub, which was also the check Lin Qi gave to Richard, to determine if the relevant figures on the ledger had any problems.

Aside from the stub, there were also the legally binding stubs registered by the company, the triplicate forms. Since it was done, they couldn't leave behind any flaws.

Watching Vera finish doing these, Lin Qi casually pressed against the back of her chair. There was a slight, subtle contact of their bodies, and Vera's body instinctively shifted forward a bit. Lin Qi asked about her recent situation as if he hadn't noticed anything at all, "You look...", he curled his lip, "...a bit haggard. Did something happen? Do you need my help?"

Vera managed a forced smile, "It's nothing..." She averted her gaze to look elsewhere, taking the opportunity to tuck a strand of scattered hair behind her ear with her hand, smoothing it behind her lobe.

Her fair cheeks, with a few wisps of hair, exuded a refreshing fragrance. Lin Qi's hand pressed onto her shoulder, and he said sincerely, "We're friends. If there's anything you need me for, or any way I can help you, be sure to let me know. Anytime!"

Vera looked back at him with gratitude, instinctively nodding her head, "I will."

Everyone was unique, and everyone was extremely precious. This statement was not wrong most of the time, but when some people began to make comparisons between people, some people were as precious as treasures, while some people were like scum.

Lin Qi's eyes seemed as though they could speak. The two of them stared into each other's eyes for probably three, four, five, six, seven, or eight seconds before he nodded, turning and leaving decisively.

Watching his departing back, Vera's lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.

With a somewhat dazed gaze, she returned her focus to the palms resting on her thighs. She looked at the wedding ring on her hand, feeling as though all of this was a joke.