No Matter What the Choice Is or How Many Options There Are, You Still Have to Choose One and Bear the Consequences

The director of the Federal Revenue Service in Sabine City had a very unremarkable name: Johnson.

Johnson had no prominent background. Back in the days when people still firmly believed that ideals could be achieved through hard work, anyone who dared to fight, had courage, and possessed a little luck could easily stand out from the crowd.

But now, without some other source of help, becoming the director of the Revenue Service in a second-tier city was about as far as Johnson could go.

All he had to think about now was how to secure the highest possible pension and make his final few years less painful.

Many people assumed that the director of the Federal Revenue Service—even the director of a small city—must be some hidden tycoon with countless savings and properties. In reality, that wasn't the case.

The lives of most middling federal officials were far more shabby than people imagined. Instead, the income of actual grassroots workers and front-line personnel was more complicated.

What kind of illicit income could a grassroots administrative employee who sat in an office all day and had already been placed on the Supervisory Department's inspection list possibly get?

Still, they did receive the donations and social benefits they were entitled to. Those were all legitimate sources of income.

The Federal Government gave them high salaries and the highest level of Social Insurance in order to minimize the negative influences they might face at work and prevent them from becoming someone's lackeys.

Of course, that didn't entirely mean Johnson was poor. Sometimes, poverty wasn't merely a description of wealth; it could also describe power.

In short, he was better off than those below him but worse off than those above him. It would be even better if he could secure his pension.

At