American Tax Officer

"$50,000, just $50,000!"

After giving it much thought, Li Gensheng knew he could no longer resist.

But to pay $320,000 was like cutting his own flesh; he was only willing to pay the $50,000 in taxes that Leo had initially asked for.

"$50,000?"

David looked at him with a hint of disdain and retorted firmly, "$326,288, not a penny less!"

Li Gensheng was instantly furious and retorted, "I've already agreed to pay, does your IRS really need to be so relentless?"

"Relentless? You make a net income of $830,000 a month, and now you're just being asked to pay a little over $320,000. You're still netting over $500,000. That's in US dollars, is it that little?"

Li Gensheng's face turned grim, unable to respond.

Making a net of over $500,000 might seem like a lot, but he was supposed to earn over $800,000. Now the IRS was taking away nearly half; who could mentally accept that?

"If you're unwilling to pay, that's fine, we can do without this tax, but then don't expect to do business in America ever again!"

With that, David got up to leave.

Seeing David nearly at the door, Li Gensheng was so angry he almost crushed his back teeth, but in the end, he didn't lose his rationality and spoke up, "Fine, you bastard, I'll pay!"

More than $300,000 was no small sum, but when weighed against his business, he knew which was more important.

Moreover, the IRS had so much evidence against him; if he didn't pay, he risked not only having his accounts frozen but also ending up in jail.

David stopped in his tracks, turned around, and returned to his seat, saying with a smile, "If you had just agreed earlier, all of this would have been over. Oh, and there's something else. I need a favor from you."

"What is it?"

"I know Lynch is your biggest partner..."

David expressed his desire to obtain a list and documents pertaining to their business transactions.

Initially, Li Gensheng flatly refused, as handing these over to David would equate to stabbing Lynch in the back.

But, reluctantly, the arm cannot twist the thigh.

Under David's threats, Li Gensheng eventually had no choice but to comply, seething with resentment.

Outside the hall.

Milimo and Leo were still waiting, with Leo frequently glancing at his watch, noting that 25 minutes had passed since their earlier encounter.

Just then, the door to the tea room opened with a click.

Seeing Li Gensheng's grim face as he walked out, both Milimo and Leo were surprised, exchanging a glance instinctively, sensing something was amiss.

No matter how they threatened earlier, Li Gensheng had appeared unperturbed and unconcerned. So why did he now look as if his father had died?

Could it be...

David had indeed pried his mouth open and made him cough up $80,000 in taxes?

That was the only explanation they could think of, but they needed confirmation. Without wasting any time, they headed straight for the tea room.

Soon, they entered the tea room and saw a relaxed and cheerful Nisen and David. Milimo asked, "How did it go, Inspector David?"

David made an OK sign and replied, "No problem!"

Upon receiving this answer, Milimo and Leo were startled, but just as they were about to inquire further, Li Gensheng returned.

"Here are the documents you wanted. I can't come up with such a large sum of money right now for the taxes. Can you give me some time to raise the funds?"

Li Gensheng handed a file folder to David.

Milimo and Leo weren't in the least concerned about what was inside the folder; their minds were completely blank.

What's the deal with Li Gensheng?

Just a moment ago, he was so adamant, so why is he now so willing to pay the taxes?

What on earth did David say to him?

And how did he do it?

"Okay!"

David's response finally startled the two, who had been in a trance, back to reality. Milimo seemed to remember something and immediately questioned Li Gensheng, "Mr. Li, it's just tens of thousands of dollars. You don't need to go around raising that, do you?"

They had investigated, and even without Li Gensheng's illegal income, just the business of this tea house was pretty good—coming up with a hundred or eighty thousand dollars should be no problem.

Li Gensheng looked at Milimo with resentment in his voice, "If it were just tens of thousands, that would indeed be wonderful!"

"Ah? If it's not tens of thousands, then how much is it?"

Leo and Milimo were somewhat dumbfounded.

"$326,288. Who do you think can just come up with that amount of money all at once?"

"What!"

Leo and Milimo's eyes opened wide, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.

But soon, Leo came back to his senses, took a step forward, and grabbed Li Gensheng by the collar, demanding, "What did you just say? You're going to pay $326,288 to our IRS?"

"Cough cough...let go, let go!"

Li Gensheng was being choked and struggled desperately for air.

Realizing he had lost his composure, Leo quickly let go of him but still asked urgently, "You just said you'll pay $326,288 to our IRS; are you serious?"

"Damn you, yes, yes, are you satisfied now?"

Already irritated at being threatened to pay such a large sum of taxes, Li Gensheng was now even more annoyed by the rough treatment, so much so that he even blurted out in his mother tongue.

Having gotten confirmation again, Leo finally believed it and no longer said much to Li Gensheng. He turned to face David with an angry question, "Inspector David, are you playing with us?"

Although Leo didn't know how David managed to force the old man to pay such a huge sum, that was more than 320,000 dollars!

And they only got 80,000 of it?

Did he take him for a fool?

Meanwhile, Milimo had finally understood.

She thought to herself how David could be so generous, helping them collect taxes and giving them 80,000 dollars.

It turned out that the value Li Gensheng held was far greater than 80,000 dollars!

While she initially thought she'd gotten a great deal, she suddenly felt she'd been shortchanged and stared at David expectantly, wanting an explanation!

"Inspector Leo, what kind of talk is that, what do you mean playing you?"

Leo's reaction didn't surprise David much.

That's why he had made a recording beforehand. With that evidence, unless the district station wanted to lose its credibility, they wouldn't dare deny this tax payment!

"Heh…"

Leo let out a cold laugh, discontentedly saying, "You knew he had to pay more than 320,000 in taxes, but you only gave us 80,000. Isn't that playing with us?"

"Inspector Leo, that's not the way to put it. Just now, you yourself said that you only wanted 80,000, and anything extra was ours!"

"Besides, if it weren't for my partner, you wouldn't have managed to collect even 80,000, let alone 50,000. You should be content with what you have!"

Nisen couldn't stand it any longer and immediately stood up to retort.