American Tax Officer

But unexpectedly, the old man before them was so tough, no matter how they threatened or intimidated him; he maintained an attitude of "arrest me if you have evidence."

The pair were somewhat irritated. Having come all this way, it was naturally impossible to return empty-handed—where would that leave the National Tax Bureau's dignity?

Therefore, they decided to first take the old man back to the station and detain him for 24 hours!

But before they could make their move, there was a knock on the door.

Following that, a waiter from the tea house entered and said, "Mr. Li, two more inspectors from the National Tax Bureau have arrived outside and wish to see you!"

Upon hearing these words, the old man with the goatee was taken aback and then turned to look at the two inspectors across from him.

In fact, not just him, the two inspectors were also baffled.

This case had already been taken over by their team and had been filed within the bureau; how could there be other inspectors coming to poach their job?

To understand the reason, both of them immediately stood up and walked out of the private room,

and soon, they arrived in the main hall of the tea house.

Upon seeing David and Nisen standing there, the two felt a sense of familiarity but greeted them politely, "I am Leo from the National Tax Bureau Avenue Sub-bureau Branch, and this is my partner, Milimo. You are...?"

"I'm David from the Lake District Sub-Bureau, and this is my partner, Nisen!"

David had already learned from the waiter that inspectors from the Avenue Sub-bureau had come here.

He hadn't expected such a coincidence.

But there was nothing he could do; based on the information he had, the old man named Li Gensheng was Lynch's supplier.

He needed to obtain a list of all the antiques supplied by the old man to Lynch during this period, along with other detailed information.

"You are Lake District's David!"

Leo and Milimo were stunned for a moment, then their expressions slowly became grim.

They wondered why they looked so familiar!

It turned out to be the recently renowned David in their National Tax Bureau system!

"That's right."

Leo, with a dark look, said discontentedly, "Inspector David, I acknowledge that you are indeed skilled in inspection, but as an inspector from the Lake District, for you to overreach into our Avenue Sub-bureau, isn't that a bit too dismissive of our inspectors?"

In recent times, due to David's exceptional performance, they were constantly being compared and goaded by their superiors, which was already quite annoying to them.

But that was not the end of it; now David had the audacity to poach their case, which was downright outrageous!

David wasn't angry; he was aware that his actions were somewhat irregular and responded calmly, "Inspector Leo, I have no intention of taking over your case. I came to find Li Gensheng because I have some other matters to attend to!"

"Heh heh."

Leo scoffed, questioning, "As inspectors, for what other reasons would we seek out these lawbreakers, if not for collecting taxes?"

David felt somewhat helpless and glanced towards the direction of the private room, only to notice that Li Gensheng at the doorway was watching the drama unfold with great interest.

[Name: Li Gensheng.]

[Occupation: Tea house owner, antiquities dealer.]

[Monthly income: 830,000 US dollars.]

[Income details: On December 3rd, acquired a Tang Dynasty calligraphy painting from a tomb-raiding gang in China, resold to Lynch for a profit of 50,000 dollars; on December 7th, acquired a jade piece from a tomb-raiding gang in China, resold to Lynch for a profit of 70,000 dollars; on December 19th...]

[More details:...]

[Tax due: 328,680 US dollars.]

After reviewing the old man's information, David pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, Inspector Leo, you're after him just to collect taxes and close the case, right? How about I help you with the collection of this tax?"

Leo and Milimo were initially taken aback, seemingly surprised by David's proposal.

Then Leo replied with a slightly disdainful expression, "No need, this is our case. We don't need you Lake District folks to worry about it!"

"There's only a week left until the assessment period. Taking him back with you could waste a lot of time, and who knows if you can squeeze anything out of him. That doesn't seem like an advantageous move."

David could tell that the two didn't have conclusive information on Li Gensheng, or else Li wouldn't be so carefree.

But that was to be expected.

After all, not everyone is like him, with something like a golden finger.

Nowadays, most inspectors primarily use intimidation as their method.

If they encounter someone audacious like Li Gensheng, then matters become troublesome.

Although they didn't verbally respond, they indeed didn't want to waste too much time on this old man.

But they had no choice, given the old man's obstinate ignorance!

"So, how much tax do you intend to collect from him?"

Leo didn't answer, but Milimo hesitated before finally responding, "Based on the estimates given by our intelligence division, we need to collect around 50,000!"

"Just 50,000?"

It seemed that these two hadn't managed to lay hold of the old man's criminal evidence, let alone gauge his actual finances.

Upon hearing this, Leo became discontented again and retorted, "I know 50,000 may not be much to you, but not everyone is you!"

He knew that David's team had now amassed over 1.7 million in tax achievements and thought David was mocking him.

David explained, "You misunderstand me. That's not what I mean. I'm saying, just 50,000 is too lenient on him. I'll offer you 80,000 in exchange for handing him over to me for half an hour, how about that?"

"80,000?!"

The two were startled by David's proposal.

The estimated tax revenue the intelligence department provided for this case was merely 50,000.

And naturally, an average inspector wouldn't over-collect beyond the estimated figure in the paperwork.

To collect more wasn't impossible, but only if you could nail down the specific financial source of the target and prove they indeed needed to pay that much tax.

Since they didn't have specifics on the old man's finances, they could only collect based on the intelligence department's estimated figures.

"Half an hour? 80,000? Are you serious about what you're saying?"

Milimo, for one, was tempted.

They had only expected to collect 50,000, so receiving 80,000 would truly be an unexpected windfall.

Besides, the primary point was that she wasn't keen on wasting so much time on the old man. It would be better to spend that time investigating a few more cases.

"Of course, I'm serious, Inspector Leo, what do you think?"

David turned to Leo, having discerned that he was the linchpin of the team.