Leo looked up at Li Gensheng by the door of the tea room and then turned back, "He's not willing to pay 50,000, what makes you think he'll agree to 80,000?"
He acknowledged that David's inspection skills were formidable.
But after all, this case belonged to their district, and he didn't believe David could be so confident.
"You don't need to worry about that, it's fine as long as I can collect it!"
Leo narrowed his eyes, pondered for a while, and replied, "What if you can't collect it?"
"If I can't collect it, I'll make it up to you with another case worth 80,000!"
"Are you serious about that?"
Leo and Milimo confirmed in unison.
"Of course!"
"Fine, then I'll give you half an hour. I'm actually quite curious to see how you'll pry open his mouth!"
Though Leo was very annoyed with David, he wasn't a fool. Being able to earn 80,000 one way or the other, not just him, any inspector would choose to do so.
"Oh, I have another question!"
"What's the issue?"
Possibly because he felt he was getting a good deal, Leo's tone had softened somewhat.
"If I'm lucky and collect more than the 80,000, how should we handle that?"
Leo and Milimo paused, as this was something they hadn't considered.
In their view, squeezing 50,000 out of the old man was hard enough, and anything over 80,000 seemed nearly impossible to them.
However, since David had brought it up, they had to answer. Leo promptly replied, "We only want 80,000. If you can collect more, that's your skill, and it's all yours!"
David nodded in satisfaction and then took out his cell phone, saying, "Verbal agreements aren't solid, so how about we record this conversation?"
The taxes that Li Gensheng needed to pay amounted to over 320,000, minus the 80,000 for the two of them, leaving nearly 250,000.
That was no small sum, and to avoid future disputes and hard feelings, it was necessary to record the agreement.
Upon hearing this, Leo and Milimo were inwardly overjoyed.
Truth be told, they too feared that if David couldn't extract 80,000 from the old man, he would argue with them about it.
So they were more than happy to have the conversation recorded.
With a recording as evidence, David wouldn't be able to weasel out of the deal!
"OK, I agree!"
Leo also took out his own cell phone.
Next, both parties activated the recording feature, stating their respective divisions and inspector titles, followed by a description concerning the case and the associated taxes.
It took roughly 2 minutes.
After the recording was completed, Leo smugly slipped his phone into his pocket and gestured to David to start his performance.
David didn't waste any words and walked towards the tea room, approaching Li Gensheng and saying, "Mr. Li, shall we go inside and have a word?"
"Everything that needed to be confessed has already been explained to Inspector Leo. What else is there to talk about?"
Li Gensheng's face showed some impatience.
"Let's have a word. At least I can help you avoid being taken away by them!"
Li Gensheng was instantly stunned.
Help him avoid being taken away, what did that mean?
Forget it!
Let's first hear what the new inspector has to say!
Li Gensheng was the first to enter the break room while David and Nisen also walked in, casually closing the door behind them.
"Do you think he can really force the old man to cough up 80 thousand?"
Milimo, looking at the just-closed door, asked thoughtfully.
"I admit that his auditing skills are unparalleled in our entire Las Vegas Tax Bureau system, but to squeeze 80 thousand out of the old man so quickly, I think it's unlikely!"
"But if he wasn't sure, why would he dare to hit us with an 80 thousand tax bill, no matter how you look at it, we're the ones getting a great deal!"
Hearing Milimo say this, Inspector Leo finally snapped out of it.
That's true, indeed.
David seemed completely confident, and he even had the recordings all set up; if he can't handle the old man, he will have to shell out the 80 thousand himself.
Could it be...
that he has already investigated the old man?
That's quite possible!
Didn't he just say he had other business with the old man?
After a moment of thought, Leo said, "Never mind that, as long as we get our 80 thousand this time, that's all that matters!"
Milimo nodded in agreement.
Nevermind why David is so confident, as long as we can get our hands on the 80 thousand in taxes this time, we're making a killing!
Inside the break room.
Out of politeness, Mr. Li and another poured a cup of tea and asked, "Inspector, sir, I am very busy. If you keep coming in like this and wasting my time, I can complain!"
'Sure, you can complain anytime, but before you do, I'd like you to pay the over 320 thousand in taxes that you owe first!"
Li Gensheng was taken aback, then his expression darkened as he said, "320 thousand, what do you mean by that?"
"On the 3rd of last month, didn't you just receive a painting from the Liulin Gang and resold it to Lynch for a profit of 50 thousand US Dollars?"
At these words, the hand that Li Gensheng was using to hold his teacup instantly froze at his lips.
David continued, "And on the 7th of last month, didn't you again receive a jade article from them and turned it over to Lynch, making another 70 thousand?"
"There's also December 19th..."
"Add it all up, and you made 830 thousand US Dollars in one month. According to our tax bureau's rate, doesn't that come to over 320 thousand in taxes to be paid?"
After hearing this, despite maintaining a calm exterior, Li Gensheng was already roiling with inner turmoil.
He had thought that these two new inspectors had come, like the previous two, to threaten and intimidate him.
And he was already prepared to deal with them.
But where could he have imagined that this inspector named David didn't mean to intimidate him at all, but had itemized every transaction he had made over the past month.
Realizing he was up against a hard case, Li Gensheng's brows creased into a frown.
"How about it, Mr. Li, not going to argue your case?"
Li Gensheng was silent for a while, really not knowing how to refute and could only bluff, "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just a businessman who runs a tea house!"
David said unhurriedly, "Is that so? Would you like me to call Liu Qi, Wang Wenbin, Huang Lin, and the others over to have a chat with you?"
"They are your biggest import channels, after all. If I were to restrict their entry or catch them, do you think your business would be affected?"
At this, Li Gensheng's expression turned utterly grim, and the fist he held under the tea table was clenched tightly.
Not only had the other party investigated his transactions with such clarity, but they even knew all about his suppliers from Huaxia—it looked like they had him cornered!