blogombal Chapter 55 Only Death and Taxes Are Inevitable
Chapter 55 Only Death and Taxes Are Inevitable
On a sunny afternoon in the peaceful and tranquil city of Feiyun.
“This one is okay, this one isn’t quite right, this one is okay, this one won’t do, this one won’t do…” On the first floor of Yuqi Mansion, inside the Hugo Detective Agency, Director Hugo, with his messy black hair, was checking the photos that Bilan handed him one by one.
The chestnut-haired girl, who was the detective's assistant, was completely bewildered. She tilted her head like a headache-stricken Psyduck, blankly observing her employer's every move. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "Great detective, can you tell me the reason for selecting these photos?"
Hugo stopped what he was doing and looked at Azure with some surprise, as if the other party was asking a strange question.
"In my opinion, these are all pretty much candid shots of extramarital affairs. Why do you think some of them are usable while others are not? I made sure the couple's faces were clearly visible in the photos, so why did you have to filter out half of them?"
“We are a legally operating private detective agency,” the detective said earnestly. “We are not tabloid paparazzi chasing after gossip, nor are we perverted stalkers with one foot in the field of sexual harassment. We take legal and reasonable photos that will not infringe on the reputation rights of others.”
"No, no, no, from the moment you accepted the commission from that middle-aged, overweight wealthy woman, our actions were already far removed from what is reasonable and legal." Azure shook her head vigorously, trying to correct the detective's misconception.
“I understand what you mean. It seems you still live in a black-and-white world, my friend,” Hugo said, as he re-examined the photographs in his hand.
"There is no pure black or pure white in the world. Perhaps laws and morals can serve as the bottom line and standard for people to regulate their own behavior, but if we regard these dogmatic constraints as forbidden zones and dare not cross the line, we will become slaves to mediocrity and drift further and further away from absolute justice..."
The detective kept rambling on and on, but Azure rudely interrupted his speech—
“I’m not that old-fashioned. I took those photos myself. Now, as payment for stalking a married man like a stalker for a whole week, tell me your reason for splitting those photos into two piles!”
“As I said before, the world is not black and white, but is made up of large areas of gray. However, we can still pick out some things that are close to white from the gray.” The detective finished screening the photos, wiped the two stacks of photos on the table, and the two rows of photos were clearly presented to his assistant.
"So, what I really want to ask is, you divided the photos..." Azure paused halfway through her sentence, revealing an expression of sudden realization.
On the table, the photos Hugo had selected were arranged together, resembling a meticulously crafted street scene photography series by a professional artist. The faces of the married men and their lovers captured in the photos seemed to have vanished as if by magic; they were like drops of water in the ocean, buried among the masses, becoming inconspicuous.
Even in several photos, where the two people being photographed are clearly the central subjects of the image, they are intimately kissing each other near a suspicious location, yet due to the subtle lighting and the magical atmosphere created between several consecutive street scene photos, a sense of artistic harmony is somehow achieved.
Viewers of the photos will not perceive them as lewd voyeurism, but rather as a conscious creative act by a photographic artist.
After looking at the photos Hugo selected, let's look at the remaining set of photos—
Azure felt utterly ashamed of her voyeuristic behavior; those were truly just dirty and obscene voyeuristic shots.
"Your photography skills are good, and your perception of light and shadow is excellent. This unadorned color palette can actually be a major selling point. However, you still need to work on the composition," Hugo said casually, taking a sip of water, with the air of a professional art critic.
“As long as we go through this kind of screening process, we won’t be considered to be illegally taking photos. Bilan, you’ve just conducted a photography trip as a traveling artist. The couple in the picture are just in an awkward way in your work. Since they are not the focus of the work, it does not involve issues such as infringement of reputation or privacy.”
As Hugo spoke, he used his phone to send a document to Azure: "This is the creative summary of your series of photographs. It will be used when conducting art transactions. Just fill in the appropriate content in the template and then sign it."
Azure looked at the document Hugo had sent her and her head started spinning.
The text is filled with profound and enigmatic terms such as "visual symbols under personal style", "framing composition and angle", "emotional tone and mood flow", and "local customs and culture of modern cities".
"The title could be something like 'Urban Adventures of a Stranger from Kanto.' The residents of Unova love to call themselves city dwellers, so they'll be happy to see a title like that," the detective added, his expression a mix of sarcasm and self-deprecation.
The girl asked nervously, "Hugo, are these photos going to be sold as works of art? Or are they going to be exhibited in an art museum?"
“Of course we’re going to sell them, but I’ll be the one selling them to a wealthy, plump lady for her private collection.” Hugo gave his assistant a meaningful look, then continued, “Just like you think, we’re going to sell the photographs to the consignor as works of art.”
"What's the point of doing this?" Azure was still puzzled.
"In this way, if the client's husband files a lawsuit against us for invasion of privacy, we will have ample grounds to make him lose. After all, as a private investigator, I just happened to find a set of photographs containing evidence of the husband's infidelity and gave them to the client. And you, as a well-intentioned third party, simply took pictures of the street scenes of Feiyun City around you—which is perfectly normal for a newcomer to Hezhong."
Seeing the look of sudden realization on Azure's face, Hugo added—
"In addition, in this way, we can also generously reduce most of the fees that the client would otherwise have to pay, thereby easing the tax burden on the firm."
"Taxation?" The girl paused, taken aback by the familiar yet unfamiliar word.
"This is a very clever tax avoidance strategy, which I only discovered by accident. You see, the United States region attaches great importance to the development of the art industry and has all sorts of preferential policies for emerging artists. Among them, the tax rate for art transactions around 10,000 yuan is unbelievably low. And the price of a normal extramarital affair investigation commission happens to be in this range..."
"So the wages I received before were actually so dirty..." Bilan had a disillusioned and dejected expression. She had also shown this expression once before when Hugo took her out to the street to take photos of her.
"Don't think like that. We helped an unhappy woman see her husband's true colors. Revealing the truth is a detective's job, and there's nothing to be ashamed of."
Hugo said with an air of self-righteousness, "Besides, if legitimate tax avoidance is considered dirty, then 90% of the accountants in Feiyun City should be looking for a rock in their office and killing themselves."
"That sounds good. It seems that there are still about 10% honest and upright accountants left in Feiyun City."
"No, the remaining 10% of accountants were fired and sent home because of their incompetence," the detective said in a cold, impersonal tone. "Besides, I saw you were quite happy when you received your salary, rubbing your cheek with your phone that showed the successful transfer. You certainly didn't think about the personal income tax issue, did you?"
"Is there a problem?" Bilan took a step back, unconsciously covering her phone which she used to transfer money, becoming wary.
“It’s not a big problem,” Hugo said seriously. “When I was calculating your salary and tax rate, I took it upon myself to declare you as a Pokémon Trainer in the Unova region, which allows you to enjoy certain tax reduction policies. In addition, I also settled part of your salary as travel expenses, so that it wouldn’t be included in your personal income tax calculation.”
"If you didn't use these methods to avoid taxes, your income last month would have been approximately..." The detective wrote a short string of numbers in his palm with a pen and then showed it to the girl.
Azure broke out in a cold sweat, her face instantly changing color. The assistant gave an awkward smile, and after a long pause, finally spoke—
"Hugo, we don't live in a black-and-white world, do we?"