Shadow Empire

Chapter 1033 Promises Most Men Cannot Keep

When a drunk Cooper returned home, his wife was already sitting on the sofa watching TV and waiting for him.

Normally, his wife would greet him with a smile when he came home, but today, she just had a cold face.

Because Cooper rarely comes home this late, and he looks like he's had too much to drink.

She knew exactly how much a bottle of alcohol cost these days. If he was sharing with others, it was fine, but if he was buying it all by himself, he must have spent a lot of money.

“You didn’t say you’d be back late tonight.”

The alcohol had already begun to take effect in his body, and Cooper, his face flushed, casually tossed his tie onto the tray by the door where these things were kept.

The middle class lives such a refined and sophisticated life; they would place items they have already worn and do not intend to wear again the next day on this small tray, and then sort and dispose of them properly.

These items will be put into a small bag according to their category, and then sent to a service point in the community that specializes in cleaning these items tomorrow.

He kicked off his shoes and staggered over to the sofa next to his wife, instead of sitting beside her.

They also face the same problems that almost all middle-class people face at this stage of their lives: sexual apathy between spouses and mutual aversion.

Just like... William and Emily, before William's career took off, his and Emily's situation was just as bad.

William may be in a relatively stable situation, but Emily might cheat on him, though it's only a possibility.

As William's career flourished, the couple's relationship blossomed again due to his increased power and social status, and they had a son named Victor.

Cooper and his wife also faced the same problem; they had not had a fluid exchange for about two years.

They both felt a bit annoyed with each other, and neither of them would bring it up on their own initiative.

As long as one person doesn't bring it up, the other person will feel relieved. Although they sleep in the same bed, they are more like family than husband and wife.

He leaned back on the sofa, the feeling of the world spinning lessened considerably, and looked up at his wife. "I have some unexpected social engagements tonight."

"I have something I want to tell you."

His wife is an accountant, and female accountants are not very popular in the accounting profession—it's not yet the era of rising feminism, and people have more faith in responsible and capable men than in women who know nothing.

Undoubtedly, this is a stereotypical prejudice, but it does exist in federal society, just as many important positions can be held by any man, even the most foolish man.

But this position absolutely cannot be held by a woman, no matter how intelligent she may be.

However, with the outbreak of war, the federal tax system underwent a major reform, requiring even homeless people to file taxes, leading to a boom in business for all accounting firms.

Countless people who want to figure out exactly how much personal income tax they need to pay and how to reduce it have no choice but to seek out professional accountants or tax advisors.

Hiring these people requires paying a fee.

Big accountants and well-known tax advisors cannot serve people at the bottom of society who only earn fifty or sixty yuan a month. Their service fees are very high, but such a market does exist.

Therefore, some female accountants who were not valued before, as well as some trainees, have begun to come in handy.

They earn about two dollars for each personal tax return they complete, while the accounting firm receives one dollar.

The city where they live has about 1.2 million people who need to file taxes, which means that it generates nearly four million in revenue each year, which adds up to a huge sum.

Cooper's wife processes about three to four hundred tax returns each month, and she earns about seven hundred dollars from the accounting firm along with her basic salary.

This income is considered very high even among the federal middle class.

Cooper used to be the highest earner in the family, but now his wife is the highest earner.

In a middle-class family, the loudest voice isn't determined by how loud it is, but by who contributes more to the family.

There is no doubt that Cooper has lost his position as head of the household in the past two years. Even if he has not completely lost it, it is still precarious in this patriarchal society.

His wife sat there, looking at him calmly but with a hint of seriousness. "You'd better make yourself look like you can clearly say what you want to say before you talk to me."

Cooper paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something. "Excuse me, I'll go change my clothes."

He took a shower, changed into some casual clothes, and came back.

After taking a shower, he felt much more awake. "I've already quit my job."

He looked at his wife, but she didn't show any displeasure or anger; she just looked at him calmly.

“I…you know that a new supervisor has come to our workshop.”

His wife nodded and said, "Yes, you told me about a young man who is more than ten years younger than you."

“I had a conflict with him,” Cooper said bluntly. “Today our conflict completely erupted, so I left the company.”

His wife's face remained largely expressionless. "It's alright. My income is enough to support us in maintaining our current decent lifestyle."

"And since you're a member of the labor federation, you can ask them to arrange a new job for you."

The labor federation holds a prominent position in the industrial sector, as the operation, setup, and maintenance of industrial machinery all require highly specialized skills.

This is unlike workers on light industrial assembly lines, who can be competent in any position after simple training.

In industry, especially heavy industry, the value of skilled workers is like the word "gold content"—there's real gold in them!

If Cooper talks to the AFL, he can quickly get a new job through an internal referral, and there's even a possibility that the salary will be higher.

Even if it's not much higher, it won't be much less either. After all, with the labor federation and unions behind him, those capitalists won't dare to act too recklessly.

So now that he's quit his job, it's not a problem for the family.

Cooper shook his head. "I don't plan to continue working for the time being."

Before his wife could say anything, he said, "Actually, this is what I was planning to tell you."

"Don't we have 100,000 yuan in savings?"

His wife nodded, calmly, but there seemed to be a hint of unease beneath her composure. She asked in a tone that was slightly uncertain, even threatening, "Don't tell me you've touched this money!"

Cooper suddenly felt a little embarrassed. He scratched his head, but the embarrassment came and went quickly. "Sorry, I did touch that money. I used it for financial investments."

"It's 200,000 now, and it will soon become 300,000, or even more!"

His wife had initially wanted to criticize him for using the family's core savings, but his words and the figures he presented rendered her speechless.

She opened her mouth slightly, somewhat bewildered, and then asked, "How did it become so many?"

Cooper had drunk some alcohol, and although he had taken a shower, the alcohol was still taking effect, just not as strongly as before.

"You know, I've been studying finance lately."

“I bought a lot of books and attended some salons and seminars.” His wife nodded repeatedly. It was true. She had attended some with him. People who looked like they were from their social class, or even half a class or a class higher than them, gathered together to discuss the wonders of finance.

She knew that her husband had a dream of investing.

Cooper clapped his hands together, gripping them tightly, his face flushed with excitement. "Now, I've done it!"

"After careful selection, I chose a stock that surged upwards like a madman, and now my assets have doubled!"

His wife suddenly said at this moment, "It's our asset."

The interruption startled Cooper for a moment, then he rolled his eyes. "Don't interrupt me!"

"I admit it's our asset; in short, it has doubled in value and will continue to increase!"

"Darling, think about it, it took us twenty years to acquire all this, but in just two or three months, we achieved a leap in wealth. That's the most wonderful thing about finance!"

His wife smiled a little more, but not as warmly as he did, who showed almost all his teeth, which was very impolite and presumptuous.

And she remained calm, saying, "Every investment carries risk. My advice is that you should take out half of it now to ensure our assets are stable, and then you can use the remaining portion to continue your investments."

Now her tone of voice has softened and become gentler; this is the most authentic aspect of a middle-class family.

Whoever can bring more wealth to the family will be the head of the household.

She was Cooper's wife during that time, but now it's him, so his wife has become less assertive and less likely to try to take the initiative.

Cooper shook his head. "I have inside information, and it's real inside information. This stock will go up!"

His wife then focused on the important question: "Which stock?"

Hope Mining!

“I’ve heard of that name!” his wife nodded. “They do say it’s doing very well, but you can’t be complacent, understand?”

“This is our family’s savings of twenty years. I believe you don’t want all our efforts over the past twenty years to become a thing of the past in an instant.”

"In addition, you'd better consider my suggestion and take it apart in part."

Cooper knew that if he didn't agree, his wife would bring it up with him from time to time, so he immediately agreed, "I'll take care of it when I go to Detland on Monday."

"Are you going to Detland?" His wife got up and went into the dining room to make him a cup of coffee and brought back some pastries.

"What to do?"

Cooper casually picked up a piece of pastry and ate it, taking a sip of hot coffee as he did so. He seemed to feel much more comfortable afterward. "I hope the mining company will distribute dividends to its investors. Anyone who invests more than 50,000 yuan can go to the site and have a close interaction with their president and board members."

"You know, those capitalists always like to do this kind of thing, and then get reporters to report it. They want the whole world to know that they're making a fortune!"

His wife didn't think much of it when she heard this, and simply nodded, saying, "I'll pack your luggage. When do you plan to leave?"

"weekend."

The "family crisis" that had existed before was overcome in this way. At night, the two of them lay in bed talking about what they would do if their dream came true and the 100,000 yuan became 500,000 yuan after a period of time.

The two talked a lot about wealth, dreams, and many other things. It seemed that a special vitality was constantly sprouting, growing, and strengthening within them.

The two gradually drew closer together, and Cooper's hand unconsciously pressed against her chest. In the dimly lit room, they stared at each other for a moment, and then, like a long-dormant volcano suddenly erupting, they were devastated!
They came twice, taking more than forty minutes. Afterwards, Cooper was fully awake. He sat up against the headboard, looking at his wife who was smoking, somewhat surprised, "I didn't know you'd started smoking now."

His wife exhaled a puff of smoke. "Smoking helps me relax. If you were facing countless bills every day, and people who can't even fill out forms, you'd know how frustrated I am right now!"

Not everyone knows what items need to be declared and what items are optional, so the vast majority of people write incorrect tax returns.

She needs to correct these mistakes and then satisfy the customer.

Sometimes she felt that she was no different from ordinary workers in other jobs, except that others were on the assembly line while she was sitting in the office, and she might even be more irritable than the workers on the assembly line.

Hearing his wife complain about work, after they had just finished two rounds of primal intimacy and their emotions were still on the same wavelength, he immediately comforted her, "Once we are financially independent, you can quit your job."

His wife shook her head. "I earn more than three thousand yuan after tax every year. I can't bear to give up that income."

Federal taxes are high now because of the "war tax" added to them—of course, they won't call it that; they've just lowered the threshold for taxation while raising the tax rate.

In some states, strictly speaking, sixty dollars out of every hundred dollars goes to taxes. Even though wages have increased, people feel that their disposable income has actually decreased.

This is where an accountant comes in, helping them find ways to reduce taxes and legally avoid them. Although it's only two dollars, it's not too complicated.

It's like an inquiry process, asking them how many children they have, whether they all have jobs, whether they've done any social welfare work, or whether they've donated to charities.

Capitalists have their ways of avoiding taxes, and ordinary people have theirs. For example, in some states, families with two or more children can reduce their taxes by "providing an educational environment for family members."

Some states also provide subsidies to families with multiple children based on the number of children. Although this is not a tax deduction, it is essentially a form of tax-free extra income, which is equivalent to a tax deduction.

The accounting firm has already prepared a form containing all this information. She just needs to ask and then fill in the form according to the checkmarks or crosses on it.

It's not that it's troublesome, it's just mentally exhausting, because some clients really aren't very bright, and what you say and what they say are completely on different wavelengths.

Seeing the weariness on his wife's face, Cooper pursed his lips. "I will become a great person so that you can quit this job and all you need to do every day is enjoy life."

His wife seemed to enjoy the promise, saying, "I hope you can keep this promise and not do any of the things you promised me before we got married."

Cooper was at the height of his male chauvinism, and he couldn't stand this kind of provocation. "Is there anything I said that I didn't do?"

"I feel like I've done everything I promised you!"

His wife took a drag of her cigarette and slowly exhaled, "You said you'd fuck me so hard I couldn't get out of bed, anytime."

Cooper froze for a moment, and after several seconds, he explained somewhat awkwardly, "I was too young back then..."

His wife smiled and pursed her lips, "So you hope you can keep your promise this time!"

For the next two days, Cooper rested and adjusted himself. He also read some financial books, but he didn't understand them very well and was completely confused.

What struck him as odd about these financial books was that they often contradicted themselves.

He believes it's possible for one book to refute the viewpoint of another, as it's normal to have different positions and perspectives in academic discussions.

However, in some books, the author's later writings contradict his earlier writings, resulting in inconsistencies.

Sometimes he felt that the more books he read, the less he understood what finance was and what the rules of its operation were.

On Sunday noon, after finishing his lunch, he said goodbye to his companions and the children, and took his luggage to New Gold City by train.

He lived not far from New Gold City, and arrived in New Gold City in three hours, successfully checking into his booked hotel.

He contacted his stockbroker, and the two agreed to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, when they would hold an investor dividend meeting at 9:45 a.m.

(End of this chapter)