First Mistake
“What is this all about?!”
Lin Chucheng was confused to say the least. Sulina, who praised Irena for being competent and all smiles last night, suddenly flew off the handle. Irena and he worked diligently every day for the last half a week, and they didn’t face any problems. They calculated what needed to be calculated and pestered those who needed to be pestered. Nonetheless, he quickly worked out that she wasn’t raging at him but Irena.
Irena’s status as a Princess didn’t stop her from standing there with her head down as she listened to Sulina’s lecture.
Sulina angrily threw the form at Irena: “Forging reports to try and make things easy for yourself is unacceptable! The household you were entrusted with still hasn’t paid their taxes, so why did you claim the dispute has been resolved in your report? Have you already gotten full of yourself?! Tax is an important issue, yet you’re fooling around?! If you don’t want to work, then get lost!”
Irena looked stupefied at the return invoice. It was a tax officer’s job to hand submit a return receipt once they were done with a job. The one in her hand was the same one she filled out at the granny’s place. The granny promised to pay her taxes, which was why Irena reported it as a done job.
“They still haven’t paid their taxes, and we never received any replies for the two letters we sent out. Is that what you call work?! It’s solved because you didn’t do anything?! Did you go for a holiday?! Do I need to get you a room, too?! Always wasting time! The tax bureau can accept you making mistakes, but what is with forging return receipts?!”
“it’s a misunderstanding…” Lin Chucheng spoke since Irena didn’t dare to raise her head.
Sulina thundered, “You shut up! This isn’t your business!”
Frightened, Lin Chucheng immediately put a sock in it.
Lin Chucheng: Her ears and tail are so cute. Why is she so ferocious, though?
“You have one more day. If you can’t collect their taxes tomorrow, confiscate their assets!” commanded Sulina.
Neither Irena nor Lin Chucheng dared to raise their head until Sulina left.
Irena silently picked up the forms and left. Lin Chucheng had to jog to catch up to her Her silence rendered Lin Chucheng nervous. Nobody could cop such a harsh scolding and be unfazed. Irena suddenly stopped walking once arrived outside. She took in a big breath and wiped her eyes. Lin Chucheng noticed her shaky breaths. Her sorrow wanted to escape from her body. She blinked as fast as she could in an attempt to stop her tears from surfacing but to no avail. She couldn’t cry. She had to go and see the granny. Tax officers couldn’t bring their emotions into work. She couldn’t hate the granny or be angry with Sulina. Sulina wasn’t her family; she was an incredibly strict senior.
Sulina was right. Submitting false return receipts would lead to tax evasion and fraud. She trusted the granny more than she should’ve trusted her. Though the elder was no kind granny, Irena couldn’t approach her with that preconception. She needed to stay neutral with her target. No love, selfish desire or resentment was permitted since tax officers needed to be fair and upright.
“We were deceived,” stated Irena, voice hoarse and sniffling.
Irena’s tears left Lin Chucheng flustered. “I think there must be some misunderstanding. The granny might have fallen ill! She might be in hospital right now! There must be a misunderstanding! It’ll be fine once we collect the money!”
Irena vigorously wiped her tears then hailed a horse carriage. She got in and sat silently, eyes closed and teeth down on her lips. Lin Chucheng sat opposite her, but he didn’t know what to do or say – not that she would’ve listened to him, anyway.
Irena knocked on the door again once they arrived at the property. She wiped her eyes again as they waited. The granny was surprised to see the two of them. Actually, she was frustrated, as well. Though it was fleeting, Irena caught it.
“Hello, Ma’am, we are tax officers from the tax bureau. We have come for what happened last time.”
Irina managed to adjust her expression and voice. She did her very best to control her voice as she spoke. Lin Chucheng still believed there was a misunderstanding, such as purely not enough time. There were many reasons for many things in life. There was no need for a granny to trick them. If the granny wanted to pay her taxes, she could sell off her bracelet on her wrist. The household could afford to pay their taxes, so there was no reason to delay payment.
“Oh, right, I know. Tax, right? Old people have poor memories, I tell you. I went to withdraw money from the bank but forgot to pay it. I would’ve totally forgotten about it if you didn’t come. Here, this is one thousand D.” With a smile, the granny handed Irena an envelope from the table by the entrance.
Lin Chucheng was relieved to see the money. He concluded that the granny genuinely forgot.
The tax bureau damn sure is one terrifying place…
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