Chapter 1289: Chapter 1288: Saint Sage Master
With Lynch’s help, the young maid and her boyfriend accomplished something in their lives that would have seemed impossible—
Settling in Bupen!
Settling in Bupen seems like a simple matter, just needing a house that one owns or rents.
Then, with a job, it seems one can live and work here.
But the truth is not like that; Bupen’s high cost of living makes even the most ordinary social activities a nightmare for low-income groups.
Judging by the normal income of the young maid and her boyfriend, they would never have the chance to settle in Bupen in their lifetimes.
Sometimes life is just unequal; some people are born at a finish line that many can’t reach in a lifetime.
While others work all their lives, in the end, they only seem to be treading in place.
Fortunately, they settled here, a big house secured by just a business card from Lynch, along with money he lent them, made their life’s dream suddenly achievable.
The only thing that troubled the young couple was the cost of community service.
Very expensive.
When the young maid didn’t have to pay attention or bear these costs, she never felt it was a burden, just like Lynch, who didn’t care about the expense on bills, and would just sign a check.
When the maid herself had to pay, she found it a bit challenging.
But a beautiful life awaits her, and her boyfriend found a plumbing job in the nearby community.
It’s undeniable that being a plumber in Bupen is akin to being a small boss in the countryside.
The work might not seem respectable, but the income is indeed substantial.
The couple’s financial situation is still tight; they got married without holding a wedding.
No grand wedding, no blessings from family and friends, no diamond ring...
But it doesn’t matter, they are both full of hope for their future life.
Lynch thought for a moment, "There are some cars the company needs to let go, bring your husband and choose one."
He thoughtfully explained, "These cars to be let go, some might have only a few thousand miles, almost like new."
For companies, luxury cars have always been a good way to offset debts; Lynch has been doing this since Sabin City. The money spent on luxury cars can be deducted from profits, thus reducing tax payments.
Most states in the Federation have similar regulations, where spending enough can even result in not paying taxes.
For the government, this is a way to promote internal circulation; instead of paying forty-five dollars out of a hundred in taxes, people might prefer to spend fifty dollars on something and then pay only about ten dollars in taxes for the remaining fifty dollars.
Thus, for companies or individuals who need to pay taxes, the money kept in hand doesn’t really diminish.
On the contrary, due to purchasing these items plus the remaining cash, it might be more than what would remain after paying direct taxes.
For the Federation Government or local markets, the fifty dollars spent on goods could possibly activate or sustain multiple enterprises within an industry.
Of course, after using these cars for some time, selling them back to the bank at roughly the original price to offset "unpayable loans" helps in avoiding tax payment while securing the benefits.
A single car indeed doesn’t cost much, maybe tens of thousands, but if every company does this, it might amount to millions in car purchases annually, with significant annual tax savings.
These sums are mere figures to Lynch now, but exploiting loopholes is still necessary.
This doesn’t reflect Lynch being a nasty capitalist but forms a network of interpersonal relationships; due to this handover, some people at the bank are fed, company people receive tangible benefits, and Lynch stimulates local industrial consumption index...
It’s a matter where everyone is happy, so no need to think too much.
A second-hand car that’s almost new indeed comes as a surprise to the young maid.
The standard setup for living in Bupen includes a Middle Class community house and a car!
If Lynch were to gift her a new car, she might not accept it, unsure of when they can repay the twenty thousand they owe Lynch.
Accepting a new car at this point... Lynch would be overly enthusiastic.
Being smart, the girl knows accepting a new car would create misunderstandings about her relationship with Lynch.
See, borrowing money, helping her buy a house at a low price, now giving her a brand new car, so what’s next, maybe gifting a child?
Even if her boyfriend doesn’t suspect, his or her family would.
When suspicion finds fertile ground, it quickly spreads uncontrollably.
However, a second-hand car, being one the company needs to dispose of, doesn’t fall into this scenario.
For big companies, dealing with second-hand cars is like the brand-new appliances occasionally seen on both sides of the middle-class community roads, with a five-dollar bill and a paper reading "Dispose at will" placed on top!
"Thank you so much, Mr. Lynch!" The young maid expressed her gratitude.
After dinner, the young maid tidied everything up and left early. She needed to go back and inform her husband that Lynch had approved her leave.
It was half an hour later when she finally returned home.
No matter how convenient the transportation in Bupen is, it still takes time.
Just arriving home, a young, honest man with a somewhat naïve appearance was making dinner, and a fragrance very different from the food prepared by restaurant chefs wafted through the dining room, carrying a rustic aroma.
The cooking skills lacked unnecessary flamboyance or luxurious spices; everything was very ordinary, yet it resulted in food that triggered a flood of human memories!
"You’re back?" The young maid nodded, hung up her bag, changed clothes, and stepped into the dining room to take a look at the food.
The honest man was serving the food onto plates, and his eyes were filled with sweetness as he looked at the young maid.
As he approached the young maid, he wanted to share a sweet kiss with his wife, but for some reason, the young maid stepped aside.
She turned around and headed to the bathroom, "I need to take a shower first..."
The honest man didn’t mind; he simply waited quietly for the young maid to finish her shower and come out of the bathroom.
They shared a quick kiss, and the honest man was a bit surprised, "You brushed your teeth?"
The young maid nodded briefly and quickly moved past the topic, "What did you make? It smells really good..."
As they ate a simple but cozy dinner, they chatted about life and work.
The honest man talked about some incidents he encountered at work, like an elderly person who didn’t know how to use the remote control.
When he went to fix the plumbing for the elderly person, he noticed that even though the TV was full of static, the elder hadn’t changed the channel. He thought it might be a loose signal wire or something similar.
After inquiring, he found out that the elder didn’t know how to use the remote control.
The honest man’s tone was filled with a kind of blind optimism that could be seen on every Federation citizen.
"I never expected that in a middle-class community, there are still people who can’t use a remote control!" He found this amusing and shared it with the person closest to him.
As they chatted, the young maid mentioned Lynch’s gift.
The honest man expressed gratitude to Lynch for his care towards the young maid and him. He actually didn’t think much of it, just a second-hand car to be dealt with; he had heard of such things before.
When a company needed to dispose of a batch of second-hand cars, some internal people bought very expensive new cars at a very affordable price, as showed in TV dramas.
He kept marveling at Mr. Lynch’s kindness and benevolence, admiring how lucky the young maid was to have met a good person.
Early the next morning, they went to the parking lot Lynch had told them about, and only upon seeing the neatly arranged cars, at least a hundred luxury cars, did they realize.
To Mr. Lynch, second-hand cars were different from what they understood a second-hand car to be.
The cars here, even the cheapest ones, cost tens of thousands, a price they simply couldn’t afford, yet fortunately, they seized this opportunity.
They browsed the selections and chose a luxury sedan from early last year; they had seen it on TV. The standard model cost sixty-nine thousand eight hundred, while the executive model cost eighty-nine thousand nine hundred.
They couldn’t tell if this was the standard model or the executive one, but even if it was just the standard, this was still a great fortune!
Any man would have an inherent appeal to such big toys.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, the honest man’s hands slightly trembled as he tightly grasped the steering wheel; even at this moment, he couldn’t believe it was all real.
"Can we really... drive away with this car?"
He stroked every part of the dashboard; the walnut dashboard felt smooth and warm, a sensation he very much enjoyed.
The young maid nodded, also in disbelief, "Yes, we just need to drive the car back and give the license plate number to Mr. Lynch, and he’ll have someone transfer the ownership to us!"
The honest man tried to contain his excitement and earnestly instructed the young maid, "You must work hard, we owe him too much!"
When the young maid returned to the villa, Lynch had already arranged for someone to handle the related procedures, such small things he never really worried about.
He was chatting with Nell, the conversation related to Akumal.
Now, Nagariel people refer to Akumal as "Saint Sage Master," previously just "Saint," and now with an added "Master," it seems like just an additional phonetic change, but for Nagariels, it means significantly more.
Saint Sage Master represents a higher realm, indicating his ideas have become mainstream, and that people should focus on developing around his ideas.
In Nagariel’s myths, those with such titles are often depicted as guides for gods in their childhood!
He is already beginning to be mythologized!
