Chapter 39: Money truly cannot be restrained from being spent

Xiao Cui didn't speak.

To a certain extent, what Li Jiaci said was indeed correct.

They truly are poor and short-sighted, and they truly are unwilling to pay this seventy-thousand tax.

Therefore, they chose to take risks and smuggle timber rather than export it legally to Huaguo.

And seeing him like that.

Li Jiaci reached out and patted his shoulder, saying: "Don't worry, from now on you won't have to do this; brothers will show you that you can make money walking the right path."

"Hope so."

"Eh, right."

Li Jiaci casually asked: "Was the one who just pointed a gun at my head your colonel's wife?"

"Shut up!"

Xiao Cui didn't even have time to row the boat, he directly covered Li Jiaci's mouth and whispered: "Don't talk nonsense, otherwise you won't even know how you died."

"What does that mean?"

Li Jiaci felt somewhat bewildered by him.

Xiao Cui pursed his lips and said: "She is our colonel's woman, and her ears are sharp."

"And I'm not scaring you; her marksmanship is excellent, she can hit a sparrow even a few hundred meters away."

"I go..."

Li Jiaci involuntarily shivered.

At this moment he only felt as if someone was watching him.

Next.

The two didn't talk much either.

After sending Li Jiaci to the shore.

Li Yihu and the others immediately gathered around him.

They examined Li Jiaci from head to toe carefully; seeing he was missing nothing and uninjured, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

And at this time.

Xiao Cui also said to Li Jiaci: "In two days, I will have the first batch of three hundred tons of timber ready; bring your vehicles to the Free Trade Zone to pick up the cargo, remember to bring more vehicles!"

"Sure!"

"Then we'll meet at the Free Trade Zone."

After seeing Xiao Cui off.

Only then did Li Jiaci shift his attention to the few brothers around him.

They all stood there dazed.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go!"

Li Jiaci stretched and said: "I've been tossed around all night, I'm almost dead from exhaustion."

Seeing Li Jiaci leave.

Only then did they come to their senses and hurriedly followed.

"Brother!"

"From what you just said, does that mean our business is settled?"

"With your brother making a move, what business could not be settled?"

Li Jiaci said: "Starting tomorrow, hurry out to find vehicles; the day after tomorrow we need to deliver the first batch of timber back."

Hearing him say that.

Several people inside were overjoyed.

"Still, big brother is awesome."

"Even Bei Bang's people can be handled."

"Now that this business is settled, we're really going to rise to prominence!"

Several people gathered around Li Jiaci, praising him one after another.

……

The next day.

Li Jiaci and Li Yihu et al. went together to the street to look for vehicles.

At this time, logistics companies had not yet risen; to find a vehicle one could only look for those who loiter to haul cargo.

Fortunately, Jiangcheng, after all, is a port city; it lacks everything except such loitering haulage trucks.

Li Jiaci easily found twenty-five of them and agreed to meet at his inn early the next morning.

After finishing up.

Li Jiaci then returned to the inn and took stock of the money in his hand.

Renting the factory and repairing equipment successively cost twenty thousand.

Coming to Jiangcheng, to lure Xiao Cui out, he spent another eight thousand.

Thinking ahead, he still had to give Xiao Cui two hundred thousand, plus vehicle expenses and such; Li Jiaci immediately grew wistful: "Money really isn't something you can hold back from spending..."

……

Three days later.

The sky had just begun to lighten.

Li Jiaci and company then led a convoy of several dozen trucks to Jiangcheng Free Trade Zone.

At that moment, Xiao Cui likewise led several dozen trucks waiting for them inside the Free Trade Zone.

Because they hadn't paid taxes yet, the free trade zone wouldn't let them unload the trucks, so the raw timber and such could only stay on the vehicles.

After Li Jiaci arrived.

He didn't waste any words, immediately throwing a pocket full of banknotes to Xiao Cui.

Hey!

Exactly two hundred thousand!

If there's no problem, fill in the amount of this timber shipment on the contract.

I'll then take the contract to the tax office to pay the tax!

Xiao Cui didn't hesitate either, immediately opening the bag and counting the money.

After confirming the money was fine, he took Li Jiaci's pen, marked the total timber amount on the contract, and signed his name in the lower-left corner.

Huh?

Li Jiaci raised an eyebrow and said, "You're not counting it?"

I trust you.

Xiao Cui casually remarked, then said, "Hurry up and get it done; I'm still waiting here to have people unload the truck."

Okay!

Li Jiaci didn't waste any time.

He immediately went to find the free trade zone's administrators to pay the tax.

It seemed no one had been trading raw timber in this free trade zone, which was almost turning into a rural market, for quite a while.

When the free trade zone staff started, they were a bit confused at first, but quickly reacted and immediately began the inventory and settlement.

Just as Xiao Cui had said.

Imported raw timber requires a tariff of thirty-five percent of the total goods value.

After the free trade zone staff finished inspection and weighing, they also sent the data to this workstation.

The tax officials compared the data with the contract and told Li Jiaci, "We've finished the inventory: a total of three hundred tons of raw timber, contract value seventeen thousand one hundred yuan, and the tax you need to pay amounts to five thousand nine hundred eighty-five yuan!"

Li Jiaci immediately pulled out banknotes from his pocket, counted them out, and handed them through the window.

The tax officials first verified the authenticity of the banknotes, then stamped the customs documents with an official seal.

And it was also when they handed the documents to Li Jiaci.

That tax officer reminded Li Jiaci, "Since you're purchasing goods as an individual business, the tax is relatively high, but if you established a company, trading in our free trade zone would qualify for a reduction."

How much could be reduced?

Li Jiaci asked instinctively.

Around thirteen or fourteen percent.

The tax officer said, "At least it could save you about two thousand yuan."

……

Upon hearing that, Li Jiaci's mouth twitched.

Why didn't you say that earlier?

Thinking back, these past few days he'd been dragging his brothers to eat steamed buns and pickled vegetables just to save money, and he was practically fuming.

Had he known forming a company would exempt him from so much tax, why would he still be operating as an individual business?

After all, in this era setting up a company only required paying a registration deposit, hardly costing anything.

But there was nothing he could do.

The money that needed to be paid had already been paid.

By the time he finished the paperwork here, Xiao Cui's side also had the people load the timber.

Xiao Cui asked, "What's next? Just head back?"

Or are you waiting here to have me throw you into the river to feed the fish?

Li Jiaci said, "Tell you, don't even dream about it—you'll never get this chance in your lifetime."

Hehe.

Xiao Cui smiled and said, "See you in three days?"

See you in three days.