Taxes are only within machine gun range!

Chapter 26 Unusual Purchase Orders
Milton was so sleepy and tired that he slept very well, and even after waking up, he couldn't quite tell how much time had passed.

The time is visible, but the date is a bit hard to see...

"I hope I didn't sleep all day." Milton sat up from the sofa, stretching his sore muscles. "I'll wash up first."

As soon as Milton stepped out of the room, he saw Lydia sitting at the dining table, staring blankly at the table.

Both parents were tortured and killed by Fan Kang's gang, leaving behind only one child...

Milton sighed inwardly, walked over, and asked, "Lia, how long have I been asleep?"

Lia quickly perked up and smiled, "Prosecutor, it seems you slept for a little over eight hours?"

What a strong child.

Milton didn't sit down. He glanced at Leah and carefully asked, "What do you plan to do during this time?"

"I...I don't know." Leah paused for a moment. "I still have a few dollars on me, the ones you gave me last time. Maybe, they can last me a few more days?"

It's impossible to keep the fruit shop open now.

Fan Kangbang will definitely come knocking on her door... Her boss is dead, her father is dead, and she has no one left to rely on.

It would be impossible for a little girl to find a decent job in such a place. She might starve to death in a few days or sell herself to human traffickers deep in the old streets.

Milton, sensing the numb and desperate tone in the voice, calmly replied, "Go to school and study."

Going to school...reading books...

Leah blinked and clenched her fingers tightly: "But I don't have money to pay tuition, Mr. Prosecutor."

“You’ll work at the pharmacy for now, and you’ll have enough tuition fees when the next semester starts.” After saying this, Milton turned and walked towards the bathroom. “Remember, only knowledge can change your destiny.”

As Lia watched Milton's departing figure and looked around at the familiar surroundings, the shattered sense of security slowly returned. Her forced composure crumbled instantly, and her eyes gradually blurred with tears: "...Thank you."

Milton stopped in his tracks, turned around, and corrected the little girl's choice of words very seriously: "Don't thank me, you paid taxes, and that's a right that taxpayers deserve."

Lia was stunned.

Does paying taxes entitle one to the rights of a taxpayer?
Lia, who had always been robbed by all sorts of people under various pretexts, seriously pondered the word "rights" for the first time and felt a shock to her worldview.

Milton, who had a lot to do, ignored the little girl and quickly went into the bathroom to wash up and change his clothes before heading to the small canteen located on the ground.

I'm a little hungry, let's eat first.

Brandon and Lutz were already waiting there. When they saw Milton come in, they quickly stood up: "Boss? Want to eat? I'll have the Chinese restaurant across the street send some food over. Just between you and me, Chinese food is really delicious. They provide most of the food in our cafeteria."

Milton fell silent upon hearing "Chinese restaurant," and after three seconds said to Lutz, "Go to the Chinese restaurant and buy some ingredients and seasonings, but not the finished product."

Is he afraid of being poisoned...? Lutz nodded, remarking on how cautious his boss was, then took the money and left.

Brandon, sitting in his chair, swayed back and forth: "Boss, you're not as cold as you seem... Judging from your obsession with taxes, I thought you were going to kick Leah out."

Milton glanced at him and said coldly, "So you deserve to have managed this place so poorly, and you deserve not to be able to collect taxes."

Brandon was a little confused: "Huh?"

“Collecting taxes without letting a single penny flow out will only lead people to feel that they have been robbed, and to become highly resistant to taxes, making the cost of tax collection unimaginably high, until the cost of tax collection far exceeds the tax revenue itself, at which point order will collapse.”

"You only make people feel the consequences of not paying taxes, but you don't let them feel the improvement in their quality of life after paying taxes, so the contradictions and conflicts become more and more intense."

Milton paused for a moment, then said, "In terms you can understand, if a store pays me protection money and finds that it can do business without any hindrance, that it no longer receives counterfeit money, that even if a pack of tissues is stolen, the police will help them get it back, and that more and more customers are coming in because order has been restored... would you still need to go and collect taxes from them?"

"He'd be begging me to collect his taxes! Do you understand what cost and efficiency are? Don't just think about how to get more bread; think about how to make two loaves of bread."

Those who make money should make money from others; focusing on bullying ordinary people will never lead to great wealth.

Brandon, who hadn't read many books, felt that what the other person said made a lot of sense. He nodded in realization, "So that's how it is... This is what it means to be educated? Looks like I'll have to earn some more tuition fees for my kids." "..."

After Milton finished teaching Brandon, Lutz also came back carrying bags and packages.

He placed the ingredients on the table and took a breath: "Chicken wings, eggs, a big piece of beef, tomatoes, some vegetables, rice, and some seasonings. Boss, is that enough for everyone? Do we have a cook here? Who can cook?"

"Oh! They even gave us a few bottles of Coca-Cola as a gift because they heard you were making purchases. American stuff, good stuff. Your reputation as a 'hellish tax collector' is really well-deserved!"

If you mention that nickname again, I'll lose my temper...

Milton's lips twitched, and he gave Lutz a warning look before taking the ingredients into the kitchen.

Lutz was stunned, then turned to Brandon and asked, "This... Boss is cooking himself? Boss can cook?"

"I do not know either!"

Forty minutes later, to everyone's astonishment, including Leah's, Milton expressionlessly brought out several large bowls of steaming dishes—tomato and egg drop soup, boiled beef, cola chicken wings, and steamed rice.

To cater to the palates of these foreigners, and because of the lack of seasonings, he only added a very, very small amount of spiciness to the boiled beef, and as for numbing sensation, there was none at all.

"There's meat, vegetables, and soup. It'll do, I guess." Milton took a plate of food, awkwardly forked a piece of beef with his fork, and ate it. He only gave it a 6.5 out of 10, barely passable.

However, to his utter surprise, the expressions on the faces of the others changed drastically after just a small taste.

Everyone, including Leah, would take a bite of food, glance up at Milton, and their expressions and eyes would grow more and more shocked. Eventually, they even showed feelings of "admiration," and some people even ate until tears welled up in their eyes.

"This is so delicious... I'll go get another bowl of soup!"

"Chicken wings can be cooked like this?"

"Please take less beef. You should have some manners!"

Almost everyone finished a game as quickly as possible, and then quickly went to play another one, as if they hadn't eaten for days.

Milton stared at the group of starving ghosts, dumbfounded, and asked, "Are you all really that serious?"

Brandon remained silent, focusing solely on his food.

Lutz barely managed to lift his head and mumbled, "Boss, this is so delicious... You, let me finish eating first."

So Milton watched as his food was devoured at the speed of light—the lunatics didn't even leave the broth behind!

After eating, everyone was so full they couldn't even stand up, but they still looked like they wanted more.

"Boss...you, you cook so well?!"

"Damn, this is even better than the Chinese restaurant across the street! This is the highest praise I can give to food!"

By this point, Milton had come to understand—in such poor places, meals consisted of bread, fried eggs, and plain water; occasionally, some offal was eaten to supplement protein… going to an American-style Chinese restaurant for a meal was a treat for oneself.

In places where people can starve to death, being able to eat your fill is already a blessing; who has the time to study cooking?
Lutz let out a satisfied sigh: "Now I'm sure I didn't follow the wrong person! Boss, what country's cuisine is this? When I retire, I'll learn your cooking skills and open a restaurant. The business will definitely be better than that Chinese restaurant."

Milton closed his eyes briefly and replied, "This is Chinese food."

"...Huh?! This is Chinese food? Then what is General Tso's Chicken?"

Milton was utterly speechless at this bunch of clowns. He sighed and shook his head: "Come down after you finish eating. Let's examine the 'boss's' ledgers and see if we can catch the Green Vine Charitable Foundation in the act."

Nowadays, most pharmacy "customers" can only move around on the first floor, and only those who are absolutely trustworthy can enter the basement.

After saying that, he returned to the small conference room on the basement floor, opened the ledger, and began to study it bit by bit.

The purchase order was very simple, only recording the drug names, unit prices, and some miscellaneous notes... Perhaps they were afraid of leaving too much evidence?
Milton continued flipping through the bills, when suddenly his brow furrowed.

(End of this chapter)