Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

The lighter fell to the ground with a crisp "click".

In the deathly silent living room, this sound was like a thunderclap, making the hairs on Lu Zhenhua's body stand on end.

He didn't even bother to pick up the priceless limited edition lighter. He sprang up from the sofa as if he had springs in his body, his movements so agile that he didn't look like a man who was almost sixty years old at all.

"What...what did you say?!"

Lu Zhenhua clutched his chest, his other finger pointing at Lu Jingyan, his fingertips trembling violently. "Taxation? You unfilial son! What did you just say? You checked the group's accounts? You're going to check your own father?!"

He never imagined that the fire would eventually burn him.

I was just feeling lucky to have escaped, but this kid turned around and launched a counterattack, aiming straight for my vitals!

Lu Jingyan shook his head helplessly at the old man's near-heart attack. He bent down to pick up the lighter from the floor, placed it on the coffee table, and then sat back down on the sofa, his expression still that infuriatingly calm.

"Dad, why are you so agitated? Sit down and talk."

How could I not be excited!

Lu Zhenhua roared, spittle flying everywhere, "I'm your father! You take the government's salary, and instead of catching bad guys, you come home to swindle my taxes? Are you only satisfied when you've got me in jail alongside Gu Yanchen?!"

"On the contrary."

Lu Jingyan pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses calm and sharp. "It's precisely because I don't want to send you in that I want to settle this score with you before anyone else does anything."

He leaned forward slightly, and his tone became more serious.

"Dad, you're an old hand, you should understand one thing. If I point out the tax issue now, it's considered 'self-inspection and self-correction,' or 'miscalculation.' As long as you proactively go to the tax bureau to pay the outstanding taxes and a little late payment fee, this matter will be over, at most it will be an administrative penalty."

Lu Jingyan paused, his voice suddenly turning cold.

"But if we wait until the tax bureau comes knocking, or if a competitor reports us, the nature of the case changes completely. That becomes 'tax evasion,' a criminal offense. At that point, even if I'm the head of the special investigation team, I can't protect you. Depending on the amount, the sentence starts at three years, with no upper limit."

These words were well-reasoned, logically sound, and left Lu Zhenhua stunned.

Although he runs a large business, he's not really that sensitive to these specific legal provisions. He usually leaves them to the finance director; he just signs off on them.

"Is...it that serious?"

Lu Zhenhua's momentum instantly deflated, and he slumped back onto the sofa, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. "No...it can't be that bad, can it? I pay so much tax every year, I'm even the city's top taxpayer..."

"So what if he's a model worker? Gu Yanchen is supposed to be an outstanding young entrepreneur, but isn't he working as a sewing machine in there now?"

Lu Jingyan ruthlessly shattered his illusions, "Especially in the overseas investment area, the tax refund process is extremely complicated and it's also the easiest place for shady dealings to occur. Can you guarantee that your finance staff haven't tried anything crooked to boost their performance?"

Lu Zhenhua remained silent.

He couldn't guarantee it.

In business, too much clarity breeds contempt. In the pursuit of maximum profit, finance departments often push the boundaries recklessly. It was fine before no one checked, but now that they have a ruthless, uncompromising manager in their own company, what if he catches them red-handed…

Lu Zhenhua shuddered at the thought of the miserable state his second brother, Lu Zhenhai, was in when he was taken away.

"Then... what do we do now?"

This once-powerful business tycoon now looked at his son with the pleading eyes of a schoolchild who had done something wrong, asking, "Is it too late for me to make up for it now?"

"There's still time."

Lu Jingyan nodded, glanced at the clock on the wall, and said, "It's two in the morning. Before the tax bureau opens, wake up the finance director right now and have him audit all the accounts overnight. Especially the overseas accounts; if there's even a single penny discrepancy, make sure it's corrected."

"Tomorrow morning, please personally take the check to the tax office, proactively declare and pay any outstanding taxes. Be sincere and humble."

Lu Zhenhua nodded repeatedly, as if pounding garlic.

"Okay! Okay! I'll start right now! I'll start right now!"

He frantically grabbed his phone and dialed the CFO's number.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. The finance director's sleepy voice, tinged with morning grumpiness, came through: "Feed? Who is it? In the middle of the night..."

"I am Lu Zhenhua!"

Lu Zhenhua roared into his phone, his voice booming, showing no trace of his earlier weakness, "Stop sleeping! Get up and get to work! Back to the company right now! Draw up all last year's accounts! Especially the overseas tax refund section, check it down to the last decimal point!"

"Chairman? What...what happened in the middle of the night?"

"Something terrible has happened!"

Lu Zhenhua glanced at Lu Jingyan sitting opposite him, who was looking at him with a half-smile, and said through gritted teeth, "Stop talking nonsense! Just investigate! Find the loopholes and fix them immediately! If you fail to pay even a penny of tax, I'll skin you alive!"

"Remember! The Lu Group's motto is to abide by the law! Paying taxes is an honor! Do you understand?!"

After hanging up the phone, Lu Zhenhua let out a long sigh of relief, as if he had just finished running a marathon.

He slumped on the sofa, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Lu Jingyan, and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"How about that? Is it okay now? I did exactly as you said."

Lu Jingyan nodded in satisfaction and stood up.

"Alright, Dad. I'm relieved that you're so understanding. Get some rest, we still need to pay the bills tomorrow."

After saying that, he turned and went upstairs, leaving his elderly father with a dashing back view.

As Lu Zhenhua watched his son's retreating figure, he muttered curses under his breath, but inexplicably felt a sense of peace.

Although this kid can be infuriating at times, it has to be said that having such a law-abiding and protective son makes the family seem more stable than before.

"Sigh, these days, even fathers have to watch their sons' faces. What kind of world is this..."

Lu Zhenhua muttered something and lit another cigarette. This time, his hand didn't tremble.

Problems that can be solved with money aren't really problems. What's a little extra tax? Consider it protection money for this kid!

……

The next morning.

Lu Jingyan was awakened by a series of urgent cell phone rings.

He groggily reached for his phone and glanced at the caller ID—Su Xiaoxiao.

"Feed?"

His voice was hoarse from just waking up, "Xiaoxiao, what trouble have you gotten yourself into this early in the morning?"

"Captain Lu! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!"

On the other end of the phone, Su Xiaoxiao sounded unusually excited, with the crisp sound of keyboard typing in the background. "That miracle doctor Lin Fan you arrested before is causing trouble in the detention center!"

Lu Jingyan instantly regained half of his senses.

Lin Fan?

The "miracle doctor who came down from the mountain" who was sent to jail for practicing medicine illegally and selling counterfeit drugs?

This guy has been in there for almost half a month, and he's been doing really well, telling palms and treating athlete's foot. Why is he suddenly getting restless again?

"What happened to him? Did he escape from prison?" Lu Jingyan sat up in bed, his brows furrowed slightly.

"No prison break! That's even more outrageous than a prison break!"

Su Xiaoxiao said urgently, "Just now, news came from the detention center. During his exercise time, Lin Fan somehow managed to trick several serious offenders into becoming crippled! Now those prisoners worship him as a 'reincarnated Hua Tuo,' and even that newly arrived War God Chu Tianjiao is kneeling before him begging him to treat his old injuries!"

"Most importantly, Lin Fan seems to have made contact with some outside forces through these prisoners, and he boasts that he will make the entire city of Jinghai beg him to leave within three days!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jingyan not only didn't get angry, but instead laughed in exasperation.

"Beg him to leave?"

He threw back the covers, got out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains. The blinding sunlight streamed in, illuminating his playful face.

"These main characters are all really good at causing trouble. In this society governed by the rule of law, who do they think they are? A savior?"

"Captain Lu, what do we do now? The detention center might not be able to control the situation, so they've requested support from our special investigation team."

"Support? Not needed."

As Lu Jingyan dressed, he coldly spoke into the phone:

"Tell the detention center to move Lin Fan to a single cell. Since he's so keen on treating patients, let him do it properly."

"I'm going there right now. I want to see what new tricks he can come up with this time."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Jingyan looked at his upright self in the mirror and straightened his tie.

The internal problems within the family have been eliminated, and the troublemakers in society have been mostly dealt with.

Now, it's the turn of these "gods" who are still not behaving themselves in prison.

"Dr. Lin?"

Lu Jingyan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, and a cold glint flashed behind the lenses.

"I hope your medical skills can heal your own brain."