Empire of Shadows

Stepping out of the Gold Diamond Law Firm, Johnny looked at the bright city, yet felt his world suddenly darken.

He was very frustrated.

After paying two hundred and sixty dollars, he had less than one hundred and fifty dollars in cash left, and all the money in the bank was frozen.

What's more troublesome was that he heard Mr. Gus say that even if the case could reach their ideal outcome, with the judge supporting Johnny's unintentional tax evasion due to a lack of understanding of local tax laws, he would still have to pay a large fine.

This wasn't targeting anyone; everyone who went to court for this kind of thing would face this situation.

Moreover, his bakery had been operating for many years, and the tax bureau might penalize him based on ten to twenty years of tax evasion.

He had to prepare at least three thousand dollars to face the upcoming situation.

He had consulted Mr. Gus about what would happen if he couldn't pay the tax. Mr. Gus euphemistically told him that he would encounter misfortune and lose his freedom.

The sunshine couldn't dispel the gloom in his heart, nor could it warm his cold body. He only wanted to escape now, but he couldn't.

"We have no money," his fat daughter said softly. She had no money in her hands.

She spent all the money Johnny gave her every month. In fact, she sometimes stole some of the business revenue, but as long as it wasn't much, Johnny wouldn't notice.

Stealing two or three dollars a day was one of the reasons her boyfriend stayed with her.

Although she smelled bad and was fat, at least she had money and was willing to spend it on him.

But now they were facing a shortfall of not just a few dollars or tens of dollars, but a shortfall of several thousand dollars, and that was under the best-case scenario.

Johnny looked at the distant coast and the sea, his lips moved, and finally, he said what he didn't want to say, "We have an apartment."

His fat daughter wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't. Johnny had always said that this apartment would be transferred to her, and she could live in it after she got married.

But now, that promise seemed unlikely to be fulfilled.

Although Johnny wasn't very nice to other people, he was quite good to his daughter. He turned to look at his daughter, who was in low spirits, and even took the initiative to comfort her, "Think of the bright side, our bakery still has a stable income every month, and the new police officer doesn't charge much in protection fees."

"I'll talk to those gangs next week, maybe they can also lower some of our protection fees."

"And we can also take out a loan."

His fat daughter squeezed out a smile, "Yes, we can take out a loan, and we'll pay it back when the time comes. The house will still belong to us."

The two returned to the bakery, where her boyfriend was diligently kneading dough, sweat dripping into the flour, adding a special flavor.

In the evening, the intern lawyer recommended by Mr. Gus came here. After they talked for a while, he collected some information and materials and left.

Before leaving, he suggested that Johnny should prepare to pay fines, because the tax bureau would definitely demand the recovery of taxes and penalties, and the court would support it.

If he couldn't pay the money in time, they would charge him interest, and the interest would be very high!

Johnny talked about what would happen if he didn't have money. The young lawyer hadn't learned to be euphemistic and told them very bluntly that the bank would auction off everything of value in his name and then send him to jail.

The next morning, after a night of thinking, Johnny quickly cheered up. As long as the bakery was still there, he would have a chance to climb back up.

In the morning, he came to Botong Bank and went to the loan manager.

The manager was an old guy. He put on his glasses and looked at the form that Johnny had filled out with the help of the teller, then made two phone calls.

Finally, he looked at the form and raised his eyebrows, "Mr. Johnny, if you use this house as collateral, I can give you one thousand five hundred dollars."

Johnny suddenly widened his eyes. He had done a night's worth of mental preparation to get through this, but now the other party was telling him that the house was only worth one thousand five hundred dollars?

The expression on his face was particularly vivid and expressive, his eyebrows stood up, "Are you sure you're not saying three thousand five hundred dollars or two thousand five hundred dollars?"

The manager shook his head, "This is an old house. I just asked our partners, and the recent transaction price for a second-hand house in this area is only three thousand dollars."

"If you can't pay back the loan, we have to deal with this house, which requires manpower and material resources, including the cost of the auction. Moreover, I think its auction price conservatively estimated will not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars, maybe even lower."

"Adding these expenses, we can only get two thousand two hundred dollars at most."

Johnny was already annoyed listening to this bastard's nonsense, "But you… are only giving me one thousand five hundred dollars!"

The manager still had that expressionless look, "The rest is the space for interest and the reserved safety space. We must first ensure that our interests are not harmed."

"Mr. Johnny, we are not philanthropists. If you want to find philanthropists, go to those charitable organizations."

"This is a bank. We lend you one thousand five hundred dollars, hoping that this one thousand five hundred dollars can bring us the returns we expect, not do good deeds."

He then stacked the form and some materials together and put them in the file bag, "You can go back and think about it again, maybe changing to another bank or finding those financial companies on the street is a good choice."

He was clearly telling him to get lost. Johnny snatched the document, wanting to curse a few words, but seeing the guard outside the window, he finally buried the curse in his heart.

"This damn bloodsucking place, I'll never come back."

The manager still smiled disdainfully, signaling that he could leave.

Afterward, he went to Baihui Bank and the local Jincheng Bank.

The loan manager at Baihui Bank said he could give him one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, two hundred and fifty dollars more, and the reasons were roughly the same.

This was also unacceptable to him, and then he went to Jincheng Bank.

Jincheng Development Bank is a local bank established by many wealthy people under the promotion of the state government. Many people trust this bank and deposit their money in it.

Its savings interest rate is three percent higher than other banks, and some large deposits may be five percent higher, which is very attractive to depositors.

But some people also feel that it is not safe enough, so the development of Jincheng Bank has always been trapped locally, unable to expand outward, and it is difficult to expand out.

However, just the various businesses in Jincheng City are enough for them to eat their fill.

The loan department manager here looked at his documents and only gave him a quote of one thousand eight hundred dollars, and told him that this was the highest quote in the city, and no one would be higher than him.

"Mr. Johnny, you have to understand one thing, if you can't pay back the money, we have to sell this house for more than two thousand four hundred dollars in order to process it and get our expected interest."

"It looks like it still has a space of six hundred dollars compared to the recent transaction price, but you have to know that only one transaction has been completed in this community in the past three months."

"If we want to recover funds as soon as possible, we can only put it on auction at a price lower than three thousand dollars, and those who are interested in it will not buy it for three thousand dollars."

"Because if they can come up with this money and are willing to come up with this money, they have more and richer choices, better, bigger, and located closer."

"So don't think I'm teasing you or extorting you, I'm just telling you why it's only worth this price."

"In addition, if you are lucky, we will deposit the extra money from the auction into your account, so you don't need to worry about any additional losses."

"You can think of it in a good way, what if someone is willing to spend five thousand dollars to buy your house?"

This was not funny, at least Johnny couldn't laugh, "So one thousand eight hundred dollars is the highest price?"

The manager nodded, and like the manager of Botong Bank, began to tidy up the things on the table and put them all into the file bag, "I said, no one will offer more than this price, unless it's those financial companies."

"But you should be clear that if you give the house to them, what you lose may not just be a house."

His mood was even lower on the way back, and at the same time, another idea grew. Why not consider trying to sell the house directly?

He came to the real estate agency around the community and proposed the idea of selling the house.

The agency arranged for someone to look at his house, looking at it from front to back, "Mr. Johnny, your house looks… okay, how much do you plan to sell it for?"

Some hope arose in Johnny's heart, "How much do you think it can sell for?"

The agency manager thought for a moment, "If you are not in a hurry to sell, two thousand six hundred is a very suitable price."

"I noticed that some of the floors and wall coverings inside need to be replaced, and the exterior walls and roof also need to be taken care of. You must give others a competitive price."

Johnny was already mentally prepared, but he still couldn't accept it, "I heard that it can sell for three thousand five hundred dollars!"

The manager smiled, "That's a new house with high-end decoration."

He was silent for a while, and then asked, "What if I'm in a hurry to sell?"

"I can help you list it for two thousand four and try…"

Johnny felt his blood pressure rising again, and he even felt a little dizzy. He closed his eyes for a while, and his voice became louder, "You just sold a house, and it sold for three thousand!"

The manager still wore that fake, humorless smile. “If you spent five hundred dollars to renovate your house, I guarantee you could sell it for three thousand.”

Johnny, holding the file bag, returned home. His mind was preoccupied, and he couldn't settle down to do anything. As he tossed and turned, a small card fell out from somewhere—

Wanli Financial Consulting Company, satisfying all your needs!