Wen Jiaxuan didn’t understand what Wu Zehao was saying. He only heard the four words, “you must take responsibility.”
Generally speaking, when most people hear these four words, they would react negatively. Their behavior might not be very upright, and they might even try to avoid taking responsibility without fully understanding the situation.
However, Wen Jiaxuan was different. His eyes lit up as he looked at Wu Zehao and said, “Alright, I’ll take responsibility.”
Wu Zehao asked with a bewildered expression, “Do you even know what it is? You little brat.”
Wen Jiaxuan shook his head honestly.
“You have to go with me to the tax office.”
Wen Jiaxuan finally realized and asked, “Why is your company locked, and what does it have to do with me?”
“The tax control is locked,” Wu Zehao repeated, “I can’t file taxes or issue invoices right now, and it’s causing a lot of trouble.”
Wen Jiaxuan nodded as if he understood and continued to ask, “Why was it locked?”
“Because you broke my phone.”
Wen Jiaxuan was somewhat confused, not understanding the connection. Wu Zehao turned and said, “Come with me, I’ll explain it to you along the way.”
“Alright.” Wen Jiaxuan nodded, swiftly pacing to match Wu Zehao’s strides.
“In my company, there are only two shareholders. One is me, and the other is Zhang Zhitao. You encountered him at the bar. He’s the bar owner.”
Wen Jiaxuan recollected Wu Zehao’s friend who had “spoken up for him” at the bar, yet he struggled to distinctly recall the man’s visage.
“To establish a company, the legal representative’s and the financial manager’s information must be registered. I’m the legal representative of Zeyou Travel. However, Zhang Zhitao earns off-the-books income, making it inconvenient to officially list him as the financial manager. Thus, during the initial registration, both roles were listed under my name.”
While Wu Zehao elaborated, the duo reached the parking lot, where Wu Zehao tossed Wen Jiaxuan his helmet.
“However, legally, the legal representative and the financial manager can’t be the same person. Consequently, the tax office contacted me to reconfirm the information. A few days back, I received a call from an unfamiliar landline. Typically, I don’t answer unknown numbers unless they ring twice, so I let it go that time.”
“Then, earlier today, my phone got shattered, and I missed the call. Recently, someone from the accounting firm got in touch, explaining that the tax office has locked my company’s tax status.”
“In that case, what’s the plan?” Wen Jiaxuan questioned as he donned his helmet. With his slight frame, wearing it wasn’t much of a task.
Wu Zehao’s movements outpaced Wen Jiaxuan’s. He was already on the motorcycle, peering ahead as he said, “Unlocking it requires both the legal representative and the financial manager to visit the tax office together. Follow me.”
“Ah?” With only half his helmet on, Wen Jiaxuan hastily removed it again, startled. “Me? The financial manager?”
“Yes, hop on.”
Wen Jiaxuan stammered, “How could I become the financial manager?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“It’s just a formality; as long as the company isn’t engaged in any wrongdoing, it won’t implicate you.” Wu Zehao clarified, “Furthermore, if I had answered that call earlier, we could have delayed this. The tax office wouldn’t have directly locked me up unless there was no alternative.”
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Wen Jiaxuan nibbled his lower lip, his expression distinctly reluctant.
Wu Zehao took off his helmet, resting his elbows on the handlebars in front, and asked with a playful smile, “Who just said they were going to take responsibility?”
“I… I’m not quite grasping the situation,” Wen Jiaxuan confessed, lacking confidence.
“So you’re no longer willing to take responsibility?” Wu Zehao inquired once more.
“It’s not that…”
Wen Jiaxuan regarded himself as a rational person. He acknowledged that he had caused Wu Zehao a lot of trouble. Wu Zehao hadn’t demanded compensation for his phone, which was already lenient. If he backed out now, it would be quite unreasonable.
“Then… take me there,” Wen Jiaxuan suggested coyly. “I’ll take responsibility.”
“Good boy,” Wu Zehao praised, raising his hand to ruffle Wen Jiaxuan’s drooping head. He then put on his helmet again and instructed, “Get on the bike.”
Wen Jiaxuan stood still and didn’t move. Wu Zehao had already ruffled his head more than once, but what did he just say?
Wu Zehao turned around and urged, “You’re always so slow with things?”
Quickly, Wen Jiaxuan wore the helmet, hiding the blush on his face. He climbed onto the motorcycle, rested his hand on Wu Zehao’s shoulder, and asked, “Should we head to the tax office now?”
“Let’s go home first,” Wu Zehao suggested. “We need to gather a lot of documents, and it’s too late today. We’ll go tomorrow.”
Upon hearing this, joy surged within Wen Jiaxuan. This joy even outweighed his unease about going to the tax office because it seemed he would get to spend another day at Wu Zehao’s place.
As they approached the neighborhood, Wu Zehao dropped Wen Jiaxuan at the entrance of the police station, instructing him to retrieve his ID before returning.
Wen Jiaxuan queued up with other ID card holders for photos, and it took over an hour to receive the thin ID card.
Using his memory, he made his way back to Wu Zehao’s residence. Standing on tiptoe, he peered into the courtyard.
At that moment, Wu Zehao sat on the opposite side of a workbench. A cigarette was held in his left hand while his right hand deftly maneuvered the mouse, as though browsing a webpage.
Wen Jiaxuan waved towards the floor-to-ceiling window and called out, “Wu Zehao!”
Unresponsive, Wu Zehao continued with his work. Wen Jiaxuan took another step forward, accidentally knocking open the gate’s iron railing.
It turned out that Wu Zehao had left the gate ajar for him.
The sensation was peculiar; despite being in a foreign land, it felt like he had a home.
Pushing aside the strange thoughts, Wen Jiaxuan entered the yard, closed the iron gate, and accessed the house through the French windows. As Wu Zehao saw him, he swiftly extinguished his cigarette and casually said, “Is it done?”
“Yes.” Wen Jiaxuan approached the workbench. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”
In doing so, he noticed that the three cameras that had originally been on the workbench had been moved to a cabinet behind by Wu Zehao. It seemed Wu Zehao feared he, an inadvertent saboteur, would accidentally damage something.
Wen Jiaxuan felt a touch of disappointment. He realized that not causing trouble was probably the best way he could assist Wu Zehao, as he didn’t seem capable of helping at all. Predictably, Wu Zehao didn’t react much to his offer. He simply tilted his chin slightly and suggested, “No, go sit on the sofa.”
“Okay…”
Wen Jiaxuan couldn’t conceal his feelings of disappointment; they were written all over his face. He hung his head and turned around, but at that moment, Wu Zehao halted him.
“Can you write?” Wu Zehao asked.
Wen Jiaxuan swiftly turned back, nodding eagerly. “Yes.”
“Can you draft an official statement?” Wu Zehao inquired further. “Unlocking the company’s lease requires providing the actual business address. Since I’m working from home now, I can’t present an invoice. I need to draft a statement.”
“Then I can certainly write it,” Wen Jiaxuan responded quickly. “I’m quite adept at drafting official documents.”
In truth, Wen Jiaxuan was a decent writer, although not exceptionally so. If he truly excelled, he wouldn’t have faltered in his argument earlier.
But in front of Wu Zehao, he still wanted to appear useful.
“There’s a computer you can use here. Go grab a stool and sit down,” Wu Zehao suggested.
“No need.” Wen Jiaxuan shifted one shoulder, indicating that he still had a backpack on. “I brought my own laptop.”
Wu Zehao seemed puzzled. “Why would you bring your laptop here just to collect your salary?”
“This is the most valuable thing I own,” Wen Jiaxuan replied. “Of course, I’d bring it with me.”
“Alright, go sit on the sofa and write. Call me when you’re done.”
Drafting a statement of the situation wasn’t particularly challenging for Wen Jiaxuan, but he still regarded it with importance. He approached the sofa, prepared to power up his computer, and began typing “This statement hereby certifies” in the document.
“What’s your ID number?” Wen Jiaxuan turned around and asked.
Wu Zehao recited a series of numbers.
As his fingers moved across the keyboard, Wen Jiaxuan’s mind wandered. He realized that the series of numbers in Wu Zehao’s WeChat ID were likely his birthdate.
“What’s the floor area of this room?” Wen Jiaxuan inquired again.
Wu Zehao provided another number, followed by, “The address here is…”
“I know,” Wen Jiaxuan interrupted Wu Zehao. “1-1, No. 11, 11 Street, City H.”
After he finished, Wen Jiaxuan playfully winked at Wu Zehao and said, “I’ve got the swindler’s address memorized.”
Wu Zehao chuckled.
In less than ten minutes, Wen Jiaxuan had composed a satisfactory explanation of the situation. Holding his laptop, he showed it to Wu Zehao. Wu Zehao raised an eyebrow and asked, “You wrote this yourself? Not copy-pasted from Baidu?”
“I wrote it,” Wen Jiaxuan replied, somewhat unsure if he had done it correctly. “Isn’t it enough to explain that this is Zeyou Tourism’s office address and that it’s also your residence?”
“Yes.” Wu Zehao took the laptop, typed in a few words and a string of codes following “Zeyou Travel,” and said, “This is the company’s full name and its unified social credit code.”
Observing Wen Jiaxuan’s confusion, Wu Zehao added, “This code is essentially the company’s ID number.”
Wen Jiaxuan had a sudden realization and nodded. It seemed everything was in order except for that.
He looked at Wu Zehao with anticipation. Wu Zehao quickly caught onto his subtle intent and commended, “Nicely written.”
Wen Jiaxuan didn’t want to appear overly pleased, but his lips couldn’t help curling upwards. Clearing his throat, he concealed his satisfaction and asked, “Should I send it to you now?”
“Sure, just airdrop it to me.”
Wen Jiaxuan understood Wu Zehao’s intent and used Airdrop to send the document.
Wu Zehao promptly printed out the statement and retrieved a small box from a drawer, containing several stamps.
Wen Jiaxuan approached and queried, “What are these?”
“The company’s official seal, corporate seal, and contract seal,” Wu Zehao explained. He took out the official seal and pressed it onto the situation statement.
Wen Jiaxuan asked with curiosity, “Starting a business is quite difficult.”
“Yes, it’s a whole bunch of nonsense,” Wu Zehao said matter-of-factly. “We still need to safeguard against hostile takeovers.”
Wen Jiaxuan was taken aback. “Someone’s trying to hostilely take over your company?”
“That’s none of your concern.” Wu Zehao playfully nudged Wen Jiaxuan’s waist, guiding him away from the workbench, as if steering him toward a cooler spot.
Sulkingly, Wen Jiaxuan returned to the sofa. He glanced back at Wu Zehao after fidgeting with his phone for a while, but after a lengthy wait, he received no further instructions.
Gradually, a sense of melancholy began to creep over Wen Jiaxuan. It seemed that Wu Zehao probably wouldn’t keep him around after they went to the tax office tomorrow to handle the matter.
But…
He really wanted to stay here.
Thanks for the chapter!! <333
Thanks for the chapter!