Empire of Shadows

When the drunken Cooper returned home, his wife was already sitting on the sofa watching television, waiting for him.

Normally, when he came back, his wife would smile at him, but today, her face was cold.

This was because Cooper rarely came home this late, and he looked like he had been drinking too much.

She was very clear about how much a bottle of liquor cost now. If he had consumed it with others, it would have been fine, but if he had consumed it himself, he must have spent a lot of money.

”You didn’t say you would be home late tonight.”

The alcohol had already begun to take effect in his body. Cooper, his face flushed red, casually tossed his tie onto the tray near the door used for putting these things.

Middle-class life was just this exquisite and meticulous. They would place the clothes they had worn and did not plan to wear the next day on this small tray, and then they would be sorted and dealt with.

These items would be placed in a small bag according to their category, and then sent to the service point inside the community that was specially used for cleaning these things the next day.

He kicked off his shoes, staggered to the sofa next to his wife, and sat down, but not right next to her.

They were actually also facing a problem that almost all middle-class couples faced during this period: sexual apathy between husband and wife, and boredom with each other.Just like... William and Emily. Before William’s career had picked up, his situation with Emily was also this terrible.

Perhaps William was still in a relatively stable state, but Emily might cheat. Of course, only possibly.

As William’s career gained tremendous growth, new sparks erupted between the couple due to the increase in power and social status, and they had even had a son, Victor.

Cooper and his wife were also facing this problem. They had not engaged in fluid exchange for about two years.

Seeing that they were both annoyed with each other, neither of them would bring it up.

As long as one person didn’t bring it up, the other would breathe a sigh of relief. Although they slept in the same bed, they were more like family than husband and wife.

Sitting on the sofa and leaning back, the feeling of the whole world spinning had lessened a lot. He looked up at his wife. ”I had some unexpected social engagements tonight.”

”I have something I want to tell you.”

His wife was an accountant. Originally, female accountants were not very popular in the accounting industry—this was not yet the period of the rise of feminism. People trusted responsible and capable men more than women who knew nothing.

Without a doubt, this was a stereotype, but it did exist in federal society. It was like many important positions could be held by any man, even the most utterly stupid one.

But this position absolutely could not be held by a woman, no matter how intelligent that woman was.

However, with the outbreak of the war, the Federation’s tax system underwent a huge reform. Even homeless people had to file taxes. The business of all accounting firms ushered in a boom period.

Countless people wanted to figure out exactly how much personal income tax they had to pay, and how to pay less. They could only go to professional accountants or tax consultants.

Finding these people required paying a fee.

For those big accountants, the more famous tax consultants, it was impossible for them to serve the low-level people who only had an income of fifty or sixty dollars a month. Their service fees were very high. But such a market did exist.

So some female accountants who were not valued, some apprentices, had all started to become useful.

They could earn about two dollars for every personal tax declaration form they completed. The firm would get one dollar.

The city they lived in had a population of about 1.2 million who needed to file taxes. In other words, this would generate nearly four million in revenue every year. This accumulated to a huge income.

Cooper’s wife could handle about three to four hundred tax returns a month. She could earn about seven hundred dollars a month from the accounting firm, including her basic salary.

This income was considered very high among the middle class of the Federation.

Originally, Cooper’s income was the highest in the family, but now, the highest income belonged to his wife.

In a middle-class family, the one who speaks loudest is not determined by the size of their voice, but by who can contribute more to the family.

Without a doubt, Cooper had, in the past two years, lost his status as the head of the family. Even if he hadn’t completely lost it, since this was a patriarchal society, it was still precarious.

His wife sat there, her expression calm and slightly serious, looking at him. ”You had better make yourself look like you can speak clearly before you talk to me.”

Cooper was stunned for a moment, then thought of something. ”I’ll go change my clothes.”

He took a shower, changed into a set of casual wear, and came back.

After the shower, he was much clearer. ”I have resigned from my job.”

He looked at his wife, but she did not show any displeasure or anger, just looked at him calmly.

”I... you know a new supervisor came to our workshop.”

His wife nodded. ”Yes, you told me. A young man who is more than ten years younger than you.”

”I had a conflict with him,” Cooper said bluntly. ”Our conflict completely erupted today, so I left the company.”

His wife’s face still didn’t show much expression. ”That’s fine. My income is enough to support us to continue to maintain this decent life.”

”And you are a member of the Labor Union. You can have them arrange a new job for you.”

The Labor Union had a transcendent status in the industrial sector. After all, the operation, setting, and maintenance of industrial machinery all required very professional skills.

This was not like the workers on a light industrial assembly line, who could be competent in any position after a simple training.

In the industrial field, especially in heavy industry, the value of a skilled worker was like the word ”value.” It really had gold in it!

As long as Cooper spoke to the Labor Union, he would soon be able to get a new job through internal recommendation, and his salary might even be a little higher.

Even if it wasn’t much higher, it wouldn’t be much lower. After all, with the Labor Union and the workers’ union behind him, those capitalists wouldn’t dare to be too reckless.

So his quitting now was not a problem for the family.

Cooper shook his head. ”I temporarily don’t plan to continue working.”

Before his wife could say anything, he proactively spoke. ”Actually, this is what I intended to tell you.”

”Don’t we have 100,000 in savings?”

His wife nodded. She was very calm, but there seemed to be a trace of instability hidden within the calmness. She asked in a slightly uncertain, even threatening tone, ”Don’t tell me you touched that money!”

Cooper was suddenly a little embarrassed. He scratched his head, but the embarrassment came and went quickly. ”I’m sorry. I did touch that money. I used it for financial investment.”

”Now it’s 200,000, and it will soon become 300,000, or even more!”

His wife had originally wanted to criticize him for touching the family’s core savings, but the words he said, those numbers, made her completely unable to utter a single word of criticism.

She slightly opened her mouth, somewhat at a loss, and then quickly asked, ”How did it become so much?”

Cooper had drunk some liquor. Although he had taken a shower, the alcohol was still taking effect, just not as strongly as before.

”You know, I’ve been studying finance for a while now.”

”I bought a lot of books, and I also participated in some salons and seminars.”

His wife nodded repeatedly. That was indeed the case. She had also participated with him. Those gatherings of people who were clearly of their class, or even half a class or one class above them, discussing the magic of finance.

She knew that her husband had a dream of investing.

Cooper clapped his hands together, tightly clasping them. His face was flushed with excitement. ”Now, I’ve succeeded!”

”After my selection, I chose a stock, and it’s been surging upwards like a madman. Now my assets have doubled!”

His wife suddenly said at this time, ”It’s our assets.”

This interruption made Cooper stunned for a moment. Then he rolled his eyes. ”Don’t interrupt me!”

”I admit, it’s our assets. In short, it has doubled, and it will continue to increase!”

”Honey, think about it. It took us twenty years to have this, but in just two or three months, we have achieved a leap in wealth. This is the most wonderful thing about finance!”

A few more smiles also appeared on his wife’s face, but the smile was not so fervent, unlike him, who had almost exposed all his teeth. This was a very impolite and reckless act.

And she was also very calm. ”Any investment has risks. My suggestion is that you had better take out half of it now, to ensure that our assets are stable, and then you use the rest to continue your investment.”

Now her attitude had also become gentler and softer. This was the truest side of a middle-class family—

The one who can bring more wealth to this family is the one who rules the roost in this family.

This time it was Cooper’s wife, but now it was him, so his wife became less aggressive and less likely to try to take the initiative.

Cooper shook his head. ”I have insider news, and it’s real insider news. This stock will continue to rise!”

His wife’s attention now turned to the key point. ”Which stock?”

”Hope Mining!”

”I’ve heard that name!” his wife nodded. ”They do say that its development is very good, but you can’t be careless, you understand?”

”This is our family’s twenty years of savings. I believe you also don’t want our twenty years of effort to be a thing of the past in an instant.”

”Also, you had better consider my suggestion and take out a portion of it.”

Cooper knew that if he didn’t agree on this matter, his wife would bring it up with him from time to time, so he immediately agreed. ”I will handle this when I go to Deterland on Monday.”

”You are going to Deterland?” His wife stood up and walked to the dining room, where she brewed him a cup of coffee, and also brought back some small pastries.

”To do what?”

Cooper casually picked up a piece of pastry and started eating. While eating, he took a sip of the hot coffee. His whole person seemed to have become much more comfortable. ”Hope Mining is going to distribute dividends to its investors. Anyone who has invested more than fifty thousand dollars can go to the site and have a close communication with their president and members of the board of directors.”

”You know, those capitalists always like to do this kind of thing, and then have reporters report it. They want the whole world to know that they are making a huge profit!”

His wife, hearing this, did not think much of it, and just nodded. ”I will pack your luggage. When are you planning to leave?”

”This weekend.”

The ”family crisis” that had existed was thus averted. In the evening, the two lay in bed, chatting about what they would do if their dream came true and 100,000 turned into 500,000 after a period of time.

The two chatted about many things, about wealth, dreams, and many other things. It seemed that a special kind of vitality was continuously budding, growing, and strengthening in their bodies.

The two also gradually moved closer to each other. Cooper’s hand subconsciously pressed on her chest. In the room with only faint light, the two looked at each other for a moment, and then, like a long-dormant volcano that had suddenly erupted, it was devastating!

They had two rounds, which took more than forty minutes. Afterwards, Cooper was completely sober. He leaned back on the headboard, looking at his wife who was smoking. He was a little surprised. ”I didn’t know you smoke now too.”

His wife exhaled a puff of smoke. ”Smoking helps me relax. If you were the one who had to face countless bills and those people who can’t even fill out forms every day, you would know how irritable I am now!”

Not everyone knew what needed to be declared and what didn’t, so most of the tax returns people wrote were wrong.

She needed to correct these mistakes and then satisfy the client.

Sometimes she felt that she was actually no different from the ordinary workers in other jobs. It was just that others were on the assembly line, and she was sitting in an office. She might even be more irritable than the workers on the assembly line.

Hearing his wife complain about work, the two had just completed two rounds of the most primitive intimacy. The frequency of their emotions was still on the same channel. He immediately comforted, ”After we achieve financial freedom, you can completely quit your job.”

His wife shook her head. ”I have over three thousand after tax every year. I can’t afford to lose this income.”

The tax in the Federation is very high now, because ”war tax” has also been added. Of course, they wouldn’t put it that way. They just lowered the tax threshold and raised the tax rate at the same time.

Some states, strictly speaking, sixty dollars out of a hundred are taxes. The wages have clearly increased, but the feeling people get is that the disposable part has decreased.

At this time, an accountant is needed to help them find a way to reduce some of their taxes, to legally avoid tax. Although it is only two dollars, the matter itself is not too complicated.

It’s like an inquiry process, asking how many children they have, whether they all have jobs, whether they have done any social welfare work, or whether they have donated to charity.

Capitalists have their own way of avoiding tax, and ordinary people also have their own way. For example, some states, if a family has two or more children, can reduce a part of their taxes by ”providing an educational foundation for family members.”

There are also some states that will subsidize families with multiple children based on the number of children. Although this is not a tax exemption, in essence, it is equivalent to an extra, tax-exempt income, which is the same as a tax exemption.

The accounting firm has already made a form for these things. She just needs to ask, and then fill in the form according to the checkmarks or crosses.

It’s not troublesome, it’s just mentally exhausting, because some clients are really not very smart. What you say and what they say are simply not on the same frequency.

Looking at the fatigue on his wife’s face, Cooper pursed his lips. ”I will become a remarkable person. I will let you quit this job. The only thing you need to do every day is to enjoy life.”

His wife seemed to enjoy this kind of promise. ”I hope you can keep this promise, and not be like the things you promised me before we got married, none of which came true.”

Cooper was, at this time, in a moment of great male chauvinism. The thing he couldn’t stand the most was this kind of provocation. ”Is there anything I said that I didn’t do?”

”I think I’ve done everything I promised you!”

His wife took a puff of her cigarette, and then slowly exhaled. ”You said you would fuck me so hard that I couldn’t get out of bed, at any time.”

Cooper was stunned. After a few seconds, he awkwardly explained, ”I was too young at that time...”

His wife smiled and pursed her lips. ”So you hope you can keep your promise this time!”

...

For the next two days, Cooper was resting, adjusting himself, and also reading some financial books, but he couldn’t quite understand them. He was in a fog.

The strangest thing about these financial books was that they often contradicted themselves.

If one book refuted the view of another, he thought it was possible. After all, it was normal to have different stances and views in academic discussions.

But in some books, the things the author wrote later contradicted what he had written earlier. Inconsistent.

Sometimes he felt that the more he read these books, the less he understood what finance was, and what its operating rules were.

On Sunday noon, after he had finished eating, he bid farewell to his wife and child, packed his luggage, and took the train to New Golden City.

The place he lived was not far from New Golden City. He arrived in New Golden City in three hours, and successfully checked into the hotel he had reserved.

He contacted his stockbroker. The two arranged to meet at half-past nine on Monday morning. At a quarter past nine, they would hold the investor dividend meeting.