Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 789: It’s about the Perspective

After Xiaoyun came back, the two of them discussed the Beijing meeting for a bit longer before turning the conversation towards renewing the oil deal.

They both easily reached consensus, only taking a few minutes to agree to keeping the same ratio of one tonne of food for one tonne of oil.

With the trade negotiation out of the way, the conversation quickly shifted back to the meeting in Beijing.

More specifically, how was Xiaoyun going to get there? The idea of driving there was instantly shut down without a thought.

The next idea of flying the abandoned planes in the airport was removed due to safety concerns, and he didn't trust it to work properly over such a long flight.

In the end, Zhangfei agreed to give Xiaoyun a lift, with the cost of the transport plane waived after he reminded them who 'asked' him to go in the first place.

---

"Xiaoyun, what did you say to him when I was out of the room?"

Yuqi curiously asked as Zhangfei left the office with his two guards, his face looking a little annoyed by something.

"Nothing much... Anyway, how was your meeting with Liuqian? Did he talk to you about anything in particular?"

"He just warned me about how the new taxes might be too much. But what does he know about running a government?"

Watching her openly bash Liuqian, Xiaoyun couldn't help but feel surprised, particularly remembering the respect Yuqi had once shown him.

"Didn't you use to call him Teacher Liu? What's up with the attitude towards him?" Xiaoyun questioned.

"He's just an old man who's too deep into the books... Xiaoyun, I actually wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Did you intentionally make him the head of the central bank despite knowing the number of connections he had with the private sector?"

"Yeah. I mean, there were no better choices. Liuqian is the only one who was able to raise a lot of capital from private lenders.

He's also been running the town's bank long before we formalized it into a central bank, and everyone in the town knows him."

Xiaoyun paused for a second, then continued.

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"What if he... he represents the private interest more than the public office he currently holds?" Yuqi questioned.

"Both the public and the private sectors want the economy to do well. You're making it sound like he's sabotaging the economy on purpose."

As she sat there in silence, a frown soon appeared on his face as Xiaoyun looked towards her with a much more serious look.

"Yuqi, you know this is a serious accusation, right?"

"I'm not saying he's sabotaging the economy. It's just... just..."

"Just what?"

"He's been going on different newspapers criticizing the new tax policy, saying how this was going to be the end of economic growth."

"Liuqian really did that?"

Xiaoyun was a little stunned until she took out a newspaper from her drawer. Right at the back of it was an interview with Liuqian.

"He's been mentioning how this would negatively impact the economy and how this was our attempt to take money out of the citizens' hands."

Reading the newspaper, it matches up with Yuqi's statement, as it went almost word-for-word on how Liuqian had described it.

"That's no good..." Xiaoyun murmured as he put the newspaper back down onto the desk.

"Exactly. That's why I don't get why you would appoint him to the central bank. There are way too many private—"

"But I'm not going to do anything about it."

"What? Why? You can't be serious."

As Yuqi stared back at Xiaoyun, dead in the eyes, he only shrugged his shoulder before pushing the newspaper over to her side.

"Let me ask you a question: Are income taxes taking money out of the citizens' pockets?" Xiaoyun questioned back.

"Yes, but—"

"There you go. You answered your own question. He's just putting out his personal opinion of your policies."

"How am I supposed to raise money? Am I supposed to just never do taxes then? Zero taxes for all businesses?"

"I never said that. Yuqi, calm down... Let me get this straight, you don't want Liuqian posting his opinion on your policies, right?"

Yuqi hesitated for a second, but nodded her head in the end.

"Did he stop you from collecting taxes in any way? Has he riled up the population to refuse paying their taxes?"

"No..."

"Now, imagine you're Liuqian for a second. You get hundreds of calls from all kinds of big businesses that had been working with you.

All of them ask you one question. Why are there suddenly a massive amount of taxes imposed on their business?"

Seeing the anger on her face turning into confusion, Xiaoyun continued with his rambling.

"All that pressure needs a channel. They can't vent it to the government, knowing they had the guns and are just waiting to set an example.

Liuqian is the person they see as a potential game-changer. If you're Liuqian, what would you do about it?"

"I would just ignore them," Yuqi answered.

"He could do that. But then he would lose a lot of friends. A lot of connections that helped him get up there in the first place."

"Why would he need a private connection as the central bank? All he needs to do is listen to what the government wants him to do."

"Well then, who's lending us money when we need it?"

This time, Yuqi couldn't answer Xiaoyun's question. Her face began to shift once again as the confusion vanished.

"Liuqian needs to maintain his private connections. It's just a part of his job as the head of the central bank.

But remember, he has zero power over you. He can't force you to cancel your taxes to satisfy his friend's demand."

"So he chose to write a public opinion piece on this? To signal his disagreement with me publicly?" Yuqi questioned.

"Yep... He knows you need to raise taxes for the government. But he also needs to balance both public and private interests."

"B-But that's not the job of the central bank."

"Says who? Yuqi, you need to realize it's an extraordinary time that calls for extraordinary measures.

Remember how you called Liuqian an old man who's too deep into the book? All I see is a young woman falling into the same——Ow!"

As Yuqi interrupted him with her high heel, a wave of pain traveled from his toe up to his brain before she let him go.

"I get it now. You don't have to insult me... But I still don't get one thing, Xiaoyun."

"What is it?"

"How do you know all this? I just asked you this on the spot, and you somehow managed to answer my question."

This time, Xiaoyun didn't answer right away. His mind told him it was a trap question, but the serious look on her face was too much.

"Do you really want to know how I do it?"

"Yes."

"I... I can't tell you that. If I did, then I won't have a job anymore——Ow-ow-ouch! S-Stop, I'll tell you."

As she lifted her high heel from Xiaoyun's foot, he quickly took off his shoe before seeing a visible dent near his front toe.

"Stop playing with me. I'm being serious."

"Okay, okay... I knew the answer because I put myself into Liuqian's shoes. You just have to think about others' perspectives."

"Is that really all?" Yuqi asked again, her face full of doubt as she watched him rub his foot over and over again.

"Yes, really. If you just took the patient and time to think, you wouldn't even be asking me that kind of—"

A sharp click suddenly rang from the floor, along with sweat falling from Xiaoyun's forehead as he folded his legs together above the chair.

"Stop playing with me, Xiaoyun."

"I'm not playing. I already told you this before. Just think on the other side before you do anything, and you'll understand their perspective."

"Can you understand my side, then?"

Yuqi questioned as she suddenly moved her chair closer, their bodies pressing directly against each other.

"Of course I can. But for the better of the society as a whole, I'm afraid you'll have to endure the bad names from this tax policy."

As Xiaoyun moved his chair back to make some room, she only pressed even harder as their ankles bumped into each other.

"Why should I always have to suffer the bad names? Why don't you get the bad names for once?" Yuqi questioned.

"Well... I'm always out of the office half of the time. And everyone in the town knows I'm just head of the civilian government in name."

"But you told me the whole cabinet reform is going to help me alleviate the bad names to the department heads."

"Um, it's a little hard to shift over something as big as taxes. It's just a decision that people think only the top can decide—"

Before he could finish talking, Yuqi had gotten up from her seat, sitting down right onto his lap as she stared into his eyes.

"You promised me that I won't get bad publicity anymore."

"When did I promise that?" Xiaoyun questioned, his voice sounding quieter and quieter as he didn't want to trigger her.

"You did."

"My bad then. I apologize for breaking it... Is there something I could do to make up——Sizzzz."

As Yuqi's hand reached into his crotch, he took in a cold breath before noticing the alluring look on her face.