Zombie Apocalypse: Creation-Chapter 702: Bias and Tax Surveys

Chapter 702: Bias and Tax Surveys
"This is the paper you come up with?" Xiaoyun questioned as he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.
"Yep. I surveyed fifty thousand people and asked every single person for their opinion, like you had asked."
"Did you only interview women or something?"
"Obviously. What do you think I should do? Ask men how women should be exploited in an inherently disadvantaged marriage?"
Yuqi’s argument made Xiaoyun fall instantly into silence, as he could feel the hint of anger and irritation in her voice.
It was clear she didn’t want to write this guideline. No woman in their right mind would want to write this kind of paper, just as he had first thought.
"Is this the final draft? No room for adjustment of any sort?"
"You can conduct one hundred thousand people surveys if you want. As you said, better listen to what the population thinks first."
"I never even said that. The closest thing I had said was to listen to others for their experiences."
"Close enough. So, are you agreeing with this paper or not? Or do I need to scrap the whole thing again to fit your Machismo agenda——"
"I’m fine with it. Where do I sign my name?"
"What?"
Yuqi was a little stunned as she didn’t expect Xiaoyun to go through with it. She couldn’t believe her ears as he didn’t put up a fight at all.
"I said I’m fine with it. Do I sign at the bottom of the paper?"
"You’re agreeing with this?"
"Yeah. I mean, it is kind of an unfair guideline. But if a relationship goes to the point of a divorce, maybe the person shouldn’t have tried to marry multiple people.
Not to mention, the person probably deserves some blame if the other parties are willing to work together to break up with him."
"I... I sometimes can’t understand how your brains work."
"Hey, why are you insulting me? Where do I sign the paper? is it at the bottom here——"
Before Xiaoyun could show her the bottom of the last page, Yuqi quickly snatched it out of his hand, signing her name right at the bottom.
"You happy?"
Yuqi questioned, her face seemingly a little happy despite signing a document that would cause harm to her reputation.
"You don’t have to do this, darling. I’m more than happy to sign it. This is going to make your job so much harder in the future."
Xiaoyun could already feel the media backlash against Yuqi—the hidden feminists in the population labeling her as a traitor.
"It’s fine. Think of this as an... early birthday present to you. You don’t have to take the blame for it now."
As Yuqi put the signed document back down onto the table, he quickly tore it apart before throwing it straight into the bin.
"My reputation is already ruined anyway. Might as well add fuel to it... Here’s a brand new copy with my name signed onto it."
"You..."
"Now you have to think of a different birthday present for me. Don’t try to rip it or else I’m going to make my own document and veto yours."
She let out a small sigh. Yuqi was grateful for what Xiaoyun was doing. But at the same time, she was a little exhausted.
"What’s wrong? Is a new birthday gift that hard to think of?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he moved his seat next to hers.
"Not that. Your birthday present is the easiest thing in the world... I just remember it’s also Yueyue’s birthday."
"Hey, that hurts my feelings. You’re making me sound so cheap——"
"Babe. Can you help me come up with a gift? I’ll let you do whatever you want. Right here, right now."
As Yueyue whispered into Xiaoyun’s right ear, he felt a chill down his spine as his body instantly started having a reaction.
"Ahem, w-we are still in the office right now. W-We can talk about Yueyue’s gift after we finish working first."
"Of course, if that’s what you wish."
Yuqi’s face instantly went back to fully serious mode, almost as if her seductive voice earlier was just an illusion.
It took a second for Xiaoyun to recover as she started passing him several pieces of paper about tax surveys.
"I did what you told me to do. I told the head of statistics to collect the general population on their views about the change in the tax code."
Reading the new document, Xiaoyun was instantly a little intrigued as the was much more comprehensive than he had imagined in such a short time.
Over a hundred thousand people were surveyed, with thousands of data entries and variables considered in the sample sizes.
The abstract had a dedicated page talking about how this research was expedited in a short time, which may skew the results.
Going past the first few pages, he soon reached a bunch of statistical graphs that were a little out of his capabilities.
The majority of the document was not simplified in more layman’s terms. But still, he was able to understand the evidence and the conclusion.
"All these studies to come up with the result of no taxes?" Xiaoyun questioned.
"Well, the citizen doesn’t want an income tax. The factory owner doesn’t want an excise duty, and the business owner only wants us to lower the corporate tax."
"So... No taxes?"
"Hell no. The study only tells me that taxes are more necessary than ever... Look at the population’s feeling of wealth inequality."
As Xiaoyun flipped back to the last few pages, he could see that the majority of the interviewees pointed out a drastic separation between rich and poor.
"Huh, ironic. They want no taxes, but taxes are the only way to get the rich to pay their dues."
"Exactly. There is more than enough popular support to push for full tax reform. We need to adjust it to target the rich and——"
"Go for it."
"alleviate for the poor... Y-You agreeing to it?" Yuqi questioned, looking just as surprised as earlier, once again.
"Yeah, why not? You conducted the survey, and it shows that people are starting to get fed up.
Better resolve it than leave it later. I already thought this was a brewing issue that had been ballooning a little too much."
"But aren’t you scared there’s going to be big economic consequences?"
"What are they going to do? Revolt? Do I need to remind you who’s the one that has the gun around here?"
"How about Liuqian and Muxie? Didn’t you say there’s going to be a heavy drawback if we were to tax them now?"
"So they’re going to leave and bring their business elsewhere? I sure hope they are used to trading with zombies."
"Xiaoyun... Why are you suddenly changing sides like this? You were saying the complete opposite just a week ago."
"I just noticed a lot of private business acting up... They are really trying to tell me that a business contract is more important than a military fort.
Like, can you imagine that? Telling my construction team to go help build a skyscraper rather than to build a wall to prevent zombies."
Yuqi instantly fell into silence, as she was the one who sided with the business to incentivize construction towards the private sector.
"Anyway, you can go teach them a little lesson. No, a big lesson. Make sure they don’t repeat the same mistake."
"Okay. I’ll begin asking the finance department to begin making a tax reform draft."
"Make sure you also get the media on your side. Hire as many as you need to get the public on your side."
She quickly nodded her head, noting it down on her laptop as Xiaoyun brought up another point.
"If any of them decided to play some stupid game, just tell Yueyue... Let them know you aren’t just messing around."
"Anything else?"
"Also, make sure you have extra security. The last thing you want is someone to jump you and try to blackmail you."
"Isn’t that a little overkill?"
"You’re an important public figure now. I should have done this long ago, but you really need a bodyguard with you at all times."
"Fine. I’ll call Yueyue later to get me a bodyguard. Anything else I need to be worried about?"
"Nope. That’s all I can think of... Now, is there anything else we need to work on today?" Xiaoyun questioned right back.
"That’s pretty much it, birthday boy."
As Yuqi jokingly leaned closer to his shoulder, he immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer.
"Now you said earlier about my birthday present... Can I ask what exactly you are getting for me?"
"I already told you, if you help me with a gift for Yueyue, then I’ll give you the birthday present you deserve."
"What kind of birthday gift requires someone to come up with a gift for someone else?"
"If you aren’t going to help me with that, then you can help me with this work——"
"Okay, okay, you being in this office is the biggest gift I could ever ask for."
Xiaoyun immediately backed down as he could see her taking out several papers related to the tax survey.
"Hmph, you’d better think that... Anyway, don’t expect a gift from me. You didn’t even gift something to mom when it was her birthday."