50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 296 Do I have to hand over the money I earn?
Xu Yimin recognized it at a glance; it was a brand-new foreign bugging device, and he had no idea how long it had been installed there.

He nodded to Sun Zhiwei with a livid face, then put the bugging device back in its original position. He then sat back down in the chair.

Xu Yimin closed his eyes to calm himself down before saying, "Well, you've been away for so long this time, you should stay home for a few more days."

"Here's what I'll do: you get 7 days off. Spend some quality time at home with your spouse and kids."

When Sun Zhiwei saw that he didn't mention the bugging device at all, he knew that he had other ideas, so he didn't bother with it anymore.

"Thank you, boss. I'll submit the materials and head straight home in a bit."

"Go on, go on. Remember to write down your contribution to this mission, and get reimbursed for your travel expenses from the finance department."

Sun Zhiwei, who was about to leave, stopped in his tracks when he heard about the expenses.

"Boss, I have a question about money."

"What's the question? Ask it."

"Exactly, when we do missions outside, do we have to hand over the money we earn?"

Xu Yimin thought for a moment and said, "This needs to be considered from several aspects."

"If any income earned while on duty abroad is illegal, it must naturally be turned over to the national treasury."

"If it is legal income, it is divided into two types. One type is income obtained by using national information, background, resources, etc., which must also be turned over."

"Among legal income, income earned purely through personal labor naturally belongs to the individual."

"The above refers to the income portion; with income, there are naturally expenses."

"When we are on a mission, our expenses are divided into two parts: personal living expenses and necessary mission expenses."

"Both of these expenses are for mission requirements and can be reimbursed or paid for using revenue, but they need to be reported."

"There are two things I need to emphasize to you. One is personal labor income. This belongs to the individual, but it's also where mistakes are most likely to occur."

"How to define individual labor is a vague issue. You must pay special attention to it and always demand of yourself the self-awareness of a Party member."

"Another is necessary expenditure, which is also very vague. What is necessary and what is unnecessary is a matter of opinion."

“We may think it’s necessary when we’re working outside, but it may not be deemed necessary during the review process, which would be very troublesome.”

"For example, when you're out socializing, you need to have a high-end suit made."

"High-end suits range from $1000 to $10,000, and even handcrafted bespoke suits costing $100,000. Which one would you choose?"

"If you feel it's necessary to choose a $1 suit, then you've made that expenditure."

"But when it comes time to submit the expense report, the finance department feels it's unnecessary and wasteful. What do you do then?"

"The key point is that there are no explicit regulations on this matter; it is based on subjective judgment, and different people have different opinions."

Sun Zhiwei listened carefully to Xu Yimin as he explained the precautions related to money, but then fell silent.

He suddenly looked up at Xu Yimin, only to see Xu Yimin leisurely drinking his liquor, showing no intention of saying anything more.

'What's going on? Is that all? What's the conclusion? What should I do?' Sun Zhiwei was a bit confused and didn't understand what he meant.

Xu Yimin glanced at him and added, "What, still haven't figured it out? Then go back and think about it slowly."

Upon hearing this, Sun Zhiwei could only turn and leave the office. Only when he was about to close the door did he realize that there might have been a listening device, preventing him from explicitly stating some of the things he should have said to him.

Since that's the case, let's ask again at another suitable opportunity.

He needs to figure out the money issue, otherwise he might end up working as a sewing machine operator in the future.

After leaving Xu Yimin's side, Sun Zhiwei returned to his office and took out the newspapers and magazines he had bought in San Francisco from his storage space, placing them on his desk.

He then called in two clerks from outside: "Could you please deliver these newspapers and magazines to the confidential office? Director Xu requested that they be sent there."

The two young clerks were dumbfounded: "This, boss, what's our security classification?"

"It's alright, it's alright. These are newspapers and magazines that can be bought anywhere outside. They were just collected together and handed over because there was a need for them. They are not classified materials."

"Just hand these over. Oh, and remember to tell them to send me a list after they've finished cleaning."

"Okay, leader."

Upon hearing that the documents were not confidential, the two clerks each picked up a stack and left.

After finishing this task, Sun Zhiwei didn't rush home. Although his superiors had given him seven days off, they hadn't specified that it would start today.

Most of the day has already passed, and if he goes home now, it will count as a day off, so he'll be at a disadvantage, considering it's a day off.

Seeing that he still had two hours left before getting off work, he picked up the documents on the table and started flipping through them.

These are all kinds of macro-headed documents that someone of his rank needs to copy and send, similar to the old official gazette.

He quickly skimmed through all the publicly available documents and gained an understanding of the current situation.

This little butterfly has been flapping its wings for decades in this era, but the result hasn't changed much; everything is still happening in the same routine.

This suited his purposes perfectly. He had always had two advantages: foresight and the ring space.

As long as the overall trend remains unchanged, he can maintain his advantage of being prescient.

Over the years, he has come to understand the limits of his foresight.

The general trend is actually very difficult to change unless there is continuous intervention in key events and key figures. Otherwise, the inertia of history will still bring things back to their original track.

For example, the founding of the People's Republic of China was the result of a century-long process involving countless key figures and events, constantly evolving and changing.

This outcome cannot be changed by altering a few people or events throughout the process.

As long as there are not enough variables, the final result will not change much.

It was only after analyzing this result that he felt much more at ease, no longer thinking that doing something casually would lead to unknown changes in the future.

In other words, time travelers shouldn't overestimate themselves. No matter how hard you try, you may not be able to compare to those trendsetters at the forefront of this great era.

After reviewing the documents in his office, Sun Zhiwei made two more phone calls.

One call was to Commander An at the secret base on the outskirts of Beijing, where the second batch of three trainees were receiving training.

Another call went to his father-in-law, who said that Xiong Yaoyang and Tang Ziwen, the first batch of trainees, had been training at the Qingdao base.

(End of this chapter)