It’s a sunny afternoon in the peaceful Feiyun City.
"This one is OK, this one is not OK, this one is OK, this one is not OK, this one is not OK..." On the first floor of Yuqi Mansion, in the Hugo Detective Agency, Director Hugo, with his messy black hair, spoke one after another. Check the photos Bilan handed over.
The chestnut-haired girl who was a detective's assistant was confused at this time. She tilted her head like a duck with a headache and dullly observed every move of her employer. Finally, she couldn't help it anymore and asked: "Detective, Can you tell me your rationale for screening these photos?”
Hugo stopped what he was doing and looked at Bi Lan in surprise, as if the other party was asking some strange question.
"In my opinion, these are all shots of extramarital affairs. Why do you think some of them can be used and others cannot be used? I obviously paid great attention to making the faces of the man and woman clearly visible when taking the photos. Why? Do you still want to filter out half of them?”
"We are a private detective agency operating legally." The detective said earnestly, "We are not tabloid paparazzi who follow gossip news, nor are we perverted stalkers who have half a foot in the field of sexual harassment. We want to photograph legal and reasonable, Photos that will not offend the reputation of others.”
"No, no, no, ever since Hugo accepted the entrustment from that rich middle-aged lady, our actions have been far away from being reasonable and legal." Bilan shook her head vigorously, trying to correct the detective's misunderstanding.
"I understand what you mean. It seems that you still live in a world of black and white, my friend." Hugo started talking loudly while re-sifting the photos in his hand.
"There is no pure black or pure white in the world. Perhaps law and morality can be used as the bottom line and yardstick for people to regulate their own behavior, but if we regard these dogmatic constraints as a forbidden area and dare not go beyond the limit, we He will become a slave to moderation, drifting further and further away from absolute justice..."
The detective kept talking non-stop, and Bilan interrupted his speech rudely——
"I'm not that old-fashioned. I took those photos you have. Now, as a reward for stalking a married man like a stalker for a whole week, please tell me to take those photos. Reason for splitting into two piles!”
"As I said before, the world is not black and white, but consists of large swaths of gray. However, we can still select something close to white among the gray." Mr. Detective completed the screening of the photos and Two stacks of photos were placed on the table, and the two rows of photos were clearly displayed in front of the assistant.
"So, I just want to ask, can you share the photos..." Bilan paused mid-sentence, showing an expression like an epiphany.
On the desktop, the photos selected by Hugo were put together, like street photography carefully created by a group of professional artists. The faces of the captured married man and his cheating partner seemed to disappear by magic. They were buried among all living beings like drops of water in the ocean, becoming inconspicuous.
Even in several photos, the two people captured were clearly the central subjects of the picture. They were kissing each other close to the suspicious place. However, due to the subtle light and the magical atmosphere created between several consecutive street scene photos, it was hard to distinguish them. It creates a sense of artistic harmony.
People who view the photos will not regard this group of photos as obscene candid shots, but will naturally regard them as the conscious creative activities of a photographic artist.
After looking at the photos selected by Hugo, let’s look at the other set of remaining photos——
Bilan was almost ashamed of her candid photos. Those were really just dirty and obscene candid photos.
"Your photography skills are good, and your perception of light and dark is also very good. This kind of unadorned tones can be used as a major selling point. However, the composition needs to be strengthened." Hugo took a sip of water and said with a This is the style of a professional art critic.
"As long as we go through such screening and processing, we are not illegally photographing. Bilan, you are just conducting a photography collection belonging to a traveling artist. The man and woman in the picture just appeared in some embarrassing way. In your work, since they are not the focus of the work, it does not involve infringement of reputation rights, privacy rights and other issues."
As Hugo spoke, he used his mobile phone to send a document to Bilan: "This is the creative brief for your set of photography works. It will be used when conducting art transactions. You fill in the appropriate content in the template, and then Just sign it.”
Bilan looked at the document Hugo sent to her, and her head suddenly grew heavy.
I saw that it was full of mysterious words such as "visual symbols under personal style", "view angles of frame composition", "emotional tone and flow of mood", "customs and customs of modern cities" and so on.
"The title can be called "City Experience of Kanto Foreigners". Residents of Hezhong like to call themselves city dwellers. They will definitely be happy when they see such a title." The detective said whether it was irony or self-deprecation. Looks added.
The girl couldn't help but asked nervously: "Hugo, are these photos still to be sold as works of art? Or should they be put on display in an art museum?"
"Of course it's going to be sold, but I'm going to sell it to a rich fat lady for a private collection." Hugo glanced at his assistant meaningfully, and then continued, "It's just what you think, we're going to The photographs are sold to the consignor as works of art.”
"What's the point of doing this?" Bilan was still puzzled.
"In this way, if the client's husband launches a lawsuit against us for invasion of privacy, we will have sufficient reasons for him to lose the lawsuit. After all, as a private investigator, I just happened to find a set of evidence that contained evidence of the husband's affair. Photography work and handed it over to the client. As a well-intentioned third party, you just used your camera to take pictures of the streets of Feiyun City around you - this is normal for a foreigner who has just come to Hezhong. But that’s it.”
Seeing Bi Lan's expression of sudden realization, Hugo continued to add——
“In addition, in this way, we can generously reduce most of the commission fees that clients would otherwise have to pay, thereby reducing the tax pressure on the firm.”
"Taxation?" The girl was stunned when she heard this familiar yet unfamiliar word.
"This is a very clever tax avoidance strategy, and I discovered it accidentally. You know, Hezhong District attaches great importance to the development of the art industry, and has various preferential policies for emerging artists. Among them, about 10,000 yuan The tax rate for art transactions is unimaginably low. And the price of a normal extramarital affair investigation is exactly at this price..."
"It turns out that the salary I received before was so dirty..." Bilan looked disillusioned and frustrated. This expression also appeared once before when she was taken to the street by Hugo and secretly photographed.
"Don't think so. We helped a woman in an unhappy marriage see her husband's true colors. Revealing the truth is a detective's job. There is nothing to be ashamed of."
Hugo looked confident: "Besides, if reasonable tax avoidance is considered dirty, 90% of the accountants in Feiyun City should find a stone to hit themselves to death in the office."
"Sounds good. It seems that there are still 10% honest accountants in Feiyun City."
"No, the remaining 10% of the accountants have been fired and sent home because of lack of ability." The detective said in an impersonal tone, "Besides, I see you were very happy when you received your salary, holding the phone with the successful transfer. When you rubbed your cheeks, you must not have thought about personal income tax, right?"
"Is there any problem?" Bilan took a step back, unconsciously covering the phone she was using to transfer money, and became alert.
"It's not a big problem." Hugo said seriously, "During the salary settlement and tax rate process, I took the initiative to help you declare your status as a Pokémon trainer in the Hezhong region. This status can enjoy certain tax reductions. policy; in addition, part of the salary is settled as travel expenses, so that it is not included in the scope of personal income tax."
"If you don't use these methods to avoid taxes, Miss Assistant, your income last month was probably..." The detective wrote a series of short numbers in his hand with a pen, and then showed them in front of the girl's eyes.
Bi Lan instantly shed a cold sweat and her expression changed. The assistant smiled awkwardly and then spoke after a long time——
"Hugo, we don't live in a black and white world, do we?"
