This little girl, Tina, really wasn't holding back at all. Her little tricks came in waves, as if she was determined to win William over right then and there.
William finally managed to calm down, muttering "Amitabha" to himself. "Alright, alright, take me to see other places. I haven't been back in ten years, and I've forgotten many places."
William withdrew his hand from Tina's embrace and quickly walked out. He didn't dare to stay with Tina any longer. The little girl's demeanor today was a bit much for William to handle; he hadn't "eaten meat" in months.
Tina saw William quickly walk out of the room and snorted. "Let's see how you escape my grasp. I am your wife; all others can only be mistresses. If we hadn't been separated for ten years, I might have married you long ago."
Seeing that William had already left the bedroom, she quickly followed him, took his arm, and began to tour the castle.
After spending over an hour touring the main castle, William led Tina out of the castle. Upon reaching the garden, William excitedly looked at a six-meter-tall, three-meter-wide angel statue. His grandfather Henry's secret was hidden there.
This statue was 750 years old, specially crafted when the Oxford Statute was signed. However, the original stone base was damaged, and the current bronze base was added over 270 years ago.
The base was cast with molten bronze and welded to four granite blocks, each weighing over ten tons, buried underground. In ancient times, no one could steal this bronze base. Even a modern ordinary crane would struggle to lift these four granite blocks, which together weighed over 60 tons.
The most core secret of the Devonshire family was openly placed in this garden. No one would have thought that the Oxford Statute was hidden within this base, exposed to the elements for centuries.
He touched the rust-covered base. The bronze lion's head on it could actually be rotated. By pressing a mechanism in one of the bronze lion's eyes and the upper palate of its mouth, a bronze disc between the great angel statue's feet could be rotated. Turning it twice towards two corners of the castle would open it.
William, while Tina wasn't paying attention, reached into the bronze lion's upper palate and pressed a mechanism. Fortunately, the mechanism hadn't been tampered with. William decided to return later that night to retrieve the Oxford Statute that Henry had placed in the base. He needed to photograph the statute and show it to the Duke of Devonshire. As for the other secrets, from now on, they would remain buried in his heart.
"Brother William, what's so good about this statue? It's dull and ugly. Let's go to the garden and see the flowers I chose," Tina said, pulling William to see the flowers she had arranged to be planted, completely oblivious to William's expression just now as he looked at the statue.
William walked with Tina in the garden when he saw his mother, Lena, approaching.
Upon seeing her mother, Tina immediately let go of William's arm and ran over to hug Lena's arm, acting spoiled. She was constantly trying to please Lena now, otherwise her mother Lena wouldn't have such a different attitude towards her compared to when they were in London. Tina, this little girl, was actually very clever. She knew that Lena was the boss when it came to her and William's relationship. If Lena didn't agree, William, even if he wanted to marry her, would have a lot of trouble.
Tina was still very confident about capturing William's heart. She was beautiful, tall, of noble birth, and had been William's childhood sweetheart. In their recent interactions, Tina could feel that William still had a strong liking for her. The only thing that worried Tina was that William seemed to be very afraid of her mother. Whenever her mother was mentioned, William's affectionate demeanor would immediately extinguish. Tina couldn't understand why William was so resistant when her mother was so kind and gentle. This made Tina's head ache just thinking about it.
"William, the castle has been renovated now. The most important thing to do is to find a butler. The old butler has passed away, and his son is now serving another noble family. I've been looking for several months but haven't found a suitable butler. Many things are now being decided by the maids and servants themselves, and over time, this is not a good thing," Lena said worriedly.
Oh, this really was a troublesome matter. The butler family that had served the Devonshire family for over a dozen generations was now serving another noble family. Unless the noble family they were currently serving went bankrupt or lost their title, they would absolutely not switch allegiances.
William said with difficulty, "Mom, I really can't help with this. I can only look at the butler academy in London." Such generational butler families never lacked places to go; they were even more popular in America.
Lena said with difficulty, "Then how about using the current Earl's butler?"
Upon hearing this, William immediately rejected it, "No, Mom. I will absolutely not use the current Earl's butler. I'm not sure if the current Earl hates me and Grandpa Henry. I wouldn't dare to let an unknown factor into the castle. Moreover, I will also hire a professional investigation company to check the current maids and servants. Anyone with any issues will be dismissed."
"Alright, William, you handle this matter yourself. Mom can't help you. It's almost noon. When will the guests arrive?" Lena said.
William checked his watch. It was almost 12 o'clock. Anthony and his team should be arriving soon. William took out his phone and dialed.
After the call connected, "Hello, boss."
"Anthony, how much longer until you arrive? It's almost noon, I want to prepare lunch for you," William said.
"Boss, there's no need to go to such trouble. We'll eat in Oxford town and then go to the castle. It's our first time, and no one brought gifts, so it wouldn't be good to come empty-handed," Anthony politely declined.
"No need," William said. "There aren't so many rules here with me. I didn't grow up a noble, so it's fine. Just treat it like friends dropping by. How many of you are there?"
"Really, no need, boss. More than ten people are coming today. If we just show up for a meal, everyone will feel uncomfortable. Boss, we'll have lunch in Oxford and then head to your place. We should arrive around 1:30 PM," Anthony refused again.
William thought about it. Europe wasn't like the Celestial Empire. Dropping by for a meal was a very formal affair, requiring prior arrangement and bringing gifts. Otherwise, only very close friends could drop by casually. Englishmen weren't as hospitable as people from the Celestial Empire.
"Alright, Anthony, if you insist, I won't force you. I'll wait for you at the castle."
"Okay, boss. See you in the afternoon."
After hanging up the phone, William said to his mother, "They won't be coming for lunch, Mom. Let's eat by ourselves."
"Okay, William, what do you want for lunch? How about roasted salmon?" Lena asked.
"Whatever, Mom. Whatever you want to eat, I'll eat. Tina, what do you want to eat? Tell Mom," William said to Tina.
Before Tina could speak, Lena said, "Don't mind her. She's been saying she needs to control her weight these days, so she can only eat vegetable and fruit salad and milk. Just give her a small piece of roasted salmon."
William looked at Tina, who had an incredibly good figure, and asked in confusion, "Tina, your figure is excellent right now. Why are you still dieting?"
Tina wrinkled her nose and said, "I still need to be careful. If I get fat, you definitely won't love me."
"Alright, suit yourself. Watch your diet. Oh, and Mom, I'm still growing, so my appetite has increased several times. Please make more; it won't be enough for me if there's too little," William said to his mother.
"No wonder you've grown so much in these three months. Okay, I understand," Lena said, then went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Chapter 92: The Bank with the Most Comprehensive Service
During lunch, his mother and Tina were truly shocked by William's appetite. He ate three large pieces of roasted salmon, two large pieces of bread, a vegetable and fruit salad, and a glass of juice before he was full.
Lena asked worriedly, "William, is it really okay for you to eat so much? Should we go to the hospital for a check-up?"
William wiped his mouth with a napkin and said, "It's fine, Mom. I've been like this for a few months. Look, my arms have grown muscles. I'm much stronger now than before." He then rolled up his sleeve to show his arm and flexed it.
Lena looked at the bulging muscles on William's arm and was surprised. Before, William was tall, but he had no muscles; he was as thin as a bamboo pole. Now, seeing William's strong upper arm, she nodded with satisfaction. "Hmm, you look much better now. You used to be as thin as a bamboo pole, it was awful. Since there's no problem, I'm relieved."
Tina, on the other hand, squeezed William's arm, then felt his chest, looking completely infatuated.
"Tina, sit properly! Be a lady! If you keep acting like this, I'll send you home!" Lena said angrily, looking at Tina's infatuated expression.
"Okay, Aunt Lena, I know I was wrong. I promise I'll be a lady," Tina replied, scared, quickly sitting back in her seat properly, elegantly sipping her juice, looking like a well-behaved girl.
William looked at Tina with amusement, winked at her, and made a funny face, which made Tina burst out laughing.
When Tina saw her mother staring at her, she quickly sat up straight again, looking wronged, and said, "You can't blame me, Aunt Lena. Brother William made a funny face at me. He's so annoying, deliberately making me laugh and embarrassing me. Aunt Lena, please help me teach Brother William a lesson. He set me up!"
"Then just don't look at William, can't you?" Lena said, rolling her eyes at Tina.
"How can I do that? I love looking at Brother William. Brother William is so handsome!" Tina said to her mother, Lena, with a wronged expression.
"God, why did I let a flirt like you stay in my house? William, are you done eating? If you're done, get out and go to the living room to wait for your guests. I'm taking Tina to tidy the garden this afternoon and then we're going to the woods to see if there are any mushrooms. I don't have time for you." Lena saw Tina feigning distress and had no choice but to send William away. She still liked Tina very much; having Tina accompany her at Oxford Castle these past few months made her less lonely.
Seeing the fire directed at him, William had no choice but to put down his cutlery, wipe his mouth, and say, "Alright, Mom, I'm full. I'll go get busy. Bye, Mom. Bye, Tina."
Seeing William about to leave, Tina smiled slyly and blew a secret kiss to William, her face flushed as she watched him go out.
"Alright, he's gone. What are you still looking at? Are you done eating? If you are, come with me to tidy the garden." Lena looked at Tina, speechless. She truly felt that Tina was beyond saving, utterly infatuated with her son.
At 1:30 PM, Christmas reported that the guests had arrived. William stood at the castle gate and saw Anthony and his group of over ten people arrive on time. He shook hands and greeted everyone.
Barney and Christmas, along with a few others, scanned everyone and their bags with scanners. After nodding to William, indicating no issues, William led the group to the reception room on the first floor. Barney and the others stood guard outside the reception room door. After the servants had served drinks, William said, "Let's sign the confidentiality agreement first."
William took the confidentiality agreement handed to him by Anthony, read it carefully, and, finding no issues, had everyone sign it. Then he said, "Anthony, this is my profit from the futures market and other income statements for this year. Please take a look and help me create a reasonable tax plan."
Anthony took the report and distributed some to the two accompanying middle-aged lawyers. Ten minutes later, when the three saw that William had made a huge profit of $3.416 billion in the stock market this time, all three gasped in shock.
Anthony said, his face full of shock, "Boss, this is truly astonishing."
After the three finished reading, they handed it to the other lawyers. When everyone had finished reading, they all looked at William in surprise.
After a few minutes of silence in the conference room, Lawyer Rant, who was specifically in charge of tax matters, spoke, "Mr. Devonshire, I just reviewed your information. Honestly, your tax issue seems very complicated, but in fact, it's quite simple to handle.
I just calculated that nearly two-thirds of the funds for the futures traded by the Swiss National Bank this time were used to buy stock index futures on the Japanese stock market. The rest were in America, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. Of these, only 400 million US dollars were earned in America, 300 million US dollars in England, and about 700 million US dollars combined from the other countries. Japan accounted for 2 billion."
"What's the problem with that?" William asked.
Lawyer Rant said, "Of course there's a problem, Mr. Devonshire. These funds were actually in your registered account in the British Virgin Islands. The Swiss National Bank's account was merely a gambling account between you and the National Bank. Strictly speaking, your funds never entered those countries."
William stood up in surprise, "How—how is that possible?" Then a look of wild joy suddenly appeared on William's face. "Does that mean I don't have to pay capital gains tax in other countries?"
Lawyer Rant smiled and said, "You don't have to be surprised, Mr. Devonshire. The best choice you made this time was to entrust the Swiss National Bank to operate for you. If these countries want to investigate, they can only investigate the Swiss National Bank, and I believe they won't find anything even if they try.
Hearing this, William understood. "You mean that the 11.6 billion I made shorting the stock market through the Swiss National Bank was the National Bank's money, and I didn't have direct financial dealings with those countries? The money I earned was also the National Bank's gambling money, and I just paid a 3% transaction fee to the National Bank?"
"That's right, Mr. Devonshire, that's exactly how it is. Otherwise, the Swiss National Bank wouldn't be able to become the safest and most comprehensively serviced bank in the world. However, to avoid trouble, I suggest you still pay the 20% capital gains tax on that 400 million US dollars from America.
After all, the American tax authorities are too powerful. If you don't pay this money, they will definitely keep a constant eye on you. You don't need to worry about taxes from other countries; we can directly shift those tax issues to the National Bank." Lawyer Rant said with a smile.
Hearing Lawyer Rant's words, William burst into laughter. The Swiss National Bank truly lived up to its reputation as the best bank in the world, thinking of what its clients needed! He had originally thought he would have to pay $6.8 billion in taxes to the Americans, and he had been heartbroken for many days. Now, he only had to pay $80 million in taxes, and William was overjoyed.
80 million compared to 6.8 billion really wasn't money anymore. After being excited for a long time, William calmed down and asked, "Why does the Swiss National Bank do this? If all the funds go through their bank, don't they have to pay taxes in these countries?"