In old Europe, taxes were higher than in the United States, especially for single people. Nearly half of their income went to taxes and social security, which resulted in very limited disposable income.
Getting married and having children not only entitles you to subsidies, but also allows you to change your tax card and adjust your tax threshold to a higher level.
Even so, very few people are willing to have children. The government is essentially charging a single tax, so let them pay it, since Muslin is willing to have children anyway.
"Then, won't people gossip about our family?"
Lin Shuqin was still a little worried, after all, the overall environment was like this!
"Don't you think our family has been the subject of enough gossip? Your son was a spendthrift for the past few years!"
Everyone becomes a topic of conversation, and Xia Yu is no exception; it's just that now that she's turned her life around, there are new stories about her.
In short, don't worry too much about these things, just live your own life well.
"So what do you think we should do after the baby is born?"
Lin Shuqin was somewhat persuaded by her husband.
Ultimately, it depends on the woman. If she's willing, their opinions are secondary.
"Let's do as your son said, one at home, one in Germany, and maybe one more in Germany."
Old Xia thought for a moment and then said.
Domestically, it goes without saying that Europe is not only Liv's hometown, but also the place where Xia Yu started his prosperous business.
His first arms deal involved selling infantry fighting vehicles and personnel carriers from two different factions, and there were still plenty of good stuff in both Eastern and Western Europe.
Xia Yu could only help sell the weapons from his hometown; if he wanted to make a profit, he would have to find a way to get them from the junk he collected in Europe.
Therefore, he can exert some influence through social interaction by taking advantage of the wedding.
Because of the cooperation on the Sahel region project, Xia Yu's relationship with the British was relatively good. He purchased second-hand fighter jets several times, and this time he purchased eight Phantom fighters. His cooperation with the British was also quite pleasant.
Even though he was German, and even though he married a German woman, and even though he sold one weasel after another, he never established any contact with the authorities.
There's nothing wrong with it in the early stages, but we still need to find a way to plug this loophole later, especially after the expansion of the concentrated fire defense.
After all, there are so many weasels!
Perhaps the other party already knows that there is a PMC company in Afica that uses heavily modified weasels and has extremely strong fighting capabilities.
The Germans certainly knew that the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) might be incompetent, but Rheinmetall was a publicly traded company with profit requirements.
"Thump thump thump boom"
In Düsseldorf, a video of an infantry fighting vehicle unleashing ammunition is playing on a television in a conference room, with the sounds of tanks firing in the background.
"If you hadn't told me, I would have thought that the KF-31 Lynx had been sent into combat."
The image freezes on the last frame, showing an old man speaking to the head of the vehicle systems division beside him.
"Chairman, you must be joking. The other party is a company called Jihuo Defense. They modified old Weasel vehicles into new infantry fighting vehicles."
The person in charge, Hudson, explained to his superior.
"Their modification plan is more radical than our Lynx. Both models integrate four Kornet missiles. The one in the video, as you can see, is equipped with an MK302/ABM cannon, an active protection system, and even a Nobel Dynamics Defense lightweight explosive reactive armor layer on top of the additional armor."
"More than that, that protruding piece should be the air conditioner. Their integration capabilities are quite impressive!"
Armin Papegg put on his reading glasses and said after confirming that he was not mistaken.
"They understand heavy infantry fighting vehicles, so it's not surprising that their project clashed with our Lynx project. The reason they stacked the output and defense of a single vehicle to this extent is also due to the small size of the company. If they had 10 infantry fighting vehicles, they wouldn't need 4 anti-tank missiles per vehicle at all."
As expected of the head of Rheinmetall, Armin saw through the true nature of the concentrated fire defense at a glance.
That's how small-unit operations are; because they can't afford to lose even one vehicle, they resort to such extreme measures.
As long as there is an infantry unit, both offensive and defensive capabilities can be reduced.
Xia Yu had worked hard for almost two years and finally managed to assemble a low-end combined arms company's equipment. Even with this, there were still less than half of the assault units, so naturally every vehicle had to be fully equipped.
"However, Chairman, according to intelligence gathered by the marketing department, they seem to be selling these modified weasels. Known customers include Guo and Kenniya."
Hudson opened the folder in his hand and handed it to his boss.
Inside was a stack of photos of the Anka mechanized infantry battalion's weasels from various angles. Because the Kenniya unit had just been equipped with these weapons, not many photos of them had been leaked.
"Hudson, you have to understand, they need to eat too, and Afica has never been Rheinmetall's target market."
Ah Ming glanced at the photo briefly, then put it back on the table, saying something meaningful.
Yes, even in the relatively wealthy North Philippines, it is still the exclusive territory of the United States and Russia. Black Philippines cannot afford any new Rheinmetall army equipment, and even second-hand equipment is scarce.
Such a market has no value to them, so why be indignant about something that doesn't belong to you?
However, Afika, a place rife with constant conflicts and frequent battles, held another value in Amin's eyes: it served as a test of the performance of their products.
After all, compared to the neighboring Middle East, the intensity of the Afica battlefield is relatively lower.
Inspection is internal, but the inspection process is also a demonstration, and the demonstration is external. If it has the opposite effect, then it is not worth the loss.
As the head of the group, Amin considers issues more comprehensively, and he is also aware of the performance of high technology in actual combat.
Just like placing the Cougar infantry fighting vehicle in Afica, it looks like it's going to dominate, but the more realistic possibility is that it will break down on the way to a massacre.
This is also why the Lynx project came about: using a more mature chassis to support a high-tech output system that is less prone to problems, resulting in a solution that is more suitable for actual combat.
"So, Chairman, we're just going to accept their approach?"
Hudson asked.
With a technical background, he excels at design and production, but becomes somewhat oblivious when it comes to politics.
They have connections, and they're just trying to make money from the lower-tier market by modifying cars. There's no need to make things awkward for each other.
"No, the boss of this company must be an interesting guy. I'd like to get to know him sometime. Maybe we'll even be able to work with them."
A possibility flashed through Amin's mind, a win-win possibility.
Xia Yu likes making friends and also likes win-win situations, and he and Liv have just climbed to the top of the mountain.
"Piling Liangchang Maoshan welcomes you, Jingkou Gouwu Maoshan Scenic Area welcomes you."
Looking at the signs on the ground, Xia Yu translated for his girlfriend.
"So this place is like the Zugspitze between Germany and Austria; the ridgeline is the border between the two countries."
Liv tried to put herself in the shoes.
"If you remove the national attribute, you can understand it this way."
Xia Yu answered cautiously, after all, it wasn't really a republic, it was just a mountain divided between two places.
"We only have natural scenery to see here. The Three Palaces and Five Temples, which represent human culture, are over there, so we need to buy two more tickets."
It's normal for religious sites that are designated as tourist attractions to charge admission fees. For example, Cologne Cathedral in Germany is free to enter, but you have to pay euros to go to the treasury and climb the tower.
Xia Yu quickly took out his money and led his girlfriend to the market across the street.
The religious buildings are still very majestic. When I was a child, I didn't feel anything when I climbed Maoshan, but as I grew up, I was able to appreciate a different kind of feeling.
This can also be used as a reference when digging bunkers in the future; it's incomplete for Chinese people not to incorporate some Chinese elements.
"This place was also an anti-Japanese base during World War II. My grandfather was shot in the leg by the Japanese when he fought here."
Xia Yu continued to explain to Liv.
He was the only one in three generations on his father's side who had served in the military, but his maternal grandfather was a soldier in the New Fourth Army, a Japanese soldier and puppet soldier, and he had eight heads on his hands.
Xia Yu's talent in both literature and martial arts must have come from his maternal side.
"I know, it's the axis of evil. The Nazis valued efficiency, but they were also very cruel."
Liv is a science student, but she also has a basic understanding of history.
"After your grandfather was shot, he didn't fall into their hands, did he?"
"Of course not. After recovering from his injuries at a local family's home, he returned to his unit. The quartermaster worked as a farmer after retiring from the army and lived until I was in junior high school."
Lin Shuqin was the youngest of the sisters, so Xia Yu's memory of her maternal grandfather only extends to when she was 15 years old.
"That's a really long life. In our family, only my maternal grandmother is still alive. My paternal grandparents passed away when I was in high school, but my maternal grandfather lived until I was a freshman in college."
Liv also described the situation of Fisher's family and her mother's family.
They weren't exactly long-lived, but they all lived past 80, which is quite good for people who lived through that era!
Looking at it this way, Xia Yu realized that neither side had any deadly hereditary diseases. His father-in-law's case was purely accidental; he could easily live past 80 by changing his profession.
"Yes, next time I go to Germany, I must visit my grandmother."
"Let's also take this opportunity to see my maternal grandmother from China during the roof-raising ceremony."
Liv said with a smile.
Yes, there will be a feast for the roof beam raising ceremony. My eldest uncle will bring my maternal grandmother along. Of the four generations of Xia Yu's ancestors, only my maternal grandmother remains. I hope she can make it to the wedding day of her youngest grandson.
There shouldn't be any problem. She and the Queen of England were born in the same year and both celebrated their 90th birthdays last year. There's a good chance she'll make it to the finals and live to be almost 100.
"Yes, this year we'll see your Chinese grandmother, and next year we'll see my German grandmother."
Xia Yu's right hand and Liv's left hand intertwined, and the two descended from the top of the Nine Heavens Palace.
The Maoshan Taoist Temple is composed of three palaces and five temples, while his maternal uncle lives in the Yuanfu Palace on the south side of Jijin Peak, which is the one with the bronze statue of Laozi.
Holding his girlfriend's hand tightly, Xia Yu suppressed the urge to store the 99-foot-tall, 106-ton statue, made of 226 pieces of bronze, in the storage warehouse to print weapons and ammunition.
If you actually do that, it's not as simple as losing merit; causing paranormal events and panic will be much more troublesome.
Afica has plenty of copper; there's no need to source it domestically.
Xiaoyu has a feeling you're up to something.
A middle-aged Taoist priest in a long robe came up to the two of them and spoke.
Although they hadn't seen each other for many years, he recognized Xia Yu at a glance.
"Uncle, you're slandering me."
The transmission of ordination and the bestowal of rank in the Zhengyi school do not require one to become a monk or nun, so there's no need to address it in a formal or distant way.
"You know better than I do, I would never slander anyone. And this is the foreign wife you found."
The Taoist priest looked Liv up and down and said.
Hello, cousin.
Liv said with a smile, and that was it, because that was all she had learned.
"Hello, hello, come to my place, let's sit down and talk."
The cousin waved and led the way, with the two men following behind.
Before joining the army, Xia Yu had thought about becoming a Taoist priest. He even wrote a book about Maoshan Taoist priests during his freshman year of college. But the reality was different. Maoshan Taoist priests do not exorcise demons. They have to memorize scriptures and learn to play musical instruments.
Yes, performing rituals requires these skills. It's called chanting scriptures, but it's actually just singing sutras. Add to that drawing talismans, and it's truly a combination of humanities and art (music and fine arts), which would directly discourage a science student like him who can't memorize books and has no artistic talent.
The three arrived at the backyard, which was the Taoist's dormitory. The maternal uncle had a separate room because of his seniority, while the younger generation had the same room as in school.
There were no fancy tea sets inside, just an old thermos with a little bit of Qingfeng tea in each person's glass. We were quite thirsty after walking up, and after drinking half a cup of hot tea, Xia Yu had so much to say.
"Don't rush, where's the amulet I gave you?"
My cousin first asked about the peace charm.
This long journey, especially to Afika, is a good way to pray for peace. At least Xia's uncle drew three portraits for him on his three trips abroad. Xia Yu has been away for five years and has been carrying one with him, which is stamped with the Jade Seal of the Nine Immortals of Yuanfu Palace.
"I have it with me; I always keep it in my wallet."
As Xia Yu spoke, he took out his wallet and found the amulet folded into a triangle.
"By the way, cousin, do we need to ask for another one? And what about my foreign wife? It doesn't necessarily have to be a crucifix and indulgence, right? A good luck charm should work too, right?"
Even if you're not religious, you can still wear it as an ornament. I'm not sure what indulgences look like, but crosses can be made very beautifully.
"No need, it's not the two of you who need amulets and crosses."
Using the flame of the candles on the offering table, he burned the peace charm he had drawn, and then his uncle shook his head and said.
Unlike his unfortunate fate before he went abroad, his nephew's current destiny is so prosperous that he doesn't even know how to describe it.
Why is that?
The transfer was normal, but I've never seen it transferred like this before.
It's probably because no one in Xia Yu has ever obtained a system before. It's not some kind of feudal superstition. The confidence that the system brings makes Xia Yu radiate light from the inside out.
Under such an atmosphere, this is naturally the result that my cousin saw.
And this kind of light can also "warm" those around her, so Liv doesn't need a lucky charm; she can be happy and lucky just by touching it.
"Cousin, could you take another look? Do you see if we have any malevolent energy or anything like that on us? If so, how much of it is there?"
Xia Yu continued to consult with professionals.
Liv is alright, but he has killed far too many people.
"There's nothing there, just don't scare yourself."
His cousin comforted him.
The so-called malevolent aura surrounding him is nothing more than a guilty conscience, a self-inflicted wound, but Xia Yu has always had a clear conscience.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com