Kays Translations

Chapter 162: Failed Self-Recommendation

You can guard against thieves day and night, but you can’t guard against thieves in your own home.

It turned out that Landlord Li’s business empire had been infiltrated by rats—and homegrown ones at that. These rats were skilled and cunning, having prepared account books so watertight that the family’s accountants had failed to find a problem after days of searching. If no one looked closely, everything seemed fine; meanwhile, the rats could gradually hollow out the granary. Worse, they had already begun colluding with outside merchants. No wonder the matter was so troublesome.

Still, fake accounts were fake accounts. No matter how flawless they seemed, they would eventually reveal a weakness; the question was simply one of method, timing, and approach. The rats had spent years preparing these books. How could the accountants be expected to uncover the trick in only a few days?

Accounting in the Ming Dynasty mainly used single-entry methods such as three-legged bookkeeping, and by the Jiajing era more developed forms may already have appeared. None of that posed a problem for Zhu Ping’an; he had studied these historical accounting methods in his previous life.

Back when he was studying ancient accounting, he had joked with his classmates that they were learning dragon-slaying techniques in a world without dragons. Who would have thought those techniques would actually become useful one day?

The memory made Zhu Ping’an smile, and he considered offering his help again to repay the favor he owed the Li family.

Before he could make the offer, however, the scheming girl Li Shu suddenly flared up.

“Ah, Zhu Ping’an, are you grinning? Are you gloating?” she shouted.

The scheming girl had been complaining to her little maid when she suddenly noticed that Zhu Ping’an had curled his lips into a smile. She couldn’t hold back and immediately pointed at him with a slender finger, her eyes wide with anger.

“You’re such an ingrate. You’re just like them!” Li Shu glared at Zhu Ping’an, furious. Her finger trembled with rage.

An ingrate?

Hearing the word “ingrate” immediately reminded Zhu Ping’an of those forty taels of silver.

Because of that, for once he didn’t get angry at the scheming girl’s unreasonable outburst.

“I’m not gloating; I just think I could be of help,” Zhu Ping’an said, looking at her calmly.

As soon as Zhu Ping’an finished speaking, the scheming girl curled her small lips into a dismissive sneer, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Help? What can you do? Just because you became a xiucai, you think you’re impressive? You’re so full of yourself! Just because you can read, you think you understand account books? Who do you think you are? A toad croaking at the top of its lungs!”

The scheming girl pouted, sneering and rolling her eyes.

As expected, she was as devious and sharp-tongued as ever, with the sort of attitude that made a person want to smack her.

She looked down on him that much, yet she had given him silver back then. Zhu Ping’an still couldn’t understand it. Had she gotten her head caught in a door or something? Otherwise, it made no sense.

As for the fantasy of a rich young lady falling for a poor scholar—forget it. This girl’s materialism could put the woman behind “I’d rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle” to shame. She changed outfits every day without repeating them. Even if Zhu Ping’an got his own head caught in a door eighteen times, he still wouldn’t entertain that idea.

Just hearing her call him a toad and a poor fool made her opinion of him perfectly clear.

And Zhu Ping’an had absolutely no interest in this scheming, arrogant girl either. So what if she was pretty? He had no desire whatsoever to “conquer” or “train” her.

So Zhu Ping’an had only meant to help the Li family this once, regardless of why they had given him the silver. Once the favor was repaid, he could put the matter behind him.

“I’ve dabbled a little in bookkeeping, maybe I can…” Zhu Ping’an said casually.

There is no invincible martial art in the world, only speed is unbeatable. The scheming young girl had completely grasped the essence of it. Before Zhu Ping’an could finish his sentence, she interrupted him with disdain.

“Go read your book!” The scheming young girl rolled her eyes.

“This bad guy is always bragging.” Hua’er pouted as she quietly agreed with her young mistress.

The two girls whispered away, yet their voices still drifted into Zhu Ping’an’s ears, promptly killing his urge to volunteer.

Forget it. He really was overthinking things. They could simply hire more accountants, spend more time, work more slowly, and check more carefully. False accounts were false accounts; sooner or later the flaws would be found. There was no need for him to meddle. Really. Heh…

At worst, he could return the money by using their own methods. He could just find someone, come up with some excuse, and give it back to them.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Ping’an felt relieved, packed the books into his bag, and prepared to leave.

“Quick, quick, put all the account books into the study, be careful, not a single corner should be folded.”

Just as Zhu Ping’an was about to say goodbye, Manager Wang, who oversaw the study, was directing six servants as they carried three large stacks of bundled account books inside.

Why were there so many account books? Just how large was the Li family’s business? And these were apparently only the books belonging to the problematic managers. No wonder the Li family’s accountants had failed to find anything. With this many books, auditing them by the old method would take several times as many people.

“Manager Wang, I’ve borrowed the books,” Zhu Ping’an said, patting his bag.

“Oh, Young Master Zhu. I heard your recent examination result caused quite a stir. Not bad—keep it up. I have high hopes for you. Just take the books; I trust you,” Manager Wang said, wiping the sweat from his forehead and waving a hand.

It seemed Manager Wang was also badly troubled by the account books.

“Manager Wang, carry on. I won’t disturb your work,” Zhu Ping’an said, slinging the bag over his shoulder and cupping his hands.

“Study hard when you get back. I have great expectations for you,” Manager Wang reminded him while continuing to direct the servants.

“Thank you for your kind words,” Zhu Ping’an grinned foolishly.

From a distance, the scheming young girl sneered and muttered, “A half-full bottle is the noisiest.”

This girl really was something. When Zhu Ping’an was humble, she called him fake; when he showed even a little confidence, she called him arrogant and full of himself.

She’s really something.

“Thank you for the reminder, Miss.”

Zhu Ping’an smiled faintly, not taking it seriously. He cupped his hands from a distance toward the scheming young girl before leaving.

It was completely like a gracious elder dealing with a temperamental child.

“Shameless…”

The scheming young girl, however, was angered by Zhu Ping’an’s calm response. She pouted and sneered once again.

Unfortunately, Zhu Ping’an had already walked far away, leaving the scheming young girl to stomp her foot in frustration.

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