Kays Translations

Chapter 165: This Is a Fake Account

The dozen-odd accountants were suffering in silence. They had been auditing for three days, and apart from mealtimes they had scarcely had time even to drink water. Working overtime, they had still checked less than a third of the books. Every ledger and every figure was verified by two people with abacuses so that no calculation error could slip through.

However, so far, they haven’t found any problematic account books.

So when Landlord Li urged them to hurry, the accountants could only swallow their complaints and work their abacuses even more furiously.

“Father, are they really capable?” Li Shu asked with a pout, glancing at the accountants.

“Of course they are. They’re the best group of accountants in Huaining County,” Landlord Li replied, glancing back at them.

“Then why has it been three days and they still haven’t found a single problematic account?” The scheming young girl Li Shu didn’t trust her father’s words.

“Soon, soon,” Landlord Li comforted her.

“Not again! I don’t want to hear that!” The scheming young girl covered her ears, pouted, and sat aside, ignoring her father.

“My little ancestor, just wait a little longer.” Landlord Li wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Seeing this scene, the accountants felt immense pressure. Each one buried their head in the accounts, not daring to slack off for a moment. The more seriously they checked, the more they felt that the account books were flawless. The books were so meticulously done, they were even more formal than real account books, with no gaps to be found.

If Landlord Li had not paid them handsomely, the accountants might have suspected he was teasing them with genuine account books.

Landlord Li continued coaxing his precious daughter, calling her his “little ancestor,” having ice basins brought in to cool the room, and ordering fruit and snacks from the kitchen until she finally paid attention to him again.

Once she was pacified, Landlord Li remembered the account books and grew anxious again. He hurried over to ask the accountants about their progress.

“Landlord Li, please give us a moment.”

The accountants apologized and asked Landlord Li to wait. The three groups then gathered their figures, checked them again, and compared their results.

After about ten minutes, the accountants, each with a bitter smile, selected an elderly accountant with graying hair to report.

“Landlord Li, after careful verification and calculation, we’ve now audited one full year. The books are clear, the income and expenditures balance, and all the entries correspond. So far, we haven’t found a problem.”

The elderly accountant stood up and reported the results, his tone tinged with helplessness.

“No problem?” Landlord Li raised two fingers, still unconvinced and visibly agitated. “Business this year was much better than in previous years, yet the surplus is almost twenty percent lower…”

“But from the books, we truly haven’t found any problems,”

The elderly accountant said with a bitter smile.

“Check again. Start over and check it again. I don’t believe there’s nothing wrong with these books.” Landlord Li waved a chubby hand and sent them back to work.

The accountants could only return to the books in helpless silence. It had taken three days merely to audit a year’s accounts. At this rate, when would they ever finish?

The sound of abacuses clacking in the study grew dense again.

The accountants reported numbers, clicked abacuses, cross-checked, and wrote down entries. They threw themselves back into the task, sweating and grumbling as they worked.

The accountants gradually reached a state of being completely absorbed in their work, lost in the sea of numbers.

No one noticed a young boy walking out from behind the bookshelf, and no one paid attention to him casually pulling out a ledger from a large stack of verified accounts.

Amid the clattering sounds of the abacus, the boy casually flipped open the ledger in his hands.

Then, a voice, completely out of sync with the sounds of the abacus and the counting, rang out. The words were clear, articulated precisely, and very distinct, so everyone could hear.

“This is a fake account.”

The phrase “This is a fake account”… the tone was so confident, so unquestionable.

This sentence, in the noisy study, was as clear as a thunderclap, so loud that even the sound of the abacus stopped.

With that one sentence, everyone’s breathing tightened.

Who was it? Which one of the accountants had discovered the flaw in the ledger so powerfully?

There was no warning, no hesitation, and suddenly, you appeared in my world, bringing me surprise and emotions beyond control…

Finally, the flaw was found. After a long career of checking accounts, the light of dawn finally appeared.

No one was clicking the abacus anymore, no one was reporting the numbers, no one was calculating, and no one was recording. All eyes turned toward the person who had just spoken.

Then, everyone couldn’t help but feel like cursing.

What appeared before everyone was a boy about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a blue robe, slinging a strange cloth bag, and holding a ledger…

But that wasn’t the main point. The real point was that this boy gave off a feeling of being a bit silly.

Not the accountant, but rather a mischievous troublemaker… no, a troublemaking brat!

The accountants muttered in annoyance.

The instant Landlord Li heard someone say, “This is a fake account,” he whipped his round head around so quickly that his melon-shaped cap nearly flew off. For one delighted instant, he thought one of the accountants had finally found the problem.

But when he saw that the speaker was Zhu Ping’an, his excitement vanished and irritation took its place. Landlord Li had let the boy borrow books freely; even if Zhu Ping’an could not repay the favor, why come here and make trouble?

Before Landlord Li could speak, someone else had already voiced their thoughts.

“Zhu Ping’an, what are you stirring up trouble for? You’ve only just become a xiucai, and already you’re acting so full of yourself. Just because you can read, you think you understand account books? Professional accountants have checked these for three days without finding anything, yet you glance at one and declare it fake? Aren’t you afraid the wind will twist that boastful tongue of yours?”

The calculating, scheming girl scolded Zhu Ping’an with disdain, mocking him in every possible way.

Hua’er looked at Zhu Ping’an with both reproach and worry. Bad person, why are you making trouble? If you anger the master, how will you borrow books here again?

“Young people really don’t know their limits. Recognizing characters is one thing; understanding the commercial numerals in a ledger is another. Knowing ordinary writing doesn’t mean you can read accounts.”

An accountant glanced at Zhu Ping’an and couldn’t help but mock him.

Then another accountant laughed, saying, “This young lad probably thinks the ledger is a fake because he doesn’t understand the commercial numerals. Ha ha ha, it’s so funny, I could laugh my stomach off…”

After this accountant spoke, others felt it made sense, and soon the study filled with laughter.

A toad!

Trying to show off!

Making a fool of himself!

The calculating girl, Li Shu, gave Zhu Ping’an a fierce glare.

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